County Cricket: Essex make the early running

The fielders’ sweaters may have been extra-thick this week but at least most of the Championship fixtures ended in a positive result. Essex made it two wins in three by making short work of Lancashire at Chelmsford. The Red Roses were dismissed twice for under 150, seamers Shane Snater, Sam Cook and Jamie Porter doing most of the damage. 

Surrey also triumphed by an innings, although Kent and the bad weather extended the match into the fourth day. Centuries by Dom S|bley and Dan Lawrence fuelled the champions’ charge to a total of 543-7 declared. He may be used as the fifth bowler but Cameron Steel continues to harvest the wickets, taking his tally for the season to twenty. 

Durham registered their first victory in the top division since 2016, despatching Worcestershire by 185 runs at Kidderminster with a day to spare. The real damage was inflicted on Saturday when David Bedingham crashed 138 in 99 balls. Robinson and Clark increased Worcestershire’s target to an improbable 458, but, despite fifties from Libby, Waite and Smith, the Durham seamers Paul Coughlin, Ben Raine and Matthew Potts were too strong. 

At Taunton, a ninth-wicket stand of 139 between Craig Overton and Migael Pretorius looked to have established a winning foundation for Somerset against Nottinghamshire. However, that was as good as it got. Once Joe Clarke joined Will Young early on Sunday morning, the home attack was forced to toil wicketless for more than 100 overs. Clarke reached his double-century as the pair shattered the county’s third-wicket record which had stood for 121 years. If it hadn’t been for Monday’s heavy rain, they may well have pushed on to 400, 500, 600, …. 

At Southampton, Warwickshire openers Rob Yates and Alex Davies maintained their prolific start to the county season, but at least Middleton and Gubbins kept Hampshire in the hunt on day three, by when time was running out to force a result in worsening conditions. Second time around, Rob Yates notched another unbeaten half-century and even weighed in as a spinner with 4-37. 

Only four Division One fixtures this week, the tastiest being Hampshire’s trip to The Oval and Essex schlepping all the way north to Durham. 

Meanwhile, Middlesex and Sussex earned the first 2024 victories in Division Two. Following recent run-fests, it was the batters who struggled at Lord’s. Yorkshire’s Root and Brook contributed a grand total of 40 between them and, for all the gallant efforts of seamer Ben Coad, it was Middlesex’s Ryan Higgins whose seven wickets and steady batting at the end proved decisive. 

Zafar Gohar’s Pakistan Test career may have stalled after a solitary appearance, but his pair of 50s and second-innings 5-59 probably deserved to bring Gloucestershire success at Hove. However, young Trinidadian Jayden Seales made his mark with the ball and, when it comes to anchoring a tricky run chase, nobody does it better than Cheteshwar Pujara. 2023 demonstrated that Sussex need to make hay while the Indian is available to play for them. 

On home ground, Northamptonshire racked up an impregnable 605-6. Ricardo Vasconcelos made 182, but Karun Nair went even better. The experienced Indian player doesn’t score many centuries but when he does, they tend to be big ones. They declared once he reached 202, and Saif Zaib had ben dismissed for exactly 100. Glamorgan were spared a likely humiliation by a final-day washout. 

Leicestershire were similarly robbed by the rain whilst in a commanding position against Derbyshire. Marcus Harris (214) outscored the whole of the home side’s first innings. Scott Currie’s six wickets was his best tally so far in a nascent career, but the match was called off with only four wickets to fall. 

Sussex rest next week, so Middlesex will go clear at the top by defeating Gloucestershire at Bristol. However, should they fail, Northants meet Leicestershire for a chance to take their place. 

Team of the Week:-  Vasconcelos (Nor), Harris (Lei), Yates (War), Nair (Nor), Clarke (Not), Young (Not), Robinson (Dur +), Higgins (Mid), Zafar Gohar (Glo),  Steel (Sur), Snater (Ess)

Surrey Scare but Almost There

Autumn rains may have arrived a tad early, but there was still some drama in the penultimate round of County Championship fixtures. Surrey’s smooth march to the title was surprisingly disrupted at The Oval by basement side Northamptonshire, for whom Karun Nair – who boasts a Test ‘triple’ for India - struck 150 and Jack White took 4-45 to make the home side follow on. Come the last day, openers Burns and Sibley stopped the rot by batting out the final four hours or so without trouble. 

Essex have only a mathematical chance of overhauling Surrey after an all-or-nothing final-day declaration against Hampshire failed to pay off. Adam Rossington and Tom Prest swapped centuries and Essex’s Matt Critchley was caught off Dawson’s spin for 99 before the stakes – and scoring rates – were raised on Friday. Hampshire were set a target of 267 in about 60 overs and at 32-4 looked set to capitulate. However, the experienced duo of James Vince and Liam Dawson turned disaster into triumph, putting on 184. Critchley nabbed them both but Ben Brown took them over the line with time running out. 

At the other end of the table, 42-year-old Tim Murtagh followed his retirement announcement with eight wickets for Middlesex at Lord’s. However, it was all in vain because Warwickshire have the in-form Oliver Hannon-Dalby, who claimed eight of his own. The lanky Yorkshireman is no spring chicken himself but has led the line admirably all season. Danny Briggs became the second spinner this week to be dismissed on 99 and Will Rhodes made 102 as the Londoners struggled to gain a foothold in the match. In the second innings, Sam Robson carried his bat for 107 but Warwickshire wrapped up the victory by eight wickets, leaving Middlesex in the relegation zone. 

They can still overtake Kent, who were second-best to Somerset, for whom Lammonby and Goldsworthy reached three figures, until the Taunton weather saved their bacon. At Old Trafford, only 84 overs were possible but the draw made little difference to the mid-table. Next week, Surrey should clinch the five points required at Southampton, although Hampshire have the incentive of snatching second place from Essex. Northants are down, but Kent (against Lancashire) just need to match Middlesex (at Nottinghamshire) to remain in Division One in 2024. 

Joining them will be Durham and, almost certainly, Worcestershire. IN between rain delays, the two played out a single-innings draw this week, Scott Borthwick top-scoring with 134 not out. A resurgent Leicestershire have a theoretical chance of promotion but there was no real opportunity to narrow the gap by defeating Yorkshire at Grace Road. Derbyshire failed to break their season’s duck at home to Sussex but Brooke Guest did equal Derby’s record of seven catches in the first innings. Gloucestershire are also winless, and Sussex are in their way next week, just as Glamorgan are Derby’s barrier. Most of the season’s honours have been decided but don’t rule out some late-September excitement. 

Team of the Week:- Lammonby (Som), Robson (Mid), Borthwick (Dur), Vince (Ham), Nair (Nor), Guest (Der +), Critchley (Ess), Briggs (War), Conners (Der), Murtagh (Mid), Hannon-Dalby (War)

Nair and Jadeja Grind England into the Dust

And so to Chennai, and still no respite for England. Another city, another crushing defeat. Until this week, it had been Ravi Ashwin and Virat Kohli lording it over the tourists. Now it was the turn of some of the Indian supporting cast to shine.

It was all looking so good when Alastair Cook won the toss and saw century stands from Moeen Ali/Joe Root and Liam Dawson/Adil Rashid advance England to a creditable 477 all out. At last, a decent platform from which to secure a consolation victory.

However, on the Sunday, the match swung the other way, or at least in the direction of a draw. Lokesh Rahul produced a splendid innings, yet appeared devastated to be caught, top-edging high to Buttler. He may have joined an elite club of batsmen to be out on 199, yet the young opener almost scored as many runs in that innings as the entire England side managed in their second outing.

On the fourth day, things went from bad to worse for Cook and co. Karun Nair took over where Rahul had left off. In only his third Test, the 25 year-old from Jodhpur converted his first ton into a triple, scoring more and more rapidly as the day wore on. He was still there on 303 when Kohli called time. He didn’t do it all on his own. He’d been part of three century partnerships as India piled up 759-7, a record total for India and more than anything previously conceded by England.

On such a flat pitch, it certainly wasn’t beyond England to see out a day and a bit to at least avoid defeat. In Mumbai, it was a much harder task: two and a bit days, and of course they collapsed to an innings defeat. Cook and Jennings did what was expected, putting on 103 for the first wicket. Both openers fell within four overs. Then the big blow was Joe Root missing a sweep on 6. Ravi Jadeja had nabbed all three. He promptly made it four, this time completing a terrific running catch to despatch Jonny Bairstow.

Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes had to knuckle down and bat for just a couple more hours. Unfortunately, with the score on 192-4, the former decided he needed to attack Jadeja and, seeing plenty of open space beyond mid-off, went for a lofted drive. The ball didn’t carry and it seemed as if the whole team deflated. The last six wickets tumbled for a pathetic 16 runs. Still 75 short of making India bat again, England had broken another unwanted record; their 477 had become by far the highest ever Test first innings total made by a side going on to lose by an innings!

After a relatively even challenge in the first two or three matches, the final couple were horrendously one-sided. So who was to blame?

Many are calling for Cook’s head. Ludicrous! He’s done pretty well, apart from the autumn encounters in Asia. England also need his runs too much to discard him altogether, which is what usually happens to outgoing skippers on these strange shores. Hameed and Jennings have each shown promise, but a couple of Tests doesn’t make them the answer to a nation’s prayer. Joe Root is certainly a captain waiting, and he was perhaps the biggest plus on the tour. It’s true he has a poor record when it comes to converting 50s into hundreds. But at least he is consistent at racking up the 50s!

A glance at the England batting averages suggests little to worry about. No fewer an six men averaged over 40. The problem leaps out of the bowling stats. Only Adil Rashid captured more than 10 wickets. Moeen Ali, in theory the ace spinner, took ten at almost 65 apiece! Anderson and Broad, when not injured, enjoyed little success either, and fellow seamers Woakes, Stokes and Ball were even worse.

As for India, only two of their bowlers took more than ten scalps, too. However, Ashwin and Jadeja were masters of their universe, knowing when to apply the pressure and induce false strokes, and having the skills to actually do it. Nair, Rahul, Pujara, Patel and Vijay proved that the makeshift batting line-up was up to the task, with Yadav and Ashwin providing sterling support lower down the order.

Moeen Ali’s rash stroke at Chennai didn’t lose the series, neither did Cook’s captaincy nor any other individuals. There does seem to be a severe issue with fourth innings collapses. That must surely be more mental than a physical failure against spin. At home, England remain a formidable unit, and the emphasis on attacking strokeplay has improved our limited-overs performances no end. But that may well have had a negative impact on the qualities required to play negatively when needed, and it will be needed in five-day cricket. Just watch what Pakistan did in scoring 450 in a magnificent yet ultimately unsuccessful run chase in Australia at the weekend. That took guts!

The selectors had few alternatives on the spin front, but Batty’s inclusion was a daft decision. So was bringing Gary Ballance. I don’t blame them taking Ben Duckett, though. Giving his summer form, that was a gamble worth taking. I just think England’s concentration on T20 skills has tipped the scales too far. We could just accept that India are currently unbeatable in Asia, have a go in the ODIs, work in the nets and re-group for the 2017 summer.