County Cricket: Somerset Rewdy and Abell

Somerset Rewdy and Abell 

Only four Championship fixtures this week, but they delivered a high degree of excitement over the four days. At the Rose Bowl, Hampshire and Somerset engaged in a tight game of cat-and-mouse, with little between them, and enough in the wicket to please batters and bowlers alike. Lewis Gregory returned to lead Somerset and eventually turned the game in their favour, but the result was in doubt well into the final day. 

James Rew struck 86 to take Somerset to a 50-run first-innings lead, then Hampshire were heading towards a potential 400 total until Gregory mopped up the last four wickets. His side still had a lot to do. A target of 288 was not going to be simple. However, good things happen when Rew and Tom Abell are together at the crease. They put on 89 but, even after Rew was caught behind for 59 and three more were despatched, Abell maintained admirable patience and determination and his eighth boundary brought up both his century and victory for Somerset. There is talk about England sniffing around young Rew but I hope they hold off until the county’s season is over, preferably with a maiden title in their grasp. Well, you can only hope…. 

There were only forty-one runs separating Warwickshire and Essex, too. Seamers were generally on top and 220 proved to be the highest total, and Beau Webster’s 91 the top individual score. Chasing 206 to win on the fourth day, Essex slumped to 21-4, their top three falling to the veteran Keith Barker, back in the Warwickshire side after a seven-season stint at Hampshire. Harmer and Akhtar offered some tail-end resistance but Webster broke both to earn the home side’s first success of the year. 

Barker is a mere spring chicken compared with James Anderson but the former England record-breaker bowled his way to another Team of the Week entry and Lancashire dealt Gloucestershire another Spring blow at Bristol. The home side did acquire their first bonus points of the campaign, but batting remains a huge problem. Anderson (3-12) and George Balderson (5-34) skittled Gloucester for 136 but Matt Taylor’s 6-43 kept them in the match. Second time around, Hammond and Bracey put on 148 for the fourth wicket to extend the game into the final day. At 46-3, Lancashire were tottering but Keaton Jennings’ second 70+ score guided then home by four wickets. 

At Wantage Road, there was no repeat of Northants’ rampant run glut but batsmen were too dominant to prevent a draw. Nathan McSweeney struck a second successive ton and James Sales stroked his way to 164 but, in their second outing, Middlesex safely batted through four sessions to seal the draw. Sam Robson shared a couple of century partnerships with Holden and Du Plooy on his way to 162, falling to Guthrie shortly before the curtain fell. 

Lancashire will extend their Division Two lead next week, travelling to Durham, while it will be the Derbyshire attack eager to rip into the Gloucester line-up. 

Team of the Week:-  Jennings (Lan), Robson (Mid), J Rew (Som +), Bracey (Glo), Abell (Som), Sales (Nor), Gregory (Som), Balderson (Lan), M Taylor

Warwickshire Edg It but 99 is the Magic Number

At last a few victories, although I’d give the batsmen another win on points over their adversaries, with the rain giving both a run for their money.

Warwickshire took a turn at the top of Division One, beating Nottinghamshire in a tight contest at Trent Bridge. However, at 17-4 on the first morning, that outcome looked impossible, only for Chris Woakes and Keith Barker to do their familiar rescue act. Each scored centuries in an eighth wicket stand of 167, and it was game on again. Notts led by just ten after the first innings, then Samit Patel and Luke Fletcher each claimed eight wickets to leave themselves just 227 to win with more than a day remaining. 21-3 overnight, things went from bad to worse. Recognising his rapidly declining support, Patel decided to try and steal the victory single-handed. Clubbing 12 fours and 8 sixes, he made a valiant effort before holing out to Hain 52 runs short.

As predicted, Durham did indeed get the better of Lancashire at the Riverside. Steve Borthwick starred with two hundreds, but it was the unfamiliar trio of Weighell, Carse and McCarthy who did the damage with the ball. Leaders Yorkshire had the weather to thank as they struggled to stave off an innings defeat in Somerset. James Hildreth struck a typically stylish 166, and both Trescothick and Trego fell in the nervous nineties en route to an impressive 566-7 declared. In reply, only Adam Lyth (106) passed 40, then it was batten down the hatches time until the weather finally closed in on Wednesday afternoon. Ah, we woz robbed!

The Oval was unusually wet for the London derby, which spluttered to a damp draw. Ollie Rayner’s 6-79 was the stand-out performance for Middlesex who did at least welcome back captain Adam Voges after his recent concussion.

Essex remain in pole promotion position after forcing Derbyshire to follow on at Chelmsford. They plundered more than 500 despite losing the Championship’s top scorer Tom Westley for a third-ball duck. Fortunately opener Nick Browne found his form in a big way, accumulating 255 and sharing a stand of 210 with 18 year-old Dan Lawrence, for whom I predict great things. Ravi Bopara also caught the eye with his 5-49.

Glamorgan remain bottom after suffering defeat at the hands of neighbours Gloucestershire. They did so despite enjoying a first innings lead, thanks largely to David Lloyd, agonisingly caught on 99. Second time out, needing 269 to win, it looked good for the visitors on 81-0. However, Graeme van Buuren, ripped out the first three, Craig Miles the middle-order and Jack Taylor the tail, and that was that!

Brett D’Oliveira also joined the 99 club, robbing him of a third consecutive century for Worcestershire. He had sold support down the order as his side amassed a first innings 491. Sussex were forced to follow on but were harder to dislodge on day four, and consequently saved the match.

At Northampton, returning fallen hero Monty Panesar was given 59 overs in the match and managed four wickets. Nevertheless, Kent’s Joe Denly took charge with a first innings unbeaten 205, and Daniel Bell-Drummond also maintained his early-season form as the match was curtailed by the wet stuff.

Next week, after a first blast of T20 action, it’s top v bottom in Division Two, but the weather forecast isn’t great for Cardiff. Second-placed Kent travel to Derby while Leicestershire host Worcestershire. In the top tier, this week’s two victors meet at Edgbaston while Yorkshire sit it out. Lancashire could go top by beating Surrey but Notts are also lurking and take a trip south to face Hampshire.

Team of the Week:
Browne (Ess), D’Oliveira (Wor), Denly (Ken), Borthwick (Dur), Hildreth (Som), Patel (Not), Rossington (Nor +), Miles (Glo), Barker (War), McCarthy (Dur), Fletcher (Not)

Team of the Week: Yorkshire's Finest

For the week ending 12th September, it's tempting to select the entire Yorkshire Eleven which clinched the County Championship in such style, albeit perhaps without naughty captain Andrew Gale! However, I must stick to my guns and pick players on their performances around the grounds.

That doesn't meanm I can't name the White Rose opener Adam Lyth, back to his best in 2014 and hammering on the door of England's Test team while Sam Robson desperately tries to lock it from the other side. His 122 laid the foundation for the hefty first innings total at Trent Bridge, with which Nottinghamshire simply could not compete. Bangladesh bowlers couldn't contain West Indian number one Kraigg Brathwaite either; he plundered 212 in their easy Test match victory.

Some big middle order scorers must leave the week disappointed. Apologies to Northeast, Trott, Roy and Borthwick but you just missed out. Ed Joyce seems to be ending the summer the way he started it. The Sussex veteran struck 137 and 79 to beat Lancashire and leave them facing relegation square in the face. My four and five together produced a record partnership for Gloucestershire against poor Leicestershire. Skipper Alex Gidman led the way with 264 in 274 balls, aided and abetted by South African 'keeper Gareth Roderick's 171. He is fine form with the bat in first-class cricket and, with a British passport, he could yet represent England. He takes the gloves in my fantasy XI despite taking no catches at all in the match. He just edges out Niall O'Brien, who claimed six victims and a century for Leicestershire in the same game.

Teenager Sam Hain hit his maiden double-hundred for Warwickshire, alongside the man he might have expected to replace in the county line-up, Jonathan Trott. Ben Stokes found his batting form, too, plundering 164 in 113 deliveries and taking 1-50 in Durham's Royal London Cup semi-final victory over Notts, who had a pretty shoddy week all round.

Nevertheless, the star all-rounder was Jack Shantry of Worcestershire. Their promotion campaign train seemed heading for a fatal derailment until his 89-ball century and last-day 4-44, giving him ten wickets for the match and a chance to play again in the top flight next year.

Sulieman Benn has been largely eclipsed by Narine lately in West Indian spin circles but he returned 5-39 and 2-44 in that 499th Test. Keith Barker's eight dismissals played a big part in Warwickshire's trouncing of Northants but the last place goes to another Yorkshireman. Old curlylocks himself, Ryan Sidebottom, has spearheaded the Yorkshire attack with Jack Brooks brilliantly all season, and his 6-30 in the second innings was the best bowling analysis of the week.

Celebratory (white) roses go to: Lyth (Yor), Brathwaite (WI), Joyce (Sus), Roderick (Glo +), Gidman (Glo *), Hain (War), Stokes (Dur), Shantry (Wor), Benn (WI), Barker (War), Sidebottom(Yor).

Player of the Week: Keith Barker

The English August weather restricted outstanding cricketing performances this week.
At the T20 Finals Day, Shahid Afridi's 80 in 42 balls still wasn't enough to beat Somerset in the second semi, as Jos Buttler's three sixes and Alfonso Thomas' thoughtful Super Over took them through to the final yet again. There, they fell short of the target, thanks largely to Joshua Cobb's match-winning 4-22. The Leicestershire batsman has one of the highest batting strike rates for T20 in world cricket (over 150) so it is ironic that he was dismissed first ball in the semi and made his name at Edgbaston with leg breaks. Veteran 'keeper Paul Nixon took a great catch in his swansong game but the four well-judged midwicket catches made by substitute fielder Max Boyce probably deserved the Man of the Match award.

Leicestershire's T20 Cup triumph delivers them a place in at least the qualifiers for the lucrative Champions League. However, their County Championship misery continued, being trounced by Surrey, for whom Steven Davies scored a century and Tim Linley finished with match aggregate figures of 9-79,

Warwickshire beat Yorkshire to put them just a few points adrift of Lancashire in the race to win the Division One pennant. Shivnarine Chanderpaul's 193 not only rescued his side's first innings but laid the foundation for a vital victory. However, my Player of the Week is his team-mate Keith Barker. Like Cobb and Linley, he is an unsung hero who doesn't always hold down a first-team place for his county. This week, he seized his chance while Woakes and Rankin were needed by their respective countries, by taking 4-73 and 4-56, either side of a spirited 85 in which he held his own in partnership with Chanderpaul. While the 24 year-old Mancunian has a couple of first-class centuries to his name, he has performed better as a one-day seam bowler who can clout some boundaries at the death. Therefore it was encouraging to see him have such an excellent match as an all-rounder in the Championship.