Championship Top 6 decided

While England were polishing off a 3-0 series win against Pakistan, the county circuit was mostly concerned with finalising the initial ‘conference’ stage of the 2021 Championship. The week got off to a miserable start. The English government’s response to the rampant Covid Delta variant may be to abandon all safety precautions but the virus made its presence felt from the start. 

Kent’s entire First XI was forced to isolate before the start of their Group 3 match against Sussex. Their makeshift side managed to avoid defeat against their neighbours who themselves fielded an unfamiliar line-up. 20 year-old opener Ali Orr and 19 year-old seamer Jamie Atkins put Sussex in the driving seat but Kent’s Hastings-born Harry Finch responded with a gutsy 115 to earn a draw. 

In Group 1, Essex and Derbyshire had already begun play at Derby when a positive test wiped out the home side and forced the abandonment. It seemed tough on Essex who needed victory to have a chance of defending their title. Fortunately it wasn’t Covid which ultimately thwarted them but Warwickshire, whose draw at Worcester ensured that not even a maximum-point win would have handed them a top-two place. The West Mids derby was quite high-scoring in a generally wet week. Daryl Mitchell and Ed Barnard struck tons for the home county but South African Pieter Malan scored 141 and 77 not out for Warwickshire in what has been a weak season for their batting. 

Nottinghamshire consolidated their position as leaders with a draw at Durham. Losing the second day to rain made a result less likely, despite Joey Evison’s impressive first-innings 5-21, and Durham managed to bat out the final two sessions. 

In Group 2, Sam Robson’s 154 and seven wickets for Tim Murtagh propelled Middlesex to their second triumph of the summer, beating Leicestershire by 121 runs. However, given they have lost seven out of the previous nine, they still finished last. The battle at Cheltenham to decide which of Gloucestershire and Hampshire advanced to the top group went the way of the visitors. New recruit Nick Gubbins struck an unbeaten 137 and Colin de Grandhomme took 4-31 to establish a huge lead. Tom Lace responded with an excellent 118 but none of his colleagues reached 30, leaving Hampshire to knock off the required 54 with the loss of three wickets. 

However, it was Somerset who remained at the summit despite a rollercoaster ride at The Oval. Stand-in skipper James Hildreth made 107 and Jack Leach twirled his way to 6-43, leaving Surrey in trouble at the start of day four. Following their opening gambit of 429, Somerset then tumbled to just 69 at the hands of spinners R Ashwin (6-27) and Dan Moriarty (4-20), giving Surrey a glimmer of victory hope. At 25-2, Somerset must have fancied their chances of a similar skittling but a draw was eventually agreed. 

In Group 3, Yorkshire and Lancashire were already guaranteed Division One status but Keaton Jennings led a high-scoring Lancashire top four until the weather, and a dangerously unfit Headingley outfield brought the clash to a premature conclusion. In Cardiff, Glamorgan’s fifth wicket pairing of Kiran Carlson and Chris Cooke put on a mighty 307 against Northamptonshire but their bowlers couldn’t finish the job on the final day. Both will play in Division Two when the Championship resumes after The Hundred weaves its spell. 

Team of the Week: Robson (Mid), Jennings (Lan), P Malan (War), Gubbins (Ham), Carlson (Gla), Cooke (Gla +), D’Oliveira (Wor), Evison (Not), W Davis (Lei), Leach (Som), Murtagh (Mid)

Lucky 13 for Robinson and Pope blessed at The Oval

 The sun shone all week and, unless you actually stood on a cricket field in the chill morning air, you could be forgiven for believing it was August. The Surrey batsmen certainly made hay in the sunshine. Ollie Pope led the way with a stirring 245 but even a first innings total of 672-8 declared was insufficient to win the match. On day 4, Leicestershire opener Hassan Azad withstood everything the home side could throw at him, ending the day unbeaten on 144 to secure the draw. 

Meanwhile, Hampshire and Gloucestershire maintained their 100% records in this year’s Championship Group 2. Over three innings, Hampshire and Middlesex were even-stevens but it’s a game of four, and on the second day the visitors were skittled for a mere 79, Mohammad Abbas taking 6-11. Ian Holland and Sam Northeast racked up the runs, too. Gloucestershire sit just two points behind having beaten Somerset at Taunton for the first time this millennium. Wicketkeeper James Bracey followed his day two 118 with an assured 83 not out to see his side home by eight wickets. 

In Group 1, champions Essex were unusually under the cosh at home to Durham, for whom Brydon Carse claimed eight wickets. However, perennial winner Simon Harmer achieved his second five-for to edge the contest by 44 runs. Warwickshire returned from Trent Bridge with a three-wicket victory despite losing Dom Sibley to injury early on. Instead it was a rearguard effort by veteran Tim Bresnan which won them the extra sixteen points. 

Derbyshire’s all-rounder Matt Critchley produced another superb performance, comprising 193 runs and eight wickets and Harvey Hosein aggregated 138 runs without being dismissed, but Ben Cox’s 60 not out was critical in Worcestershire avoiding defeat on the final afternoon. 

In Group 3, I feel sorry for Glamorgan’s Kiran Carlsen. He struck a century in each innings at Cardiff yet managed to finish on the losing side. All Sussex batsmen chipped in, Van Zyl top-scoring with 113, but Ollie Robinson plugged away for 9-78 to accompany his first day 4-50 and even a half-century to boost his bid for an England place this summer. Meanwhile the national captain Joe Root scored a rare Championship century at Canterbury, Adam Lyth maintained excellent April form and David Willey took 5-61 to see off Kent. 

Next week, the leading pairs in Groups 1 and 2 face each other. Warwickshire entertain Essex while Gloucestershire travel to Southampton where Hampshire are looking particularly strong right now. The leading Group 3 encounter could be Sussex at home to Yorkshire but at this stage there’s plenty for all to play for. 

Team of the Week: Lyth (Yor), Hassan Azad (Lei), Holland (Ham), Pope (Sur), Carlsen (Gla), Bracey (Glo, +), Critchley (Der), Harmer (Ess), Carse (Dur), Mohammad Abbas (Ham), Robinson (Sus)

Surrey and Kleinveldt shock Somerset and Notts

Only a belated and truncated blog this week owing to my holiday on Crete. Lovely weather, intriguing history and stunning scenery but somewhat lacking in cricket action.

With Essex head and shoulders ahead of everyone else, the Division One microscope was focussed on the relegation battle involving the rest of the counties.

We Somerset fans have endured a sorry summer and, after last week’s fillip, normal misery was restored when we suffered a perfect storm. Not only did Abell’s men get duffed up by Surrey but nearest rivals Middlesex and Yorkshire both won to open up a gap which leaves Somerset probably needing to beat Middlesex this week to maintain their record-breaking top tier stretch.

Steven Finn took 8-79 in the second innings to despatch Lancashire while Yorkshire scrambled to a two-wicket win over Warwickshire. Hampshire had Essex on the rack when Kyle Abbott’s 6-20 destroyed the champs’ first innings. However, 20 year-olds Dan Lawrence (101) and Samuel Cook (5-18) restored the balance of power on the final days. The defeat leaves Hampshire still vulnerable to the drop.  It’s all rather nailbiting.

Nottinghamshire have dominated Division Two all season but, after coming a cropper against third-placed Northamptonshire, now need to win their final match against Sussex to gain the promotion they looked certain to secure only a few weeks ago. Rory Kleinveldt’s 9-65, 4-33 and 91 runs made him the individual all-round performer of the week, although Jeetan Patel ran him close. Glamorgan’s young batsman Kiran Carlsen topped the run-scoring table for the week, striking 191 in the first innings but that man Kumar Sangakkara signed off his home career for Surrey with yet another century, the 103^rd in all cricket. He’s been so supreme in the Championship that on the occasions he is dismissed, spectators are stunned into silence. What a player!

Team of the Week: Wells (Sus), Howell (Glo), Sangakkara (Sur), Carlson (Gla), Davies (Som +), Clarke (Sur), Kleinveldt (Nor), Patel (War), Bailey (Lan), Wood (Not), Finn (Mid)