Gloucester in the Groove

 Back in the Blast, even with most counties facing only two further group fixtures, some of the quarter-final placings have already been confirmed. 

So far, only Gloucestershire have amassed six victories, three coming this week. Two were against closest rivals Northamptonshire and the Bears, giving them an unassailable 4-point lead at the top of Central group. Their bowlers inflicted the most damage, notably Smith and Van Buuren. Glamorgan seemed to be finding some kind of bowling form, too, led by Sisodya and Van Gugten, only to be thumped at Cardiff yesterday by the inconsistent Somerset, for whom Babar Azam crashed an unbeaten 114. 

In the South section, Surrey notched their fifth consecutive success to top the table. Jacks, Evans and Amla contributed with the bat, while 21 year-old Dan Moriarty has made an impact with his slow left-arm. Luke Wright’s top-order runs and the economic spin of Danny Briggs didn’t translate into four wins for Sussex. Middlesex opener Steve Eskinazi is currently the tournament’s highest scorer but his side have fallen short too often. The exception came at Canterbury where they held on by just two runs. I don’t normally associate the veteran Tim Murtagh with Twenty20 but this week he took five cheap wickets. 

Besides Azam, only Kent’s Zak Crawley reached three figures and wins over Essex and Surrey next week will enable their progress to the last eight. 

Up North, Nottinghamshire should consolidate their two-point lead at the top with just one win from their final three matches. An enviable batting line-up featuring the likes of Joe Clarke, Hales, Duckett and Christian has yet to disappoint. Yorkshire have been hampered by Covid cases while their Roses rivals and conquerors at Headingley this week, Lancashire, stand second. Durham struck the highest team score of the week: 223-8 against Derbyshire. In that game, Ben Raine slammed eight sixes and just one four in a 39-ball 71. However, they look unlikely to make the quarters. 

Team of the Week: Wright (Sus), Eskinazi (Mid), Lyth (Yor), Clarke (Not), Raine (Dur), Lawrence (Ess), Cox (Wor +), Van Buuren (Glo), Sisodya (Gla), Murtagh (Mid), Waller (Som)

Notts Cruising, Somerset ship water

After week two of the Royal London Cup, Nottinghamshire are the only county with a 100% record. They don’t seem to be missing Alex Hales, suspended  and sitting at home wiping the white powder from his nostrils. In racking up 433-7 against Leicestershire, each of the top six passed fifty, and they polished off Yorkshire with more than 15 overs remaining. Leicestershire slumped to bottom of the North division after Lancashire also thrashed them by nine wickets in double-quick time.

Durham’s challenge faltered against Worcestershire in one of many rain-affected matches this week. Messrs Duckworth and Lewis featured prominently on the results pages, including Friday’s fxture between Yorkshre and Derbyshire. Thanks to Billy Godleman’s third century of the competition, Derbyshire were up with the required ten an over but missed out by one. The resulting tie was Yorkshire’s second in seven days.

Alex Lees of Durham was probably the most consistent batsman in the group, but Sam Hain’s unbeaten 161 in Warwickshire’s triumph at neighbours Worcestershire was the highest score. His skipper Jeetan Patel was in the wickets but nobody could hold a candle to Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood. He followed an impressive 6-37 against Northamptonshire with a match-winning 5-14 in that brief encounter with Leicestershire at Old Trafford.

In the South, Somerset’s perfect start to the season in red and white-ball cricket came to a surprising end at Bristol on Sunday. Gloucestershire nicked it by four wickets in the final over. Two days earlier, Peter Trego and Azhar Ali had each reached three figures in a double-century stand against Essex, who also inflicted Hampshire’s only defeat of the campaign. Captain James Vince powered his way back into the England one-day set-up with 190 against Gloucestershire, ably assisted by Liam Dawson who enjoyed a strong week with both bat and ball.

In the absence of the apparently over-worked Buttler and Bairstow and injured Billings and Pope, Surrey ‘keeper Ben Foakes made himself indispensible to the national selectors. Despite his 187 runs and Morne Morkel’s nine wickets, Surrey still boast just a single victory so far, against the inconsistent Essex outfit. However, they sit above Kent who have yet to register any success at all. Glamorgan had Billy Root’s 111 not out largely to thank for their maiden success of the summer, the hapless Surrey their victims.

Sussex may not be at the top but I can’t ignore Luke Wright. Thrashing 166 in 142 balls, he took Middlesex apart in what proved to be not only his own best-ever one-day innings but also topped Chris Adams’ twenty-year List A record for the county.

Next week’s highlights include current table-toppers in battle. At the weekend, Nottinghamshire meet Durham at Grantham and Somerset welcome Hampshire to Taunton.  On Sunday, Glamorgan will travel to Middlesex, leaving Sophia Gardens free for England and Pakistan to contest a T20 international – and I’ll be there!

Team of the Week: Rutherford (Wor), Godleman (Der), Wright (Sus), Vince (Ham), Hain (War), Foakes (Sur +), Dawson (Ham), Patel (War), Sowter (Mid), Morkel (Sur), Saqib Mahmood (Lan)

Raine-ing Sixes and Aaron Finch Sings for Surrey

After four games of the Vitality Blast, Worcestershire remain the only county with a 100% record. Their star performer was perhaps also a surprise: Dillon Pennington. In Friday’s North division game against Northamptonshire, reduced by rare rain to a nine-over thrash, the Shropshire teenager grabbed 4-9 in his two overs.

Nottinghamshire sit in second place thanks to victories over Leicestershire and Derbyshire. Young ‘keeper Tom Moores contributed another couple of feverish fifties while Dan Christian provided more runs and wickets to the Outlaws’ cause. However, when it comes to sixes, Ben Raine reigned supreme. At Edgbaston, the Leicester all-rounder clumped ten of them in a 100-run defeat of the Bears on his way to 113 off 46 balls.

His innings was not the highest of the week. In the South group, T20 specialist Aaron Finch followed his 58 for Surrey against Essex with a 79-ball unbeaten 131 at Brighton. Even Rashid Khan got clobbered for ten an over. However, this is Sussex’s only loss in the competition so far. Earlier in the week, they travelled to Glamorgan and Hampshire and emerged from each with eight-wicket victories. Luke Wright and Laurie Evans shared two sizeable partnerships in both games.

However, Kent top the table on net run rate. Sam Billings thrashed 95 not out from the Hampshire attack, taking a particular liking to Gareth Berg, whose four overs went for sixty. It was a close contest, though, as Dawson and Berg couldn’t quite complete the chase, falling just three runs short. Kent, too, were on the receiving end of a tight finish, losing by five runs to Gloucestershire at Bristol.

Next Friday sees some tasty encounters such as the Roses match at Old Trafford, Kent hosting Surrey and Somerset’s visit to Cardiff. If possible I may even pop along to that one myself….

Team of the Week: 

Wright (Sus), Finch (Sur), Moores (Not +), Billings (Ken), Christian (Not), Raine (Lei), Clarke (Sur), Zampa (Ess), Ferguson (Der), Pennington (Wor), Pillans (Sur)

Kent keep the T20 runs flowing

The second week of the Nat West T20 Blast offered no real insight as to how the competition might pan out. The North division table shows Northamptonshire and Yorkshire leading the way but they have played twice as many games as the rest. Indeed, Yorkshire have won only one of their four games with one tied and one abandoned.

Leicestershire and Derbyshire have 100% records from their two fixtures. The former owe a massive debt to batsman Colin Ackermann and bowler Clint McKay. The Aussie bowler’s 5-11 against Worcestershire was even more impressive given that he had been ill. It was a good week for the Worcester ‘keeper Ben Cox. His batting has come on in leaps and bounds in the past few years and he combined a Championship hundred against Gloucestershire and a T20 half-century.

In the South group, both Kent and Hampshire nabbed two victories, the latter the only county so far with three wins from three. Openers Daniel Bell-Drummond and Joe Denly harvested plenty of runs across the week, Denly’s unbeaten 116 from 63 being the highlight. Sussex’s Luke Wright and Glamorgan’s Colin Ingram each struck 101 in the same match at Arundel, but when the South African captured the wickets of Ross Taylor and Ben Brown, it left Wright too much to do and the home team fell 18 short.

He biggest crowd of the week was crammed into Lord’s for the Middlesex-Surrey derby. That man Kumar Sangakkara top-scored yet again, striking 70 in 42 deliveries, but the seamers Helm, Stirling and Southee clattered the stumps regularly. None of the home batsmen really got going and Gareth Batty’s 4-14 seemed to have won the match until, with the last pair at the crease, Steven Finn swung Rampaul for the winning boundary.

Next week, Hampshire have a good chance of extending their winning run to five matches by beating Essex and Sussex and regaining their T20 mojo.

Team of the Week: Bell-Drummond (Ken), Dent (Glo), Denly (Ken), Wright (Sus), Ingram (Gla), Ackermann (Lei), Cox (Wor +), Howell (Glo), McKay (Lei), Harmer (Ess), Batty (Sur)

Lancashire and Surrey Up, Somerset Heading Down?

Last week began with Finals Day of the Nat West T20 Blast, in which the spin bowlers dominated the batsmen. Stephen Parry and Arron Lilley were particularly effective as Lancashire took the title.

Bank Holiday Monday saw the T20 double-header at Cardiff. I was there to witness two excellent and contrasting victories for England against Australia. Anya Shrubsole ripped out the first four Aussie women then Natalie Sciver took four wickets of her own before adding 47 decisive runs to earn that consolation win at the end of the Women’s Ashes series. Stars of the men’s game were Moeen Ali and Eoin Morgan for England, although Steve Smith threatened to take his side to victory. Sadly for him, he fell for 90, and Australia’s run chase went with him.

I’ll start my County Championship review in Division Two. As expected, both Surrey and Lancashire clinched promotion with two matches to spare. Surrey went top for the first time with an innings defeat of Derbyshire. Zafar Ansari did his international credentials no harm with a century and five wickets, but it was skipper Gareth Batty who concluded the win with a hat-trick.

Rain hit the other three games but Lancashire weren’t robbed of success. In fact, Kent forced them to follow on thanks to hundreds from Robert Key and his young successor as captain, Sam Northeast. At Chelmsford, Essex had the best of proceedings against Northamptonshire but a draw was inevitable. The result also hastened the sacking of the home coach Paul Grayson, paying the price for the county’s consistent under-achievement. Let’s hope the new crop of batsmen restore good times in Essex before the wealthy competitors lure them away. Leicestershire and Gloucestershire also played out an unremarkable draw.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire produced another devastating performance, twice bowling Somerset out for under 200. Ballance and Bairstow each passed 90, while Brooks and Sidebottom were the pick of the reliable seam bowling unit. Somerset were dragged back into the relegation fight as both Sussex and Hampshire enjoyed vital victories.

At Chester-le-Street, Durham succumbed to Hampshire inside three days. Ryan McLaren and Fidel Edwards each claimed seven wickets and Chris Rushworth took just two for Durham. Ryan Pringle (99 for Durham) and James Vince (16 fours in 76 not out) were the only players to make 50.

There were more runs at Worcester, where the home side were well beaten by a rampant Sussex. Luke Wright’s 226 was by far the top score of the week, and he was ably supported by Ben Brown and Chris Nash. Chris Jordan enjoyed a return to form with the ball, too. There was something for Worcestershire to savour; teenager Joe Clarke scored an unbeaten 104, his first Championship century. The loss of the first day meant Warwickshire’s contest with Middlesex was something of a damp squib.

While Worcestershire’s fate is far from sealed, just seven points from safety, they really need to win both remaining games. Somerset’s escape is in their own hands, facing both Sussex and Hampshire in the coming weeks. Yorkshire’s coronation as champions again should come this week at Lord’s. Just five bonus points will be enough to put both Middlesex and Nottinghamshire mathematically out of reach.

Team of the Week: Burns (Sur), Key (Ken), Smith (Aus), Sciver (Eng W), Wright (Sus), Northeast (Ken), Brown (Sus +), Ansari (Sur), Brooks (Yor), Parry (Lan), Shrubsole (Eng W)

County Team of the Year 2014 - the batsmen

My twenty-odd Teams of the Week consisted of more than 160 individuals, each of whom produced something special at some point, whether in a Test, County Championship, women's cricket, one-dayers or any number of T20 knockabouts. Nobody appeared five times but several were mentioned on four occasions. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Gary Ballance owed much to their performances on the international stage, three make my Team of the Year and Luke Wright narrowly missed out.

It was a summer when number nines broke all sorts of batting records, from Kumar's two half-centuries in a Test to Jack Shantry's ten wickets and century. Alfonso Thomas claimed four wickets in four balls for Somerset against Sussex but was strangely ineffective in the short formats, traditionally his strength. Club player Richard Oliver epitomised the rags to riches story. He was plucked from Reigate Priory and Worcestershire Seconds obscurity to play T20 before striking a maiden First-class hundred and earning a contract through 2015 for good measure. September saw Derbyshire's eighteen year-old wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein take no fewer than eleven catches on his debut, a world record.

So what about those whose consistency throughout a hectic domestic season merits inclusion in the all-important Mike's Spin on Cricket County Team of 2014?

My openers are Alex Hales and Adam Lyth. Last year the Nottinghamshire batsman was earning plaudits for his T20 strokeplay but dropped by his county in first-class cricket. In 2014, he stepped up not only to the England ODI side but also to the Notts first XI. He passed 1,000 runs in the longer format and reached four figures in List A and T20 combined. He looked a more confident player but by no means a Test opener. Not yet, anyway. Adam Lyth scored more first-class runs than anybody else (1,619) including eight centuries. His partnership with Alex Lees played no small part in Yorkshire's march to the title and he also took more catches than any non-'keeper in the county game. Honourable mentions go to Varun Chopra (Warwickshire), Chris Rogers (Middlesex), Daryl Mitchell (Worcestershire) and, for their one-day exploits, Jason Roy (Surrey) and Jacques Rudolph (Glamorgan).

Like Roy, Luke Wright has a fearsome reputation in twenty-over cricket, and his 153 in 66 balls at Chelmsford in July was the highlight of the Nat West Blast. He averaged 52 in the first-class game, too, but he doesn't make my team! The Irish-English-Irish star Ed Joyce enjoyed a productive start and end to the season for Sussex, accumulating 1501 Championship runs. With Steve Magoffin's wickets, he was the main reason for Sussex's third place in Division One. Hampshire's young James Vince was also knocking on the England selectors' door with some fine knocks in all competitions and he edges out fellow contender James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Dawid Malan (Middlesex), Sam Northeast (Kent) and Alex Gidman (Gloucestershire).

Wicketkeepers often hang around at the top for years but, boy, thhey have to work hard for it! Chris Read, Tim Ambrose and Mark Wallace are all consistent catchers and scorers, but two players stood out for me. Sam Billings seems to have finished Geraint Jones' Kent career with his batting exploits in the Royal London Cup, and he had 59 Championship victims behind the stumps, too. Nevertheless the evergreen James Foster wins my place for his glovework and vital runs for Essex which took them remarkably close to promotion.

Next time I'll review the all-rounders and bowlers who lit up the domestic season in 2014. And there were some crackers!

Twenty20 Finals Day: Bears have a Blast

So, after a few months and 122 matches, an encouragingly big crowd at Edgbaston were treated to a dry (but cool) day and a home side victory in the inaugural NatWest T20 Blast tournament. Personally I think the more structured scheduling over a longer period has been a plus. If some of the big international names couldn't commit to the summer, that's a price worth paying to preserve the perfect mix of fun stuff and proper cricket in the form of the County Championship, which in turn breeds the England Test stars of the future.

As for the domestic T20 competition climax, my interest was somewhat diminished by the rare absence of Somerset and the qualification of Surrey. However I was glad to see the likes of Pietersen (13 runs in 16 balls), Dernbach (0-56!) and Batty knocked out by the Birmingham Bears (henceforth to be referred to as Warwickshire) in the first semi-final. Will Porterfield is not renowned as a big-hitting limited over specialist but his unbeaten 81, featuring five sixes, was the highest score of the day and, with the tight spin bowling of Ateeq Javid, was crucial to the Bears' progression. Jason Roy's brisk half-century for Surrey was ultimately in vain.

In the other semi, Lancashire fielded current England Test players Jimmy Anderson and Jos Buttler, along with other internationals past and present in Prince, Khawaja, Kabir Ali and Parry. Smith (Tom) fell to Smith (Will) first ball but Ashwell Prince and Karl Brown rescued the innings. Hampshire's response was a disaster. Jimmy Adams made 53 but Carberry's 10 was the next best as all Lancashire bowlers took wickets steadily throughout the afternoon. The perennial semi-finalists were not to win this year.

The final was to prove a much more exciting affair, heightened by the inclusion of celebrity Lancashire all-rounder Andrew Flintoff in place of the injured Ali. That he took Ian Bell's wicket with his first delivery and, after two consecutive sixes, threatened to complete the fairytale script and clinch an unlikely victory, merely added to the already heady atmosphere under the floodlights. However, the likes of Bears skipper Varun Chopra, Chris Woakes, Boyd Rankin and man of the match Laurie Evans saw Warwickshire home by four runs with Parry, not Flintoff, needing to hit the last-ball six needed to take the trophy in front of the home fans.

As for the tournament as a whole, Jason Roy and Luke Wright were the stand-out batsmen while a whole clutch of spinners and a few seamers caught the eye for bowling consistency across the summer. Wright's spell as an England T20 specialist seems to have ended but he is still under 30 and his 153 not out at Chelmsford Essex in July was the second of his Blast hundreds this season. Tim Westley of Essex also delivered two centuries but, while making no three-figures scores, Surrey's Roy did his future England credentials no harm by aggregating 677 runs from fifteen games, including nine 50s, at a strike rate of 157. That's way ahead of Hales, Carberry, Taylor, Morgan, Trego and Bopara, to name but six other contenders.

With the ball, Dirk Nannes was one of the few globe-trotting pros to deliver value for money, this year in the service of Somerset. His tally of 24 wickets led the table before Jeetan Patel pipped him by one on Finals Day. Over fifteen matches, the Warwickshire Kiwi conceded scarcely a run a ball. Michael Hogan (Glamorgan), Kabir Ali and Junaid Khan (both Lancashire) also led the fast bowler brigade but for a combination of wickets and economy, the stellar performers were Patel, Hampshire's Danny Briggs and relative bowling novice Will Smith plus Middlesex's new left-armer Ravi Patel. Watch out for his rise over the next few years. Briggs hasn't progressed from T20 promise to first-class finished product but maybe this 23 year-old will buck the trend of T20-only bowlers like Parry.

Well done, Warwickshire/Birmingham, and my T20 Blast team of the year is as follows:- Roy (Sur), Wright (Sus), Westley (Ess), Allenby (Glam), S Patel (Not), Stevens (Kent), Wilson (Sur +,*), J Patel (War), Briggs (Ham), Nannes (Som), R Patel (Mid).

Your name doesn't have to be Patel to be a successful T20 slow bowler, but it seems to help! Now for the England-India ODIs and the Championship finale...

Team of the Week: Hail, Herath and Monty the spin kings!

It was a really well-balanced week in terms of eye-catching performances. Big scores at the top, consistent runs in the middle-order, double-wicket hauls from experienced spinners and excellent all-rounders.

I don't normally do this but I have included three opening batsmen in my Team of the Week, although one is there as an all-rounder who just happens to be a captain and new-ball number one. England's under-19 team beat their South African counterparts 4-0 in one-dayers this week, and Will Rhodes and partner Haseeb Hameed were central to each victory. The former plays for Yorkshire 2nds, the latter for Lancashire 2nds but the Roses differences were put aside for the internationals. Captain Rhodes weighed in with 168 runs and 11 wickets while Bolton-born 17 year-old Hameed delivered a sequence which reads: 97, 97, 125, 32. Maybe in five years' time, he'll be gunning for the Bell, Bopara or Root slot in the senior team.

Before heading for The Oval, I'll divert to the southern hemisphere and select Phil Hughes. The second unofficial 'A' Test at Townsville was ruined by rain, but the maddeningly inconsistent Aussie struck a superb unbeaten 243, to go with another double in one of the earlier one-day fixtures.

The aforementioned Joe Root also makes my team for the latest of his big scores for England. 149 not out was the simple statistic but it seems that once he is set, nobody can get him out, especially an Indian attack seemingly desperate to go home or play the limited over format. Few players average more than 100 in a five-Test series but the young Yorkshireman managed that landmark. Another handy biff-bash merchant, Luke Wright enjoyed a good week personally, if not for his Sussex side. His 113 and 52 in the Championship defeat to Yorkshire were followed by 127 in 115 balls against Glamorgan, also in a losing cause. If Jacques Rudolph had produced runs in the four-day match, his county record-breaking 169 not out in that game would have given me even more of a selection headache, and Kane Williamson (189 for Yorkshire) also just misses out.

My final specialist batsman is Steven Davies. No longer keeping wicket for Surrey, he plundered 174 and 38 against Leicestershire in the Championship and a run-a-ball 50 in the Royal London Cup win against Somerset. With the gloves, Northants' Adam Rossington is narrowly nudged aside by Pakistan's Sarfraz Ahmed. He made his fourth successive Test 50, including 103 in the latest loss to Sri Lanka.

David Willey, Jim Allenby and Adil Rashid all caught the eye as all-rounders but one of the season's stars, Tom Smith, forces his way into my squad this week. His wicket-taking consistency was maintained in both first-class and List A contests, alongside a 47-ball 54 in the Cup plus 44 and a match-winning 35 not out in the nerve-shredding climax versus Durham.

For once, Anderson and Broad let the supporting cast take the spotlight at The Oval, and Chris Jordan lapped it up with 3-32 and 4-18 as India's batsmen capitulated miserably.

Finally to those slow bowlers. Monty Panesar has produced the goods for England before now but in a rare outing for Essex in these days of misbehaviour the former beard that's feared claimed eleven wickets in the Championship triumph over Glamorgan. Rangana Herath is vying with Saeed Ajmal for player of the summer, and he added another fourteen to his Test career tally in the second win against Pakistan. The retiring Mahela Jayawardene may have been given the greater ovation but the spinner, just one year younger than his outgoing colleague, took his wicket tally in the last three five-dayers to a Murali-like 32, and 23 in the two-match series. More records abound!

In conclusion: Rhodes (Eng u-19, *), Hameed (Eng U-19), Hughes (Aus A), Wright (Sus), Root (Eng), Davies (Sur), Sarfraz Ahmed (Pak +), Smith (Lan), Jordan (Eng), Herath (SL), Panesar (Ess).

Team of the Week: Big Hitters and Bouncers

Daryl Mitchell is having a great season to match that of his county, Worcestershire. This week he carried his bat for 167 in the defeat of Gloucestershire, his fifth century of the Championship summer, and struck a brisk 36 against Derbyshir ein the Twenty20. Dwayne Smith didn't hang around, either, in thumping 110 not out for Barbados against St Lucia in the CPL. He also recorded a duck but I'll politely forget that ever happened....

My number three did nothing spectacular but credit to Jonathan Trott for reaching three figures for the first time since his traumatic withdrawal from the Ashes tour and early season relapse. His successor in the England middle-order Gary Ballance also weighed in with 110 in the otherwise embarrassing loss at Lord's to India. He enters my team of the week thanks to his graft which put most team-mates to shame.

There were lots of rapid 80s and 90s in the Caribbean and the final Blast group fixtures. Ramdin, Samuels, Hastings, Westley, Whiteley and Finch peppered boundaries but they were totally outdone by Luke Wright. With Sussex facing a target of 220+ by table-toppers Essex, the ex-England T20 all-rounder refused to give in and went onto smash 12 fours and 11 sixes in an unbeaten 153. It was not only the fourth highest T20 score ever but it won the match - even if Sussex failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Darren Stevens is no stranger to my team of the week, and in he comes again. A 38-ball 67 for Kent in the Blast victory over Sussex and nine wickets in the surprising Championship win over Surrey made him one of the top all-rounders. John Simpson rarely makes the headlines in his own county let alone the cricketing world. However the Middlesex wicketkeeper top-scored in each Championship innings, aggregating 171 runs in a losing cause against Yorkshire's very useful attack.

Dale Steyn looked back to his best for South Africa against Sri Lanka last week, with match figures of 9-99, while that man Bhuvneshwar Kumar again frustrated England with both bat and ball. His seam and swing netted 6-82 in the first innings, giving Anderson, Plunkett and Broad a lesson in how to bowl in helpful seam conditions. Kumar notched another half-century, too. In the second innings it was Ishant Sharma who proved to be the star performer. His 7-74 wasn't statistically as impressive as Ryan Sidebottom's 7-74 for Yorkshire but in the context of Test cricket, it was superb.

Finally I've gone for another quick, Stuart Meaker. He had a great start for Surrey this Spring before injury and competition for places kept him out of the team. This week he was back with a vengeance, claiming eleven wickets against Essex in the Championship and 4-30 in the T20 win over Middlesex. Sunil Narine and James Tredwell came close (the latter playing for both Kent and Sussex!) but no spinner this week.

Team of the Week 16th May 2014 - the Colly and Yuvy show

Three major tournaments to pore over this week, as the County Championship and IPL were joined by the inaugural round of Nat West T20 Blast matches. Despite that, there were few opening batsmen to really stand out. Finch and Sehwag enjoyed one good score each in the IPL but Lendl Simmons picked up 118 runs across the week for for Mumbai. Top of the lot was Graeme Smith, whose 103 laid the foundations for a final day rally by Surrey to clinch ther first Championship in for yonks.

David Warner was in the runs for Hyderabad, plundering an aggregate 111 runs in 63 balls, the best performance being his 31-ball 55 against the Indians. Sangakkara's 159 was compiled when the match was alreay drawn so I've gone for the hard-hitting Nottinghamshire batsman Riki Wessels at number four. Today he struck a cameo 25 in 18 in the T20 but his 156 in the Championship fixture against Northants was completed in a T20-esque 152 balls.

North and Styris excelled in today's Blast but in India Yuvraj Singh proved there's life in the old dog yet. After a miserable run, he produced a couple of stupendous innings for Bangalore, including sixteen sixes, plus a 4-35 to demonstrate his all-rounder credentials. For Sussex, Luke Wright (189) and wicket-keeper Ben Brown (163) shared a record sixth wicket county partnership, then a few days later, Wright added another rapid 56 in the T20 against Surrey. Both he and Brown stake their places in my Team of the Week with ease.

Neil Dexter and Darren Stevens came close but the best all-rounder candidate is Paul Collingwood. He followed a 74 in the first-class match versus Sussex with a rapid 62 and 3-29 in the 20-over stuff this evening. Not far behind is Colly's former Durham colleague, Liam Plunkett. Now at Yorkshire, the ex-England seamer produced not one but two excellent all-round performances this week, but his 75-ball 86 batting at number nine in the four-day victory against Notts was the most eye-catching.

Jack Brooks almost features in my XI again, while Ajmal Shahzad out-bowled even Peter Siddle for Notts earlier in the weeks. Nevertheless, the final two bowling spots go to Tim Murtagh and Chris Tremlett. They each took six cheap wickets for their counties to bring about last day victories.

So, no out-and-out spinners this time. Even Tambe failed to make the grade. So my Team of The Week reads: Smith (Sur), Simmons (Mum), Warner (Hyd), Wessels (Not), Yuvraj Singh (Bang), Wright (Sus), Collingwood (Dur), Brown (Sus +), Plunkett (Yor), Tremlett (Sur), Murtagh (Mid)