Warwickshire County Champions in last-day drama

So, after a Hundred-hampered, two-phase season, the destination of the County Championship fluctuated several times during the final four days before settling on Warwickshire in dramatic style. It was like a typical thriller. Red herrings, plot twists and in the climactic episode it was a peripheral character who dunit.

At the start of the week, Hampshire were in pole position to win the title for the first time since, incredibly, 1973. Beat Lancashire at Liverpool and they’d succeed. However, when they were bowled out for 143 and still ended up with a first-innings lead, it looked like being a lottery. Second time around Tom Bailey (7-37) was in devastating form and only an 80-run stand from James Vince and Liam Dawson prevented an embarrassment. Nonetheless, Lancashire’s target was, in the context of the game, a challenging one. They made a solid start and, with captain Dane Vilas at the crease, were cruising to victory. Suddenly Mason Crane grabbed wickets only for the cool-headed skipper, with one partner left, to strike the winning boundary. Hampshire’s chance had gone. 

Long-time leaders Nottinghamshire were hosting Yorkshire and had been in with a shout themselves. Joe Clarke’s 109 and Joey Evison’s 4-13 gave them hope on day two and, despite Adam Lyth’s robust 153, Ben Slater’s unbeaten 79 ensured Notts won by five wickets. However, Lancashire’s win left them an agonising half a point behind. 

Over to Edgbaston where bowlers were finding life more difficult. Warwickshire were piling on the runs until the returning Craig Overton, unplayable earlier in the summer, put on the brakes with five wickets. Given Somerset’s abysmal record this September, it was therefore amazing that they somehow notched a marginal first-innings lead and on the final morning a draw looked the most likely outcome. The home side promptly went for broke, led by Rob Yates and Will Rhodes, declaring 272 ahead. Could Somerset avoid yet another defeat? Nah. Chris Woakes claimed another three victims, as did Craig Miles so, on the very final afternoon, the Championship belonged to Warwickshire! 

In Division Two, wickets tumbled like the Government’s Brexit restrictions on foreign HGV drivers. Twenty-four fell on day one at Chelmsford and Essex had beaten Northamptonshire by an innings early the next morning. At barely 96 overs in total, it was the shortest ‘four-day’ match in Championship history! Sam Cook’s 10-41 were the most significant stats but I wonder if a points deduction will be imposed, just as it was against Somerset in their decider versus Essex last year. 

Gloucestershire also defeated Durham inside two days. Spinner Zafar Gohar took eleven wickets while all-rounder Graeme van Buuren rounded off a fine season. Nobody won more first-class matches in 2021 than Gloucester but  Essex still finished above them. What a contrast with proceedings at The Oval. Only ten wickets fell in the entire match! Chris Cooke’s 205 not out helped Glamorgan to a mighty 672-6 declared but Surrey’s top order also enjoyed two days of batting practice. Jamie Smith and Hashim Amla helped themselves to hundreds but Ollie Pope went even further. He improved his Oval record by reaching 274 before part-time spinner Hamish Rutherford ripped out his middle stump. At one stage, ‘keeper Cooke swapped places with seamer Michael Hogan to amuse themselves but it couldn’t have been much fun for spectators. In his very last innings, Rikki Clarke was given a guard of honour by the opposition and ended unbeaten on twelve. What a servant to county cricket he has been. 

Talking of brilliant veterans, Darren Stevens took 4-21 and 1-18 in Kent’s two-wicket victory over Middlesex. Very much a game of two halves, the batsmen took charge on the last two days. Mark Stoneman struck 109 for the visitors, then Ollie Robinson (109) and young Zimbabwean refugee Tuwanda Muyeye (89) seemed to be steering the match in Kent’s favour until Murtagh and Roland-Jones intervened. On the fourth morning, with just three men left, Matt Milnes and Grant Stewart saw them home for a fourth successive win. 

Worcestershire advanced to third place with a ten-wicket demolition of Leicestershire. Jake Libby top-scored with 77 and Joe Leach claimed six wickets to triumph with a day to spare. After the remaining fixture at Hove involving the bottom clubs, the wooden spoon was the unwanted property of Sussex who handed Derbyshire their first win of the season. Wayne Madsen struck 111 in the first innings but Ben Brown achieved a valiant 157. On its own this isn’t especially momentous, but no fewer than six team-mates were dismissed for ducks! Matt Critchley mopped up the tail, forcing Sussex to follow on. This time it was Brown who failed to score, but only Rawlins passed 30. An innings defeat was averted but a ten-wicket margin was still pretty decisive. 

The Championship is over for another year but top two counties Lancashire and Warwickshire will meet to decide the Bob Willis Trophy next week. Forecast showers could affect the result but if the pitch is as bowler-friendly as Liverpool or Chelmsford, it could be done and dusted by Wednesday….. 

Team of the Week: Lyth (Yor), Stoneman (Mid), Yates (War), Pope (Sur), Cooke (Gla), Robinson (Ken +), Van Buuren (Glo), Stevens (Ken), Bailey (Lan), Zafar Gohar (Glo), S Cook (Ess)

Somerset Slump Again in Championship

It’s been a week when we’ve witnessed the best and worst of international cricket. From a fabulous contest at The Oval to a farcical cancellation at Old Trafford, it’s signified a rapid switch from glorious advertisement for five-day Test matches to the supremacy of IPL. Covid precautions, my arse! 

Right now, we Somerset fans would love to cheer our team through four or five days, but the county seems mysteriously unable to last even two. Having eased into Division One, they’ve now been thrashed by an innings twice, Yorkshire doing the business this week at Scarborough. Since the restart, Somerset have failed to reach 200, and it was Matt Fisher who wreaked most of the havoc this time, closely followed by the visitors’ own batters. Harry Brook, on the other hand, seemed to revel in the sea air, scoring 118. 

Nottinghamshire made it two wins from two, defeating Lancashire at Trent Bridge. Tom Bailey and Danny Lamb each performed well with bat and ball but most of their colleagues let them down, especially in the first innings. Notts keeper Tom Moores stroked eighteen boundaries in his top-scoring 97. 

In the other top tier fixture, Hampshire returned from Edgbaston with a sixty-run triumph but they made an inauspicious start, bowled out for 89 on the first morning, Warwickshire all-rounder Will Rhodes taking 5-23.  However, Mohammad Abbas and Keith Barker struck back immediately with five-fors of their own. Barker also weighed in with 75 to give him and the rest of the attack enough to defend. Yates and England reject Sibley ground out 99 for the opening stand but they could survive only until mid-afternoon on the final day before the last four wickets tumbled in three overs. 

In Division Two, the virus wiped out Durham v Surrey but Essex made short work of Gloucestershire at Chelmsford to remain top. Cook and Porter took seven first-innings wickets but spinner Simon Harmer finished with seven victims and Essex with 21 points. It was a much tighter affair at Northampton, where Northants had to break their Championship record chase of 322 against Surrey to win. Jordan Clark’s pace yielded five wickets but Rob Keogh’s 99 and Luke Procter’s dogged 57 laid the foundation for a two-wicket win. 

Records tumbled at Hove, too. Sam Robson and Mark Stoneman – fresh from hs ‘pair’ last week – racked up 376 for the first wicket as Middlesex raced to a massive 676-5 declared. Sussex skipper Tom Haines led from the front, aggregating 243 over both innings but all to no avail. 20 year-old leggie Luke Hollman nabbed ten wickets in all to snuff out any hopes Sussex harboured of saving the match. Kent also won their second game in succession, defeating Worcestershire inside three days thanks in part to eight wickets by young Zimbabwean seamer Nathan Gilchrist. 

At Derby, Leicestershire piled on over 500, Lewis Hill top-scoring with 113. A 227 stand between centurions Brook Guest and Anuj Dal wasn’t enough to save Derbyshire’s follow-on but Godleman’s unbeaten 100 and Matt Critchley saw them through to a draw. The other contest, in Division Two, saw Durham deal Glamorgan a big blow. Paul Coughlin (4-11 and 5-64) never gave the opposing batsmen a chance.

Now the England-India decider is off, the hottest cricket ticket is at Southampton where top tier leaders Hampshire and Warwickshire fight it out. 

Team of the Week: S Robson (Mid), Stoneman (Mid), Haines (Sus), Hill (Lei), J Smith (Sur +), Guest (Der), Coughlin (Dur), Hollman (Mid), Fisher (Yor), Gilchrist (Ken), Abbas (Ham)

Pakistan deal England another blow

Pakistan don’t get many opportunities to play Test cricket these days. However, they must wish they played England twice a year every year because they seem to have our measure, to put it mildly. Two years ago, Misbah’s team drew 2-2 but could be said to have won on points after the ten-wicket massacre in the Oval finale. Now at Lord’s they have dealt England a First Test defeat for the first time since a West Indies team boasting Walsh, Ambrose, Lara et al won by the same margin, again on the fourth day. 

On the plus side, England fought back to draw that particular six-match series and it is not unfeasible they can salvage something from this truncated rubber in 2018. However, this week the gulf was somewhat embarrassing. Even Joe Root had to confess his side had been second best in all three disciplines: with the bat, ball and in the field. If England could blame unfamiliar conditions prepared by Johnny Foreigner for their winter travails, they can hardly use the same excuse for the pitch at HQ in May, ideal for Anderson and Broad to exploit, and Root’s top six to show the visitors how to bat on a Bank Holiday weekend. Oops!

It went wrong right from the first session on Thursday. Stoneman, Root and Malan were back in the pavilion inside sixteen overs. All that criticism of Alastair Cook – too old, too slow, too out of form, should be at three – and yet the ex-captain was he only man to show any stickability, easily the top scorer in the first innings, with 70. I’m sure Jos Buttler wasn’t selected as a specialist batsman at seven to come in and shore up the lower order midway through the second session, and of course he failed.

Mohammad Abbas and Hasan Ali aren’t usually touted as frightening pacemen but they skilfully showed up England’s deficiencies and bowled them out for 184. In reply, no fewer than four Pakistani batsman passed 50, and who knows how many Babar Azam might have scored had he not had his forearm broken by a rising ball from Ben Stokes when well placed on 68. Nobody bowled particularly badly; they just weren’t effective enough and Pakistan established a healthy lead of 179.

The obvious team talk would have been to exhort all batsmen to knuckle down, play each ball on its merits, blah-blah-blah. However, when Cook was LBW to an Abbas beauty in the second over to stunned silence in St John’s Wood, the warnings were there one more. Poor Mark Stoneman failed again while Joe Root did at least produce another useful 60-odd. When he was sixth out at 110, a three-day rout looked probable. But from such barren ground, the recalled Buttler and debutant Dom Bess – in his first ever first-class match at Lord’s – bore fruit, developing a 125 partnership which lasted to stumps.

Could the pair – Somerset past and present – maintain the stand and help set Pakistan a challenging target? Whaddya think?! Jos had added just a single before Abbas trapped him leg-before. Seventeen balls later, England had collapsed to 242 all out. Pakistan can be jittery when faced with an apparently straightforward chase but, despite Azhar Ali succumbing to an Anderson gem for 4, there were no major alarms and the job was done with some glorious strokes, including a clubbed six by Haris Sohail off a Bess full-toss.

There’s less than a week to regroup, reconsider and revive England’s fortunes. As for changes, Stoneman’s axe was inevitable and his former Durham team-mate Keaton Jennings has been in sufficiently fine early season for Lancashire to warrant a recall as Cook’s partner. Dom Bess took no wickets but, with his West Country colleague Jack Leach still out of action, should be in the frame again, if only because of his useful batting. At just 20, we Somerset faithful were hoping he would get a few good seasons to learn his craft so I hope the experience doesn’t dent his confidence. Fortunately, it is hardly a Kerrigan-esque situation.

In a way I can see why Ed Smith and co opted to bring back the IPL sloggers to try something more exciting but to me it smacks of desperation. I cannot understand why some suggest Bairstow hands the gloves to Buttler and swap roles. It would mean no change in personnel and arguably weakening the ‘keeping. Crazy! Maybe it’s time for the new chief selector Smith to venture outside Middlesex for a change and see who else is out there in county cricket other than Malan, Morgan and Finn, languishing in the second division. He may be in for a pleasant surprise. Meanwhile, Pakistan will be licking their lips, a well-drilled outfit of excellent young bowlers, able batsmen and enthusiastic fielders hoping to seal a series victory at Headingley next week. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility.

County Cricket Team of 2017

The County Championship structure was adjusted this year to reduce the fixtures played by the top tier, and presumably the strain placed upon those men likely to be playing for England. However, with the international summer dragging on until the end of September, it was even harder for counties to play their stars for more than a few games all season anyway.

From my team of 2016, Keaton Jennings and Ben Duckett were tried and discarded, while Tom Westley just about did enough against the West Indies to justify selection for the Ashes tour. As for the 2017 county competitions, newly-promoted Essex became champions by a country mile while their predecessors Middlesex were relegated alongside a woeful Warwickshire outfit. Worcestershire replaced them, as did Nottinghamshire, who also grabbed both limited-overs trophies in Chris Read’s final season. With only eight teams in Division One, by mid-September most of them were still at risk of relegation. Not sure if that’s a healthy thing but it certainly concentrated the mind, especially at Somerset’s final match at home to Middlesex.

Anyway, who were the men who contributed most to domestic cricket across all three formats?

Openers:

In terms of first-class cricket, there were few consistent run-scorers.at the very top of the order. Alastair Cook helped Essex to a fine start to the summer, averaging 67 in all and, perhaps improbably, was the most prolific player in the Royal London Cup. However, my top two pretty much pick themselves. Alongside Rory Burns, Mark Stoneman made 1,156 Championship runs at 60.84 and 456 in the 50-over tournament for Surrey, and Daryl Mitchell’s seven centuries for Division Two champions Worcestershire were critical.

Middle-order:

Let’s deal first with the no-brainer. Kumar Sangakkara was utterly magnificent. In only 16 innings he reached three figures eight times, five of them consecutive. He stroked runs in either innings and, with the openers, ensured Surrey attained more batting bonus points than anybody else by a mile. If only their bowlers had been any good, they may have given Essex a run for their money. In all competitions the retiring Sri Lankan legend scored 2,156 for his county. Fabulous! Kent’s Joe Denly was the second highest scorer overall. With Sam Northeast, he often held their batting together in Division Two and tonked almost 600 runs in the T20 Blast.

When considering Nottinghamshire batsmen, many don’t get further than Alex Hales. However, the duo of Samit Patel and Riki Wessels were far more influential with the bat, Wessels particularly effective in the T20, often doubling as wicketkeeper. Patel crunched two double-centuries and his spin was typically miserly in the short stuff, too. I should also mention Mark Cosgrove’s consistency amidst the misery that was Leicestershire’s batting line-up. Nevertheless, my number five slot goes to South African Colin Ingram. He scored over a thousand limited overs runs in all, helping Glamorgan to a rare Finals Day appearance with bat and ball.

All-Rounder:

As ever, top-class batsmen-bowlers were thin on the ground. While Ben Stokes was doing his thing for England and outside Bristol clubs, Peter Trego unusually quiet in Taunton, Samit Patel focussing on his batting and Chris Woakes out of county action, the stage was set for a couple of doughty county old-stagers. Steven Mullaney is often written off as a dibbly-dobbler medium-pacer who can bat a bit. However, I bet most counties would love to have a Mullaney in their squad: he has the sound technique to open in the four-dayers, provide valuable late-order swishes in the 50-overs and keep the runs down in Twenty20. Yet he is eclipsed by my old favourite, Darren Stevens. It speak volumes for Kent’s thin attack that a 41 year-old opens their bowling but he finished the season on a record 60 Championship wickets at barely 18 apiece, while notching 707 runs at over 41, and that ignores almost 400 in the one-dayers. His age suggests retirement can’t be far away but at the moment he s simply irreplaceable for Kent.

Wicket-keeper:

Much attention was paid to the progress of Lancashire’s Alex Davies, promoted to open in the Championship. He made a good start, too, while their other young opener Habeeb struggled. At 31, his namesake Steven Davies took time to find his feet at Somerset but then so did the rest of the side. It was his runs and stumpings which did so much to rescue the county from relegation and he seemed to perform best against his old Surrey team mates. Ha-ha, Mr Batty! Surrey’s Ben Foakes also improved his batting but Ollie Pope tended to man the stumps in the Blast. I ought to mention James Foster’s fine second half of the season for Essex but my selection goes, narrowly to Middlesex’s John Simpson. Too often his runs at six or seven held them together and nobody claimed more dismissals on the county circuit.

Bowlers:-

While the likes of Anderson, Broad, Ball and Finn were restricted in their conty appearances, it was left to 24 year-old Essex seamer Jamie Porter to reprise last year’s Division Two success at the higher level. His return of 75 wickets at only 16.82 was phenomenal and makes him the obvious choice, besides Sangakkara, for my Eleven. Worcestershire skipper Joe Leach was also rock steady with the new ball, Ben Coad was a real find for Yorkshire, Liam Norwell did great work for Gloucestershire and, unlike Surrey’s Curran brothers, Craig Overton seemed to progress for Somerset on unhelpful pitches. But my other two seam spots are reserved for Kyle Abbott and Jofra Archer. The 30 year-old South African nicked 60 cheap first-class wickets for Hampshire as well as adding useful runs at eight or nine. At 22, Archer blew out of nowhere for Sussex with his fast bowling. The Bajan’s batting was also strong enough for him to end the Championship summer averaging a very healthy 45.56. Definitely one to watch at home and overseas.

In terms of spin, Jack Leach enjoyed a fruitful September for Somerset, but the normally reliable Jeetan Patel’s season went like much of Warwickshire’s cricket, downhill fast. It is therefore a simple decision to pick Simon Harmer in my XI. I admit my ignorance of the Pretorian before 2017 but his aggressive offbreaks despatched 90 batsmen in all competitions and did so much to carry Essex to the title. What a shrewd Kolpak signing he turned out to be.

In summary, based on stats and my Teams of the Week, my County Team of 2017 is:-

Stoneman (Sur), Mitchell (Wor), Denly (Ken), Sangakkara (Sur), Ingram (Gla), Stevens (Ken), Simpson (Mid), Abbott (Ham), Archer (Sus), Harmer (Ess), Porter (Ess)

12^th Man: S Patel (Not)

Stoneman and Crane In for England

England are rightly celebrating a well-earned 3-1 series victory over South Africa. With the exception of Trent Bridge, Joe Root’s side appeared dominant and, when injury struck, most of the new boys stepped up to the mark admirably.

Not that the old guard were disappointing. Alastair Cook, Root himself and Jimmy Anderson were as reliable as ever, while Moeen Ali proved himself a matchwinner with bat and ball. Maybe he can at last consider himself a genuine Test all-rounder, having amassed 252 runs and an impressive 25 wickets at only 15.64. Jonny Bairstow scored three half-centuries, including a 99, and didn’t disgrace himself with the gloves, while Ben Stokes’ 112 at The Oval suggested a new maturity with the bat.

After sterling Championship form in 2017, Gary Ballance deserved his recall but couldn’t re-establish himself in the England team. Keaton Jennings dominated the run charts last summer but his run in the national team would appear to have run its course – for now. Roland-Jones, Westley and Malan avoided disasters in the final couple of Tests, successfully making the transition from Lions to first team, although I have doubts over the latter’s ability to stay in the side.

And now for the West Indies. Sadly the outcome of the three-Test series should be a foregone conclusion, which may explain why Jennings and Liam Dawson have been jettisoned in favour of two further potential debutants, Mark Stoneman and Mason Crane.

Firstly, I reckon Stoneman deserves his place, and not only because he is one of the Surrey boys. Five year ago, he didn’t exactly set the Durham faithful alight but then started to reach 1,000 first-class runs regularly, causing Surrey to splash the cash on him and team-mate Scott Borthwick, leaving Jennings behind. In 2017 so far, only the supreme Kumar Sangakkara has scored more runs in Division One, and he made half-centuries for England ‘A’ a few weeks ago. I did see him at Taunton on Monday but only patrolling the rope in the field while Abell and Davies were hitting boundaries!

The selection of Mason Crane is perhaps a little more puzzling. English leg-spinners are certainly in short supply and in any case tend to be used primarily to keep batsmen guessing in Twenty20. Adil Rashid’s batting has helped him gain international experience but he is not the player he was. Hampshire’s Crane, born in neighbouring Sussex, is still only 20 and not exactly a first-class specialist. His 70 wickets have come at a hefty cost of 42 runs apiece and he’s only played five Championship matches all summer. I can only presume he is being blooded in the squad rather than heading for the first XI, with an outside chance of becoming the new Shane Warne in the Ashes series. Well, Warne was his childhood idol, so a boy can dream!

I think Stoneman has the temperament to be a decent Test player and, at the ripe old age of 30, the experience to avoid becoming another Robson, Hameed or Duckett. However, I fear he may be another Lyth: a decent opening batsman capable of scoring county runs for fun but a little vulnerable to top-class international bowlers. We shall see.

Tendo fires Essex to the Top

With kind weather and a conducive pitch, the Guildford crowds witnessed almost four full days of cricket. Unfortunately for the home fans, Essex came out on top and, buoyed by maximum points, now lead Division One by six points. Surrey made a solid enough start, thanks largely to Mark Stoneman’s 197. However, Essex skipper Ryan Ten Doeschate led a spirited response with an unbeaten168, then Tom Westley’s final day century finished things off.

Yorkshire also achieved their third Championship success of the summer at Taunton but by a mere three runs. I’m gutted that Somerset should lose yet again by such a narrow margin. Neither side managed 300 in an innings and it was Gary Ballance’s second innings 98 not out which proved to be the top individual score. While Ryan Sidebottom was reverse swinging the ball, and only one wicket left, Jamie Overton decided to attack the off-spin of Adam Lyth.  The first ball of the part-timer’s 18^th over went for six, the next for two leg-byes. Seeking a match-winning boundary, Overton just hol out to mid-wicket, dammit! Somerset’s young captain Tom Abell endured another miserable week with the bat. Surely a change is imminent, but the rest of the batting line-up is also struggling.

There were no three-figure scores at Southport either, and it was Lancashire’s bowlers who the upper hand over Middlesex. Stephen Parry was unused on the first morning but took 5-45 on the final morning. Special mention must go to Alex Davies. His runs have dried up but he made an impressive nine catches and a stumping.

Division Two is beginning to resemble a table of two halves. At the top, Nottinghamshire, Kent and Worcestershire each have four victories so far. However, none of them won this week. Indeed, the latter county contrived to lose at home to Glamorgan inside three days. Not wishing to downplay the significance of stand-in skipper Michael Hogan’s 5-38, the crucial passage of play was probably the Glammies’ recovery from 57-6 to 381 all out. It included a century stand for the ninth wicket between Andrew Salter and Lukas Carey.

At Bristol, Samit Patel struck a career-best 257 not out to put Nottinghamshire in the driving seat. However, Gloucestershire batted out the entire final day to salvage a draw. Northamptonshire also registered a fourth Championship success, this time against Derbyshire. It wasn’t all plain sailing, though. Rob Newton was back in form but after he was out for 108 in the second innings, his team collapsed farcically, the remaining eight wickets vanishing for just 52 runs. However, they had sufficient runs in the locker and Derbyshire aren’t exactly prolific scorers. Seamer Ben Sanderson did the rest. There was, however, personal success for the losers’ teenage seamer Conor McKerr. In only his second first-class fixture, the South African claimed a satisfactory ten-for!

At Grace Road, Jofra Archer chalked up another eleven scalps with his fast-medium pace as Leicestershire came a cropper against Sussex. Meanwhile, at Canterbury, Durham came within a whisker of celebrating a first win of the season. On the last afternoon, after skipper Sam Northeast was the eighth man out for 72, Kent’s last three men, Claydon, Coles and Yasir Shah managed to survive the last eighteen overs. Tough on Paul Collingwood who contributed another 171 runs to the north-easterners’ cause.

This week, its back to the Royal London Cup, starting with the two quarter-finals. I wonder whether Somerset’s ongoing woes will impact upon their chances of advancing to the semis. Notts are in form so I fancy they will progress. Yorkshire v Surrey is harder to call but, if pushed, I’d plump for the Londoners to advance to Friday’s decider.

Team of the Week: Stoneman (Sur), Newton (Nor), Northeast (Ken), Patel (Not), Collingwood (Dur), Ten Doeschate (Ess), Davies (Lan +), Archer (Sus), McKerr (Der), Sidebottom (Yor), Sanderson (Nor)

Stoneman gives Surrey a solid start

For once, the April sun shone on the County Championship’s opening day of the season, and five of the six fixtures offered positive results inside three days. The venerable competition has been emasculated this year, with Division One slimmed to eight counties and only 14 matches, so we need to make the most of what first-class cricket is played this season. There were certainly some impressive performances in the first week.

Mark Stoneman made a perfect start to his Surrey career, contributing 162 to his side’s total en route to an innings defeat of Warwickshire. The Midlanders were skittled by Mark Footitt in their first innings but at least Jonathan Trott’s second innings 151 kept the game interesting into day three.

One of the title favourites, Yorkshire were up against it thanks to a bowling injury crisis. Despite skipper Gary Ballance’s best efforts with the bat, Hampshire duly took advantage. South African Kyle Abbott nabbed 7-41 before runs through the order sealed a four wicket victory.

Lancashire looked set to beat promoted Essex at Chelmsford after young wicketkeeper Alex Davies struck an unbeaten 140 then took five catches. Kolpaker Dane Vilas made 166 in his first two innings for the Red Roses, too. However, Dan Lawrence, still a teenager, battled on for 141 match-saving runs on the final day.

Two of the leading contenders for promotion were off and running with substantial wins. Nottinghamshire weren’t supposed to go down in 2016 but they should have enough firepower to bounce back into the top tier. Stuart Broad and Luke Fletcher were amongst the Leicestershire wickets but it was James Pattinson’s 89 not out and 8-84 match stats which really caught the eye. That said, the home side’s Ben Raine also enjoyed a fine all-round week. Unfortunately, Leicestershire are still in the red thanks to Charlie Shreck’s multiple pre-season discretions warranting a points deduction.

Kent were justified in crying foul after being robbed of promotion last autumn. Their 334-run mauling of Gloucestershire at Canterbry signified their intention to challenge again. Darren Stevens is beyond evergreen; he’s practically immortal. Kent must hope he is because his second-innings 6-12 was the pick of the bowling figures this week. He was ably supported by former Middlesex paceman James Harris who, if he stays free of injury, could well be the crucial addition to the squad.

Northamptonshire led the table after two days having trounced Glamorgan by an innings. Rory Kleinveldt thumped a typically rumbustious 86 and claimed six wickets, Ben Sanderson adding seven more and the Welsh were down and out. They will do well to avoid the wooden spoon come September.

Team of the Week:
Davies (Lan +), Stoneman (Sur), Trott (War), Ballance (Yor), Lawrence (Ess), Vilas (Lan), Stevens (Ken), Kleinveldt (Nor), J Pattinson (Not), Raine (Lei), Abbott (Ham).

Bairstow Breaks Durham Hearts

Last week the bowlers were in command but this time, the County Championship was extraordinarily kind to the batsmen, and wicketkeepers in particular. Even the Aussies got in on the act, making hay in the Kent and Essex sunshine in a week which saw those in the London area experience their hottest July weather on record.

The first v second battle in Division One proved surprisingly one-sided. Once Jonny Bairstow achieved a career-best 219 not out, and shared with Tim Bresnan a 366-run seventh wicket partnership – the third highest in all first-class cricket and a Championship record – Durham’s pretensions to the title looked distinctly feeble. Bresnan then added three wickets of his own to make the home county follow on. Mark Stoneman capped a good personal week with a solid 131 but all in vain.

At the other end of the table, Nottinghamshire lifted themselves to seventh by beating fellow strugglers Worcestershire in a relatively low-scoring affair at Trent Bridge. Riki Wessels (Notts) and Tom Fell (Worcester) each made two half-centuries, and Richard Oliver fell on 99, but the star bowler was the under-rated medium-pacer Jack Shantry. In the Notts second innings the recorded Murali-esque figures of 35.4-13-48-5. And still ended up on the losing side!

Hampshire are now back at the bottom following a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Middlesex. The Hants top order again failed, and James Harris helped himself to eight wickets. Meanwhile, at Edgbaston, only twelve wickets fell across all four days! Warwickshire and Sussex each declared on more than 600 with six centurions and another triple-hundred stand. Laurie Evans and ex-England ‘keeper Tim Ambrose piled on 327 for the sixth wicket as Sussex resorted to giving all eleven a bowl. A shame that ‘keeper Ben Brown couldn’t add a wicket to his unbeaten 119 from his eight tidy overs!

Next up, Yorkshire could put real distance between themselves and the rest by beating Warwickshire, while Worcestershire face another relegation battle, this time against Hampshire. Somerset go for a third consecutive success at home to Sussex, but somehow I can’t see it happening. Consistency is sorely lacking but then so is quality of the opposition bowling in recent weeks.

There were only two Second Division fixtures, but the promotion battle looks more interesting as a result. Leaders Lancashire could only draw with Northants, for whom young Ben Duckett contributed more than 200 runs. However, Surrey scorched Gloucestershire by an innings before the heatwave really took hold in London. Ben Foakes top-scored for the home team before Tom Curran (7-20) and Zafar Ansari (6-30) ripped through the vulnerable visitors on days two and three.

Next week, Glamorgan can catch up with one of their two games in hand (playing Derbyshire) but Lancashire can restore some momentum by beating Essex. Leicestershire and Kent will badly want to achieve the win which would consign the other to last place.

Team of the Week: Stoneman (Dur), Ansari (Sur), Duckett (Nor), Evans (War), Wright (Sus), M Marsh (Aus), Bairstow (Yor, +), Bresnan (Yor), T Curran (Sur), Harris (Mid), Shantry (Wor)