County Cricket: Somerset are Abell but Surrey seem the more willing

Just over ten years ago my blog celebrated the 501-run partnership involving Alviro Petersen and Ashwell Prince in Lancashire’s Championship fixture at Colwyn Bay. There was nothing quite as massive this week, but one of Ian Botham’s records was eclipsed when James Rew and Tom Abell put on a new Somerset fourth-wicket record of 313 at Trent Bridge. All the more remarkable was the fact it followed a devastating opening spell by Muhammad Abbas, and the second-best stand was just 41. It counted for little, because Haseeb Hameed’s 208 anchored a superior Nottinghamshire reply which pretty much guaranteed the draw. 

The stalemate also played into Surrey’s hands. The leaders extended the gap over their nearest rivals to nine points courtesy of a five-wicket defeat of Durham at Chester-le-Street, where runs proved harder to come by. There were no centuries although Emilio Gay was dismissed one short. Ben Raine and Sai Kishore went home with five-fors, but the champs took the sixteen points for the win. 

Yorkshire stole the seaside show at Scarborough, thumping Sussex by an innings and leaping out of the relegation spots. Tons from Lyth and, for the second game in succession, Matt Revis, elevated the home side’s total to an unassailable 545-9 declared. Sussex were always struggling to save the game and, despite dogged late resistance by Hudson-Prentice and Carson, the experienced seamer Matt Milnes sealed the triumph with figures of 5-31. 

Warwickshire are only a point behind Somerset despite a run-heavy draw against Essex at Chelmsford. The hosts dominated the first few days, as Tom Westley, Charlie Allison and Michael Pepper all reached three figures. The Midlanders made a decent fist of their response, led by Ed Barnard and Ethan Bamber’s maiden hundred in his 72^nd first-class match. 

Not for the first time this season, Worcestershire were frustrated on the final afternoon when in sight of a much-needed success. Hampshire set them a challenging target of 358 on the final afternoon and, to skipper D’Oliveira’s credit, they accepted the gauntlet with no little enterprise. Jake Libby carried his bat for a round 100 in the first innings and reached 106 in the second before being bowled by Fuller. The run rate continued at more than six an over, but wickets fell regularly and, at 303-8, time was called with neither side quite doing enough. 

In Division Two, the combination of inclement weather and dominant batsmen prevented a result in three of the four fixtures. The exception occurred at Old Trafford, where Glamorgan cemented their second place by beating Lancashire by 154 runs. Chris Green (6-83) had limited the Welsh county to 261 on day one, but Mason Crane’s six-wicket blitz left Lancashire 124 adrift. Centuries by Kiran Carlson and Sam Northeast consolidated the lead and, despite Luke Wells’ 102, the Red Roses fell way short of the 473 target. 

Leicestershire are still comfortably clear of the rest following a tame draw at Canterbury. Rehan Ahmed scored another century and Tom Scriven’s unlikely 99 advanced the total to 471. However, day three was almost totally washed out, so Kent’s Ben Compton batted virtually to the end, amassing 221. Ahmed was the most successful of the ten bowlers used by ‘keeper-captain Handscomb, who kept his gloves on throughout! 

Northamptonshire had Derbyshire on the back foot for the final few days, courtesy of a 208-run seventh-wicket stand shared by Justin Broad and Rob Keogh. On the fourth day, only rain and Luis Reece’s defiance saved Derby’s bacon. The Cheltenham crowd had little to relish either, especially thse who turned up on Thursday with hope and well-used umbrellas. At least there were excellent innings from the bats of Middlesex’s Kane Williamson (153) and Gloucestershire’s 21-year-old Joe Phillips (136). 

Now comes the interminable hiatus for The Hundred and the neutered Metro One-Day Cup. As ever, I’ll be focussing on the latter, which opens the door for the less-lauded white-ballers to show what they’re made of in fifty-over competition. Glamorgan handed Somerset their traditional runners-up medals last season and must be in with a decent shout this summer, too. 

Team of the Week:- Hameed (Not), Libby (Wor), B Compton (Ken), Westley (Ess), Abell (Som), Carlson (Gla), Rew (Som +), Revis (Yor), Crane (Gla), Milnes (Yor), T Taylor (Wor)

Smith and Mills give the Blast a Lift-off

Across the Atlantic, the Twenty20 World \Cup began with some fanfare but, until the USA shocked Pakistan, the action on then pitch has been underwhelming. Wonderful to see the likes of Oman, Nepal and Papua New Guinea, though. Back in Blighty, the Vitality Blast has launched well below the radar. Competing with the World Cup, this year’s tournament robs counties of the world’s big names but gives regulars and experienced biff-bang merchants the opportunity to make headlines. 

The first week threw up only a handful of 200-plus scores, two of them by Surrey, the only side with three consecutive victories. Despite the arrival of Jason Roy and Tom Curran, it was Jamie Smith who starred with the bat, crunching 87 and 76 against Somerset and Glamorgan, respectively. Glamorgan skipper Sam Northeast was the only other player to strike two fifties and Essex’s Michael Pepper the sole centurion, thumping a 44-ball 101 to defeat Middlesex at Chelmsford. His other innings were 7 and a golden duck, but that’s T20 for you! 

Middlesex, Nottinghamshire and Durham are the dunces of the week, losing all their fixtures. The latter have been bowled out twice for a combined total of 176, with Michael Jones’ 29 against the Bears their highest individual score. Former England star Alex Hales hasn’t exactly set Trent Bridge alight, but Sussex paceman Tymal Mills has delivered a couple of four-wicket performances and 39-year-old Ravi Bopara has once again been an inspirational all-rounder for Northamptonshire. 

It has been seven years since Mason Crane made his two T20 international appearances against South Africa but this week his leg-spin has been consistently on the money for Glamorgan., claiming six scalps without being thumped all around the grounds. 

On a personal note, my highlight of the Blast to date was Somerset replicating the 2023 Final success against Essex at Taunton. Fine strokeplay by Smeed, Abell and Lewis Gregory ensured the target was reached in the final over, Craig Overton applying the coup de grace with a boundary 

Team of the Week:- Wells (Lan), Bell-Drummond (Ken), Northeast (Gla), Pepper (Ess), Cox (Ess), J Smith (Sur), Bopara (Nor), Cooke (Gla +), Mike (Lei), Crane (Gla), Mills (Sus)

Worcestershire’s Triple Whammy

While Stuart Broad and the Barmy Army were giving the Aussies a warm welcome by the throat at Edgbaston, other Antipodeans were in Vitality Blast action around the UK. Riki Wessels and Kiwi Martin Guptill got Worcestershire off to some stunning starts last week, as the county notched three straight wins which propelled them to second in the North division table. Their most emphatic came against Durham where they chased down 180 in barely 12 overs.

The opposition opener D’Arcy Short continued his fine all-round form although Durham lost two of their matches. Their only victory was at home to bottom team Leicestershire. Last week I conjectured that Leicester’s winless streak would surely end soon, and so it proved in an eleven-over romp at Trent Bridge where Arron Lilley cracked 66 in 30 deliveries. Hales, Duckett, Clarke and Christian just couldn’t respond for Nottinghamshire although they crushed the Birmingham Bears by 71 runs. Lancashire still top the group without a single defeat.

Further south, Afghan seamer Mohammad Nabi made some telling contributions for Kent, albeit with the bat. The most devastating was his 12-ball 43 not out in a seven-over thrash against Surrey, out-striking even Aaron Finch. In contrast, Kent’s first loss of the campaign was inflicted by Sussex, for whom Tymal Mills was in particularly good form all week and Jofra Archer was given a few workouts with the ball.

Glamorgan’s search for a T20 success goes on. They missed a golden opportunity to beat Gloucestershire at Cardiff where short-form specialist paceman Andrew Tye struck a rapid unbeaten 38 to earn his side a tie. The Welsh side did suffer the most humiliating reverse of the week, as Hampshire dismissed them for 87 on a tricky Southampton pitch. Mason Crane and Liam Dawson each took three cheap wickets.

Somerset managed a single win, beating Surrey easily in a high-scorer at Taunton. Eddie Byrom struck a 19-ball fifty on his T20 debut. However, a stress injury to Lewis Gregory earlier in the week could prove disastrous for Somerset not only in the Blast but also our efforts to clinch the Championship from Essex’s clutches. Cricket is not just about the Aussies.

Team of the Week: Short (Dur), Wessels (Wor), Westley (Ess), Vince (Ham), Parnell (Wor), Moores (Not +), Mohammad Nabi (Ken), Higgins (Glo), Crane (Ham), Rampaul (Der), Mills (Sus)

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.