The Lyth and Lumb Show!

In a rain-affected week, there were quite a few games abandoned without a ball being bowled. However, Essex remain star performers in the Royal London One-Day Cup and Worcestershire are the only county with four wins in the T20 Blast.

Adam Lyth scored only his second List A century in Yorkshire’s impressive win over Northamptonshire and, 24 hours later, he went and struck his third! These were no stodgy Boycott-like innings; Lyth managed 15 sixes and was instrumental in reviving the White Roses’ one-day fortunes. Their contest with Lancashire resulted in a crushing 242-run victory, as Martin Guptill’s team-mates collapsed like a pack of cards.

Michael Lumb maintained his impressive run of form, notching another ton, this time against Durham but the highest partnership of the week came courtesy of the Gloucestershire openers Chris Dent (142) and Michael Klinger (166) against Hampshire.

Somerset endured a mixed week of abandonments, a win, defeat and a thrilling tie against Essex. The defeat was pretty conclusive, as Kent’s Joe Denly and Sam Billings thumped centuries before their bowlers finished the job. Ever-reliable colleague Matt Coles also had a very busy week of four matches, including a 52-ball 91 and a total of six wickets.

Sussex pair Chris Jordan and part-timer Tymal Mills showed why England has come a-calling. Jordan’s contribution included a 50-over five-for and half-century, followed by 3-18 against Kent in the Blast. Mills’ 3-15 was the best T20 bowling statistic of the county week.

Coming up, while I am swanning around on the shores of Lake Garda, the counties try their hands at the four-day format once more. The Roses battle at the top of Division One is resumed. Leaders Lancashire host Warwickshire while Yorkshire take the short trip north to Durham. In Division Two, Essex will hope to restore their winning ways at home to Leicestershire, who must be a bit ring-rusty after this week. Annoyingly, the Blast calendar and Sky TV schedule mean that the games are no longer starting simultaneously, but as long as we get some entertaining cricket I’ll let it pass!

Team of the Week: Lyth (Yor), Klinger (Glo), Duckett (Nor), Denly (Ken), Billings (Ken +), Ingram (Gla), Jordan (Sus), Coles (Ken), Gregory (Som), Tredwell (Ken), Gurney (Lan)

Lumb and Wessels on Fire!

As the County Championship took its first week off this summer, the 50-over One-Day Cup kicked off alongside the continuing T20 Blast. Gloucestershire have made a terrible start to their title defence, losing all three fixtures so far. Mind you, they should have beaten Somerset in their first match, but Jamie Overton and Tim Groenewald produced a tenth wicket stand of 65 to clinch an unlikely win with three balls to spare.

Somerset top the South Group with Essex and Glamorgan but all eyes this week have been on Nottinghamshire and their opening partnership of Michael Lumb and Riki Wessels. All three of their stands reached three figures, including an astonishing 342 against Northants. It broke the old Dravid/Ganguly List A record in England, while the county total of 445-8 is the second highest anywhere in the world. Even more remarkable was that Northants fell only 20 runs short, and the aggregate of 870 was a mere two behind the world record. Lumb made 184, Wessels 146 but perhaps both were outdone by the opponents’ Rory Kleinveldt. Having to bat with a runner, he had to go for boundaries. Thumping ten 4s and nine 6s, he amassed 128 from 63 balls before falling five overs from home.

Lumb made 133 in the Warwickshire game, and both he and Wessels made fifties in their twenty-over match for good measure. For all the runs racked up by Notts, their net run rate is inferior to Derbyshire’s. Ben Slater (against Durham) and Hamish Rutherford (vs Worcestershire) scored centuries while Shiv Thakor, deprived of batting opportunites, has again been amongst the wickets.

Elsewhere, Hain, Bell and Trott were in the runs for Warwickshire, and Johann Myburgh (Somerset), Kevin O’Brien (Leicestershire) and Jesse Ryder (Essex) were also consistently high in their scoring. It certainly wasn’t a week for bowlers, but then modern one-day cricket is fundamentally designed for batsmen: all fielding restrictions, big blades and short boundaries.

Twenty20 is even worse, but at least there were opportunities for experienced Aussie seamers Clint McKay and Michael Hogan to work their magic. Northants currently boast the only 100% record in this year’s Blast while Yorkshire are in the unenviable position of losing all three games played to date. While the big signings like Gayle, Bravo, McCullum, Afridi, Jayawardene et al undoubtedly shift tickets, the top performers on the pitch thus far are home-growners like Daniel Bell-Drummond of Kent, Joe Leach from Worcestershire and Leicestershire’s Ben Raine. Time will tell whether the picture changes as the competition progresses.


Team of the Week: Lumb (Not), Wessels (Not), K O’Brien (Lei), Westley (Ess), Hain (War), Buttler (Lan +), Thakor (Der), Dawson (Ham), Howell (Glo), McKay (Lei), Hogan (Gla)

Sydney hit Lions for Sixers

Having tipped the Highveld Lions, it was inevitable that the Sydney Sixers would win the Champions League Trophy. However, few would have predicted such a one-sided contest.

The South Africans had got this far despite the poor form of their captain Alviro Petersen, and his miserable run continued. Being dismissed for a single is bad enough but when the opener is fourth back in the pavilion with the score on nine, things looked serious for the men in red. Spinners Nathan McCullum, one of only two non-Aussies in the side, and Steve O'Keefe, ripped out the Lions' teeth inside four overs and it was only through some sensible resistance from Jean Symes that they posted a vaguely defendible target.

The competition has been memorable for the economy and wicket-taking of the Lions' own spin duo Morris and Phangiso but they couldn't provide a repeat of their semi-final heroics. Skipper Brad Haddin and SA-born England international Michael Lumb ensured the Aussies romped to an amazing ten-wicket victory. No surprise that the latter won the Man of the Match award - the top batsman nearly always does - but O'Keefe or Josh Hazlewood deserved the plaudits.

Pink was the colour at the Wanderers and congratulations for the Sixers for not only ending the fortnight unbeaten but also for doing it without star performer Shane Watson in the final three matches. Michael Lumb was the top CLT scorer on 226 and Mitch Starc claimed more wickets than anyone else, so the Sydney outfit really did win everything going.

It'll be interesting to see how the young franchise progresses. Champions of the Big Bash and now the international tourney, they will take some beating. IPL sides like the Daredevils and Indians may be stacked with global superstars but the Sixers looked a more cohesive unit, with a more solid bowling attack than any other side on show. Few of them will be returning in the forthcoming Test series but South Africa must be fancying their chances of gaining revenge against Australian opposition in a few weeks' time, even wearing white instead of garish 'mangenta'.