County Cricket: Topsy-Turvy stuff in Division One

It was a strange week for County Championship results. As if the record Spring temperatures, sunshine levels and dried-up riverbeds and canals weren’t enough, both the top two counties in Division One came a cropper and the bottom team actually won by a country mile. The batsmen striking the highest individual scores by far did so in a losing cause and a host of wicketkeepers also reaped a harvest of runs. 

Nottinghamshire had been looking good at the top but, at Chester-le-Street, after Haseeb Hameed caried his bat for 206, their attack struggled to make headway against Durham. Gay, Clark and Ollie Robinson each reached three figures as the side lodged a new record high of 664 all out. Were it not for Joe Clarke’s sparkling 119, Notts would have lost by an innings and Durham still needed Colin Ackermann to deliver a quick fifty to achieve victory. 

There were no centuries at Edgbaston, but Warwickshire succumbed to Hampshire by 89 runs. Five-fors from Kyle Abbott and James Fuller were the decisive performances.  Warwickshire’s loss was Surrey’s gain, as the reigning champs whacked Yorkshire by an innings to close the gap behind Notts to just three points. Jonny Bairstow crashed 89 and 77 for the White Roses but his opposite number Ben Foakes also chipped in with 86 and some fine catches. Jordan Clark was the pick of Surrey’s bowlers, taking a combined 7-76. 

By the River Severn, Worcestershire earned not only their first batting bonus points of the season, but also their maiden triumph, defeating Essex with remarkable ease inside three days. Apart from day one, bowlers on both sides were dominant, but it was the victors’ Matthew Waite who stole the headlines with a first-innings 73 and a career-best 6-19 to complete Essex’s misery. Garth Roderick also deserves an honourable mention. The opener failed with the bat but contributed nine catches behind the stumps. 

Somerset made it back-to-back wins, but Sussex didn’t make it easy for them at Taunton. Following recent top-order batting woes, the home county gambled by promoting captain Luke Gregory and fast bowler Josh Davey to open. It seemed to work. Dropped to seven, Archie Vaughan duly scored 80 and, when three wickets tumbled in the hunt for a 150-run target, Gregory led from the front with an unbeaten 89, including the winning single.

 

The next round of fixtures includes a tricky outing to a Bairstow-less Yorkshire for Nottinghamshire, Surrey hosting a wounded Essex and the West Midlands derby in Worcester.

 

Leicestershire cemented the position at the head of Division Two by seeing off Middlesex by seven wickets. It was a low-scoring affair, Peter Handscomb’s 87 the sole half-century, and all Leicester’s bowlers chipped in with wickets. Ian Holland’s 5-35 got them off to a great start and they kept their noses on front thereafter.

 

Derbyshire remain in second place, but they had to fight hard to cling on for a draw against Lancashire at Old Trafford. Luke Wells put the home team firmly in the driving seat with scores of 141 and 50 then, with 42-year-old Jimmy Anderson his old mean self, Lancs had Derby on the rack at 216-8 with around ten overs remaining. However, new ball in hand, not even the former England star could break the ninth-wicket partnership of Anuj Dal and Jack Morley. The latter padded away the off-spin of Tom Hartley, surviving 36 balls for no runs, while Dal was similarly resilient under pressure. 

It was a tense finish at Bristol too, where Gloucestershire kept their heads to beat Kent by three wickets. Batting at eight, Kent’s Grant Stewart blasted a barely credible 182 to lift his side’s total to a decent 424 before Cameron Green (128) and James Bracey (127) shared a fifth-wicket stand of 222 out of 516. A draw was the most likely outcome but three quick wickets by Ben Charlesworth left Gloucester with a gettable target of 162. It was Green again who skilfully held the fort with an unbeaten 67b to seal the success. 

Meanwhile, Glamorgan’s second consecutive win has elevated them from bottom to third. Marnus Labuschagne’s arrival was not the greatest (marked by a seven-ball duck) but Ben Kellaway’ fine form with the bat continued, top-scoring in the first innings with 93. The Glammie seamers provided solid support and Northamptonshire were despatched by eight wickets, consigning them to the dreaded basement slot. 

However, it is all very tight from second to eighth, and positions can change in a week. For the Bank Holiday weekend, Glamorgan welcome Middlesex, Kent travel to Derby and Leicestershire hope to continue their winning ways at home to Lancashire. 

Team of the Week:- L Wells (Lan), Hameed (Not), Clarke (Not), Robinson (Dur +), Green (Glo), Bairstow (Yor), Holland (Lei), Stewart (Ken), J Clark (Sur), Waite (Wor), Abbott (Ham)

Louis Kimber’s Record Six-Fest all in vain

Some times with four-day cricket, a rash of big scores is indicative of dull flat batting tracks and drawn matches. This week, however, there were eleven individual scores of 150+ but five of the nine fixtures produced victories, three by an innings. 

With the County Championship returning, it was back to normal for the champions. Surrey crushed Worcestershire at a dry New Road, Dan Lawrence starring with 175 and four wickets, and the bowling strength in depth paying dividends. 

Closest rivals Essex and Somerset both drew, allowing Surrey to re-open a lead of twenty points. Second-placed Essex were facing defeat at home to Durham, who piled on 587 in just four sessions. Ollie Robinson (198) and Alex Lees (113) le the charge before Potts and Siddle claimed seven wickets. Durham chose not to enforce the follow-on, and gave themselves just over a day to bowl out the hosts again. Zealander This time, Tom Westley and Dean Elgar dug in to avoid defeat, the South African veteran notching his fiftieth first-class century. 

Bowlers toiled at Trent Bridge, although two of them, Migael Pretorius and Olly Stone, made 241 runs between them with the bat! Nottinghamshire spent much of the last two days occupying the crease and losing only two wickets to Somerset. Ben Slater compiled an unbeaten 168 before skipper Haseeb Hameed pulled the plug on Wednesday evening. 

At Canterbury, Lancashire hauled themselves out of the relegation mire by pummelling bottom-placed Kent. Luke Wells (150) and Josh Bohannon (205) put on 312 for the second-wicket, more than Kent managed in their whole first innings. Bailey, Williams and Wells finished the job on the final morning. In the other Division One tie, Warwickshire and Hampshire served up a feast of cricket. The runs really flowed in the second half. James Vince and Liam Dawson scored centuries, then a 183-run partnership between Sam Hain and Michael Burgess thwarted Keith Barker et al. Hain was still there with the last man when time ran out. 

Next weekend sees the leading contenders meeting head-to-head at The Oval, while Somerset welcome Warwickshire to Taunton. 

Sussex were victorious at Hove, remaining top of Division Two in the process, but they had to endure one of the most extraordinary rearguard innings ever witnessed. Skipper John Simpson rattled off 183 not out on day one and Tom Alsop 81 on day three, leaving Leicestershire a daunting target of 464. Sussex were cruising at 144-6 when all-rounder Louis Kimber rocked up. After a circumspect start, the 27-year-old decided to chance his arm and went after the spinners. He reached 50 in 37 balls, 100 in 62 and 200 in 100, the fastest in Championship history. His 21 sixes shattered Ben Stokes’ record and England paceman Ollie Robinson became the unwanted victim of the most prolific over ever. With the aid of three no-balls, Kimber pulled, cut, slashed and carved an unbelievable 43 from the over! Just 18 short of victory, Kimber was eventually dismissed for 243, and both sets of players and officials gave him a standing ovation and guard of honour!   

Up at Scarborough, Yorkshire ended their win drought by beating Gloucestershire by an innings.   A triple-century opening stand involving Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean set them on their way, followed by their seam attack, led by Jordan Thompson and Connor McKerr. At Lord’s, Derbyshire are still winless, succumbing to Middlesex by 194 runs. Ryan Higgins enjoyed scores of 163 and 67, adding four wickets to the victory fund. 

At Cardiff, Glamorgan and Northants fought a really competitive, high-scoring encounter. Marnus Labuschagne top-scored for the home county but Northants’ wicket-keeper Lewis Mc Manus (168) was the game’s only centurion. Glamorgan had less than forty overs to attempt a 262-run chase, and they really went for it. Trouble is, the wickets fell regularly, too. When they slipped from 196-5 to 207-8, the chance had gone but the visitors also ran out of overs to remove the remaining two batters. 

It's another full set of fixtures next week, in which Northamptonshire face Sussex and Middlesex travel north to Leicestershire, although the latter’s new signing, Ajinkya Rahane, won’t arrive for a few more weeks. 

Team of the Week:- Slater (Not), L Wells (Sus), Bohannon (Lan), O Robinson (Dur), Higgins (Mid), Lawrence (Sur), Simpson (Sus +), Kimber (Lei), Barker (Ham), Hannon-Dalby (War), McKerr (Yor)

Worrall Wins it for Surrey

Plenty of positive results and a few nail-biters in the Championship this week. The leading three in Division One all won, with Surrey’s fourth on the trot keeping them comfortably at the summit. They overwhelmed Worcestershire at The Oval with a day to spare. The reliable Jordan Clark top-scored, but it was Dan Worrall’s ten-wicket haul which caught the eye. 

It was a real game of two halves at Chelmsford, where a 209-run partnership between Ed Barnard and Michael Burgess and three wickets apiece for Yates and Simmons piled pressure on Essex late on Saturday. However, their spinners Matt Critchley and Simon Harmer turned the tables, leaving the home side an awkward target of 330. At 12-2, things looked grim but Jordan Cox made 112, then Matt Critchley was left high and dry on 99 as he and Harmer sealed the deal. 

It was another topsy-turvy affair at Taunton. Tom Banton and James Rew have struggled so far this season but each reached three figures as Somerset stormed to 554 against Kent. When Overton and Pretorius led a useful attack to dismiss Kent for 178, the visitors looked as if they’d been on the end of a lethal Usyk combination. However, they seemed to have bounced up from the canvas on Sunday when Zak Crawley’s 238 helped the visitors to 388-2. Undeterred, Somerset struck back with three late wickets, and left themselves with a potentially tricky 180 to score by the end of the match. Fortunately, Matt Renshaw and Andy Umeed struck the perfect balance of watchfulness and strokeplay to secure an eight-wicket triumph and maintain Somerset’s second place. 

At Trent Bridge, Hampshire came away with their first success of the summer, defeating Nottinghamshire by five wickets. Apart from Lyndon James (106 not out), the hosts found runs hard to come by against Abbas and Abbott in particular, and it required a sixth-wicket century stand from Middleton and Fuller to drag Hampshire from 44-5 to reach the finishing line.

 Ben Stokes’ first Championship outing for two years lured the media to Blackpool and he achieved a welcome five-for but only twenty runs for Durham. Hopefully the journos present also stayed to observe not one but two players who hit tons in each innings. Keaton Jennings performed the feat for Lancashire then David Bedingham, trying to save and possibly gain an unlikely victory on day four, repeated the achievement. He and the more belligerent Ollie Robonson placed Durham just 161 short with seven standing but, when Bedingham was caught behind off Nathan Lyon, the remaining batsmen capitulated leaving Robinson unbeaten on 171, handing Lancashire their first win of 2024.

 They stay bottom, though, and need to beat winless Warwickshire to extricate themselves from the relegation places before the four-week red-ball break. Essex hop over the Tnames to Kent and Somerset head north to face Durham in bids to keep Surrey in their sights. The champions follow the M3 to meet Hampshire who look woefully short of runs. 

In the second tier, Sussex rediscovered their winning ways at Hove, but Yorkshire pushed them all the way in a low-scoring contest. Ben Coad and George Hill bowled well for the Tykes but Ollie Robinson (the other one!), Sean Hunt and, by capturing Joe Root’s crucial wicket, Tom Haines, bowled the South Coasters to victory by only 21 runs. 

Middlesex are just seven points behind after beating Glamorgan in another nervy finale at Sophia Gardens. Mark Stoneman (129) delivered a heathy first-innings lead before Marcus Labuscagne (111) and Colin Ingram (105) steered Glamorgan back inti the game. With Mason Crane spinning five men out, it looked touch and go but the ninth-wicket partnership between Davies and Helm extended to 52 to nick it by two wickets. 

At Leicester, Gloucestershire declared on a mammoth 706-6. Openers Cameron Bancroft and Ian Charlesworth put on 313 and the pace accelerated with James Bracey and skipper Graeme van Buuren. On day four, Leicestershire made runs throughout the order to dig out a draw. The outcome was the same at Derby, where Northamptonshire generally had the better of things. A rapid 153 not out by Emilio Gay propelled them to a declaration capable of giving the bowlers something to aim at in two-and-a-bit sessions. At 141-7, that looked a great decision but Zak Chappell and Anuj Dal added 108. Two snap wickets put Northants on the verge of victory only for Dal and the last man Dupavillon to survive the final two overs. 

Next week’s Division Two highlight is set to be the top two counties battling it out at Lord’s. Should be interesting… 

Team of the Week:- Crawley (Ken), Jennings (Lan), Gay (Nor), Bedingham (Dur), Banton (Som), Robinson (Ken +), Barnard (War), Critchley (Ess), Hill (Yor), Worrall (Sur), Robinson (Sus)