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)

Hampshire Hustle to the Top

As the Champions Trophy launched at The Oval, Edgbaston and Sophia Gardens, there were only 6 County Championship fixtures played this week. Only one was sufficient to see newly-promoted Hampshire hand bottom club Warwickshire a drubbing by an innings and 94 runs at the Rose Bowl. Southampton stalwarts Jimmy Adams and Sean Ervine found rare form and made big centuries in a huge partnership of 367. Ervine proceeded to 203 before young Sukhjt Singh bowled him, one of six victims in only his third first-class match. Despite a century stand by Trott and Barker, Warwickshire had to follow on with over a day remaining. Leading wicket-taker Kyle Abbott duly claimed 4-32 and Ervine polished off the tail.

Headingley hosted the second Roses game in a few weeks but this time Yorkshire came out with the victor’s 16 points, beating Lancashire by ten wickets inside three days. In only his second first-class outing of 2017, Ryan Sidebottom was his usual miserly self and young gun Ben Coad made another major mark by taking 6-25 on the first day. Adam Lyth was the only man to pass 50 in the whole match, advancing to three figures for the first time this season. Meanwhile, his opposite number Haseeb Hameed continued to struggle, making his return to the Test Eleven look somewhat doubtful.

If Dean Elgar was British, or at least had not already represented the Proteas, he’d be a shoo-in to replace the Lancastrian. He scored another century for Somerset, as did all-rounder Luke Gregory, but the weather at Lord’s ensured there was to be no win for either side. At least another 2017 struggler, Tom Abell, enjoyed some fourth day batting practice, albeit against the likes of Compton, Gubbins and wicket-keeper Simpson! His side now face Yorkshire in a bid to register a first Division One victory of the summer, while Essex and Surrey meet for a chance to displace Hampshire at the top.

In the second rung, Nottinghamshire opened up a thirteen-point lead over Kent despite failing to beat Derbyshire at Trent Bridge. Missing Pattinson, Broad and Ball, their makeshift seam attack failed to bowl out their visitors twice. Billy Godleman top-scored with 121 for Derbyshire. Meanwhile, Worcestershire’s 100% record was destroyed by Sussex at Hove. Whilst the home team were earlier rocked by Luke Wright’s sudden resignation as captain, it didn’t prevent them marching to an innings defeat of a Worcester team unhealthily reliant on the runs of Daryl Mitchell. So much so that he has now been in my last three Teams of the Week! Luke Wells scored 158 while Wiese and Philander collected ten wickets between them.  

In the remaining fixture, Durham suffered another loss and still can’t boast a positive figure in the points column. It didn’t help that their bowling line-up had a very unfamiliar look. Extra kudos then to the inexperienced Paul Coughlin, whose ten wickets in the match made him the most successful bowler of the week, even in defeat. It was a very close-run thing, though, because Northants were running out of steam and the rain was falling steadily at Chester-le-Street before they crossed the line with a ball to spare.

Durham now face an arduous challenge in Kent, and it falls to Gloucestershire to halt Notts’ seemingly straightforward path to an instant return to the top flight.

Team of the Week: Mitchell (Wor), Elgar (Som), Steel (Dur), Wells (Sus), Ervine (Ham), Rossington (Nor +), Gregory (Som), Philander (Sus), Buck (Nor), Coad (Yor), Coughlin (Dur).