County Cricket: Bears Blast Off

While England’s Test squad signed off from their counties, including virtually any seam bowler able to run unaided, we experienced the first week of Twenty20 in 2022. With most sides completing three fixtures, Birmingham Bears, Middlesex and – after I confidently ruled them out of any success – Somerset so far boast a 100% record. 

In the North division, the Birmingham Bears lead the way. Their 125-run demolition of Northants contrasted with a tight three-run margin against Derbyshire. In the former game, Irish opener Paul Stirling slammed 119 off 51 balls, including five consecutive sixes from James Sales. Surprisingly it was only his second T20 century in his long career. 

Yorkshire’s Harry Brook, having earned an international call-up after a stellar start to the Championship, proved he can score runs with the white ball, too. His 48-ball 72 at Old Trafford looked to have steered the White Roses to a last-gasp victory over the Reds only for Richard Gleeson to trap him LBW with the very last ball for an unlikely tie. In a fruitful week, Gleeson also took 5-33 against Worcestershire, while globe-trotting all-rounder Liam Livingstone contributed in all three Lancashire matches. 

The highest team score of the week was Northamptonshire’s 223-4 against Durham. Australian Chris Lynn marked his Steelbacks Blast debut with a 46-ball 83, sharing a rapid opening stand of 149 with Ben Curran. Durham’s Ben Raine suffered the ignominy of being forced out of the attack as punishment for bowling three deliveries over shoulder height. Harsh but fair…. 

In the South, Somerset established a super start, including two crushing defeats of Hampshire and Kent. The latter, champions in 2021, lost all three contests this week, despite the efforts of skipper Sam Billings. Somerset’s most successful performers were batter Riley Roussouw and pace bowler Josh Davey. Middlesex also have an unblemished record, with Max Holden and Toby Roland-Jones in consistently fine form. 

Essex haven’t enjoyed the best of weeks, but special credit should go to Matt Critchley. Transferred from Derbyshire in the close season, the 25 year-old leg-spinner demonstrated again why he is such a dangerous all-rounder in this form of cricket. Michael Hogan is much, much older and not normally associated with the Blast, but the Glamorgan seamer turned in the best bowling analysis of the past seven days. A shame that his 5-18 wasn’t quite enough to deny Surrey victory. The two players now meet on Thursday. 

Team of the Week: Stirling (War/Bears), M Rizwan (Sus +), Holden (Mid), Rossouw (Som), Brook (Yor), Livingstone (Lan), Critchley (Ess), Roland-Jones (Mid), Gleeson (Lan), Hogan (Gla), Davey (Som)

Notts and Gloucester sneak in to the Blast quarters

The T20 Blast reached the end of its group stage with a flurry of sixes. Northamptonshire Steelbacks forged a bit of metal with their second victory of the summer, against Leicestershire but Middlesex slumped to their twelfth defeat, a miserable return for one of the richest counties who count England’s Malan and Morgan amongst their number. I feel sorry for opener Paul Stirling who aggregated 164 runs in the week but finished on the losing side each time.

At the other end of the tables, Worcestershire and Somerset held on to their respective top spots. Moeen Ali struck the only century of the week, 115 in 56 balls against his Birmingham neighbours, while Somerset’s Corey Anderson plundered a 30-ball 72 off Glamorgan, including six sixes. Glamorgan’s recent surge hit a brick wall and they suffered a disastrous final week. Their last-day showdown at home to Surrey might have been a crucial qualification clash but by the time the rain had cleared from Cardiff and Aaron Finch smashed boundaries in the five overs allotted, the result was purely academic.

Sussex finished strongly, thanks largely to Salt’s two sixties and Rashid Khan’s typical economy. Gloucestershire just about hung on in fourth place despite a winless week, while Kent cemented second place, and a home quarter-final by completing a thrilling victory against leaders Somerset on Thursday. Billings and Bell-Drummond led the charge to 231-5 at Canterbury. Needing 70 to win from the last 21 deliveries, Luke Gregory crashed Haggett and Claydon to all corners of the ground but ended the innings an agonising five runs short.

Next week, Somerset will face champions Nottinghamshire, who defeated both Worcestershire and close rivals Yorkshire yesterday en route to the top four position they craved. Alex Hales anchored their run chase and Tom Moores provided the fireworks as the Outlaws clinched it by eight wickets with an over to spare.

Last weekend, Lancashire bowled out Durham for a paltry 78, with all six bowlers employed chipping in. That meant they could afford to get hammered by the Bears at Edgbaston and still finished third and bag a trip to Kent in the last eight. Sussex will travel to Durham and Worcestershire host Gloucestershire. I fancy the Sharks, Lightning, Rapids and Outlaws to participate in Finals Day.

In the meantime, there’s a full round of Championship fixtures to keep us occupied. Somerset require a victory over Essex to keep Surrey within range but a Lancashire victory at the Oval might keep things interesting in Division One. In the second flight, the Vitality Blast wooden-spooners Middlesex and Northants meet at Wantage Road, but in red ball cricket I’d expect the Londoners to have the upper hand. They need some success to keep their season alive, poor dears.

Team of the Week:

Bell-Drummond (Ken), Salt (Sus), Ali (Wor, Willey (Yor), Billings (Ken +), Howell (Glo), Anderson (Som), Gregory (Som), Brown (Wor), Rashid Khan (Sus), Waller (Som)

Gayle Force in Somerset, Raine-ing success for Leicester

Just for a change, I’ll start my weekly review of the county cricket action at the foot of Division Two. The reason is that Leicestershire have finally won a Championship match for the first time since September 2012. When Lewis Hill nudged the single which took them past Essex’s target, you’d think they’d won the World Cup! Maybe now the hoodoo is broken, they can kick on. They actually have some decent players. Unfortunately, the team they beat at Chelmsford are looking very weak. The top order can’t score and without Topley and Masters the young Essex attack lacks experience.

The top two played out a boring draw on a bat-friendly Oval pitch. There were centuries for Jason Roy, Rory Burns and, for the first time, James Faulkner but only two runs for the returning Kevin Pietersen. Surrey narrowed the gap behind Lancashire by just one point, but Glamorgan are now only eight points adrift of second place after defeating Northants by ten wickets. Craig Meschede’s 107 and 3-19 made the difference.

At Derby, Jack Taylor struck his debut hundred for Gloucestershire then after a couple of last morning declarations, his miserly 2-19 almost secured victory over a second-rate Derbyshire. Dilshan has yet to produce the killer innings and only Billy Godleman and Shiv Thakor exceeded 20 in the second innings. However, Gloucester could take only eight wickets and a draw ensued.

In the top tier, Middlesex leapfrogged Durham despite drawing with Warwickshire, but Nottinghamshire enjoyed a victory over a promising Sussex side. Despite poor weather, it was all over inside three days, and there were several performances to savour. Pity Steve Magoffin: 12 wickets yet finished on the losing side. Former Notts favourite Bruce French has a new family star. His nephew Jake Ball took 9-67 in total, Samit Patel hit 100 but teenager Luke Wood fared even better. With Notts reeling at 98-7, he surprised everyone by thumping exactly 100 in 96 balls. Allied to five wickets, he did more than anyone to ensure his county escaped the relegation zone.

In the other match, Hampshire dug themselves out of the mire on day 4 to avoid losing against fellow strugglers Worcestershire, for whom captain Daryl Mitchell hit an unbeaten 142.

It may not have been a vintage week in the Championship but last weekend, the NatWest Blast competition really came alive as some of the IPL superstars joined at the party. There’s no bigger name in T20 than Chris Gayle. Not only did he bring in thousands through the turnstiles at Chelmsford and Taunton but he also sent local residents - human and fish – scurrying and swimming to safety amidst a blitz of sixes. Against Essex, his 92 in 59 balls laid the foundation for a last-ball victory for Somerset. Then, facing a huge Kent total courtesy of Sam Northeast, he smashed an unbeaten 151 only to miss the target by just three runs! What would we do without him?! Hats off, too, to Paul Stirling and Dawid Malan, for giving Middlesex fans plenty to cheer about in the short format game, too. After three weeks, there are no clear favourites; almost every team has won at least one match. Only Kent – with four wins in five – have established some sort of winning sequence.

Team of the Week: Gayle (Som), Stirling (Mid), Northeast (Ken, *), Patel (Not), Watling (NZ), Roy (Sur), Ronchi (NZ, +), Raine (Lei), Wood (Not), Ball (Not), Magoffin (Sus)