County Cricket: All-Rounders Dominate the Red Ball

As the County Championship popped back on the scene, little changed in the league tables but some individual all-round performances really caught the eye. At Edgbaston, bottom-placed Worcestershire dominated the first three days of their derby clash with Warwickshire, thanks to Solihull-born Ethan Brookes’ runs and Khurram Shahzad’s 6-42 but the home side turned things around with aplomb. Beau Webster already had four wickets to his name then, joining Zen Malik, he and his partner struck centuries in the effort to reach the target of 393. Malik skied a catch to long-on for 142 before Kai Smith and Webster took Warwicks over the line for a pulsating five-wicket victory and a rise to fourth in the table. 

Somerset went third thanks to a madcap five-session match on a Taunton green-top against Durham. Twenty-two wickets toppled on day one, although 400 runs were also scored, boosting the groundsman’s claim that the carnage was caused by great bowling, not a terrible pitch. Craig Overton bowled brilliantly for 6-23 and Tom Lammonby’s 82 was by far the highest score. In the second innings, it was the spinners Leach and Vaughan who wreaked the havoc bit Somerset still had a nervy tome hunting only 86 to win. In the end, Tom Banton pulled out some strong boundaries to make sure of the sixteen points. 

Surrey and Nottinghamshire remain clear, but with just a single point separating them following away draws with Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire, respectively. At Scarborough, both counties racked up 500+ totals as Dom Sibley’s 52 took him past 1000 runs for the season, and young Matthew Revis contributed an unbeaten 110. Notts compiled a massive 578-8 declared, including a stupendous 203 not out by Lyndon James, batting at seven. For Hampshire, Varma and Organ responded with rather more patient hundreds, leaving no time for a positive result. 

Essex did enjoy a rare success, clawing themselves out of the relegation mire down at Hove. James Coles maintained his excellent form with the bat for Sussex but Matt Critchley stole the show for Essex, combining a ton with a useful 4-41 to wrap up an innings victory, denting the South Coasters’ hopes of challenging for the title. 

In Division Two, it was Rehan Ahmed’s turn to shine for runaway leaders Leicestershire, who made it six wins so far. Their first innings scorecard was a curious one. Four players were dismissed for ducks, including both openers, and the total of 398 featured three centuries. Hill, Handscomb and Ahmed reached three figures before the latter turned the screw further, capturing thirteen wickets in all. Opponents Derbyshire never got to grips with his spin, and yet it was the medium pace of Luis Reece which upset Leicester. Even in defeat, his match figure of 11-120 were worthy of more a mere footnote. 

Derby’s loss allowed Glamorgan to leapfrog them into second. They triumphed over Kent at Cardiff by five wickets. Poor weather extended play into a fourth day, as Kiran Carlson’s 89 not out steered his side beyond the target on day four. Middlesex also advanced thanks to an innings defeat of Northamptonshire. Holden, Williamson and du Plooy each cracked hundreds in an unassailable 625-8, then six bowlers helped themselves to wickets, seven of them falling to Ryan Higgins. 

There were plenty of runs too, at Cheltenham, but Lancashire returned home with a comfortable nine-wicket success. Gloucestershire opener Ben Charlesworth plundered 160 and 71, albeit in a losing cause, while Lancashire owed plenty to all-rounders Chris Green and Tom Hartley.They shared a ninth-wicket stand of 212, crashing fourteen sixes between them. Hartley’s 130 was his maiden ton, and he capped a memorable match with eleven wickets, often forming a left-right spin partnership with Green. They are also back in the mix for promotion, and next week’s tie with Glamorgan could be vital. 

In the top flight, second meet third when Somerset head north to Nottingham, but Surrey must hope to maintain the upper hand by defeating Durham. The Scarborough Festival continues, and Yorkshire desperately need some bracing sea air to refresh their chances of avoiding the drop against Sussex. 

Team of the Week:- Holden (Mid), Charlesworth (Glo), Rehan Ahmed (Lei), Webster (War), Brookes (Wor), Smith (War +), Critchley (Ess), James (Not), Reece (Der), C Overton (Som), Hartley (Lan)

County Cricket: Notts and Leicester extend their leads

Unlike last week, runs were harder to come by, and wicketkeepers struggled with the bat. Somerset and Glamorgan each notched their third wins in succession, while Division One is looking very tight. 

Following their reverse against Durham, Nottinghamshire bounced back with a 163-run triumph against Yorkshire, their first at Headingley for fourteen years. They didn’t have it all their own way. New Lions recruit George Hill took 5-40 for the home side, before Mohammad Abbas swung things back with a commanding 6-45. Joe Clarke’s second half-century of the match helped Notts set a difficult target of 464 which they rarely looked like approaching. Five wickets from Dillon Pennington and six catches by ‘keeper Kyle Verryenne ended the resistance to deliver nineteen points to the leaders. 

Surrey remain in second place despite failing to beat Essex at The Oval. In fact, rain on the final day may well have saved them from defeat. Centuries by Paul Walter and Charlie Allison had left Surrey chasing over 400 to win on the last day. Michael Pepper stumped both openers off Harmer’s spin, then Jamie Porter claimed five more wickets, including that of Sam Curran, whose return from the IPL yielded two 70+ scores. Another England white-ball specialist, Jason Roy, bagged a sorry pair but the match ended with three Surrey wickets intact. 

Sussex are third, defeating Hampshire by nine wickets inside three days. The only batting partnership of note was the 173 shared by Sussex skipper John Simpson (106 not out) and Fynn Hudson-Prentice, while the off-spinner Jack Carson inflicted much of the damage to Hampshire’s second innings, ending on 5-26. Bowlers were also on top at Durham, where Somerset’s third win on the bounce came against the odds. Mitchell Killeen’s 5-38 on debut placed Durham on the driving seat then, although the visiting seamers restored some balance, Somerset still faced a tricky chase of 265. Thanks to Tom Lammonby and Tom Abell, they succeeded, making runs look almost easy. 

Despite this winning streak, Somerset are only fifth, one point adrift of Warwickshire, whose bid to go second was wrecked by the Worcester rain. Sam Hain found some form at last, twice passing eighty, but it was a welcome return, too, for Chris Woakes and Chris Rushworth. The latter claimed 4-37 and 3-30 as Warwickshire pushed to bowl out their neighbours. However, Waite, Brooks and Taylor proved stubborn, and the weather ended proceedings with Worcestershire on 181-8. 

Leicestershire maintained their unexpected grip on Division Two, thumping Lancashire by an innings and reaching the halfway stage fifty-one points clear at the summit. Test spinner Rehan Ahmed is still only twenty and is now making his mark in the county game as an all-rounder. Batting at three, he compiled an assured 136, putting on 256 with Lewis Hill, then dismissed the Lancs tail-enders to polish off the second innings. Keaton Jennings’ 112 was his side’s only score above 40 and not even Marcus Harris could lift them. 

They are not the basement county, though. Kent’s appalling run has dropped them to an ignominious eighth after a crushing loss to Derbyshire. At least Ben Compton could hold his head high, adding 205 runs to his season’s tally, but Derbyshire’s total of 587-5 declared proved insurmountable. 41-year-old Wayne Madsen notched another ton, but star of the show was opener, Caleb Jewell. The Tasmanian left-hander struck a career-best 232 spanning almost nine hours. 

Like Somerset, Glamorgan made it three in a row, advancing to third in the table by taking Middlesex to the Cardiff cleaners. Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson each achieved three figures before their attack took twenty wickets, something they rarely managed last year. No Kellaway this week, but left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann popped up from Australia to win the match with 6-53. 

At Northampton, another classy Aussie, Cameron Green, struck his third hundred in five matches for Gloucestershire in a more old-fashioned contest between bat and ball at Wantage Road. Northamptonshire, for whom Saif Zaib accumulated 215 runs, tended to dominate and were putting severe pressure on their visitors until rain took control on the fourth afternoon. With Bracey, Green and Hammond back in the pavilion, Gloucestershire would have been the most relieved. 

So that is it for the County Championship for four weeks. It hands over the spotlight to the Vitality Blast, in which anything can happen. No doubt some big overseas names will dip in and out with mixed results, while homegrown stars will shake things up. Champions Gloucestershire begin their defence at home to Kent while runners-up (grrr) Somerset face former nemesis county Surrey. 

Team of the Week:- Compton (Ken), Jewell (Der), Rehan Ahmed (Lei), Lammonby (Som), Hain (War), Saif Zaib (Nor), Verreynne (Not +), Carson (Sus), Mohammad Abbas (Not), Kuhnemann (Gla), Rushworth (War)