Bears Blast to the Top

Everybody knows that Twenty20 is such an unpr4dictable form of cricket. Matches can turn upon a few wickets or a couple of sixes. Tjis has a knock-on effect on the league tables, too. It can also produce genuine nail-biters. 

In this week’s Blast, there were two tied matches: Northants v Leicestershire and Gloucestershire v Surrey. Durham fans, in particular, enjoyed a few cliffhangers, edging Lancashire by two runs and Yorkshire by three. The Roses derby itself at Headingley ended in a tight seven-run margin in favour of the home team, for whom spinner Dom Bess was consistently economical. 

In the North division, the Birmingham Bears stormed to the top on the back of a four-match streak The main impetus came from the spinning all-rounders. Danny Briggs conceded no more than 26 in any of his four games and young Dan Mousley again showed why he is one of the most promising T20 performers in the country. His 20-year-old colleague Jacob Bethell let fly with the most dramatic half-century of the week, a blistering 16-ball unbeaten 56 against Northants, including seven sixes. 

One Rishi may be tottering towards the end of an undistinguished innings at Westminster but another, Rishi Patel, produced the only ton of the past eight days. The Essex-born Leicestershire opener devastated the Northants attack with 104 in 45 balls, and has now not been dismissed for under thirty for seven matches. A special mention, too, for South African Matthew Breetzke, who accumulate more than 200 runs for Northants this week. 

In the South, Surrey reman top, but the key result was their 54-run triumph over second-placed Sussex at Hove. The latest fixtures included two five-fors, amazingly both in the same game. Luke Hollman’s 5-16 was Middlesex’s only bright spot in Surrey’s innings at Lord’s, then the visiting seamer Sean Abbott took 5-18! Middlesex now have a solitary win out of eight. 

Other impressive bowling feats were Roloef van der Merwe’s two wickets with his only two balls in Somerset’s 108-run rout of Glamorgan and Timm van Gugten’s 2-8 in four overs against Gloucestershire. Not quite Lockie Ferguson’s clutch of World Cup maidens but pretty nifty, nonetheless. 

Gloucestershire dragged themselves back into knockout contention with three successes against Somerset, Glamorgan and Kent. Batsman Miles Hammond and paceman Matt Taylor were the star individuals. Essex sit in third, bolstered by runs from Dean Elgar and local boy Michael Pepper. 

Now it’s the return of proper cricket for a few weeks before the T20 group stage concludes in July. 

Team of the Week:- R Patel (Lei), Hammond (Glo), Breetzke (Nor), J Smith (Sur +), Pepper (Ess), Mousley (War), Bethell (War), S Abbott (Sur), M Taylor (Glo), Briggs (War), Bess (Yor)

Murtagh’s Middlesex Milestone

Tim Murtagh may be 41 now, transitioning from player to coach, but this weekend he was still giving opposition batsmen nightmares. With Ethan Bamber’s support, his ten-for was instrumental in Kent’s downfall at Lord’s, and included his 1,000^th wicket in any format in his 16-year Middlesex career. He would love to take another 66 to reach the modern rarity of 1,000 first-class victims and, fitness and ECB’s short-sighted short-format obsession notwithstanding, it certainly is not beyond the realms of reality. 

London neighbours Surrey returned to the top at Edgbaston by defeating Warwickshire by the same nine-wicket margin. In damp conditions, runs were again in short supply, only Jamie Smith (88) showing any mastery of an attack led by Dan Worrall and Kemar Roach, who reached a milestone of his own: 500 first-class wickets. 

In Division Two, Durham made their extra game count, claiming pole position with an innings defeat of Derbyshire at Chester-le-Street. Two half-centuries by Luis Reece and a frustrating 99 by Matthew Lamb reduced the embarrassment begun by home-side tons by Kent old-boy Ollie Robinson and Brendon Carse and completed by seamers Ben Raine and Matthew Potts. 

Last season, Leicestershire were tonked by Glamorgan, including Sam Northeast’s quadruple-hundred, but in 2023 they are racking up the runs themselves. Captain Lewis Hill and young opener Rishi Patel reaped centuries, as did Glammie 'keeper Chris Cooke, but a draw was inevitable on the final day. There was no decisive result either at Bristol, where Gloucestershire were made to follow on by Sussex skipper Cheteshwar Pujara made 151 out of a first innings total of 455-5 declared, then Nathan McAndrew’s 5-63 put the home side in severe trouble. At 41-4 second time around, They were heading for a heavy loss but a Graeme Van Buuren half-century and rain came to the rescue. 

Next week, Durham sit it out while either Sussex (against Worcestershire) or Leicestershire (v Derbyshire) could knock them off their perch. In the top tier, Hampshire host Warwickshire and Surrey travel to Essex while bottom two, Somerset and Northants will contest what already looks like being a relegation battle. 

Team of the Week:- Patel (Lei), Compton (Ken), Hill (Lei), Pujara (Sus), O Robinson (Dur), Cooke (Gla +), Carse (Dur), Potts (Dur), Roach (Sur), Worrall (Sur), Murtagh (Mid)