Surrey and Kleinveldt shock Somerset and Notts

Only a belated and truncated blog this week owing to my holiday on Crete. Lovely weather, intriguing history and stunning scenery but somewhat lacking in cricket action.

With Essex head and shoulders ahead of everyone else, the Division One microscope was focussed on the relegation battle involving the rest of the counties.

We Somerset fans have endured a sorry summer and, after last week’s fillip, normal misery was restored when we suffered a perfect storm. Not only did Abell’s men get duffed up by Surrey but nearest rivals Middlesex and Yorkshire both won to open up a gap which leaves Somerset probably needing to beat Middlesex this week to maintain their record-breaking top tier stretch.

Steven Finn took 8-79 in the second innings to despatch Lancashire while Yorkshire scrambled to a two-wicket win over Warwickshire. Hampshire had Essex on the rack when Kyle Abbott’s 6-20 destroyed the champs’ first innings. However, 20 year-olds Dan Lawrence (101) and Samuel Cook (5-18) restored the balance of power on the final days. The defeat leaves Hampshire still vulnerable to the drop.  It’s all rather nailbiting.

Nottinghamshire have dominated Division Two all season but, after coming a cropper against third-placed Northamptonshire, now need to win their final match against Sussex to gain the promotion they looked certain to secure only a few weeks ago. Rory Kleinveldt’s 9-65, 4-33 and 91 runs made him the individual all-round performer of the week, although Jeetan Patel ran him close. Glamorgan’s young batsman Kiran Carlsen topped the run-scoring table for the week, striking 191 in the first innings but that man Kumar Sangakkara signed off his home career for Surrey with yet another century, the 103^rd in all cricket. He’s been so supreme in the Championship that on the occasions he is dismissed, spectators are stunned into silence. What a player!

Team of the Week: Wells (Sus), Howell (Glo), Sangakkara (Sur), Carlson (Gla), Davies (Som +), Clarke (Sur), Kleinveldt (Nor), Patel (War), Bailey (Lan), Wood (Not), Finn (Mid)

Stoneman gives Surrey a solid start

For once, the April sun shone on the County Championship’s opening day of the season, and five of the six fixtures offered positive results inside three days. The venerable competition has been emasculated this year, with Division One slimmed to eight counties and only 14 matches, so we need to make the most of what first-class cricket is played this season. There were certainly some impressive performances in the first week.

Mark Stoneman made a perfect start to his Surrey career, contributing 162 to his side’s total en route to an innings defeat of Warwickshire. The Midlanders were skittled by Mark Footitt in their first innings but at least Jonathan Trott’s second innings 151 kept the game interesting into day three.

One of the title favourites, Yorkshire were up against it thanks to a bowling injury crisis. Despite skipper Gary Ballance’s best efforts with the bat, Hampshire duly took advantage. South African Kyle Abbott nabbed 7-41 before runs through the order sealed a four wicket victory.

Lancashire looked set to beat promoted Essex at Chelmsford after young wicketkeeper Alex Davies struck an unbeaten 140 then took five catches. Kolpaker Dane Vilas made 166 in his first two innings for the Red Roses, too. However, Dan Lawrence, still a teenager, battled on for 141 match-saving runs on the final day.

Two of the leading contenders for promotion were off and running with substantial wins. Nottinghamshire weren’t supposed to go down in 2016 but they should have enough firepower to bounce back into the top tier. Stuart Broad and Luke Fletcher were amongst the Leicestershire wickets but it was James Pattinson’s 89 not out and 8-84 match stats which really caught the eye. That said, the home side’s Ben Raine also enjoyed a fine all-round week. Unfortunately, Leicestershire are still in the red thanks to Charlie Shreck’s multiple pre-season discretions warranting a points deduction.

Kent were justified in crying foul after being robbed of promotion last autumn. Their 334-run mauling of Gloucestershire at Canterbry signified their intention to challenge again. Darren Stevens is beyond evergreen; he’s practically immortal. Kent must hope he is because his second-innings 6-12 was the pick of the bowling figures this week. He was ably supported by former Middlesex paceman James Harris who, if he stays free of injury, could well be the crucial addition to the squad.

Northamptonshire led the table after two days having trounced Glamorgan by an innings. Rory Kleinveldt thumped a typically rumbustious 86 and claimed six wickets, Ben Sanderson adding seven more and the Welsh were down and out. They will do well to avoid the wooden spoon come September.

Team of the Week:
Davies (Lan +), Stoneman (Sur), Trott (War), Ballance (Yor), Lawrence (Ess), Vilas (Lan), Stevens (Ken), Kleinveldt (Nor), J Pattinson (Not), Raine (Lei), Abbott (Ham).

Lumb and Wessels on Fire!

As the County Championship took its first week off this summer, the 50-over One-Day Cup kicked off alongside the continuing T20 Blast. Gloucestershire have made a terrible start to their title defence, losing all three fixtures so far. Mind you, they should have beaten Somerset in their first match, but Jamie Overton and Tim Groenewald produced a tenth wicket stand of 65 to clinch an unlikely win with three balls to spare.

Somerset top the South Group with Essex and Glamorgan but all eyes this week have been on Nottinghamshire and their opening partnership of Michael Lumb and Riki Wessels. All three of their stands reached three figures, including an astonishing 342 against Northants. It broke the old Dravid/Ganguly List A record in England, while the county total of 445-8 is the second highest anywhere in the world. Even more remarkable was that Northants fell only 20 runs short, and the aggregate of 870 was a mere two behind the world record. Lumb made 184, Wessels 146 but perhaps both were outdone by the opponents’ Rory Kleinveldt. Having to bat with a runner, he had to go for boundaries. Thumping ten 4s and nine 6s, he amassed 128 from 63 balls before falling five overs from home.

Lumb made 133 in the Warwickshire game, and both he and Wessels made fifties in their twenty-over match for good measure. For all the runs racked up by Notts, their net run rate is inferior to Derbyshire’s. Ben Slater (against Durham) and Hamish Rutherford (vs Worcestershire) scored centuries while Shiv Thakor, deprived of batting opportunites, has again been amongst the wickets.

Elsewhere, Hain, Bell and Trott were in the runs for Warwickshire, and Johann Myburgh (Somerset), Kevin O’Brien (Leicestershire) and Jesse Ryder (Essex) were also consistently high in their scoring. It certainly wasn’t a week for bowlers, but then modern one-day cricket is fundamentally designed for batsmen: all fielding restrictions, big blades and short boundaries.

Twenty20 is even worse, but at least there were opportunities for experienced Aussie seamers Clint McKay and Michael Hogan to work their magic. Northants currently boast the only 100% record in this year’s Blast while Yorkshire are in the unenviable position of losing all three games played to date. While the big signings like Gayle, Bravo, McCullum, Afridi, Jayawardene et al undoubtedly shift tickets, the top performers on the pitch thus far are home-growners like Daniel Bell-Drummond of Kent, Joe Leach from Worcestershire and Leicestershire’s Ben Raine. Time will tell whether the picture changes as the competition progresses.


Team of the Week: Lumb (Not), Wessels (Not), K O’Brien (Lei), Westley (Ess), Hain (War), Buttler (Lan +), Thakor (Der), Dawson (Ham), Howell (Glo), McKay (Lei), Hogan (Gla)