Louis Kimber’s Record Six-Fest all in vain

Some times with four-day cricket, a rash of big scores is indicative of dull flat batting tracks and drawn matches. This week, however, there were eleven individual scores of 150+ but five of the nine fixtures produced victories, three by an innings. 

With the County Championship returning, it was back to normal for the champions. Surrey crushed Worcestershire at a dry New Road, Dan Lawrence starring with 175 and four wickets, and the bowling strength in depth paying dividends. 

Closest rivals Essex and Somerset both drew, allowing Surrey to re-open a lead of twenty points. Second-placed Essex were facing defeat at home to Durham, who piled on 587 in just four sessions. Ollie Robinson (198) and Alex Lees (113) le the charge before Potts and Siddle claimed seven wickets. Durham chose not to enforce the follow-on, and gave themselves just over a day to bowl out the hosts again. Zealander This time, Tom Westley and Dean Elgar dug in to avoid defeat, the South African veteran notching his fiftieth first-class century. 

Bowlers toiled at Trent Bridge, although two of them, Migael Pretorius and Olly Stone, made 241 runs between them with the bat! Nottinghamshire spent much of the last two days occupying the crease and losing only two wickets to Somerset. Ben Slater compiled an unbeaten 168 before skipper Haseeb Hameed pulled the plug on Wednesday evening. 

At Canterbury, Lancashire hauled themselves out of the relegation mire by pummelling bottom-placed Kent. Luke Wells (150) and Josh Bohannon (205) put on 312 for the second-wicket, more than Kent managed in their whole first innings. Bailey, Williams and Wells finished the job on the final morning. In the other Division One tie, Warwickshire and Hampshire served up a feast of cricket. The runs really flowed in the second half. James Vince and Liam Dawson scored centuries, then a 183-run partnership between Sam Hain and Michael Burgess thwarted Keith Barker et al. Hain was still there with the last man when time ran out. 

Next weekend sees the leading contenders meeting head-to-head at The Oval, while Somerset welcome Warwickshire to Taunton. 

Sussex were victorious at Hove, remaining top of Division Two in the process, but they had to endure one of the most extraordinary rearguard innings ever witnessed. Skipper John Simpson rattled off 183 not out on day one and Tom Alsop 81 on day three, leaving Leicestershire a daunting target of 464. Sussex were cruising at 144-6 when all-rounder Louis Kimber rocked up. After a circumspect start, the 27-year-old decided to chance his arm and went after the spinners. He reached 50 in 37 balls, 100 in 62 and 200 in 100, the fastest in Championship history. His 21 sixes shattered Ben Stokes’ record and England paceman Ollie Robinson became the unwanted victim of the most prolific over ever. With the aid of three no-balls, Kimber pulled, cut, slashed and carved an unbelievable 43 from the over! Just 18 short of victory, Kimber was eventually dismissed for 243, and both sets of players and officials gave him a standing ovation and guard of honour!   

Up at Scarborough, Yorkshire ended their win drought by beating Gloucestershire by an innings.   A triple-century opening stand involving Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean set them on their way, followed by their seam attack, led by Jordan Thompson and Connor McKerr. At Lord’s, Derbyshire are still winless, succumbing to Middlesex by 194 runs. Ryan Higgins enjoyed scores of 163 and 67, adding four wickets to the victory fund. 

At Cardiff, Glamorgan and Northants fought a really competitive, high-scoring encounter. Marnus Labuschagne top-scored for the home county but Northants’ wicket-keeper Lewis Mc Manus (168) was the game’s only centurion. Glamorgan had less than forty overs to attempt a 262-run chase, and they really went for it. Trouble is, the wickets fell regularly, too. When they slipped from 196-5 to 207-8, the chance had gone but the visitors also ran out of overs to remove the remaining two batters. 

It's another full set of fixtures next week, in which Northamptonshire face Sussex and Middlesex travel north to Leicestershire, although the latter’s new signing, Ajinkya Rahane, won’t arrive for a few more weeks. 

Team of the Week:- Slater (Not), L Wells (Sus), Bohannon (Lan), O Robinson (Dur), Higgins (Mid), Lawrence (Sur), Simpson (Sus +), Kimber (Lei), Barker (Ham), Hannon-Dalby (War), McKerr (Yor)

County Cricket: Worrall and Clark Sweep Hampshire Aside

While the continuing dreadful weather forced most counties to adopt the Plan B of simply maximising their batting bonus points, Surrey proceeded to claim a second successive innings victory, this time against neighbours and rivals Hampshire. With Essex failing to prevail over Durham, after four fixtures, the Chelmsford outfit stand dead level with the champions. 

A steady century from Rory Burns and a blistering unbeaten 106 from Jordan Clark helped Surrey to a healthy lead on day two, but Dan Worrall’s five-for, spread over three days, finished the job without the need to bat again. At Chester-le-Street, Nick Browne marked his first Championship outing of the season by scoring 184, taking Essex to 488, eclipsing Durham’s Ackermann-assisted total of 358. Following a Sunday washout, Lees and Bedingham made the game safe against the spinners. 

At Edgbaston, Ben Duckett helped himself to a double-hundred for Nottinghamshire. In response, Warwickshire openers Yates and Davies suffered a rare joint failure, although they were rescued by the lower order.  A draw was inevitable, as was the case at Kidderminster. With rain forecast, Somerset declared after reaching 300, then Libby and Roderick put on 194 for Worcestershire en route to achieving a fifth batting point.  

Four weeks and still just a single result in Division Two. Leaders Leicestershire and Northamptonshire swapped scores of 450-ish, although George Bartlett was the only centurion. Poor Peter Handscomb was run out on 99. At Headingley, too, it was all about reaching 450 before the rain arrived. With England’s former opener Adam Lyth scoring 97 and current middle-order duo Joe Root and Harry Brook hitting three figures, Yorkshire made the target but, despite Wayne Madsen’s patient 105, Derbyshire fell three runs short. 

At least the good folk of Bristol had more cricket to enjoy. Gloucestershire’s Marchant de Lange struck a blow for the bowlers by taking 6-49 and restricting Middlesex to 203. Second time around, Max Holden (111) and the redoubtable Ryan Higgins (155) turned the tables, switching the pressure onto the home side. The weather closed in, but – hey! – the match did extend into a fourth innings, the only one this week to do so. 

It's a relatively quiet Bank Holiday weekend for the County Championship but, with Surrey not playing, Essex will reclaim the lead whatever happens in Somerset. Speaking of which, I note that my former local club Bridgwater have signed former West Indies captain and Ben Stokes’ T20 nemesis Carlos Brathwaite. The residents of Park Road had better install higher fences and reinforced windows….

Team of the Week:- Burns (Sur), Duckett (Not), Root (Yor), Brook (Yor), Browne (Ess), Higgins (Mid), Roderick (Wor +), J Clark (Sur),  de Lange (Glo), Worrall (Sur), Hannon-Dalby (War)

County Cricket: Essex make the early running

The fielders’ sweaters may have been extra-thick this week but at least most of the Championship fixtures ended in a positive result. Essex made it two wins in three by making short work of Lancashire at Chelmsford. The Red Roses were dismissed twice for under 150, seamers Shane Snater, Sam Cook and Jamie Porter doing most of the damage. 

Surrey also triumphed by an innings, although Kent and the bad weather extended the match into the fourth day. Centuries by Dom S|bley and Dan Lawrence fuelled the champions’ charge to a total of 543-7 declared. He may be used as the fifth bowler but Cameron Steel continues to harvest the wickets, taking his tally for the season to twenty. 

Durham registered their first victory in the top division since 2016, despatching Worcestershire by 185 runs at Kidderminster with a day to spare. The real damage was inflicted on Saturday when David Bedingham crashed 138 in 99 balls. Robinson and Clark increased Worcestershire’s target to an improbable 458, but, despite fifties from Libby, Waite and Smith, the Durham seamers Paul Coughlin, Ben Raine and Matthew Potts were too strong. 

At Taunton, a ninth-wicket stand of 139 between Craig Overton and Migael Pretorius looked to have established a winning foundation for Somerset against Nottinghamshire. However, that was as good as it got. Once Joe Clarke joined Will Young early on Sunday morning, the home attack was forced to toil wicketless for more than 100 overs. Clarke reached his double-century as the pair shattered the county’s third-wicket record which had stood for 121 years. If it hadn’t been for Monday’s heavy rain, they may well have pushed on to 400, 500, 600, …. 

At Southampton, Warwickshire openers Rob Yates and Alex Davies maintained their prolific start to the county season, but at least Middleton and Gubbins kept Hampshire in the hunt on day three, by when time was running out to force a result in worsening conditions. Second time around, Rob Yates notched another unbeaten half-century and even weighed in as a spinner with 4-37. 

Only four Division One fixtures this week, the tastiest being Hampshire’s trip to The Oval and Essex schlepping all the way north to Durham. 

Meanwhile, Middlesex and Sussex earned the first 2024 victories in Division Two. Following recent run-fests, it was the batters who struggled at Lord’s. Yorkshire’s Root and Brook contributed a grand total of 40 between them and, for all the gallant efforts of seamer Ben Coad, it was Middlesex’s Ryan Higgins whose seven wickets and steady batting at the end proved decisive. 

Zafar Gohar’s Pakistan Test career may have stalled after a solitary appearance, but his pair of 50s and second-innings 5-59 probably deserved to bring Gloucestershire success at Hove. However, young Trinidadian Jayden Seales made his mark with the ball and, when it comes to anchoring a tricky run chase, nobody does it better than Cheteshwar Pujara. 2023 demonstrated that Sussex need to make hay while the Indian is available to play for them. 

On home ground, Northamptonshire racked up an impregnable 605-6. Ricardo Vasconcelos made 182, but Karun Nair went even better. The experienced Indian player doesn’t score many centuries but when he does, they tend to be big ones. They declared once he reached 202, and Saif Zaib had ben dismissed for exactly 100. Glamorgan were spared a likely humiliation by a final-day washout. 

Leicestershire were similarly robbed by the rain whilst in a commanding position against Derbyshire. Marcus Harris (214) outscored the whole of the home side’s first innings. Scott Currie’s six wickets was his best tally so far in a nascent career, but the match was called off with only four wickets to fall. 

Sussex rest next week, so Middlesex will go clear at the top by defeating Gloucestershire at Bristol. However, should they fail, Northants meet Leicestershire for a chance to take their place. 

Team of the Week:-  Vasconcelos (Nor), Harris (Lei), Yates (War), Nair (Nor), Clarke (Not), Young (Not), Robinson (Dur +), Higgins (Mid), Zafar Gohar (Glo),  Steel (Sur), Snater (Ess)

New Season, New Records

Welcome back to the County Championship! The momentous Test series in India has retreated to the back shelf of the memory, the T20 World Cup seems a long way off and I wonder how many players in either England squad will seek, or be allowed, some practice with their clubs. My fellow Somerset fans will no doubt be curious to observe the return of Shoaib Bashir, who has probably played more hours for his country than his county! 

The pre-season has seen its usual messy news of international signings being withdrawn by their international Boards or pulling out for personal reasons, with a rash of last-minute signings. Cricket Australia’s orders to Lancashire to restrict Nathan Lyon to seven appearances were already controversial and we await to hear whether CA deem his one delivery faced and two overs bowled at a soggy Old Trafford constitute one of those permitted. It could keep the lawyers busy. 

The weather certainly kept the groundstaff busy this week. After one of the wettest winters in living memory, more rain washed out two fixtures entirely: at Derby and Chester-le-Street. Worcestershire’s New Road has pretty much been swallowed up by the River Severn on a permanent basis so it was a good job that their opener against neighbours Warwickshire took place at Edgbaston. Three innings were played but Monday’s weather robbed the home side of the opportunity to whack it around for an unlikely victory. Worcester’s Pakistani batsman Kashif Ali, in only his ninth first-class match, notched both his first and second centuries, but all to no avail. 

As in 2023, Essex registered a first-game success. This year’s came at Trent Bridge, where a Joe Clarke ton enabled Nottinghamshire to claim a narrow first-innings lead despite a Sam Cook hat-trick. However, on the final two days, it all went pear-shaped. A solid batting performance down the order put Haseeb Hameed’s side under pressure, then Sam Cook did the rest, putting Notts to the sword with 6-14. Could he earn an England call-up? I doubt it. Not unless he takes another ten-for at The Oval or Lord’s! So a good start for Essex, but their points haul could be all but wiped out should they be punished for Khushi’s bat being too big! 

The latter looks unlikely. When Middlesex hosted Glamorgan in Division Two, only fifteen wickets fell across all four days which featured few interruptions. Some may blame the Kookaburra ball but the Lord’s pitch must have been the softest of feather-beds because various all-time run records were ripped up. Glamorgan skipper Sam Northeast, never one to ease up after reaching three figures, stroked his way to an unbeaten 335, unbelievably the highest individual score ever seen at this ground in over 200 years and some 70,000 innings. Ably supported by Colin Ingram, he declared with the fourth wicket stand one shy of 300. 

Yet the game wasn’t over. In reply, Middlesex were less cavalier in their approach and proceeded to torture the Glammy attack for more than two days. Ryan Higgins, in particular, cashed in with his maiden double-hundred before being stumped by Chris Cooke on 221. The county were finally bowled out for 655, their second highest in history. Reader, it ended as a draw. 

Elsewhere, Somerset scooped the most bonus points at Canterbury, but old-timers Bell-Drummond and Denly eased heir way to centuries second time around. Like the April sun, champions and hot favourites Surrey had little chance to shine at Lancashire, although Cameron Steel polished off the home team’s tail very cheaply. New boy Dan Lawrence also claimed four wickets but didn’t get a chance to bat. 

In the second tier, Sussex were deprived of a likely victory by bad light at Hove. Opener Tom Haines (133) and some vibrant late-order hitting earned them a lead of 107, before James Coles and Ollie Robinson tormented the Northants batters. The ever-reliable Procter, Keogh and McManus dug in to prevent Sussex having a chance to knock off a few runs before the weather closed in. 

The forecast is not brilliant for the next round of fixtures, either but, with Surrey, Essex and Hampshire all at home in the South-East, they have the best chance of securing a result, although respective opponents Somerset, Kent and Lancashire will aim to come out on top. 

Team of the Week:-  Lyth (Yor), Haines (Sus), Kashif Ali (Wor), Northeast (Gla), Clarke (Not +), Ingram (Gla), Higgins (Mid), Coles (Sus), Steel (Sur), Mike (Lei), Cook (Ess)

County Team of the Year, 2023

The leaves are starting to lose their green sheen, the shelves are full of Halloween costumes so it must be time for my annual review of the best and most consistent players across the County Championship, One-Day Cup and Vitality Blast. It seems odd that one or two bright performances in front of a selector can warrant an international call-up (e.g. Rehan Ahmed, George Scrimshaw), while consistent quality is consistently ignored (Ed Barnard, Jamie Porter) but maybe here’s a lot of political stuff going on that I don’t see. Hopefully, this review shines a light on the unsung stars of domestic cricket. 

Openers 

In the four-day format, several opening batters in Division Two stood out for me. A rejuvenated Leicestershire boasted Rishi Patel, promoted Worcestershire had the ever-reliable Jake Libby (but not in the Blast) and Derbyshire’s Luis Reece broke all sorts of records, not least with scoring two centuries in each of his matches against Glamorgan, who must be sick of the sight of him. He and his partner Harry Came forged many a solid start, only for the bowlers to fall short. Kent’s evergreen Daniel Bell-Drummond was a revelation in the white-ball stuff, and Ed Barnard’s promotion to open in the One-Day Cup for his new county, Warwickshire, resulted in him being the competition’s top scorer.  However, there was no ignoring Alex Lees, who dominated the second half of the summer and anchored many of Durham’s victories. 

Middle Order 

Another Durham batsman who is no stranger to my Team of the Year is David Bedingham, and he appeared in six Teams of the Week, more than anyone else in 2023. Another South Africa-born Division Two star was Leus Du Plooy who, like Reece, struck over a thousand Championship runs at an average above 80. Glamorgan also failed to win many games, at times leaving Kiran Carlson as a one-man team. Across all formats, his was the second-highest run aggregate in the country. Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke somehow scraped a thousand runs, while Essex skipper Tom Westley was his side’s top scorer, too. Gloucestershire’s 22-year-old Oliver Price was excellent in the 50-over competition, and older brother Tom looked a useful bowling prospect, too. However, my middle-order is completed by Josh Bohannon and James Vince. The latter was the Blast’s leading run-maker for he second season running, and the former compiled more across all three formats (1822) than anybody else. 

All Rounders 

I’ve mentioned Ed Barnard already, and his move away from Worcestershire didn’t damage his ability to make useful red-ball runs while also opening the bowling. Ryan Higgins also transferred to a Division One squad, Middlesex and put the rest to shame, scoring 1,617 runs and taking 53 wickets. It didn’t prevent relegation on the very last afternoon but I’m sure this England-qualified all-rounder will bounce back in 2024. He’s no Ben Stokes but, aged 28, he’s perfectly qualified to deliver Bazball if required. Matt Critchley (Essex) is surely the top leg-spinner-batsman in county cricket and Sussex’s Fynn Hudson-Prentice enjoyed a fine summer in the Championship, especially with the bat. However, Liam Dawson gets the nod from me. His international days may be behind him, but his value to Hampshire was evident time and time again, right up to the final fixture.

 

Wicket-Keeper

 

As last year, picking one man for the role proved a nightmare. Ben Foakes and Ben Brown topped the County Championship dismissals table, keeping to two of the best seam attacks around, but their batting wasn’t so great. When he played, Chris Cooke inevitably played a blinder at the crease and behind the stumps for Glamorgan, and Durham’s Ollie Robinson accumulated over 1,300 runs and ten stumpings. It was a tough choice, and maybe my Somerset allegiance affected my judgment, but I have opted for the teenage sensation James Rew. He crashed five centuries in the Championship, demonstrating that the county’s locally-produced youngsters don’t all wish to abandon proper cricket. I hope he wasn’t a one-season wonder. 

Bowlers 

Unusually, Craig Overton didn’t feature in the wicket league this year, and his contribution to Somerset’s T20 success was in his catching, not bowling. Instead, Matt Henry, Josh Davey and Ben Green led the way. As last year, Wiaan Mulder (Leicestershire), Tom Bailey and Matthew Potts were consistent wicket-takers, while at Essex, Jamie Porter and Sam Cook hoovered up more than a hundred first-class wickets at under twenty apiece. Durham’s Ben Raine was Division Two’s highest wicket-taker, and Oliver Hannon-Dalby continued to shine with Chris Rushworth at Warwickshire. OHD even claimed 24 victims in the One-Day Cup, the best by a country mile, and his county didn’t even reach the final, destroyed by Dawson at the semi stage. Brett Hutton topped the bowling charts in the Championship, with 62, proving again that Nottinghamshire need not worry too much that Stuart Broad has retired.  Last, but not least, there is Simon Harmer. He may not be the most economical but, whether with red or white ball in hand, the Essex man is an icon of consistency. In 2023, there were none of the old eye-catching eight-fors but he still snared 85 in total and makes my Team of the Season for the fifth consecutive year. Remarkable. 

So here is my considered multi-format selection:- 

Lees (Dur), Reece (Der), Bohannon (Lan), Bedingham (Dur), Vince (Ham), Rew (Som, wkt), Higgins (Mid), Dawson (Ham), Harmer (Ess), Hutton (Not), Hannon-Dalby (War). 

Also in the squad: Barnard (War), Carlson (Gla), Bell-Drummond (Ken)

Kent pair smash partnership record

Kent claimed their first win of the season, but it was the second-wicket pair of 19 year-old Jordan Cox and Jack Leaning who stole the headlines. Their unbeaten stand of 423 was the county’s highest ever, and they might still be batting had they not declared at the 120-over mark. It proved to be the correct decision because 44 year-old Darren Stevens polished off Sussex with 5-50 to win by an innings. Cox promptly let the side down by posing with fans, breaking the Covid rules and consequently missing the next fixture in self-isolation, the idiot. 

Across the Thames estuary, Essex raced to the top of the South division, dealing Surrey a 169-run defeat. Simon Harmer reminded South Africa of his credentials by taking 14 wickets in the match. It was a tighter affair at Radlett where Hampshire took the winners’ bonus. Bowling honours were shared but opener Joe Weatherly needed to defy Tim Murtagh et al and anchor the line-up for 64 to set up a narrow win against Middlesex. 

Somerset made it two wins from two inside two days at Northampton where seamers made hay. The home side’s Ben Sanderson took 9-89 and still lost, because the Overton twins dominated once more. Not only did they take cheap wickets but also top-score with half-centuries. 

Gloucestershire beat Warwickshire at Bristol, despite the sterling efforts of the visitors’ stand-in opening bowler, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, who captured six wickets in each innings. All-rounder Ryan Higgins’ bowling was the difference, his 7-42 ensuring a 78-run winning margin. Worcestershire held the upper hand at home to Glamorgan, beginning with a 318-run partnership involving Jake Libby and Brett D’Oliveira. The Welsh attack again looked fragile but Billy Root struck a century and Chris Cooke staved off defeat in the second innings with 74. More impressive were his wicketkeeping stats: 7 catches and two stumpings. 

In the North group, Derbyshire outplayed neighbours Leicestershire by nine wickets and Lancashire came away from Durham with an innings victory. At Trent Bridge , Nottinghamshire enjoyed a first-innings lead over Yorkshire, with the help of Tom Moores’ 106 and the slip catches of skipper Mullaney. However, they blew their chances of a first triumph since 2018 by being skittled for 97. 

It has been confirmed that the final of the Bob Willis Trophy won’t take place until 23^rd September, but the revised T20 Blast is heading for an October finish in the hope that fans may be allowed into the grounds. Given the current increases in infections, that may prove wishful thinking. 

Team of the Week: Libby (Wor), Cox (Ken), Leaning (Ken), D’Oliveira (Wor), Thompson (Yor), Cooke (Gla +), Higgins (Glo), J Overton (Som), Harmer (Ess), Hannon-Dalby (War), Sanderson (Nor)

My County Cricket Team of 2019

For many, the summer of 2019 will long be remembered for England’s World Cup success and a tight Ashes series. The prolific Steve Smith and Ben Stokes getting the runs when they mattered were the notable personalities of the international season. But what about the domestic county scene?

Somerset and Essex shared the limited-overs trophies before their rain-hit head-to-head finale in the Championship left Essex ahead on points. Their dominance was built on bowling. Batting bonus points were very thin on the ground, and Somerset’s highest first-innings total was a meagre 408. Only Yorkshire and winless Nottnghamshire – for all their new signings (Duckett and Clarke) garnered fewer batting points, and Essex were barely better. In Division Two, won easily by the undefeated Lancashire, there was a more even balance. Apart from top and bottom, it was a remarkably fluid competition, in which eight counties occupied the promotion places at some point during the season. But who were the individuals who shone on the county circuit, and who makes my 2019 County Team of the Year?

Openers:

In recent years, Surrey have dominated this position but their nightmare season allowed others to challenge. Leicestershire’s red-ball specialist Hassan Azad was the top scorer in the second tier, Adam Lyth and Daniel Bell-Drummond added useful T20 bowling contributions to their respective batting CVs and Zak Crawley caught the eye for Kent. However, two unsung openers were straightforward choices. At 30, Billy Godleman has found himself swimming in the Division Two backwaters for Derbyshire but 2019 saw him maturing into a Big Fish. Four-day cricket is his major strength and yet he anchored many a 50-over and T20 innings while others blazed away. His overall run aggregate of 1,982 was the highest in all county cricket. 

In the top flight, Dominic Sibley was a revelation. Released by Surrey two years ago, he enjoyed a sizzling summer of first-class cricket for Warwickshire. The leading Championship run-scorer, he struck five centuries – two of them ‘doubles’ - averaged just shy of 70, and at Trent Bridge a fortnight ago scored 215 not out and 109. England are watching him closely.

Middle-order:

Last season’s county star Joe Denly was largely absent from Kent on international duty, with James Vince also missing early games for Hampshire. Ian Bell was injured, James Hildreth improved his One-Day Cup totals at the expense of his four-day form, which proved costly for Somerset. However, his team-mate, 20 year-old Tom Banton, appeared out of nowhere to power his side to the RLOC crown. He was less useful in the Championship but in the short stuff he showed no fear. Glamorgan had a superb first-half of the Division Two season, buoyed by runs from Billy Root and Marnus Labuschagne. The latter contributed 1114 runs in only 10 matches before carrying forward his form into the Australian side. 

Sams Northeast and Hain were consistent across all competitions for Hampshire and Warwickshire/Birmingham, Tom Kohler-Cadmore struck some beefy innings in the Yorkshire cause, and Tom Westley, with Alastair Cook, made sure the Essex attack had something to bowl at. However, my number five must be Dawid Malan. Middlesex had a bumpy ride in 2019 but he made over 1,000 Championshp runs and almost 500 in the Blast.

All-Rounders:

My old favourite Darren Stevens seemed to be coasting into retirement for Kent when, in the penultimate fixture at Headingley, he crashed 237 at more than a run a ball then took 5-20. Too little, too late for my Team of the Year, but Kent are surely rethinking their decision to release the man who claimed 51 first-class scalps at under 18 apiece, aged 43 or not.. By contrast, Somerset’s Lewis Gregory was cruising to a place in my 2019 XI until injury intervened just as the Blast was beginning. He missed the whole of August, dammit. Liam Dawson, Wayne Parnell (in one-dayers) and Toby Roland-Jones were reliable but I’ve picked two Division Two all-rounders.

David Wiese was a fine late-order hitter for Sussex, who was explosive with bat in hand against the white ball and very useful bowling with the red one. However this was Ryan Higgins’ year. Primarily a Championship performer, he made no fewer than seven Teams of the Week, claiming almost 1,000 runs and 50 wickets to help Gloucestershire gain an unexpected promotion from Division Two. The Zimbabwe-born product of Berkshire and Middlesex is still only 24, and it will be interesting to see how he fares against superior opposition in 2020.

Wicket-keeper:

20 year-old Ollie Robinson took the Kent gloves with great aplomb in the Championship, Ben Brown had a good start with the bat for Sussex and John Simpson and Ben Cox were consistent across the summer. However, for the second successive year, my wicketkeeper of the year has to be Lancashire’s Dane Vilas. Not only did he claim more victims behind the stumps than anyone else but he also scored more runs in all competitions than anyone bar Godleman. The Red Roses must be grateful for his efforts in getting them promoted at the first time of asking.

Bowlers:-

Until injury struck, Jimmy Anderson also featured prominently in Lancashire’s early fixtures, taking him to within touching distance of 1000 career first-class wickets. Robinson (Sussex), Rushworth (Durham) and Craig Overton (Somerset) enjoyed another solid summer but late developer Ben Sanderson pips them all for the wickets which took Northamptonshire back into the top flight. Yet even he is eclipsed by Hampshire’s South African import Kyle Abbott. He was amongst the leading wicket-takers in all three formats, capping off an already great season with phenomenal match figures of 17-86 last month which destroyed Somerset’s title bid.

Prolific spinners were few and far between. Jeetan Patel picked up another 64 wickets for Warwickshire under the radar, Nathan Sowter took plenty for Middlesex in the 50-over tournament and Moeen Ali put his England woes behind him with some tasty cameos in the Blast but Kolpak-er Simon Harmer takes the biscuit. He was at his best in the crucial clashes at the end of the season, with superb spells on the T20 Finals Day and five-fors in each of his last three Championship matches, including a 7-58 against Surrey. His wickets ultimately proved decisive in Essex’s double trophy success.

To conclude, based on stats and my Teams of the Week, my County Eleven of 2019 is:-

Sibley (War), Godleman (Der), Banton (Som), Labuschagne (Gla), Malan (Mid), Vilas (Lan +), Wiese (Sus), Higgins (Glo), Abbott (Ham), Harmer (Ess), Sanderson (Nor);
12^th Man: Hain (War)

What a Wonderful World for Sam Cook and Essex

Thanks to a ridiculous quirk of the domestic season, the counties had to re-adjust to the rigours of four-day cricket amidst a welter of Twenty20 fixtures. Some coped better than others. Kent’s Sam Billings moaned about the “completely brainless” fixture list after his side was bowled out by Essex for a paltry 40 on a third day which saw no fewer than 26 wickets fall at Canterbury. By all accounts it was largely the result of brainless batting on both sides, and it was the 22 year-old Chelmsfordian quick, Sam Cook who benefitted most, taking 12-65 in the match. In what may be his final first-class match, Mohammad Amir chipped in with a further six wickets.

The three-wicket victory kept Essex clear at the top, piling the pressure onto Somerset who faced a tricky 258 target against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. The home side won the early skirmishes, helped by 19 year-old Robert Yates’ maiden century. He also top-scored in the second innings but Abell and Jamie Overton bowled Somerset back into contention. On the final day, Banton and Bartlett each passed 50 to earn Somerset an eighth Championship win which leaves them just two points behind Essex.

At Scarborough, Nottinghamshire lost yet again while Yorkshire’s 143-run success keeps them in the title hunt, albeit needing the top two to falter. Tyke ‘keeper Tattersall’s 92 was the top score, while Surrey’s deputy gloveman Ollie Pope trumped almost everybody this week. His unbeaten 221, allied to a first-innings 7-74 by Rikki Clarke looked likely to overcome Hampshire. However, Liam Dawson’s batting steadied the ship on day four to ensure a draw, redeeming himself after 0-180 bowling figures.

It was also a full programme in Division Two where Lancashire skipped along the North Wales coast to deliver a drubbing to Glamorgan. With their best batsman Labuschagne on duty with Australia, they struggled badly for runs. The visitors’ captain and wicketkeeper Dane Vilas outscored Glamorgan’s first innings total on his own, plundering 266 from only 240 deliveries, including six sixes. Tom Bailey ably led the largely seam attack which took twenty wickets, all of them bowled, LBW or caught behind.

The result saw Glamorgan slipping back into the pack, while another surprise package, Gloucestershire, advanced to second after an eight-wicket victory at Derby. Opener Chris Dent scored heavily, while Ryan Higgins added a century and five-for to his summer’s impressive statistics. Down at Wantage Road, Moeen Ali’s return to the real world netted him 82 runs and three expensive wickets but another Worcestershire defeat, this time by ten wickets to Northamptonshire. Wakeley and Pretorius each stuck centuries and Ben Hutton starred with the ball.

Sussex beat Middlesex handsomely by seven wickets at Hove, their first Championship win since the reverse fixture at the beginning of June. The away team’s batting looked extremely frail, although tailender Tim Murtagh added useful runs to his five cheap wickets. Sussex seamer Ollie Robinson took 8-34 and 6-101, taking his tally past fifty for the season. The remaining fixture saw Durham declare on 544-9 and force Leicestershire to follow-on.at Chester-le-Street. Alex Lees struck 181 and Ben Carse claimed 6-63 before Mark Cosgrove anchored a fightback with 107 not out to avoid defeat.

We now face another three-week burst of Blast before proper cricket action is resumed.

Team of the Week: Lees (Dur), Dent (Glo), Yates (War), Pope (Sur), Vilas (Lan +), Higgins (Glo), Patterson-White (Yor), Bailey (Lan), Cook (Ess), Robinson (Sus), Murtagh (Mid)

Kent and Lancashire having a Blast

The past week will long be remembered for record-breaking temperatures but it also introduced 2019 to the Vitality Blast. Sadly the hot weather also brought a swathe of storms which caused five washouts but, on the bright side, they did ensure Leicestershire have a point to their name.

At the end of the first week of fixtures Kent are the only unbeaten county, defeating useful one-day sides like Essex, Somerset and Hampshire. The Spitfires’ stand-out individual performance was Imran Qayyam’s 5-21 which shot Somerset out of the skies at Canterbury. Middlesex stand second of the South division. AB De Villiers got them off to a stunning start with an unbeaten 88 off 43 deliveries but Dawid Malan was the most consistent batsman of all, while seamers Tom Helm and Toby Roland-Jones were always amongst the wickets.

Sussex boast a formidable line-up of specialist T20 bowlers, particularly Mills, Topley, Rashid Khan and Danny Briggs.  They have propelled Sussex into third place, despite only managing a tie with Surrey. The latter side enjoyed a 97-run drubbing of Glamorgan on Thursday evening at The Oval. Tom Curran captured a second-over hat-trick, then Batty and Imran Tahir each took a further three wickets as the Welsh were dismissed for 44. It was their worst T20 performance to date but at least it was better than Ireland’s second-innings Test meltdown.

Curran was less successful against Essex. With South African hired T20 gun Cameron Delport slogging fourteen sixes in a career-best 129, the England man’s three overs went for 60. On their home ground, Essex amassed 226-4 from only 15 overs but it wasn’t the highest total of the week. In the North group Yorkshire took 255 off Leicestershire, with Tom Kohler-Cadmore leading the way with 96 not out. However, the Vikings lost the Big One, falling just short of Lancashire’s 170-6 at Headingley.

Warwickshire, aka the Birmingham Bears, also got off to a good start. Their recruit from Hampshire, Fidel Edwards, and Aussie spinner Ashton Agar looked useful acquisitions. Nottinghamshire ought to do well, and Alex Hales needs to make some high scores to get back in Eoin Morgan’s good books.

Gloucestershire and Worcestershire saw relatively little Blast action as they squeezed in a Championship fixture at Cheltenham. The result was closer after four days than the majority of games spanning just three hours. An excellent all-round contribution by Ryan Higgins helped the home team to a 13-run triumph, propelling them to an unlikely third position in Division Two.

As for the Blast, there’ll be plenty more thrills and spills before the knockouts start. I’m sure Glamorgan and Leicestershire won’t end the competition winless.

Team of the Week: Delport (Ess), Short (Dur), Kohler-Cadmore (Yor), Malan (Mid), Du Plooy (Der), Pooran (Yor +), Higgins (Glo), Roland-Jones (Mid), Agar (War), Helm (Mid), Edwards (War)

Harmer hammers hopeless Hampshire

At last an excuse to indulge in an orgy of alliteration! While Somerset sat out the ninth round of Championship fixtures, nearest challengers Hampshire took a brutal beating on their travels to Chelmsford. Essex advanced to within seven points of Hampshire with an innings victory, for which they can thank spinner Simon Harmer. His match stats of 12 wickets for 60 tell the story and he now has more wickets than anyone else in the division.

Tunbridge Wells was the scene of Nottinghamshire’s fourth defeat of the season, going down by 285 runs to Kent. Zak Crawley and Joe Denly struck centuries while most of the bowlers contributed with wickets. Warwickshire also eased their relegation worries with a three-wicket triumph at York. Tom Kohler-Cadmore awaits punishment from the ECB for his part in the odious sex competition and he fell for a second-ball duck as his Yorkshire team-mates struggled against the seam of Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Craig Miles. Dominic Sibley added two further fifties to his season’s tally but the finish was tighter than Yorkshire could have imagined on the final morning.

In the next fortnight, Somerset face both their nearest rivals, which could go a long way in deciding the fate of the 2019 title.

In the Division Two promotion chase, Lancashire opened up a twenty-point margin with an impressive victory at Derby. England pacemen Jimmy Anderson and Graeme Onions dominated proceedings with seventeen cheap wickets between them against a side for whom Luis Reece opened both batting and bowling. Keaton Jennings needed only one ball to achieve a ten-wicket win.

Glamorgan and Sussex share second place after their respective draws. After an impressive sequence of scores for Ireland and the Seconds, Paul Stirling returned to the Middlesex First XI and duly racked up a ton, as did colleague Sam Robson. Glamorgan had little opportunity to shine but Marnus Labuschagne did his Ashes hopes no harm with another half-century and five wickets. At Kidderminster, Sussex and Worcestershire were evenly matched and no result was possible. For the visitors Chris Jordan enjoyed a reasonable all-round performance, Ben Brown added 144 more runs to his summer’s terrific total, Laurie Evans delivered a measured 113 and debutant bowler Aaron Thomason too no wickets but whacked a useful 90.

In the remaining fixture, just twenty wickets fell across four days at Leicester. The home side’s opener Hassan Azad compiled two hundreds, and shared a first innings stand of 320 with Neil Dexter on the way to 487 all out. Gloucestershire trumped that with 571, the bulk of it from the blades of Chris Dent and the in-form Ryan Higgins. Horton and Azad again accumulated 211 for the first wicket, fashioning a remarkably symmetrical partnership in which each reached three figures before declaring and agreeing the draw.

Both Sussex and Glamorgan have the opportunity this week to displace the Red Roses at the top, but only by defeating Durham and Gloucestershire, respectively.

Team of the Week: Hassan Azad (Lei), Crawley (Ken), Denly (Ken), Dexter (Lei), Labuschagne (Gla), Higgins (Glo), Cullen (Gla), Harmer (Ess), Onions (Lan), Hannon-Dalby (War), Anderson (Lan)

Notts and Somerset beat the Rain

The last weekend of April was a miserable one across the country. Northampton saw a complete washout and many other sessions were lost to the weather, be it rain, waterlogged pitches or bad light. Runs were in such short supply that Matt Renshaw’s 112 at Taunton, amassed with indecent haste before lunch on the second day, was the only three-figure score of the entire round of fixtures.

In that game, with the ball seaming and swinging, even Tom Abell was able to take a few wickets as Yorkshire’s batting failed twice. Jack Leaning offered some resistance on the final morning but he was last out, to Craig Overton, on 68. Somerset – amazingly – have won both their opening matches, something they haven’t managed for 25 years. Before we Somerset fans become too carried away with optimism of that elusive title, it’s worth noting that we finished that season in fifth place.  Never mind, it’s a huge step towards avoiding the relegation I believed to be a near-certainty!

Interestingly, three of the four counties who finished above us in 1993 now languish in the Second Division. The other side, Worcestershire, could well be heading back in that direction after a third successive defeat. After all that effort to ensure that the flooded New Road ground was suitable for cricket, Worcester’s team twice surrendered meekly to Nottinghamshire. Ross Taylor’s 50 was the only half-century of the game while Jake Ball and Luke Fletcher each captured seven wickets, eclipsing Stuart Broad who nonetheless chipped in with a few of his own.

Fewer than two innings were completed at Southampton, where Hampshire’s Jimmy Adams top-scored with 87 and Alastair Cook re-established some early-season form for Essex with a fluent knock of 84. At Old Trafford, Lancashire outplayed Surrey, enforcing the follow-on thanks to an abundance of late-order runs and useful bowling by Tom Bailey and Graeme Onions. That the visitors survived the final two sessions owed everything to Ben Foakes and Ollie Pope who are really earning their Surrey spurs so far this season.

Division Two suffered even more at the hands of the weather gods; no positive results were possible. The fourth day at Hove did at least offer a prospect of a close finish. Gloucestershire needed only 59 runs and Sussex four wickets, but bad light meant the players stayed in the pavilion and a draw was inevitable. The game did at least deliver some good bowling performances by Ryan Higgins (5-21 and 3-63) and Sussex’s David Wiese (a first-innings 5-48).

The Leicestershire-Derbyshire derby was reduced to a bonus-point maximisation exercise after the first seven sessions were lost. At Lord’s, Middlesex and Glamorgan didn’t even approach such a promising situation; only 58 overs were sent down in total. The home team’s Stevie Eskinazi struck 94 quick runs, while Michael Hogan (5-49) and Tim Murtagh (4-12) did their already healthy career averages no harm at all, but that’s about all the positives anyone can take from the four days.

The weather forecast for next weekend is slightly better. Warwickshire and Derbyshire steal a march on their second tier opponents by playing on Thursday, and each can open up a healthy lead by winning at Edgbaston. Meanwhile, in the upper echelons, Somerset will be really up against it against Lancashire, Nottinghamshire will also face a strong challenge from Hampshire, and Worcestershire need to find runs from somewhere if they aren’t to gift Surrey a second success of the summer. May the sun shine on them all!

Team of the Week:

Renshaw (Som), Adams (Ham), Eskinazi (Mid), Ackermann (Lei), Abell (Som), Foakes (Sur +), Clark (Lan), Bailey (Lan), Higgins (Glo), Brooks (Yor), Fletcher (Not)