Essex are Champions!

What an amazing couple of seasons Essex have enjoyed since Chris Silverwood took over as coach. Promoted last year, their eighth Championship win of 2017 has now guaranteed them their first Pennant since 1992. As so often, Jamie Porter and Steve Harmer claimed most of the wickets as the Warwickshire batting capitulated yet again.

Somerset’s seven-wicket defeat of Lancashire at Taunton not only gifted Essex the title but also consigned Warwickshire to relegation. Jack Leach (5-47 and 4-94) led the way for the Westcountrymen while Steven Davies’ 111 was a rare ton for them. They even briefly sat in fifth place before the rain-ruined Middlesex-Hampshire fixture ended as a draw and the brace of three points were dished out.

In contrast, batsmen were in charge at The Oval. As they did in the reverse fixture in June, Surrey clouted the Yorkshire attack for more than 500, and produced three centurions in their hefty first innings of 592. New England opener Mark Stoneman made 131 while old Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara continued where he left off earlier in the summer, striking 164 and sharing a good partnership with ‘keeper Ben Foakes (110). Yorkshire were made to follow on but Aussie Shaun Marsh and Alex Lees each made three figures to salvage a draw.

Division One is very tight in the middle, and any one of five counties could accompany Warwickshire through the trapdoor. Last year’s top two Somerset and Middlesex are favourites, locked on 123 points, just one behind Yorkshire. Both Surrey and Hampshire also sit within a win bonus of the danger zone. This week, it’s Yorkshire who on paper have the easiest task, at home to the Edgbaston wooden-spooners. Somerset travel to Surrey, Middlesex host stuttering Lancashire and Hampshire meet champions Essex at Southampton. Anything can happen.

In Division Two, Worcestershire took advantage of Nottinghamshire’s week off to go top, getting the better of Leicestershire. Basil D’Oliveira got them off to a good start with 138 but Neil Dexter’s 114 helped the away team reach 400. A special mention for Leicester’s 20 year-old spinner Callum Parkinson. He claimed ten wickets in the match, just superior to his twin brother’s seven for Lancashire. If Jamie Overton could overcome persistent injury, will we see two sets of twins playing for England in a few years’ time?!

Northamptonshire had to work hard to beat Glamorgan at Cardiff. Seamer Richard Gleeson continued his excellent season while Richard Levi scored a typical rapid century at more than a run a ball. Promotion is a mathematical possibility but they’ll have to win both remaining fixtures and restrict Nottinghamshire’s bonus points this week.

At Hove, Sussex must settle for mid-table after losing to Derbyshire, for whom Hardus Viljoen captured no fewer than fifteen wickets, completing the victory with 8-90. Kent’s chances of promotion have also been snuffed out after being held to a draw at Bristol. Gloucestershire’s Australian opener Cameron Bancroft delivered the week’s only double-hundred while who else but Kent’s Darren Stevens combined a 50 with a five-for for the umpteen millionth time, give or take!

Team of the Week: Bancroft (Glo), D’Oliveira (Wor), Sangakkara (Sur), Levi (Nor), Davies (Sur +), Wright (Sus), Stevens (Ken), Harmer (Ess), Viljoen (Der), C Parkinson (Lei), Porter (Ess)

Roses Reign over the Rain

Unfortunately, my hopes for a week of results proved groundless. The early hot sunshine quickly gave way to two days of rain across most of the country. The exceptions were Old Trafford and Headingley, where both Yorkshire and Lancashire wrapped up welcome innings wins over Surrey and Hampshire, respectively.

Yet again, batsmen dominated the week. We had two triple-century partnerships, three double-century scores and two near-misses. Yorkshire’s victory was founded on a record Leeds stand of 372, involving England’s Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. Kumar Sangakkara and Steven Davies scored more than half of Surrey’s runs but didn’t get the support.

The champions lead the table by one point, but Lancashire advanced to second, and have a game in hand. Procter, Hameed and Petersen racked up a big first innings lead of 347, leaving Hampshire more than two days to defend in between rain breaks. Jimmy Anderson and Simon Kerrigan boasted combined figures of 60-31-88-8 and the visitors couldn’t hang on for long enough. To make matters worse, they secured only a single bonus point and now prop up Division One.

Somerset were enjoying the best of their match at Warwickshire before the final day washout. Tom Abell’s patient 102 and a couple of quicker half-centuries from Peter Trego were supported by some useful bowling by the Overton twins but the home side were spared the chance to bat a day or attack a 300+ target.

The Middlesex-Nottinghamshire fixture lost two whole days, but not until Sam Robson had struck his third first-class hundred of the summer. However, the England selectors are persevering with one of his opponents, Alex Hales who did at least contribute a useful 73 in the cause.

In Division Two, it was four draws out of four, leaving Essex still on top. Ed Joyce (250) and Luke Wells (116) put on 310 for Sussex against Derbyshire, while colleague Lewis Hatchett’s 5-58 was the week’s best bowling performance in the Championship.

Elsewhere, Kent’s Sam Northeast delivered his highest First-class score of 189 against Gloucestershire, for who Hamish Marshall continued his sprightly early-season form. Young ‘keeper Adam Rouse claimed eight catches for Kent, too.

At Leicester, the cricket didn’t match up to the football, but the home county’s lofty position in the league is almost as surprising as the Foxes’! Neil Dexter scored 98 and took three cheap Northants wickets but the lack of play on Day 3 proved crucial. There wasn’t much play at Cardiff either, but enough for Brett d’Oliveira and Joe Clarke to fill their boots again. The Worcester pair shared a third-wicket partnership of 253 and the opener made an impressive ‘double’.

Next week, Lancashire’s bid for the top spot could be halted by Durham, while Yorkshire must be confident of a decent return from Taunton, weather-permitting. Leicester are giving the Sri Lankans some pre-Test practice, so Essex should extend their lead at home to Derbyshire.

Team of the Week:
D’Oliveira (Wor), Joyce (Sus), Root (Yor), Bairstow (+ Yor), Northeast (Ken), S Davies (Sur), Trego (Som), Roland-Jones (Mid), Haggett (Ken), Patterson (Yor), Anderson (Lan)

Malan's the Man, Surrey the Team

A relatively quiet week domestically. While the County Championship and Ashes series took a break, the counties completed the group stages of the Royal London One Day Cup. It was rendered even quieter thanks to the rain which swept across much of England in the latter part of the week.

There was the added sideshow of Australia (minus Michael Clarke) getting some pre-Test practice against Northamptonshire. David Willey may be on his way to Yorkshire, but team-mate Stephen Crook caught the eye not only in the tour match with his blistering 142 not out but also in the defeat of Gloucestershire. His 4-37 and brisk 19 put his county in a good position to qualify for the quarter-finals only for the weather to deprive them of the opportunity to beat Yorkshire, themselves already through.

Durham squeezed out Northants by defeating Derbyshire. John Hastings’ 4-24 and Scott Borthwick’s 2-31 removed the threat of Madsen and co. Derbyshire took their revenge on Worcestershire at Derby where Shiv Thakor put in a match-winning all-round performance.

Somerset enjoyed the best week of any side in Group A, but they were never in the hunt for the knockouts. Surrey may have headed the table but Jim Allenby and Craig Overton nullified the runs of Steven Davies (111) and Rory Burns (76). A few days later, Leicestershire finished another miserable week being thumped by Peter Trego and quitting the new competition without a win.
Earlier they had lost to Worcestershire, for whom Alex Hepburn enjoyed a fruitful debut taking 4-34. Rory Burns was again in the runs in a twelve-run success over Gloucestershire to decide who won the group.

Group B was the preserve of Nottinghamshire despite losing to Kent. James Taylor’s impressive 109 was trumped by Sam Billings’ unbeaten 118 in 89 balls. It also proved enough to qualify in fourth behind Essex, whose sole fixture this week was washed out. Hampshire also progressed although Lancashire edged them by 29 runs. Another Ashwell Prince century took the away side past 300 then, with Alex Wheater also making three figures, the Rose Bowl looked set to celebrate a home victory. Instead, Kerrigan, Jarvis and Faulkner mopped up the tail. Lancashire missed out on the quarters by a tiny Net Run Rate margin, and Old Trafford rain prevented them from gaining the all-important extra point against Glamorgan.

Star man, however, was Dawid Malan, in a real rich vein of form for Middlesex. He plundered 156 in 128 deliveries to reach a mediocre target of 252 set by Glamorgan, for whom Colin Ingram struck 102.

The quarter-finals take place next week after an interlude of four-day cricket. Champions-elect Yorkshire travel to Sussex but a key encounter is Worcestershire’s visit to Somerset. Neither side will want to lose that one in the Division One danger zone. In Division Two, Gloucestershire face Surrey and Lancashire could extinguish any remaining hopes Glamorgan may have of achieving promotion come next month’s climax.

Team of the Week: Davies (Sur), Hales (Not), Malan (Mid), Ingram (Gla), Burns (Sur), Billings (Ken +), Crook (Nor), Trego (Som), Hepburn (Wor), Hastings (Dur), C Overton (Som).

Gubbins and Klinger Club the Runs

It was all about 50 overs in county cricket last week and, with some decidedly dodgy weather at times, Gloucestershire must be delighted with four wins out of four, to secure a knockout phase place. Fellow Group A front-runners Surrey also had a 100% record in the past seven days, albeit from three matches.

Surrey owed much to their batsmen, Jason Roy, Stephen Davies and the evergreen Kumar Sangakkara, with Joe Burke chipping in with valuable wickets. Gloucestershire weren’t a one-man band either, although Michael Klinger’s incredible one-day form showed no sign of waning. Two more centuries and a round 50 boosted the Bristol-based side, but ‘keeper Garth Roderick also made three figures and Geraint Jones struck three half-centries. Seamer David Payne also collected eleven scalps including five against Durham.

In Group B, Nottinghamshire rule the roost. Riki Wessels produced one of his trademark innings to defeat Middlesex today. Seven sixes helped raise his score to 131, the third highest this week. However, the star player
was probably Samit Patel. A fine century against Essex and seven wickets did as much as anybody to take his side to the top.

Middlesex experienced a mixed week but, despite a duck against Hampshire, it was a fabulous seven days for their 21 year-old, Nick Gubbins. He aggregated well over 300 runs, the best being 141 in 113 balls against Sussex. In that game, he shared a massive stand of 268 with fellow centurion Dawid Malan.

Some compensation for me came in two victories for Somerset, for whom Taunton favourites Peter Trego and James Hildreth showed what they are made of. Wes Durston (Derbyshire) and all-rounder Scott Borthwick (Durham) were also consistently excellent, but a special mention should be made of Joe Clarke.

The Worcestershire teenager plundered an unbeaten 131 in 109 balls off Gloucestershire but still finished on the losing side. Sentimentality would have placed him in my Team of the week, but there were just too many other worthy winners, especially with the bat. Maybe next week, Joe? Colleague Joe Leach also made the headlines. Against Northants, he achieved the rare feat of a hat-trick with the first three balls of the whole match. Unfortunately for him, his side's batting was even worse than the opposition's and his spectacular opening was in vain.

Team of the Week: Klinger (Glo, *)), Davies (Sur), Borthwick (Dur), Durston (Der), Gubbins (Mid), Roderick (Glo, +), Patel (Not) – two weeks running!, Trego (Som), Rayner (Mid), Payne (Glo), Hannon-Dalby (War).

Pietersen 355 not out - but Out!

No doubt about the English performance of the week… Andrew Strauss explaining the breakdown of trust with a certain Kevin Pietersen. On the pitch, KP’s perfect timing was again evident as he conjured up an amazing 355 not out for Surrey, including fifteen sixes. If he wanted to be considered for England Test selection, he was told to score runs. After two so-so matches, he plundered the Leicestershire bowlers, surviving six dropped catches en route for the Championship’s highest score since Brian Lara’s world record 21 years ago.

However, the incoming director of cricket, and KP’s former England captain, was in no mood to forgive the man who did his best to disrupt the national team then slag off all and sundry in his bitter book. The huge innings was in vain and Pietersen’s reaction was typical of the petty childish egotism we have come to expect: he abandoned Surrey before the match was over and buggered off to the IPL. And good riddance. I do see the point of Vaughan and others who would happily ignore every other player and pick KP regardless. He is indeed a ‘character’ and exciting batsman, and maybe there could be space for him in the T20 squad to generate fan excitement. But to forgive such behaviour would be too much. It’s just the way it ended that will add grist to the mill of the KP nuts.

At least his innings set up his county’s first Championship victory of the summer. However, his now ex-teammates had plenty to do on the last day. Ned Eckersley’s hundred and spirited resistance from the Leicester XI meant that Surrey needed a T20-style slogathon to take maximum points. With Jason Roy and Steven Davies opening, that’s exactly what they got, Their 145 partnership in 67 balls took them towards a surprise seven-wicket success, an heartbreak for poor Leicester.
Meanwhile, in Division One, Middlesex held on to the lead by defeating early front-runners Sussex by 79 runs. In a low-scoring contest, Mike Yardy scored the only half-century, and even that was eclipsed by the 62 extras conceded by the Sussex bowlers on day one!

Durham also won inside three days, overcoming Nottinghamshire by six wickets and advancing to second place in the table. Recent ODI debutant Mark Wood claimed seven victims and struck 66, but the losers’ Riki Wessels provided the game’s only century. Yorkshire could at last field their England fringe squad members for the visit of Hampshire to Headingley. Bairstow and Adil Rashid performed well and, with Pujara purring to a second innings 131 not out, Root and Ballance weren’t missed. Hampshire capitulated second time around but at least the match went into a fourth day.

In Division Two, Lancashire remain in pole position despite losing to unfancied Gloucestershire by 91 runs. Paul Horton’s first-innings 168 had kept the match evenly poised but bowlers Norwell, Payne and Miles held sway when it mattered.

The other two fixtures were drawn but provided some fabulously exciting finishes in which the sides batting last held on with just one wicket remaining. Aged 18, Matt Critchley made the headlines early on by striking his maiden first-class century in only his second game. However, Rob Keogh admirably guided Northants through an absorbing final day, He finished unbeaten on 163, not only saving the match but taking his side within only 37 runs of victory.

It was similarly tense at Canterbury where Glamorgan’s final pairing of David Lloyd and Michael Hogan held on for eight overs to deprive Kent of a first win of the season. This was the Welsh side’s fourth consecutive draw and the result leaves Kent stuck at the bottom.

Team of the Week (assuming the other ten are prepared to play with KP):
Horton (Lan), Davies (Sur), Eckersley (Lei), Pietersen (Sur), Keogh (Nth), Wood (Dur), Bairstow (Yor +), Critchley (Dur), Siddle (Lan), Brooks (Yor), Hogan (Gla)