Wagner Runs Rings Around Notts

Week 2 of the domestic season brought decent weather. Instead it was batting dominance which produced just two results out of six. Runs flowed particularly freely at the top of the order.

In Division One, Stuart Robson broke a Middlesex record with his match aggregate of 337 runs. However, Jonathan Trott’s unbeaten 219 and a fine all-round performance by the redoubtable Keith Barker were instrumental in negating Robson’s total. Warwickshire ‘keeper Tim Ambrose will also remember the game, not for catches or runs, but for his maiden first-class wicket as the game petered out into a draw.

There were big scores in Yorkshire’s first Championship fixture of the season, too. In the first innings, no fewer than three players reached three figures. Adam Lyth made 111, then Jonny Bairstow struck a brilliant 246 and even Liam Plunkett weighed in with a rapid-fire 126. Ryan Sidebottom’s victims included his thousandth in senior cricket! Hampshire were not to be out-done, though. In reply, James Vince and Sean Ervine also hit hundreds and a draw was inevitable. Hants came out worst, however, as yet another fast bowler was afflicted by injury. Fidel Edwards contrived to break an ankle in a mid-match warm-up, unfortunate in the extreme.

Last week’s winners Nottinghamshire came a cropper against newly-promoted Lancashire. While Anderson and Broad were unusually on opposite sides of a first-class game, it was New Zealander Neil Wagner who stole the headlines. He claimed an eye-catchingly symmetrical 11-111, and the Notts batting fell apart.

In Division Two, Leicestershire enjoyed a rare victory on their first appearance in 2016 destroying Glamorgan at Cardiff. Wicketkeeper Niall O’Brien top-scored with 93 and claimed 8 catches, New recruit Paul Horton opened with two half-centuries and Clint McKay contributed eight wickets, leaving Robert Croft aghast.

Nevertheless Essex head the table despite failing to beat Sussex at Hove. Alastair Cook compiled a patient second innings century but I can’t help think he should have been a bit bolder as his team failed to attack a reachable target of 329 on the final day. Veteran all-rounder Graham Napier was in fine form, but the home side’s opener aggregated 211 runs in the match..

It was even more of a batting paradise at Bristol where only 22 wickets fell. Even Gloucestershire’s nightwatchman Liam Norwell scored 102, mostly in the company of Chris Dent. However, Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen and Chesney Hughes helped themselves to more than 400 runs between them.

Let’s hope for more even contests between bat and ball next week when County Championship highlights include Leicestershire challenging Kent, now lacking their retired hero Robert Key, Durham hosting Middlesex and Yorkshire visiting Warwickshire.

Team of the Week:
S.Robson (Mid), Nash (Sus), Hughes (Der), Trott (War), Bairstow (Yor), Ervine (Ham), N O’Brien (Lei +), Napier (Ess), Plunkett (Yor), McKay (Lei), Wagner (Lan)

Young Guns in the Runs

Last week I observed how the 30-somethings, mostly Australian, were making the headlines in the County Championship. Well, it was all change in the latest round of matches, for it was relatively unknown batsmen in their early 20s who piled on the runs. While Joe Root was strutting his stuff in another England Ashes victory, his county understudy Alex Lees, took the Derbyshire attack for 275 not out, almost doubling his career first-class run aggregate and average in the process! And how many cricketers have boasted Zak as their middle name? Yorkshire's innings triumph took them to the top of the table, helped by Sussex's surprise thumping by Middlesex, for whom 24 year-old Stuart Robson struck 166 in the first innings.

In the other Division One fixture, Warwickshire easily outgunned Nottinghamshire, thanks in part to Jeetan Patel's wickets but also 25 year-old Londoner Luke Evans' impressive 178. At Edgbaston, the home side overtook their opponents to take fifth place in the table.

In the second tier, Essex have suffered a few embarrassments so far this summer, yet their innings defeat of Leicestershire advanced them to third, within reach of one-time runaway leaders Northants who sat out the four-dayers last week. All three centurions in the match were under 25 years of age. At Chelmsford, Ned Eckersley got Leicester off to a great start with 147, but the locals made hay in the hot sunshine on days two and three. Opener Jaik Mickelburgh shrugged off recent poor form at the top level by compiling a mighty 243, sharing a 270-run fifth wicket stand with 20 year-old Ben Foakes. The latter, having appeared as a sub fielder for England, struck 15 fours and three sixes in his 120. Greg Smith's 5-42 put Leicester out of their misery and, just for a change, David Masters failed to take a single wicket in the game.

Another pair of promising youngsters dominated proceedings at Cheltenham. Gloucestershire clinched the mid-table honours against Worcestershire after James Fuller's pace nabbed him 5-43 in the first innings. The margin of defeat would have been much larger had it not been for inexperienced Joe Leach's 82 and 114. Only Gareth Andrew and Thilan Samaraweera kept him company for any length of time, but all in vain.

Before inflicting a first T20 defeat on Hampshire, Kent also prevented their fellow south-coasters from winning over four days. Big scores from Carberry, Key and Brendan Nash cancelled each other out in a tame draw. It was another flat batting track at Old Trafford, and some old hands took full advantage. 40 year-old Glamorgan star Murray Goodwin led the way with 194 before the veteran Lancashire middle-order pair, Ashwell Prince and Simon Katich each reached three figures, pushing the Red Roses beyond 500 and the end of a meaningful contest. Gareth Rees stood up for the Welsh contingent with an undefeated century on the final day but a special mention should go to Simon Kerrigan. The spinner captured twelve of the 25 wickets to fall in the whole match over 76 overs. James Pattinson would collapse with a stress fracture just thinking about that sort of workload!