Surrey Owe it to Foakes, Rew at the Double

 The top two Championship contenders both won, but Surrey’s decisive nine-wicket victory at Lord’s earned them a 3 bonus-point advantage over Warwickshire, who picked up a 4-wicket triumph in three days against Essex. 

Ben Foakes claimed six second-innings catches and all the Surrey bowlers chipped in, although the best partnership of the match was the 152 by Middlesex batsmen Robson and Malan, out of a first-innings total of 209. At Edgbaston, it was a low-scoring, rain-affected affair. The home team’s seam trio of Rushworth, Hannon-Dalby and Hasan Ali claimed all but one of the twenty Essex wickets to fall. 

At Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire crushed Northamptonshire by an innings in a match of just 169 overs. They certainly didn’t miss Stuart Broad as Brett Hutton and Dane Paterson each achieved ‘five-fors’ against a mediocre Northants line-up. In contrast, there were plenty of runs – too many, you could argue – at Old Trafford where Tom Abell came under fire for not declaring Somerset’s second innings to give Lancashire a chance of a rapid run chase. That would have been suicidal given the lack of time available and Lancashire’s T20 credentials. Somerset’s teenager, James Rew, won’t complain as he completed his second ton of the game and is now the competition’s leading run scorer. Lancashire have now drawn all five fixtures while Middlesex have drawn none. 

Kent and Hampshire also drew this week. James Fuller’s 5-21 was instrumental in Kent’s first day collapse, but Leaning and Cox in particular dug in to avoid defeat on the final day. Kent now travel up the A2 to face Surrey, leaving Warwickshire out of action until after the four-day tournament takes a month’s break for some one-day action. 

In Division Two, Durham maintained their position at the top, but it was desperately tight. Indeed, there was barely a bail’s breadth between them and Yorkshire throughout, but it was all-rounder Ben Raine’s cool half-century which saw Durham to a nail-biting one-wicket success. Glamorgan’s defeat of Worcestershire at Cardiff was relatively cut and dried. Timm van der Gugten was the pick of the bowlers in the ten-wicket demolition. 

Eyes were once again on Steve Smith in the Sussex shirt and, as last week, he was easily eclipsed by a team-mate. His batting practice lasted a mere fourteen deliveries, in which he scored three. Around him, Pujara and Coles each reached 70 but Tom Alsop achieved a career-best 182 not out. Leicestershire were forced to follow on, but Rishi Patel and Wiaan Mulder hundreds occupied the last day and a stalemate by stumps. 

Next week, Durham go to Gloucestershire, Sussex host Glamorgan and Leicestershire will hope to notch victory number two at Worcester. 

Team of the Week:- Came (Der), Patel (Lei), Alsop (Sus), Mulder (Lei), Foakes (Not +), Rew (Som), Mitchell (Lan), Raine (Dur), Van der Gugten (Gla), Hutton (Not), Rushworth (War)

Orr-some Sussex Rack up the Runs

In the week when Bazball lost some of its shine at Lord’s, thanks to some old-fashioned quality pace bowling by South Africa’s Rabada and Nortje, there were plenty of examples of effective 50-over batting in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

In the final fixtures of Group B, Hampshire didn’t exactly tear up any trees but they cruised straight into the semi-finals, three points ahead of the rest, thanks to a 72-run success against Yorkshire at Scarborough. However, their 100% record was spoilt by Glamorgan in Neath, where young opener Tom Bevan bounced back from his duck against Lancashire to smash an excellent 134. A month after he ripped up the Welsh County Championship record books, Sam Northeast was at it again, tonking the Warwickshire attack for an unbeaten 177 in 148 deliveries, Glamorgan’s highest individual score in List A cricket. His stand of 245 with Billy Root was also the county’s best fourth wicket partnership in one-day cricket.

With Wells, Jennings and 21 year-old George Balderson’s maiden century propelling Lancashire into the knockouts, it was a very tight race for the third qualifying spot. Kent eclipsed Glamorgan by beating Lancashire in the last match by two wickets with only a ball to spare. Worcestershire finished bottom but did at least notch their first two victories of the campaign.

In Group A, Somerset also broke their miserable duck, a 14-run win at Edgbaston proving scant consolation in a wretched run through the competition they won in 2019. Durham finished below them after losing all three contests this week. Their batting never truly fired on all cylinders but a special mention goes to 18 year-old spinner Stanley McAlindon, and not just for his name which conjures an image of a bewhiskered Scottish bank clerk in the Victorian era. Against Leicestershire, he registered not only a first 50 of his fledgling career but also a very useful 4-29, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a two-wicket defeat.

The week saw plenty of centuries scattered around the country, while all-rounders Wiaan Mulder and James Taylor continued their consistent summer form. Nottinghamshire’s Brett Hutton claimed a remarkable 7-25 against local rivals Leicester during a game which also featured 6-35 from veteran seamer Chris Wright.

However, if it’s runs you want, then simply follow the Sussex team bus. Cheteshwar Pujara took his tournament tally to 614, bettered only by Steve Eskinazi, with a 90-ball 132 containing only a couple of sixes. Tom Alsop hit an unbeaten 189 in a total of 400-4, the first ‘quadruple’ in the county’s List A history. They plundered 249 from the last twenty overs which would have been fantastic in a T20 fixture let alone a 50-over affair. Just a few days earlier, they’d fallen a mere three runs short of the 400 against Somerset, in which Ali Orr cracked eleven sixes in a double-hundred blitz, four of them off poor teenage medium-pacer Alfie Ogborne. Whoever meets Sussex in next Tuesday’s semi-final at Hove will need to steal their bats.

Team of the Week: Alsop (Sus), Orr (Sus), Jennings (Lan), Northeast (Gla), Pujara (Sus), Mulder (Lei), J Taylor (Glo), McManus (Nor +), Waite (Yor), Wright (Ham), Hutton (Not)

Rain delay keeps Surrey at bay

While England’s ODI side were keeping the scorers busy in the series against Pakistan, the counties were reacquainting themselves with the red ball after a month’s fifty-over action.

The clash between current leaders and reigning champions ended in a tame rain-affected draw. After centuries by Burns and Elgar, Surrey looked set for a healthy first innings lead against Somerset until Lewis Gregory led a late-order counter-attack. He struck five sixes on the way to 129 not out as his side surged to 399 all out and took a couple more wickets as Surrey ensured there were no calamities.

Somerset remain top but Yorkshire and Hampshire both won to close the gap. At Canterbury, Ollie Robinson’s 103 propelled Kent into a winning position after two days before Gary Ballance turned the tables with his 159 and Ben Coad’s final day 6-52 closed the deal. Hampshire sit just a point behind after whacking Warwickshire at Edgbaston by 314 runs. Tom Alsop top-scored while all the bowlers chipped in as the Midlanders suffered their second successive defeat.

Nottinghamshire also endured their second defeat of the season so far. Essex crushed them by eight wickets inside three days at Chelmsford, thanks largely to Simon Harmer’s eight wickets. Nick Browne was the only man to reach 50 in the whole match. 

In Division Two, my wildcard tip for a possible promotion, Durham, made it three losses out of three, going down by five wickets at Worcester. Charlie Morris and Josh Tongue did most of the damage with the ball then, despite Chris Rushworth’s defiant five-for, Worcestershire limped to their meagre target of 81. Lancashire also maintained their 100% record, demolishing Northants by ten wickets at Old Trafford. Against his previous county, late-developer Richard Gleeson claimed five wickets in each innings, and the home side won with almost a day to spare.

At Lord’s Middlesex looked to have a slight edge over Leicestershire but, with Colin Ackermann’s runs and Mohammad Abbas restored to the attack, the visitors easily avoided defeat and were only eighty-odd away from snatching a surprise victory. The other fixture also ended in a draw but history was made when Glamorgan played their first senior game at Newport’s Spytty Park since 1965. Spectators would have admired the Welsh county’s day three recovery from the follow-on, as Selman and Labuschagne took them to 364-1 en route for a match-saving 481-8 declared. Gloucestershire even lost six wickets on the final afternoon but clung on against a none-too-strong attack.

Gloucestershire must fancy their chances this coming week against Durham but in Manchester, at least one of the leading pair must relinquish their 100% start, as Worcestershire travel to Lancashire for what already appears to be a key promotion clash. In the higher division, top plays bottom at Taunton in the form of Somerset v Warwickshire while a Hampshire triumph over Notts could advance them into pole position.

Team of the Week: Burns (Sur), Selman (Gla), Alsop (Ham +), Ballance (Yor), Bracey (Glo), Higgins (Glo), Gregory (Som), Harmer (Ess), Morris (Wor), Gleeson (Lan), Rushworth (Dur)