Bancroft, Banton and Ballance bat to victory

While Britain bathed in the late Easter sunshine, the batsmen made hay in the heat. The first week of Royal London Cup fixtures threw up plenty of high scores. In particular, the Trent Bridge crowd on Good Friday enjoyed more than 800 runs and a narrow victory for the home side. Joe Clarke was again in fine fettle, putting aside his infamous list of sexual conquests to complete another century for Nottinghamshire. Dane Vilas’ club record 166 and Stephen Croft’s 110 bought Lancashire close but nineteen from the last two overs proved too onerous for the tailenders. Notts also beat Derbyshire and sit atop the North division alongside Durham, who had Cameron Bancroft’s two centuries and Jason Holder’s all-round performances to thank for their 100% record.

Lancashire fared better at Headingley on Monday but it was a nailbiting climax. With ‘keeper Jonathan Tattersall at the crease, Yorkshire looked set to overhaul the 311 target but run-outs from the last two deliveries left them one adrift. Yorkshire were involved in an even tighter contest on Friday, tieing with Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Tattersall and Tim Bresnan rescued the White Roses from a miserable start but Patterson and Pillans could only scramble a bye from the final ball to finish level.  A few days earlier, Matt Pillans had excelled with the ball and, with Gary Ballance striking 156, Yorkshire crushed Leicestershire by 213 runs.

In the South, four counties claimed two wins from two. Championship leaders Somerset maintained their momentum with a crushing 264-run defeat of Kent and a much closer encounter in Cardiff with Glamorgan. At Taunton, 20 year-old Tom Banton followed his 2^nd XI century with 107 from 79 balls then Craig Overton combined a sizzling 66 not out with 5-18 to complete the rout.

There was an even worse batting balls-up at Bristol, where the fancy dans of Surrey, boasting ten internationals past and present, were dismissed by Gloucestershire for 88 in 24 overs. My sides were splitting. They lost both their matches over the week and, although Tom Curran did his best with six cheap wickets, the batting let them down. At least they weren’t the worst county on display; Kent and Glamorgan contrived to lose all three.

Essex opener Varun Chopra notched a couple of tons but against a strong Middlesex batting line-up he was on the losing side at Chelmsford. Fourth-change leg-spinner Nathan Sowter claimed 6-62 in that one. Channel neighbours Hampshire and Sussex also enjoyed winning starts, with hundreds from Alsop, Northeast and Salt.

Next week, at least two 100% records must end, as Sussex meet both Somerset and Middlesex and the latter also travel to Hampshire. At the other end of the table, one of Kent and Glamorgan will, barring awful weather (not an unlikely scenario in South Wales), pick up a couple of badly-needed points.

Further north, Nottinghamshire face some tasty ties, hosting both Leicestershire and Yorkshire as well as nipping down to Brum for a date with Warwickshire. Cameron Bancroft is also spending a few days in the West Midlands, hoping to keep the runs flowing for Durham, especially as the rest of the top order are struggling for form.

Team of the Week: Chopra (Ess), Clarke (Not), Croft (Lan), Ballance (Yor), Bancroft (Dur), Vilas (Lan), Tattersall (Yor +), Holder (Dur), C Overton (Som), T Curran (Sur), Pillans (Yor)

Ashes 2017-18: Cook and Smith share New Year’s Test Honours

Congratulations to those English cricketers who were rightly represented on the New Year’s Honours List. However, Joe Root, James Anderson and Alastair Cook will have to wait a bit longer for their knighthoods. Heather Knight’s OBE and the ‘M’s for Amy Shrubsole and Tammy Beaumont were dished out for their contributions to England’s World Cup triumph last summer but after Cook’s innings at the MCG this week you’d think the British media were celebrating an even greater success.

Well, the former skipper undoubtedly demonstrated why he has been retained as Test opener. I don’t know when an English batsman last batted not only through a whole day’s play but an entire innings without being dismissed, but this is precisely what the side has been missing. Cook himself admitted his effort was several weeks too late. Nevertheless his 244 not out was just what the doctor ordered following the three successive defeats, not just for England but also his own cricketing health. Since his 241 at Edgbaston in August, he scratched around for just 261 runs in 14 innings before accumulating almost as many in just the one outing at Melbourne. Talk about peaks and troughs!

Root declared himself proud of his team’s response to losing the Ashes and it was certainly a revelation to see Stuart Broad and Anderson turn a poor first day position into a promising one by lunch on day two. Broad’s batting broadside also boosted England’s first innings total to almost 500, sharing a century stand for the ninth wicket and putting severe pressure on Steve Smith.

However, the Aussie captain hasn’t amassed a world-beating Test average of 63 without showing grit and determination on a consistent basis. Despite having 80,000 spectators watching your every twitch, and knowing he had already dropped Cook in the slips, Smith stepped up to the plate and, by the close of the final day’s play, had delivered yet another century, the sixth of 2017, to steer his side to a draw. Even David Warner reined in his natural aggressive instincts, sticking around for a five-hour 86.

Honours even? Maybe, but it was England’s fightback which caught the eye. Like Craig Overton, his replacement Tom Curran made Smith his first ever Test wicket, but nobody else seems able to get him out. Anderson’s handiwork on a dirty ball may have been proved to have been entirely legal and with the blessing of both umpires, but it was Broad’s five wickets which pleased selectors and fans the most. 

So what will change for the Sydney climax? Moeen Ali may well be stood down to give Mason Crane an opportunity, although that would weaken England’s batting. It may also weaken the bowling as for much of last summer, he wasn’t even deemed good enough to play for Hampshire.

Deputising for Starc, Jackson Bird proved to be a turkey for the Aussies, going wicketless for 108 runs, even worse than Moeen. Apparently, Ashton Agar has been called up to the home team’s squad for Sydney, but he certainly won’t be scaring the England’s batsmen. Perhaps this is a ruse to lull them into a false sense of security before another short ball battering. We’ll see. Alastair Cook will presumably return to single-figure scores so maybe this is the stage for Vince and Woakes to show what they’re made of. I sincerely hope so. There may be a few spare MBEs going come the Queen's Birthday....

2015 County Cricket Team of the Year

So 2015 ended with Ashes success for England, a second Championship crown for Yorkshire, limited-overs trophies for Lancashire and Gloucestershire and a miserable finale for Sussex. But who were the individual stars of the summer? I’ve compiled my Team of the Year based partly on my Teams of the Week and partly on the end-of-season statistics.

Openers:
It wasn’t a vintage year for openers in first-class cricket, although Michael Carberry, Mark Stoneman and, in a September flurry, Marcus Trescothick each passed 1000 runs. However, there were some memorable summers for one-day pinch-hitters. Jason Roy and Steven Davies were superb for Surrey but for consistency I’ve gone for Michael Klinger and Alex Hales. The veteran Aussie arrived late but produced a devastating deluge of centuries in limited overs competitions, playing a major role Gloucestershire’s T20 Blast triumph. He also appeared in no fewer than five Teams of the Week in this blog. Hales chose to spend some time as a gun for hire overseas but when he put his mind to it, he scored heavily in all formats for Nottinghamshire. But will he get to partner Cook for England against Pakistan?

Middle Order
So many options here! James Vince outscored everyone in T20 but was unusually mediocre in proper cricket. James Taylor started poorly but gained ground to win back his international place in ODIs. Luke Wright was a ray of shining light in an otherwise dismal summer for Sussex, and James Hildreth likewise for Somerset. Indeed he was top scorer in Division One but was surprisingly short of runs in the one-day stuff.

My choice begins at Durham with Steve Borthwick. He still bowls some leg-spin in T20 but is more of a specialist batsman these days. He scored few centuries but chipped in regularly at number three. Kent’s young captain Sam Northeast also saved his best innings for Twenty20, and it was his hundred which thwarted Somerset in the match where Chris Gayle struck his 150.

The season’s greatest run machine was Ashwell Prince. The veteran South African delayed his retirement for just one season and how Lancashire must have been grateful for that decision. He was also part of that record-breaking 500+ stand with Alviro Pietersen. Niall O’Brien claimed the most dismissals, Ben Brown more runs but my wicketkeeper-batsman is Jonny Bairstow. He produced five three-figure scores for Yorkshire before he was brought in to replace Gary Ballance for England. His Championship average was a tidy 100-odd so who knows what he might have achieved with his county had his team-mate not lost form in Test cricket?

Amongst all-rounders, the evergreen Darren Stevens and Peter Trego were typically in the frame but I’ve gone for Samit Patel for his mixture of vital innings and handy wickets. Notts didn’t have a great year with the ball, so his off-spin rescued the side more than once.

Bowlers
Chris Rushworth made only one Team of the Week but he was the most prolific wicket-taker in first-class cricket, with 88. He rarely played in limited-overs fixtures but he has to be in this Eleven. Joining him as seamers are Surrey’s Tom Curran, James Harris of Middlesex and Yorkshire’s Jack Brooks.

Curran, helped by his 17 year-old brother Sam, was instrumental in hauling Surrey up to the Division Two title, while Harris’s Championship wickets and late-order runs gave Middlesex the impetus to be runners-up. It was hard to pick the final man in the Team of the Season.

Yorkshire’s success was built primarily on their attack. Twelve victories generally means bowling sides out twice, and the White Roses had strength in depth. Ryan Sidebottom missed some games through injury yet he claimed more than 40 wickets at under 18 apiece. Tim Bresnan, Steve Pattinson, Graeme Onions and Adil Rashid all contributed but the main man was Jack Brooks. If he wasn’t the wrong side of 30, the bandana man would have been in the England squad by now instead of Mark Wood.

The likes of Footitt, Rushworth and Brooks may have to content themselves with notching up hundreds of wickets in county cricket instead of the England kit, and their respective clubs will be grateful. Meanwhile, for all the talk of overseas stars, the only foreigners in my XI are Prince and Klinger. As far as England are concerned, I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of Curran, Northeast or Hales.

In short, my County Team of 2015 is:-

Klinger (Glo), Hales (Not), Borthwick (Dur), Northeast (Ken), Prince (Lan), Bairstow (Yor/Eng +), Patel (Not), Harris (Mid), T Curran (Sur), Brooks (Yor), Rushworth (Dur).

Notts Advance at the Double

The British weather did its best to disrupt the county cricket schedule, but there was still plenty of excitement around the Championship and Royal London Cup.

Yorkshire can still be caught after only two full innings were possible at Hove. England discard Gary Balance struck 165 before Sussex responded with no fewer than three individual centuries. Ed Joyce, Mike Yardy and the relatively youthful Ben Brown reached three figures but a draw was already inevitable.

Middlesex closed the gap to thirty points by beating Durham at Chester-le-Street. Bowlers were generally in charge, notably Graeme Onions, who grabbed 7-68 on day one. In the second innings, the consistent Chris Rushworth claimed another five-for, yet both finished on the losing side. That had much to do with Neil Dexter’s runs and James Harris’s eight wickets.
Nottinghamshire also consolidated their third place, helped by Steven Mullaney’s 112 and one of those Alex Hales specials, an unbeaten 189 not out. Samit Patel’s 4-23 in 22 overs completed an innings defeat of Warwickshire.

At Taunton, Somerset compiled a huge score and had Worcestershire on the rack at 44-4 before the rain set in. The visitors kept going without losing another wicket but the unbeaten double-century stand between James Hildreth (220 not out) and Peter Trego (130 not out) was all in vain. At least we had the better of the two in terms of bonus points, which could be crucial in the relegation battle. Next week, Worcestershire face another battle at the bottom, this time versus Sussex, while Somerset face an awkward trip to Yorkshire.

All Division Two matches ended in damp squibs. Lancashire’s draw with Glamorgan meant that the Old Trafford side are almost certain to be promoted next month. Glen Chapple could add only two to his first-class tally of 980 wickets. Will he make the thousand by the end of the campaign?! A Ben Foakes century and Tom Curran’s 6-61 were the only performances to note in the truncated Surrey v Gloucestershire fixture.

Rain robbed Leicestershire of a probable triumph at Northampton. Skipper Mark Cosgrove struck a composed 110 and Niall O’Brien a more impatient 95 to establish a first innings lead, before Clint McKay and Will White left their batsmen a target of just 116. Sadly for the basement county, they could face fewer than seven overs before play was abandoned as a draw. The Derbyshire-Kent encounter was memorable only for Billy Godleman’s twin hundreds, making it three in row for the 26 year-old opener.

The Royal London One-Day Cup may not be given much of a future by the PCA, but it has provided four counties with a chance of silverware, none of them participating in this weekend’s T20 Blast Finals Day. Nottinghamshire capped a good week, knocking out holders Durham. Hales and Patel reprised their star turns in their fifty over quarter-final. Essex were booted out at the same stage for the fourth consecutive competition, this time by Yorkshire. Paul Grayson and James Foster must be scratching their heads over this but their young talent may yet flourish in the next season or two, unless England steal Reece Topley, that is!

That man Michael Klinger delivered another match-winning innings for Gloucestershire, handing Hampshire a rare one-day defeat. In the other tie, Surrey’s Curran twins were showing that the pace attack without the retired Chris Tremlett still has a promising future as they kept Kent’s top batsmen quiet. Jason Roy thumped a run-a-ball century but a blistering 100 from Matt Coles, including nine sixes, almost produced an incredible turnaround before he became the tenth man out seventeen runs short.

Next weekend, Gloucestershire hope that talisman Klinger will return from Oz to hit them into the Lord’s final and end Yorkshire hopes of a second trophy. Surrey host Notts in the other semi, which could be a cracker!

Team of the Week: Godleman (Der), Hales (Not), Ballance (Yor), Hildreth (Som), Dexter (Mid), Patel (Not), N O’Brien (Lei +), Harris (Mid), T Curran (Sur), McKay (Lei), Onions (Dur)

Bairstow Breaks Durham Hearts

Last week the bowlers were in command but this time, the County Championship was extraordinarily kind to the batsmen, and wicketkeepers in particular. Even the Aussies got in on the act, making hay in the Kent and Essex sunshine in a week which saw those in the London area experience their hottest July weather on record.

The first v second battle in Division One proved surprisingly one-sided. Once Jonny Bairstow achieved a career-best 219 not out, and shared with Tim Bresnan a 366-run seventh wicket partnership – the third highest in all first-class cricket and a Championship record – Durham’s pretensions to the title looked distinctly feeble. Bresnan then added three wickets of his own to make the home county follow on. Mark Stoneman capped a good personal week with a solid 131 but all in vain.

At the other end of the table, Nottinghamshire lifted themselves to seventh by beating fellow strugglers Worcestershire in a relatively low-scoring affair at Trent Bridge. Riki Wessels (Notts) and Tom Fell (Worcester) each made two half-centuries, and Richard Oliver fell on 99, but the star bowler was the under-rated medium-pacer Jack Shantry. In the Notts second innings the recorded Murali-esque figures of 35.4-13-48-5. And still ended up on the losing side!

Hampshire are now back at the bottom following a nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Middlesex. The Hants top order again failed, and James Harris helped himself to eight wickets. Meanwhile, at Edgbaston, only twelve wickets fell across all four days! Warwickshire and Sussex each declared on more than 600 with six centurions and another triple-hundred stand. Laurie Evans and ex-England ‘keeper Tim Ambrose piled on 327 for the sixth wicket as Sussex resorted to giving all eleven a bowl. A shame that ‘keeper Ben Brown couldn’t add a wicket to his unbeaten 119 from his eight tidy overs!

Next up, Yorkshire could put real distance between themselves and the rest by beating Warwickshire, while Worcestershire face another relegation battle, this time against Hampshire. Somerset go for a third consecutive success at home to Sussex, but somehow I can’t see it happening. Consistency is sorely lacking but then so is quality of the opposition bowling in recent weeks.

There were only two Second Division fixtures, but the promotion battle looks more interesting as a result. Leaders Lancashire could only draw with Northants, for whom young Ben Duckett contributed more than 200 runs. However, Surrey scorched Gloucestershire by an innings before the heatwave really took hold in London. Ben Foakes top-scored for the home team before Tom Curran (7-20) and Zafar Ansari (6-30) ripped through the vulnerable visitors on days two and three.

Next week, Glamorgan can catch up with one of their two games in hand (playing Derbyshire) but Lancashire can restore some momentum by beating Essex. Leicestershire and Kent will badly want to achieve the win which would consign the other to last place.

Team of the Week: Stoneman (Dur), Ansari (Sur), Duckett (Nor), Evans (War), Wright (Sus), M Marsh (Aus), Bairstow (Yor, +), Bresnan (Yor), T Curran (Sur), Harris (Mid), Shantry (Wor)

Durham dominate, Buttler blasts

While England were rattling up a record ODI total against New Zealand, runs were distinctly hard to come by last weekend in the County Championship. On Day One, all batting sides were dismissed for under 300, although bowlers were less dominant a few days later.

Durham didn’t have it all their own way at Chester-le-Street. However, Somerset’s second innings batting frailties were again exposed, and Sunderland-born Paul Coughlin’s 4-10 finished things off with a day to spare, taking Durham to the top of Division One. Somerset, meanwhile, were consigned to bottom place, despite more effective bowling by Craig Overton (4-40 and 3-41).

Their cause was helped by Yorkshire’s four-wicket defeat of previous leaders Middlesex. Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 125 held the White Roses’ first innings together, and James Brooks bounced back with 5-44. Adam Lyth’s return after a successful Test match stint included a useful 67 which steered his side to victory, and within eleven points of Durham who have played a game more.

Hampshire recorded their first win of the season, easily beating Sussex at Hove. Gareth Berg enjoyed his best week of 2015, taking five wickets and sharing a 165-run partnership with Adam Wheater. He must have been gutted to be run out on 99, though. Fidel Edwards hastened Sussex’s defeat with his first five-for in two years, and his team escaped the relegation zone by three points. It’s already looking to be any two from Hampshire, Somerset and Worcestershire, as I thought at the start of the season.

Looking to replace them, Lancashire and Surrey both won again in Division Two. Despite another ten wickets for Craig Miles and a century from the in-form Michael Klinger, Gloucestershire went down by 91 runs. Lancashire’s veteran Glen Chapple made his first appearance of the summer and added another to his first-class wicket tally of 975, but Kyle Jarvis’ 4-67 and 5-39 proved more decisive. Meanwhile, Surrey made short work of Leicestershire in another low-scoring contest. James Burke took a wicket with his first ball in the Championship en route for match statistics of 6-54. Team-mate Tom Curran, son of the late Kevin who graced the county game a few decades ago, fared even better. He captured nine scalps and contributed an important 60 late-order runs on the first afternoon.

It was an even shorter match at Canterbury, where wickets tumbled early on. Mark Footitt (5-45), Wayne White (6-25) and Matt Cole (5-24) were the main beneficiaries. However, Derbyshire found batting somewhat easier second time around, and Billy Godleman and Chesney Hughes ensured they won by eight wickets.

Tom Westley struck the week’s highest individual score (179) as Essex played out a draw at Northampton. Jesse Ryder and the home county’s Richard Levi each contributed more than 200 runs, too, as the game petered out into a draw leaving Essex adrift of Kent by eight points at the foot of the table.

Next week, Lancashire ought to extend their lead by defeating Leicestershire, but Glamorgan should challenge Surrey in their Guildford encounter. Essex must beat Derbyshire to give themselves a positional boost. In the top tier, Durham can put daylight between themselves and Yorkshire if they overcome fourth placed Sussex. Meanwhile, Somerset can leapfrog Nottinghamshire and Hampshire by thumping Chris Read’s side at Taunton. Warwickshire could also be vulnerable to Worcestershire if Moeen Ali plays.

The England discard, Ali, along with Ian Bell, each scored rapid 90s for their counties in last weekend’s T20 fixtures, even outclassing another big innings for Chris Gayle. I’ve a ticket for what was to be his last appearance for Somerset at Cardiff on Saturday but, sadly, he's been allowed to head back to the Caribbean instead. Cheated, or what?! Oh, well. It'll probably be washed out anyway....

Team of the Week: Moeen Ali (Wor), Root (Eng/Yor), Westley (Ess), Klinger (Glo), Levi (Nor), Ryder (Ess), Buttler (Eng/Lan +), Curran (Sur), Jarvis (Lan), Brooks (Yor), Miles (Glo)