One-Day Cup: Dawson Drives Hampshire into Final

 In the final group fixtures of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, Leicestershire and Warwickshire held their ground at the top of their respective groups, thus by-passing the quarter-finals. Those four places were taken by Hampshire, Lancashire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, each of whom won their last three matches. 

Warwickshire were involved in a couple of nervy finales, both decided by a single run or wicket. They held off Sussex but succumbed to Durham in a game featuring two enormous innings, David Bedingham’s 152 and Ed Barnard’s 161. The latter also reached three figures in the Sussex encounter, although it was Danny Briggs whose boundary got Warwickshire over the line with an over to spare. 

Somerset’s miserable competition was brightened by Andrew Umeed’s brilliant batting. The Glaswegian capped an excellent month with an unbeaten 172, a third century in five outings, ensuring no Group B wooden spoon. At the other end of the table, Gloucestershire’s Oliver Price was almost as prolific as Umeed and Barnard. In Group A, Aneurin Donald smashed two rapid tons for Hampshire – one to propel them into the knockouts and the next to dominate Worcester’s attack in their Southampton quarter-final. Ian Holland’s eleven wickets the previous week were even more important to the county’s progress. 

The other quarter-final saw Gloucestershire maintaining their momentum by seeing off Lancashire by eight wickets. On this occasion, Price played a supporting role to Marcus Hammond, who plundered six sixes in an undefeated 109 to reach a modest target with half their overs unused. 

The semis were just as truncated, as Hampshire demolished Warwickshire by nine wickets. Liam Dawson hasn’t played much in this year’s tournament but nobody has bettered his 7-15 at Edgbaston. Keith Barker accounted for the top three batsmen, including Barnard, then it was Dawson’s spin all the way. Opener Fletcha Middleton reached 54 not out as the way side ticked off the 94 required with the sole loss of Nick Gubbins. 

That same Tuesday afternoon at Leicester, it was Gloucestershire’s turn to be routed. Hammond was first out for a seven-ball duck, then Wiaan Mulder and Tom Scriven each picked up three wickets as the visitors were bowled out for 125. Mulder rounded off a match-winning all-round performance, stroking nine fours in tandem with Peter Handscomb in a six-wicket victory. We now have a fortnight to wait for the trophy to be decided at Trent Bridge and now it’s back to the red ball…. 

Team of the Week:- Umeed (Som), Barnard (War), Bedingham (Dur), O Price (Glo), Donald (Ham), Handscomb (Lei +), Mulder (Lei), Holland (Ham), Dawson (Ham), Williams (Lan), Baker (Wor)

One-Day Cup: Solid Start for Leicestershire and Warwickshire

 In the wake of two fabulous Ashes series, it was time to take a deep breath, reflect and recalibrate cricket expectations to 50-over county fixtures and the Horrid Hundred. Rain rampaged across the country last week but there was plenty of action in the One-Day Cup. 

Amidst a rash of total washouts and abandonments, Leicestershire and Warwickshire emerged from the wreckage with two wins out of two in Groups A and B, respectively. Obviously, many of the biggest names in white-ball cricket were missing, lured by the Hundred franchises. Nobody was impacted more than Surrey, and they lost their only completed match, by five wickets to Leicestershire. The East Midlanders also travelled to Beckenham where they gave Kent an almighty hiding – by 264 runs. Wicketkeeper Peter Handscomb top-scored with 87 and took five catches, while young Welsh seamer Roman Walker weighed in with 6-43 as Kent’s response never really got going. 

Also in Group A, pity poor Yorkshire, who didn’t get a chance either to bat or bowl. Their Roses tie with Lancashire was rained off, and the Red Roses also suffered a No Result with Kent. Another potentially popular local derby, Middlesex v Surrey, also fell foul of the weather. 

Most of the notable performances came in Group B where Warwickshire easily overhauled targets set by Gloucestershire and Somerset. Ed Barnard’s elevation to opener reaped dividends, while Hannon-Dalby and Lintott were the pick of the bowlers. Durham’s whopping 427-9 at Hove proved far too much for Sussex. Alex Lees and David Bedingham forged yet another huge partnership – 194 at ten an over – and Liam Trevaskis took 3-38. 

Gloucestershire played three matches, winning the first couple against Northants and Derbyshire. Oliver and Tom Price were in fine form, with Jack Taylor twice passing 50. The weakest batting performance of the week came from Essex at Chelmsford. Facing a moderate Nottinghamshire target of 238, they were ripped apart by Championship stars Brett Hutton and Dane Paterson and bowled out for a paltry 69. 

Across both groups, there were numerous centuries. Wicketkeepers Ben Foakes (Surrey) and James Rew (Somerset) demonstrated that red-ball experts can also up the tempo when required and reach 100. Kent’s Joey Evison scored a rapid 136, then a third-ball duck, but Glamorgan veteran Colin Ingram led a perfectly-paced run chase to defeat Derbyshire who are bottom of the table alongside Sussex, for whom Pujara’s unbeaten 106 wasn’t enough to prevent defeat to Northamptonshire at Wantage Road. 

Team of the Week:- Lees (Dur), Barnard (War), Bedingham (Dur), Haider Ali (Der), Handscomb (Lei +), Mulder (Lei), T Taylor (Nor), T Price (Glo), Trevaskis (Dur), Walker (Lei), Hannon-Dalby (War)

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)

My County Team of 2022

At last, a full season of cricket, post-pandemic. Too full, to be honest. With four domestic formats plus internationals to squeeze into six months, I thought the schedule ‘blocks’ worked quite well but it would be so much better if the Hundred was removed to allow free rein to the fifty-over One Day Cup during the summer, but we’re lumbered with the pointless innovation for several years to come. 

The Strauss report advocates massive changes to county cricket supposedly to benefit England’s Test, ODI and T20 teams. So why are first-class and List A competitions being diminished while The Hundred continues despite the format not being part of international cricket at all? Crazy, or what? 

Anyway, England seemed to prosper nicely in the summer’s Tests under the current system, with new skipper Stokes, Bairstow, Anderson, Root et al coping admirably with the lack of bowling resources. But what about the county system which has nurtured these England stars? Here is my annual review of the best and most consistent players across the County Championship, Royal London Cup and Blast which also provided plenty of excitement and record-breaking performances during 2022. 

Openers 

Kent’s Ben Compton and Leicestershire’s Pakistan recruit Shan Masood were quick out of the blocks and the latter was also prolific in the Twenty20, one of the few bright spots in Leicester’s dismal summer, in which they failed to register a single Championship victory. Sussex didn’t fare much better but their top order was their strongest feature, particularly Ali Orr. Haseeb Hameed was scoring runs for promoted Nottinghamshire right up to the last game, while Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth maintained his transformation from blocker to blaster. However, it’s Keaton Jennings who was one of the few who starred in all three competitions, the top scorer in Division One and a key figure in Lancashire’s limited-overs campaigns.

 

Middle Order

 

Ben Duckett and 23 year-old Harry Brook played themselves into the notebooks of England’s management early on. The Yorkshire batter averaged an amazing 107 in the Championship during his limited appearances. Tom Alsop aggregated 1,644 runs for Sussex and, when he stepped into the shoes of Shan Masood, Wiaan Mulder was a revelation for Leicestershire at the crease. His 33 wickets also helped carry the county into the 50-over quarter-finals. James Vince was the highest T20 scorer as he led Hampshire to the title, and his former colleague, in his first season with Glamorgan, Sam Northeast shattered his county’s record by easing his way to 410 not out at Leicester. In that game, the home side amassed 584 in their first innings and still lost by an innings. Extraordinary! 

He may be nudging forty years of age, but Stephen Croft’s experience and 1,774 runs played a major role in Lancashire’s excellent season and another veteran, Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen enjoyed one of his finest seasons in the Championship and was just one shy of 500 runs in the Blast. More surprising was the enduring India Test player Cheteshwar Pujara knocking the ball around so effectively for Sussex in the One-Day Cup. Only Steve Eskinazi outscored him. He also totted up over a thousand Championship runs in only eight outings. Remarkably, on each of the five occasions he reached fifty, Pujara went on to make three figures, including two double-centuries. Even more significantly, nobody achieved as many selections (five) as he did in my Teams of the Week. 

All Rounders 

2022 wasn’t a vintage year for genuine all-rounders. These days, Stevens Mullaney and Croft and Tom Abell bowl less than they used to, so for me it’s a toss-up between Rob Keogh and Ed Barnard. The Northants man added some solidity to the middle-order and contributed 34 Championship wickets with his off-spin. The Worcestershire all-rounder’s batting has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years and 2022 saw him average almost 60 and strike three tons in the four-day tournament. His 42 wickets total overall just elevates him above Keogh in my Eleven. 

Wicket-Keeper 

This was an extremely difficult dilemma, leaving me humming and haahing for ages. Glamorgan’s Chris Cooke claimed the most Championship victims behind the stumps but John Simpson eclipsed his run tally with Middlesex, passing a thousand. Derbyshire’s Manchester-born, Aussie-qualified Brooke Gest made his first impression on me with big and small gloves but in the end it was Gloucester’s James Bracey who clinched it, courtesy of his superior strokeplay in the one-dayers. An extremely marginal decision.

Bowlers 

Craig Overton and Durham’ young Matt Potts made some headlines back in the spring, the latter earning a deserved call-up to the Test team with his ace and Stokes-like passion and pace. Seamers Abbott, Barker and Mohammad Abbas hogged the Hampshire wicket list in the first-class format while Snater and Sam Cook seamed away to great effect for Essex. Like Hampshire’s, Nottinghamshire’s attack shared most of the honours but Dane Paterson was he pick of the bunch, taking 75 wickets in total. Oliver Hannon-Dalby carried Warwickshire’s seam threat in the Championship, and Tom Bailey was always dangerous for Lancashire but Toby Roland-Jones’ promotion-winning haul of 67 at 18.8 topped the lot. As for the spinners… Well, surprise, surprise, that man Simon Harmer makes my end-of season team for the fourth year running. When he wasn’t representing South Africa, the Essex spinner was accumulating another 76 wickets and being one of the most economical men in the T20 Blast. That’s what I call consistency. 

Strangely, my County Eleven of 2022 features no members of Surrey’s Championship victors but stands as follows:- 

Jennings (Lan), Shan Masood (Lei), Pujara (Sus), Northeast (Gla), Madsen (Der), Mulder (Lei), Bracey (Glo +), Barnard (Wor), Roland-Jones (Mid), Harmer (Ess), Paterson (Not). 12^th man: Croft (Lan)

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)

One-Day Cup: Mulder and Ollie prove the talent is out there

While the big names ply their trade in the Hundred, the One-Day Cup allows many other county stalwarts and youngsters to make their mark. It also gives cricket a chance to reach outposts like York and Newport, Isle of Wight, which rarely or never host Championship or white-ball county cricket.

The first week has been particularly fruitful for Hampshire, following their Blast title with three consecutive wins in the fifty-over tournament. 19 year-old Tom Prest has been a revelation, smacking Kent for 181 out of a team total of 396-5, a Hampshire record. The winning margin was 163 runs, but this afternoon’s game on the Isle of Wight against Northamptonshire was one they really should have lost. Prest top-scored again but White and Keogh cut them down to 199 all out. Northants were cruising in mid-innings just 24 from victory when their batting imploded dramatically. Young Jack Campbell, born just across the Solent in Portsmouth, grabbed three quick wickets and 177-5 became 188 all out. Northants did hold their nerve somewhat better against Essex, pipping them by two wickets with just two balls remaining.

Kent ‘keeper Ollie Robinson struck the week’s only double-century, tonking the Worcestershire attack for an unbeaten 206, including 27 fours and six sixes. Chasing 352 for victory, Robinson’s efforts delivered the goods five overs early. Other batting highlights were Colin Ingram’s 155 for Glamorgan and Will Fraine’s rapid 143 for Yorkshire.

In Group A, Nottinghamshire won both their opening fixtures, including a ten-wicket trouncing of 2019 champions Somerset, who also lost to local rivals Gloucestershire. Middlesex opener Stevie Eskinazi was on excellent form, and Leicestershire’s South African Wiaan Mulder carried his red-ball record into the 50-over stuff. Gloucestershire’s Jack Taylor was probably the all-rounder of the week.

Next week, Hampshire look to continue their run against Derbyshire and Lancashire. Nottinghamshire are borrowing Grantham in Leicestershire for their ‘home’ clashes with Durham and Middlesex, while the latter host the London derby against Surrey at Radlett. With the widespread drought set to continue, let’s hope there are a few green patches on the outfields.

Team of the Week: Eskinazi (Mid), Fraine (Yor), Robinson (Ken +), Prest (Ham), Mulder (Lei), Ingram (Gla), J Taylor (Glo), Kimber (Sur), Hutton (Not), Williams (Lan), Campbell (Ham)