After all that, the combined might of Nottinghamshire's all-star XI provged too much for Glamorgan in the YB40 Final. It was a shame, too, that Lord's was far from being sold out but as soon as it was announced that Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann weer to be released by England, it was always going to be a tough ask for the Welsh side to come out on top. Nevertheless, they reached the final on merit and in a single 40-over match, nothing is impossible.
The floodlights were on for a gloomy day in St John's Wood, and after Glamorgan inserted the Outlaws, the England T20 openers set a good pace, with Michael Lumb leading the way with three fours and a six. However, both he and Alex Hales fell in successive overs, then James Taylor and Samit Patel struggled as Simon Jones, in his last season of proper cricket with Glamorgan, and Andrew Salter in his second, exerted some pressure. David Hussey and captain Chris Read have disappointed this season, one reason while Notts are in Championship trouble. However, they rescued their side's innings with a 99 partnership. Swann and Mullaney biffed some late boundaries off Wagg and Hogan to set a stiff target of 245.
When the Welsh came out to bat, Broad and Gurney induced a lot of playing and missing from the word go. Mark Wallace miscued for 2, but Rees rode his luck to make 29. Danger men Chris Cooke, one of the highest scorers in this year's tournament, and consistent all-rounder James Allenby steadied the ship and kept the Glammies' hopes high. Enter Samit Patel. Miffed at his treatment by England selectors, he showed his talent as left-arm spinner by bamboozling both batsmen with prodigious turn, clipping both off-stumps. Murray Goodwin made little impression and when he went, a long tail was exposed. Shahzad, Patel and, in the 33rd over, easily cut it to pieces. Simon Jones, given a generous standing ovation by all sets of fans and the Notts players, was left high and dry on 0 while the Notts fielders went berserk around him.
As I wrote yesterday, this was their first one-day title for more than 20 years, and they relished the success. And so they should. Their side boasted five current and two recent England internationals plus Hussey. Their opponents featured just two, and Jones last played for England in 2005, Goodwin for Zimbabwe in 2000! Taylor and Patel each aggregated more than 500 runs in the competition, although well behind Peter Trego and Michael Klinger. The final featured the top wicket-takers in Michael Hogan and Ajmal Shahzad, while the Outlaws Gurney and Mullaney also enjoyed a solid summer of 40-over cricket. Jake Ball claimed 19 wickets in twelve games and could be forgiven for feeling pissed off at being dropped for the big occasion in favour of glory boy Broad. Hopefully he'll get another opportunity. Patel may be the Friar Tuck amongst Read's Merrye bande of Outlaws but he deserved the Man of the Match award!
And so the domestic one-day season came to a bit of a damp-squib climax. 40-over cricket has once again been consigned to the commercial dustbin, and a two-division 50-over format takes over in 2014. I hope next year's final gets the crowds the occasion deserves. IN the mean time, well done to Nottinghamshire but I'm cheering on Somerset against them in next week's Championship relegation showdown!
Showing posts with label YB40. Show all posts
Showing posts with label YB40. Show all posts
Saturday, 21 September 2013
Thursday, 19 September 2013
Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire - overdue a one-day title?
It's nine years since Glamorgan last win a trophy, and few expect them to beat the star-studded Nottinghamshire in the YB40 final this weekend. However, full of one-day international cricketers they may be, but Notts have flattered to deceive throughout 2013, and are even flirting with relegation in the Championship.
The only current Glamorgan player in the side when winning the Totesport League in 2004, Mark Wallace was a youthful 22 and a recent member of the ECB Academy in Australia. However, the successful squad from the late '90s was beginning to break up. They were in the second tier of the Championship and the legendary batsman Matthew Maynard was in his last full season with the club, aged 38. However, they couldn't stop winning in the 45-over league and won it despite losing the last three matches!
Robert Croft was the skipper, often opening the batting as well as bowling some wily off-spinners. The middle-order was quite formidable, too, boasting Maynard, David Hemp and Mike Powell, who has just announced his retirement form the sport. Adrian Dale was a very useful all-rounder for more than fifteen seasons and Alex Wharf was good enough to win 13 ODI caps for England. Aussie Mick Lewis supplemented the seam attack of Wharf, David Harrison and Darren Thomas, and then, of course, there was Crofty who by then had put his international career behind him to focus on Glamorgan, for whom he went onto take more than 1000 first-class wickets.
I'd say there are similarities between the classes of 2004 and 2013, although Michael Hogan lifts the current bowling attack. James Allenby is as good an all-rounder as the Welsh side has seen for years, and Murray Goodwin is as sprightly a 40 year-old batsman and fielder as you could ever see.
So what about Nottinghamshire? While they have boasted a formidable squad in all formats over the past decade, winning a couple of County Championships, I was surprised to discover that you have to go back even further than 2004 to find their name on a one-day honours board. 1991, in fact. In those days, the Refuge Assurance Leagues, as it was then known, was a single 40-over league of 17 counties. Durham didn't join the big boys until the following season.
Actually, the 1991 Notts batting line-up featured a few big names, too. In the last game of the season, when their nine-wicket demolition of neighbours Derbyshire clinched the title, they opened with Chris Broad and the 41 year-old Derek Randall, followed by another ex-England opener and then club captain, Tim Robinson. Now a leading umpire, Robbo was a top-class batsman and only one Notts player, George Gunn, has scored more first-class runs for the county. Local boys Paul Johnson and Paul Pollard also scored shedloads of runs for Notts, although they weren't particularly one-day specialists in the way we expect to see these days.
On the other hand, overseas star Franklyn Stephenson was a brilliant performer in any type of cricket. Not quite good enough to break into the world-dominating West Indies side including Marshall, Garner, Bishop, Walsh, Ambrose et al, he nevertheless was instrumental in Nottinghamshire's 1991 success, not only with the ball but also as a beefy late-order batsman. Kevin Evans was an under-rated seamer and Eddie Hemmings was the leading spinner in that, and many other years. In fact he took almost 2000 senior wickets in a career spanning four decades, 80 of them in internationals. Like Chris Read in years to come, wicketkeeper Bruce French played for England but was not as good a batsman as his successor.
They were, perhaps under-achievers in the 1990s but will the current crop of Hales, Lumb, Taylor, Hussey, Patel, Broad, Swann and colleagues ensure the label doesn't stick? I hope not; this is one Lord's final when I shall be rooting for the underdogs, especially as I'm now a Cardiff resident. Come on, Glammies!
The only current Glamorgan player in the side when winning the Totesport League in 2004, Mark Wallace was a youthful 22 and a recent member of the ECB Academy in Australia. However, the successful squad from the late '90s was beginning to break up. They were in the second tier of the Championship and the legendary batsman Matthew Maynard was in his last full season with the club, aged 38. However, they couldn't stop winning in the 45-over league and won it despite losing the last three matches!
Robert Croft was the skipper, often opening the batting as well as bowling some wily off-spinners. The middle-order was quite formidable, too, boasting Maynard, David Hemp and Mike Powell, who has just announced his retirement form the sport. Adrian Dale was a very useful all-rounder for more than fifteen seasons and Alex Wharf was good enough to win 13 ODI caps for England. Aussie Mick Lewis supplemented the seam attack of Wharf, David Harrison and Darren Thomas, and then, of course, there was Crofty who by then had put his international career behind him to focus on Glamorgan, for whom he went onto take more than 1000 first-class wickets.
I'd say there are similarities between the classes of 2004 and 2013, although Michael Hogan lifts the current bowling attack. James Allenby is as good an all-rounder as the Welsh side has seen for years, and Murray Goodwin is as sprightly a 40 year-old batsman and fielder as you could ever see.
So what about Nottinghamshire? While they have boasted a formidable squad in all formats over the past decade, winning a couple of County Championships, I was surprised to discover that you have to go back even further than 2004 to find their name on a one-day honours board. 1991, in fact. In those days, the Refuge Assurance Leagues, as it was then known, was a single 40-over league of 17 counties. Durham didn't join the big boys until the following season.
Actually, the 1991 Notts batting line-up featured a few big names, too. In the last game of the season, when their nine-wicket demolition of neighbours Derbyshire clinched the title, they opened with Chris Broad and the 41 year-old Derek Randall, followed by another ex-England opener and then club captain, Tim Robinson. Now a leading umpire, Robbo was a top-class batsman and only one Notts player, George Gunn, has scored more first-class runs for the county. Local boys Paul Johnson and Paul Pollard also scored shedloads of runs for Notts, although they weren't particularly one-day specialists in the way we expect to see these days.
On the other hand, overseas star Franklyn Stephenson was a brilliant performer in any type of cricket. Not quite good enough to break into the world-dominating West Indies side including Marshall, Garner, Bishop, Walsh, Ambrose et al, he nevertheless was instrumental in Nottinghamshire's 1991 success, not only with the ball but also as a beefy late-order batsman. Kevin Evans was an under-rated seamer and Eddie Hemmings was the leading spinner in that, and many other years. In fact he took almost 2000 senior wickets in a career spanning four decades, 80 of them in internationals. Like Chris Read in years to come, wicketkeeper Bruce French played for England but was not as good a batsman as his successor.
They were, perhaps under-achievers in the 1990s but will the current crop of Hales, Lumb, Taylor, Hussey, Patel, Broad, Swann and colleagues ensure the label doesn't stick? I hope not; this is one Lord's final when I shall be rooting for the underdogs, especially as I'm now a Cardiff resident. Come on, Glammies!
Monday, 26 August 2013
YB40 set for cracking semis
Two of the defeated T20 semi-finalists have another chance of domestic limited-over success after Hampshire and Nottinghamshire topped their respective YB40 tables at the end of the group stages today. In Group A, David Hussey took Notts over the line against Kent. Nearest rivals and T20 champions Northants also won handsomely, thanks to another four-for by Azharullah and a sensational innings of 167 - including ten sixes! - by David Willey. However, their final net run rate wasn't quite enough to qualify as best runners-up.
In Group B, Hampshire overcame Derbyshire, with opening batsman Michael Carberry contributing more in his role as occasional one-day spin bowler. He and Chris Wood each captured three wickets to thwart the hmoe side's run chase. This result rendered the Lancashire-Essex contest as one purely for second place bragging rights. Ravi Bopara crashed 130, then Tim Phillips claimed 5-42 as the Red Roses' pursuit of a tough target faltered in a welter of wickets. Surrey's sorry season got worse after losing to Durham by 133 runs. Will Smith (120 not out) and Gordon Muchall's sixth wicket stand of 163 alone easily beat Surrey's entire all-out total.
Somerset clinched first spot in Group C in the winner-takes-all clash at Bristol. Trescothick and Kieswetter shared a rare century partnership and Jos Buttler top-scored with 68 not out, although Tom Smith's hat-trick, split over two overs, was a rare highlight for Gloucestershire. Glamorgan had also started the day on fifteen points, but their run rate was much inferior to Somerset's. They also did what they needed to, defeating Yorkshire, with prime contributions from Chris Cooke (84) and late hitting by Graham Wagg, and sneak through to the semis where they should get an away draw.
Elsewhere, Moeen Ali followed his two Championship centuries with a 51 against Sussex, but Luke Wright and Matt Machan put on 184 in 19 overs to win with almost twelve overs to spare. Yorkshire Bank may be sponsoring the competition but their county disappointed, winning only three matches, two of them against the Unicorns. However, they are looking good for the Championship title following a ten-wicket demolition of Nottinghamshire. Surrey remain winless after losing by an innings to second-placed Durham, despite the latter missing their main bowlers. Derbyshire escaped the relegation places with a second victory of the summer at home to Middlesex. Wayne Madsen's unbeaten 138 made him the first player to reach 1000 Championship runs in 2013.
Next week, Durham can reduce the gap to only a few points if they beat Sussex, whose hopes of another title are still alive. Middlesex are also in the hunt, and will make the run-in even more interesting should they win the London derby against Surrey.
In Group B, Hampshire overcame Derbyshire, with opening batsman Michael Carberry contributing more in his role as occasional one-day spin bowler. He and Chris Wood each captured three wickets to thwart the hmoe side's run chase. This result rendered the Lancashire-Essex contest as one purely for second place bragging rights. Ravi Bopara crashed 130, then Tim Phillips claimed 5-42 as the Red Roses' pursuit of a tough target faltered in a welter of wickets. Surrey's sorry season got worse after losing to Durham by 133 runs. Will Smith (120 not out) and Gordon Muchall's sixth wicket stand of 163 alone easily beat Surrey's entire all-out total.
Somerset clinched first spot in Group C in the winner-takes-all clash at Bristol. Trescothick and Kieswetter shared a rare century partnership and Jos Buttler top-scored with 68 not out, although Tom Smith's hat-trick, split over two overs, was a rare highlight for Gloucestershire. Glamorgan had also started the day on fifteen points, but their run rate was much inferior to Somerset's. They also did what they needed to, defeating Yorkshire, with prime contributions from Chris Cooke (84) and late hitting by Graham Wagg, and sneak through to the semis where they should get an away draw.
Elsewhere, Moeen Ali followed his two Championship centuries with a 51 against Sussex, but Luke Wright and Matt Machan put on 184 in 19 overs to win with almost twelve overs to spare. Yorkshire Bank may be sponsoring the competition but their county disappointed, winning only three matches, two of them against the Unicorns. However, they are looking good for the Championship title following a ten-wicket demolition of Nottinghamshire. Surrey remain winless after losing by an innings to second-placed Durham, despite the latter missing their main bowlers. Derbyshire escaped the relegation places with a second victory of the summer at home to Middlesex. Wayne Madsen's unbeaten 138 made him the first player to reach 1000 Championship runs in 2013.
Next week, Durham can reduce the gap to only a few points if they beat Sussex, whose hopes of another title are still alive. Middlesex are also in the hunt, and will make the run-in even more interesting should they win the London derby against Surrey.
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Tre-mendous Somerset!
Forgive the post title but with Marcus TREscothick and Peter TREgo sharing a 159-run stand in 81 balls for Somerset in the YB40 competition, the headline kind of wrote itself! I know it was against the Unicorns but it was great to see Somerset find the winning touch for the first time last weekend. Worcestershire also broke the season's duck, thumping Sussex thanks to Daryl Mitchell's run-a-ball century. Also in Group A, James Taylor warmed up nicely for the Lions game against New Zealand alongside Samit Patel, as they combined to defeat Northants comfortably. Another Patel - Jeetan - struck his first List A 50 for Warwickshire but he was run out bidding to snatch a tie against Kent in a dramatic finish at Edgbaston.
Hampshire have had a busy few days starting the defence of their title. After a James Vince century saw off Essex and Scotland were summarily dispatched, they came a cropper against Surrey, for whom Steven Davies plundered 127 not out in 104 balls. Ex-England one-day internationals Phil Mustard and Paul Collingwood were amongst the runs as Durham defeated Lancashire by five wickets to make amends for losing to Essex the day before.
In Group C, Glamorgan won twice in consecutive days, with skipper Marcus North aggregating more than 200 runs against Yorkshire and Middlesex. They stand above Somerset in the table, who lead Leicestershire on run rate despite the latter thrashing Gloucestershire by 115 runs. Josh Cobb starred with 107 and 3-34, while fellow opener Niall O'Brien also reached three figures. At Wormsley, Gloucester recovered to complete a nine-wicket trouncing of the hapless Unicorns. Chris Dent polished things off with an 11-ball 29 not out.
This week, the Dutch enter the fray at home to Kent but potential matches to watch will be Surrey vs Durham on Thursday and Yorkshire against Somerset on Saturday following their Championship clash. No Bairstow or Root, but Adil Rashid looks back to his old form for the Tykes, so the Tre-mendous duo need to assert themselves once more to start a successful sequence.
Hampshire have had a busy few days starting the defence of their title. After a James Vince century saw off Essex and Scotland were summarily dispatched, they came a cropper against Surrey, for whom Steven Davies plundered 127 not out in 104 balls. Ex-England one-day internationals Phil Mustard and Paul Collingwood were amongst the runs as Durham defeated Lancashire by five wickets to make amends for losing to Essex the day before.
In Group C, Glamorgan won twice in consecutive days, with skipper Marcus North aggregating more than 200 runs against Yorkshire and Middlesex. They stand above Somerset in the table, who lead Leicestershire on run rate despite the latter thrashing Gloucestershire by 115 runs. Josh Cobb starred with 107 and 3-34, while fellow opener Niall O'Brien also reached three figures. At Wormsley, Gloucester recovered to complete a nine-wicket trouncing of the hapless Unicorns. Chris Dent polished things off with an 11-ball 29 not out.
This week, the Dutch enter the fray at home to Kent but potential matches to watch will be Surrey vs Durham on Thursday and Yorkshire against Somerset on Saturday following their Championship clash. No Bairstow or Root, but Adil Rashid looks back to his old form for the Tykes, so the Tre-mendous duo need to assert themselves once more to start a successful sequence.
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