County Championship – Page 2

Runs, Runs and More Runs

A look at some of the absurd scoring permitted by the use of the Kookaburra ball in the English county championship, with particular reference to Surrey v Durham. Also a photo gallery.

If any good is going to come out of a round of championship matches that is producing a series of ridiculous scores it will be that the resultant fiesta for Frindalls* will finally deal the death blow to the nonsense of the Kookaburra ball being used in English county championship matches. This post looks at the match I have been following, which has seen the most absurd scoring of the lot.

SURREY v DURHAM

Durham won the toss and chose to bowl first, paying more attention to the fact that The Oval is generally a good ground for bowling first than the fact that this round of matches is being played with Kookaburra balls. It was soon apparent that that the latter was by far the more important. Burns and Sibley started with a stand of 95 before Burns and Ryan Patel fell in quick succession. Then Sam Curran played a superb innings, scoring 108 and helping the third wicket to put on 170. That was a mere curtain raiser for the fourth wicket stand between Dominic Sibley and Dan Lawrence. By the close of play yesterday their stand was worth 129 and Surrey at 407-3 looked in total control. By lunch time today they had motored on to 597-3 – 190-0 in the session. At 612, having just beaten his career best Lawrence fell for 178. That brought Will Jacks to the crease, and he was soon scoring rapidly without really appearing to be trying to do so. Sibley passed 300, and thoughts of the all time Surrey record individual score were passing through minds (357 not out by Bobby Abel against Somerset in 1899). The score had reached 745 when Sibley was caught by Colin Ackerman off Will Rhodes for 305, the seventh highest ever individual score for Surrey and easily a record for Surrey v Durham (Mark Butcher with 191 had been the previous holder). Jacks became the fourth centurion of the innings, taking a mere 85 balls to reach the mark. In the run up to tea Surrey lost several wickets, and when Lawes was eighth out the interval was taken, with the score 803-8. Surrey, perhaps aware of the records still in the offing or perhaps in a show of contempt for the use of the Kookaburra, batted on after the interval. A six by Will Jacks took the score to 814-8, Surrey’s highest ever first class score and the highest first class score ever amassed against Durham, beating the 810-4 by Warwickshire when Brian Lara scored 501 not out. Jacks also hit the following ball for six and then got out to the next, and finally at 820-9 Surrey called halt to the slaughter. George Drissell, a 26 year old off spinner who had failed to make the grade at Gloucestershire, had 1-247 from 45 overs, the most expensive innings figures in County Championship history (the all time record is Arthur Mailey’s 4-362 for New South Wales against Victoria, while the record in England is left arm wrist spinner Chuck Fleetwood-Smith’s 1-298 when England piled up 903-7, also at this ground, against Australia in 1938).

SOUTHAMPTON STUPIDITY

Adam Hose, once of Warwickshire and now of Worcestershire, does not have a stellar first class record. Even after the ridiculous events at the Utilita Bowl yesterday he has an FC average of below 30. This guy, who is barely even in the average FC batter class, plundered 266 off just 253 balls. With Jake Libby, a solid opener, also topping 200 Worcestershire declared around teatime today on 679-7. There have been many other big scores around the country. The only match to be progressing on something approaching normal county championship lines is at Chesterfield, where Lancashire amassed 367 and Derbyshire are 259-9 in reply.

*William Howard ‘Bill’ Frindall was Test Match Special’s statistician for about the first quarter-century of my cricket listening life.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

The Invasive Species in the County Championship

A look at the pernicious effects the Kookaburra ball is having on the county championship and a photo gallery.

It has been a while since I last posted. The day after the end of the test match that I wrote about in my previous post was the last day of a round of county championship fixtures, while today is the first day of another round of such fixtures. Both these rounds have been played with a Kookaburra ball, the ‘invasive species’ of my title, rather than the traditional Duke ball.

MORE THAN A FISTFUL OF DRAWS

The last round of championship fixtures saw the maximum of nine matches being played. Seven ended in draws, with a definite result varying in unlikeliness from the Derbyshire game, where the draw was only confirmed with a mere two balls to play to the match involving Sussex, where Sussex only bothered to declare their second innings closed because it was 4:50PM, which meant that hands could be shaken on the inevitable draw, with a result having been impossible for some hours. The sole exceptions were Worcestershire v Surrey where the home side had no answer to the defending champions’ firepower and Northamptonshire v Middlesex, where the north Londoners proved vulnerable. For the rest the Kookaburra’s refusal to do anything either in the air or off the pitch led to a lot of boosted batting averages and little else of note. This round of matches looks similar so far, with no side as yet having lost more than four wickets (and we are well into the second session of play, with no rain intervening).

This is the third season of a trial introduction of the Kookaburra into certain rounds of the county championship, and I seriously hope that the ECB take note of the negative effect of this ball and banish it back to the antipodes where it belongs. The ridiculous thing is that in home test matches the Duke ball is still used, so most of the best bowlers aren’t bowling much with the Kookaburra anyway as they are away with England.

Of course the Kookaburra is not the sole factor contributing to the preponderance of drawn matches – the ludicrous scaling of point awards that makes a draw worth 50% of a win also induces caution – a draw with a large haul of bonus points could be worth as much as 16 points, while a win in a low scoring match might only be worth 19, so high scoring draws are not much less valuable than wins in low scoring matches.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

A Concatenation of Classic Finishes

A look back at a remarkable day of cricket, including three (count ’em) classic finishes to county championship matches. Also a photo gallery.

Just over an hour and a half ago Jack Morley, Derbyshire’s number 10, kept out the fifth ball of the final possible over of the match, and with Derbyshire eight wickets down, but a long way adrift, Lancashire accepted that they were not about to capture two wickets with one legal ball left and the latest round of County Championship matches had officially ended. This was the third splendid finish to a match in very quick succession. This post looks back at the stories of this merry Monday.

THE PATTERN OF MY DAY

My morning was to a certain extent tailored around the fact that I had arranged to get myself vaccinated against the current variant of Covid-19 at 10:00. The venue for this jab, Well King’s Lynn, is on Loke Road, only a few minutes from my home by the quickest walking route, though I extended it both ways, on the way there because I also had a few things to purchase at Morrison’s, and on the way back because I was in the mood to do so, and as has always been the case with me and covid vaccinations, I did not feel so much as a hint of an unpleasant side effect. I decided that my first port of call cricket wise would be the Women’s One Day Cup match between Hampshire and Warwickshire, while also having cricinfo tabs open to follow progress in other matches, and that I would revert to the championship after this match was done. I missed the ending of Surrey versus Yorkshire, which followed a predictable course, ending with victory for Surrey by an innings and 29 runs.

A TOPSY TURVY MATCH

At first it looked like Hampshire were in charge. At one point they had reduced Warwickshire to 93-6. Abigail Freeborn was batting well, and now for the first time she found genuine support from the other end. Charis Pavely, a 20 year old who also bowls left arm orthodox spin, actually outscored Freeborn, contributing 55 to their seventh wicket stand of 97. Warwickshire captain Georgia Davis now came in and helped Freeborn to boost the final Warwickshire total to 243, and Arundel Castle is not especially noted for high scores. Freeborn just missed out on a century, being 94 not out at the end of the innings. The Hampshire openers fell cheaply, but then Charli Knott and Hampshire skipper Georgia Adams shared the biggest partnership of the match, and although Warwickshire then pegged Hampshire back once more, Mary Taylor played a little gem of an innings in the closing stages to get her side over the line with four balls to spare.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE’S WIN

To say that Gloucestershire have been unconvincing at Bristol in recent years is to err on the side of generosity – before today they had not won a red ball match at county HQ since 2022. They need 162 in the final innings to beat Kent, and given their poor record at Bristol in recent times they would have been quaking when their seventh wicket went down at 138. That brought Zaman Akhter in join Cameron Green. This pair picked their way towards the target, and in the event got there for no further loss. After 970 days Gloucestershire had finally won a red ball match at county HQ.

CLOSING STAGES IN PARALLEL

Glocuestershire’s triumph left two matches still in progress. At Chester-le-Street Durham had managed to get through Nottinghamshire’s second innings quick enough to leave themselves a chase of 92 in 18 overs to take the win. At Old Trafford Derbyshire had initially been looking at a potential chase against Lancashire but were by this stage hanging on grimly for the draw. By the time the Gloucestershire match finished there were under 10 overs left in both games, and Durham after being temporarily rocked back by Mohammad Abbas striking twice in the opening over were well on course for the win. Derbyshire were eight down, with Anuj Dal and Jack Morley defending gamely. Durham were 10 short of victory when Alex Lees was out, both bowler and keeper trying to get under the catch, and the latter, South African Kyle Verreynne finally claiming it. Durham promoted Brydon Carse to number five, and although Colin Ackermann reached a 50 before the end, it was Carse, like a ham actor stealing the Oscar winner’s line, who made the winning it, a straight driven four with 10 possible balls remaining. That left Derbyshire’s rearguard as the last cricket action of the day. They were into the final over there by then. Anuj Dal had clocked up 100 balls survived in the innings just before the end of the Gloucestershire match, and his score was 12 not out at the time. By the time Morley, 0* off 36, had played out the final few balls to secure the draw Dal’s final innings figures were 13* (115) – even more self denying than Hashim Amla’s 37* (273) for Surrey v Hampshire a few years ago. Ben Atchison, Derbyshire’s number nine had also contributed a 21 ball duck to the resistance act.

The three county championship match finishes described in this post illustrate just what is best about this, the oldest of all organized professional cricket competitions. At 135 years of age the County Championship is in splendid health.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This splendid beetle attracted my attention during my extended walk back from being vaccinated.

County Championship Current Round

A look at the current round of county championship fixtures, with the focus on the battle of the behemoths – Surrey v Yorkshire. Also a photo gallery.

Another round of fixtures in this year’s county championship got underway on Friday (there is one more round, some of which I will unavoidably miss) before the Vitality Blast, One Day Cup and Hundred are played, with the second half of the championship season happening after these competitions are done. This post looks at events on the first two and a half days of the current round.

SURREY v YORKSHIRE

These are the two most successful clubs in the county championship’s long history, with Surrey dominating the current era. Surrey won the toss and opted to bowl first. Yorkshire had somewhat the better of the morning session, Surrey definitely the better of the afternoon session, but what still looks getting on for two full days later like the decisive tipping point of the contest occurred midway through the evening session. Yorkshire at 237-6 were still holding their own when Bairstow, previously majestic, played a very poor shot at Dan Lawrence’s part time off spin to be caught by Tom Lawes for 89. The Yorkshire first innings folded rapidly thereafter, with only a further 18 runs accruing. Burns and Sibley made it through to the close without loss, making it definitively Surrey’s opening day.

Day two went meltingly in Surrey’s favour, and by end of it they were 384-7. There were no centuries, but both Aussie recruit Kurtis Patterson, batting at number three, and Ben Foakes at number five topped 80. Foakes was 7th out for 86, with the score at 351, but unlike Yorkshire who folded from the point their seventh wicket fell, Surrey were far from done. Jordan Clark, far better with the bat than most county number eights, now assumed control of the innings, and New Zealander Nathan Smith also played competently.

The Surrey innings lasted for slightly more than a standard length morning session on day three (as they were nine down at the scheduled interval time an extra half hour was playable in the session, and about 10 minutes thereof were actually needed. Surrey scored 512 in total, for a first innings lead of 257. They were already well ahead when their seventh wicket fell, but whereas Yorkshire had added only 18 more from that point Surrey’s last three wickets piled on 161 between them. Bean fell early in the Yorkshire innings, to the bowling of Nathan Smith. Jordan Clark, scorer of 69 in the Surrey innings, made the big breakthrough when he had Adam Lyth caught by Patterson. Since then James Wharton and Jonathan Tattersall have batted well together, and at the moment Yorkshire are 81-2, 176 runs short of avoiding the innings defeat. Given how far adrift they still are Yorkshire probably need to bat until tea time tomorrow before they can even begin to feel safe. Tattersall has just lost patience and played a loose drive at Clark resulting in a catch to Sibley. Tattersall batted 82 balls for his 12. Yorkshire are 83-3, still 174 short of avoiding the innings defeat. Bairstow, the first innings top scorer is now at the crease.

ELSEWHERE

Somerset are playing Sussex, and it is just possible that a decision to enforce the follow on when they could reasonably have gone in again (it was the afternoon of day two, and their advantage was 186, so they could justifiably have opted to bat till lunch on day three, and have five sessions in which to wrap up the Sussex second innings). As I type they need another 109 with seven second innings wickets standing. I will not condemn them even if their decision to enforce does end up backfiring, because I think too many sides have a knee-jerk aversion to going for the quick kill in these situations, often citing a need to rest the bowlers. Lancashire are in action against Derbyshire, and Lancashire’s Sir James Anderson collected three cheap wickets in his first first class bowl since being accorded that status.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Yesterday, I included a picture of a pair of butterflies that I had not been able to identify on a flower head. I have been given what I believe after checking online to be a correct identification: Large Blue or Phengaris arion. As you will see today yielded another new butterfly find…

A Result Unique to Cricket

A look at the draw in cricket (some other sports also use that term for a result but none use it in the way cricket does), with two very different examples from the most recent round of county championship fixtures. Also a large photo gallery.

While cricket is not the only sport to use the word ‘draw’, the way that word is used in cricket is different from in any other sport. In cricket the draw covers any situation in which neither team has been able to win within the allotted time. Ties are rare in cricket because to be a tie the side batting second has to lose its final wicket with the scores level – if times runs out with scores level, as happened in the “We flippin’ murdered ’em” test match between Zimbabwe and England, when then coach David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd, exasperated by Zimbabwe getting away with bowling deliberately wide because the umpires obtusely stuck to test match rules regarding wides, flipped his lid in the immediate aftermath of the result being confirmed. This post looks at two very different draws from the last round of county championship fixtures by way of illustrating the sheer range of match situations that can come under the heading of ‘drawn’ in the game of cricket.

EDGBASTON – THE ULTIMATE IN STALEMATES

Warwickshire hosted Surrey, winners of the last three county championships, in this round of fixtures, and as far I am concerned the surface the Edgbaston ground staff offered up for the occasion tells its own story about Warwickshire’s level of ambition for this match: they wanted a high scoring draw, from which each side would accrue a respectable haul of points, since they did not believe they could beat Surrey. Rory Burns won the toss for Surrey but then put Warwickshire in to bat. Warwickshire batted for the first five sessions of the match, piling up 665-5 declared. By the end of the third of the four scheduled days Surrey were nine down, with Ben Foakes and Matther Fisher together at the crease. Had Warwickshire got the final wicket early on the fourth morning they may have been able to make life hard for Surrey in the follow-on. In the event, even with the half hour extension permitted when a side is nine down at the lunch interval, Warwickshire did not get the wicket at all that morning. By the time Fisher was finally last out for 40 Foakes had gone to a career best 174 not out, and Surrey had topped 500, having batted 178 overs. They had not quite done enough to avoid the follow on, which Warwickshire enforced as they had to. The Surrey second innings was barely underway by tea time, at which point Jupiter Pluvius, clearly as unimpressed by the pitch and the farce of a match that resulted as I was, intervened, enabling a game that had pretty much been DOA to be officially put out of its misery. I hope that Warwickshire get a points deduction for preparing such a surface – it was blatantly unfit for a four day game, since it would have taken eight days at a minimum to generate a result on it.

CHELMSFORD – ALIVE TO THE LAST POSSIBLE BALL

When Essex resumed overnight on 64-4, 456 adrift of a gargantuan victory target this match did not look like being a great one. However, the overnight pair of Critchley and Pepper held the fort until the stroke of tea when Pepper was out. Two more wickets immediately post tea, Thain and Critchley, left it up to South African Simon Harmer, mainly noted for being the best off spinner currently playing county cricket, but also a very useful lower order batter to shepherd the tail if Essex were to escape with a draw. When Rajitha was out just in to the last hour (and we were dealing in time by then because a combination of Essex being committed to defence and spinners bowling for Yorkshire meant that way more than the scheduled minimum number of overs was being bowled) Jamie Porter, with a career batting average of six, joined Harmer for the last stand. The last over of the match, which Yorkshire just managed to sneak in, getting it underway at 17:59 on day four, one minute before the scheduled close, Dom Bess’ 38th of the innings, the 133rd in all, and the 106th that Yorkshire bowled on that final day began with Porter on strike, but the Essex number 11 managed a single, just the second run of his innings, off the first ball thereof which meant that Harmer was back on strike. Harmer played out the remaining five balls, and Essex, 273-9 and still 247 short of the winning target had held out for the draw in a very exciting finish. Yorkshire might have been less cautious about their second innings declaration, but when they had Essex four down overnight it looked as though they had more than made up for any overcaution about that declaration, and Essex deserve credit for the way they fought through to that draw.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

County Championship Round Six

A look at developments in the three county championship matches that made it to a final day, including a strong recommendation for a points deduction for Warwickshire. Also a points deduction.

Three of the matches in the current round of the county championship made it to day four, today. I will mention all three. The game I am listening to is Sussex against Worcestershire at Hove, but I am going to start with another match that commanded my attention earlier in the round.

THE STALEST OF STALEMATES

Points deductions are sometimes made for badly prepared pitches. This usually happens when a result has happened very early, by design of the host county. It happened once after a drawn game, when even though that result saw them crowned champions Essex moaned about a Taunton pitch taking spin. The pitch at Edgbaston is IMO far more worthy of a points deduction than any of these ‘result’ surfaces. There has been so little for bowlers that a draw is now almost certain. We are well into the penultimate session of the match, and a mere 14 wickets have fallen to date. Warwickshire, put in by Surrey (a decision that even Rory Burns who made it probably now recognizes as a terrible one), amassed 665-5 declared with career bests for Ed Barnard and Zen Malik (a maiden first class ton for the latter). Surrey have just lost their 10th wicket after 178.2 overs with their score on 504, a deficit of 161, which means that Warwickshire can enforce the follow-on (and to do anything else in this situation should ensure that the current captain never has that role again). Ben Foakes became the third player to notch a career best on this surface, amassing 174 not out, and equally damning of this pitch, Surrey number 11 Matthew Fisher lasted 145 balls for 40 before finally being last out. I therefore have no hesitation in saying that Warwickshire should be hit with a 25 point deduction for having prepared a surface that offered no chance of a result in four days (I will eat my hat if Warwickshire do manage to bowl Surrey out a second time). The Warwickshire captain has done the right thing and enforced the follow-on. It is unlikely to change the result, but for Warwickshire to go in again would have absolutely killed any prospect of anything other than a draw.

A POTENTIAL NAIL BITER

Although this game held out the most hope of any at the start of the day, which is why I chose to tune into it, my expectations were not high – Sussex definitely appeared to have the upper hand. However a great innings by Jake Libby and some stubborn resistance from Brett D’Oliveira (an innings of 29 that lasted a long time) have made it a very intriguing position. Set 361 to win Worcestershire are now 281-6, having lost only two wickets on the day. Sussex’s best bowler so far has been the Johannesburg born Greek seamer Aristides Karvelas. Oliver Edward Robinson has been economical but not terribly threatening. From being heavily in Sussex’s favour with Worcestershire four down fairly cheaply overnight it has become almost a 50/50 proposition. My earlier comment about Karvelas was prescient – he has just claimed the wicket of Matthew Waite, caught by James Coles at third slip for 14 to make it 286-7, with Libby 167 not out. Fynn Hudson-Prentice may just have settled it for Sussex – he has just had Libby caught by Clark at second slip for 167 to make it 286-8.

ESSEX v YORKSHIRE

This one looked all over bar the shouting overnight – set an outlandish 520 to win Essex were 64-4 overnight. However, Matt Critchley and Michael Pepper have resisted stoutly, and have yet to parted. Essex are now 195-4 and have a decent chance of securing the draw.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

County Championship Action

A look at happenings in the latest round of county championship matches, which got underway yesterday morning. Also a photo gallery.

This season’s sixth round of championship fixtures got underway yesterday morning. As an indication of changing times it was on May 9 1895 that WG Grace’s first class season got under way. After that late start to the season the fixtures came thick and fast, and precisely three weeks after his season had begun the good doctor notched up his 1,000th run of the campaign. This post looks at what happened yesterday.

BURNS’ BUNGLE

Surrey are taking on Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Yesterday, on a lovely sunny day, Rory Burns the Surrey skipper won the toss, and with overhead conditions suggesting that it was a time to bat and no hint of demons in the pitch he opted to put Warwickshire in to bat. Not only were wickets slow in coming (while runs were not so), both the first two, those of openers Alex Davies and Rob Yates, for 45 and 86 respectively, would have had the batters very annoyed with themselves. Davies, having started very impressively, charged down the pitch at part time off spinner Dan Lawrence, missed his stroke and was bowled. Yates, looking nailed on for a century, had an uncharacteristic swing at one from Tom Lawes and succeeded only in nicking it behind where Foakes, as ever, was unerring. Sam Hain got to 26 before he was caught by Lawrence off Clark. Then Lawrence, whose 20 overs of off spin on day one of a championship match form Exhibit A in the case against Burns’ decision to bowl first, took the only really well earned wicket of the day, producing a fine delivery to bowl Aussie all rounder Beau Webster for 15. New Zealander Tom Latham was looking utterly secure, and moved past three figures with no hint of difficult. He was joined after the dismissal of Webster by Ed Barnard, treated by his former county Worcestershire as a bowler who bats, but now at Warwickshire regarded as a genuine all rounder who is if anything more batter than bowler. This pair were still in residence at stumps, with the score 364-4, and Latham closing in on 150. They are still together as I type, just over a quarter of an hour into day two, with three runs added to the overnight total as they settle in. Ed Barnard has moved to 50 since I typed this section, Latham has passed 150 and Warwickshire are 394-4. Dan Lawrence is about to have his first bowl of day two at 11:37AM.

ELSEWHERE

The most inconsistent day yesterday was that of Sussex, who started with an opening stand of 80, then lost five wickets for one run, and six for eight runs, then recovered to post 284, with off spinner Jack Carson registering a maiden first class hundred and first class debutant James Hayes contributing an unbeaten 33 from number 11 as the tenth wicket stand yielded 73. For Glamorgan, in action against Kent at Canterbury Ben Callaway, an all rounder who bowls both off spin and left arm orthodox spin, was 91 not out, closing in on what will be his maiden first class century. He has just reached the landmark while my photo gallery was uploading. Essex, seeking to recover from a setback against Somerset (see here), are not going well against Yorkshire at Chelmsford. They bowled the visitors out for 216, a decent effort, but are currently 35-4 in reply.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This picture and the nest show the new library/ community hub;s current stage of development.

Highlights from the County Championship

A back at the round of county championship fixtures that took place over the bank holiday weekend, a look at the points system and a photo gallery.

The most recent round of county championship fixtures took place between Friday 2 and Monday 5 May. It was an excellent round of fixtures overall, with the only clear cut dud game, the one at the Utilita Bowl where both hosts Hampshire and visitors Durham seem to have decided almost from moment one that a high scoring draw and consequent boost to a few people’s batting averages was all that was available. In the rest of this post I will look at the games I actually followed some of, and will end with something about the current points system in the county championship.

SOMERSET v ESSEX

Somerset came into this round without a win so far this season, and for a long time it did not look like that would be changing. Somerset had surrendered tamely for 145 in response to Essex’s first innings 206. When Essex led by over 300 with only four wickets down in their second innings it was looking horribly one-sided. Although it did not look like it at the time the injury sustained by Jordan Cox in his anxiety to get to three figures (at that stage the previous highest score of the game was the 41 made Noah Thain in the Essex first innings) was a turning point in the match. Cox completed his ton, and immediately retired hurt. From that point five wickets crashed for seven runs, which precluded any return to the crease on Cox’s part. A total of 321 still looked beyond Somerset’s capabilities. At 78-5 the only question seemed to be whether or not there would be a fourth day – with not seeming the more likely answer. However Lewis Gregory now joined James Rew, and redeemed a less than stellar effort with the ball by launching a counter attack. The sixth wicket pair put on a century stand before Gregory was out. Craig Overton now came in and supported Rew to such good purpose that they were still together at the close. On the fourth morning the pair continued their good work, and the Essex bowling, normally among the best in the country, became somewhat ragged, with even the usually metronomic Sam Cook struggling to locate the right areas and regular fourth innings destroyer Harmer not quite looking at his best. A Somerset win had looked very distant when play started, but as Rew and Overton kept going and going it went from deeply improbable through unlikely and on to possible, then probable and finally, as Rew moved past three figures, a near certainty. When Rew finally fell for a magnificent 116 a mere nine more were needed for the win, and Josh Davey, by no means a mug with the bat, was joining Overton. It was Overton, appropriately enough, who struck the final blow, a six that simultaneously propelled Somerset to victory and him past the 50 mark. Somerset have a long history of involvement in bizarre matches (e.g. Headingley 1901 – Somerset 87, Yorkshire 325, Somerset 630, Yorkshire 113, Somerset won by 279 runs after trailing by 238 on first innings), but not even they have been involved in many games to equal this one.

OTHER MATCHES

Lancashire v Gloucestershire bore all the hallmarks of a dull draw deep into day three, when in response to a Lancashire score of 450 Gloucestershire were steadily moving into a lead. However, once they had the lead Gloucestershire did attack, led by Oliver Price, who before this innings had never topped 150 in a first class match. Now he made it 250, a mark that only one previous Gloucestershire batter, Walter Hammond, had ever reached against Lancashire. Gloucestershire ended the third day on 589-8, a score at which they promptly declared. Lancashire were at one point four wickets down and level in terms of runs, but in the end they did enough to draw the match.

Glamorgan against Derbyshire got very tense in the closing stages. When Derbyshire were 248-5 chasing a target of 338 it looked all over, but a clatter of wickets suddenly left Derbyshire clinging on by their finger tips. In the end the match was drawn, with Derbyshire surviving the final over with their score 308-9. This innings featured a maiden first class five-wicket haul for Ben Kellaway, who like Aussie women’s player Jemma Barsby cam bowl both off spin and left arm orthodox spin. Kellaway had earlier played a big innings for Glamorgan as well.

Middlesex and Kent also had an incredible finish. In their case the draw was off the table, but win for either side or a tie were possible deep into the closing stages. The fortunes of wat swayed hither and thither with first one side and then the other looking favourites. In the end Middlesex skipper Toby Roland-Jones got his side over the line for a two wicket win. This was harsh on Daniel Bell-Drummond who had scored a double century in the Kent second innings to put Middlesex under pressure.

THE POINTS SYSTEM

As it currently stands a win is worth 16 points, a draw is worth 8 points and there are 8 bonus points available, 5 for batting (250 = 1, 300 = 2, 350 = 3, 400 = 4, 450 = 5) and 3 for bowling (3, 6 and 9 wickets). These bonus points are awarded specifically in the first 110 overs of each side’s first innings. The big problem is the valuation put on the draw, because a draw with a full ration of bonus points nets 16 points, making it almost as valuable as a win with a low bonus point tally. Although the round that has just gone was a good one overall, there was the game I mentioned in passing at the Utilita Bowl where both sides settled early for a high scoring draw, and there have been several notably cowardly declarations earlier in the season where sides have built their leads to an absurd extent and ultimately declared so late in the game that only rank incompetence by their opponents could result in victory. I would either reduce the award for drawing a game to 6 points, or if keeping the draw at eight points boost the award for winning a match to 20 points, to make sure achieving victory even with a small bonus point count is definitely more desirable than a high scoring draw. Matches like the abomination at the Utilita Bowl are a poor advert for what is actually a great competition – witness the four matches that I looked at in more detail in the course of this post.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

This is in Grimston – my bus home from work yesterday was diverted from its usual route.

James and Sons April Auction

A look back at James and Sons’ April Auction, a brief mention of County Championship action and a photo gallery.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week James and Sons had its April auction, 1,000 stamp and postal history lots across the two days. On day one I was at work, one floor above where the auction was taking place, but had left bids on two lots, the fate of which would decide my approach to day two where I would be following from home.

A MODESTLY SUCCESSFUL AUCTION

The opening day of the auction went well overall for the company, and well for me personally – I got both lots I had left bids on, and both sufficiently cheaply that I was still in a position to bid on more items on day two. Lot 193 was the first of my lots:

Lot 398 was five pages of Russian steam locomotive stamps:

DAY TWO

This could have been a very quiet day, but fortunately it wasn’t completely so. The biggest success of the day was lot 762, which went for £140. My first bid of the day was on lot 701, and I was successful:

Lot 728 was my next success…

Lots 785 and 840 also went to me…

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

Another round of County Championship fixtures got underway today. Due to a meeting this morning I missed the first session of play, and I will be missing most of tomorrow as it is the West Norfolk Autism Group’s annual outing to Pensthorpe. However I have got to enjoy Somerset having superb afternoon and evening against Essex at Taunton. Essex were 115-2 at the high water mark of their innings, but since then it has been one-way traffic – they are now 180-9 with Noah Thain having just gone for 41, caught Rew bowled Pretorius. I am not entirely sure about Kasun Rajitha;s batting credentials, though the fact that he is below Sam Cook, sometimes adhesive (as indeed he was today) but unquestionably a tail ender, tells one something, but Jamie Porter is an absolutely blown in the glass genuine number 11.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

These coasters (seven images in total) are an early birthday present from my boss.

Derbyshire v Middlesex

A look at the final day of Derbyshire v Middlesex in the county championship, a harsh but justified assessment of Derbyshire’s overseas seamer and a photo gallery,

The only live cricket today was the final day of Derbyshire versus Middlesex, and this post looks briefly at the final day’s action.

ALMOST A QUIET MORNING

From the start of play at 11 o’clock until 12:56PM, four minutes before the scheduled lunch break the overnight batters for Middlesex, Stevie Eskinazi and Max Holden batted largely serenely through on a so called ‘hybrid’ pitch. A couple of hard chances went down, but few would have said that a wicketless morning was other than a fair reflection on the balance of play. Then Holden, on 94 and anxious to reach three figures before the interval had a total brain fade, essayed a huge drive at left arm orthodox spinner Jack Morley, missed and was bowled. That brought the injured Leus du Plooy, recently moved south from Derbyshire (Martin Andersson, who went the other way, will have much fonder memories of this match than him) in to bat, with Nathan Fernandes who had been out to the first ball of the innings acting as runner. Immediately there was a calamitous mix up which cost the other set batter, Eskinazi, his wicket for 61, and suddenly the door which had seemed firmly shut and all but bolted was ajar.

THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING

Derbyshire had an excellent afternoon, and had Middlesex six down at tea, but the lead by then was just over 100, and though they had work still to do, Middlesex really were within sight of victory. The two batters resuming for them, Ryan Higgins and Zafar Gohar played sensibly until, with the game virtually safe a couple of moments of silliness occurred. First Gohar, on 44, tried to get to 50 in one blow, did not quite get all of it, but got lucky when the chance was dropped, and then in the very next over Higgins, on 56, offered a chance that was accepted. However, by this stage the main question appeared to be at what point hands would be shaken on the draw, with the smart money being on with 15 overs still scheduled. Gohar got his 50, and new batter Blake Cullen played sensibly, and with the score 307-7, a lead for Middlesex of exactly 150, and 15 overs remaining to be bowled Derbyshire skipper Madsen did indeed accept that Middlesex had done enough, on a pitch that did not offer enough to the bowlers for a result ever to be likely. Middlesex had missed avoiding the follow-on by just eight runs, and had they scored those eight it is wildly unlikely that Derbyshire would have been able to create even the hope of a winning position – Madsen would probably had had to tell his side to go hell for leather until lunch, declare at that interval and then hope they bowled and fielded superbly, but he would probably not have been bold enough to take this approach. One final point: I looked up Derbyshire’s overseas seamer, New Zealander Blair Tickner and discovered that in 83 first class matches before this one he had taken 251 wickets at 34.22. The average would be on the high side for a home bowler, and for an overseas one, with the extra pay they get, it is simply unacceptable. The wicket taking rate of three scalps per match (almost exactly) is on the low side as well, a whole wicket per match below what I would consider acceptable. My own view is that if Tickner, a workaday seamer, was the best Derbyshire could do in this regard, they would have been better not to bother with an overseas signing.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

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