The umpires at Hove have just confirmed that the game there between Sussex and Northamptonshire is a draw due to bad light, which means that the first round of county championship 2024 fixtures is done and dusted. This post looks at events of the last four days.
TWO COMPLETE NON-EVENTS
Many matches were adversely affected by rain, bad light or the cumulative effects of long periods of continuous rainfall. Two, Derbyshire v Gloucestershire and Durham v Hampshire saw not a single ball bowled on any of the four scheduled days. I am not sure about the Derbyshire game, but there was not actually much rain during the four days themselves at Durham, but owing to several months of near continuous rain in the region it was not possible for the ground staff to get the outfield dry enough to be safe for play.
REMEMBER THE NAME: KASHIF ALI
Kashif Ali was making his debut for Worcestershire, and they had opted to give him the number three slot, which might be seen as big ask for a young and inexperienced player (he is 26 and had played only eight previous FC matches). He came into the match against neighbours and fierce rivals Warwickshire without a first class century to his name – and departed Edgbaston four days later with two to his credit – 110 in the first Worcestershire innings and 133 in the second. Weather interventions on the third and fourth days saved Warwickshire’s blushes, forcing the visitors to accept the better of a drawn match. Full scorecard here.
THE NEW ‘CHEF’
At the end of last season Sir Alastair Cook, aka ‘Chef’ called time on a long and distinguished professional career. That enabled the nickname to passed on to a new and worthy recipient, right arm fast medium bowler Sam Cook, previously known as ‘Little Chef’. While Cook’s partner in destruction, Jamie Porter, is probably too old for an England call up (a casualty of Broad and Anderson’s long domination of England seam bowling) Cook at 26 is well and truly still in the picture, and his 6-14 today against Nottinghamshire to secure one of the few outright wins of this opening round (Porter 3-43, and Essex third seamer Shane Snater 1-23) may just have placed him where he belongs on England’s radar. Those six wickets mean he currently has 275 first class wickets at 19.48 a piece after 75 matches. Full scorecard here.
A RUN GLUT AT LORD’S
I mentioned Sam Northeast’s new ground record 335* in a total of 620-3 declared in an earlier post. Well in proof that was more the pitch than him I provide the fact that not only did Glamorgan not win, they actually conceded a first innings lead to Middlesex, who racked up 655. Ryan Higgins, normally considered a ‘bowling all rounder’ – a crafty right arm medium pacer and a good (but hardly great) middle order batter contributed 221 to the north London cause, while number 10 Tom Helm managed 64. Shrewd observers will realize why I have rated Kashif Ali’s twin tons above the huge scores from this match. Though it was, as Patrick Murphy described the absurd Bombay v Maharashtra game that saw 2376 scored across the four innings, a “meaningless fiesta for Frindalls” a full scorecard is here.
OTHER NOTES
Somerset fared well against Kent, with James Rew scoring a fluent 50 as they took a big first innings lead, though Kent comfortably drew the game. When weather is making itself felt in English cricket Old Trafford rarely escapes, and indeed the Lancashire v Surrey match was heavily effected – Surrey dismissed the hosts for 202, and reached 15-0 in reply but that was the full extent of play over the four days.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
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