I am listening to coverage of Hampshire v Essex in the Women’s One Day Cup, and I will mention that game in the course of this post, which will also look at goings on in the county championship. I will start however with…
CHAPEAU TO UAE WOMEN
Yesterday, in Bangkok, Thailand there was great piece of cricket thinking by the coach of the United Arab Emirates women’s team. They were playing a regional qualifier against Qatar Women, with only one side from their group progressing to the full qualifiers. It was thus a game that given their 32 place ranking advantage they needed to win. They had reached 192-0 after 16 of their 20 overs, but the weather was threatening, and with a big score on the board they wanted to be sure of at least five overs at Qatar before the weather decisively closed in. Declarations are not allowed in limited overs cricket, a rule that has been in place since 1978 when Somerset (men’s team) attempted to game a poorly thought out qualification system by declaring an away match against Worcestershire after batting for just one over. This would, by the rules of the competition, preserve their wicket taking rate, the criteria by which teams with the same number of points at the group stage were to be split, and thereby ensure their qualification. The UAE coach in this match checked with the match referee regarding ‘Retired Out’ as an option, and with confirmation that there was nothing in the laws to prevent everyone from ‘retiring out’, both UAE openers, including the skipper who had 113 to her name, retired out, and then so instantly did another eight UAE batters to end their innings. The official score was recorded as 192 all out from 16.1 overs, with all ten wickets being retired out, all to the first ball of the 17th over. The UAE women then managed to bowl 11 overs at Qatar, which was sufficient to dismiss this opposition for an total of 29 to win by 163 runs. Personally I reckon UAE Women and their coach deserve unqualified praise for finding a solution to a problem created by the blanket ban on declarations in limited overs cricket (note their method is both quicker and safer than finding ways to get out cheaply – if the fielding side work out what you are about then the ball will have to hit the stumps for this to work, as they will not appeal, and catches will probably go to ground). Situations where one is willing for one’s own innings to get at the opposition will not often arise, but unless declarations are once again allowed in limited overs match (and the near universal use of Net Run Rate to split sides who finish a group stage with the same points tally largely prevents utterly cynical Brian Rose type declarations, as doing so would be disastrous for your own net RR – the only time one might be considered is if a side has already well and truly qualified and they decide they want their current opponents rather than some other side to come through with them) I can see further instances of mass ‘retired out’ innings happening. Stuart Surridge, the Surrey captain of the 1950s who could fairly be labelled the most successful county captain of all time – five seasons in charge, five county championships won – was noted for extremely aggressive declarations. I shall quote two: once against a Somerset line up whose batting was headed by Harold Gimblett, noted for explosive innings at the top of the order, he gave them five and a quarter hours to attempt a target of 297, and was rewarded with a victory by 32 runs; the second was against Worcestershire near the end of the 1954 season – Worcestershire had been all out for 27 batting first, Surrey were 92-3 in reply when Surridge declared as he wanted another go at Worcestershire that evening, and Worcestershire lost two wickets in the short passage of play before the close, and the following day spinners Laker and Lock completed the rout, rolling the midlands county for 40 to secure a win by an innings and 25 runs and with it a third successive title.
HAMPSHIRE v ESSEX
Hampshire batted first, and with skipper Georgia Adams leading the way with 110 not out, her fourth list A century, but her first in Hampshire colours, and wicket keeper (surely soon to be called up by England) Rhianna Southby scoring 61 they totalled 273-5 from their 50 overs. Essex at 35-0 in the seventh over are just about keeping themselves in touch with the target so far. Linsey Smith, left arm orthodox spin, has just broken the opening partnership by bowling MacLeod for 25 to make it 47-1 in the tenth over.
COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP
At Edgbaston, in the match that I listened to the first two days of, Surrey are reduced to playing for a draw. Warwickshire resumed yesterday on 364-4, and scored 301 more runs for the loss of a single wicket over the first two sessions of yesterday before declaring at tea time on 665-5 – and that after Rory Burns had won the toss and put them in to bat! The only Surrey player with any cause for pride in what was surely a humbling experience for them as a whole was wicket keeper Ben Foakes who did not let through a single bye in that vast total. Surrey are struggling in reply – they are 217-5. Rob Yates, who earlier scored 86 opening the batting has taken three wickets with his off spin. Ed Barnard who produced his highest score as a professional cricketer (beating a 173* in a list A innings) has added a wicket with right arm medium-fast bowling. Another multi-dimensional player, Aussie Beau Webster, who failed with the bat this time round but is a genuine all rounder, also has a wicket though I cannot tell you whether it was with off spin or with the medium pace he also bowls. In the other match I am keeping tabs on, Glamorgan are in complete control against Kent. They scored 549-9 declared, with Ben Kellaway notching 181 not out, his maiden first class ton, and after dismissing Kent for 212 sent them straight back in again – no nonsense about batting them right out of things to rest the bowlers – and currently have them 66-4 in their second innings, an effective -271-4. While there is no such thing as ‘never’ in cricket (I refer to you the account that began the main body of this post) it is at the least highly improbable that Kent are getting back into this one.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My usual sign off…
aspiblog 