365 Sporting Days

I don’t quite know how to describe the weather for Round 7 of the cricket. Rugby weather might be the best way to put a name to the rain and wind that descended on most of the country. The first round of games since 2019 to see members allowed back meant warm, waterproofs were needed for those lucky enough to be there. I’m staring this on Day 2 of the round and I can’t imagine there’ll be another performance to trump Kent’s Darren Stevens! More of that later.

Hampshire v Leicestershire – The Ageas Bowl, Southampton. Colin Ackerman won the toss for Leicestershire and put Hampshire in to bat. Match Drawn.

Hampshire 233 All Out, Leicestershire 84 All Out & 26 for 1.

Opener Ian Holland top scored with 82 from 136 balls, he batted for over 3 hours, Tom Alsop supported with 25 and James Vince with 32, Chris Wright and Ed Barnes took 4 wickets each.

A team score of 84 is highly unlikely to feature an individual score worthy of a mention, in this case Rishi Patel top scored with 27 from 54 balls as Kyle Abbot shone again with the ball. He took 6 for 47 in his 14 overs as Leicestershire were bowled out in 35.5 Overs.

Just 17 overs were bowled in Leicestershire’s second innings as the weather ensure the match finished with a Draw

Derbyshire v Durham – The Incora County Ground, Derby. Scott Borrhwick won the toss for Durham and put Derbyshire in to bat. Match Drawn.

Derbyshire 258 All Out, Durham 208 All Out.

Billy Godleman scored 41, Wayne Madsen 42 and Matt Critchley with the top scored of 49 from 92 balls aided Derbyshire to their 258, they were bowled out in 87.4 overs. Chris Rushworth followed up his record raking performance last week with 6 for 49 in 19.4 overs. I’ve just read that this man was released by Durham in 2006, it’s a good job for the county that he persevered with the game.

In the midst of the Durham innigs Ned Eckersley, batting at 7 top scored with 82, he faced 96 balls and batted fro just over 2 hours.

Just 17 Overs were bowled on Day 1 and NO play was possible on Day 2. Cameron Bancroft, whose words about the whole sandpaper horror has caused a lot of controversy this week and taken up a lot of column inches scored 39 from 137 balls, batting for over 3 hours, a proper openers innings. 21 year old Derbyshire bowler Ben Aitchison took 6 for 28 in 16 overs as Durham were bowled out in 67.4 overs. A weather affected Draw

Essex v Warwickshire – The County Ground, Chelmsford. Will Rhodes won the toss for Warwickshire and elected to bat. Match Drawn.

Warwickshire 166 All Out& 66 for 1, Essex 217 All Out

Dom Sibley, back from injury scored with 43 from 120 balls on a tricky morning, Warwickshire fell to 76 for 5, before Michael Burgess and Tim Bresnan put on 56 for teh 6th wicket. Burgess was out for 35 from 77 balls and Bresnan went on to reach 50 from 105. Peter Siddle back in the side for Essex took 6 for 38 from 21 Overs, that included 2 in his final over. Warwickshire lost their final 3 wickets for NO runs.

Essex opener Nick Browne was out for 4 and captain Tom Westley for 8 which saw Essex on 29 for 2, Alastair Cook stuck in there in difficult conditions all round, scoring 57 from 105 balls, batting for just ober 2.5 hours. He’ll have needed a hot shower after that! The only other innings of note was for Ryan ten Doeschate, he scored 56 from 85 balls, Simon Harmer contributed a patient 40, facing 114 balls, as Essex were bowled out in 82.3 overs. The wickets were shared between 6 bowlers.

Just 23.5 overs were bowled in Warwickshire’s innings – another weather dominated Draw.

Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire – Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Joe Leach won the toss for Worcestershire and put Notts in to bat. A RESULT!!! Nottinghamshire won by an innings and 170 runs.

Nottinghamshire 400 for 4, Worcestershire 80 All Out & 150 All Out

Day 1 saw just 15.5 Overs bowled and Day 2 saw NO play.

Ben Duckett put on a show for the returning fans, he batted for just over 5 hours, facing 196 balls, he scored 177 runs and on any other week would’ve had the best batting performance. He shared a 4th wicket innings of 205 with Lyndon James who scored 78 from 162 balls. James was followed by captain Steven Mullaney who sped things up and scored 88 from 73 balls, a 5th wicket partnership of 142. The captain declared 2 balls after he was out. Notts scored 400 runs in 84.3 overs.

One Stuart Broad was in Notts bowling line up, but he was outshine by Luke Fletcher, he bowled 16 overs and took 7 for 37, his spell included 6 maidens! The top score was 19 for Ben Cox, who batted for over 90 minutes. Not a great day at the office for Worcestershire, their first innings lasted for just 32.5 overs.

Opener Jake Libby scored 64 from 80 balls in Worcestershire’s second innings, a good effort, but one that wasn’t matched by hos colleagues. Luke Fletcher took a further 3 wickets to take his first 10 wicket haul, Kane Paterson took 4 for 49 as the innings was wrapped up in 57.4 overs. A good win for Nottinghamshire, it’s becoming a habit!

Gloucestershire v Somerset – The Bristol County Ground, Bristol. Chris Dent won the toss for Gloucestershire and put Somerset in to bat. Match Drawn

Somerset 300 for 8 dec, Gloucestershire 27 for 6.

here were 20.2 Overs bowled on Day 1 and NO play on Day 2.

Tom Abell went big in this one, scoring 132* from 287 balls, he batted for nearly 7 hours. Opener Edward Byrom had scored 398 but it wasn’t until Lewis Gregory came in at 9 that someone else contributed to the scoreboard, he scored 57 from 94 balls batting for just over 2 hours. Abell took the decision to declare once his team reached the 300, he was just 18 short of his 150 landmark.

His bowlers made good inroads into the Gloucestershire batting line up, despatching 6 of them for just 27 runs, another 4 wickets for Craig Overton for just 16 runs in his 7.2 overs. This one was another weather affected Draw.

Surrey v Middlesex – The Oval, London. Peter Handscomb won the toss for Middlesex and put Surrey in to bat. Match Drawn

Surrey 190 All Out & 259 for 2 dec, Middlesex 160 All Out & 250 for 6

74 Overs were bowled over the first 2 days. This match is still on as I’m writing at 18:45 on Day 4.

Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman put on 135 for the first wicket before both were out in subsequent overs. Stoneman scored 63 from 127 balls and Burns 64 from 156 balls. Surrey went from 135 for 2 to 142 for 6, they were bowled out fro 190 in 77.1 overs. The wickets were shared between 4 bowlers.

Middlesex collapsed to 27 for 4 before John Simpson batting at 6 batting for just over 2.5 hours top scored with 68 from 100 balls. Kemar Roach and Jordan Clark both took 4 wickets in this innings that lasted just 46.3 overs.

In good news for Chris Silverwood and England Rory Burns was 104* in Surrey’s second innings, he faced 160 balls and batted for just over 4 hours. Strangely the first wicket fell at 135 again, Stoneman had made 74 of those runs. Aiming to find a result Burns declared on 259 for 2.

The match has just finished just before 7pm on Day 4. Both teams were in with a chance of a win but it fizzled out into a draw. Nick Gubbins and Peter Handscomb out on 172 for the 3rd wicket. Handscomb scored 70 from 94 balls and Gubbins went on to score 124 from 145 balls. Rain interfered again on Day 4, Kemar Roach tried his very best to force the result taking 5 for 86 in 19 overs. A rain affected Draw.

Kent v Glamorgan – The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury. Chris Cooke won the toss for Glamorgan and put Kent in to bat.

Kent 307 All Out & 60 for 1 dec, Glamorgan 64 for 3 dec & 23 for 1.

Something amazing happened in Canterbury, it’ll be one of those, I was there days! Darren Stevens came in at 7 when Kent were 80 for 5, having been 60 for 1, a happy return for Glamorgan. But, then, Stevens scored 190 from 149 balls, hitting 15 Fours and 15 Sixes! Remarkable, especially as his partners were falling around him. He scored 62% of the runs scored. He then proceeded to take a wicket in the 19 overs bowled to Glamorgan!

In an unusual move Glamorgan captain Chris Cooke declared on 64 for 3, denying Kent any bowling points.

In trying to force a result Sam Billings declared on 60 fro 1 in Kent’s second innings.

Glamorgan’s second innings lasted just 7 overs as yet another natch ended in a Draw.

Northamptonshire v Lancashire – The County Ground, Northampton. Adam Rossington won the toss for Northamptonshire and put Lancashire in to bat. Match Drawn

Lancashire 88 for 1.

16.5 Overs were bowled on Day 1 and there was NO play on Day 2

This match managed just 34.3 overs and was, of course, a Draw

The weather was not kind to county members on the first possible opportunity for them to go and watch some cricket. with just the one result in the 8 matches played. The tables look like this –