365 Sporting Days

Several rounds of the T20 Blast in and we had a round of the County Championship, well 16 of the 18 counties did anyway. I’m starting this on Day 3 of 4 and can see that 2 of the 8 games have been won, both of those in Division 2. Day 3 is also the day that Johnny Bairstow played a wonder innings at a full Trent Bridge to get the 2nd test against New Zealand won. I’m going to be very honest about this and admit to mixed feelings. I’ve found it ridiculous that Harry Brook hasn’t been given his chance and YJB has failed in 3 of his 4 innings, this innings, which without doubt was a brilliant one, will cement his place and no doubt keep Brook out of contention. Congratulations Johnny and England, but……………….

Division 1

Hampshire v Yorkshire – The Ageas Bowl, Southampton. Steven Patterson won the toss for Yorkshire and elected to bat. Hampshire won by 2 wickets.

Yorkshire 428 All Out & 178 All Out , Hampshire 410 All Out & 198 for 8

Opener George Hill and the above mentioned Harry Brook put on 141 for the 3rd wicket, Brook scored 76 from 95 balls and Hill went on to score 131 from 257 balls. Hill is only 21, some innings against a great bowling attack. Dom Bess in at 7 scored 51 from 84 balls. Yorkshire batted for 122.2 overs. Brad Wheal was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 59 in his 24.2 overs.

Hampshire fell just short of Yorkshire’s 1st innings making 410 yet they had no centurions. Keeper Ben Brown top scored with 83 from 158 balls. NIck Gubbins at 3 had made 58 from 103 balls and Liam Dawson 61 from 126 balls. 5 other batters scored between 30 and 38, that makes a huge difference to the eventual score. The innings lasted 118.1 overs, Jordan Thompson was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 68 from his 17.1 overs.

At the end of Day 3 Yorkshire have had something of a collapse, 44 overs in they’re 101 for 5, Keith Barker has taken 3 for 22. Tomorrow will be an interesting day! Coming back on Day 4 and things didn’t get much better for Yorkshire, they were bowled out for 178 in 78.5 overs, the top score was just 28. Barker didn’t take more wickets, Kyle Abbot and Brad Wheal took 3 each.

Hampshire did their best to try to lose/Yorkshire did their best to try to win. Hampshire were 23 for 2 then 103 for 6. Nick Gubbins contributed 42 but Liam Dawson top scored with 67 from 68 balls. It took Hampshire 45.2 overs to score the required runs. Yorkshire’s 5 bowlers took the 8 wickets between them, close, but not close enough.

Just as an FYI Harry Brook is the 3rd highest scorer so far this season with 926 runs at an average of 115.75.

Kent v Gloucestershire – The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury. Sam Billings won the toss for Kent and put Gloucs in to bat. Kent won by 8 wickets.

Gloucestershire 438 All Out & 213 All Out , Kent 564 All Out

Gloucs fell to 46 for 3 before Miles Hammond and Glenn Phillips put on 138 for the 4th wicket. Hammond scored 66 from 140 balls and Phillips went on to score 125 from 157 balls. Ollie Price in at 7 scored 51 from 110 balls and Zafar Gohar 49 from 75 balls. Gloucs scored 438 in 110.5 overs. Matt Milnes took 4 fro 93 in his 23 overs.

Ben Compton who really is having an amazing season had a second wicket partnership of 155 with Daniel Bell Drummond after Ollie Robinson (of the Kent variety) was out for 3. Bell Drummond’s was the 2nd wicket to fall, he’d made 89 from 168 balls, Compton was next out with 80 from 194. Cue the biggest partnership of the game/innings as Jack Leaning ( 128 from 227 balls) and Jordan Cos (a58 from 264) put on 254 for the 4th wicket. Billings contributed 43 from 89 balls. Kent batted for 163.2 overs and Ton Price took 5 for 58 in his 18 overs.

In something of a mirror of the game in Southampton, Gloucs are 37 for 5 at the end of Day 3, new signing Jacob Duffy has 4 wickets for 8 runs to his name! What will Day 4 bring? Day 4 brought Kent their 1st win in the 2022 County Championship season. Gloucs rallied in the middle of their innings as Mile Hammon scored 41, Glenn Phillips 59 from 134 and 30 for Ryan Higgins. Duffy proved his worth adding the wicket he needed for his debut 5fer, at the cost of 66 runs. Gloucs were bowled out in 67 overs.

Kent scored the required runs in 22.4 overs and had their very welcome 1st win.

Somerset v Surrey – The Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton. Tom Abell won the toss for Somerset and elected to bat. Surrey won by 3 wickets

Somerset 180 All Out & 394 All out, Surrey 382 for 9 & 195 for 7

That decision to bat proved to be unwise as Somerset were bowled out in 67.3 overs. Craig Overton had the top score of just 29. Of the 6 bowlers used 4 took wickets.

Surrey were 8 for 1 as Ryan Patel went for a 15 ball Duck, but a combination of Rory Burns, Hashim Amla (who retired hurt, I presume) and Ben Geddes put on 136 for the 2nd win. Burns was the 4th wicket to fall and he’d scored 113 from the 217 balls he faced. Will Jacks, a talented batter not unlike Harry Brook made 88 from 140 balls and Jordan Clark in at 8 finished not out on 63 from 88 balls. Surrey made 382 in 123 overs. Somerset used 8 bowlers and 6 of them took a wicket or 2.

Somerset had a very different 2nd innings and put on 12 more than Surrey, Lewis Goldsworthy scored 67 from 107 balls batting at 5 and Lewis Gregory in at 7 scored 110 from 190 balls. Tom Abell was run out on 45 and Peter Siddle (I still struggle with him not being an Essex man!) scored 42 from 85 balls.

Will Jacks saved the day for Surrey as they lost 7 wickets in the chase, Jacks scored 62 from 80 balls and was the 7th of those wickets to fall. The game was won in 50 overs. That win sees Surrey sitting at the top of the table, 3 points ahead of Hampshire. They have 23 batting points, only Yorkshire have more with 24.

Warwickshire v Lancashire – Edgbaston, Birmingham. Will Rhodes won the toss for Warwickshire and elected to bat. Lancashire won by 4 wickets.

Warwickshire 292 All Out & 327 for 9 dec, Lancashire 291 All Out & 329 for 6

Things didn’t start too well for Warwicks, as they fell to 59 for 3, having been 26 for 2. Along came Sam Hain at 4, he steadied the ship with 130 from 228 balls, he came in 20 overs in and was out in the 95th over. Keeper Michael Burgess had the next highest score with 41. The innings lasted 94.2 overs and the wickets were shared between 5 of the 6 bowlers.

4 was the spot to bat in this game, Steven Croft top scored with 90 from 183 balls as Lancashire were bowled out in 97.1 overs. Liam Norwell took 5 for 78 in his 23.1 overs.

Warwickshire’s opener Alex Davies had a better time in the 2nd innings, he batted 82.4 of the 86 overs bowled and scored 121 from 211 balls. Henry Brookes scored 55 from 71 balls batting at 9. Will Williams took 4 for 70 in his 23 overs.

At the end of Day 4 Lancashire are 5 for no wicket, they require 324 runs to win. The win for Lancashire largely came from the bat of opener Luke Wells who finished not out on 175 from 285, a win for his team and he carried his bat! He and Rob Jones in at 6 put on 162 for the 5th wicket after Lancs had fallen to 93 for 4. Jones scored 66 from 138 balls. Lancashire scored the required runs in 95.3 overs. Oliver Hannon-Dalby took 3 for 77.

Division 2

Derbyshire v Middlesex – Queens Park, Chesterfield. Tim Murtagh won the toss and elected to bat. Derbyshire won by 6 wickets.

Derbyshire 229 All Out & 222 for 4, Middlesex 251 All Out & 196 All Out

In spite of having written up every round so far, it’s a surprise to see that Middlesex have won 4 of their 7 matches so far, this was one they certainly didn’t. They were bowled out in 85.5 overs with a top score of 48 from 96 balls. Of the 6 bowlers used by Derbyshire 5 took wickets.

Derbyshire’s innings was shorter just 66.5 overs, Wayne Madsen top scored with 62 from 89 balls, batter 5-11 scored just 34 runs between them. Toby Roland-Jones took 5 for 45 in his 17 overs.

In spite of an innings of 67 from 138 balls by Middlesex opener Mark Stoneman they were bowled out in just 72.5 overs. 6 bowlers were involved in those 67 overs and 4 took wickets.

Derbyshire chased down the required runs in just 54.4 overs, opener Pakistan’s Shan Masood scored 98 from 113 balls after his fellow opener had been run out for 2. Madsen contributed another 49 runs to the game as the game was won with just the 4 wickets lost.

Durham v Worcestershire – Seat Unique Riverside, Durham. Scott Borthwick won the toss for Durham and elected to bat. Match Drawn

Durham 642 for 7 & 102 for 0, Worcestershire 550 All Out

Durham were missing Alex Lees, Ben Stokes and Matty Potts for this match, but a Kiwi in the shape of 22 year old Rachin Ravindra had a huge innings at 2, he scored 217 from 318 balls, sharing a 2nd wicket partnership with Scott Borthwick 0f 230. Borthwick scored 96 from 163 balls. then in came Jonathan Bushnell at 5, and another partnership of 134 with Ravindra. Bushnell made 66 from 129 balls. Ravindra was at the crease for 111.1 overs, he scored 217 from 318 balls! The score was 426 for 5, but Durham weren’t finished! With 7 wickets down batters 8 and 9 put on 213! Ben Raine made 103 from 134 balls and Paul Coughlin 100 from 117. A mighty 642 for 7 in 155 overs. Amongst that bedlam Ben Gibbon took 4 for 127 in his 26 overs.

In reply Worcestershire finished Day 3 on 431 for 6, they were 0 for 1 after Taylor Cornell was out for a 2 ball Duck. Pakistan’s Azhar Ali scored 45 and Jack Haynes 68 from 130 balls. This was obviously a wicket full of runs, Brett D’Oliveira in at 6 scored 100 from 250 balls and Ed Barnard at 7 is Not Out 116 from 224 balls. Worcs are 431 for 6. Amazingly Extras sit at 60! With 13 No Balls! This game will slide to an inevitable draw tomorrow. Worcs carried on with their batting practice as Barnard finished with 128 from 253 balls. They batted for 178.5 overs making 550. An Amazing 9 bowlers were used, Ben Raine took 4 for 76 in his 38 overs. A hard match for the bowlers from both teams.

Durham batted for 30 overs before the draw was settled for, Michael Jones scored 50 from 91 balls and Ravindra added 46 not out to boost his average. Bowling and batting practice and not much more from this match!

Glamorgan v Sussex – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. David Lloyd won the toss for Glamorgan and put Sussex in to bat. Glamorgan won by 5 wickets.

Sussex 376 All Out & 258 All Out, Glamorgan 494 All Out & 141 for 5

Cardiff saw another of the rounds’ big innings as Oli Carter batting at 4 scored 185 from 289 balls, he shared a partnership with Tom Clark, at 3, of 100 for the 3rd wicket. The support wasn’t great for Carter, both Henry Crocombe and Jack Brooks scored 36. Sussex batted for 119.4 overs for their 376. Glamorgan used 7 bowlers, Andrew Salter took 4 for 107.

Captain Lloyd was out for just 2 before his fellow opener Edward Byrom and Colin Ingram put on 328 for the 2nd wicket. Ingram was out in the 92 over, he’d scored 178 from 272 balls, Sam Northeast was out for a Golden Duck,a. good over for Crocombe. Byrom was then out to Crocombe in the 94th over, he’d made 176 from 311 balls. Michael Neser, Chris Cooke and Andrew Gorvin all made the low 30’s as Glamorgan batted for 131.3 overs, scoring 494. Sussex surpassed Glamorgan with 8 bowlers, Crocombe took 4 for 84 in his 22 overs.

Sussex finished Day 3 on 80 for 3. 20 year old Oli Carter top scored in this innings scoring 83 from 172, a game to remember for him! Delroy Rawlins batting at 7 scored 57 from 99 balls. 7 bowlers again and 5 took wickets as Sussex were bowled out in 86.5 overs.

Glamorgan made hard work of the chase, losing 5 wickets in the 39.1 overs it took them to score the runs, Sam Northeast scored 45* as did Kiran Carlson to helo steer Glamorgan to the win.

Leicestershire v Nottinghamshire – Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester. Steven Mullaney won the toss for Notts and put Leics in to bat. Nottinghamshire won by an innings and 9 runs.

Leicestershire 440 All Out & 99 All Out, Notts 548 for 9

Things went well for Leics in their 1st innings, after losing an early wicket and being 5 for 1. Lewis Hill and Colin Ackermann put on 141 for teh 3rd wicket. Hill made 104 from 133 Ackermann batted on to score 116 from 253 balls. Ben Mike batting at 8 scored 78 from 100 balls. Leics batted for 116.3 overs, 5 of the 6 bowlers used took wickets.

Notts had 5 batters who get a mention by my over 50 measure; opener Ben Slater was out for 12, but Notts had reached 47 for 1. His opening partner Haseeb Hameed made 59 from 64 balls, putting on another 66 with Ben Duckett. With his leaving came the big partnership of the game, Duckett and Joe Clarke put on 198 for the 3rd wicket. I imagine that was a delight to watch, both are fabulous batters. Duckett was the 3rd to go, he’d scored 145 from 153 balls. `That took Duckett to 727 at an average of 72.70. Clarke went on to score 89 from 119 balls. Captain Steven Mullaney scored 62 from 79 balls and was joined by keeper Tom Moores in a partenrship of 58, Moores scored 81 from 119 balls. All of that with a couple of other contributions added up to 548 for 9 in just 108.3. Leaving plenty of time to get the game won.

That plentiful time wasn’t needed by Notts as they bowled Leics out for 99 in just 45 overs. Liam Patterdson-White had the best figures of 4 for 15 in his 13 overs, that will have done wonders for his figures this season!

Century Makers in Round 7

• Lewis Hill – Leics – 104 from 133 balls
• Colin Ackermann – Leics – 116 from 253 balls
• Ben Duckett – Notts. – 145 from 153 balls
• George Hill – Yorkshire – 131 from 257 balls
• Glen Phillips – Gloucs. – 125 from 157 balls
• Jack Leaning – Kent. – 128 from 227 balls
• Jordan Cox – Kent. – 158 from 264 balls
• Rory Burns – Surrey. – 113 from 217 balls
• Lewis Gregory – Somerset – 110 from 190 ball
• Sam Hain – Warwicks. – 130 from 228 balls
• Luke Wells – Lancs. – 175 from 285 balls
• Rachin Ravindra – Durham – 217 from 318 balls
• Ben Raine – Durham. – 103* from 134 balls
• Paul Coughlin – Durham – 100* from 117 balls
• Brett D’Oliveira – Worcs – 100 from 250 balls
• Ed Barnard – Worcs. – 128 from 253 balls
• Oli Carter – Sussex. – 185 from 289 balls
• Edward Byrom – Glamorgan – 176 from 311 balls
• Colin Ingram – Glamorgan – 178 from 272 balls

19 centuries, the runs keep on coming! Shan Masood is just 9 run short of the 1000 mark, Ben Compton has 988 at an average of 98.80 and we know who’s 3rd! Bowling wise Toby Roland Jones hasd 35 wickets at 17.51 to Join Matty Potts at the top of the pile. I watched Roland-Jones play in a T20 at Radlett, he looks as fit as a fiddle, Id’d love to see him in the England mix again.