365 Sporting Days

It feels like a long time since I was watching my team, Essex play. August 17th and Yorkshire with one of the biggest downpours of rain I’ve experienced! Happily Essex had batted first and were able to bowl enough innings to see a result in their favour; that was of course a white ball game, in the Royal London Cup. The last red ball game in the County Championship started on July 25th. No red ball cricket in August is not great for the game. I’m not one to ‘hate’ the Hundred, but not a red ball to be seen in a County Ground in August cannot be right.

And so we eventually had a round of the County Championship starting on September 5th, there were 7 matches played across the 2 Divisions and a fair amount of rain about sadly.

Division 1

Hampshire v Northamptonshire – The Ageas Bowl, Southampton. Will Young won the toss for Northants and put Hampshire in to bat. Hampshire won by an innings and 4 runs.

Hampshire 400 for 9, Northants 175 All Out & 221 All Out

Hamoshire opener Ian Holland was out in the 2nd over for a Golden Duck, but his fellow opener Felix Organ went on to score 71 from 137 balls as he saw Joe Weatherley, Nick Gubbins and captain James Vince score just 56 runs between them. The option to field was looking like a good idea, Then along came Liam Dawson who scored 44 and Aneurin Donald who scored 94 from just 84 balls, he hit 15 Fours and 2 Sixes and batted for just 116 minutes. That innings was instrumental in Hampshire’s final score of 400. Kyle Abbot batting at 10 was not out 57 from 45 balls. Hampshire scored their 400 in just 90 overs! That’s some going this season!

In reply Northants Luke Proctor had the top score with just 40 as they were bowled out for 175 in just 64 overs. Kyle Abbot had the best figures with 4 for 52 in his 19 overs.

Northants second innings lasted a little longer, but, just 70.3 overs. Emilio Gay opening top scored with 74 from 129 balls. This is some bowling unit and rugs tie it was Mohammad Abbas with 4 wickets 32 in 17 overs.

Hampshire went to the top of the table as Surrey haven’t played in this round, they have an 8 point lead, Surrey have the game in hand.

Kent v Essex – The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury. Sam Billings won the toss for Kent and put Essex in too bat. Essex won by an innings and 260 runs.

Essex 573 All Out, Kent 164 All Out & 149 All Out

This is a match I’d normally get along to, but moving house on the Friday before the start meant I had to watch from afar. Essex had a good start with the 1st wicket falling with 101 on the board, Nick Browne was out for 45 from 108 balls. Alastair Cook scored 78 from 157 balls and Tom Westley who had a great Royal London Cup , was run out having made 54 from 890 balls. Essex were 221 for 4, as Dan Lawrence was bowled by Daniel Bell Drummond for just 9. Matt Critchley and Feroze Khushi put on 145. Critchley scored 90 from 179 balls, he’s been a good addition to this Essex side. Khushi, a player I’ve been waiting to see in this CC side, went on to score 164 from 228 balls, sharing n 8th wicket partnership of 113 with Ben Allison in at 9. Sam Cook contributed a useful 38 from 41 balls. Essex batted for 160.2 overs scoring 573.

In reply Kent were bowled out in 50.2 overs. Ben Allison took 4 for 40 in his 12 overs and Sam Cook 3 for 27 in his 15.

Sam Cook seems to like bowling at this ground, Kent lasted a little longer in the 2nd innings, at 62.4 overs. Sam Cook took 7 for 33 in just 19 of those overs, giving him 10 for the match. Jamie Porter took the remaining 3 for 50 runs in his 14.4 overs as Essex wrapped the win up. Jordan Cox top scored with 65 from 137 balls.

Lancashire v Yorkshire – Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester. Dane Vilas won the toss for Lancs and elected to bat. Match Drawn.

Lancashire 276 All Out & 280 for 5 dec, Yorkshire 255 All Out & 102 for 3.

Openers Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings put on 180 for the 1st wicket. Well made 84 groom 169 Balls, Jennings went on to score 119 from 236 balls. That, along with his 2nd innings runs, took the former England opener to 1014 runs ai 72.42 for the season so far. That opening stand was somewhat undone by 6 scores under 10 as Lancs were bowled out for 276 in 100.2 overs. George Hill, who batted at 3 for Yorkshire took 6 for 26 in his 16 overs. A decent spell for the 21 year old!

Tom Kohler-Cadmore batting at 4 top scored for Yorkshire with 51 from 139 balls as Yorkshire batted for 105.3 overs. Tom Bailey took 4 for 56 in his 24 overs.

Another great 1st wicket stand of 186 set Lancs up well again, this time Wells scored the century, he made 124 from 82 balls and Jennings 68 from 92 balls. Steven Croft was not out 45 from 34 balls as Lancs declared on 280 for 5.

Yorkshire batted for 63.2 overs before the match was declared a draw.

Somerset v Gloucestershire – The Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton. Tom Abell won the toss for Somerset and put Gloucs in to bat. Match Drawn.

The Gloucs innings was another with a big opening stand; Ben Charlesworth and Marcus Harris put on 126, Charlesworth score 56 from 120 balls and Harris went on to score 159 from 263 balls. Harris shared a partnership of 125 with Ollie Price who scored 52 from 137 balls. Gloucs batted for 102.1 overs, Lewis Gregory took 4 for 62 from 16.1 overs.

Pakistan players seem drawn to Somerset and one such, Imam ul-Haq opening scored 90 from 162 opening. James Rew batting at 6 contributed 44* from 168 balls as Somerset were bowled out for 248 in 81.3 overs. Tom Price took 5 for 75 in his 21.3 overs.

Ben Charlesworth had another good innings with 64 from 207 balls and both Ollie Price and Mile Hammond scored 53 as Gloucs batted for 96 overs, declaring on 279 for 7.

Somerset batted for just 3.5 overs before the Draw was declared.

Division 2

Nottinghamshire v Leicestershire – Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Callum Parkinson won the toss for Leics and put Notts in to bat. Notts won by 241 runs.

Notts 201 All Out & 390 for 7, Leics 93 All Out & 257 All Out

Notts were bowled out in 61.3 overs with Matthew Montgomery top scoring with 43 from 86 balls. The 5 bowlers used took the wickets between them.

In spite of a half century for Leics opener Sam Evans his 5o was the only score in double figures as Leics were bowled out in 29.5 overs as they scored just 93. Luke Fletcher took 4 for 23 in his 9 overs.

3 Notts scores in the 60’s helped them to 390 for 7 declared in their 2nd innings. Haseeb Hameed scored 60 from 108 balls, Joe Clarke 67 from 72 and Lyndon James 61 from 82 balls. 5 of the 6 bowlers used took the 7 wickets.

Leics had a much better 2nd innings, in comparison to their 1st. Mike Finan batting at 11 top scored with 58 from 46 balls as they were bowled out in 84.4 overs. 4 of the 5 bowlers shared the wickets.

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

Derbyshire 306 All Out & 214 for 9, Durham 223 All Out & 176 for 5

Derbyshire fell to 58 for 4 before Leus du Plooy and Harry Came put on 143 for the 5th wicket. du Plooy scored 82 from 124 balls and Came 78 from 196 balls. Anuj Dal scored 56 from 88 balls batting at 6. Derbys were bowled out for 306 in 95.2 overs.

Durham opener Michael Jones top scored with 87 from 152 balls as they were bowled out in 79 overs. Sam Conners took 4 for 55 from his 16 overs.

Derbyshire batted for the same 79 overs before declaring on 214 for 9, Wayne Madsen top scored with 58 from 85 balls. Ben Raine took 5 for 43 from his 22 overs.

Durham batted for 53 overs before the draw was declared, they scored 176 for 5 in that time.

Glamorgan v Worcestershire – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff. Brett D’Oliveira won the toss for Worcs and elected to bat. Match Drawn.

Glamorgan 295 All Out & 5 for 0, Worcestershire 454 for 9.

There were 4 innings of 50 and over for Worcs as they batted for 138 overs. Ed Pollock opening scored 54 from 113 balls, his team mates fell around him and Worcs found themselves on 114 for 4. Gareth Roderick in at 5 batted throughout the innings scoring 172 from 348 balls. Ed Barnard who’s heading to Warwickshire next season scored 75 from 117 balls as he shared a partnership of 127 with Roderick. Joe Leach batting at 9 scored 87 from 143 balls. Time van der gugten took 4 for 81 in his 30 overs.

Glamorgan lost captain and opener David Lloyd for 4 in the 4th over, fellow opener Edward Byrom with 67 from 92 balls and Indian batter Shubman Gill with 92 from 148 balls put on 82 for the 2nd wicket. Chris Cooke batting at 8 was not out 51 from 97 balls. Glamorgan were bowled out in 85.3 overs.

The Glamorgan batter faced 9 balls before the match was declared a draw.

Century Makers

• Feroze Khushi – Essex – 164 from 228 Balls
• Keaton Jennings – Lancs – 119 from 236 Balls
• Marcus Harris – Gloucs – 159 from 263 Balls
• Gareth Roderick – Worcs – 172 from 348 Ball
• Luke Well – Lancs – 124 from 82 Balls