365 Sporting Days

The second of three bank holidays in May saw the round of county cricket starting on the Thursday, when the sensible option would have been to start on the Friday and continue into the Monday. The same thing happened on Bank Holiday 1 and we have no County Cricket over weekend 3. That, in my mind is a bit daft! I was able to spend most of the 3 days played at the Chelmsford County Ground, so willl make no apologies for photos of Essex v Surrey. Sadly the round was again rain affected, including at Chelmsford. I took myself to th cinema on Day 3 to watch the fabulous Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3. I find the cinema a great place to be in extreme weather, I spent the day there in the 40 degrees last summer, I can highly recommend it! On to the score on the doors!D

Division 1

Essex v Surrey – The Cloud County Ground,, Chelmsford. Tom Westley won the toss for Essex and elected to bat. Match Drawn.

Essex 314 All Out & 198 All Out, Surrey 240 All Out & 153 for 7.

We seem to be seeing an unusual Alastair Cook this season, he scored 51 from 78 balls including 7 Fours. Captain Tom Westley and Matt Critchley shared a 4th wicket stand of 114, Critchley scored 60 from 104 balls and Westley 62 from 165 balls. Batting bonus points were looking unlikely for Essex when they fell to 245 for 8. But Simon Harmer and Sam Cook saw them to 2 bonus points with a good partnership of 62 for the 9th wicket. I felt that Rory Burns didn’t use his bowlers well, he brought Will Jacks on late then only gave him 8 overs, in which he took 2 wickets. The new ball was taken and that seemed to serve Essex’s purposes. Gus Atkinson took 6 for 68 in his 19.2 overs to get the job finished as Essex were bowled out in 91.2 overs.

Burns and Dom Sibley had 2 tricky overs to face before the close of play, things were disrupted in the morning on Day 2, I arrived in good time for the afternoon session. The Essex bowling unit worked well together and bowled Surrey out in 76.5 overs with Jamie Porter taking 4 for 51 in his 14.5 overs. Doug Bracewell bowled several unplayable overs and seems to be settling in well with his Essex team mates. Sibley was the top scorer with 48.

Ollie Pope was undone by Jamie Porter

Alastair Cook and Nick Browne had 4 or 5 overs to face before the end of play and only 28 balls on Day 3. I missed the start of Day 4 but Cook was bowled by Kemar Roach in the first over of the day. Nick Browne went on to be the top scorer with 47 from 102 balls as Essex were bowled out in 51.5 overs, preventing the need for Westley to make a sporting declaration. Essex had a lead off 272.

With 54 overs lefty to play the game could have gone either way and certainly with Ollie Pope at the crease a win for Surrey was a distinct possibility. Nick Browne had taken a spectacular catch in the first innings and it was his hands which took the catch to despatch Pope, an early wicket in Shane Snater’s bowling spell. Jamie Smith battled well, facing 126 balls for his 39 runs, he saw the afternoon out, with a draw saving innings. Essex surrounded the bat when their spinner Simon Harmer did g=his thing but Smith in particular stood firm. Surrey finished the day on 153 for 7 and the Draw was declared with a shake of the hands with 2 balls remaining.

Hampshire v Warwickshire – The Ageas Bowl, Southampton. James Vince won the toss for Hants and elected to bat. Warwicks won by an innings and 84 runs.

Hants 229 All Out & 97 All Out, Warwicks 410 for 8.

The decision to bat proved to be less than inspired, in spite of good runs from the captain, James Vince, he top scored with 75 from 92 balls, Opener Fletcha Middleton scored 49 from 99 balls as Hants were bowled out in 65.4 overs. Chris Rushworth, a new signing for Warwicks took 3 for 38 to share the wickets with 3 other bowlers.

There were no century makers amongst the Warwicks batters, but 4 decent innings all the same. Opener Alex Davies scored 51 from 92 balls, Sam Hain in at 4 scored 85 from 176 balls sharing a 5th wicket partnership of 86 with Ed Barnard who scored 95 from 147 balls; Barnard and keeper Michael Burgess put on 125 for the 6th wicket. Burgess made 88 from 119 balls and Warticks built to 410 for 8 in 122 overs. Mohammad Abbas took 4 for 55 in his 29.3 overs.

Chris Rushworth did Chris Rushworth things in Hants 2nd innings taking 7 for 38 in his 13 overs as Hants were hastily despatched in just 34.5 overs. This is a man who walked away from the game in 2006, who has since gone on to take 625 FC wickets. It’s good to see him taking Division 1 wickets.

Nottinghamshire v Lancashire – Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Steven Mullaney won the toss for Notts and put Lancs in to. bat. Match Drawn.

Lancashire 214 All Out & 319 for 8. Notts 249 All Out & 138 for 9.

Josh Bohannon top scored in both Lancs innings and finished the match with a total of 440 runs, being second only to Cheteshwar Pujara who has 468 runs to his name. In this first innings he scored 68 from 72 balls. Notts made quick work of bowling Lancs out, just 44.2 overs. Brett Hutton took 5 for 66 in his 13 overs.

Notts opener Haseeb Hameed stood firm for Notts as all were falling around him, his was the 9th wicket to fall as he scored 97 from 198 balls. Lancashire took a little longer to bowl Notts out but they were all gone in 72.4 overs. 4 of the bowlers shared the wickets with one James Anderson not taking a single wicket.

Lancs lost Luke Wells for 11 and were 15 for 1. Step up George Balderson and Josh Bohannon who made 188 for the 2nd wicket. Balderson made 91 from 153 balls and Bohannon 92 from 132 balls. Tom Hartley in at 8 scored 58 from 83 balls as Lancs built to 329, Dane Vilas declared when they were 8 wickets down, 4 bowlers shared the 8 wiokets.

Notts held on for the draw, long 9 wickets as they went, they faced 67 overs. Anderson took 3 for 35 in his 20 overs this time. Joe Clarke top scored with 42 from 88 balls.

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

Northants 255 All Out & 311 for 8, Somerset 412 All Out

Ricardo Vasconcelos and Hassan Azadonazos put on 65 for the 1st wicket, with Vasconcelos going on to top score with 70 from 103 balls. James Sales in at 7 scored 57 from 113 balls. Somerset used 5 bowlers who all took wickets as they bowled Northants out in 78.2 overs.

This was a round for new signings and Somerset’s new signing Tom Kohler-Cadmore in at 5 top scored with 130 from 102 balls, he and Keeper James Rew put on 164 for the 5th wicket, Rew was out fir 89 from 171 balls. Somerset scored their 412 in 94.3 overs, which brought them valuable batting points. Jack White took 5 for 103 in 22.3 overs.

The 2nd 130 of the match was scored by Northants captain and number 3, Sam Whiteman, he made his 130 in 269 balls as his team batted on for 104 overs to secure the draw. Tom Taylor in at 9 scored a valuable 53 facing an equally valuable 100 balls. Again th e5 Somerset bowlers used shared the wickets.

Division 2

Derbyshire v Leicestershire – The Incora County Ground, Derby. Less du Plooy won the toss for Derbys and put Leics in to bat. Match Drawn.

Leics 122 All Out & 281 All Out, Derbys 350 for 7.

Henry Brookes justified his captain’s choice as he took 6 for 20 in his 12 overs as Leics were bowled out in just 39.5 overs for 122.

Derbyshire made 108 for their 1st wicket, virtually reaching the Leics score. Harry Came made 49 from 116 balls and Pakistan batter Haider Ali 54 from 68 balls. Wayne Madsen and du Plooy put on 122 for the 4th wicket. Madsen scored 67 from 121 balls and du Plooy went on to score 94 from 150 balls. Leics used 7 bowlers and amongst them Wiaan Mulder took 5 for 67 in his 26.2 overs. du Plooy declared after 97.2 overs.

Leics fared better in their 2nd innings as Rishi Patel and Lewis Hill put on 113 for the 2nd wicket. Patel made 58 from 99 balls and Hill 63 from 108 balls. Keeper (and Australian) Peter Handscomb scored 62 from 90 balls. The 5 bowlers used shared the wickets as they bowled out Leics in 92.5 overs. A draw was declared without Derby batting again.

Worcestershire v Sussex – New Road, Worcester. Chetshwar Pujara won the toss for Sussex in to bat and put Worcs in to bat. Match Drawn.

Worcs 264 All Out & 251 for 8, Sussex 373 All Out.

Worcs lost early wickets and fell to 44 for 5, before Ada Hose and Keeper Gareth Roderick put on 92 for the 6th wicket. Hose scored 59 from 88 balls and `Roderick 39. Matthew Waite also scored 59, but from just 54 balls. Ollie Robinson did Ollie Robinson things and took 7 for 59 in just 17 overs as Worcs were bowled out in 55 overs.

Of the 2 overseas players in the Sussex line up it was captain Pujara who stoke the show, he scored 136 from 189 balls while (Australian) Steve Smith was given our LBW for just 30. Finn Hudson-Prentice, in at 8 scored 54 from 64 balls as Worcss moved to 373, they were bowled out in 89.2 overs. 4 of the 5 bowlers shared the wickets.

This was a match for Overseas batters and Azhar Ali finished the match in 103* having faced 279 balls, Ollie Robinson, who will hopefully be in the reckoning for Engakmd this summer took another 7 wickets for 58 in his 28.4 overs. He took 14 for 117 in the match! Some figures!

Yorkshire v Glamorgan – Clean Slate Headingley, Leeds. Adam Lyth won the toss for Yorks and out Glamorgan in to bat. Match Drawn.

Glamorgan 245 All Out & 352 for 4 dec, Yorkshire 106 All Out & 412 for 9.

I learnt how to pronounce the name of the key Australian in this match, Marnus Labuschagne, while sitting with a Surrey friend. The Yorkshire bowlers gave him some good batting practice, he scored 65 from 166 in this 1st innings he and a favourite of mine, Sam Northeast put on 82 for the 3rd wicket. Northeast scored 49 from 62 balls. Yorkshire’s 5 bowlers shared the wickets ads they bowled Glamorgan out in 71.5 overs.

The bowling effort by the Yorkshire bowlers seemed a good effort I’m sure, to then see Michael Neser (Australian) take 7 for 32 in 11 overs undid any good work, Yorkshire were bowled out for 106 in just 31 overs. Johnny Bairstow finished on 20*

Glamorgan lost 2 early wickets and were 57 for 2, then along came that Australian batter and Sam Northeast again. They made 148 for the 3rd wicket, that being Northeast who scored 66 from 114 balls. Marnus Labuschagne, with the first Ashes test starting on June 16th, finished on 170* from 207 balls. David Lloyd declared after 82 overs while Glamorgan had a lead of 491.

Yorkshire captain and Opener Adam Lyth stood firm to save the draw for his team scoring 174 from 220 balls, he and George Hill put in 141 for the 3rd wicket. Hill scored 60 from 102 balls. Bairstow in at 3 was out for 1 9 ball Duck. Jordan Thompson in at 8 finished the match on 55* from 59 balls as Yorks batted for 96 overs.

Century Makers and 5 Wicket Takers.

• Tom Kohler-Cadmore – Somerset – 130 from 102 Balls
• Sam Whiteman – Northants – 130 from 269 Balls
• Cheteshwar Pujara – Sussex – 136 from 189 Balls
• Azhar Ali – Worcs – 103 from 279 Balls
• Marnus Labuschagne – Glamorgan – 170 from 207 Balls
• Adam Lyth – Yorkshire – 174 from 220 Balls

• Gus Atkinson – Surrey – 6 for 68 in 19.2 Overs
• Chris Rushworth – Warwicks – 7 for 38 in 13 Overs
• Brett Hutton – Notts – 5 for 66 in 13 Overs
• Jack White – Northants – 5 for 103 in 22.3 Overs
• Henry Brookes – Derbys – 6 for 20 in 12 Overs
• Wiaan Mulder – Leics – 5 for 67 in 26.s Overs
• Ollie Robinson – Sussex – 7 for 59 in 17 Overs
• Ollie Robinson – Sussex – 7 for 58 in 28.4 Overs
• Michael Neser – Glamorgan – 7 for 32 in 11 Overs