365 Sporting Days

A week ago I went to watch Essex play Sussex in the T20 Blast – it was, in all honesty, freezing! I had a hoodie, a coat and a scarf and I was still cold! 2 days later I was sad in the pavilion at The Oval watching India and Australia contest the World Test Championship Final, more of that in another post! We have the very odd scenario of a round of the County Championship in the midst of the T20 Blast. I managed 2 days and a few hours at the County Ground in Chelmsford and loved every, single, minute! On that basis you know the photos are going to be Essex based, sorry, not sorry! As always I tried to keep track as I was watching and I think it’s fair to say that after 3 days, the happenings at Canterbury kept me interested! On to the scores on the doors around the country.

Division 1

Essex v Somerset – The Essex County Ground, Chelmsford. Tom Westley won the toss for Essex and elected to bat. Essex won by 196 runs.

Essex 462 for 9 dec & 170 for 7 dec, Somerset 167 All Out & 269 All Out

Day 1 of this match gave us Essex fans the joy of a Sir Alastair Cook Century, Essex lost Nick Browne with 66 on the board, he’d scored 33 from 69 balls, he has an average 0f just over 28 this season. It was noticeable that the opening pair didn’t snatch many singles, 24 of Browne’s runs were from 4’s. In an innings where Essex missed out on their 4th batting point by 4 runs, the lack of quick runs from the openers must surely be the biggest factor. Those 66 runs were scored in 20.1 overs, the next wicket, Westley fell after 42.1 overs, with 136 runs on the board, a very similar run rate of 70 runs in 22 overs, Paul Walter was in at 4, his 27 included a huge Six, he was out with 188 on the board, and 56.4 overs bowled. in 14.3 overs 52 runs were scored. Next to come in was Matt Critchley, he’s had a couple of valuable innings so far in 2023 in both formats played. And this innings was no exception, he and Alastair Cook put on 153 runs in just 34.2 overs! It has to be said that most of those runs were scored by Critchley, has was a perfect foil to see Cook build to his century, Cook was on 94 when they went on for tea, he was also on 94 well into the overs after tea! But, he made that magic milestone and as always in Alastair Cook style. He was dismissed by Josh Davey who really pulled his figures back when he changed ends, he trapped Cook LBW and he was out having made 128 from 244 balls, he’d batted for just under 6 hours. Critchley went on to score 121 from 143 balls, a strike rate of 84.62. Any Essex fans/Members rearding will know I’m a fan of Feroze Khushi and given his chance at 7, after Ben Allison had come in as night watchman, he made the most of it. A delightful batter to watch Khushi scored 56 from 69 balls, hitting 4 Sixes as he went. At one point Davey had bowled at 7.4 but he ended as the best of the bowlers with 3 for 88 in his 20 overs. Essex declared on 462 for 9.

Somerset’s innings went rather differently as Jamie Porter again made a great start for Essex, he dismissed two of their Tom’s, Lammonby and captain Abell in the first over and Somerset were 2 for 2. Those 2 runs coming from a No Ball. George Barlett fell to Porter in his 2nd over and Somerset were 10 for 3. Tom number three, Kohler Cadmore shared a 4th wicket partnership of 60 with opener Sean Dickson. Craig Overton in at 8 shared a useful 40 runs with Dickson; he was given out by the umpire, caught by Nick Browne from the bowling of Simon Harmer. A fiery character, Overton was clearly furious and threw his bat down as he left the field, not a great thing to do, but having seen a replay of the ‘catch’ it very clearly hit the ground before it hit Browne’s hands, I can understand why he was cross! Dickson managed to score 82 from 180 balls, he sadly ran out of partners to fall just short of an innings that deserved a century as Somerset were bowled out for 167. Simon Harmer took 5 for 64 in his 25 overs.

Essex captain Westley didn’t force the follow on, I imagine his bowlers were very relieved it really had been a scorcher! Essex batted for 46 overs and Critchley again top scored, he made 52 from 72 balls in this innings as Somerset steadily took wickets. Kasey Aldridge took 4 for 36 in his 8 overs and debutant, 19 year old Shoaib Bashir, who bowled long and well in the first innings and took his first wicket added another 14 overs to his tally of 35 in the first innings, a baptism of fire! I had the best 2 days, chatting to both Essex and Somerset members. Essex declared on 170 for 7 a lead of 465.

Work called me on Day 3, I’m off to Edgbaston for the Ashes at the end of the week, it has to be fitted in somewhere. Having been short changed at The Oval as far as overs where concerned, I saw 96 overs on the first 2 days and on Day 3 100 overs were bowled, quite remarkable! I arrived with 25 overs remaining on the board to see the first two Tom’s batting and coping so much better than their first attempt, Dickson had been dismissed by Porter for 18. Both Tom’s reached their 50’s, with Tom Lammonby being trapped LBW for 59 by Matt Critchley’s first ball of his spell, another string to the all rounder’s bow! Captain Tom Abell looked unconcerned by the bowling I saw which was predominantly Harmer from the end I was sitting as did Tom Kohler Cadmore. The game continued on to 6 O’Clock, with I think 3 overs past that 25 showing when I arrived, typically Kohler Cadmore was trapped LBW in the last over of the day and Somerset will start Day 4 on 172 for 4, they require 294 runs to win, Essex require 6 wickets. I had to keep track from afar in Day 4, my bosses are very good but do like to see my faces occasionally! Tom Abell shared a 5th wicket partnership of 56 with Keeper James Rew, he was going to be hard to dislodge, but Sam Cook did the job, Will Biuttleman took the catch and Abell was out for 82, a true captains’ innings. The Essex bowlers took just under 17 overs to get the game won as Somerset were bowled out for 269.

Kent v Surrey – The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury. Jack Leaning won the toss for Kent and elected to bat. Surrey won the game by 5 wickets

Kent 301 All Out & 344 All Out, Surrey 145 All Out & 501 for 5.

THE match of the round (with the happenings at Trent Bridge not far behind) is only coming second due to the alphabet! Kent lost 5 wickets for 41 runs in the first 17 overs. That was before Keeper Jordan Cox (in for captain Sam Billings) and Joey Evison put on 121 runs for the 6th wicket, what a fightback! Evison made 58 of those runs from 107 balls, a fine effort. Cox went on to score 133 from 198 balls, he batted for nearly 4.5 hours. Wes Agar in at 10 scored 51 from 70 balls, that included 9 Fours. Kent finished an innings that started terribly with 301 to their name. Sean Abbot took 4 for 52 in his 17 overs.

The Kent bowlers made quick work of the Surrey batting line up, `Sean Abbot in at 90 top scored with 34 in an innings that was over in just 43.2 overs. 4 of the Kent bowlers shared the wickets as they bowled Surrey out for 145.

In Zak Crawley’s absence Tawanda Muyeye opened with Ben Compton, although Compton only made 17, Kent lost their first wicket at 45. Muyeye and Daniel Bell-Drummond put on 102 for the 2nd wicket, Muyeye was out for 79 from 120 balls. Bell-Drummond scored 59 from 114 balls. Joey Evison was involved in a decent partnership again, he and Hamidullah Qadri put on 117 for the 7th wicket. Evison scored 42 and Qadri went on to score 72 from 85 balls. Kent made 344 in the 81 overs bowled, Jordan Clark took 5 for 79 in his 17 overs.

Surrey required 501 to win the game, they surely couldn’t do that could they? Well yes, yes they could! Rory Burns lost his wicket from the 2nd ball of the innings but Dom Sibley carried his bat, scoring 140 from 415 balls, he batted for over 9.5 overs, sharing several big partnerships. Tom Latham in his first county game for Surrey scored 58 from 119 balls, Jamie Smith, who’s having a craving season, scored 114 from 77 balls, and Ben Foakes who shared 207 runs with Sibley scored 124 from 211 balls, he batted for nearly 4.5 hours. Surrey batted for 146.1 overs scoring 501 for 5! A remarkable feat, a remarkable win!

Lancashire v Hampshire – Trafalgar Road Ground, Southport, Dane Vilas won the toss for Lancs and put Hampshire in to bat. Lancashire won by 6 wickets.

Hampshire 142 All Out & 371 All Out, Lancashire 375 All Out & 142 for 4

Needless to say in an innings of 142 no batter breached the 50 mark, Keith Barker was closest with 44, but Hants were bowled out in just 60.4 overs. 4 of the 6 bowlers shared the wickets.

Phil Salt and George Balderson put on 115 for the first wicket, Balderson scored 51 from 83 balls Salt went on to score 103 from 139 balls, batting for over 4 hours. (Could Salt be an outside bet when/if a certain England opener fails?). Darryl Mitchell in at 5 scored 68 from 85 as Lancs built a good lead of 233. Felix Organ took 6 for 67 in his 13.5 overs.

Hampshire had a much better 2nd innings scoring 371. Fletcha Middleton opening scored 77 from 190 balls, sharing a 2nd wicket partnership of 134 with Nick Gubbins who scored 62 from 153 balls. Those watching had the joy of a decent innings from James Vince who scored 87 from 144 balls, he hit 12 Fours in that number. There were 40 extras, including 12 no balls at 24 runs.

Lancashire took just 33 overs to score the required runs, Josh Bohannon and Dane Vilas put on 87 for the 3rd wicket. Vilas scored 64* from 85 balls as Lancs headed for the win.

Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire – Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Will Rhodes won the toss for Warwicks and elected to bat. Match Drawn.

Warwicks 571 for 9 dec, Notts 155 All Out & 464 for 6.

Opener Alex Davies and Will Rhodes put on 64 for the 2nd wicket after Robert Yates was out in the 10th over. Davies then shared 72 runs with Sam Hain, Davies scored 93 from 157 balls and Hain got his century, scoring 100 from 192 balls. That took him to 536 runs from 8 innings at an average of 76.57, noteworthy! Dan Mousley and Hain put on 171 for the 4th wicket with Mousley making 87 from 113 balls. Keeper Michael Burgess and Pakistan all rounder Hasan Ali put on 80 for the 8th wicket, Hasan’s 54 runs coming from just 36 balls. Burgess was not out 77 from 100 balls. It has to be asked with how this game went whether the declaration came too late, Warwicks batted for 135.2 overs.

The declaration decision will have seemed to have gone to plan when Notts were bowled out for just 155, in 56 overs. The 6 bowlers shared the wickets. Rhodes naturally asked Notts to follow on.

Joe Clarke played a WOW innings in Notts 2nd innings, scoring 74 more than the whole team had in the first innings, he batted for over 8.5 hours scoring 229 from 365 balls. He was supported be a few batters around him, but his was the innings that determined the result of this match.

Division 2

Derbyshire v Yorkshire – Queens Park, Chesterfield. Shan Masood won the toss for Yorkshire and put Derbys in to bat. Yorkshire win by 3 wickets.

Derbyshire 111 All Out & 453 All Out, Yorkshire 353 All Out & 215 for 7

Another quick innings, there were a few in this round. This Derbys one lasted just 31.4 overs as the Yorkshire bowlers ran through the batting line up. Matthew Fisher took 5 for 30 in his 10.4 overs as Nelson struck!

Yorkshire were seeking their first win in Division 1 and their bowlers definitely gave them a great start, The top 4 batters gave the runs scoring a great star too. Shan Masood scored 67 from 81 balls sharing a partnership of 88 with Dawid Malan for the 3rd wicket, Malan went on to score 106 from 143 balls. Yorkshire scored 353 in 85.3 overs. Mark Watt took 5 83 in his 25.3 overs.

Things looked to be going the same way for Derbys in their 2nd innings, they were 5 for 3 then 17 for 4. Cue another Pakistan batter, Haider Ali and Leus du Plooy put on 277 for the 5th wickets. Haider made 146 from 193 balls and du Plooy 170 from 294 balls as Derby built a big score. This innings lasted 118.5 overs and 4 of the 6 bowlers shared the wickets.

Yorkshire required 212 to win this game and they got there in 50.1 overs with another good hit from Masood who scored 95 of the runs required from 112 balls. Dom Bess scored 41 from 41 to hurry things along and Yorkshire had their first, precious win!

Durham v Glamorgan – Seat Unique Riversid, Chester-le-Street. Kiran Carlson won the toss for Glamorgan and elected to bat. Match Drawn.

Glamorgan 390 All Out & 426 for 7, Durham 630 All Out

Sam Northeast and Kiran Carlson put on 168 for the 4th wicket, Northeast made 60 from 108 balls and Carlson wenrt on to score 162 from 213 balls. Carlson and Billy Root put on 91 for the 5th wicket. Glamorgan scored 390 in 92.5 overs. Ben Raine and Craig Miles both took 4 wickets.

Scott Borthwick has timed his declarations perfectly this season so far, but he didn’t go for it for this innings. I think Durham have had at least one Century maker this season, and this match brought 2. David Bedingham and Keeper Ollie Robinson put on 171 for the 5th wicket, Robinson scored 102 from 97 balls, that took him to 567 in 11 innings at an average of 51.54. Bedingham shared 149 with Graham Clark, Bedingham made 151 from 246 balls and Clark 80 from 140. There were partnerships all over this innings and Bas de Leede in at 8 batted through finishing not out on 85 from 126 balls. Durham batted for 148.4 overs making a huge 630. 5 of the 7 bowlers shared the wickets .

I can only presume this was a god batting wicket, the Glamorgan openers both scored 48 but it was Keeper Chris Cooke who went big, he was not out 134 from 224 balls and the 188 overs taken ensured a draw.

Gloucestershire v Leicestershire – The Brightside Ground, Bristol. Graeme van Buuren won the toss for Gloucs and elected to bat. Leicestershire won by 5 wickets.

Gloucestershire 368 All Out & 202 All Out, Leicestershire 350 All Out & 221 for 5.

Ollie Price in at 3 top scored for Gloucs with 85 from 172 balls, Danny Lamb in at 9 scored 70 from 106 balls Gloucs built to 369 in 112.4 overs. 4 of the 6 bowlers shared the wickets.

Leics are having a dream season compared to last year, Rishi Patel seems to have come into his own and he scored 59 from 79 balls to start things off well, Captain Lewis Hill scored 103 from 219 balls, he was well supported and Leics reached 350 in 102 overs. Zaman Akhter took 4 for 33 in his 17 overs.

Gloucs were bowled out in 49.2 overs in their 2nd innings, Chris Wright and Callum Parkinson both took 4 wickets.

Leics took just 41.2 overs to reach the required scored, Rehan Ahmed and Colin Ackermann put on 141 for the 3rd wicket, Ahmed scored 71 from 76 balls and Ackermann 78* from 86 balls. Another win in the bag for the team who didn’t win a match last year.

Sussex v Worcestershire – The 1st Central County Ground, Hove. Brett D’Oliveira won the toss and put Sussex in to bat. Match Drawn.

Sussex 348 All Out & 447 for 7, Worcs 410 All Out & 381 for 8

Sussex scored 348 in 92.4 overs, Keeper Oli Carter scored 76 from 132 balls, Nathan McAndrew in at 9 scored 65 from 68 balls and Jack Carson 64 from 104 balls. Joe Leach took 6 for 78 in his 24 overs.

Nearly half of Worcs 410 runs were scored by Opener Jake Libby, he scored 198 from 261 balls, batting for over 6 hours. He and Adam Hose put on 192 for the 4th wicket. Hose scored 85 from 99 balls. Sussex used 8 bowlers and Ari Karvelas took 4 for 54. Worcs scored their 410 in 91.4 overs..

There are so many Tom’s in County Cricket! And Sussex’s Tom, Alsop scored 100* from 225 balls, he batted for just over 5 hours and was ably supported by Fynn Hudson-Prentice who scored 54 from 72 balls and Jack Carson who scored 75 from 100 balls. Sussex’s 447 runs were scored in 108 overs.

In a match that saw 1586 runs scored , there was of course another century, this time from the bat of Pakistan great Azhar Ali, he scored 101 from 164 balls. Jake Libby fell short by just 3, he made 97 from 132 balls. Worcs batted for 79 overs to ensure the draw.

Century Makers

• Alastair Cook – Essex – 128 from 244 Balls
• Matt Critchley – Essex – 121 from 143 Balls
• Jordan Cox – Kent – 133 from 198 Balls
• Dom Sibley – Surrey – 140 from 415 Balls
• Jamie Smith – Surrey – 114 from 77 Balls
• Ben Foakes – Surrey – 124 from 211 Balls
• Phil Salt – Lancs – 103 from 139 Balls
• Sam Hain – Warwicks -100 from 192 Balls
• Joe Clarke – 229 from 365 Balls
• Dawid Malan – Yorkshire – 106 from 143 Balls
• Leus du Plooy – Derbys – 170 from 294 Balls
• Haider Ali – Derbys – 146 from 193 Balls
• Kiran Carlson – Glamorgan – 162 from 213 Balls
• David Bedingham – Durham – 151 from 246 Balls
• Ollie Robinson – Durham – 102 from 97 Balls
• Chris Cooke – Glamorgan – 134 from 224 Balls
• Lewis Hill – Leics – 103 from 219 Balls
• Azhar Ali – Worcs – 101 from 164 Balls
• Jake Libby – Worcs – 198 from 261 Balls
• Tom Alsop – Sussex – 100* from 225 Balls