365 Sporting Days

The County Championship started on April 5th this year, the dates for the last 10 years have been –

• 2023 – 6th April
• 2022 – 7th April
• 2021 – 8th April
• 2020 – 12th April
• 2019 – 5th April
• 2018 – 13th April
• 2017 – 7th April
• 2016 – 10th April
• 2015 – 12th April
• 2014 – 6th April

There’s a lot of ‘blame’ thrown the way of the Hundred (which started in 2021) for what’s being taken as an early start this year, but the previous 10 years has the start 6 of the 10 years seasons starting on around the same date. I should imagine the arrangement of any fixture list is a difficult task especially when each team doesn’t play the other home and away. Each team will be playing 14 matches over 15 rounds, which, like last year, will mean all of the 10 teams in Division 1 won’t be playing in the same weeks. Division 2 games will be played over the same number of weeks meaning more disparity. The weather has had a big part to play in this round but most teams have been affected, in following rounds where for example on May 3rd, a weekend leading into a Bank Holiday, only 2 games are being played in Division 1 and 3 in Division 2. Should the weather be bad that weekend only 4 and 6 teams will be affected. Additionally it has to be asked, why on earth wouldn’t you schedule a full round over a Bank Holiday weekend??

The full fixture list is here https://www.ecb.co.uk/news/3791223/county-championship-2024-fixtures#:~:text=The%202024%20County%20Championship%20will,playing%2014%20matches%20in%20total.

On to the facts and figures for this first round of 2024, the games were played using a Kookaburra ball. This, in a bid to add to the skills of our bowlers, it was used in 2 rounds in 2023 and that will rise to 4 this season. Where play was possible it produced very different results.

Division 1

Durham v Hampshire – Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street. The match was abandoned without a ball bowled.

The fixture will be played in Southampton starting on May 10th, might these fixtures have been better scheduled the other way round?

Kent v Somerset – The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury. Lewis Gregory won the toss for Somerset and put Kent in to bat. Match Drawn.

Kent 284 All Out & 290 for 4. Somerset 403 All Out.

The match was rain affected and there was no play on Day 1, Kent batted for just 78.4 overs scoring 284. Keeper Harry Finch scored 54 and Joey Evison 85 from 116 balls. There werte 28 Extras including 10 No Balls, giving 20 of those added runs. Lewis Gregory took 4 for 66 in his 14.4 overs. 3 bowling points for Somerset and 1 batting poiny for Kent

Tom Lammonby started his season off well with 90 from 185 balls helping Somerset to 403 in 110.1 overs, that’s a full 4 batting bonus points for Somerset in a game that was unlikely to result in anything other than a draw. Keeper James Rew and Kasey Aldridge both scored 57. 5 of the bowlers shared the wickets helping Kent to 3 bowling points.

Kent’s second innings was some batting practice; and it saw 2 centuries. Captain Daniel Bell Drummond scored 107* from 169 balls and Joe Denly 110 from 142 balls. The match was declared a draw after Kent had batted for 63 overs.

Lancashire v Surrey – Old Trafford, Manchester. Rory Burns won the toss and put Lancashire in to bat. Match Drawn.

Lancashire 202 All Out. Surrey 15 for 0.

There were only just over 81 overs bowled in this match due to both wind and rain, with no play on Day 1 things started after lunch on Day 2.

Josh Bohannon who was top scorer in Division 1 in 2023 scored 84 from 155 balls as the rest of his team scored 116. New signing Dan Lawrence took 4 for 91 in his 28 overs, a career best and Cameron Steel had an amazing 9=.4 overs taking 5 for 25. No batting points for Lancashire but full bowling points for Surrey.

Surreey only faced 8.3 overs before the game was declared a draw. These teams will play each other in August at The Oval.

Nottingham v Essex – Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Haseeb Hameed won the toss for Notts and put Essex in to bat. Essex won by 254 runs.

Essex 253 All Out & 374 for 9 dec, Notts 293 All Out & 80 All Out

Essex and England great Sir Alastair Cook had retired at the end of the 2023 season and the aforementioned Dan Lawrence had departed for Surrey. Step in Dean Elgar and Jordan Cox, Elgar scored 80 from 156 balls and Cox 84 from 150 balls as they put on 112 for the 3rd wicket. Essex made 253, sneaking in a batting point. Dane Paterson took 5 for 49 in his 14 overs as Essex were bowled out in just 79.1 overs.

Joe Clarke was the star of Notts innings as he scored 104 from 185 balls, he and Jack Haynes put on 159 for the 5th wicket, Haynes scored 77 from 145 balls. Sam Cook had th erbest bowling figures with 4 for 59 in his 18 overs as Notts were bowled out in 82.4 overs. In a round where the bat was expected to dominate, Sam Cook took a hat-trick, a fabulous start to the season for him that was added to in Notts 2nd innings.

Essex’s 2nd innings was much better with one exception. Feroze Khushi’s bat was spotted by the umpires and when measured it didn’t meet the requirements as per 5.7.2 of the Laws of Cricket being – The blade of the bat shall not exceed the following dimensions. Width 4.25 in, Depth 2.64 in, Edges 1.56in, furthermore it should also be able to pass through a bat gauge. Call me old fashioned but, why aren;t bats in a professional game checked through said gauge, by, manufacturers, players and teams in a professiional game?? The consequences could be a 10-16 points deduction for Essex! On to this second innings for Essex. Matt Critchley with 68 from 174 balls and Paul Walter with 79 from 105 put on 132 for the 6th wicket after Essex had fallen to 129 for 5. Shane Snater who missed most of last season with injury scored 47 from 46 balls and put on 63 for the 9th wicket with Adam Rossington. Essex declared on 374 for 9.

Had Essex captain left his team enough time to bowl Notts out? It took just 34.3 overs as Sam Cook took 6 for 14 in his 14 overs. Jamie Porter took 3 for 43 from the other end and Snater chipped in with the remaining wicket. Notts were bowled out for just 80. Essex took 20 points from the game, it remains to be seen how main will remain.

Warwickshire v Worcestershire – Edgbaston, Birmingham. Alex Davies won the toss for Warwicks and put Worcs in to bat. Match Drawn.

Worcs 360 All Out & 295 for 3, Warwicks 333 All Out.

Worcs were 77 for 1 before Kashif Ali and Keeper Gareth Roderick put on 103 for the 2nd wicket. Opener Roderick scored 68 from 163 balls and Kashif went on to score 110 from 188 balls, impressive form a player batting in only his 9th First Class match and first in Division 1. Worcs were bowled out for 360 in 107.1 overs.

Worcs old boy Ed Barnard was the top scorer for Warwicks, he scored 89 from 124 balls and shared good partnerships with Will Rhodes who made 64 from 92 balls and Dan Mousley who made 62 from 119 balls. Warwicks were bowled out for 333 in 94.1 overs. Worcs notable used 8 bowlers.

There were 2 century makers in Worcs second innings, Jake Libby was 101* from 180 balls and Kashif bettered his frist innings score making 133 from 128 balls, he certainly made his mark in his first Division 1 game! Worcs batted for 69 overs and made 295 for 3.

Division 2

Derbyshire v Gloucestershire The Incora County Ground, Derby. The match was abandoned without a ball bowled.

Middlesex v Glamorgan – Lord’s, London. Toby Roland-Jones won the toss and put Glamorgan in to bat.

Glamorgan 620 for 3 & 31 for 2, Middlesex 655 All Out

The scores above tell you something special happened at Lord’s! Sam Northeast who last year had a mighty innings of 410 in 2022, scored 335* facing 412 balls. That surpassed a long held record of 333 held by Graham Gooch, a record that has stood since 1990. Colin Ingram was Not Out 132 from 165 balls as the pair put on 176 before Northeast declared. Billy Root had made 67 from 106 balls and Kiran Carlson 77 from 132 balls. Glamorgan made 620 in 139 overs. 2 bolwers conceded more than 100 runs.

Middlesex batted for 211.2 overs , this was a match where the Kookaburra ball was clearly proving to be a challenge for the bowlers. Mark Stoneman fell just short of his century with 97 from 180 balls, he and Max Holden put on 120 for the second wicket. Holden scored 53 from 134 balls. Ryan Higgins had a great first season back with Middlesex in 2023 and was one of the only players to shine, he certainly kick started his 2024 well scoring 221 from 360 balls. He and Jack Davies put on 153 for the 5th wicket as Davies made 60 from 160 balls. Tom Helm batting at 10 scored 64 from 120 balls. Middlesex amassed 655. All 8 bowlers had their averages battered!

Glamorgan batted for just 16 overs before the game was declared a Draw. The batters will have enjoyed this first match at Lord’s, the bowlers, not so much.

Sussex v Northants – The 1st Central County Ground, Hove. John Simpson won the toss for Sussex and put BNorthants in to bat. Match Drawn.

Northants 371 All Out & 170 for 9, Sussex 478 for 9.

Northants reached 95 for 2 on Day 1 and went on to score 371 in 117 overs. Their captain Luke Proctor top scored with 92 from 225 balls, He and Karun Nair put on 11 for the 3rd wicket, Nair scored 57 from 104 balls. Keeper Lewis McManus scored 50 from 82 balls.Jayden Seales had the best figures of 4 for 86 from 26 overs.

Sussex scored their 478 in just 99.4 overs! Tom Haines, opening, scored 133 from 183 overs he and James Coles put on 137 for the 4th wicket. Coles scored 78 from 127 balls. Fynn Hudson-Prentice in at 7 scored 73 from 60 balls and Jack Carson in at 9 made 61 from 53 balls. Saif Zaib took 4 for 84 in his 15.4 overs.

Northants faced 55 overs in their 2nd innings and lost 9 wickets, Rob Keogh scored 55 from 67 balls of the 170 runs scored.

Yorkshire v Leicestershire – Headingley, Leeds. Shan Masood won the toss and put Leics in to bat. Match Drawn.

Leicestershire 354 All Out & 26 for no wicket, Yorkshire 264 for 6.

Leics batted for 93.3 overs for their 354 and Ben Mike who’d been with Yorkshire in 2023 top scored with 90 from 113 balls he and Tom Scriven in at 10 frustrated Yorkshire with a stand of 119 for the 9th wicket. Scriven made 56 from 86 balls. Matt Milnes had the best bowling figures of 4 for 73 in his 17.3 overs.

Yorkshire opener Adam Lyth had a great start to 2024 with a score of 101 from 100 balls, he and Harry Brook, back in the Yorkshire fold put on 128 for the 4th wicket. Brook scored what must’ve been an exciting century making 100* from 69 balls. Yorkshire scored their 264 in just 42.4 overs. Some entertainment for what must have been a disappointed crowd who only saw 162 overs bowled in the game.

Leics faced just 7.2 overs before the game was declared a draw.

Century Makers and 5 Wicket Takers

• Daneil Bell-Drummond – Kent – 107 from 169 Balls
• Joe Denly – Kent – 110 from 142 Balls
• Joe Clarke – Notts – 104 from 185 Balls
• Kashif Ali – Worcs – 110 from 188 Balls
• Kashif Ali – Worcs – 133 from 128 Balls
• Jake Libby – Worcs – 101 from 180 Balls
• Sam Northeast – Glamorgan – 335* from 412 Balls
• Colin Ingram – Glamorgan – 132 from 165 Balls
• Ryan Higgins – Middlesex – 221 from 360 Balls
• Adam Lyth – Yorkshire – 101 from 100 Balls
• Harry Brook – Yorkshire 2100* from 69 Balls
• Tom Haines – Sussex 133 from tbc

• Cameron Steel – Surrey – 5 for 25 in 9.4 Overs
• Dane Patterson – Notts – 5 for 49 in 14 Overs
• Sam Cook – Essex – 6 for 14 in 14 Overs