365 Sporting Days

A round with mixed weather and light conditions, go figure in September. The biggest game in Division 1 was taking place in Taunton as Somerset took on Surrey. At the bottom of the table there was a lot to fight for, for several teams, with Kent looking doomed. Sussex, Yorkshire and Middlesex were in with a chance of promotion. I was sent a news article at the end of Day 2 confirming a 12 point deduction for Essex for Feroze Khushi being found to have an over-sized bat in the game at Notts in April. A Gray Nicholls bat, the brand he’s been using for his whole career, Essex had appealed the original decision, the manufacturer agreed with their arguments, but to no avail, 5 months before any news of a deduction seems mad! On to the cricket – There were 2 key results in Division 2 as I start writing on Day 3.

Division 1

Durham v Lancashire – Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street. Scott Borthwick won the toss for Durham and put Lancs in to bat. Durham won by an innings and 63 runs.

Lancashire 228 All Out & 282 All Out, Durham 573 for 9 dec

Lancs had a steady loss of wickets and in spite of Josh Bohannon scoring 49 and Keeper Matty Hurst scoring 90 from 198 balls they were bowled out in 94.3 overs for 228. Ben Raine took 5 for 44 in 25 overs.

Durham were 99 for 4 in the 26th over and then came a mighty partnership of 425 for the 5th wicket between David Bedingham and Colin Ackermann. New to Durham in 2024, Ackermann scored 186 from 312 balls and Bedinghma went on to make 279 from 359 balls, his was the 9th and last wicket to fall before Borthwick declared with Durham on 573 for 9. They’d batted for 135.3 overs. The 425 partnership is the 2nd highest for the 5th wicket in the CC and the 8th largest in First-Class cricket. David Bedingham now holds the largest individual First Class score for Durham. A remarkable innings all round! Amongst the runs bedlam Luke Wells took 4 for 69 in his 13.3 overs.

At the end of Day 3 Lancashire were 155 for 4, trailing by 190 runs. Josh Bohannon scored 56 from 126 balls and Matty Hurst was on 43 from 82 balls. Matthew Potts had taken 3 for 38 in 14 over. Hurst went own to score 67 from 125 balls but more notably Matthew Potts finished the innings with 9 fro 68 from 24.2 overs! Remarkable figures! The 2 tailenders for Lancs put on 61 for the last wicket, but the result was inevitable.

Essex v Nottinghamshire – The Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford. Haseeb Hameed won the toss for Notts and put Essex in to bat. Essex won by an innings and 83 runs.

Essex 457 All Out, Notts 93 All Out & 281 All Out

Essex fell to 86 for 4 before Tom Westley, who’d come in at 3 and Paul Walter put on 142 for the 5th wicket. Walter scored 72 from 106 balls, Westley went on to score 122 from 241 balls as he and Michael Pepper put on 69 for the 6th wicket. Pepper shared a partnership of 133 with Simon Harmer. Harmer scored 51 from 112 balls and Pepper went on top score his 2nd century in successive matches, he made 115 from 147 balls. Essex scored 457 in 118.3 overs. Young Notts bowlers Rob Lord and Farhan Ahmed took 3 wickets each.

Notts were bowled out in 40.5 overs, with Jamie Porter taking 5 for 35 in his 10 overs, Simon Harmer took 4 for 16 in his 12.5 overs. Ben Slater top scored with just 29.

All 3 of the first days were both light and rain affected, Notts were 180 for 2 at the end of Day 3, Captain Haseeb Hameed was 100* from 151 balls, Joe Clarke was 62* from 124 balls, they’d put on 131 any the close. Several of the Notts fans on Day 3 were saying how Notts had failed in their first innings to fightback in the second to save the draw. Both Batters have the ability to bat through Day 4. I had told myself as I walked to my car in the rain on Day 3 that I wasn’t going for day 4, but, I couldn’t resist especially as the sky was blue! I paid for 3 hours parking and as Essex took the extra 8 overs and half an hour before lunch that was running out. Hameed had been out for 105 from 166 and Clarke for 67 from 141 balls. Keeper and new signing Kyle Verreynne put in a good effort with 38 from 56 balls, but with 10. minutes left on my parking the final wicket fell. Sim on Hafrmer added another 4 wickets to his tally alongside an outstanding slips catch.

Kent v Hampshire – The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury. Daniel Bell_Drummond won the toss for Kent and put Hampshire in to bat. Match Drawn.

Hampshire – 403 All Out & 24 for 1, Kent 207 All Out & 338 All Out

Hampshire fell to 32 for 2 and lost wickets steadily. James Vince and Tom Prest put on 48 for the 5th wicket. Vince scored 88 from 120 balls and Prest went on to score 102 from 107 balls. Prest shared a 9th wicket partnership of 61 with Brad Wheal, Wheal who’d come in at 10 scored 61 from 90 balls as Hants scored 403 in 106.3 overs.

Kent were bowled out in 82.2 overs in spite of opener Ben Compton scoring 51 from 146 balls, he and Keeper Harry Finch put on 79 for the 6th wicket, with Finch scoring 44. Kyle Abbot took 5 for 46 in his 15 overs.

Kent faced 17.3 Overs in their 2nd innings on Day 3 and were 70 for no wicket, trailing by 126 runs. Jack Leaning and Keeper Harry Finch put on 149 for the 6th wicket, Leaning scored 100 from 161 Balls and Finch 79 from 188 balls. A hugely different innings for Kent, they scored 338 in 102.4 overs. Kyle Abbot added another 4 wickets to his tally.

Hants batted for just 2.4 overs before the game was declared a draw. The draw was enough to put Hampshire back in 3rd place e with 171 points.

Somerset v Surrey – The Cooper Associates Ground, Taunton. Lewis Gregory won the toss for Somerset and elected to bat. Somerset won by 111 runs.

Somerset 317 All Out & 224 All Out, Surrey 321 All Out & 109 All Out

Opener and Captain Lewis Goldworthy was bowled by Kemar Roach b y the 2nd ball of the innings, his fellow opener Archie Vaughan scored 44, the run of Tom’s, really kicked in runs wise with the 3rd of them in Tom Banton, he scored 132 from 172 balls, he and Keeper James Rew put on 107 for the 5th wicket, Rew made 38. Somerset made 317 in 95.5 overs. Signing for a game the Bangaldeshi superstar Shakib Al Hasan took 4 for 97 in his 33.5 overs

Surrey were 48 for 2 before Ben Geddes and Ryan Patel put on 80 for the 3rd wicket, Geddes scored 50 from 94 and Patel made 70 from 192 balls. At 228 for 8 it must have looked like Somerset were going to have an advantage, but Tom Curran had other ideas he scored 86 from 75 balls. Archie Vaughan took 6 for 102 and Jack Leach took the other 4. Surrey scored 321 in 112.2 overs to take a slim lead.

Somerset faced 54 overs in their 2nd innings by the end of Day 3 and were 194 fir 9, a lead of 190. Shakib Al Hasan took 4 for 83 in his 25 overs, with one wicket remaining. The Somerset innings lasted for a total of 63.3 overs as Tom Banton and Craig Overton put on 71 for the last week, Banton had, I believe, been injured in the warm up on Day 3 but came in to bat at 10. Shakib Al Hasan. took 5 for 96 in 29.3 overs.

Surrey batted for 78 overs and had 6 Ducks amongst their number. Dom Sibley scored 56 from 183 balls and Extras was the 4th highest score at 12. Jack Leach and Archie Vaughan shared the wickets with 5 for 37 in 37 overs for Leach and 5 for 38 in 32 overs for Vaughan. The win for Somerset put them on 190 and 2nd to Surrey’s 198 at the top of the table.

Worcestershire v Warwickshire – Visit Worcestershire New Road (???), Worcester. Alex Davies won the toss for Warwicks and put Worcs in to bat. Match Drawn.

Worcestershire 307 All Out, Warwickshire 128 All Out & 252 for 3

Worcs were 116 for 5 before Brett D’Oliveira and Matthew Waite put on 76 for the 6th wicket. Waite scored 53 from 84 balls and Captain D’Oliveira scored 76 from 150 balls. Worcs scored 307 in 100 overs. 5 of the 6 bowlers used shared the wickets.

Warwicks were bowled out in 42.2 overs, in spite of Captain Alex `Davies scoring 58 from 72.opening. Tom Taylor took 6 for 28 in his 11 overs.

Warwicks were 171 for 3 at the end of Day 3, Alex Davies and Will Rhodes put on 115 for the 2nd wicket, with Davies scoring 65 from 99 balls and Rhodes 72 from 152 balls. Warwicks trail by just 8 runs going into Day 4. Warwicks batted for a total of 86.1 overs scoring 252 for 3 before the game was declared a draw. Will Rhodes finished with 121 from 258 balls. The draw was probably a good result for both teams with the way other results went this round.

Division 2

Sussex v Glamorgan – The 1st Central County Ground, Hive. John Simpson won the toss for Sussex and put Glamorgan in to bat. Sussex won by an innings and 87 runs,

Glamorgan 186 All Out & 218 All Out, Sussex 491 All Out

Glamorgan were bowled out in 57.3 overs, Kiran Carlson scored 56 in 81 balls he and Colin Ingram put on 51 for the 3rd wicket. Jaydev Unadkat took 4 for 52.

Sussex put on 110 for the 1st wicket then 78 for the 2nd, Opener Daniel Hughes scored 83 from 147 balls and Henry Crocombe, who I can only imagine was the nIght watch in at 3 scored 54 from 88 balls. Another team with a run of 3 Tom’s it was the middles Tom, Clark who shone with 112 from 238 balls. Clark and Captain John Simpson scored 117 from 160 balls. Sussex scored 491 in 132 overs.

Colin Ingram and Kiran Carlson had another good partnership for Glamorgan putting on 73 for the 3rd wicket. Ingram scored 71 from 102 balls and Carlson 66 from 97 balls. However Glamorgan were bowled out in 72.2 overs, 4 of the 6 bowlers used shared the wickets. Sussex leapfrogged Yorkshire who’d taken top spot for a few hours earlier in the day.

Northamptonshire v Derbyshire – County Ground, Northampton. Luke Proctor won the toss for Northants and elected to bat. Northants won by 133 runs.

Northants 219 All Out & 211 All Out, Derbyshire 165 All Out & 132 All Out

The decision to bat didn’t look great at 89 for 6, Saif Zaib and Justin Broiad put on 73 for the 7th wicket, Broad score 45 and Zaib 90 from 1445 balls. They were bowled out in 66.5 overs for 219.

Derbyshire lost opener Harry Came in the 6th overLuis Reece and Brooke Guest put in 62 for the 2nd wicket, Reece scored 50 from 1§23 balls. Derbys were bowled out in 61.3 overs for 165.

This was an all round low scoring game, Northants were bowled out in joy 62.2 overs for 211, Rob Keogh contributed 63 of those runs from 99 balls. 5 of the 6 bowlers shared the wickets.

It took Northants just 46 overs to bowl Derbys out for 132, Rob Keogh took 5 for 44 in his 15 overs and Chahal 4 for 54.

Leicestershire v Yorkshire – Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester. Jonathan Tattersall won the toss for Yorkshire and put Leics in too bat. Yorkshire won by an innings and 72 runs,

Leicestershire 98 All Out & 209 All Out, Yorkshire 379 All Out

Yorkshire bowled Leics out in 24.2 overs for just 98 runs, Keeper Ben Cox scored 51 of this runs from 31 balls. Ben Coad took 5 for 15 in his 10 overs.

Yorkshire fell to 56 for 4, before James Wharton and Captain Johnathan Tattersall put on 53 for the 5th wicket. Tattersall scored 126 from 215 balls. Wharton scored 41. Tattersall and Matthew Fisher in at 10 put on 138 for the 9th wicket, Fisher scored 88 from 124 balls. Tom Scriven took 4 for 103 in his 23 overs. Yorkshire scored their 379 in 98 overs.

Leics batted for 53,3 overs in their 2nd innings with Rehan Ahmed showing all rounder credentials with the top score of 77 from 86, batting at 5. George Hill took 6 for 59 in his 13.3 overs.

Middlesex v Gloucestershire – Lord’s, London. Graeme van Buuren won the toss for Goucs and put Middlesex in to bat. Gloucestershire won by 4 Wickets.

Middlesex 377 All Out & 165 All Out, Gloucs 309 for 9 dec & 236 for 6

Sam Robson was out for a Platinum Duck, the first ball of the game. Mark Stoneman and Max Holden then put in 70 for the 2nd wicket. Stoneman scored 42 and Holden went on to score 77 from 133 balls. Keeper Jack Davies and Josh de Caires put on 120 for the 6th wicket. Davies scored 91 from 137 balls and de Caires 64 from 115 balls. Middlesex scored 377 in their 93.2 overs. Tom Price (another Tom!) took 5 for 81 in his 21.2 overs.

In a good match for the Price family Ollie Price scored 76 from 170 balls, Gloucs lost wickets steadily before Zafar Gohar and Zaman Akhter put on 90 for the 8th wicket. Zohar scored 86 from 158 balls. Toby Roland-Jones took 5 for 79 in his 24 overs before van Buuren declared after 87.1 overs.

In spite of a partnership of 63 for the 2nd wicket, Middlesex were bowled out in 29.2 overs for 165. Sam Robson scored 50 of those runs in 54 balls. Archie Bailey took 4 for 30. Gloucs will need 234 runs on Day 4 to win the game.

Gloucs fell to 66 for 3 before Miles Hammond and Keeper James Bracey put on 113 for the 4th wicket. Hammond scored 78 from 126 balls and Bracey 56 from 97 balls. It took Gloucs 65.5 overs to score the runs they needed to win this match and put a dent in Middlesex’s title hopes.

Century Makers and 5 Wicket Takers

• David Bedingham – Durham – 279 from 359 Balls
• Colin Ackermann – Durham – 186 from 312 Balls
• Tom Westley – Essex – 122 from 241 Balls
• Michael Pepper – Essex – 115 from 147 Balls
• Haseeb Hameed – Notts – 105 from 166 Balls
• Tom Prest – Hants – 102 from 107 Balls
• Tom Banton – Somerset – 132 from 172 Balls
• Tom Clark – Sussex – 112 from 238 Balls
• John Simpson – Sussex – 117 from 160 Balls
• Johnathan Tattersall – Yorkshire – 126 from 215 Balls
• Will Rhodes – Warwicks – 121 from 258 Balls

• Ben Raine – Durham – 5 for 44 in 25 Overs
• Jamie Porter – Essex – 5 for 35 in 10 Overs
• Kyle Abbot – Hants – 5 for 36 in 15 Overs.
• Archie Vaughan – Somerset – 6 for 102 in 37 Overs
• Archie Vaughan – Somerset – 5 for 38 in 32 Overs
• Jack Leach – Somerset – 5 for 37 in 37 Overs
• Tom Taylor – Worcs – 6 for 28 in 11 Overs
• Rob Keogh – Northants – 5 for 44 in 15 Overs
• Ben Coad – Yorkshire – 5 for 15 in 10 Overs
• George Hill – Yorkshire – 6 for 59 in 134.3 Overs
• Tom Price – 5 for 81 in 21.2 Overs
• Toby Roland-Jones – Middlesex – 5 for 79 in 24 Overs
• Matthew Potts – Durham – 9 for 68 in 24.2 Overs
• Shakib Al Hasan – Surrey – 5 for 96 in 29.3 Overs