County Championship Round-Up - Week 6: Surrey come close to incredible turnaround as rain rules again

Surrey came close to a stunning victory over Worcestershire in the pick of this week’s Division One encounters. Playing at New Road, after the ground recovered remarkably quickly from floods encroaching almost on to the square, Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell won the toss and elected to bat first. Surrey were handing a debut to young George Edwards with their seam attack depleted by Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker’s appearances for England Lions against the West Indian tourists. But it was the experienced Jon Lewis (3-79) and Tim Linley (4-78) who did the bulk of the damage as the hosts were bowled out for 285 - a first innings total which both sides would have been content with.

The real drama took place on the third and fourth days; rain having restricted play on Wednesday and Thursday. South African international Jacques Rudolph (68) was the only man to offer any resistance in the Surrey first innings, as the three front-line Worcestershire seamers - Alan Richardson (2-22), David Lucas (4-37) and Richard Jones (4-50) bowled them out for 113. The follow-on was enforced and the score was soon 11-2 after Mark Ramprakash, for whom the vultures are now circling more fiercely than ever, completed a pair. But Richardson soon left the field injured and Surrey’s aggressive batting style started to pay off. Kevin Pietersen, making a rare excursion into the domestic game, set the innings up with an 85 ball 69. And captain Rory Hamilton-Brown (115), and the impressive Tom Maynard (143), carried on where the England man had left off, each scoring crucial hundreds and putting on 225 for the fifth wicket. Both of these players are often overlooked when listing the cream of talent English players, but in recent weeks they have made a case to at least be considered for national one-day honours. By the time Hamilton-Brown declared at 431-7, the lead was 259 and his team had an opportunity to push for victory. This opportunity was created by the fact that Surrey scored their second innings runs at a tad under 5 an over.

Worcestershire were never going to chase the total down, but at 100-7 it looked as if Surrey were set to complete an astonishing heist. Edwards took 4-44 to cap an impressive debut, but Matt Pardoe (38*) and David Lucas (19) dug in to secure the draw for the home team. This match was yet another example of why the County Championship is such an exciting competition, with all four results still very possible at lunch on the final day.

Nottinghamshire and Middlesex played out a high-scoring draw at the usually bowler-friendly Trent Bridge. Steven Finn, tipped by many for selection for the Lord’s Test this week, took 4-117 but could not prevent Michael Lumb continuing his good form to make 162 - his second first-class hundred of the 2012 campaign. Alex Hales (79) and Steven Mullaney (60) also contributed to a total of 423. Middlesex’s response got off to a shaky start. But that was arrested on the third morning, with night-watchman Ollie Rayner (143*) guiding his team out of trouble with a fine hundred. Rayner has plenty of ability with both bat and ball, and his good match continued when he secured four wickets, including all of the first innings fifty makers, in the Nottinghamshire second innings. By the time they were dismissed Lumb and Mullaney had scored their second fifties of the game and, although Nottinghamshire did declare with a lead of 297, the match petered out. England captain Andrew Strauss was 43 not out when the teams shook hands.

Durham’s very poor start to the season continued as they were dismissed for just 125 by a young Somerset attack on the opening day of their match at the Riverside. Many, myself included, predicted that Phil Mustard’s men would launch a title challenge, but the evidence of this season suggests that their experienced team is desperately in need of an injection of youth. Although Vernon Philander took 2-41 it was 18 year-old Craig Overton (4-28) and 20 year-old Craig Meschede (3-36) who caused the most problems. In reply, Somerset managed 267. All-rounder Meschede, who made 62, was again to the fore and Craig Kieswetter, who it is easy to forget remains England’s one-day ‘keeper, was on 96 when George Dockrell was run out by Mark Stoneman to close the Somerset innings. This game, like so many other recent encounters, was heavily effected by rain and Durham were 234-9 in their second innings when the match came to an end. No Durham batsman got past 40 in the match.

Sussex v Lancashire at Hove came to a bizarre conclusion after the first three days were wiped out by rain. The teams were playing only for bonus points, of which Sussex took 5 and Lancashire 2 in addition to three on offer for the draw. Champions Lancashire batted first, seeing that this gave them more opportunities to attain bonus points. But they slumped to 144-8, at which point they pulled out and set about getting some quick Sussex wickets. Ajmal Shahzad, playing his first match since joining on loan from Yorkshire, took three scalps after tea but, inspired by 86 at more than a run-a-ball from Matt Prior, Sussex had the best of the day and reached 300 with two balls to spare.

Gloucestershire and Yorkshire engineered an exciting game of cricket at Bristol, after rain had marred the first two days. The process by which a Yorkshire run chase was set up was complicated and, some would argue, controversial. Gloucestershire were 299-9 in their first innings, and one short of a third batting bonus point, when Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale brought himself and fellow part-timer Adam Lyth into the attack. The bowling was so poor that just 19 balls later the Gloucestershire tail enders had secured a fourth bonus point. A declaration, and a Yorkshire forfeiture followed, after which Bresnan and Sidebottom were rested as the Gloucestershire openers meandered to 48-0, before declaring again with a lead of 399. The merits of this arrangement were hotly debated on 606v2. JDizzle argued that “It makes for interesting cricket with all three results still possible”. Guildfordbat agreed that positive result should be sought, but also stated that “we need to be careful how far we go”. One must consider that the best part of two hours worth of cricket was effectively pre-determined. Necessary to create exciting cricket or unsatisfactory in modern professional sport? I can’t decide.

What is for certain is that the equation was in Gloucestershire’s favour. But Yorkshire, seen as promotion favourites, were rarely troubled in the run chase. They owed much to hundreds from Phil Jaques (160) and Gary Ballance (121), and completed an incredible chase with four wickets to spare. Gloucestershire’s attack contains little proven quality, and this was evident in their inability to force victory here. However, their batting has been beefed up by Kiwi Kane Williamson, who scored 111 in the first innings here, and has been in exceptional form in both the Championship and the Clydesdale Bank 40.

The match between Leicestershire and Northamptonshire at Grace Road reached an exciting conclusion after a run chase of 341 was set up for the home side. Scotsman Kyle Coetzer (120) and Alex Wakely (63) put Northamptonshire in a strong position early on. Their knocks were built on by an eighth wicket partnership of 61 between James Middlebrook and David Willey, and a declaration came at 352-7. After both teams batted briefly to set up the target, Northamptonshire found themselves without Chaminda Vaas when they came out to bowl for a second time. The hosts made a decent fist of the run chase. Ramnaresh Sarwan’s 94 and Josh Cobb’s 59 left Leicestershire 240-4 at one stage, but a cluster of wickets fell quickly and last man Matthew Hoggard was soon at the crease and the chance of victory gone. But Hoggard, alongside Wayne White, was able to hold off for 40 minutes and, sensationally, secure a draw and three points for his side. Hoggard’s bowling has been seemingly in reverse since his England career ended in 2008, but this contribution could be pivotal in what is likely to be a close fought battle for the wooden spoon.

The scorecard from Kent’s first innings against Essex at Chelmsford is a most bizarre one. Only two batsmen scored more than 7, as Charl Willoughby (5-70) dominated proceedings either side of a magnificent partnership between veterans Darren Stevens and Geraint Jones. Stevens has got better with age, and rarely will he have rescued his team from such a precarious position as 9-5. His 119 featured 16 fours and 1 six. Jones (88) fell twelve short of what would surely have been a well deserved century himself. The team total was eventually a respectable 225. After the drama of this innings the game meandered towards an unexciting draw. 92 from Mark Pettini and 4-20 from Mark Davies were the only real highlights.

After rain washed out the opening two days of Division Two leaders Derbyshire’s visit to the Rose Bowl the game predictably became a bonus points contest. On that count both teams managed 7 points in addition to the three for the draw. Hampshire managed 352-8 declared in their first innings thanks to 122 from Jimmy Adams, returning to the side after a while out for personal reasons and 93 from Bilal Shafayat, the former Nottinghamshire batsman who was covering for the absence of Michael Carberry with England Lions. Shafayat’s debut makes a strong case for future inclusion in the Hampshire line-up. Derbyshire surpassed the Hampshire total in reply, and achieved maximum batting points. Wes Durston (121) and Dan Redfern (133) scored centuries. None of the bowlers on either side made much impact on a placid surface.

Shelsey - good round up. I was certainly wondering what was going on in the Sussex - Lancs match, but your explanation sounds right.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Shelsey - good round up. I was certainly wondering what was going on in the Sussex - Lancs match, but your explanation sounds right.

Yes. I suppose Lancs thought that batting first they could get 400 in a day, or if things go wrong could still pick up bowling points. If they bowled first and things went wrong they could potentially not get any.

Shelsey - very thorough round up, thanks.

Re the Sussex v Lanc match. I feel a little uneasy about Lancs declaring with the sole purpose being to prevent their opponents gaining maximum bowling points. Yes, it's permitted within the rules of the game and can be said to be tactically astute. However, it's another of those things prompting the question - how far is it acceptable to go?

You sometimes use examples, Shelsey, and are very good at them. You can therefore probably come up with something better than this. Anyway, by way of one illustration, I wouldn't like to see a county championship or promotion decider being determined by one side (a fair way ahead on points going into the match) being prepared to lose the match and declaring their first innings with only 2 wickets down so as to ensure their opponents couldn't take any bowling points at all and overtake them in the table.

I wonder if a declaration in such circumstances as above should mean the bowling side take maximum bowling points. Probably many arguments and examples can be put against that view. However, I'm not convinced the current rules are perfect.

Shelsey, I've got this one up on the Journal
http://www.v2journal.com/county-championship-round-up-week6.html

Good review Shelsey. Enjoyable read.

On the Yorkshire/Gloucs contrived result debate, I have no issue with it. As long as both teams have a reasonable chance of winning the game then it's all fair as far as I'm concerned. The competitive edge was not removed from the game in the end which is the most important thing when dealing with sport. 2 hours pretermined and 7 hours competitive cricket, beats a 9 hour running through the motions any day of the week.

What I would be more concerned about is if, for example, 2 teams needed 11 points from a match for promotion/avoid relegation and the ended up playing out a maximum point draw. That would be removing the competitive edge and would be skirting around unethical.

guildfordbat wrote:
You sometimes use examples, Shelsey, and are very good at them. You can therefore probably come up with something better than this. Anyway, by way of one illustration, I wouldn't like to see a county championship or promotion decider being determined by one side (a fair way ahead on points going into the match) being prepared to lose the match and declaring their first innings with only 2 wickets down so as to ensure their opponents couldn't take any bowling points at all and overtake them in the table.

That would be starting to look like the infamous declaration by Brian Rose in that infamous Somerset limited overs match .... Probably not quite as bad...

Corporal - I wasn't thinking of the Rose declaration when I posted last night but, yes, that's certainly a road none should want to go down.

i was very suprised that Lecistershire pulled off a draw, however if vaas was bowling 2nd innings i doubt lecister would have pulled that off.