County Championship/Bob Willis Trophy 2021

First topic message reminder :

Starts in eight days time on the 8th of April, so we may as well have a thread for it. It's another revised structure for this year, with two trophies up for grabs: the County Championship and the Bob Willis Trophy.

The 18 counties have been split up into three seeded groups:

Group 1: Derbyshire, Durham, Essex, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire
Group 2: Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey
Group 3: Glamorgan, Kent, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Sussex, Yorkshire

Counties will play every group opponent home and away - a total of ten matches. After ten matches, the top two teams in each group advance to Division One. Teams finishing 3rd and 4th go to Division Two. Teams finishing 5th and 6th go to Division Three.

In the division stage, each county will play a total of four more games. They will not, as far as I'm aware, play again against their initial group opponents. For instance, if Essex and Warwickshire make it through to Division One, they won't play each other in the division stage, just the top two from groups two and three.

After these four extra games, the team that is top of Division One will be classed as the County Championship winners. The County Championship winners will then play the team that finished second in Division One in the five-day final to determine the Bob Willis Trophy winners.

The group stage will run from April-July. The division stage will start late August and conclude in September. The final is set to be played from the 27th September-1st October (the ECB know it rains and gets dark then, right?).

I can't say I'm a fan of this format, to be honest, as the County Championship trophy has been relegated in stature, but I hope it all works out well.

With SkyBet, defending champions Essex have been installed as favourites at 5/1 to win the Bob Willis Trophy. Perennial runners-up Somerset are the second favourites at 13/2, then Yorkshire at 7/1. Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Kent a bit further back at 9/1. Forum favourites Surrey at 12/1. No-hopers such as Durham, Glamorgan and Leicestershire way out at 66/1.

After only getting through 5 overs in the Second innings, Jofra won’t bowl again in the match due to his troublesome elbow. We can cross him off any potential first Test teams now I think, if we hadn’t already.

Unsurprisingly, the injections for Jofra haven't worked in the long-term. They never do. He needs surgery or his career will be jeopardised in the long-term. Either that or he becomes a T20 specialist, forgoing 50-over and first-class cricket entirely. Whatever happens it's pretty safe to say he's out of the NZ series.

Essex did manage to force a win, with Harmer taking 9/80 in the first innings.

Durham also garnered a win and Rushworth became Durham's all-time leading FC wicket-taker in the process, overtaking Onions.

Duty281 wrote:Unsurprisingly, the injections for Jofra haven't worked in the long-term. They never do. He needs surgery or his career will be jeopardised in the long-term. Either that or he becomes a T20 specialist, forgoing 50-over and first-class cricket entirely. Whatever happens it's pretty safe to say he's out of the NZ series.

Jofra confirmed out of the NZ series and will see a consultant this week. Elbows are tricky (see baseball pitchers and things like Tommy John surgeries) but what they are doing so far isn’t working.

guildfordbat wrote:You got a ticket for Middlesex playing Surrey at the Oval next week, Sir Fred? That game might actually allow your boys to successfully convert a winning position!

It's a pity that Middx can't get a free week or at least dodge the rain. Cos if they're playing they're....losing.

Not going to The Oval but am visiting Lord's on Sunday for the first time since Sep 2019 and am also going to the NZ Test at Lord's.

Sibley batting today for Warwickshire. Good sign he'll be ready for England's first test.

Can't expect too many results again, weather looks atrocious for most of the next four days.

guildfordbat wrote:Looking forward to how Derbys debutant Aussie Billy Stanlake gets on. Quick and at 6ft 8 inches a particularly intimidating opponent.

Unfortunately ruled out for the season after just one game. Cruel blow for him and Derbyshire.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/57186201

Darren Stevens has gone berserk with the bat. Currently 159 off 122 against Glamorgan, including 14 sixes.

God, I love Darren Stevens. Just the gift that keeps on giving.

His recent interview with the TMS podcast team was great as well.

Get him into the England squad.

He’s put on 158 with Cummins who is 1*.

Eventually falls for 190 off 149. Came to the crease at 80/5, started assaulting the Glamorgan bowlers at around 128/8, leaves with Kent 294/9. Great entertainment.

England should just pick him for one test on a green top. I just have to know how it would go.

Darren Stevens! Managed to watch the last part of his remarkable innings online.

He gives hope to every ageing cricketer...

I had the stream on in the background (meant to be working...) and was convinced he would get the double ton. A brilliant innings.

Quinn hitting his first ball for 6 to take Kent to 300 feels like the final insult for Glamorgan.

JDizzle wrote:England should just pick him for one test on a green top. I just have to know how it would go.

1.Burns
2.Sibley
3.Crawley
4.Root
5.Pope
6.Foakes
7.Critchley
8.Stevens
9.Robinson
10.Broad
11.Anderson

That looks like a mightily balanced side for a green top...

I desperately want to see Foakes standing up to Stevens and taking a Jack Russell of Gladstone Small style stumping.

Kent finally all out.

Credit where due to the CC as they are playing in challenging circumstance with early summer cricket, covid and horrid amounts of rain over the last couple of rounds but there have been some fantastic games of cricket when they've played. This game somewhat epitomising that by being the only match currently in progress due to the weather and it's been an banger of a days cricket.

I really like the conference system being used this season and hope it stays longer term.

JDizzle wrote:He’s put on 158 with Cummins who is 1*.

According to Cricinfo, it's a record:

Stevens' contribution of 96.38% in the partnership of 166 is the highest in a 100+ run stand in first-class cricket.

I think he also went past 16,000 first-class runs during that knock, which was his 36th FC ton. I also like that someone edited his Wikipedia page, changing 'Darren Ian Stevens' to 'Darren Lara Stevens'. Quite right, too.

Duty281 wrote:

JDizzle wrote:He’s put on 158 with Cummins who is 1*.

According to Cricinfo, it's a record:

Stevens' contribution of 96.38% in the partnership of 166 is the highest in a 100+ run stand in first-class cricket.

I think he also went past 16,000 first-class runs during that knock, which was his 36th FC ton. I also like that someone edited his Wikipedia page, changing 'Darren Ian Stevens' to 'Darren Lara Stevens'. Quite right, too.

Stevens 96.39%
Extras 3.01%
Cummins 0.60%

Excellent.

If only Stevens had concentrated on his bowling back in the 90's, we'd probably be talking about one of the first class games finest ever bowlers.

king_carlos wrote:Get him into the England squad.

There must be a fair few players that have had not-terrible international careers that came and went in the time since people first started jokingly saying this by now.

Lowlandbrit wrote:

king_carlos wrote:Get him into the England squad.

There must be a fair few players that have had not-terrible international careers that came and went in the time since people first started jokingly saying this by now.

Sir Alistair Cook for one.

Soul Requiem wrote:If only Stevens had concentrated on his bowling back in the 90's, we'd probably be talking about one of the first class games finest ever bowlers.

Stevens traps Labuschagne LBW for the second time this season...

Stevens didn't really want to bowl that much by most accounts. I think it was Rob Key that saw him causing trouble with a new ball in the nets and decided to get him opening for Kent. It's an interesting one as a part timer such as Stevens back then would have bowled very little with a new Dukes ball. Balls in the net bag are usually trashed, when coaches bring new balls to the nets the front line bowlers get given them. So I can fully believe that it was a chance thing that Stevens got his hand on a newish ball in the nets almost by accident and started nipping it all over the shop out of nowhere!

Since the start of 2016, Darren Stevens has taken 246 first-class wickets at an average of 19.9. He's chipped in a few runs with the bat, too, averaging 47 this year.

If he were 25 there would be undeniable clamour for him to get a call-up to England. Because he's 45 he doesn't appear to have a chance. But does he actually deserve one?

Perhaps a similar story to the likes of Chris Rushworth, Jamie Porter and Ben Coad* where the prevailing view would be they're too simply a touch too slow to do much at Test level. Particularly outside of English conditions.

The argument against that would be Mohammad Abbas (and perhaps Bhuvi Kumar had it not been for injuries) but as much as I love watching Stevens bowl I do think Abbas is significantly more skillful and can push them through quicker when the mood takes him. Abbas has that Mohammad Asif esque ability with his wrist and the seam to get the ball to do something on days when others can seemingly get nothing from the pitch or the ball. Whereas Stevens has the ability to get the ball to do just enough and do it in the right areas over and over again on days when many bowlers will get movement but a lot of them might have the ball doing too much or simply wont make the batsman play enough.

If it weren't for Anderson and Broad a few more horses for courses green top nibblers that are prolific in CC might have a handful of Test wickets at a reasonable average whilst having played very few Tests away from home. Given Anderson and Broad have been often spectacular at home whilst having more moments away from home than most Test bowlers do there's been less need for those English seamers to 'do a job' at home I think.

*Coad's first-class record is ludicrously good and seems to have happened without anyone ever really seeming to comment on it!

Interesting move by Hants after Leics had avoided the follow-on by one run. Hants, mindful of the weather, then forfeited their second innings and set Leics just 149 to win.

LATER: Forgot that they'd started a day earlier than the others. I thought this was the third day!

All games heading for a draw, but Craig Overton with a spell of 4/16 to further push his England credentials. He's now got 36 wickets for the season at an average of just under 13.

Duty281 wrote:All games heading for a draw, but Craig Overton with a spell of 4/16 to further push his England credentials. He's now got 36 wickets for the season at an average of just under 13.

7 of the 8 games ended up drawn. Only winners were Notts by an innings against Worcs. Star men were Duckett with 177 and Fletcher with a 10 wicket haul (7/37 and 3/20).

Yes, great finish by Notts. Took 14 wickets on the final day, including the last 6 in about 20 overs, and the rain just about stayed away long enough. Seems Notts can't stop winning now - after coming into this season without a FC win since 2018, they've now won three on the bounce and all of them by mammoth margins.

Only a couple rounds left of the County Championship before it takes a month-long hiatus.

I worry about Worcs future in the red ball stuff. It was a pretty dismal effort to lose 14 wickets on what was effectively a Day 2 pitch. They were a proper yo-yo team for a while, bouncing between D1 and D2, but they seem to have regressed massively and are a bottom 4 county at best now.

Libby has been excellent signing and Barnard, bias aside, is a solid operator. Mitchell has been solid for years but is 37 now, and apart from that I don’t see any runs or players coming through. The bowling is equally, if not more, ropey. Josh Tongue is a exciting prospect but needs to stay fit, but how much can do you when your best (only) spinner is Brett D’Oliveira.

Ed Barnard as a number 8 in this Worcs team remains hilarious. Good knock from Jack Haynes yesterday - he is showing some promise.

Leicestershire on the verge of chasing down 378 to beat Middlesex...not bad for a team bowled out for 136 in the first innings. Former test cricketer Marcus Harris made 185.

Great conclusion between Yorkshire and Lancashire. Yorkshire 9 down with only around 7 overs to go, Bess making a valiant effort to save the fixture.

Yep, Lancs win, Mahmood 5/47, but Parkinson with the last wicket.

This must rank as one of the worst seasons in Middx's history, although the cynic in me notices that the damage for Leics was done by two overseas players.

There seems to be something fundamentally wrong with Middx at the moment. They can't keep promising young players and they can't attract good ones.

There have been some cracking matches in the county championship so far and at least there have been some fans to enjoy the recent ones.

Seems I'm not the only one who likes Luke Fletcher. The Notts paceman has just been given a 3 year extension on his current contract up to the end of 2024. Even though he has 36 Championship wickets this season at a touch above 13, that's some deal for the 32 year old. Good luck to him!

Somerset on the back foot at home to Hants. 73/5. 'Ronnie' Barker saying goodnight to four Cidermen. Excellent return of 9-5-7-4.

guildfordbat wrote:Somerset on the back foot at home to Hants. 73/5. 'Ronnie' Barker saying goodnight to four Cidermen. Excellent return of 9-5-7-4.

Somerset in vintage Somerset form - from 43-5 to 208-7. Your man Gregory and Roelof (51* and 47*) building on Davies and Banton’s good work.

Luke Fletcher also suffered one of the grimmest injuries I have seen on a cricket pitch when he was caught straight on the head from a straight drive whilst bowling in a T20 games a few years back. Good to see how he has bounced back.

279 of Somerset’s 360 runs came from numbers 7 to 11. Peak Somerset.

Somerset bailed out once again by their lower-order batsmen. Also a good recovery from Sussex yesterday.

Lancashire out-doing the New Zealanders in how to collapse - 109/3 to 124/8 in their second innings. That game is going to the wire.

Kent's hero, Darren Stevens, has signed a new one-year deal. The way he's played for his county this season it should be more than one-year!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/57598307

Stevens has got himself back into the Kent T20 side for the first time in years as well. He just keeps getting better!

County Championship returns today. Plenty of rain around the country.

Anderson gets his 1000th first class wicket, could be a while since someone else does that, Broad for instance is 164 away.

7-19 off ten so far for Jimmy, it's a crime having him bowl in County cricket sometimes.

No runs for Sibley and Crawley today. Nothing for Burns too, but you’d think he is secure. Hameed 45*…

Fantastic achievement by James Anderson.

And what brilliant figures to get to include a 1000th FC wicket within. I imagine he'll be the last to do it.

I see Darren Stevens top-scored in that Kent innings with 19, Zak Crawley another duck.

Mostly low-scores in the CC, as expected, but Hampshire and Somerset have managed to get over 450. Devon Conway with another half-century, he really likes it over here.

Another disappointing collapse for Middlesex - they lost their last six wickets in nine overs which consigned them to defeat v Gloucs.

Mostly draws in the other games, with plenty of rain around, though Yorkshire squeezed out a narrow win.

One more round of fixtures to go and only Yorkshire and Lancashire are safely through to Division One.

Essex's game abandoned on day two due to Covid. Means they have no chance of making it through to Division One and retaining the trophy.

Ed Barnard finally batting top 6 for Worcs. They finally read one of the letters I’ve been posting in bi weekly for six months.

JDizzle wrote:Ed Barnard finally batting top 6 for Worcs. They finally read one of the letters I’ve been posting in bi weekly for six months.

98* overnight.

The six teams through to Division One - Notts, Warwickshire, Somerset, Hampshire, Yorkshire, and Lancashire. All teams through by decent margins. Essex missing out is the shock.

Each team will carry forward half the total of points they accumulated from their fellow group opponents that made it to Division One e.g. Yorkshire took 9 points from their two games v Lancashire so they will start with 4.5 points in Division One. And each team will only play once against their opponents in Division One (excluding their group opponent e.g. Yorkshire won't play Lancashire again) making a total of four games each.

The team that finishes top of Division One wins the County Championship. Teams finishing 1st and 2nd compete for the separate Bob Willis Trophy in a five-day final.

I presume it works the same in Division Two and Three except with the absence of trophies. It's a silly format which I hope ends when the ECB conduct their review (they haven't yet decided the 2022 format).

The points standings for Division One are:

Warwickshire 21, Somerset 18.5, Lancashire 16.5, Hampshire 8.5, Notts 5, Yorkshire 4.5.

County Championship resumes on Monday with four fixtures left for each side. Fixtures in Division One:

Somerset v Notts
Lancashire v Warwickshire
Hampshire v Yorkshire