The County Scene - Week 4: Foster makes runs, England ignore him. Again

A lot to get through this week, so we'll start with the Victoria Sponge Lad of the Week Award:

Rob White (Northants) - 23 wickets fell on the first day against Gloucestershire at Bristol, indications that a pitch had been underprepared. However, the ever-fastidious ECB inspectors blamed the tirade of dismissals on "shot selection". Believe me, variable bounce and seam movement galore is not indicative of poor shot selection! Only 3 50s were recorded in the match, one for Northants tail-ender Jack Brooks (53) and another for Steve Snell (52), looking much more fluent having been relieved of keeping duties. However, the star turn was that of White, making 95 on the first day out of his team's total of 186. 5 sixes were hit, mostly pulled over the short square-leg boundary at Bristol. The importance of his innings was highlighted as Gloucestershire were bowled out for 86, David Lucas excelling with 4-21. Batting got easier as the game wore on, but the big first innings lead established by White paid dividends as his side eased to a 94 run victory within 3 days, in spite of Gemaal Hussain's 9-98 in the match for the opponents.

White stormed to stardom early in his career, making 277* in only his fifth match, still the highest maiden century in English first-class history. In the 8 years proceeding this, he hasn't really shown much promise, with an average of 35. However, after a lean few years, this knock may be a return to form.

James Foster (Essex) - The first draw of the Championship was played out at Chester-le-Street, mainly due to the poor weather in Durham on the last day, something I can vouch for having had to endure a train journey that passed through "The North" yesterday. Let's face it though, the reigning champions were on the rack from the off and only some spirited batting after following on, where four batsmen passed 50, saved them. The platform was set for Essex by a record fourth wicket stand of 339 between Jaik Mickleburgh (174 - his maiden ton) and Foster (169). The Durham bowling attack, shorn of Onions and Harmison, looked bereft of ideas, although Liam Plunkett eventually recovered his form to claim 4-112. Essex then ran through the champions' batting for 198, with only Kyle Coetzer (55) resisting. Chris Wright, Ryan ten Doeschate and Tim Phillips all claimed 3 wickets.

I could quite easily nominate Mickleburgh for this prestigious award, but for my money, Foster's knock was the more fluent and he has been ignored far too many times by England in the past. To ignore him here would be an insult too far! He is comfortably the best wicket keeper in the country but has been cast asunder by England after 7 tests, due to a perceived lack of batting ability, compared to the likes of Matt Prior and Craig Kieswetter. He did get a call-up to last years Twenty20 World Cup, but the emergence of Kieswetter has nipped this resurgence in the bud. It's a shame - on the evidence of this week he still retains some batting talent but that is unlikely to make the selectors take note while he plays properly, in deference to hitting sixes like his peers.

Glen Chapple (Lancashire) - There would be arguments for nominating Steven Croft for similar work, or Simon Kerrigan for the 5-43 on debut which spun his team to victory, but the Lancashire captain gets the nod for crucial wickets and two unbeaten 50s when better batsmen stuttered around him. The Red Rose County found themselves 14-4 on day 1 before Croft and Ashwell Prince hit 50s to ease the pressure. However, they both fell to rash shots at 168-6, leaving Chapple to hit 54* to guide the team to 253. Warwickshire reduced the game to a one innings affair hitting back with 254 - Chapple taking 2-50 with two of the most beautiful outswingers you will ever see - far too good for Ian Westwood and Naqaash Tahir. The Lancashire batsmen were tied in knots again at 113-6, but Croft (56), Chapple (53*) and last man Sajid Mahmood (52 off 41) lifted the total to 319, in spite of Neil Carter's 5-79. Chapple took the first wicket of the run chase, trapping Varun Chopra in front for 6 and from there Kerrigan took over as Warwickshire folded for 197, consigning them to a 121 run defeat. Credit must go to Warwickshire captain Westwood, who carried his bat for 82*.

Chapple is a veteran of the county scene, with over 1000 wickets in all forms at an average of around 28, proving his consistent wicket-taking ability over 18 years. He is also a handy batsman with 6 first-class hundreds. A tough character and a strong leader, he made his ODI debut for England against Ireland in 2006 but picked up an injury and hasn't been picked since.

The winner - Rob White - For keeping his head and playing an aggressive innings on a tough pitch, making all the difference in leading his team to victory. LAD

In other news: A trade off of centuries between skippers at Headingley, but Andrew Gale's (101) Yorkshire saw off Marcus Trescothick's (117) Somerset by 6 wickets. Both of these sides have deep batting line-ups but on this occasion, Yorkskire applied themselves a bit more and came away with the victory, thanks to lower order performances from Tim Bresnan, Ajmal Shahzad and Adil Rashid. Notts smashed Kent by an innings and 32 runs, helped by a Hashim Amla hundred and 7 wickets in the match by Kiwi Andre Adams.

In Divison 2, Robin Martin-Jenkins again showed his all-round capabilities as Sussex beat Surrey by 10 wickets, a match notable for Arun Harinath's 62 off 290 as the paint dried on the fences at Hove. Matthew Hoggard's Leicestershire continued their resurgence against Derbyshire as Wayne White hit 101* against his former team in a 203 run success. Finally, Glamorgan conquered Middlesex at Lord's by 78 runs, in spite of Dawid Malan's excellent 115, showing some spine to a flaky batting side. David Harrison (5-62 in 1st innings) and Huw Waters (4-39 in 2nd innings) made use of helpful seam conditions.

The uni games were the usual affair. Neil McKenzie and Michael Carberry racked up the runs for Hampshire in a draw against Oxford Uni. Worcestershire struggled with the bat, but had too much for Leeds/Bradford with the ball as James Shantry ran through them with 12 wickets in a 250 run win

This week sees the start of the new ECB 40-over competition. Now I'm a big fan of 40 over cricket but not in favour of 50 overs, as this competition is. In an attempt to reduce the cricketing calendar, the ECB has scrapped a limited overs competition and expanded another. The result is two extra days of cricket in the calendar. Well done guys! Their logic in having 40 overs is that it is shorter and more entertaining for the crowds. However, it does not reflect the ODI format of 50 overs, the rationale being that "South Africa are one of the top sides in the world and they only play 40 overs domestically". Now remind me, when did South Africa win anything serious? Didn't think you could tell me. As for the cricket, look out for Somerset and Nottinghamshire as potential winners. To celebrate its launch, next week's Victoria Sponge Lad of the Week Award will be selected specifically from Sunday's fixtures. Championship scores will also be provided.

See you then!
RM