I never thought my first experience of watching county cricket north of the border would be in blazing sunshine, but that is exactly what we had yesterday at The Grange as Scotland took on Nottinghamshire in the CB 40. Someone died in the Edinburgh marathon, that's how hot it was (RIP and all that). Being used to cider-intoxicated viewing at Taunton, I was heavily suncreamed up, something my flatmates failed to do to the required standard, hence giving the term Redneck a literal meaning. Unfortunately the match was a little bit of a non-contest, as Notts cantered to a 43 run win, thanks to Graeme White's 5-35 and some lusty hitting in the top order. Scotland played with spirit, with Richie Berrington recording his third successive 50 in the competition, but the limited resources were very apparent. Still, a fun day out was had by all, even those sunburned cricketing virgins from the West Coast!
Bangladesh's woeful form on tour continued at Derby against the England Lions, basically the second string squad, as the result below will testify:
England Lions 296 (Davies 81, Gale 74) and 86-1 beat Bangladesh 220 and 161 (Jahurul Islam 58*, Bopara 4-14) by 9 wickets
This is pure garbage from Bangladesh, on what is not the most spicy wicket is the country - the 2nd test at Old Trafford will really have them on the rack. England have the luxury of being able to rest Paul Collingwood and Stuart Broad for the first test at Lord's, whereas the tourists are sweating over the fitness of their two key players, Tamim Iqbal (hand injury) and skipper Shakib Al Hasan (illness). I don't expect the test to go the full five days in English conditions, if the weather holds, so we should get a full report on the test in next week's entry.
Now, to the epic run chases I eluded to in the title. Three men orchestrated three magnificent chases this week and are all therefore Victoria Sponge Lads of the Week. NB That they have all played for Somerset at some point is of no significance!
Neil McKenzie (Hampshire) - a man with recent test experience, now a Kolpak player at the Rose Bowl. Hampshire have had a disastrous start to the season, mainly because I tipped them to win the thing, and needed a result against high-flying Notts. They managed a narrow first innings lead, thanks to a James Tomlinson 5fer and 96 from in-form Jimmy Adams. However, they had a tough 281 to win on the last day, as Alex Hales (who also smashed Scotland around yesterday for 69) hit a marvellous 136 to keep his team alive. Then McKenzie, who used to tape his bat to toilet seats as superstition (OCD), took over. Coming in at 52-2, he guided his team home with 115* at his usual sedate rate, so much so that it didn't look as though they'd get there in the alloted time. 3 big sixes off Andre Adams put paid to that fear as Hampshire won by two wickets.
James Hildreth (Somerset) - last year, Peter Trego led Somerset home with a massive run chase in the region of 470 on the last day against Yorkshire at Taunton. So, when Jacques Rudolph declared 361 runs ahead, after some buffet bowling from Hildreth and Nick Compton, he really should have known better! At 165-3 at tea, it looked very much as though the match was headed for a draw, after Yorkshire had dominated the first three and a half days, mainly thanks to makeshift opener Adam Lyth. But Hildreth had other ideas, with a destructive 102* off 70 balls, backed by Zander de Bruyn (93) and Jos Buttler (31* off 17, including the winning runs), as the mighty Cidermen got home with 6 wickets and 5 overs to spare. This after a magnificent hundred in the CB 40 the previous week against Sussex!
Wes Durston (Unicorns) - no county contract but still a great striker of a cricket ball is our Wesley! In a weekend where many a thrashing was handed out in the CB 40 (notably by Hampshire and Surrey), one result really caught the eye - the record 40 over run chase by the unfancied Unicorns against Sussex, for their second successive victory. There was no real surprise when Sussex racked up 325-4 from their overs, bolstered by the return of world champions Luke Wright and Michael Yardy, the captain. At 84-2, you would have thought that the inexperienced batting would collapse against a strong limited overs bowling attack. In walked Durston, only for an hour. When he finished, he'd made 117 off 68 balls, with 13 fours and 5 sixes at the small Arundel ground. Former Worcestershire keeper Josh Knappett saw them home.
LADS
RM
Bangladesh's woeful form on tour continued at Derby against the England Lions, basically the second string squad, as the result below will testify:
England Lions 296 (Davies 81, Gale 74) and 86-1 beat Bangladesh 220 and 161 (Jahurul Islam 58*, Bopara 4-14) by 9 wickets
This is pure garbage from Bangladesh, on what is not the most spicy wicket is the country - the 2nd test at Old Trafford will really have them on the rack. England have the luxury of being able to rest Paul Collingwood and Stuart Broad for the first test at Lord's, whereas the tourists are sweating over the fitness of their two key players, Tamim Iqbal (hand injury) and skipper Shakib Al Hasan (illness). I don't expect the test to go the full five days in English conditions, if the weather holds, so we should get a full report on the test in next week's entry.
Now, to the epic run chases I eluded to in the title. Three men orchestrated three magnificent chases this week and are all therefore Victoria Sponge Lads of the Week. NB That they have all played for Somerset at some point is of no significance!
Neil McKenzie (Hampshire) - a man with recent test experience, now a Kolpak player at the Rose Bowl. Hampshire have had a disastrous start to the season, mainly because I tipped them to win the thing, and needed a result against high-flying Notts. They managed a narrow first innings lead, thanks to a James Tomlinson 5fer and 96 from in-form Jimmy Adams. However, they had a tough 281 to win on the last day, as Alex Hales (who also smashed Scotland around yesterday for 69) hit a marvellous 136 to keep his team alive. Then McKenzie, who used to tape his bat to toilet seats as superstition (OCD), took over. Coming in at 52-2, he guided his team home with 115* at his usual sedate rate, so much so that it didn't look as though they'd get there in the alloted time. 3 big sixes off Andre Adams put paid to that fear as Hampshire won by two wickets.
James Hildreth (Somerset) - last year, Peter Trego led Somerset home with a massive run chase in the region of 470 on the last day against Yorkshire at Taunton. So, when Jacques Rudolph declared 361 runs ahead, after some buffet bowling from Hildreth and Nick Compton, he really should have known better! At 165-3 at tea, it looked very much as though the match was headed for a draw, after Yorkshire had dominated the first three and a half days, mainly thanks to makeshift opener Adam Lyth. But Hildreth had other ideas, with a destructive 102* off 70 balls, backed by Zander de Bruyn (93) and Jos Buttler (31* off 17, including the winning runs), as the mighty Cidermen got home with 6 wickets and 5 overs to spare. This after a magnificent hundred in the CB 40 the previous week against Sussex!
Wes Durston (Unicorns) - no county contract but still a great striker of a cricket ball is our Wesley! In a weekend where many a thrashing was handed out in the CB 40 (notably by Hampshire and Surrey), one result really caught the eye - the record 40 over run chase by the unfancied Unicorns against Sussex, for their second successive victory. There was no real surprise when Sussex racked up 325-4 from their overs, bolstered by the return of world champions Luke Wright and Michael Yardy, the captain. At 84-2, you would have thought that the inexperienced batting would collapse against a strong limited overs bowling attack. In walked Durston, only for an hour. When he finished, he'd made 117 off 68 balls, with 13 fours and 5 sixes at the small Arundel ground. Former Worcestershire keeper Josh Knappett saw them home.
LADS
RM
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