We'll start as ever with the international stuff, which this week featured much more off-field than on-field activity. As with last week, I'll try and leave the off-field stuff to the red tops and concentrate on the cricket. First on the agenda was a tour match at my beloved Taunton. Sadly, my schedule did not permit me to be there to shout (non-racist) abuse at the tourists!
Pakistan 264 (47.3 overs) (Shahzaib Hasan 105 off 120, Fawad Alam 97 off 107, Gregory 10-1-49-4) beat Somerset 256-9 (50 overs) (de Bruyn 122* off 142, Compton 50 off 72) by 8 runs
This close scoreline reflects a pretty decent performance from both teams. I'm particularly pleased for the 18-year-old debutant Lewis Gregory of Somerset. A native of Plymouth, I've probably played against the lad at some point without realising it, although I suspect the encounter was brief and ended with the shattering of my stumps. Pakistan were dug out of a hole by two batsmen to post a total and then produced a professional team bowling performance to seal it. They then moved on to Cardiff for the first of two T20 internationals.
1st T20 (Cardiff) - England 129-5 (17.1 overs) (Shoaib Akhtar 4-1-23-2) beat Pakistan 126-4 (20 overs) (Swann 4-0-14-2) by 5 wickets with 17 balls remaining. In the end it was all very comfortable after an early wobble from England's batsmen in their run chase. I'm not really convinced of the merits of playing both these games on the same Cardiff pitch, owing to the size of the boundaries and the stickiness of the surface. This match featured exactly no sixes and did not make for classic viewing and I'm sure the 2nd match tomorrow will be the same. However, England were thoroughly professional with the ball, although will be irked by the three catches they dropped. Spinners Swann and Yardy were the catalysts in restricting the tourists, finding unusual amounts of turn off the pitch, meaning the batsmen struggled to time the ball. This came after a decent start given by 36 year-old Mohammad Yousuf, who managed to adapt his normally serene game by hitting over the top. He's still shite at running between the wickets though. England's excellent ground fielding further restricted the total. I loved seeing Shoaib Akhtar back. I suspect the speed guns were tweaked slightly to keep things exciting as there is no way a 35-year-old could manage 96mph on that pitch, but he really troubled the top order with his skiddy bounce and pace. However, once Eoin Morgan (38*) and man-of-the-match Yardy (35* to go with 1-21 with the ball) were both dropped in quick succession, they manoevured the ball around with ease and managed to find their timing as England cruised home.
Now on to county matters - first of all the CB40. The semi-finals have pitted Somerset vs Essex and Yorkshire vs Warwickshire. Both of these games should be good close-fought encounters leading up to the grand finale of the season at Lord's. Seriously, if Somerset finish runners-up in all competitions I will be gutted - this is our best chance of silverware, although the Championship at Durham will have turned a few heads. With their game in hand, visitors and leaders Notts collapsed to 180 all out against a Durham attack shorn of the injured Steve Harmison and Mark Davies. Instead, it was Harmison's brother Ben who was the hero, taking 4-70 after skipper Phil Mustard had filled his boots in both innings with the bat (120 and 51*). Durham won by 210 runs.
However, the best Championship action of the week came at Bristol, a pitch which has proven a nightmare for batsmen all year. At the end of the first day, visitors Derbyshire were batting for the second time having been shot out for 44 first time around. The top score was 15 as Kiwi James Franklin took 7-14 in an innings lasting just 16.1 overs. Gloucestershire faired only slightly better in making 156, but on that deck a first innings lead of 112 seemed substantial. It took great resolve from 19 year old Chesney Hughes of Derbyshire to set a score for the hosts to chase. His 96* came out of 236, giving the hosts 125 to win. They made 70. The Guardian compared the comeback to Botham's Ashes match at Headingley in 1981. There is no doubting that the names were not as great, but the performance of Hughes certainly could be considered as much. Hailing from Anguilla, Hughes got a British passport this year and impressed with a few dashing performances in limited overs cricket. Here though, it took a lot more technique and resolve against a good quality seam attack with plenty of international experience to make an innings. He is my Victoria Sponge LAD of the week.
RM
Pakistan 264 (47.3 overs) (Shahzaib Hasan 105 off 120, Fawad Alam 97 off 107, Gregory 10-1-49-4) beat Somerset 256-9 (50 overs) (de Bruyn 122* off 142, Compton 50 off 72) by 8 runs
This close scoreline reflects a pretty decent performance from both teams. I'm particularly pleased for the 18-year-old debutant Lewis Gregory of Somerset. A native of Plymouth, I've probably played against the lad at some point without realising it, although I suspect the encounter was brief and ended with the shattering of my stumps. Pakistan were dug out of a hole by two batsmen to post a total and then produced a professional team bowling performance to seal it. They then moved on to Cardiff for the first of two T20 internationals.
1st T20 (Cardiff) - England 129-5 (17.1 overs) (Shoaib Akhtar 4-1-23-2) beat Pakistan 126-4 (20 overs) (Swann 4-0-14-2) by 5 wickets with 17 balls remaining. In the end it was all very comfortable after an early wobble from England's batsmen in their run chase. I'm not really convinced of the merits of playing both these games on the same Cardiff pitch, owing to the size of the boundaries and the stickiness of the surface. This match featured exactly no sixes and did not make for classic viewing and I'm sure the 2nd match tomorrow will be the same. However, England were thoroughly professional with the ball, although will be irked by the three catches they dropped. Spinners Swann and Yardy were the catalysts in restricting the tourists, finding unusual amounts of turn off the pitch, meaning the batsmen struggled to time the ball. This came after a decent start given by 36 year-old Mohammad Yousuf, who managed to adapt his normally serene game by hitting over the top. He's still shite at running between the wickets though. England's excellent ground fielding further restricted the total. I loved seeing Shoaib Akhtar back. I suspect the speed guns were tweaked slightly to keep things exciting as there is no way a 35-year-old could manage 96mph on that pitch, but he really troubled the top order with his skiddy bounce and pace. However, once Eoin Morgan (38*) and man-of-the-match Yardy (35* to go with 1-21 with the ball) were both dropped in quick succession, they manoevured the ball around with ease and managed to find their timing as England cruised home.
Now on to county matters - first of all the CB40. The semi-finals have pitted Somerset vs Essex and Yorkshire vs Warwickshire. Both of these games should be good close-fought encounters leading up to the grand finale of the season at Lord's. Seriously, if Somerset finish runners-up in all competitions I will be gutted - this is our best chance of silverware, although the Championship at Durham will have turned a few heads. With their game in hand, visitors and leaders Notts collapsed to 180 all out against a Durham attack shorn of the injured Steve Harmison and Mark Davies. Instead, it was Harmison's brother Ben who was the hero, taking 4-70 after skipper Phil Mustard had filled his boots in both innings with the bat (120 and 51*). Durham won by 210 runs.
However, the best Championship action of the week came at Bristol, a pitch which has proven a nightmare for batsmen all year. At the end of the first day, visitors Derbyshire were batting for the second time having been shot out for 44 first time around. The top score was 15 as Kiwi James Franklin took 7-14 in an innings lasting just 16.1 overs. Gloucestershire faired only slightly better in making 156, but on that deck a first innings lead of 112 seemed substantial. It took great resolve from 19 year old Chesney Hughes of Derbyshire to set a score for the hosts to chase. His 96* came out of 236, giving the hosts 125 to win. They made 70. The Guardian compared the comeback to Botham's Ashes match at Headingley in 1981. There is no doubting that the names were not as great, but the performance of Hughes certainly could be considered as much. Hailing from Anguilla, Hughes got a British passport this year and impressed with a few dashing performances in limited overs cricket. Here though, it took a lot more technique and resolve against a good quality seam attack with plenty of international experience to make an innings. He is my Victoria Sponge LAD of the week.
RM
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