County Cricket

26 wickets on day 1 at Chelmsford, & 23 at Southampton. Neutral Groundsmen should be put in place.

I've had an issue with what goes on at Chelmsford for some time. They have won a number of titles in recent times, partly due to producing a result wicket. To my knowledge they have escaped punishment, for their poor pitches. No doubt the will use the excuse that it's late season & the square is tired. I would understand it if some of the grounds that have had to stage Domestic, International & Hundred fixtures were struggling to prepare suitable pitches, but Essex don't have that issue.
On winning the toss Lancashire decided the pitch looked so bad that it wouldn't get any better, & elected to bat.

Lancashire 131 all out (39.5 overs)
Essex 107 all out (39.1 overs)
Lancashire 73 all out (23.4 overs)
Essex 59 all out (22.2 overs)
Lancashire won by 38 runs

A 4 day match that has lasted one ball less than 125 overs, roughly speaking 4 seasons.
A match total of 370 runs from 750 balls, the shortest First Class Match since 2006.

With Surrey enforcing the follow-on against Yorkshire, & Hampshire heading or defeat against Kent. the Championship could be decided tomorrow.
With the final round of matches next week, all the attention could focus on the relegation battle, with the outcome much more uncertain.

(18-09-2022 11:41 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  Evison looks a talent, played a mature innings for a 2 year old.

Lol erm that should read 20 year old.

Not looking good weather wise for Friday, and after a crazy couple of days, it would be a shame if the penultimate round was rendered obsolete in terms of positive results. As it stands though, you are right Booms. A result is looking likely at the Rose Bowl, with the pressure of trying to stay in the hunt for the title getting to Hampshire, that it will be all done tomorrow. I would be willing to bet they have not had two worse days all season! Even today, with conditions having calmed down - quite a bit actually, Hampshire have found themselves well behind the curve. Weatherley has stood up this time around, and he needs - particularly Vince - to bed in with him. I wouldn't be confident with how they (the team as a whole) have played so far!

Apparently Chappell has gone ape shit with the state of the pitch at Chelmsford, even though the Red Rose won (inside two days). Only Somerset and Surrey have posted average totals in this round of games really! Penalties for pitch conditions Booms?? In Div 2 runs seem to have been easier to come by with Durham Glamorgan and Worcestershire excelling!

(21-09-2022 18:59 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  

(18-09-2022 11:41 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  Evison looks a talent, played a mature innings for a 2 year old.

Lol erm that should read 20 year old.

Totally agree! He really looks the part (famous last words)!!

As expected Surrey are Division 1 County Champions, after a dominant 10 wicket win over a toothless Yorkshire, & 2nd paced Hampshire losing to Kent.
Gloucestershire, won their first match in the competition, but are still relegated. Somerset can reach safety with a victory tomorrow against Northamptonshire, otherwise they are in the mix, along with Yorkshire, Kent, & Warwickshire, who are most likely for the drop, as they will be required to win, & hope that other results go their way.

Topsy Turvy 3 days of championship cricket (with one to go in this the penultimate round) - not least at the rose bowl. On what seemed like a track that would perhaps see the inspectors pay a visit (shouldn't have done - Hampshire were just dire!), it actually played like a championship pitch should, and provided a bat/ball contest!

Congratulations to Surrey on winning the pennant, comfortably too in reality! On to the relegation fight next week. Warwickshire look most likely as you say Booms, but the Championship is so unpredictable that you just never know. It could not have sold itself and its worth (both divisions) better over the last 3 days, with so much debate conjecture and agendas currently at play!

(21-09-2022 14:22 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  I've had an issue with what goes on at Chelmsford for some time. They have won a number of titles in recent times, partly due to producing a result wicket. To my knowledge they have escaped punishment, for their poor pitches. No doubt the will use the excuse that it's late season & the square is tired. I would understand it if some of the grounds that have had to stage Domestic, International & Hundred fixtures were struggling to prepare suitable pitches, but Essex don't have that issue.
On winning the toss Lancashire decided the pitch looked so bad that it wouldn't get any better, & elected to bat.

Lancashire 131 all out (39.5 overs)
Essex 107 all out (39.1 overs)
Lancashire 73 all out (23.4 overs)
Essex 59 all out (22.2 overs)
Lancashire won by 38 runs

A 4 day match that has lasted one ball less than 125 overs, roughly speaking 4 seasons.
A match total of 370 runs from 750 balls, the shortest First Class Match since 2006.

Yeah, but we won, so that's alright then

Looking like 3rd place, which makes a change from the all-or-nothing antics a few years back.

A dominant performance today by Somerset has ensured Division 1 cricket for them next year, with a 352 run victory over Northamptonshire.