County Championship 2021

Performance of the day goes to Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas in his home debut for Hampshire, he claimed 6-11, including a hat-trick, as Middlesex were bowled out for 79.

Performance of the day goes to Ollie Pope, after a disappointing winter, he racked up 245 from 272 balls with 30 fours against Leicestershire at the Oval.
A mention for Joe Root, who scored a ton against Kent.

Performance of the day, has to go to Ollie Robinson of Sussex, with staggering figures of 30.1-10-78-9, six of the dismissals were lbw. He surely can't be far off an England cap after being in the squads over the past year. A tall bowler, not rapid, but quick enough, similar to Angus Fraser, who did pretty well.

(15-04-2021 12:34 )Boomerangutangangbang Wrote:  April 15 - 19

Group 1
Derbyshire 390 &312-5
Worcestershire 305 & 193-8
Match Drawn

Essex 96 & 330
Durham 259 & 123
Essex Beat Durham by 44 runs

Nottinghamshire 373 & 260
Warwickshire 201 & 333-7
Warwickshire beat Nottinghamshire by 3 wickets

Group 2
Hampshire 319 & 290-4
Middlesex 79 & 281
Hampshire beat Middlesex by 249 runs

Somerset 312 & 149
Gloucestershire 309 & 156-2
Gloscestershire beat Somerset by 3 wickets

Leicestershire 375 & 295-3
Surrey 672-8 dec
Match Drawn

Group 3
Glamorgan 285 & 349
Sussex 481 & 154-2
Sussex beat Glamorgan by 8 wickets

Lancashire 305 & 296-7 dec
Northamptonshire 177 & 218
Lancashire beat Northamptonshire by 206 runs

Yorkshire 379 & 330-5 dec
Kent 265 & 244
Yorkshire beat Kent by 200 runs

Centuries & 5 wickets

Centuries
Pope 245
Holland 146 no
H Azad 144 no
S Evans 138
Carlson 127 & 132
J Smith 123
Bracey 118
Northeast 118
Lyth 116
van Zyl 113
Critchley 109
Croft 103
J Root 101
Borthwick 100

5 Wickets
Robinson 9-78
Harmer 5-79 & 5-57
Willey 5-61
Critchley 5-67
Carse 5-82

Interestingly the century count is slightly down for the 2nd round of matches, but 15 is still pretty high. On the bowling front there were 6 five wicket hauls, up from 4 in the previous round. Worth a mention that Simon Harmer, who accounted for 2 of those, & he was the difference in the match, which Essex won. Who says that spinners don't play a part early in the season. Phil Tufnell recently said that you obviously wont get that many turning wickets & have to find other methods of taking wickets. A fantastic fightback after getting bowled out for 96 in the first dig. Essex look the strongest team again, they don't suffer from Test Match calls like some sides, maybe Dan Lawrence could feature at some point this summer.
An impressive game for Glamorgan's Kiran Carlson, with centuries in both innings. A talented young batsman who has struggled for consistency. Unlucky to finish on the losing side, but Ollie Robinson's match figures of 13-128 & half-century ensured an easy win for Sussex.

April 22-25

Group 1
Durham v Derbyshire- - Chester-le-Street
Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire - New Road
Warwickshire v Essex - Edgbaston

Group 2
Hampshire v Gloucestershire - Ageas Bowl
Middlesex v Surrey - Oval
Leicestershire v Somerset - Grace Road

Group 3
Kent v Lancashire - Canterbury
Northamptonshire v Glamorgan - Northampton
Sussex V Yorkshire - Hove

After 2 Rounds of matches, Hampshire & Gloucestershire are the only teams to have won both games, they come head to head in a top of the table group 2 clash. Hampshire maybe have the edge to make it 3 wins from 3.

Scandalous that Sky are not giving us the opportunity to watch the CC (instead IPL baseball crap)- albeit a strange format this season. They will though, despite all this, at some point, continue to lecture us about the 'importance' of red ball cricket ie tests (beautifully pointless without a context - forthcoming 'final' doesn't adequately address this imho) and how the CC is so 'important' in preparing the players for it. Well if it is then show the damn thing!

I wish the counties would do a 'super league' and break free from the 'shackles' of the ecb. That is where a K Packer would be most useful nowadays. In the interim, they should charge an 'entrance fee' to their online feed. Why shouldn't they benefit from their foresight in providing the coverage they do??

^^ After last seasons regional groups, (in order to limit travel to prevent covid transmission). This years format has rather crept up on me. It is something that Martyn Moxon & others were championing a while back. I wasn't a great fan, but I'm beginning to see some of the benefits. I'll hold judgement until the season plays out.
I was starting to form my own views & then after watching Sky TV's Hussain & Key Cricket Show, were they reviewed the first 2 rounds of matches & how things were shaping up, there were many positives. One issue has been that teams in Div 2, concentrate their efforts into white-ball cricket, & T20 in particular as they have little chance of competing in 4 day cricket against larger counties & more so ones from Test Match playing grounds. Look at the way that Notts hoover-up all the talent in the Midlands, their starting XI hardly has any home-grown players in it. The bulk of the England side is made up of Div 1 players, with selectors reluctant to pick from Div 2 with the view that the standard isn't as high.
What this year has shown is that a County such as Gloucestershire can compete & Durham. With no fear of relegation & extra points for a draw, pitches have been better to bat on in general, maybe groundsmen aren't having to serve up green seamers that offer results in 2 days. The dry spell of weather has played it's part, teams have played spinners & leg-spin has been a good wicket taking option. Lancashire's Matt Parkinson getting a run in the red ball side. After 2 wicketless matches, England's Dom Bess taking 6 second innings wickets on a track that offered help. in the same match the Sussex 20 year old off-spinner, Jack Carson took 5-85 from almost 40 overs.
We still need to play 4 day cricket in mid-summer more, otherwise Darren Stevens will top the bowling averages every year & Kent will be picking him aged 50.
Better pitches will automatically produce more spin bowlers & fast bowlers. There will always a be a place for skillful medium-pace bowlers, our climate dictates that to a degree. But we need a variety of surfaces played on throughout the summer for our batsmen to learn how to face different challenges.