First goal: Burns’ players showed plenty of fighting spirit
Sarri has yet to emulate Manchester City’s dominance in the Premier League, but ominous comparisons are emerging. There is unity among the players; they are effective no matter who is selected; they want to win regardless of form, injury or condition.
Perhaps most striking was their insistence on an approach that every opponent knew was coming but seemed unable to deal with it. Upside stability + power batting to take away the game in the middle and even late stages + classy seamers to explore any mental or technical flaws = winning cricket matches.
Rory Burns’ team may have made things look a little too simplistic and a little cold-blooded for neutrals. Like Manchester City under Guardiola, they are a team to be admired rather than loved. Surrey are 19 points clear after five games, with Jamie Smith and Kemar Roach leading Warwickshire this week, but it could really be anyone. That might be a good thing for the Brown Caps, but not so good for fans hoping for a change of attitude before a third consecutive pennant is flown in September.
Ball 2: Hamid hits the bullseye
He may be too young to know Jim Bowen, but Hasib Hamid could probably throw in a decent “See what you can win” — a bullseye catchphrase for those watching the Clippers Lose the contestant, or give the gas fitter from Penge some equally inappropriate prize. The Nottinghamshire captain and former Lancashire opener must have been tempted to indulge in similar emotions as his side beat an increasingly naive Lancashire side who were unbeaten for 10 hours A stunning return to form in 247 games.
Hamid’s career trajectory is the stuff of a biopic: boy wonder, teenage Test debutant, classically gifted, with a shy humility that led experts (including current writers) to dub him a “baby boycott.” Deal with the hype. But then the game stopped and he lost his place in the England team and eventually even Lancashire. A move to Trent Bridge revived his career to some extent, but the recall to the Test XI came too soon and the opportunity was squandered.
He is only 27 and despite inconsistent performances maintains a ceiling as high as any other batsman in domestic cricket. He may also need to explore his potential as a leader if Nottinghamshire are to consolidate their mid-table position. As for his old county? Bottom-placed Lancashire need to find a team or two of their own soon if they want to retain their status in League One.
Ball 3: Utilita Bowl of no use to Pacers
What’s happening at the Utilita Bowl – “the South Coast’s premier international cricket, music and leisure destination”? It’s still early May, but the scorecard reminds us of when we played this game in August: Hampshire 503, Durham 432, Hampshire 62 for two.
no so Perhaps unusual, until one sees the bowling ball. Durham’s Callum Parkinson hit 43 in the first innings and was matched by Hampshire’s Felix Ogan. Both were overtaken by Liam Dawson, who scored 66 runs, with the home-run player taking 9 wickets at a rate of around 2.5 runs per over.
It was a tough start for ground crews across the country, with high water levels and Kookaborra balls to deal with in the first two overs, but the two captains using so much spin on the pitch to produce such high scores speaks volumes Imbalance between bats. England will play one game in Southampton this year (a T20I against Australia in September), and if that game is a sign of things to come, that could be the best outcome.
Goal Four: Canterbury’s satisfying stalemate
Worcestershire’s two bowling all-rounders couldn’t help but lick their lips when the scoreboard read 393 for 7, while Kent’s bowlers had completed 121 overs. Jason Holder and Matthew Waite played 38 overs and completed a century each to score over 600 runs.
Kent are looking at seven batting to salvage the game, so the last thing they want is to lose both openers early. Zach Crowley and Ben Compton have struggled this season, with only one of them scoring more than 41 points.
The score was huge in the first inning of this game, where time was more important than runs and as much a mental challenge as a technical one. It’s an outdated and underrated skill in the game – the batsman equivalent of bowling for a long time and waiting for the reward to arrive. Led by Jack Leaning’s 179 in nearly 10 hours, four other batsmen stayed with him for 90 minutes or more, including Nathan Gilchrist Position 10 held out for an hour.
It was a good effort, but it was moot as to which group of players was more fatigued when Brett D’Oliveira performed the follow-up (he had completed 30 rounds himself, so he was ahead). Can the seamers fight hard on the field for a third day in a row? Can the batsmen take it one ball at a time, every session, every over, every ball, and gradually get into a stalemate? Maybe it’s for the connoisseurs, but it’s a rare pleasure to witness such patience in an increasingly frenetic world.
Ball 5: Throw away Hoff’s form book
In contrast to the predictability of the Division One leaders, the Division Two leaders had an unpredictable game at Hove. Sussex have one of the best batsmen and probably the best bowlers in the country this season in Cheteshwar Pujara and Jayden Seales, Sussex must have been full of confidence when Glamorgan went into town having not won a red-ball game in 12 months.
Mir Hamza and James Harris (17 years after his Welsh County debut) had other ideas. The Pacers took four wickets each and the visitors ended the first day with the batsmen at the crease. But it all seemed business as usual for Sussex as Sears struck out a batsman in each of the first three overs of the second day.
The evening sun shone on the sea before another wicket fell, with Colin Ingram (170) and Kieran Carlson (148) setting up a 315-stand stand to upend the narrative. The lead was a relatively manageable 133, but Sussex’s stuffing had been knocked out, with James Coles and Fionn Hudson-Prentiss the only ones surviving for more than half an hour, with Ann Dee Govan helped himself to a maiden five-a-side finish.
Sussex remain top of the table but need to regroup before facing Yorkshire on Friday. Glamorgan hope they can continue their winning habit at home to Middlesex.
Goal 6: Marchant de Lange takes advantage
In a game in which his team scored 409 and 319 for five, it may have seemed like the opposite, but Marchant de Lange was on target as Gloucestershire beat Northamptonshire played a role. When he gets it right, there’s a Garth Leroux-like quality to his batting and bowling, and his hostility, which saw him score 8 for 100 in 36 overs, was outstanding for the 33-year-old Performance.
It was Gloucestershire’s first win in the Championship since September and I hope there’s another South African fastman somewhere out there who hits the ball long and has a smile on his face.
