Domestic Interlude

Ashes 2013

 

Domestic interlude

 

July 8^th

 

Two days before the Ashes start we have a weird domestic interlude. From late June to late August the County Championship takes a two-month break when effectively all cricket is T20 or one-day: it is just what you need during a Test series should you need to call up a form player from county cricket. There are just two exceptions: in the second week of July and the first week of August rounds of Championship fixtures are sandwiched in as an apparent afterthought. For several sides these will be a critical two weeks as Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire, both around the relegation battle, play each other in an orphan fixture next week, with Nottinghamshire playing strugglers Surrey today and Warwickshire, on a run of just one win in sixteen matches in all formats, playing a Middlesex side that seems to have run out of steam (one win in its last six Championship matches and slipping to mid-table) and which is desperate, like Warwickshire, to re-launch its Championship challenge. This round of matches will be make-or-break for some.

First news of the pitch waiting at Trent Bridge is that it looks flat and full of runs, which news presumably does little for the chances of Graeme Onions to make a surprise comeback. It may just have debate raging louder than ever whether to go with the most penetrative bowler (Finn), or the one most likely to be effective if the pitch is flat and dead (reverser, Bresnan). Unlike England, who have announced their intentions early, Australia have still not announced their team for Wednesday: it will be interesting to see who they decide to go with in the key positions. The suggestion is that the attack is likely to be Siddle, Pattinson, Starc and Lyon, with Siddle actually the highest-ranked bowler on either side in the ICC Rankings. There is no official word yet though about just when the  Australian squad will be announced, although it is assumed that it will have to be tomorrow unless Australia only plan to announce a final eleven on the morning of the match.
[Later] Middlesex have had a bad day today and will have just 14 overs tomorrow to take a third wicket and claim even one bowling point. To obtain a second point they must take four more wickets in 14 overs, which seems very unlikely; their one consolation is that Warwickshire are unlikely to claim more than three batting points unless they score very quickly in the morning. Surrey have had a dreadful day and Somerset a bad one, while Derbyshire’s game is still delicately poised. Things are hotting-up in the relegation zone of the County Championship.

An interesting side note of these games is that while Nick Compton registered a five-ball duck, an alternative candidate to open for England if the Joe Root experiment fails, Varun Chopra of Warwickshire (a former England U19 captain), is 141* and hoping for a fifth First Class double century tomorrow. He has opened, albeit unsuccessfully, for the Lions this season and will be hoping that another run rush similar to that of 2012 will put him right in contention if England need an emergency opener at some point this summer.