County Championship Round 6, Gloucestershire v Durham

 

 Day 1

An unfamiliar look to the side against the runaway leaders of Division 2. Whatever your allegiance, it is good to see Durham finally on the up after the draconian punishment meted out by the ECB. However, they would pose a big test even for a full strength Gloucestershire. Apart from the long-term absence of David Payne, there was no Tom Price, no Graeme van Buuren (James Bracey took over the captaincy from the injured GvB) and no de Lange. Back came Jack Taylor to bat at 6. In came Josh Shaw and Zaman Akhter for only his second First Class match.

Scott Borthwick won the Toss and decided to bat. Ajeet Dale and Matt Taylor with the New Ball. A flat pitch, good weather and Durham, who have racked-up the runs for fun this season, to contend with. Fourteen from the first two overs was evidence that Durham were going to do what they have been doing to other sides all season and attack from the off. Even so, they did not have it all their own way. Ajeet Dale, enjoying being entrusted with the New Ball, ran in at Michael Jones, who had 13 from 10 balls. The batsman left expansively, Dale’s delivery angled in and exploded the stumps. Yet another clean-bowled to his name. 15-1. Just the tonic that the side needed. However, Durham consolidated and the appearance of Akhter for the 14^th over led to an acceleration in the run-rate, although he was unlucky not to get Lees in his first over to an attempted cut shot that almost caught the edge. On came Zafar to restore order and Alex Lees hammered his first delivery back over his head to the boundary, his first over going for 12 runs.

Unusually, Alex Lees took guard well outside off to Josh Shaw. It was not a successful tactic as he flashed, edged, and was taken by Zafar in the Gulley. 86-2 and the Shire feeling better about the morning. Even so, up came the 100 in the 25^th over, with Durham scoring at better than 4-an-over.

127-2 at Lunch from 29 overs at 4.4-an over, with the batsmen taking a special liking to Zafar and Akhter. Durham most definitely the happier of the two sides at Lunch.

Ajeet Dale was as aggressive as ever and sat Scott Borthwick with an excellent bouncer, however, the batsman soon got his revenge with a Square Drive to go to his 50 from 73 balls and bring up the 50 partnership. Unusually, at this point every run was off the bat. Something is always happening when Ajeet Dale is bowling. His eleventh over saw the first extra (a No Ball), a bouncer aimed like an Exocet, which Borthwick ducked, a play and miss and then an identical – and better executed, save for one detail – shot, flicked to leg, which Miles Hammond, who was placed for the shot, intercepted with a wonderful flying catch at Leg Gulley. 149-3. The over then ended with new bat, Ollie Robinson receiving a short ball straight in the midriff. Action a-plenty in that over. Dale with 2-33 and bowling with some fire on a very flat track. Next over, David Bedingham first played and missed at Matt Taylor and then lofted the next delivery to Akhter  at Mid-Wicket. 149-4 and Gloucestershire right back in the game, with two next batsmen at the crease, both without scoring. It could have been even better: first ball, Clark received a superb yorker from wide of the crease. He jammed his bat down on it, the ball slid onto the back pad and trickled close to the stumps, with Clark having no idea where it had gone.

Again Durham regrouped, and a new partnership formed. Zafar was being harshly treated, with 0-47 from 7 overs and the bat was getting back on top. The 200 came up with a massive six over Long On off the suffering Zafar. With Akhter, who bowled some very good deliveries, along with some very poor ones, also being expensive, things started to look ominous again. Zafar then bowled a very fine over to Robinson, who seemed to get frustrated, aiming two massive cuts, the second of which took an inside edge and was superbly caught by a gleeful James Bracey. 214-5 and some cheer for Zafar on a tough afternoon. A little control of the run-rate returning.

Again, a partnership started to build: Clark and de Leede building again. 240-5 at Tea, Graham Clark 36*, Bas de Leede, 14*. Up came the 250 in the 68^th over. James Bracey was standing up to Josh Shaw who was the most economical of the bowlers and helping to apply some real pressure. It did not prevent Clark and de Leede putting up the fourth, fifty partnership of the innings, 266-5 and the bat getting on top again.

With the New Ball just four overs away, on came Ben Charlesworth. After a tidy first over, 14 came off this second. On too came Jack Taylor for, presumably, a single over and up came the 300 with a boundary from his first ball. The New Ball was thrown at once to Ajeet Dale: 303-5 and, James Bracey badly needing a wicket. Eighteen from an Ajeet Dale over and Durham were motoring. The hundred partnership had been and left far behind in a flash. Two more boundaries from Matt Taylor: six boundaries and 27 runs had come off just two overs with the still new ball. Back came Zafar for just the seventh over with the New Ball and, immediately, James Bracey brought off a smart stumping as de Leede overbalanced. 338-6, the second bowling point up. Bracey was jubilant and Zafar was seeing some reward. Celebration was tempered, though, with Clark 82* and looking set for a century. A brace of boundaries off Matt Taylor took him up to 90*. 350 came up, but then Zafar spun a ball prodigiously from outside off that also kept wickedly low. It looked to have even turned too much, but he won the decision: 350-7.

Still runs flowed off Clark’s bat at the other end. A brace of fours off Akhtar took him to 99*, although he must have been very close to departing to both the next two deliveries with the ball passing very close first to the inside edge and then to the outside edge of Clark’s bat: both times, Bracey and the Slips appealed loudly. Finally, Clark turned Zafar off his legs to complete a century from 153 balls, but went just 3 balls later, trying to cut a ball far too close to him and falling LBW. 369-8, Zafar 4-95 and his early struggles forgotten. Akhter finally got his reward just before the Close when Matty Potts drove without due care and attention and Miles Hammond arrested his progress with another catch. 374-9, the third bowling point. There was still time, though, for some merry hitting from the last pair.

393-9 at the Close. Durham 7 short of the fourth batting point. A well-contested day, but Durham have the runs on the board and have scored fast. Gloucestershire will want to stop this annoying last-wicket partnership quickly in the morning and use the pitch as well as Durham have.

Day 2

A frustrating day for the Shire. Glimpses of what might have been, but now the unbeaten run of eight matches covering the 2022 and 2023 seasons is in real danger.

So far, only Sussex and Yorkshire have kept Durham below 400 in the first innings and only against Yorkshire have they failed to pass 350 (and Durham still won), which is where their impressive haul of batting points has come from. Could Gloucestershire hold them below that symbolic mark too? The last wicket pair had put on 54 in the first innings against Yorkshire and started by adding four singles from the first eleven deliveries before Coughlin went big against Zafar and brought up the 400 with a six. When Patel added a boundary from Ajeet Dale the partnership had risen to 33 and was getting more than annoying. The talk by the visitors before the start of play of Durham getting the fifth batting point too began to seem all too realistic for comfort: ten overs left for points, 36 required. Boundaries from consecutive Dale deliveries for Coughlin  and then another big six took him to 49 and brought up the 50 partnership in 44 balls. Coughlin’s 50 from 43 balls came from the next ball. The bowling was getting hammered and the 450 was approaching like an express train. On came Matt Taylor and saw his first delivery disappear for four more. Finally, though, he induced an edge from Patel and Bobby Bracey completed his third dismissal of the innings. 445ao.

“Get in and go big”, said Dan Whiting. Marcus Harris was lucky enough to be dropped second ball, which should have been a warning. At the other end, Chris Dent scored boundaries from his first two balls: the first no more than a firm push, the second a solid pull. Rapid outfield. Sun. Perfect conditions. What could Shire do?

Disastrously, Chris Dent left a ball from Matt Potts, the ball came back in, kept a little low and Dent was given LBW. Maybe it was doing too much. Maybe he was a little unlucky. What was not in doubt was that it was the wrong ball to leave. 10-1 and with a much longer tail than against Derbyshire. Not the start that you wanted to see.

What followed was the sort of batting that made the later collapse even more galling to watch. Ben Charlesworth had a Silly Mid On and a Silly Mid Off, two Slips and a Gulley. Most definitely an interesting field for Ben Raine, but an indication that the bowlers thought that there was some irregular bounce to be exploited. Even so, slowly the batsmen were consolidating. Raine bowled a little too far down leg and the ball went for four leg byes. A Square Cut for four next ball from Harris. On came Ajaz Patel to bowl spin as early as the thirteenth over and Harris danced down to club him for four through Mid On, but perilously close to a fielder. Again, Harris came down the pitch to Patel, but only got a single from it. Still, 39-1 from 13 overs was getting more respectable. Ben Charlesworth took his cue and launched the first ball he faced from Patel far over Long On for six. Up came the 50 in the sixteen over. However, Charlesworth also tried to dance down the pitch to a fuller ball and was lucky to Chinese cut it for four when the ball could have gone anywhere. A Harris boundary brought up the 50 partnership. Ben Charlesworth then offered a very tough chance, fast and low to Short Forward Square Leg that went down to the frustration of the close fielders. Another Charlesworth edge, this time off Coughlin, flew through where 3^rd Slip had been not long before and added 4 more.

66-1 from 20 overs at Lunch. Probably an even session, maybe even slightly frustrating for Durham, who had gone so close to the fifth batting point and, with the batsmen both flirting with danger, had seen the two shots that flew to fielders, go to ground.

Although play had started in sunshine, the weather had got darker and more menacing before the break, which was the cue for Gloucestershire’s weekly homage to Jupiter Pluvius. Down came the rain and on came the covers and the big sheets. Meanwhile, those fans still depressed by last season would do well to look at the score at Southampton, where Northants are 27-7 and mutter “there, but for the grace of God go we”. Northants look set to be dismissed for under 100 for the third time this season and four more times have failed to reach 200: Division 1 is a tough old shark pond, as the Shire found last season.

Eighty minutes lost. An edged boundary off Coughlin took Harris to 47*. Then a delivery from Patel beat everything and went for 4 byes. Charlesworth inside edged and the ball bounced over the stumps. Harris gave Patel the charge, the ball squeezed under the bat, and he just avoided it spinning back onto his stumps: 98-1 and the ball not running for Durham. There was nothing wrong, though, with the Cover Drive that Ben Charlesworth produced to bring up the 100. The Marcus Harris 50 came up with a reserve sweep off Patel: two balls later he aimed a cut at a wide delivery and edged to the ‘keeper: 110-2 and some of the gloss had come off what had been a good session. In came Miles Hammond with his side needing a century from someone.

Only the worst pessimists could imagine the slide that would follow.

Miles Hammond, who played for England U19 as an off-spinner who could bat, started well with three boundaries from a Coughlin over. Ben Raine came into the attack and Hammond Square Cut him for consecutive boundaries. Once again, he had started batting like a million dollars. The last thing that the Shire needed was to lose him to the last ball before Tea, leaving a ball that, even if it had not come back in to hit Off, would still have been a perilously tight leave. It was another innings that illustrated both his ability and his propensity to give away a good start with his weakness outside off. 139-3 and the Follow-On mark of 295 suddenly looking a long way away, especially with the out of form Jack Taylor coming in at 5.

Taylor tried an ambitious cut and just about survived. Next ball he received one in his zone and launched Patel way over Long On to get off the mark with a huge six. Jack Taylor is always best when he goes for his shots… but judiciously! Raine dropped a ball short and leg side to Ben Charlesworth who brought up his 50 with an imperious hook. Taylor tried another big hit, but half pulled out of the shot and just cleared the fielder for a lucky 4. Still, he was trusting his eye and deciding to go for his shots, but it was a high risk strategy. After two cut shots off his stumps, he tried a forward defensive and was comprehensively bowled through the gate. 168-4. Here we go again. It got worse. James Bracey had looked in good form but reached for a ball outside off and edged Potts straight into the midriff of Second Slip. 189-5. Almost 15 overs left. With a long tail, would the Shire even manage to reach the Close?

Zafar was flirting with danger outside off but, when he got it right, a fine Square Cut brought up the 200. The feeling was that Durham would bat again, even if Gloucestershire failed to save the Follow-On because neither side would want to bat last but, the first target was to get past 250. The task was made far harder when Bas de Leede aimed one across Charlesworth who flashed, and Bedingham at Second Slip took a good catch above his head. Charlesworth out for 71, 214-7 and worse was to come almost at once as Matt Taylor survived two balls and then flicked his third gently to Scott Borthwick: 217-7 and the ship sinking fast. Zafar played studiously forward, missed and the ball went for four byes. He then swept hard at Patel, missed again and this time did not get away with it, stumped as his back foot slipped forward. 227-8. Akhter edged his first ball to Second Slip and Patel was on a hat-trick. 168-3 had become 227-9.

In came Ajeet Dale to a fielders’ convention. Somehow room was found for a third slip, who joined the Silly Point, Short Forward Square Leg and Silly Mid Off. Dale swung, the ball rolled out and the batsman survived. An edge just evaded Second Slip’s outstretched hand and brought a boundary. Shaw and Dale decided to hit out and take their chances, as the Durham last wicket pair had done and, improbably, the 250 and the bonus point came up with a huge six the Shaw hit over Long On. Patel’s over went for 16 from a combination of byes and runs off the bat. Josh Shaw then hit the last ball of the day for a gorgeous Cover Drive and the Shire survived to resume in the morning.

255-9. 41 needed to save the Follow-On, although nobody believes that Durham will want to enforce it. Either way, Gloucestershire are facing a big deficit and the likelihood of a very improbable fourth innings chase. They will need a very, very good Day 3 to save that unbeaten run.

Day 3

At some point tomorrow, probably before Lunch, the eight-game unbeaten streak that Gloucestershire started on September 5^th, 2022, at Taunton, will end in a defeat although, for a glorious hour and a half in the evening, the faithful could dream of an astonishing last-day chase still being possible.

There was a simple task for the Shire today: take time out of the game. Extend the last wicket partnership as long as possible. Slow Durham’s progress with the bat as much as possible to reduce the time available to be bowled out a second time. It would take a titanic effort to save the game but, if it could be saved, it would give the team great morale. That was the theory. It just did not quite work out in practice.

Josh Shaw accumulated, supported by Ajeet Dale, helped by some leg-side bowling that brought four byes and four leg byes. He then brought up the fifty partnership with a huge six over Long On, followed by a quick single. Another huge six over Long On took them to within four of the Follow-On mark and within eight of a second bonus point. Seven overs survived, 37 added, but the New Ball looming. Hold your breath. Keep your head. One edge through the slips  or deflection off a pad would do. Sadly, Ajeet Dale went for an ambitious drive with just four balls to go to the New Ball and Matthew Potts castled him comprehensively. Josh Shaw left high and dry, five short of his First Class Best.

292ao. Better than we dared hope, but the 300 was so close. The last pair had showed that, against an old ball at least, there was not too much wrong with the track. Durham were soon to demonstrate it comprehensively.

The two key numbers of the Gloucestershire innings, though, were 8, 2 and 3: eight batsmen got a start, just two reached 40 and three were dismissed, leaving a ball. Too many batsmen had done the hard work of getting in and had got out. Second time around the order of the day would be “same batting order, better batting!”

Durham batting again, 153 ahead. How long would they bat?

It was no great surprise to see Zafar wheeling away as early as the fifth over and he must have come precious close to removing Jones immediately after a New Ball thrust that proved a little more costly than James Bracey would have liked. Ajeet Dale’s first six overs went for just 11. Zafar’s first five went for 16. Matt Taylor was, though, more expensive and, when he returned to rest Ajeet Dale, he gave too much width and went for two boundaries.

Gloucestershire had good reason to be happy with their first hour of bowling. It was tight. Scoring opportunities were limited. Durham progressed to 48-0 without many alarms, but without racing away. The half hour before Lunch was, though, a horror story. 48 were scored from those first 16 overs. 53 came from the next nine, which included a Matt Taylor maiden over. It was if the fifty coming up with a Square Cut from the first ball of the 17^th over, delivered by Zafar, flicked a switch. Another boundary and a six, clubbed by Jones, followed. Fifteen from the over. Matt Taylor bowled his maiden, and all hell was let loose. Jones’ 50 included three sixes, the first two hit off consecutive Zafar overs, the third when Jack Taylor replaced him. The hundred came up in the last over before Lunch. This would have been even worse had the imminence of the break not caused the batsmen to reduce the intensity of their assault a couple of notches for the last four overs.

101-0 at Lunch. 254 ahead. At this rate of scoring Durham would be able to declare after Tea, at least 400 ahead. Not good.

The news got worse. Ajeet Dale off the field after Lunch, apparently as a precaution because of his heavy bowling load. Dom Goodman on as substitute and the Shire a bowler short.

First over after Lunch, Akhter had Jones pinned in front and launched an appeal running right down until he was facing the batsman. The ball kept low and was hitting middle. The only problem was that the impact was just outside off. Then he aimed an expansive sweep, top-edged and the ball cleared the ‘keeper. Zafar was getting turn but gave Jones too much room and was launched square for six. Finally, Zaman Akhter got his reward, bowling Lees round his legs (!!), middle and leg. 119-1, Lees out for 40. An odd dismissal and not one that Lees will be proud of.

Zafar seemed to be indicating, understandably, that he wanted a fielder in the carpark past Square Leg, but he started to get huge turn from the rough outside the left-hander’s Off Stump. Scott Borthwick did not play a shot to a ball the spun back a long way and was given LBW. 122-2 and the Durham charge slowing a little. Unfortunately, not for long. It was a different matter bowling to the right-hander as Jones launched a sweep for six over the short boundary at Square Leg and then swept Zafar’s next two deliveries for boundaries: lead over 300, Jones in the 90s. After a quiet period, 24 came from two over.

Josh Shaw came into the attack and was hit through the covers for two crunching boundaries before Bedingham got a little early on one that was a bit straighter and top edged to Chris Dent.178-3. The lead 331 and Durham scoring so fast that you could see a declaration 450 ahead possibly even before Tea. Another Square Cut and up came Michael Jones’ century from 127 balls. Durham chasing quick runs and prepared to risk losing wickets. The result was carnage. Josh Shaw’s punishment for the temerity of taking a wicket was to concede two boundaries and ten runs in his next over. Zafar’s tactic of wanting a man out beyond the Square Leg boundary was justified when Robinson put one straight down the throat of Paul van Meekeran… unfortunately, it didn’t count because (a) van Meekeran was not playing and (b) the ball had cleared the boundary by a large margin. Just the thirteen runs off the over. It added up to 39 from 4 overs of Shaw and Zafar.

Potential bowlers must have wanted to hide every time James Bracey tried to catch their eye. The unlucky one to hold the stare was Jack Taylor. First ball short. Robinson launched it high into the stands at Square Leg. Second ball, rinse, and repeat. Third delivery, a wide outside off. Fourth, a fraction closer and crashed square for four. Acrobatic fielding kept Robinson to a single from the last three deliveries, but it was still 18 from the over and a pre-Tea declaration looking more and more likely. 45 minutes to Tea, 393 ahead.

The 400 lead came up in the 45^th over. Robinson’s 50 came from 25 balls. It was a good rate of scoring even for a T20. Robinson tried to reverse sweep Zafar, missed, dragged his back foot out and James Bracey executed his second smart stumping of the match. 272-4 and the declaration, 425 ahead and Tea taken with 46 overs remaining.

Good news: no short session before Tea.

Bad news: the two overs to be deducted for the change of innings, would not be.

142 overs to play. 426 the target. 3.00 the asking rate. Nothing to it!

Chris Dent needed a long innings, but it almost ended second ball when he edged at catchable height, between Second and Third Slip. He got four for it, but it was a moral victory. Two balls later, he was perilously close to LBW (ball pitched outside leg??) Next ball, a lovely Cover Drive for four. Buckle up! It’s going to be a bumpy ride! Hope lasted 15 balls. The 16^th accounted for Chris Dent, the 17^th for Ben Charlesworth (nick to the ‘keeper and catch to Third Slip, respectively). 11-2. Game over.

Hat-trick ball. Miles Hammond digs out a yorker in front of just the five waiting slips.

One thing that favoured the batsmen was that, with attacking fields, anything that beat the in-field was likely to go for four. Scoring quickly was not a problem. It was scoring quick AND staying in that was the problem. And no one seemed to be up to the task.

Many Gloucestershire supporters seem to lose patience with Miles Hammond. When he gets in, he looks top class and bats like a million dollars, but he has just two First Class centuries and a very poor conversion rate of fifties to centuries, getting out far too often to loose shots when set. Off the mark with a glorious Cover Drive, maybe this was the situation to get his juices flowing? Miles Hammond plays spin well and it was almost a relief to see Patel on for the ninth over of the innings. He played three balls studiously and then danced down and unleashed a perfect Cover Drive for four.

The batsmen were scoring at better than four-an-over. Surely those two early wickets were just an aberration? Another Hammond Cover Drive brought up the 50 in the thirteenth over. The batsmen looked in no difficulty. Raine bowled a ball from round the wicket that lifted a bit more. Hammond tried to remove his bat and just guided the ball gently to Second Slip off the face. It is a shot that gets no better when seen again. 53-3 and the out of sorts Jack Taylor coming in. A cricket pitch is a lonely place when you are low on form and confidence. Seeing a ball from Patel turn and leap at Marcus Harris out of the rough and run for four byes probably did little for the confidence of the batsmen. Harris then took a single. First ball, Jack Taylor took a big stride down the pitch, played forward, missed, and was stumped. He stared at the line for some considerable time before walking off, perhaps suggesting that he did not think that his back foot had moved, but the scoreboard said otherwise. 58-4 and the odds on the game not entering its final day. The experiment of playing Jack Taylor at 5 to protect James Bracey had failed. It was almost 58-5. Bracey was hit on the pad second ball and probably was only saved because he was hit just outside off when playing a shot.

James Bracey scored just two from his first twenty balls before breaking the shackles with a sweep for four and then deflecting the next delivery through the slips for another. Thirteen off the Patel over, but Durham had a lot of runs to play with. A brace of boundaries for the Captain brought up the hundred in the 23^rd over and the Shire were motoring along at almost four and a half per over. A few quiet overs of accumulation and James Bracey came down the pitch and launched Patel over Long On for another boundary. All the while, Marcus Harris was playing quietly and staying out of trouble. Nothing flashy, but effective. He flicked Scott Borthwick’s first delivery to bring him a fifty from 86 balls in his last innings before leaving for Test duty. 126-4. Was a bubble of hope starting to rise?

When James Gracey turned Scott Borthwick off his legs for his seventh boundary it brought up his fifty (in 77 balls) and the team 150. The partnership stood at 97. Another hour of this and some nerves might just start to assail the opposition. Endless field changes. Maybe a bit of gamesmanship to break the batsman’s concentration? A Leg Slip came in for the next delivery, which got big on Bracey and was guided straight to that Leg Slip. Bracey out for 50. 150-5 and a very entertaining counterattack was ended. Zafar likes to play positively and deposited his second ball into the crowd at Square Leg. His third went flatter and only brought four. The fielder at Short Forward Square Leg must have felt that he was the coconut in a coconut shy. That, though, was the end of the fun. Borthwick was removed with the attack with figures of 4-0-36-1 but he had got the vital breakthrough. Just over six overs to go to the Close. Zafar danced down the pitch and missed. Ollie Robinson behind the stumps missed too. There was an almighty confusion of the batsman diving, the ‘keeper scrambling for the ball and flicking off the bails. The umpire adjudged that Robinson had won by a whisker. 174-6 and Durham into the tail.

Six men around the bat for Matt Taylor, but he survived. The day ended in brilliant sunshine, with long shadows across the ground, the longest of all, another collapse on a far from impossible pitch.

181-6 at the Close. 245 to win. Marcus Harris 71*.

Day 4

Gloucestershire tied in knots that would have taxed Houdini. There comes a point where all hope is gone and you can sit back, relax, and just enjoy the game for what it is. This is one of those occasions. Defeat is inevitable. Let’s have some fun.

The end came much later than anyone could have expected, thanks to an eighth wicket partnership of 88 and there was even a moment when it looked as if the match could extend past lunch. It made it all the more deflating that the last three wickets fell in the space of eleven balls after a titanic fight through most of the session. The final margin of defeat was 125 runs. The Shire was well beaten, but Marcus Harris and Josh Shaw gave us plenty to cheer while we waited for the inevitable axe to fall.

The main question was one of whether the tail could see Marcus Harris through to his century. Harris, for his part was willing to take singles first or second ball of the over and to trust Matt Taylor, who is not the worst tail-ender in the county game. Matt Taylor stuck it out for five overs of the morning, when the Gloucestershire cause really needed something closer to fifty. He pushed forward to Patel, was hit on the back leg and was dead in the water. 202-7. Josh Shaw came in at 9 and, again, shaped-up well enough to suggest that he could have a role as a bowler who can bat a bit, hitting some confident boundaries. All the while, Marcus Harris’ score was creeping up through the 80s and into the 90s. Josh Shaw was lucky on 18 that Slip could not quite scoop up an edge, but he was unfazed and Harris just kept going.

Finally, on 97*, facing Patel, he got the ball that he wanted. WHACK! Josh Shaw took avoiding action as the ball flew over Mid On for the boundary that Marcus Harris needed to reach his landmark. 163 balls, 14x4. A calm, class knock. Josh Shaw was also more than holding his own: a hook off Raine took him to 23* and the score to 245-7. He then hammered Patel over the bowler’s head to bring up the 250 and the fifty partnership with another boundary. Raine was hooked for his sixth boundary, bringing the runs required under 170. The margin of defeat was getting a little more respectable. It was a victory of sorts when partnership-breaker, Scott Borthwick, was brought on with twelve overs still to the New Ball. Borthwick offered Shaw an awful delivery that bounced halfway down: Shaw swivelled and despatched it over Mid-wicket. A single and he was onto 40. A slightly misdirected yorker from Bas de Leede dug out for a single and now, he was just one from his career best. A single to one on his legs and up came his First Class best score. The target was less than 150 away. A fifty was there for the taking. Borthwick and de Leede bowling. Durham waiting for the New Ball.

Four to Marcus Harris behind Square Leg and runs from almost every ball of a de Leede over: thirteen in total. Just get through to Lunch. Durham wouldn’t be sweating, but it would maybe put a little grain of doubt in a few minds.

290-7. Harris 120*, Shaw 44*. Patel bowled a magic ball that started well outside leg, turned right across Josh Shaw, and was edged to Slip. Shaw could not believe it, but he had more than done his job. Back came the front-line bowlers. Marcus Harris took a single first ball of the next over leaving Zaman Akhter to face Matt Potts: it was a catchweight contest and it took just three balls for him to get one through the gate and re-arrange the batsman’s stumps. 291-9. Lunch would be delayed, if necessary. No delay was needed. Again, Harris took a single early in the next over and again, the result was repeated. A lusty swipe over the non-striker’s head for four followed by a slashing shot straight to Cover. 300ao. 125 runs the margin.

Where do we go from here? For this match, Gloucestershire were missing David Payne, Graeme van Buuren, Tom Price, Marchant de Lange, Dom Goodman (all injured), and Ollie Price (exams in a week and a half), quite apart from the long-term issues that have kept Tom Lace out of the team. For the next round of games, in three weeks’ time, David Payne should be available. GvB’s hamstring injury is not serious but may keep him out of the first couple of Blast matches. Probably most serious is the loss of Marcus Harris for six weeks, although the good performances of Ben Charlesworth suggest that he will be an able replacement, with Ollie Price potentially batting at 3, as he did with some success last season. The team that lines up at Bristol on June 11^th should be much stronger, at least in bowling, but the lack of first innings runs remains a concern: that is the biggest problem that Steve Snell must address.

 

County Championship Round 5: Derbyshire v Gloucestershire, 2023 May 11th

 

 Preview

With Matt Taylor bowling a fiery New Ball spell against Glamorgan 2^nd XI, it was no surprise to anyone that he was added to the squad. After the problems taking wickets against Sussex, it is also no great surprise that the option of playing five bowlers – four seamers, including a left-arm option, plus the ever-willing spin of Zafar – is on the table. The flip side is, of course, that the tail becomes very long and, with first innings runs at a premium, it’s a bold move. However, it is also true that Gloucestershire looked best last season in low-scoring scraps, with the bowlers always on top.

Fortunately, as rain has ensured very few positive results – just 5 of 16 matches so far – the gap between 2^nd and bottom is still small. Durham, mainly thanks to having run-up some big first innings scores, have two wins and a big haul of batting points and so have opened-up a bit of a gap at the top. With the draw now worth only 5 points and not 8, bonus points become more important than ever and, of course, it becomes less of a risk to chase the win.

Day 1

Rumours that International Rescue sent Thunderbird 4 to rescue Ed Seabourne from his Derby hotel seem only slightly exaggerated. The rain that has followed the Shire around has moved to the Midlands. While there was cricket all around the country, there was no play at Leicester and the only way that the players could have got onto the field at Derby was in scuba gear. Large puddles in the outfield and more rain falling in the afternoon.

Yet another day of play lost, raising the count to 8 of 17 and, already, there is concern that the ground may not be fit on the morrow. You also wonder what the pitch will look like and play like when it is finally revealed.

Day 2

After an early lunch, to the surprise of not a few, play could start at 2, with 67 overs to play in the day. So, four sessions lost so far, but at least a better weather forecast.

The Shire went for the brave, pragmatic choice. Ben Charlesworth and Matt Taylor came in for Ollie Price and Jack Taylor. On the teamsheet, Charlesworth is listed at 3 and Bobby Bracey at 6, with Tom Price at 7. Four seamers, with Charlesworth to offer a fifth seamer option, plus Zafar, who deserves the freedom of Bristol at very least for his efforts. Can a re-jigged side score the 300+ that is needed in the first innings to set up a position (and get that first batting point in seven matches)?

Fortunately, we were not to found out. Emerald green pitch. GvB won the Toss and decided to throw the ball to de Lange and Tom Price. 20-0 after four overs made some fans nervous about the fast start as Harry Came decided to score when he could, but it did not take long for Tom Price to find his range. A straight one to Haider Ali. Straight into the pads. Thanks very much. 20-1. The boundaries dried up as de Lange continued his job of enforcer and Tom Price showed that his poor game against Sussex was just a minor aberration.

The scoring slowed, particularly when Matt Taylor came on and bowled a mean spell of 5-2-5-0. It is certainly arguable that the pressure that he imposed at the other end was what allowed Ajeet Singh Dale to make an explosive contribution at the other. A couple of sharp chances went begging. Dale then produced what may be the delivery of the season. Fast, straight, swinging in a little. Brooke Guest missed it and stumps seemed to explode from the ground in all directions. It was a peach of a delivery. Dale is certainly suggesting that he and Tom Price could be a formidable New Ball partnership next season. In his next over, he found Wayne Madsen’s edge and Ben Charlesworth took an excellent catch, diving to his left. 48-1 had become 50-3. The first bowling point up in the 18^th over. Dale’s first spell was 6-0-17-2: he may sometimes go for a few runs, but he is a natural wicket-taker.

One more wicket and Derbyshire would have been in trouble. However, Came and du Plooy steadied the ship and started to strike out again. Tom Price had a loud LBW shout against Came turned down at 82-3: it looked a little high, but it was a lovely delivery. As the 50 partnership approached, GvB decided that it was time to give Zafar a spin. He duly came on in the 30^th over. Slip, Short Forward Square Leg, trying to put some pressure on the batsman. Up came the 100 in the next over, with de Lange aggressive, but expensive, with almost exactly half of the runs on the board coming from his nine overs, although he was unfortunate that, in his New Ball spell, a flying Bobby Bracey had just failed to reach an edge down the leg side and a tough chance in his first over had been missed by Miles Hammond in the Slips.

105-3 from 32 overs at Tea, with Came 49* and du Plooy 37*.

The breakthrough took just two balls after Tea. With Matt Taylor bowling wonderfully well on his return. Ball on a perfect line outside off, moving away slightly. Bracey taking the routine edge from du Plooy, who took an age to drag himself away from the crease: 105-4 and the opportunity on offer to get to the tail well before the Close as the batsmen struggled against the attack. It could have been 116-5 when Came’s edge off Dale fell just short of the Slips. It was almost a shock when four runs came from the first three balls on Taylor’s ninth over – hitherto it was just 8 runs from 8 overs – but the fifth ball was perfect, on a 5^th stump line and moving away a little from Wagstaffe, the debutant. Thin edge, straight into Bobby Bracey’s gloves and it was 120-5, with only Harry Came, on 55*, offering prolonged resistance. However, the floodlights were on, the sky was heavily clouded and, at 130-5, off they came for bad light with 24.3 overs left… at least in theory. It looked like another almost full lost session, making five in the match so far and the pessimists were not wrong: out came the stumps and another day was knocked on the head.

Day 3

With a better forecast, could the Shire at last get a break and bat in better conditions after knocking over the lower order? With effectively five sessions lost, the game would have to move very fast if there were to be the chance of a result.

Before the Shire could bat, the solid resistance of Harry Came had to be overcome. This proved easier said than done. Luis Reece gave him solid support, and, between them, the score mounted. Up came the 50 partnership in the 57^th over. The bowling was disciplined, but not particularly threatening, although a Tom Price shout for LBW against Reece looked awfully adjacent – presumably, the umpire felt that it had pitched fractionally outside leg and bowled a superb yorker that was just jammed out. Ajeet Singh Dale also had a loud shout denied and, later, a much more optimistic one for a delivery that hit the batsman in the midriff! However, it all looked awfully comfortable for the batsmen.

The Derbyshire plan was evident: grind out runs, hoping to accelerate later and get first innings points then see if they could, perhaps, bowl the Shire out cheaply.

Finally, with the ghosts of the Sussex game whispering about gathering, Matt Taylor induced a loose drive from Luis Reece and Ben Charlesworth, the solitary Slip, took a good catch, diving to his right. 186-6, the second bowling point, 3-28 from 15 overs for Matt and an end open, which was an invitation to bring on Zafar for the first time in the morning. He may not feel comfortable with the temperature, which is cold even for the English players, but what joy to see him spinning his web. He pushed the ball through to Came but, against the new batsman, Alex Thomson, gave the ball some air inviting the batsman to take a risk: Thomson brought up the 200 with the first of a brace of boundaries from a Zafar over.

It did not take long for Harry Came to reach an excellent century, without which Derbyshire would have been in some strife. Zafar’s willingness to go for runs if it would bring wickets was justified when Alex Thomson pushed at one just outside off, James Bracey took a sharp catch and, although Thomson hung around after the finger was raised, he finally had to go. 222-7.

With Lunch approaching there was the delightful sight of the Captain bowling a few overs very tidily in tandem with Zafar. The break came at 227-7. Harry Came still there on 106*. Both sides probably reasonably happy with the morning’s efforts, although probably Derbyshire slightly more.

During Lunch the sun came out. Even bigger was the news that Harry Came went almost immediately, run out by Chris Dent with a superb dive, pick-up and throw from Cover with just over an over left to the New Ball. Came 108. And, immediately, back came Ajeet Singh Dale with two tail-enders in his sights. 186-5, with two well-set batsmen in no obvious difficulty, had become a much more promising 230-8.

Matt Taylor took the New Ball and Sam Conners flashed at – and missed – the first three balls. He then flashed at Ajeet Singh Dale’s first delivery of the next over before, finally, edging the second. 239-9. Third bowling point secured. Derbyshire 11 short of a batting point. Lakmal then came in and somehow survived the final four balls of the over despite charging down the pitch at the final delivery and missing completely with a massive wahoo. Henry Brookes took his cue from that and launched two massive outside edges past the slips for four. Lakmal took a painful blow on the hand from Singh Dale, launched the next ball into the leg side for the two that brought up the batting point and the batsmen headed for the pavilion. The declaration probably more a desire to avoid the risk of injury to a key bowler than a sign of attacking intent.

Much of the New Ball bowling, particularly from Lakmal was poorly directed initially. A long succession of dot balls reflected the difficulty of reaching the ball as much as the difficulty posed by the bowlers but, when Sam Connors got it right, consecutive balls were edged by Marcus Harris just past fourth slip for boundaries. As Lakmal found his range and direction, he delivered a series of genuine maidens: just a single and a leg bye came from his first six overs. Finally, Chris Dent lost patience, attacked one that was neither short enough, nor wide enough for the shot and chopped on: 27-1. Thoughts of scoring 350 quickly and putting Derbyshire under pressure were receding. In came Ben Charlesworth. Wicket maiden for Lakmal, who had the ridiculous figures of 7-6-1-1.

Things got worse rapidly. Harris flashed at the first ball of the next over and edged Reece into the Slips. 27-2 and a familiar feeling of impending doom settling over the batting.

Fifty up with the last ball before Tea, 50-2 from 22 overs. Miles Hammond 17*, Ben Charlesworth 4*. Work to do.

What followed in the next two hours was some of the best first innings batting that have seen from the Shire this season, even if there were a few moments when the supporters must have feared the worst.

While Ben Charlesworth accumulated slowly (at one point he had just 9 from 50 balls before hitting Henry Brookes for a two and a boundary in successive deliveries to bring up the 50 partnership), Miles Hammond played fluently and confidently. It is the mark of a confident batsman to go to your fifty with a six, which he did in spectacular fashion. Henry Brooke put one in Miles Hammond’s zone and watched it fly over Long On: a massive six and 50 in 64 balls for Hammond. The shot brought the hundred up with the last ball of the 34^th over. If these two could stay together for another hour there was a chance that they could do some real damage.

Luis Reece replaced Brookes in an inspired move for Derbyshire. Miles Hammond fended a ball outside off and was acrobatically caught, one-handed, in the Gulley. Once again, he had got to 50, but could not convert, but it took a fantastic catch to shift him and he could consider himself unfortunate. A base had be set, if only someone could push on. In came the Captain. First ball, fenced outside off, straight to the ‘keeper. In two balls, 103-2 had become 103-4 and the last recognised batsman was coming to the crease.

If James Bracey has been struggling for runs, you would never have noticed from his start: a confident tuck off his legs for two from the hattrick ball, an identical shot and result second ball, third ball, a delicious drive creamed down the ground for four, and the over ended with another tuck off his legs for two. Ten from four balls. The biggest problem that the batsmen faced is that it was almost impossible to score from Lakmal at the other end. Fortunately, he could not bowl for ever, ending his second spell with the remarkable figures of 13-9-12-1.

The scoring accelerated progressively as Reece and Connors proved looser and provided some scoring opportunities. Ben Charlesworth got an extraordinary four through the Slips from a very wide yorker that he just jabbed onto with a horizontal bat, the ball squirting along the ground past everyone. All the while, Charlesworth was batting calmly. He unleashed himself when Thomson gave him one to hit and the ball was despatched into the crowd at Long On to move to 46. A single to Bobby Bracey brought up the 150 and, again, the batsmen were getting on top. Bracey had been quiet after his fast start, but a pull and a cut brought him successive boundaries and, again, the batsmen were getting on top. All the while, Ben Charlesworth was batting solidly. Like Hammond, he went to his 50 with a big shot, lofting Thomson just short of six over Long Off from his 124^th delivery. Brookes dropped it short and was hooked by Bracey for consecutive boundaries. Just seven overs remained, if these two were still together at the Close you could imagine a push for runs in the morning and, maybe… Then, a ball from Brookes stayed very low. Bracey hit across the line and looked horrified to be given LBW, although it was probably frustration because he had looked so fluent, and a big score was there for the taking: 182-5.

195-5 at the Close. One stand would be enough to give the Shire a lead and the chance of scoring 300-ish, which would keep the match just about alive.

See off the first hour in the morning and go from there. The Shire know that defeat from here is well nigh impossible. They would need to lose their last five wickets very quickly, allow Derbyshire to score very fast and then collapse horribly again. By far the most likely result is a draw but, a lead of 50, followed by early Derbyshire wickets could just keep the spectators interested well past Lunch.

Day 4

The game ended in a draw, as expected, but the route to get there was totally unexpected. Gloucestershire could even, had luck been with them, been celebrating the most unlikely of wins.

Of the games still in play, only the Lancashire v Somerset match looked less likely to give a positive result. Bright sunshine. A pitch that still had a tinge of green but was not the emerald blanket of the first morning. Derbyshire needed quick wickets. The Shire, the 55 runs to get that batting point. Leus du Plooy approached Graeme van Buuren and offered a deal to set something up. GvB refused: perhaps he knew something that his opponent did not.

When play started, the 200 came up with a Conners No Ball. Despite a sedate start to the morning slowly the bat was getting on top again. Tom Price even had the cheek to guide a ball from Lakmal along the ground through the vacant Slips for a boundary and, two balls later, directed a Cover Drive for another. He tried to repeat the treatment with a firm pull to the next delivery and was dropped at Mid-Wicket: it proved to be a costly miss as it allowed the Shire to keep the momentum. A boundary to Charlesworth from the first delivery of Lakmal’s next over and then a less controlled edge to Third Man for another made it obvious that the batsmen were looking to up the ante. Eleven from the over: more than the bowler had conceded in his first twelve overs. Quick singles were taken to keep up the scoring rate. Amazing as it seemed, Lakmal was forced out of the attack. A Ben Charlesworth pull then brought up the fifty partnership: Charlesworth 75*, Price 25* and Derbyshire visibly getting a little nervous.

Off spinner Thomson finally got Tom Price for an excellent 32 to make it 245-6 but, by then, the bonus point and the lead were all but assured by this solid partnership of 63. Charlesworth completed the formalities with another boundary, moving into the 80s and took the Shire into the lead. He deserved a century but, on 87, fended off a short ball from Henry Brookes and somehow guided it off the face of the bat to the ‘keeper: 259-7, the lead just 8. It had been just the innings that Gloucestershire needed, even if the end was ungainly.

Lakmal and the New Ball did for de Lange: a low catch to 2^nd Slip, 275-8 and dreams of a second batting point and useful lead seemingly disappearing. What followed was remarkable as Zafar and Tayor added 99 for the 9^th wicket. First ball, Matt Taylor produced an almost identical shot the one that did for de Lange to an almost identical delivery but had the satisfaction of watching the ball elude the Slips and scoot to the boundary. Soon after, he produced a lofted Square Drive that shot to the Point boundary. 284-8, 16 needed for the 300. Matt Taylor was not messing around and took Reece for successive boundaries – a 4 and an off-drive for 6 – to bring up the 300 and the 50 lead shortly before lunch. Could the tail add 30 more, you wondered?

303-8 at Lunch. The lead 52. 68 overs remaining, but two to be lost for the change of innings, plus two more in the unlikely case that there were a late chase. Would the Shire push for runs, or just try to accumulate for an unlikely, third batting point.

Sixteen from the first three overs after Lunch. Pushing the ball into gaps and running. A couple of nice boundaries to Zafar. One in the zone from Henry Brookes and Matt Taylor launched him over Long On for six. Were the Shire even thinking of a cheeky declaration to deny Derbyshire the third bowling point? Seventeen needed, Lakmal back. It made no difference to Matt Taylor: straight sixes ruled out, a controlled edge raced to the boundary instead, taking advantage of the bowler’s extra pace. A ball down leg and Taylor lofted it to the Mid-wicket boundary. A crashing Cover Drive from Zafar brought up the 350 and a THIRD batting point. Astonishing!

60 overs remaining, 99 the lead and the partnership, 75. Declaration time??? No. Conners came back, Taylor cracked him for 4 to bring up the 100 lead and to get to 46. Lakmal dropped short, Taylor tried to hook and got four leg byes over the ‘keeper off his shoulder. Taylor drove Conners for a boundary and only his second First Class fifty and celebrated by skying a ball towards Long On. A frustrated fielder chased but could not quite reach it to make the catch. Zafar then swung Lakmal back over his head for six and his own fifty. Finally, Zafar went for one big shot to many and hit the ball almost straight up. 374-9. The lead 123 and the end of a wonderfully entertaining partnership of 99. Matt Taylor continued to swing and brought up his First Class best with a Chinese Cut. It was the sort of batting calculated to drive the opposition to distraction. Ajeet Singh Dale was also swinging like crazy and, unsurprisingly, quickly went in the same way as Zafar.

383ao. The lead 132. 53 overs to go.

Derbyshire started confidently, aided by some loose deliveries and an attacking field that left gaps. At 24-0 from just 26 deliveries, it looked like an imminent 5pm handshake. Sixteen deliveries later it was 28-3 and the most unlikely of wins was looking possible.

First, the previously unmovable Harry Came lobbed Singh Dale to Miles Hammond in the Gulley. Then, Tom Price pinned Haider Ali LBW and, finally, Price shattered Madsen’s stumps. Brief mayhem. In came du Plooy who took 13 from Matt Taylor’s first over and, once again, the momentum had shifted in the match. Du Plooy and Guest continued to score at better than 5-an-over. The key moment came just before the break when GvB had the chance to run out du Plooy, but his shy at the stumps missed. Was that the game? In retrospect, Gloucestershire would have had a good chance of winning had that chance been taken.

At Tea, with 40 overs left to bowl, it was 68-3 and hopes of a surprise charge to victory were fading fast.

After Tea, it was Zafar at one end and Matt Taylor, with Bracey standing up to the stumps, at the other. Gloucestershire needed a quick breakthrough because, once Derbyshire got ahead, it was unlikely that there would be time to chase anything other than the smallest of targets. Du Plooy got another life on 33* when Miles Hammond could not hold on to a hard cut above his head. 87-3, 33 overs left.

Still, there was some real emotion to come. Ajeet Singh Dale bowled a bouncer at Brooke Guest who, obligingly, pulled it straight to Marcus Harris at Mid-wicket. The end of a partnership that looked to be saving the game. 96-4, 30.3 overs left. Derbyshire still 36 behind. Still, something to play for. At 107-4 Zafar thought that he had caught and bowled Wagstaffe, diving forward. The batsman stayed and the Square Leg umpire ruled that he could not see clearly that it was a clean catch. Again, at 115-4, the fielders were convinced that Wagstaffe had edged Zafar to Short Leg: again, “not out”. The caught and bowled had looked clean. This one really looked out. When your luck is out…

Up came du Plooy’s 50 with a boundary. Derby just 8 behind so, effectively, only 19 overs left as, even if the six wickets fell, there would be two lost for the change of innings. Derbyshire were just about home. Scores level in the 32^nd over. 132-4. 16 off the Zafar over with another boundary from the final delivery. Du Plooy must have been very close to being LBW to Zafar at 138-4: it looked an extremely good shout with du Plooy back on the stumps. However, later in the same over, Zafar got a wicket, although the less valuable one of Wagstaffe, who edged to Tom Price at Slip. 139-5. 16 overs to go. The lead 7.

Fourteen overs to go. The lead 18 and the floodlights coming on. The bowlers kept running in, but it was obvious that it was not going to happen. The end was signalled when Chris Dent came on for a bowl with a nominal 9 overs to go and Derbyshire 34 ahead. A maiden was delivered, and the players shook hands.

Gloucestershire take 11 points and move up to 6^th. However, the gap to 2^nd is just 26 points. Incredibly, Yorkshire are bottom, just behind Derbyshire.  

A final game, against leaders, Durham, and the Blast starts.

Yet another match ended with a sigh of “close, but no cigar”. However, it was a game of many positives for the Shire.

County Championship Round 4, Gloucestershire v Sussex, 2023 April 30th

 

This blog went into abeyance last year as my last year before retirement proved to be exceptionally intense, as I was working on three missions simultaneously, including one as Deputy Project Scientist during Mission Adoption Phase (a particularly busy and stressful time). Of course, the season did not turn out as we expected, although the team showed great spirit by ending the season with two wins when it looked as if the Shire might be the first team since 2014 to be relegated without winning a match.

For various reasons I missed the Glamorgan and the Worcestershire games this season almost entirely and the Yorkshire match was a washout, so that was not good material for re-starting the blog either.

With now more than a quarter of the team’s games complete, the Shire lie 6^th in Division 2, having played a game more than everyone save for leaders Durham. The unbeaten run has extended to seven games which, on paper, looks pretty good, but no one would argue that the start of the season has not been disappointing, with the last batting point attained against Warwickshire, six games ago.

Looking back at 2022

The 2022 season did not go as we had hoped. Early season, the Shire were hit by a mixture of bad luck, including a quite astonishing run of injuries. Even so, four of the first five games were, at least, competitive and the Shire had their chances in them. However, the seeds of the mid-season collapse to a series of heavy defeats had already been sown. A severely depleted attack struggled to take wickets. Batsman struggled against excellent bowling. Confidence took a battering and, on the rare occasions when the team got into a promising position, luck was not with them. A case in point was the two Northants games in which, both times, the opposition finished eight wickets down in the final innings: those four, un-taken wickets cost the Shire 24 points (the games ended in a draw and a defeat respectively). Most often, though, as the season progressed it was a case of desperately chasing the game and trying to salvage a draw. Even if the two Northants games had been won, a haul of just 26 batting and 29 bowling bonus points ensured that even four wins would not have been enough to escape relegation.

Hopes for 2023

Expectations for 2023 have been cautiously optimistic. However, a huge 2022 operating loss has left the coffers bare. The consequences have been, first, no new big-name, signings and, second, a serious effort to reduce costs, hence the departures of players on white-ball-only contracts. The latter will mainly be felt in the white-ball campaign, which could be difficult. The former, though, has hit squad depth and led to an inability to reinforce the squad. Marcus Harris will miss potentially six Championship matches with Australia; with money tight, rather than making a big-name, short-term signing, he will be replaced by Grant Roelofsen, who is mainly a white-ball player and certainly, not a name known to most members.

However, a decent attack, a batting line-up with real potential and opposition that is nowhere near as frightening as that faced in Division 1 makes you think that Gloucestershire should be competitive. Within the club the expectation was that the team would be in the promotion mix. Time will tell if this has been realistic. Experience shows that relegated sides either bounce back quickly or have to settle for a long stay in Division 2.

Facing up to reality

The start of the season has thrown up a rapid dose of reality. These were almost no outdoor practice possible in pre-season and problems started quickly to rear their ugly head. With David Payne recovering from ankle surgery and Matt Taylor also recovering from injury and unavailable, the seam attack, so good on paper, is worryingly thin. The departure of Ryan Higgins hits the balance of the side: with no genuine all-rounder, picking a fifth bowler means having a non-specialist batting at 7. This leads to the eternal conundrum: do you pick a seventh batsman to shorten the tail, or a fifth bowler?

If the batsmen from one to six are scoring big runs, you would not hesitate to pick the extra bowler. Trouble is that the Shire are far iffier than that: James Bracey average 20.2; Ollie Price, 19.3; and Jack Taylor, 13. There is still no batting bonus point (the only one of the eighteen counties not to earn one), so you are reluctant to weaken the batting to fit in the extra bowler. Four bowlers, then. You want to have Zafar in the side because of the control he brings and his ability to exploit any pitch with a minimum of assistance, but then you have only three seamers and if one gets injured or has a bad game, the situation can run away from you in the field like an express train. Even though you have four batsmen who can deliver some passable spin, there is no one who can turn their arm over and hold up an end with ten overs of nagging medium pace if the seam attack is flagging. This was the situation that the Shire found themselves in against Sussex.

Paying the price against Sussex

On a curtailed Day 1 with the opposition put in, Tom Price showed that he is, after all, human and struggled with his control, ending up being very expensive. Atmospheric conditions looked good for the bowlers but, despite the fire of de Lange and Singh Dale, only one wicket came. On Days 2 and 3, glorious batting conditions allowed Sussex to make hay and the ensuing spectacle resembled the worst days of the 2022 campaign. You cannot fault the attack’s effort – Singh Dale, in particular, as he went at 2.4 per over in a batter-friendly run-fest – but a second bowling point never looked likely to be attained. As the score mounted and the relative bounty of 9-1 and 58-2 disappeared into the past, the captain must have longed for the extra seamer, particularly a brisk left-armer who would give the batsmen something different to think about. The way that the Sussex batsmen accelerated to the fifth batting point was particularly depressing to watch. When Pujara fell, Sussex, who had been scoring at a run-a-ball for much of the fifth wicket partnership, had 39 balls to make the 42 runs that  were needed: they made it with considerable comfort. New batsman at the crease: 35 balls, 47 runs scored in a hail of boundaries, rounded-off by a Hudson-Prentice six.

The acceleration was brutal.  

·               At 55 overs, the scoring rate was 2.86 runs per over.

·               Coles and Pujara added 144 in 30.2 overs for the 4^th wicket at 4.75 runs per over.

·               Pujara and Carter added 106 in 18.5 overs for the 5^th wicket at 5.62 runs per over.

·               The final 47 runs of the innings came at 8.06 runs per over.

Watching a quite decent bowling attack being assaulted so freely inevitably hits morale. As the Sussex charge to a declaration continued, on Shire fan worried that a pitch that looked like a traditional Bristol road would become a result pitch when we batted on it. Oh Jim! How right you were!

With only four and a half sessions left and rain forecast for Day 4 the match should have petered into a hunt for bonus points. Shortly before Tea on Day 3 things looked so rosy and it really did look as if Day 4 would be a tedious push towards an inevitable draw. Chris Dent and Marcus Harris had put on 66 for the 1^st wicket and were batting well when Dent was unlucky to chop-on from an inside edge. In came Winterbourne’s finest, batting looked comfortable, and the score had reached 99-1 when everything went horribly wrong. It all started with the sort of wretched luck that dogged the team in 2022. Harris pushed the ball out to mid-wicket and set off for a tight single. Tom Clark gathered and threw. As everyone started to appreciate the danger, the umpire moved away from the stumps but, as Harris dived, was certainly not in position. From the TV images it looked very tight. Certainly, it would have gone to DRS had DRS been available. Twenty years ago, you would almost certainly have expected the batsman to get the benefit of the doubt but, the umpire called it as he saw it and Harris had to go.

Pujara brought back McAndrew, who dismissed Bracey and van Buuren with the first two deliveries of his new spell. Here we go again! Five wickets fell for 46 runs on a blameless pitch to an attack that stuck to its task but was not the most threatening in Division 2.

This is the sort of situation that seems to bring out the best in Miles Hammond. Bags of talent. A former England U19 player, he seems to thrive in a crisis but, unfortunately, not when the score is 250-2, as well as having a tendency to give his wicket away to loose shots. The result is a First Class average of 28.9 and just three of the eighteen times than he has passed fifty being converted into centuries.

When the opposition has made 455-5 with contemptuous ease and you find yourself 145-6 in reply, there is a certain inevitability in the situation: follow-on and a battle to save a game that should never have been in doubt. Miles Hammond, though, decided that today would be the day for another of his remarkable innings in adversity. A stand of 34 with Tom Price threatened a recovery before a further mini-collapse saw Price, Zafar and de Lange fall for 8 runs in 28 balls.

The arrival of Ajit Singh Dale saw Hammond start to attack and show that there was not much wrong with the pitch. Any demons were mainly mental. Although Singh Dale has a First Class average of 8.7, he has shown that he can hang around and, together, they saw up the 200, then saw off the New Ball thrust. Up came the 200 and the score crept up towards that magic 250. Hammond was magnificent, controlling the strike and Singh Dale solid.

Jack Russell would have celebrated it on canvas. Felicia Dorothea Hemans would have celebrated it in verse, something like the following (adapted from the poem Casabianca):

Miles Hammond stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but he had fled;
The flame that lit the pitch’s wreck,
Shone round him o’er the dead.

 

Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the storm;
A batsman of heroic blood,
A proud, though childlike form.

 

The bowlers spun on – he would not go,
Without his captain’s word;
That skipper, in batting collapse below,
His voice no longer heard.

 

He called aloud – ‘Say, captain, say
If yet my task is done?’
He knew not that the captain lay
Dismissed in the pavilion.

 

‘Speak, captain!’ once again he cried,
‘If I may yet be gone!’

Slowly a bubble of hope had started to rise. Could the last wicket pair get that elusive batting point? Could Hammond reach his century? Eventually it was the very confidence with which they were playing that was their undoing. Normally, the fielding side offers easy singles for four balls before bringing in the field to cut them off for the last two balls each over. Seeing that his partner was more than holding his own, Hammond started to accept some of the offered easy runs. With just 3 needed for the 250, Hammond took the offered, long single from the first ball of an over from Haines, who was sporting the remarkable figures of 8-5-4-0. The next ball was straight. Singh Dale missed it. The hunt for a first batting bonus point since the Warwickshire game, six matches ago, goes on and Hammond was left high and dry on 87*.

Instead of inspiring the batsmen to do better second time around with only 44 overs left and a draw all but certain, the opposite happened. A side should not need rain to save them in such a situation. The only positive was a good fifty for the Captain, but the fact that Sussex took it down as far as just 4 overs to go spoke volumes for their confidence that it only needed a single wicket to fall for the bowlers to feel that two, three, or even four might follow quickly.

What next?

The side get a week off before going to Derby to play what is currently the bottom side – although they may not be after the Coronation Weekend round of games. With more than a third of the season complete after the Derbyshire game, it starts to acquire “must win” status if Gloucestershire want to make a serious push for promotion. Even more so, as the lack of batting points means that the Shire effectively needs to win at least one more game than its rivals to keep pace.

[Update: that was prophetic. Derbyshire just failed to force an unlikely win against Leicestershire, but the Shire after four rounds of games have been completed are now firmly bottom of Division 2. That said, the gap between 2^nd and 8^th is only 25 points.]

How to solve a problem like the Shire?

The trivial answer is: “more first innings runs”. Back in 2021, many of Gloucestershire’s wins came from poor positions, mainly thanks to a fightback on the third or fourth day; the Glamorgan and Worcestershire games brought back echoes of 2021. However, always chasing the game is like a high-wire act without a safety net.

The issue, at least in part, is one of mental toughness. Batsmen need to book in for bed and breakfast and sell their wickets dearly: the fact that it is a cricketing cliché does not make it any less true.

If the top six are scoring runs, the side has more liberty to experiment with the bowlers. Unfortunately, that is not happening. So, the balance will probably stay with four bowlers and seven batters. Unless the Derby pitch looks like a raging turner, the most likely change may be to bring in Matt Taylor for Zafar Gohar, who has bowled more overs than anyone (and also did, by a wide margin, in 2022). Zafar has earned a rest after labouring, once again, on unresponsive pitches, while Matt Taylor will offer a fourth seam option and left-arm variation. Matt is playing for the 2^nd XI this week against Glamorgan taking 6-1-19-3 in his New Ball spell and looking quite lively.

Both Ollie Price and Jack Taylor are short of runs this season: Ollie Price averages 19.3, even with two not outs boosting his figures. Jack Taylor is averaging 13 and seems to have lost confidence again in his batting. One option would be for Ben Charlesworth to replace Jack Taylor. His gentle medium pace would have helped to relieve the pressure on the attack in the Sussex game, although he is not a front-line bowler, and it would be asking a lot of him to take on the fourth seamer role. Ollie Price’s position may be probably safer. If Zafar misses out for a fourth seamer, the side will look to the Captain and to Ollie Price if a few overs of spin are needed. The obvious difficulty with these solutions is that neither Ollie Price nor Ben Charlesworth are front-line options: the former has just two First Class wickets and the latter, ten. Less likely is a more radical change, with Ben Wells coming in too, possibly for Ollie Price and taking the gloves to give Bobby Bracey a chance to concentrate on his batting. Wells is not playing this week for the 2^nd XI, so looks to be further from the thoughts of the selectors.

Once again, the lack of a credible all-rounder makes achieving any kind of balance difficult. The Sussex game showed that having four specialist bowlers was not enough, more so when all the more occasional bowlers in the side are spinners and the pitch was not offering much help even for Zafar.

[I have left this as it was, although that we know now that the only change in the squad is Matt Taylor coming in for Ollie Price.

The Glamorgan 2^nd XI game ended in an innings defeat, with the side all out for 79 in the second innings and no one making big runs in either innings.

Suspicion among the fans is that Matt Taylor and Ben Charlesworth will replace Ollie Price and Jack Taylor. Zafar will, thus, be batting at 7, which looks a place too high, with Tom Price at 8.]