County Championship Round 12 Leicestershire v Gloucestershire, 3rd September 2023

 

 

Preview

A rapid return to Leicester, scene of Gloucestershire’s disappointing One Day Cup defeat. It is not beside the point that both sides that batted first in the Semi-Finals struggled and lost in short games.

Today, the only thing left to play for is some pride and to avoid the wooden spoon, with Yorkshire, despite their huge points deduction, determined to get back into the promotion race. With just three games left, Gloucestershire’s opportunities to register a win are running out. The XIII includes several players who have impressed in the One Day Cup but features a heavily depleted attack that few would have predicted at the start of the season.

Day 1

Leicestershire won the Toss and, unsurprisingly, seeing the green in the pitch, elected to put Gloucestershire in, with the 10:30 start likely to favour the seamers, even if the forecast for increasingly hot and dry weather suggested that Zafar Gohar might have an important part to play in the second innings. The suggestion was that the morning session might be tricky but, if the batsmen could get through it, there were runs to be made later in the day. If only cricket were played on paper! The reality would be so different.

Jack Taylor and Joe Phillips missed out, with Harry Tector making a debut and the Shire fielding five front-line bowlers, plus the more than useful part-time options of Ben Charlesworth and Ollie Price.

Bright sunshine and a steady start from Ben Charlesworth and Chris Dent who were 16-0 from the first six overs and looking comfortable, even though some deliveries were moving prodigiously. Ben Charlesworth was the main aggressor, taking three boundaries off a Wiaan Mulder over. Leicestershire replaced Mulder with Tom Scriven to join, first the economical Chris Wright in the attack and, later, Matt Salisbury. A scoring rate that had reached 5-an-over was braked immediately with 16 dot balls. Tom Scriven then produced a superb delivery that just hit the top of the off bail and saw Ben Charlesworth on his way for 32: 49-1 and some of the gloss taken off the bright start. That Tom Scriven wicket maiden marked the third consecutive maiden and, suddenly, batting was looking complicated. It was a relief when Chris Dent cut a ball through the covers for four to bring up the 50 in the 15^th over. Obviously, he enjoyed the shot as he then pulled another to the short Mid-wicket boundary later in the over. However, the brake was applied so effectively, that Tom Scriven’s first six overs produced just two singles as the occasional ball kept very low, while others moved prodigiously off the pitch.

49-1 from 10.3 overs became 73-1 from 30 at Lunch. The Chris Dent-Ollie Price partnership had produced 24 runs from exactly 100 balls. Since the quick start, just 24 runs had come in 19.3 overs of hard battle. However, it was grafting that could pay-off big later, if the batsmen could continue to hang in there. Unfortunately, they could not.

Ollie Price did not last long after Lunch, bowled playing studiously forward to Wiaan Mulder in the sixth over after the resumption: 77-2, Price 11. Miles Hammond then played across a ball from Mulder that kept very low: 93-3 and, with Zafar to come in at 7, Gloucestershire in all too familiar trouble. Finally, Chris Dent cracked a cover drive for four to bring up the hundred with the last ball of the forty-fourth over and take his own score onto 47. He brought up his fifty from 138 balls with another, lovely cover drive in the forty-sixth over. Chris Dent had little chance to celebrate: Tom Scriven straightened one into him that missed his defensive push and had him plumb. 108-4 in the forty-eighth and the last recognised pair at the crease and another wicket maiden for Tom Scriven. That rapidly became 109-5 as James Bracey, having just changed to a leg stump guard, chose to leave the wrong ball and, again, the ball just clipped the off bail. It could have been even worse because Zafar must have been very, very close to being LBW first ball. Even so, the reprieve did not last long. Zafar came down the track a little to Sciven, played an impeccable forward defensive that caught the edge and gave Ben Cox his first catch behind on his debut. 120-6 and all the hard work before Lunch being undone. Josh Shaw then edged his second ball but, to his relief, it was dropped at First Slip.

Shaw and Tector battled out almost nine overs before Josh Shaw was given LBW to Umar Amin. 143-7 and the innings sinking fast, 145-7 at Tea and an afternoon of toil to follow the good morning.

The good ship SS Gloucestershire continued to take on water after the resumption and rapidly sunk beneath the Leicester waves,

Chris Wright got Harry Tector LBW for 18. 148-8. Zaman Akhter got a ball that lifted a little that he could only balloon to Second Slip, running backwards to take it. 158-9. And Luke Charlesworth got another straight ball that seemed to keep very low and was LBW. 159ao.

77-1 just after Lunch seemed a long time before.

With David Payne, Tom Price, Matt Taylor, Ajeet Dale and Marchant de Lange on the books, you would have got long odds at the start of the season against Josh Shaw and Zaman Akhter sharing the New Ball. Zaman Akhter was expensive, but Josh Shaw put a superb delivery through Sol Budinger to bowl him and make the score 16-1 after 3.2 overs. However, Hill and Patel scored quickly and were putting Leicestershire in a very powerful position when Dom Goodman got a ball just outside off to lift a little and take the edge of Hills’ bat: 71-2, Lewis Hill 21. Even so, with the game moving into the final half hour of the day, Gloucestershire’s position was getting critical, with quick wickets needed. Up came the 100 in the 21^st over with the batsmen now playing for the Close.

A chastening day. 103-2 from 24 overs, with Rishi Patel 60* and Colin Ackermann 4*. Just 56 behind and the game in danger of sailing away from Gloucestershire on Day 2 as Leicestershire continue to chase promotion.

 Day 2:

Day 2 ended with Gloucestershire staring down the barrel. That much was not so unexpected, but the manner of getting there was. A collapse after a stirring fightback has left a three-day defeat almost certain unless something remarkable happens, but there was an unexpected twist at the end of the day that has opened a ray of hope. Yes, it’s the hope that kills.

Bright sunshine again to greet the players. Dom Goodman and Josh Shaw with the ball and in desperate need of early wickets. Josh Shaw, in his unexpected role as leader of the attack initially kept things mean and tight (his first ten overs in the innings went for just thirteen runs), although Dom Goodman took a couple of overs to get into a rhythm. However, quick wickets did not come, and Leicestershire were creeping ever-nearer to a first innings lead. Two boundaries from an over in which Shaw seemed to try to push a little too hard, losing his line and length, took the score to 131-2, which provided a sizeable headache for James Bracey. This has been an issue with Josh Shaw. He has bowled some excellent spells, without much reward but, when he pushes for that little bit of extra pace that he needs to discomfort batsmen rather than just contain them, he can often prove expensive.

The breakthrough came, finally, at 150-2 and, to no one’s great surprise, through the hand of Ollie Price, in his role as Second Slip. Colin Ackerman drove at a ball on fifth stump line from Zaman Akhter and edged. The ball flew very fast to the right of Ollie Price who, somehow, took it one-handed, leaping like a salmon, to hold a chance that would have been chest-high for Third Slip. Remarkable.

In the following over, Luke Charlesworth removed the other set batsman to take his maiden First Class wicket. Some nice movement away from the bat, Rishi Patel edged, and brother Ben pouched the catch at First Slip. Not many maiden First Class wickets are caught by the bowler’s brother. Patel out for 73, 150-4 and two new batsmen at the crease. An opportunity has presented itself for the Shire to limit the damage. Umar Amin then edged a big drive at Zaman Akhter and Ollie Price took a simple catch. 150-5. Three wickets in 11 balls for no runs and, suddenly, the complexion of the game had changed completely.

In the past, Gloucestershire have had problems consolidating breakthroughs. As Mulder and Kimber took Leicestershire into the lead and threatened to build again that thought must have been in the back of their minds. There was a frustrating Josh Shaw over that went for eleven, including overthrows, which could so easily have been a runout and two boundaries, as well as an edge that could have floated up to James Bracey rather than falling just safe, seemed to auger ill tidings: that bit of luck was missing. However, Dom Goodman then produced a superb delivery that bowled Louis Kimber neck and crop. 178-6 with Lunch just an over away.

183-6 at the break and the lead just 24. Leicestershire were still thinking that a 100+ lead was quite possible. They could not imagine that it would go as horribly wrong for them as it had, twenty-four hours earlier for Gloucestershire.

Ben Cox and Wiaan Mulder started well. Thirteen came from fifteen balls after Lunch before Luke Charlesworth bowled a straight one that only got up half stump height and evaded Ben Cox’s studious defensive shot, thudding into the pad. That was 191-7 and Luke Charlesworth’s debut was getting better and better. Mulder and Scriven brought up the 200 and seemed set on making hay. Zaman Akhter gave Mulder a short ball, which he hooked… straight down the throat of the jubilant Luke Charlesworth at Fine Leg. 203-8. In came Chris Wright, whose innings was the shortest possible. Another batsman bowled playing an immaculate forward defensive and, again, the suspicion that the ball had kept low.

Zaman Akhtar on a hat-trick but, first, another over for Luke Charlesworth with a number 11 who could boast just one run in his four innings through the season in his sights. To everyone’s surprise, Scriven took a single from the first ball of the over and gave the bowler five deliveries at the rabbit: it took him four before James Bracey brought off a splendid flying catch. 203ao. The lead 45.

Eight wickets had fallen for 54, in an eerie echo of the Gloucestershire innings.

What could Gloucestershire do about it? Their start could not have been much worse. Chris Dent batted 21 balls for 9 before chopping on to Chris Wright. 9-1. Ollie Price lasted eight balls before the ninth just clipped the off bail. 10-2 and Ben Charlesworth had not yet scored.

From this highly unpromising position, Ben Charlesworth consolidated, while Miles Hammond took up the attack, albeit with some fortune. There was nothing wrong, though, with his Cover Drive to level the scores, while Ben Charlesworth stroked another to put the Shire into the lead. This stroke seemed to galvanise him: from 7* from 46 balls he moved up a gear and caught Miles Hammond who was scoring at better than a run-a-ball. A one-bounce four over the bowler’s head was a warning that he felt that he eye was in but, just as he seemed set for a big score, he tried to come down the pitch again to Colin Ackermann, skewed a big outside edge and was caught at Mid-Off for 33. 80-3 and, again, after an excellent partnership of 70, the Shire in need of someone to go on and make a start count.

A single from a Cover Drive by Miles Hammond brought up the fifty lead. And off they went for Tea at 95-3, Miles Hammond 40*, Harry Tector 10*.

When you are 80-2, 35 ahead and fighting hard a few minutes before Tea, you should not be thinking of the opposition batting before the Close. Sadly, it looked all too likely as the middle and lower order crumbled, even if some late resistance took the innings into the third morning.

Miles Hammond’s best innings tend to be when he goes for his shots. Having been scoring at better than a run-a-ball, he went into his shell and made just 9 runs from 37 balls after the dismissal of Ben Charlesworth. The end was predictable. He became yet another batsman to miss a straight ball, was hit low on the back pad by Wiaan Mulder and departed LBW for 46. 108-4 and the options to set a reasonable target were running out. Harry Tector has shaped up well, without making the weight of runs that he might have. Again, he got set and looked solid before playing across the line to Chris Wright and falling LBW for 24. 122-5, the lead just 77 and Zafar Gohar coming out. Now, everything rested on James Bracey who had received a run transfusion in the One Day Cup. Could he turn it into Championship runs? A brace of boundaries from a Wiaan Mulder over – a guide through Third Man and a stroked Cover Drive – suggested that he could. The lead was creeping up towards one hundred. Thirty or forty more from this pair and, in a low-scoring match, would give something to defend if someone could shepherd the tail to fiddle a few more. James Bracey was looking in decent form and Zafar was defending with his life.

On came the drinks. Did that break the concentration of the batsmen? First ball after the break, James Bracey fenced at Scriven outside off and Ben Cox took an excellent, low catch. Bracey out for 18, 138-6 and plenty of overs left in the day to finish off the tail. Zafar did not last long, falling after an uncharacteristic, totally defensive innings. 143-7. Josh Shaw did not hang around for long either. Another fence outside off. Another low catch to Ben Cox. 146-8. With 8 overs still to come, it looked very much as if Leicestershire would be facing two or three overs.

Fortunately, Zaman Akhtar and Dom Goodman had other ideas. Zaman Akhtar opened his account with a huge six back over Colin Ackermann’s head. Colin Wright came back, and Zaman creamed him through the covers. In the penultimate over of the day, Dom Goodman got a loose ball outside leg and showed that he too could hit the ball if it was there to hit, hammering it for another boundary backwards of square. Last over of the day. The lead 132. For heaven’s sake, don’t get out now! Zaman took the over and, with some frustration showing in the bowlers, saw it out, adding a couple for another Cover Drive that belied his status as a tail-ender.

179-8 at the Close. 33 precious runs added and, what was even more important, the feel-good factor of knowing that the bowlers were getting frustrated. The lead 134. Defeat still looks more than likely, but twenty more runs might just make it interesting.

Either way, the game will end tomorrow, probably mid-afternoon.

 Day 3:

The mathematics looked simple. Leicestershire needed two wickets to set up a small chase. Gloucestershire needed a miracle. In the end, Leicestershire won very comfortably indeed, but arrived at the win by an unexpectedly scenic route.

The hosts opened with spin from Kimber and Ackerman. Given how tough it had been to score off the seamers, Zaman Akhter and Dom Goodman were not complaining, as ten came off the second over of the day courtesy of a Zaman boundary and four byes that beat everything. Dom Goodman lofted Ackermann back over his head for four and the lead passed 150. Up came the 50 partnership and then the 200 with a single to Akhter. Leicestershire’s frustration was only increasing as they brought back the quicks to try and break this stand. Finally, Dom Goodman got an inside edge to Wiaan Mulder after another battling knock that suggests that he may start moving up the order sooner or later. 200-9, Goodman out for 15 and, surely, that was that? Zaman has other ideas, cover-driving Mulder for another boundary. Zaman trusted Luke Charlesworth to look after himself and the pair took a lot of singles, pushing the ball into gaps. Finally, Wiaan Mulder bowled a straight one that Luke Charlesworth missed. After a long delay, the umpire raised the finger. 212ao. 167 the lead. Far more than had looked likely in the evening session.

Defending 167, Josh Shaw opened with just two Slips, with James Bracey, conscious that saving runs was just as important as taking wickets, having a lot of fielders in run-saving positions. In just the third over, Josh Shaw served-up a ball outside off that moved away a little. Rishi Patel went for the drive and James Bracey took the catch. 4-1. Dare one hope? In Shaw’s second over, Sol Budinger aimed a slash outside off and James Bracey took a low catch that just carried. 7-2. And an awful shot from Budinger. In this situation, you do not want a pair to get set and could not afford to give up cheap runs. Unfortunately, both were happening. Luke Charlesworth struggled a bit with line and length and gave up three boundaries in an over: 42/2 and the batsmen getting right on top again. In retrospect, that was probably the moment when Leicestershire knew that they were going to win the match. A savage pull by Ackermann, a guide through Third Man and two more boundaries from the next over, bowled by Akhter brought up the 50: a third boundary in the over made it 6 boundaries in just 11 deliveries. Defending a small total, that was too many. Up came the 50 partnership with another boundary and the life was being squeezed out of the bowlers and the bowling.

The last over before Lunch leaked another 11 runs, Zaman being cut for two boundaries. It was not a good way to end the session. The target was under 100, the bowling was looking defeated, and this was looking uncannily like the Leicestershire first innings in which a big third wicket partnership marked the difference between the two sides. Luck had played its part: Lewis Hill had inside-edged a ball from Dom Goodman that missed the Leg Stump by a whisker but once set, batting was looking quite simple.

Josh Shaw with the ball after Lunch, having taken 2-10 from 5 overs in his New Ball spell, and the feeling that this was a last throw of the dice. And if the news on the field was not great, the news that Harry Tector had a broken finger and would join the casualty list did not help to raise spirits either.

At the other end, Zafar Gohar who, unusually for him, had been an anonymous presence in the match. A delivery way down leg, helped on its way by Colin Ackermann and not much that substitute, Jack Taylor, could do to stop another boundary. Shaw huffed and puffed (literally). Zafar seemed to be missing his metronomic accuracy and runs kept coming, albeit a little more slowly.

It was all too easy. Up came the fifty partnership. Ackermann hooked Josh Shaw and the ball went straight through the hands of the boundary fielder (no names, no pack drill). The next ball was cut for another boundary. Lewis Hill swept Zafar, top-edged, but the ball fell short of Jack Taylor. Ackermann swept, missed, the ball missed leg stump by a whisker and the umpire gave it as a wide to bring up the 100… Heads were dropping visibly because that little bit of luck that was needed was missing.

The hundred partnership came up with both batsmen on 49*. Another single and Lewis Hill had his 50 (74 balls, 8x4). Another legside wide from the suffering Zafar who must have found this new interpretation of the law somewhat incomprehensible, and then Colin Ackermann got the single to bring up his 50 (84 balls, 8x4). If that were not enough, with the overrate at -2, there was the threat of losing two of the three points from the match unless it could be rectified.

On came Ollie Price and Colin Ackermann came down the pitch to meet him and loft him over Long On for a huge 6. The 150 up and fewer than 15 to get. Next ball cut for a boundary to take him to 86*. Seven to win. Three singles and Colin Ackermann patted a ball gently to Mid On where another horrible misfield allowed it through to the boundary for the winning runs. It was all too easy in the end.

In the end, Gloucestershire were well beaten and now look certain to go winless through a season that started with such high hopes.

 

 

 

 

One Day Cup Semi-Final Leicestershire v Gloucestershire, 29/08/2023

A season that started promisingly, with Gloucestershire taking their unbeaten Championship run to eight games, nosed-dived with four defeats in the next six games. The Blast was, not unexpectedly for a side short on big names and injury-crippled, mediocre but, the One Day Cup looked to many, pre-season to be the best chance of success given that the Hundred levels the playing field between the richer and the poorer of the counties. Even there, after two opening wins, two heavy defeats made qualification very much an uphill battle. However, four straight wins and then a thumping win over Lancashire, with fine form shown, particularly by Ollie Price (553 runs make him the third highest scorer in the competition), backed up by a James Bracey double century, two centuries from Jack Taylor (who seems to thrive in this competition) and centuries from Miles Hammond, Graeme van Buuren and Ben Wells have seen Gloucestershire through to a Semi-Final and a real chance of their first silverware since 2015.

However, it was not to be although, at one point, it looked as if Gloucestershire might be able to defend a small total.

Five players were side-lined by injury, but David Payne bowled with some success against Lancashire, the first occasion that he has been asked to bowl more than four overs this season and again has shown some encouraging form. So, the squad was the same as against Lancashire. The main question may be one of whether or not to go with the same XI, or to include Zafar Gohar. In the end, Zafar missed out.

With Warwickshire only able to offer token resistance in the first Semi-Final, a Final against Hampshire beckoned. What no one reckoned with, though, was that after Lewis Hill won the Toss and inserted in gloomy conditions, Gloucestershire would stutter to 125ao on a day when batting rarely easy, particularly against the New Ball. The only time when batting looked reasonably straightforward was when the seam had flattened.

James Bracey, Ollie, and Tom Price all got starts, but only Graeme van Buuren would threaten to make a significant score. When he fell at 124-9, any faint hopes of a competitive total disappeared with him. The damage had been done in the first five overs. With Gloucestershire 23-3 and Milles Hammond, James Bracey, and Harry Tector all back in the pavilion, someone had to do something special to save the situation.

In these situations, Ollie Price has usually been the man that Gloucestershire have looked to. He batted sensibly with Graeme van Buuren and, together, they seemed to be stabilising the innings before he went for a big hit over Mid-On, top-edged Josh Hull horribly and Wiaan Mulder took the catch when the ball finally came back down. That was 62-4, which rapidly became 63-5. Jack Taylor was close to edging an expansive drive to the ‘keeper second ball, lobbed a top edge just safe and then, finally, was comprehensively bowled by Matt Salisbury to his sixth delivery. Batting was tough.

Tom Price and Graeme van Buuren tried to rescue the situation, but a stand of 36 was just not enough. At 99-6 it was just a question of scratching what runs could be found and hoping for a miracle. Unfortunately, the tail failed to wag, and the last five wickets added just 26 runs. Graeme van Buuren fell to a catch behind attacking a wide ball and Paul van Meekeren attempted a ramp shot, toe-ended to Third Man. As the players came off, the rain came down and an hour and three-quarters were lost.

Defending 125, you need a devastating start. David Payne and Tom Price provided one. Leicestershire were 13-3 in the fourth over with Ollie Price taking two catches off David Payne and one off Tom Price. When Anwar Ali pinned Colin Ackermann LBW, Leicestershire had fallen to 33-4 at the end of the twelfth over and in real danger of falling short. Gloucestershire were one wicket short of causing panic, but that wicket never came. There were multiple close shouts that could have put Leicestershire under real pressure but, as the shine came off the ball and the seam flattened, batting got easier than it had been at any time. Peter Hanscomb and Wiaan Mulder saw off the storm and, as they joined together in a stand of 93, ended up reaching the target with minimum fuss and more than 21 overs to spare.

For Gloucestershire it was a case of so near and yet so far. However, the campaign has provided many positives and has left batsmen who were short of runs and confidence in better heart for the Championship run-in.  

County Championship Round 7: Gloucestershire v Leicestershire

 

 

County Championship Round 7

Gloucestershire v Leicestershire

Preview

Halfway point of the season and a game that, looking at the fixture list, Gloucestershire would have seen as one that they would expect to win. With games running out, a run of two or three wins is needed sooner rather than later. Of course, with the strange goings-on involving Jupiter Pluvius and Gloucestershire’s consequent remarkable drought-breaking abilities, opportunities to win games have been scarce. However, so few have been the positive results in the whole Division that two wins would lift the Shire into the top three.

The Gloucestershire injury crisis has almost matched the Gloucestershire rain crisis in Biblical plague proportions. The latest blow is the loss of the New Ball enforcer – Marchant de Lange – out for the rest of the season. David Payne is still feeling his way back to fitness in the Blast, but Graeme van Buuren, Chris Dent, Tom Price and Ajeet Dale are all back. The most interesting decision may be the potential fight between Joe Phillips (promoted from the 2^nd XI) and loan signing from Lancashire, Danny Lamb, for a place in the final XI.   

Day 1

In the end, Danny Lamb got the final place, his all-round abilities earning him the nod. It meant the Shire going into the game with four seamers plus Zafar. Even though a non-specialist bat would be playing at #7, the tail has a more solid look, with 7, 8 and 9 all capable batsmen.

GvB won the Toss and decided to bat. For about forty minutes all went well: Chris Dent and Ben Charlesworth batted capably and reached 38-0. While Chris Wright was treated with the utmost respect, Chris Dent took a liking to Josh Hull, crashing his first two overs for five boundaries, with his second over going for 18 runs. Down came the rain and off went the players for three hours. Another session and a half of play lost. Unfortunately, the rain allowed Chris Wright to bowl twelve overs off the reel and, not long after Ben Charlesworth, who has shaped-up superbly as a stand-in for Marcus Harris, brought up the 50 with yet another boundary off Josh Hull, Wright pinned Dent LBW with a fine delivery. 55-1. Dent out for 29 and still averaging just 26 this season.

Ben Charlesworth clipped Scriven straight to the fielder behind leg who had been placed there specifically for the shot: 78-2, Charlesworth 21. Then Miles Hammond got a ball from Callum Parkinson that turned a long way past his defensive bat: 83-3 and a duck for Hammond. The decision to bat first was beginning to look more debatable.

In the end, GvB and Ollie Price steadied the ship and took the side through to the Close at 108-3. Just 36 overs bowled. The equivalent of two full sessions lost.

Day 2

With Ollie Price and GvB batting confidently at the Close, hopes of a big total rested with them staying there for a good while. What no one needed was for the Captain to edge the first ball of the day to the ‘keeper. Chris Wright was now on figures of 12.1-6-17-2, while his captain must have wished that Wright could bowl at both ends. As he could not, Ollie Price continued to punish the erratic Josh Hull, but neither could he bat at both ends. Wright got a ball through James Bracey, who looked dead in the water when it hit his pad: 118-5, Bracey out for 1 and Wright now on the remarkable figures of 15-7-19-3.

You could be forgiven a sinking feeling of “here we go again”. What happened afterwards was, first an apparent demonstration that the fatalists among the supporters had it right – several rain delays and a subsidence – followed by a quite extraordinary recovery that left the fans blinking with disbelief.

Ollie Price hit Josh Hull out of the attack again and, when Callum Parkinson came back, took nine from the over, bringing up up the 150. With Tom Price, now described as an all-rounder, batting confidently, the fifty partnership between the brothers was approaching at 4-an-over when Sciven had Tom Price caught for 20: 168-6 and hopes of a batting point receding.

Zafar is though a very useful #8 and with Ollie Price batting aggressively and beautifully, the two brought up the 50 partnership, Zafar playing an unaccustomed anchor role. Ollie was past his First Class best and looking odds-on for a deserved century when he, unexpectedly, edged Hull through to the ‘keeper and departed for 85. Zafar departed soon afterwards, just before the New Ball was due and, at 222-8, Leicestershire must have expected to be batting soon, chasing a very under par first innings score.

Twenty-eight runs for the batting point. Maybe a prayer would help.

The New Ball thrust came and went. Ajeet Dale, who has developed so much this season and shown that he could even become a useful batsman, took Scriven who was pressed into service with the New Ball, for ten in his first over. Back came Josh Hull and, after a first over to Ajeet Dale that was a near maiden of boundaries (just the one), Danny Lamb took him for 14 in his second over that included an edged six over the Slips to bring up the 250 and a batting point.

Initially, the stand grew slowly, and the target became more ambitious: maybe these two could get a second batting point? The batsmen grew in confidence. Twelve runs from a Rehan over, including a thumped six from Danny Lamb, took the score to 298. Leicestershire were beginning to look a little shell-shocked, but worse was to follow for them.

The 300 and second batting point came up in the 99^th over. With eleven overs left for bonus points, Gloucestershire needed 50 for their third batting point, Leicestershire needed a wicket for their third bowling point. Runs started to flow freely and, with just four overs left for bonus points, it looked far more likely that Gloucestershire would get their third than would Leicestershire. If you had suggested that at 222-8, people would just have looked at you pityingly.

Lamb’s 50 had come up with another six off Callum Parkinson. He then brought up the hundred partnership with a boundary and a single. Extraordinary stuff to watch.

Ajeet Dale was into the 40s when Danny Lamb went for one shot to many and fell for a superb 70 (5x4, 3x6). Zaman Akhter has no real pretensions as a batsman but creamed his first ball from Josh Hull for a boundary, giving Ajeet Dale confidence that his partner would hang around to see him to his own 50. A boundary to Dale brought up the 350 and third batting point with eight balls to spare.

With the Close approaching, the weather threatening (some huge rolls of thunder could be heard) and the likelihood of a declaration if Ajeet Dale got his maiden fifty, all eyes were on the balcony. Finally, he reached the landmark with a two off Rehan (90 balls, 6x4) and the whole balcony gave him a standing ovation. Finally, knowing that the declaration would come at the end of the 113^th over, he charged down the pitch to Callum Parkinson, missed completed and was stumped by miles.

368ao. A tale of the unexpected. The last two wickets added 146 runs.

Leicestershire had five overs to face. A wicket would have made a perfect ending to the day but, to be honest, the New Ball spell from Tom Price and Ajeet Dale was not threatening. 23-0 at the Close.

With the occasional ball keeping low or doing a lot for the seamers, Gloucestershire should have a chance of building a very strong position on Day 3 but, the Shire’s biggest enemy may be losing yet more time. The first task will be to use the New Ball better in the morning.

Day 3

Another odd day at Bristol, but now we are getting used to such things. No intervention from Jupiter Pluvius, but still a ten-minute delay in mid-afternoon due to a fire alarm, which came just as a wicket fell, leading to some confusion as to whether the ball was still live when the catch was executed (it was). Then, the oddest of odd dismissals, as a stand that was threatening to put Leicestershire right on top, was ended when Louis Kimber edged the ball into the ground and tried to catch the rebound. The players, who knew the law appealed. The commentator, who has done Level 1 and Level 2 umpiring courses, called the wicket. The umpires conferred. And very, very reluctantly, Kimber walked.

In the end, though, it is hard to see any other result than a pretty tedious draw.

However, be didn’t know all this at 11am. Nor could we guess that two very young players would be the heroes of the day with the ball.

Gloucestershire’s task was to take wickets with the New Ball, dismiss Leicestershire in about two sessions and set out to increase the lead as much as possible by the Close. Leicestershire would have harboured thoughts of batting all day and having a go on the fourth morning to score quick runs, looking for a lead of 100-150. Any other outcome to the day looked an assured route to a draw. Given that the pitch showed every sign of getting slower and more friendly and that the overhead conditions were also batsman friendly, you wondered where 30 wickets might come from in just six sessions of play.

A quiet start – a maiden from Ajeet Dale – gave no warning of what was to come. After five runs from the first three overs, Rishi Patel launched into Tom Price and the still new ball with a four and a six and then a brace of boundaries off Ajeet Dale. Three boundaries from another Dale over as Sol Budinger took his cue from Patel. Leicestershire racing along. 66-0 from 13 overs and a problem for Graeme van Buuren.

On came Danny Lamb and the boundaries kept coming. GvB made it a double change by calling-up Zaman Akhter who, seeing how the ball was sailing to all parts, was probably not trying to catch the captain’s eye. New guard for Sol Budinger. Ball well outside off that kept low. Wild slash from the batsman and James Bracey pocketed an edge that barely carried. A wicket first ball and a wicket maiden. With Danny Lamb offering no threat, GvB was only going to do one thing: toss the ball to Zafar. Rishi Patel had his 50 and was looking dangerous. Two immaculate forward defensives and then a ball launched far over the bowler’s head for six. Poor Zafar must have wondered if Monday in Multan might be better than Monday in Bristol if all the pitches were going to be like this.

Fortunately, Zaman Akhtar was bowling like a demon at the other end and showing that there was reward for a bowler with extra pace who was willing to put his back into it. First ball of his fourth over. Regulation edge from Patel and Ollie Price took a good, low catch at Second Slip. 85-2 and, if one or two could be nipped out before Lunch, Gloucestershire could eat with real cheer. Akhtar came off with figures of 5-3-5-2 and reality hit home again. By Lunch, it was obvious that a day of hard graft beckoned.

When they came back out, Lewis Hill and Colin Ackermann added 66. Ball outside off from Akhtar. Wild slash from Ackermann and an easy catch at First Slip for Ben Charlesworth. 151-3… or was it? A fire alarm had gone off in the pavilion. Play was halted and the scoreboard did not show the wicket. Had the ball been dead when edged? No. The alarm went off some seconds later and, it seems, the scoreboard operator was distracted by the whooping and the public address advising “this is an emergency” and was being evacuated. Eventually the scoreboard caught up with events on the field of play. Fortunately, although Zaman Akhtar was on fire on the pitch, Ed Seabourne and the BBC commentary team were not on fire in the Pavilion. A short delay and another partnership when play resumed. This time Handscomb with Lewis Hill. GvB turned to Ollie Price, his seventh bowler, in tandem with Zafar. The game was appearing to drift.

Ollie Price, as he showed even in his debut match, a couple of seasons back, has a nice action, is tall and, even though he is learning his trade, looks like a potential batting all-rounder. Handscomb played a crabbed shot to one that came in a little, missed and the ball hit off. Ollie Price was delighted. His captain was delighted. 193-4. Would that be the breakthrough?

In came Louis Kimber and another 50 partnership built. There was a growing sense of wondering where another wicket would come from. 233-4 at Tea and the alarming prospect of a significant Leicestershire lead.

Of course, if it was not Zaman Akhtar bowling, it had to be Ollie Price when something happened. New Ball approaching. Men around the bat for Zafar. Nothing doing. The turn was so slow that unless he pitched it on a sixpence there was not threat. A bit of a distraction as Ollie Price moved his field around mid-over. Chris Dent pulled over to the leg side, creating a tempting gap in the Covers. Then an innocuous delivery, save that his height got a bit of extra bounce. Kimber played the ball into the pitch at his feet and, as if fearing that it would bounce back onto his stumps – it was not going to – he went to catch the ball and then, realising what he was doing, dropped it quickly. Dan Whiting was quick to point out that it had to be out. Ollie Price asked the question and, under the change in the law, the umpires gave it as “Obstructing the field” (handled ball no longer exists). It was the oddest of brain-fades.

In came Rehan Ahmed. Along came the New Ball and, again, the scoring accelerated and yet another fifty partnership came in under ten overs and, with it, the 300. 87 overs gone. The real threat of finishing with just a single bowling point as Lewis Hill completed a patient century from 205 balls. The ball was tossed to Zaman Akhter who produced a brute of a first delivery that Ahmed could only fend to Ollie Price at Second Slip, who took it diving forward. 309-6.

Lewis Hill started to farm the strike and was the key to a decent Leicestershire lead. There was even the option, with 17 overs left for bonus points and 74 needed, for Hill to start to hit out and chase 400 and the fourth batting point. Ollie Price came back with a still hard and quite new ball. Second delivery, he tossed one up and Lewis Hill, who had been taking his bottom hand off the bat when driving, as if in pain, did it again and patted the ball gently, lobbing it back to the bowler to depart for 103. 326-7.

For the first time in the day, the bowlers were on top. Chris Wright lasted just five deliveries before a delighted Zafar got him stone dead, sweeping. Zafar had bowled well on a benign surface for no reward at all. 327-8. An unexpected Gloucestershire lead looking almost certain and, as the batsmen trudged off, Ben Charlesworth stood at the crease and rehearsed batting against the New Ball knowing that he might be facing it in just a few minutes. That was professionalism.

Callum Parkinson came in. Zafar turned one sharply past his bat and, a couple of balls later, completed a wicket maiden by catching the edge and watching Ollie Price – who else? – take an easy catch. That was 333-9. Full bowling points for the Shire. Leicestershire still short of their third batting point. Forty minutes earlier, you would have got decent odds on the fourth batting point for the latter and just two bowling points for the former.

The score crept up as Scriven took what runs were available. Zaman Akhtar was tiring visibly. Back came Ollie Price. A misdirected ball down leg that also turned brought up four byes and the 350. Final ball of his over he delivered a shortish ball that turned a little and kept low. Scriven swept, missed, and was given LBW and Ollie ended with 3-40.

With just three overs until the Close the order of the day was not to lose a wicket. Seven of the nine runs came as extras. No real alarms.

Gloucestershire 27 ahead and a draw looking almost certain unless there is some really awful batting tomorrow.

Day 4

What did I say about awful batting bringing a result? When you are 136-2, 154 ahead, five minutes before Lunch, you should not be bowled out for 202 and lose by a comfortable margin. It was pretty sobering viewing.

It will be Division 2 cricket at Bristol in 2024 and the main task in the second half of the season will be to avoid the wooden spoon.

94 overs to play because two would be lost for change of innings unless Gloucestershire batted all day. Scores almost at parity. And speculation that there could be some declaration bowling for maybe ten overs and a chase of 260-280 in about 55 overs. On the negative side, there has been variable bounce and forcing batting had not been easy at any time so far, which is not ideal for a chase.

Either way, there were few signs of aggressivity in the first twenty minutes, as the score advanced thanks mainly to No Balls. Callum Parkinson then turned a ball prodigiously from very wide of off and, as if disconcerted, Ben Charlesworth edged the next ball, giving Slip a very sharp catch. 23-1.

Chris Dent has not been in sparkling form this season but showed the first signs of aggression with a brace of boundaries off Chris Wright, both driven hard through the Covers. Ollie Price then flashed hard at Callum Parkinson and took a pair of boundaries in the over. Josh Hull replaced Wright and Dent creamed his first and third deliveries (both buffet balls) through Point for boundaries. Six fours in eleven balls and, suddenly the batsmen were flying. Josh Hull then gave him a yorker that appeared to be doing down leg. Dent missed and was given, LBW. 48-2 and, Chris Dent, probably very unlucky.

It should have been 48-3. Miles Hammond, possibly seeing the turn and wanting to negate it, gave Parkinson the charge and missed. Handscomb gathered cleanly, tried to take off the bails and missed. Hammond was still flailing to get back as Handscomb tried again and missed the stumps a second time. Miles Hammond survived… somehow. Odd things were starting to happen. Josh Hull dropped one ball very short down leg that barely lifted and bounced twice on its way down the pitch. Then a ball on the stumps from Parkinson turned viciously, lifted, and went through where Second Slip would have been for four byes. A second delivery in the same over also showed huge turn. One wondered what Zafar was thinking watching this having laboured so hard with so little encouragement. Could he get the chance later in the day of applying some real pressure and inducing a collapse?

With 75 overs to go, the lead was 110. Even though the run-rate was approaching 4-an-over, there was no real sign of a dash for runs and the whole time/runs equation was getting increasingly unfavourable for a realistic declaration. Even so, when bad balls came (and to be honest, Hull and Scriven offered plenty of them), they were hit… if they could be reached (often enough, they could not be). Miles Hammond hammered Scriven high and handsome back over his head for six and followed up with a more conventional boundary: 14 off the over; was this the start of a push?

The appearance of trick shots such as the reverse sweep suggested that the batsmen were going to give it a try. Miles Hammond raced past Ollie Price, who was becalmed in the low 30s. just as he looked set to get another nice 50, he played across the line to the less than lethal spin of Hylton Ackermann and was bowled for 48. 132-3 and a blow to Gloucestershire’s chances of a quick post-Lunch dash.

Lunch was taken at 136-3. The lead 154. 65 overs to come. Would 270 in 50 overs be realistic? Even so, bowling out a side in just 50 overs looked unlikely on a still largely benign surface.

The path to a declaration got even narrower straight after Lunch when Ollie Price fell too, moving way outside off to paddle-sweep Parkinson straight into the hands of the man behind Square. 144-4. In came James Bracey, in need of runs, in a situation where he had to attack at once. He lasted seven balls, going for a sweep and popping a gentle top edge into the gloves of the ‘keeper. 154-5, the lead 172 and overs running out.

Realistically, at 157-5, with 60 overs left and the lead 175, Gloucestershire need to add at least 90 in 10 overs to be able to declare. The other possibility was that Leicestershire could have thoughts of bowling the Shire out and, when Graeme van Buuren cut a wide ball from Chris Wright straight into the hands of the waiting fielder, that became a real possibility: 162-6, the lead 180 and 58 overs to go.

Did no one see the danger?

When surely the only sensible move was to shut up shop, the scramble for quick runs was kept up and the slide continued. Zafar chased a wide one from Wright and edged to the ‘keeper. In came Danny Lamb and got a superb leg-cutter, second ball. 170-8. Five wickets had fallen for 26 and the overs/runs equation was getting very favourable for a chase. The money was inclining ever more rapidly towards a Leicestershire win.

Ajeet Dale then lobbed a catch to give Chris Wright a fourth wicket. 132-2 had become 176-9. Regular drinks were coming out to Tom Price, presumably with instructions. Would he be told to block for as long as possible? Thirteen came from a Chris Wright over, which did not look like safety first. It also pushed the required run-rate in any chase over 4. 220 to chase from 50 overs? It could be interesting, but only if the bowling were very tight. The 200 came up and the 220 lead before Tom Price swiped one straight down Long On’s throat.

So, 221 the target. 47 overs to go. 4.70 the run-rate required. You would think that the chasing side would fancy their chances.

There was time for eight overs before Tea. Even after a maiden first over and slowing for the last two before the break, the batsmen were scoring at better than a run-a-ball and looking set to win with plenty to spare. The odd delivery from Zafar, who took the New Ball, turned prodigiously, but runs came disconcertingly fast. The bowling looked dispirited by the sudden turnaround in fortunes and the fielding quickly got ragged after Tea.

Luck was not running the way of the Shire. Zafar had had one massive appeal for LBW rejected to a ball the turned square. Then, to just the third ball after Tea Sol Budinger appeared to turn a ball to Ben Charlesworth, very close at Short Forward Square Leg. Charlesworth dived, took a brilliant catch. Budinger stayed his ground and got the benefit of the doubt. The slow motion replay suggested that maybe the ball just beat the inside edge and ballooned off the pad.

Briefly, in the final session, Zaman Akhter brought some hope. In consecutive overs he got rid of both openers. His first ball was cut through Point for a boundary. To his fifth delivery Patel pulled, got too much elevation and the ball was taken by Danny Lamb. 53-1. To his second delivery of his next over Sol Budinger played a similar shot with an identical result. 56-2.

Another quick wicket and Leicestershire might have wobbled. It almost came from the final ball of the over when Ahmed tried very hard to get an edge to James Bracey from a wide ball that moved further away. A couple of tight overs and more gifts. A loose delivery down leg went for five wides – the umpires were very strict on anything down leg from the spinners – and, in his next over, another well down leg evaded James Bracey and went for two more wides. The pressure that the wickets had brought was vanishing. The hundred came up in the 21^st over with an Ahmed six straight back over Zafar’s head. Between Over 21 and Over 33, there were just two overs with no boundaries. Ahmed and Ackermann were scoring at will. GvB tried himself, brought on Danny Lamb: nothing inconvenienced the batsmen.

With just 24 wanted, 8 wickets in hand and plenty of time to score the runs, we saw what might have been as Leicestershire had the sort of wobble that, an hour earlier, could have cost the dear.

Ahmed and Ackermann had added 141 with insulting ease in 22 overs when Ahmed went for another big shot, miscued, hit the ball miles into the air and Graeme van Buuren took the catch. Danny Lamb’s figures at this point – 1.4-0-17-1 – give an idea of the carnage. In came Peter Handscomb, who had been very untidy with gloves, who proved to be untidy with the bat too: a horrible hack off Zafar and Ben Charlesworth pouched the skied chance. 206-4 and, had the bowlers had 50 more to play with, it could have got very nervy. Instead, it was 15 to win and Danny Lamb served up a juicy ball, offering too much width that Ackermann slapped to the boundary to get the target down to 10. Still, Leicestershire continued to blink. Louis Kimber got a straight yorker, was hit on the back pad and Lamb got the decision. 211-5. Still 10 to win, but Ackermann on 71* and in complete control.

It was Hylton Ackermann who hit the winning run. Leicestershire had chased down their target with ridiculous ease, to win by five wickets with almost six overs to spare.

What went wrong? There were two main problems:

First, the batting. When wickets started to fall, someone should have decided to close-up an end and use up time. There were too few runs to defend in too many overs, but batsman after batsman still sacrificed his wicket going for quick runs.

Then, the bowling. Both Tom Price and Ajeet Dale looked off colour, with combined match figures of 0-191. Both were returning from injury, neither looked fully fit. Eight No Balls between the two, when defending a small target did not help. When your two main strike bowlers in the absence of David Payne, Matt Taylor and Marchant de Lange are unable to generate threat – Tom Price looked little more than medium pace – the New Ball will be, if not wasted, at least used less effectively than it should be. In both innings, Leicestershire got off to a very fast start and gained valuable momentum. Chasing a small target, Leicestershire were helped when Ajeet Dale served up two deliveries that went for four byes and a No Ball that was hit for four in his first three overs. At 43-0 from six overs, the back of the chase had been broken. Lack of bowling discipline with the New Ball was critical.

County Championship Round 8: Leicestershire v Gloucestershire

 

Preview:

While not a “must win” game, this is definitely a “must not lose”. Gloucestershire burgled a win at Bristol, in a match that Leicestershire had dominated and cannot afford another bad match after having managed just two bowling points against Surrey. After a jet-propelled start to the season, both the batting and bowling have been stuttering in recent games. With the top four in Group Two separated by just 13 points, every dropped bonus point becomes critical. As the table stands, Gloucestershire have the lowest number both of batting and of bowling points in the Group. In reality, Gloucestershire’s position is still a very strong one as they lead the group by three points from Somerset while Surrey, in third, have played a game more and, to boot, Somerset and Hampshire play each other and one or other will drop off the pace as a result: probably the best result for Gloucestershire at Taunton would be a Somerset win, followed by a low-scoring draw as next best.

Kraigg Brathwaite has returned home and is replaced by Glenn Phillips of New Zealand, who is slated to replace James Bracey at #3. Although both Phillips and Tom Lace can keep wicket, Jonathan Tattersall’s loan has been extended after his excellent debut and he will take the gloves and bat at #7. Miles Hammond, the success story of the Surrey game, will open the batting. For the Shire, getting a solid start will be crucial, so one hopes that Chris Dent will combine more successfully with Miles Hammond than he did with Kraigg Brathwaite. Tom Lace, Ian Cockbain and Ryan Higgins will bat from 4 to 6, followed by Tattersall and Tom Smith.

Josh Shaw looks set to replace Matt Taylor in the attack, although there is a strong argument for giving Dominic Goodman another chance to impress: the last place should be between them. George Scott looks likely to miss out, barring an injury to a batsman. At The Oval, there was a strong temptation to drop Dan Worrall to allow two spinners to play (having seen the way that the pitch played one wonders if the Shire wish that they had done so – one suspects not) but, this time, Graeme van Buuren is not in the XIII, suggesting that Plan “A” is a balanced attack with three specialist seamers, Ryan Higgins as all-rounder and Tom Smith as spinner.

Leicestershire, managed their third highest successful Championship chase against a Middlesex side that has now lost six of its eight matches. Having dominated almost every game for the best part of three days, Middlesex will be wondering where to turn. In contrast, Leicestershire will come into this match full of confidence, knowing that that they would, but for rain and an injury, have earnt at least a draw at Bristol.

For Leicestershire, their batting has been feast or famine. They have twice scored more than 400 in the first innings and twice more have passed 300, but have managed only 84 and 136 in their last two matches. Gloucestershire need to keep the pressure on their batsmen in the first innings rather than have to chase the game, which they have been doing too frequently for comfort: it had to come unstuck some time and did against Surrey.

Day 1: 

Gloucestershire’s strategy all campaign has been to pack the side with seam options and bowl first. It has left them vulnerable to sides that prepare dry pitches to negate the seamers and pick two spinners, aiming to exploit a deteriorating pitch on the last day. It is fair to say that spin is not a Gloucestershire strength and the loss of Graeme van Buuren has not helped, although recollection of GvB’s powers as a spinner have been enhanced greatly by his absence. That said, there is no question that being able to pick both Tom Smith and Graeme van Buuren would give the opposition pause for thought when preparing pitches. The fact that Leicestershire picked two spinners in their squad was due warning that all of Gloucestershire’s opponents have identified now this major vulnerability. So, it was no surprise that Leicestershire chose to bat on winning the Toss and picked two spinners, hoping to reverse a sequence of four defeats and a draw in their last five matches against the Shire.

The playing XI was as expected, with Dominic Goodman missing out to Josh Shaw for the last place.

Cloudy conditions for the start, although the Sun broke through quickly, albeit briefly and, unlike the amazingly green strip at The Oval, which never broke up because of the amount of grass, the strip at Grace Road showed not a hint of green. Dan Worrall and David Payne opened the bowling and got plenty of movement, although struggling a little initially to control the line. The pitch seemed to have little bounce: one delivery from Worrall bounced twice through to Jonathan Tattersall. Another, from David Payne, went down leg, bounced awkwardly just in front of Jonathan Tattersall and went for four byes. The breakthrough though was not long in coming: the penultimate ball of the fourth over, Azad edged a David Payne delivery that swung and squared him up to Tom Smith in the Gulley. Leicestershire 10-1, just the start that the Shire needed. After that, though, alarms were limited and Josh Shaw was on for the eleventh over. The batsmen were not being made to play enough, particularly from the Pavilion End, from which plenty of balls swung away a lot, but without threatening bat or stumps.

What was disconcerting for the bowlers was that big swing only seemed to be available when the ball was well wide of off. After some difficult, early overs, Evans and Harris settled into their task and accumulated steadily. Up came the fifty in the twentieth over and you started to think that the Shire had missed the boat by failing to take more early wickets when conditions were in their favour. Even so, Ryan Higgins produced a magnificent delivery that swung in and moved off the pitch and just failed to catch the edge of Evans’ bat: it was going to turn out to be that kind of day. On came Glenn Phillips to bowl his off-breaks in the twenty-first over, ahead of Tom Smith or Miles Hammond, with the 50 partnership coming up in the same over. However, as would happen several times during the day, the change brought the wicket. In his second over, Glenn Phillips had Evans dropped by Tom Lace at Short Leg when he could not hold on to a full-blooded shot but, four balls later, Evans prodded another one very gently, again to Tom Lace, who took the catch: 64-2, Evans 27 and, next delivery, Ackermann must have been perilously close to being LBW first ball. Suddenly, things were happening again and Ryan Higgins was causing all sorts of problems too at the other end. Chris Dent put three men around the bat for Glenn Phillips and brought on Tom Smith to a similar field, pressurising the batsmen. Gloucestershire bowling two spinners in tandem before Lunch on the first day? And facing the prospect of batting last on this pitch…

Glenn Phillips was Action Man in person: every delivery was an event… an appeal, bat beaten (or not), runs – there was always something happening. The pitch was giving a little help, although not excessively. And then, suddenly, a ball from Glenn Phillips turned a long way. 89-2 from 31 overs at Lunch and batting last was not looking like an attractive proposition with the two Gloucestershire spinners having shared 8 overs already and finding some real encouragement.

After Lunch though, slowly but surely the batsmen consolidated. The 100 came up in the 35^th over. Ackerman then ran out and hit Glenn Phillips for a huge six over Long On: once again, the bat was getting right on top and, this time would stay there for a long time. Harris reached his 50 out of 129-2 and the score started to mount rather faster than Chris Dent will have wanted: nine came off a Tom Smith over, although he was bowling as tightly and meanly as ever; even Ryan Higgins was unable to keep a lid on scoring, going at 4-an-over. The milestones kept coming: Ackermann’s 50 in the 59^th over, the 200 up (Harris 99*, Ackermann 52*) in the 60^th, then Harris’ 100 (175 balls, 15x4). The batsmen were carrying straight on from where they left off against Middlesex. Ten came from a Josh Shaw over and, with Glenn Phillips also taking some stick, it was time for Miles Hammond, bowling in sunglasses and a headband, to try his luck. Almost immediately he had a confident bat-pad catch appeal against Harris rejected, much to the displeasure of the close fielders who were already in a huddle, celebrating: 211-2 and yet another bad day was looming for the Shire. The 150 partnership came up in the 62^nd over.

A deflection down leg was just fractionally out of reach of Jonathan Tattersall’s dive: on another day Harris might not have got away with it, but earnt four runs instead of being dismissed. Last ball before Tea, Harris produced a Chinese Cut against Josh Shaw that just passed Off Stump and defeated the despairing dive of Jonathan Tattersall: 224-2 from 64 overs, the partnership 160 and lady luck was just not on the side of the bowlers.

Back after Tea, Miles Hammond immediately produced a beautiful delivery that pitched well outside off and turned and bowled Ackermann for 57: 224-3 and a first bowling point.  Back came the close fielders for the first time for what seemed like ages, surrounding the batsman. Again, there was a sudden change in the tempo of the match, particularly as Miles Hammond was looking to be the biggest threat since the early overs of the morning. However, once again a stand started to build, edges flew agonisingly out of reach of flying fielders, there were more Chinese Cuts that went for four: pure frustration. Back came Glenn Phillips and again the change brought a wicket. A delivery turned, hit pad and flew into the air. The umpire’s finger went up and, for a few moments no one could work out if it was LBW or bowled (poor Ed Seabourne’s face was a picture as he tried to work out what the decision was). In the end, the umpire ruled that Harris was LBW Phillips 148 (236 balls, 21x4). The score was then 299-4 in the 79^th over and the Shire were two wickets short of a second bowling point. Up came the Leicestershire 300 in the following over – the fifth time this season that their batsmen have reached 300 in the 1^st innings.

The New Ball came and went. Yet another partnership started to build: this time Hill and Swindells. In came Dan Worrall for the 91^st over of the day. The first ball swung prodigiously, but well outside off and was ignored. The second also swung considerably and bowled Hill neck and crop for 56 (83 balls, 7x4): 337-5. Rather than play quietly for the Close, the batsmen kept up the attack and no fewer than 20 runs came from the last three overs of the day, as Leicestershire brought up the 350 and 4^th bowling point in the last over of the day, although with four legs byes, followed by four byes from the last ball of the day: 357-5 and 14 overs left to obtain the second bowling point.

Yes, it has been another tough day. When your luck is out… however, Gloucestershire know that these things always even-out in the end.

Day 2:

After a day suffering almost every misfortune that a side can suffer, not least the long-suffering Jonathan Tattersall, who kept wicket really well, yet saw 14 byes and 16 leg byes go past him: some of them he would have been pressed to stop even had he had the arms and the agility of an orang-utan. Meanwhile, Chris Dent may be wondering if he should have placed two men in the deep for the Chinese Cut. Yes, yesterday was that sort of day, even when you discount the extraordinary number of close LBW shouts that were turned down. New day. Turn things around? No. We saw another horrible collapse from a side that seems to have lost all batting confidence, the follow-on enforced and the captain out for the second time in the day. 

Action: plenty. Things to cheer for the Shire: very few. However, the side have shown powers of resilience that few would have imagined, even against Surrey, where it took a debatable umpiring decision to quench the growing flame of a stubborn last day fightback. Do not rule out another late twist.

A cloudy morning, with the threat of possible drizzle later and the talk of trying to restrict the Foxes to 400. Ryan Higgins, who had had an alarming moment when he trod on the ball and fell heavily during the afternoon session on Day 1 required a fitness test on his knee before play, but was able to bowl the first over of the day. In David Payne’s first over there was already one delivery that swung back in, just missing both the inside edge of the bat and the stumps and, three balls later, a Chinese Cut that again, evaded the stumps. Harry Swindells was the lucky batsmen who then, in Payne’s next over, inside-edged into his pad: David Payne could definitely feel swindled all three times. In Payne’s third over, he passed Swindell’s outside edge by a whisker and the ball just cleared the stumps.  If Harry Swindells plays the lottery, today is the day that he should buy a ticket.

The most impressive thing was that Swindells did not let his struggles get to him and stuck it out, not giving away his wicket, while Mike just got on with his own innings at the other end. The Bowlers were giving nothing away, but it was the batsmen who were winning the battle. Payne kept at it and Mike flashed at the last ball of his spell, just missing it as the ball moved away a fraction. It set the pattern for the day.

On came Tom Smith at the Pavillion End and, first ball, Swindells finally produced one edge too many and Ian Cockbain swallowed the catch in front of his face: 379-6, the second bowling point and, first ball, new batsmen, Parkinson was on the point of edging a ball that turned a little. Tom Smith’s penultimate ball turned and beat the edge again: this was the sort of bowling that the Shire have looked for from Tom Smith; it also begged the question of what the Leicestershire spinners might be able to do. On came Dan Worrall and extracted more late, banana swing from wide of Off. However, old habits die hard, so Parkinson Chinese Cut the fifth ball of the over down to Fine Leg to show that he too had mastered the shot. All the while, Tom Smith was producing a spell that looked more Bishan Bedi than Allan Border, with the ball turning and, occasionally spitting a little. Still though, Leicestershire edged (frequently literally) towards 400, which came when Mike saw a ball from Tom Smith to hit and launched it over Long On for a two-bounce four: 402-6 in the 115^th over. In the next over Dan Worrall took diabolic revenge for his colleague’s suffering by first hitting Mike in the unmentionables and, while his eyes we still, presumably, watering, produced a much quicker and absolutely straight full length delivery that Mike drove at and missed completely. The only doubt about it might have been if would tunnel under Middle although, thinking about it, that was presumably what the umpires had thought about a couple of the LBW shouts yesterday: 405-7 and the Shire working their way through the batting. Less appreciated by the public was yet another 50, brought up in the 120^th over, when 4 byes from Dan Worrall brought up the fifty for Extras. Of these, 22 were byes (almost none of which Jonathan Tattersall had any realistic chance of stopping) and 23 Leg Byes.

The Eastern Cape Action Man was dropping ever less subtle hints that he wanted a bowl and, finally, Chris Dent turned to him. The decision nearly bore fruit when Wright got in a tangle and came close to being stumped. However, it was a case of “tell me the old, old story” – 436-7 at Lunch, yet another partnership building and no signs of an end to the innings.

Straight after Lunch Josh Shaw hit Matt Parkinson on his unprotected bowling arm. For a while, it looked as if Parkinson was in trouble and, given that he is the main spinner, any problems for him that could affect his bowling would be a serious business. The ball then went out of shape and was changed before Miles Hammond could relieve Tom Smith. This was a clever move: first ball, yet another inside edge, but safe; the second, a massive Full Toss (one of the very few times that the Shire’s Björn Börg lookalike has lost his length), that Wright lobbed gently to Josh Shaw at Mid On. It was 436-8, just 8 balls had been bowled in 11 minutes after Lunch, but plenty had happened in those eight deliveries.

Miles Hammond was having problems with his length but, when he got one right, the ball turned, evaded the edges, hit Jonathan Tattershall’s gloves and evaded the grab of Ian Cockbain at First Slip, trying to catch the re-bound: two more byes to the total. The 450 came up in the 132^nd over, which was job done for the Foxes. Leicestershire honour satisfied, Josh Shaw tried a novelty: two, perfectly straight balls, which did for Barnes and Davis in the space of three deliveries, sending the Off Stump flying in identical manner each time. So, it was 451ao and the light roller came on.

So, what would Gloucestershire’s new opening pair of Chris Dent and Miles Hammond make of the bowling. The first two deliveries from Wright went down leg and produced a leg bye and a three as the two batsmen started confidently. Only 302 to save the follow-on. You wondered about the strategic collapse to hurry the game along and set up a run-chase after (just) saving the follow-on. However, it would be nice to see a decent opening partnership for a change. The batsmen were playing positively, even if one half-controlled edge from Mile Hammond went at a comfortable height, just where a Fourth Slip could have been: instead of a dismissal, it brought four runs. Chris Dent, with his crouched, rather chest-on stance, looked by far the more vulnerable of the two. Miles Hammond though was looking just as he good as he had against Surrey and despatched a delivery from Davis out of the ground with a confident pull for six to make the score 27-0.

On came Parkinson for the twelfth over and sent one down leg that went for leg byes and the next was a horrible full toss down leg that Miles Hammond launched so close to the Short Forward Square Leg that his life must have passed before his eyes. 47-0 from 12 overs and the commentators praising Miles Hammond for his kindness in not hitting that ball as hard as it deserved!!!

One started to think of the uncharted territory of a fifty opening partnership until Ackermann brought himself on after Parkinson’s solitary over. His first delivery was floated up, turned, lifted a little, beat Chris Dent’s defensive prod and hit the top of off: 48-1 and in came Glenn Phillips, known for his T20 hitting, but averaging 40.2 in the First Class game. Phillips was off the mark with a single third ball before Miles Hammond decided to bring out the reverse sweep to superb effect, to bring up the fifty, with the Shire still going at close to 4-an-over. The instinct of both Miles Hammond and Glenn Phillips is to attack, which was great entertainment for everyone except the Short Forward Square Leg, who must have been desperate to get off at Tea and check his insurance. There was also one bizarre incident where Glenn Phillips scuffed a drive, the ball slid just to the wicket-keeper’s right and it was a race between the dab down of the bat and the gloveman’s lunge at the stumps: Glenn Phillips won by a nose, but perished in Parkinson’s next over when he tried to hit a six and Harris took a tremendous diving catch close to the boundary as the ball came over his shoulder. 81-2, Glenn Phillips 16 and the start of an ignominious collapse.

Tom Lace was extremely lucky to get away with what looked suspiciously like a glove to the ‘keeper, but he made it to Tea and it was 85-2 from 26 overs, with Hammond 41* and Lace 1*.

Initially, things were altogether calmer and less frenetic after Tea until, after a period playing themselves back in, Miles Hammond started to attack, reaching his 50 with a boundary (80 balls, 6x4, 1x6). Immediately afterwards, though, Tom Lace snicked one behind to fall cheaply: 95-3. It could have been worse because Ian Cockbain edged his first ball to Slip, who juggled it three times before the ball finally fell to the turf. Then Parkinson fired one down leg and Ian Cockbain deflected it to the boundary to bring up the 100 in the 35^th over. Ian Cockbain could not take advantage: Parkinson floated one up, Cockbain tried to turn it to leg, the ball went to Second Slip off the pad and was given, caught: 114-4. Ian Cockbain was not happy, but he was out all the same. Then Ryan Higgins played down the wrong line and was bowled, Off Stump and Parkinson was on a hat-trick.

Again, the pitch was not playing badly. The bowling was not even that good. It was just a collective malaise of confidence that has been gathering pace for several games. Miles Hammond had used the reverse sweep to good effect, but tried one too many and the ball deflected off his leg onto the stumps: 123-6, Hammond 67 (107 balls, 8x4, 1x6) and the Shire in the proverbial. It was another batting freefall. And it got worse. Ackermann dropped one very short. Tom Smith swiped at it and only defected the ball onto his stumps. 128-7. After a flurry of boundaries, back came Wright. Jonathan Tattersall clipped the ball sweetly… straight to Mid-Wicket. 144-8. Painful viewing. Not long after, Josh Shaw missed one that turned and was hit on the back pad: fifth wicket for Parkinson and 153-9. Then Wright bowled David Payne, only to see the umpire signal No Ball. Payne and Dan Worrall hung around for a while but, finally, Wright bowled a straight one and Worrall missed it. 158ao and a very poor batting effort.

Would Leicestershire enforce the follow-on? The betting was that they would not.

There was a long conference between the Leicestershire players and to the surprise of some, it was enforced.

Now, as the former Essex captain, Tonker Taylor, would have said “same batting order, better batting!”

Leicestershire opened with their spinners and had five overs to make inroads. Chris Dent looked like a man out of form, out of confidence and out of luck. Surviving five overs was too much for him. Penultimate ball: an extra fielder was brought in to have four around him, outside off, ball did nothing, tentative prod and sent straight to Slip. 5-1, 288 behind and Day 3 was going to be a very, very long (or maybe, short) day for the fans of the Shire.

Day 3:

There has been a lot of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth overnight by a section of the Gloucestershire fandom and a lot of criticism of players, some merited, a lot, not. Not too many aspects of the team have escaped censure from the same people who lauded the team just a few weeks ago. The most glaring problem is that opponents have analysed the team and have realised that it is very vulnerable on pitches that encourage spin and negate the seamers. Tom Smith has done a job for the side, but will not often bowl sides out, even if he will keep things tight and help rest the seamers. He is a good, honest County pro, who would do a fine job as second spinner – and undoubtedly be much more effective if he had a dangerous spin partner at the other end – but asking him to bowl out sides on a regularly basis is like asking me to run a four minute mile.

The argument raised – completely erroneously – is that the nature of the Bristol pitch means that signing a top-class spinner (Dom Bess would have been an obvious target) is a waste of money. This is obvious nonsense because if Gloucestershire had had Dom Bess in their squad, Surrey would not have picked a used pitch for their game, Hampshire would not have prepared a pitch in which winning the Toss almost guaranteed them the win (we forget that remarkable last day effort in our rush to judge the side) and Leicestershire would have been much more leery of preparing a pitch that made winning the Toss critical. Even if Gloucestershire had won the Toss against Surrey or Leicestershire, the opposition knew that they would have a good chance of getting away with it.

So, back to the job in hand. What could Miles Hammond and Glenn Phillips do to rescue the situation? For fifteen minutes, things went smoothly. Then, Miles Hammond fell to a good piece of bowling and a diabolical piece of luck. Wright found his outside edge, Azad at First Slip, dropped the ball but, in falling, the ball stuck between his legs and he was able to pick it out and claim the catch. Nine times out of ten the ball would have gone to turf. That made it 17-2 in the fifth over of the morning and the one batsman that you could see resisting all day, was back in the hatch. The size of the job was shown starkly when Parkinson found his length and, when he pitched on the right spot, became almost unplayable.

Tom Lace has had one really good innings this season and one stinker of a decision against him. In recent innings his confidence has looked completely shot and, today, Wright produced a lovely delivery that moved away a little and he could only edge to Slip. It made it 23-3 in the sixth over of the day and it was just a matter of when defeat came today, not if. In the twelfth over of the morning Glenn Phillips misjudged a ball from Parkinson that was homing on leg and was given LBW, much to his disgust – the batsman had not realised how far he had moved across the stumps – making it 29-4. Then, in the fourteenth over, Ryan Higgins, who is completely out of form, launched a huge, premeditated slog-sweep that got a top edge and went high into the air, settling in the hands of Hill. So, at 31-5, the game was just about over.

Jonathan Tattersall brought up the 50 in the 24^th over, but it was just window-dressing now. Even so, seeing both he and Ian Cockbain in double figures was a small boost to morale. One started to raise expectations: perhaps a fifty partnership? Get the score past 100? Survive past Lunch?

As the mini-recovery grew, Parkinson had five men round the bat, with the wicket-keeper joined by a Silly Point, two slips and a Leg Slip. Jonathan Tattersall saw the gaps in the field, skipped down the pitch, took the ball on the full and clipped it sweetly through Mid-Wicket to take the score to 76-5. Up came the fifty partnership in the 34^th over and the Shire were making the pitch look much easier again. Of course, at a similar stage of the first innings they had been 81-1 and looking in control of their destiny. At Lunch it was 90-5, with Jonathan Tattersall 34* and Ian Cockbain 23*. Even if there was no growing bubble of hope, at least the partnership was dispersing a little of the gloom. Of course, the sad fact remained that Gloucestershire needed 203 more to make Leicestershire bat again and to score around 450 to entertain hope of victory. More remarkable was that Parkinson had taken the New Ball and bowled unchanged so far through the innings: 18 overs on the reel, although broken overnight.

Parkinson was rested finally after Lunch as Leicestershire went for an all-seam attack of Wright and Barnes. Up crept the score, closer to the hundred. Jonathan Tattersall brought it up with a clip off his legs to Square Leg. However, the seam experiment was brief and Parkinson was back soon with five men around the bat, wheeling away at the Bennett End off his surprisingly long run. Jonathan Tattersall was using his head and took it a bit too literally when he half ducked and headed the ball to Square Leg for four byes, possibly not too happy that the umpire signalled “dead ball” and chalked them off. After the standard checks, smiling and looking totally unconcerned, he resumed. Tough guys these Yorkies. Next delivery Wright bowled another bouncer that was ducked more safely.

A No Ball that went for four leg byes brought the partnership up to 99 and then Jonathan Tattersall clipped the offending Wright square for the boundary that brought up the hundred partnership. Ian Cockbain won the race to 50 with a lofted Cover Drive off Mike that went for four (112 balls, 6x4). Yet another clip off his legs gave Jonathan Tattersall the single that he needed for his own fifty (104 balls, 7x4) and the score to 145-5. And, in the 52^nd over, up came the 150. Only another 143 needed to make Leicestershire bat again… sigh! But, if these two could add another hundred, just maybe… But no! This is not Headingley and it is not 1981.

Parkinson put one on the spot. Jonathan Tattersall pushed forward. The ball turned a lot and went via the gloves of the ‘keeper to 1^st Slip. Tattersall waited, unconvinced that he had touched it but, while the fielders celebrated, the umpire lifted the finger and he had to go. 150-6 and another fine Tattersall innings had ended on 51. Once Jonathan Tattersall had gone, Ian Cockbain followed quickly: a genuine edge off Parkinson and a good, low catch at Slip. Parkinson’s 5-for, 155-7 and happy times over again.

David Payne did not last long. Turn from Ackermann, bails scattered. 160-8 and we were into the last rites. Tom Smith got a straight one from Ackermann and was palpably LBW, 165-9. A second consecutive defeat by an innings was coming. Dan Worrall came in and swung hard at his first ball and you knew that this last wicket partnership would be brief and merry. Out stepped Josh Shaw and lofted Parkinson over the sightscreen for a huge six. Dan Worrall’s first two scoring shots were a controlled edge for four and a six over Long On that mirrored Josh Shaw’s. Then a clip to leg for another four and one to Fine Leg stopped just short of the boundary: sixteen off the over and Dan Worrall 17* from 9 balls. Tea was delayed and Josh Shaw celebrated with consecutive fours that took the deficit below 100 and brought up the 200, something that had seemed unlikely an hour into the morning session. That though, was as far as the party got. Three balls and two runs later Josh Shaw went for an expansive drive and was bowled by the gate by Ackermann.

The partnership stood at 35 and some dignity had been restored, but you could not hide the fact that this was a second successive innings defeat, a second successive game in which Gloucestershire had just two bowling points to show for their efforts. And, with just two games left, were going to be out of the top two and no longer in control of their destiny.

What is evident is that if Gloucestershire are serious about qualifying for and competing in Division One, they are going to have to find an international spinner from somewhere and the club is going to have to put its hands deep in its pockets to do it.