County Championship Round 9: Durham v Gloucestershire

  

County Championship Round 9

Durham v Gloucestershire

Preview

With just five games left after this one, Gloucestershire take on the toughest challenge by far of the season, playing runaway leaders, Durham, at the beautiful Chester-le-Street ground.

Although they are only thirty-five points away from the promotion places, a gap that would close rapidly with a couple of wins, the fact that the team immediately above, 8 points ahead, in 7^th (Yorkshire) and Derbyshire, 9 points behind, in 9^th, both have a game in hand makes the wooden spoon a far more immediate prospect than challenging at the top of the table.

The side takes on Durham knowing that Marcus Harris, who has not been needed yet by Australia, will not return after the Ashes as he has to return to Australia for family reasons when the series ends.

Meanwhile, the injury crisis that has been a permanent feature of recent seasons means a substantial change of personnel for this game.

Graeme van Buuren strained his side against Hampshire in the Blast and so James Bracey will lead the team again. Tom Price, who has not looked fully fit in the last two games, has some stiffness in the back: officially, he is rested but, in practice the aim is to have him fully fit and available to play the two games at Cheltenham. Ajeet Dale continues to have problems with his knee and David Payne is still being nursed slowly back after his ankle surgery.

Finally, Joe Phillips returns to the 2^nd XI. Bowlers, Dom Goodman, and Paul van Meekeren are added to the squad, with Jack Taylor replacing Graeme van Buuren.

Probably Paul van Meekeren and either Josh Shaw or Dom Goodman will be the players to miss out. After the huge impact that Dom Goodman made in his debut, in 2021, supporters will be interested to see how he goes after a very quiet 2022.

Durham are not without their problems either, having had to sign a sixth bowler for the season (debut for Migael Pretorius), although Matthew Potts is available, having been released by England. If the New Ball attack can be seen off, the change bowlers are, as for Gloucestershire, less experienced.

Day 1

With rain pushing in from the west, there was every likelihood of a truncated day. James Bracey won the Toss and decided to bat. The surprise was that both Josh Shaw and Dom Goodman played, with Jack Taylor missing out. This put Zafar at 7 and left Gloucestershire with a very long tail, starting (if the scorecard could be believed) with Zaman Ahktar, a Championship debutant in the first fixture against Durham, at #8 – he may want to frame that scorecard!

An opening attack of Matthew Potts and Ben Raine is not to be despised. Ben Charlesworth and Chris Dent faced it in bright sunshine, on what looked like an excellent pitch with a very short boundary towards the pavilion, knowing that they had to see off the New Ball and make good use of the pitch. Briefly, Charlesworth looked in decent form, taking a brace of fours from the last two balls of the third over. Chris Dent added another in Raine’s next over, guiding the ball through Point. That made it 19-0 from 6 overs, just two of them off the bowling of Potts, but a promising start. However, it did not last: Charlesworth tried to clip the first ball of the eighth over off his legs and got a leading edge to Matt Parkinson at Mid-On: 23-1 and Matthew Potts with the breakthrough. This brought Ollie Price in at 3. With a long tail, a century and a fifty from the top three were high on the wish list, particularly with Durham’s batting setting huge first innings totals all season.

Chris Dent hit a lovely boundary through Mid-wicket but was lucky to survive next ball when his edge dropped just short of Slip. However, the 50 came up in the seventeenth over, with the change bowlers now on, although, in a sign of things to come, the sun had hidden behind some grey clouds and the wind was picking up. Back came Ben Raine to break the partnership and Chris Dent clipped the ball gently to leg, watching it race away to the boundary. The batsman was probably not displeased to see a lot of the bowling aimed at his legs and took full advantage.

Gloucestershire were making seemingly serene progress to Lunch, the sun out again, Dent into the 40s and Price in the 20s, with the former batting as well as he has all season. Debutant Migael Pretorius gave Ollie Price a very wide one that he flung his bat at and could only edge through to Second Slip. It was not a good shot to play with an over to the break, ending a nice partnership of 66 that threatened to set the foundation for a good total. 89-2 and a danger that the hard work could be undone unless someone could bed-in for a big score. That will hopefully be Chris Dent, who hooked Ben Raine for an easy single and saw the return throw pass under the ‘keeper’s gloves and run for four byes to take him to 49*. 94-2 at the break.

On the return, Chris Dent wasted no time in tucking the single square to get his fifty in 88 balls (5x4). Miles Hammond then guided the ball through Third Man to score the boundary that brought up the hundred. It’s an odd, psychological thing, but 101-2 always looks much better than 94-2! Miles Hammond continued to go for his shots, as he has done in recent games and flayed a slightly overpitched ball through the Covers for another boundary. Chris Dent took his cue from that and hammered a hook to the short boundary. By this time there was rain in Cardiff, Taunton, Worcester and, naturally, at Blackpool, so you wondered how long it would be before it would reach the far north. The gathering cloud, though, was not upsetting the batsmen: another imperious drive through the Covers brough Miles Hammond another boundary. 124-2 and sixteen runs had come from the last seven legitimate deliveries. A couple of quiet overs and Miles Hammond took three boundaries in a Pretorius over to reach 32 from 30 balls, looking in supreme form.

With the light getting distinctly gloomy, on came Matt Parkinson to bowl his leggies with Durham needing a wicket and the floodlights flickering on. It led to a bizarre shot with Chris Dent chipping the ball over bowler into no man’s land for two as if playing a delicate pitching wedge onto the green. Miles Hammond showed him how it is done by dancing down the pitch twice for consecutive sixes: the first back over the bowler, the second over Extra Cover. That brought up the 150 in the 41^st over. After an exchange of singles, a horrible leg-side full toss was sent through Mid-wicket for the four to bring his 50 in 43 balls (8x4, 2x6) and take it up to eighteen off the over. Watching so many shots, the Baz-word was coming to mind.

With the batsmen right on top, another hour like this could have had Durham in dire straits. Unfortunately, Hammond went after Parkinson again, did not get properly to the ball and Scott Borthwick dived and hung on at Short Mid-wicket. Miles Hammond was unfortunate to fall to a superb catch, but the whispers will be that, once again, he passed fifty but did not convert. 170-3 and thoughts of 350 or 400 receding. Even so, Chris Dent was batting probably better than any time so far in the season. The 200 came up in the 52^nd over and it was a surprise when he departed three balls afterwards. Jaffa in the channel from Potts, edged through to the ‘keeper and Dent out for 85: 200-4.

Grant Roelofsen was still there and, for the second time in the day, a piece of enthusiastic fielding led to a five as the batsmen took a quick single. The throw missed the stumps and the desperate dives of two outfielders as it rocketed to the boundary. Thanks in part to them, twenty-one had come from three overs and, again, a dangerous partnership was forming: 36 from 37 balls. This time, though, it was the last two recognised batsmen, and it was essential that it continued. Durham were starting to get a little sloppy in the field with consecutive balls seeing first an overthrow from a wild shy and then a bad misfield that allowed a push by Bracey to go for extra runs. Durham had leaked a surprising number of runs from overthrows and misfields throughout the day, which they could regret later. The 250, the first batting point and the 50 partnership (from 56 balls) came up in the sixty-second over. Could the batsmen push on? Matt Parkinson served up a filthy full toss, Roelofsen missed a cross-batted swipe and was bowled: 256-5. Parkinson could not believe his luck. Grant Roelofsen out for 42 (58 balls, 5x4). Again, a wicket to a poor shot, just before an interval, with the batsmen right on top. 259-5 at Tea.

During Tea, the threatened rain arrived, and the covers came on. About twenty minutes were lost.

No sooner had the players come back out when James Bracey offered an expansive drive to Parkinson and was bowled through the gate by a ball that turned considerably. 261-6. Bracey, 26 and only the bowlers to come.

What had looked like an excellent pitch earlier, started to show signs that it might behave less reliably. Zafar ducked a short ball only to see it barely rise – not the first time that it had happened – and the odd ball was turning now for the spinners. It was coming down a matter of how many the tail could make, particularly with the New Ball approaching. Josh Shaw has shown that he is capable with the bat but was in far too high at #8 (Zaman Ahktar would still have the scorecard showing him at #8 as a souvenir), although he and Zafar organised themselves capably, taking plenty of singles and rotating the strike. Shaw even lobbed Parkinson back over the bowler’s head much as Chris Dent had earlier, but more successfully, earning a boundary. It had become dark again, light rain started to fall and that was the day that was… 280-6. Five overs to the New Ball and twenty needed for the second batting point that must be the absolute minimum that Gloucestershire want.

Day 2

What would Gloucestershire accept? There were suggestions late on Day 1 that perhaps the pitch was not quite as perfect as we thought. Could the tail add 50 more and perhaps get up to 330? Let’s put that in context. So far this season, the Durham first innings totals have been:

376ao, 425-9d, 471-9d, 452-9d, 227, 445ao, 630ao and 517-6d

So, maybe even 330 might not be enough… But, for now, a fairly cloudy sky with a little blue, but some heavy showers promised later in the day.

This season, games against Durham have been Christians v Lions. Today, the show was at the Chester-le-Street Coliseum. And Gloucestershire were given the role of the Christians. However, as Russell Crowe showed in “Gladiator”, sometimes the underdog could escape with his skin and, although it will be an uphill struggle over the last two days, a dogged performance has avoided having a mountain to climb instead.

Things started well. Three boundaries for Zafar off Carse’s first over of the day, including a superb uppercut. Then Josh Shaw launched the first ball of Matt Parkinson’s second over for six over Long On: that was the 300 and second batting point up in double quick time. It was too good to last. Carse dropped one a bit short at Josh Shaw, who tried to help it down to Fine Leg, but only managed to deflect the ball to the ‘keeper. 302-7. Shaw 16. Carse then bounced Matt Taylor, who also nicked the ball to the ‘keeper. Two in two and Carse on a hat trick. Zaman Ahktar avoided it, but nearly fell in the same way as Josh Shaw to his second ball. Next ball, also short. Zaman missed it. The ‘keeper missed it, and it flew through for four byes,

Gloucestershire were scoring at 4-an-over and the game was advancing at a tremendous pace. The New Ball was taken immediately by Carse, and the first ball with it castled Zafar, hitting middle and off. Zafar 34, Gloucestershire 316-9. Dom Goodman survived one ball, missed the second and was adjudged LBW. 316ao. From 256-4, the last 6 wickets had fallen for 60. Not ideal.

Matt Taylor and Josh Shaw with the New Ball. And the “blink and you’ll miss it” cricket continued. Seven runs for the first four deliveries, including a cut for four by Michael Jones that just avoided Gulley. However, Jones lasted just three balls of the second over as Josh Shaw fired in a quick, straight one and got him LBW. 10-1 and we were just 9 balls into the innings. Josh Shaw’s second over was less successful; it started 4 4 4 2 and was typical of the opening exchanges. Leather was flying and Durham were scoring at better than a run a ball. The 50 came up in the 10^th over, with Zaman Ahktar on to try to wrest back some control. Martin Emerson thought that Gloucestershire had left some runs out there: with 85 overs still to come in the day, everything suggested that Durham might be well ahead come the Close today: it would prove to be a sound prediction.

Back came Josh Shaw for a second spell and, this time, was less expensive. He also saw how Scott Borthwick tried to hit him over the short pavilion boundary, miscued and Jack Taylor took a comfortable catch on the boundary. 77-2 in the 17^th over. Shaw with 2-25 from 5.3 overs and very nearly 3-25 from 5.4 as new batsman, David Bedingham, tried a glance first ball and the close fielders all went up loudly for a catch.

Alex Lees reached his 50 (56 balls, 8x4) with a single off Zafar and celebrated by taking a brace of boundaries later in the over. Ten off Zafar’s first over and he must have been thinking something on the lines of “here we go again”. It was a double change, with Dom Goodman coming in at the other end and being greeted with the obligatory boundary. The 100 came up in the 22^nd over with a single swept to Fine Leg off Zafar, but you could say that, after a difficult start, Gloucestershire were wresting back some control. With three balls left before Lunch, Dom Goodman dropped in a short ball, David Bedingham hooked and watched the ball go straight to Matt Taylor. 101-3 and Lunch, which must have tasted far better than the bowlers could have hoped three quarters of an hour before.

For the super-optimists, Durham still need 65 to avoid the follow-on! Get Alex Lees quickly after Lunch and that 316ao may look a long way away.

A wicket did fall quickly, but it was Ollie Robinson, chipping a low catch back to Dom Goodman, who did well to get down to it. 109-4, Robinson 7 and Dom Goodman with 2-14.

Although there was no more success for the bowlers, they kept the lid on the scoring very successfully, with plenty of men on the boundary to cut off the fours. Durham were forced to re-build and needed a partnership. Alex Lees and Graham Clark were determined to provide one. Up came the 150 in the 37^th over and Durham slowly getting back on top but scoring mainly in singles. Lees was the main problem and a boundary cracked straight back down the ground, past Matt Taylor, brought up the 50 partnership in 84 balls. The follow-on was, saved and ominously, Alex Lees was in the 90s and looking in no difficulty. Up came Lees’ century with an imperious drive off Zafar, from 120 balls with 13x4 and he took a boundary next ball too to celebrate. After two centuries in the previous match against Leicestershire, this was his third consecutive ton.

Suddenly, the floodgates were opening again. The 200 came up in the 47^th over, the stand was closing on 100 and Gloucestershire urgently needed a wicket. The century stand came up, followed by the Clark 50. 242-4 (Lees 137*, Clark 57*) from 55 overs at Tea and Gloucestershire’s promising position just after Lunch had turned into an increasingly difficult one.

After Tea, the grinding-down of the bowlers continued. Three consecutive boundaries from a Zaman Ahktar over took Lees to 150 from 163 balls but, mostly, it was taking singles as they wanted, with Durham looking at a total well north of 450 with maximum batting points. It was a relief when, finally, the rain arrived and, at 280-4, everyone retreated to the pavilion. The happiest person on the pitch was, undoubtedly, Josh Shaw who had just been tossed the ball and had marked out his run-up with the enthusiasm of a condemned man walking to the gallows. The interruption was brief. The sun was quickly back out and after the rope was dragged round, the covers went off and just 4 overs were lost.

Ollie Price had been tried and, for once, had left his Superman cape behind so, with the New Ball approaching, Ben Charlesworth was called up to try his luck. It took him just five balls to break the stand. Clark tried to thump him to the short boundary and picked out Chris Dent perfectly at Mid-wicket. Another Durham batsman had given away his wicket but, this time, with 82 to his name. 304-5, the partnership of 192 had transformed the game and Alex Lees still there on 172* and threatening to take the game away from Gloucestershire.

In came Brydon Carse. Ben Charlesworth dropped short, and the batsman swivelled and swatted him away for six. That took the scores level. In no time Carse had 16 from 13 balls and the lead was starting to grow far too quickly for comfort. The 350 and third batting point came up in the 78^th over with a Lees six as his double century started to look inevitable. A sign of the situation was Chris Dent coming on to bowl some very gentle medium pace to hasten the New Ball. Lees treated him with respect but pushed the single off him to bring up another 50 partnership.

On came Matt Taylor. Little could he imagine that after an afternoon of toil, he would find himself immediately on a hattrick. Out came the New Ball. His first ball was straight. Lees missed it and ran a leg bye only to look up and see the raised finger. Alex Lees finally out for 195. A monumental innings and a second bowling point at last for the Shire. Second ball, Ben Raine flashed, edged and James Bracey scooped up a low catch that just barely reached him. Raine was very unhappy and, initially refused to walk, but the scoreboard said 359-7 and he had to go. Suddenly, two New Ball deliveries had changed the game. Hattrick ball. Two Slips the only close fielders. Pretorius drove it through the Covers for four.

As you were! In no time Pretorius had 22 from 14 balls and Carse 34 from 36. The 400 was approaching like an express train. Again, a wicket was needed urgently and almost came when Carse edged Matt Taylor agonisingly close to Slip, but Ollie Price could not quite reach it. The 400 came up as Carse took advantage of his escape and went after Josh Shaw, slogging a boundary and then a huge six from consecutive balls. After brief relief, the bowlers were under the cosh… again: just the sixteen from the over. Carse’s 50 came up from 45 balls.

Martin Emerson was in raptures in the commentary box. James Bracey probably did not share his enthusiasm. Up came the hundred lead with more than three overs to the Close. Would Durham play for the Close? No, they would not. Carse essayed a big drive off Dom Goodman and the stumps were demolished off an inside edge. 432-8 and Gloucestershire just a wicket from full bowling points.

433-8 at the Close with Carse on 60*. Gloucestershire will want to knock over the #10 and 11 quickly in the morning to avoid the lead getting any bigger.

 Day 3

Covers on, but only a short delay. 11:15 start. 4 overs lost. 100 to play. Bursts of bright sunshine at the start, but some ominous clouds encroaching on the blue sky. Storm clouds threatening. It was an omen.

The breech between the Division 2 haves and have nots was all too visible yesterday. Both sides have an injury crisis but Durham, with their resources, continue to be a powerhouse. It is great to see them back where they belong after years of penury, but could Gloucestershire stop the Durham juggernaut, or at least, slow its progress to the Division 2 title? What no one could have anticipated, after just eighteen wickets had fallen in the first two days that Gloucestershire would be facing an imminent innings defeat within half an hour of Lunch. That it was avoided was thanks to Miles Hammond and Matt Taylor, but the game was still over with the best part of four sessions to play.

And the day had begun so well.

Durham 117 ahead with Brydon Carse set on 60* and the 5^th batting point beckoning. Matt Taylor and Zaman Ahktar with a still fairly new ball. It took just 18 deliveries for Gloucestershire to add the third bowling point. Matt Taylor took his 200^th First Class wicket, bowling Brydon Carse comprehensively for 62 with the last ball of the third over of the day. 437-9 and a good start for Gloucestershire. Meanwhile, despite the bright sunshine, the sky was getting rapidly blacker, although the heavy rain missed the ground passing just north. With plenty of time available, Durham were content to take the singles and advance slowly on the 450 until Matthew Potts cracked a boundary to take the score to 448 and, when Will Goodman came on for Zaman Ahktar, Potts launched the ball through Mid-wicket to bring up the fifth batting point. That, though, was that. The 450 up, Matthew Potts tried a pull from Dom Goodman’s fifth ball and holed-out to Zafar on the boundary.

453ao and career best figures of 4-73 for Dom Goodman. 137 the lead. How many wickets would Gloucestershire lose in knocking-off the deficit?

Out came Ben Charlesworth and Chris Dent and down came the rain before a ball could be bowled. Quickly, it turned into a heavy shower and puddles formed on the covers so the umpires, sensibly, called for an early lunch.

A quiet first over gave no hint of the mayhem to come on a pitch livened-up by rain. It started in the second over. Matthew Potts sent his second ball through Ben Charlesworth’s push and watched the stumps explode. 1-1. Ollie Price missed another straight one and his Off Stump cartwheeled: 7-2. Chris Dent survived twelve balls before Potts bowled him too: 10-3 and the possibility of an innings defeat before Tea staring the batsmen in the face. It got worse… Grant Roelofsen hit a glorious straight drive for four. Was this the start of a fightback? No, the next ball was edged to the ‘keeper, who took the ball in front of 1^st Slip: 24-4 and Potts on 4-17. It could have been worse still. Miles Hammond was badly dropped at 1^st Slip, which would have made the score 24-5 in the nineth over. However, with change bowlers having to come on in the end, batting got a little easier and the 50 came up in the eighteenth over with a No Ball.

Just as it seemed that the storm had been weathered, Pretorius served up a ball in about 7^th stump, Bracey drove, edged and Ollie Robinson took a superb, low catch, just in front of 1^st Slip. 63-5 and any faint hope of taking the match into the last day had gone. James Bracey had made 15. Miles Hammond almost followed him two balls later with a Chinese Cut that just missed leg stump. However, he was still there, fighting, on 27*.

With Tea just two minutes away, Matt Parkinson bowled a full toss. Zafar went for it and top-edged the ball to Mid-On. 93-6. 44 behind still. Hammond, who had been dropped on 6, 39*.

Now would be a great time for Josh Shaw’s maiden First Class century. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Miles Hammond left him to face the last three balls of a Carse over: two was enough, the second of them being turned straight to Forward Square Leg. 98-7 and the fat lady warming up.

Miles Hammond reached his fifth fifty of the season from 82 balls out of 108-7. However desperate the situation, he was going to hit the ball if there to hit. Matthew Potts served him up a leg side short ball that was hooked imperiously over Square Leg for six. He followed it with an imperious Cover Drive for four. At the other end Matt Parkinson had five men around the bat for Matt Taylor. Two runs down to Deep Square Leg put Gloucestershire ahead but, with 34 overs still to bat, the chances of the game entering a fourth day were remote indeed. A boundary and a two for Matt Taylor brought up the 150 and the 50 partnership, with Hammond now 73*. Matt Taylor was proving a solid foil and, had they continued for another hour, something might have been rescued from the wreckage of the innings. When Matt Taylor pulled Ben Raine to Fine Leg and Alex Lees pouched the catch, he sank to his knees in jubilation knowing that the last real obstacle to a Durham win had been removed. 160-8, the lead 24. Matt Taylor 22.

Miles Hammond moved into the eighties but did not try to farm the strike. Often singles were taken early in the over, or even last ball when Zaman Ahktar was on strike. The result was inevitable. Finally, Zaman faced one ball too many and edged a bat-pad to Silly Point. 180-9, the lead 43. Could Dom Goodman see Miles Hammond to his century? The answer was “no”. Hammond tried to pull Carse for six and only managed to find Matt Parkinson on the boundary to be last out for 86. Gloucestershire 188ao and just 52 needed to win.

With so few runs to play with, even a triple wicket maiden the first over would have been insufficient. As it was, Durham proceeded to knock off the runs with a minimum of fuss, despite rotation of the bowlers. In the end, it was Zafar who got the only breakthrough, dismissing Alex Lees when he tried a paddle shot but, at 38-1 the match was long over by then. Scott Borthwick swept Ollie Price for two to bring the scores level in the twelfth over and finished the job with a single to Fine Leg. A nine wicket win, and Gloucestershire well beaten.

If anyone harboured any delusions that a couple of wins at Cheltenham could launch a rapid rise up the table, they must have been dissipated now.

County Championship Round 8: Yorkshire v Gloucestershire, 25/06/2023

 

 

County Championship Round 8

Yorkshire v Gloucestershire

Preview

After a disappointing, but not unexpected Blast campaign, it is back to Championship action with Gloucestershire starting the run-in to the end of the season in 7^th, now 38 points behind the promotion places after consecutive defeats ended the unbeaten run.

With promotion now looking extremely unlikely, barring an astonishing run of form in the last six games, the main focus of the remaining games is to avoid the wooden spoon. The Leicestershire game, last time out, was a severe reality check, with a strong position lost in a volley of attacking shots and then the bowling attack struggling to exercise any threat. It led to a defeat that had seemed unthinkable with two sessions to play.

As in 2022, the injury crisis among the bowlers has been quite astonishing. With the first-choice attack rarely, if ever, available over the last three seasons and a squad that has less depth than most, even in Division 2, it is hard to carry players who are feeling their way back to form and fitness. In the Leicestershire game it was obvious that Tom Price and Ajeet Dale were not fully match fit, but they had to play anyway and that was a key factor in defeat.

With David Payne still unavailable for red-ball cricket, Ajeet Dale injured again, and Danny Lamb returned to Lancashire, one of Josh Shaw, Joe Phillips and Grant Roelofsen will be in the final XI: probably Josh Shaw to give a 4-man seam attack of Tom Price, Matt Taylor, Zaman Akhtar and Josh Shaw, supported by Zafar Gohar, although this leaves the tail longer than one would wish. The alternative relying on Ben Charlesworth as fourth seamer to fit in Joe Phillips or Grant Rolofsen as the extra batsman looks less likely. However, given that this campaign seems unlikely to supply the success that the club hoped for pre-season, there is a strong argument for playing Joe Phillips sooner rather than later.

Ahead is a Yorkshire side still struggling in the lower reaches of Division 2 and desperately needing to string together a series of victories. They won both games in 2012 when both sides were recently relegated to Division 2 (both games were close, though) and split the two games last season in Division 1. A draw will suit neither side, so expect both to go all-out for the win in what are likely to be hot and batsman-friendly conditions.

Day 1

Yorkshire won the Toss and, unsurprisingly, elected to bat. Gloucestershire, decided to pick Grant Roelofsen to bat at 3, going with three front-line seamers plus Zafar in the first game with the less responsive Kookaburra ball. Yorkshire had a side with some unfamiliar names in it, including the Surrey spinner, Dan Moriarty, at Headingley on loan.

Tom Price took the New Ball with Matt Taylor. The pitch looking surprisingly green and, under scattered, high cloud and intermittent sunshine, using the New Ball well looked to be critical. First impressions were that Tom Price still looked down on pace, as he had against Leicestershire. He went for six boundaries in his first three overs: the first a controlled edge through the three Slips, followed by three Cover Drives that Sir Geoffrey himself would have approved of. 33-0 from the first five overs and it was evident that this was going to be a hard day.

In truth, there were far too many four-balls waiting to be hit, something that went on all day: it was partly batsmen still on T20 mode, but a lot of it was the bowling not being tight enough. 55x4 and 3x6 in the day was too many boundaries.

What no one expected after such an explosive start was that Adam Lyth would half leave the first ball of Matt Taylor’s third over and guide a gentle catch to Ollie Price who took it diving to his left: a soft wicket and a gift to the bowler. He then pinned Shan Masood third ball, without scoring. Suddenly it was 33-2 and Matt Taylor was on 2.4-1-8.2. It could have been even worse for Torkshire. Dawid Malan edged his first ball between 3^rd Slip and Gulley: it went for four, but could have as easily have gone to hand.

The relief was brief. Tom Price, whose first three overs had gone for 25, was replaced by Zaman Akhtar. Rather than stopping the scoring, he went for a brace of boundaries and four byes in his first over. Matt Taylor also went for three boundaries, and, after 8 overs, the score was 61-2, a scoring rate more familiar in the Blast. Even though some quiet overs followed, including consecutive maidens, the introduction of Zafar in the sixteenth over was met gleefully by the delightfully named Finlay Bean, who swung him for a six and a four. On came Ben Charlesworth to spell the front-line seamers. He surely could barely believe how Dawid Malan glanced his first delivery – not the best that he has bowled in his career – through to James Bracey. 90-3 and Gloucestershire taking wickets despite the frantic pace of scoring.

Graeme van Buuren was changing constantly the bowlers in an attempt to make something happen, using six in the first session. It did slow the scoring somewhat from its peak of 7.62 runs per over to 4.79 per over at Lunch, but it was Yorkshire’s session. Twenty-one year old Finlay Bean, who has been playing in the 2^nd XI in recent weeks, in just his ninth First Class match since his debut at the end of last season, a menacing 65*. 139-3 from 29 overs, with 24 fours and a six. Frenetic stuff, although nothing like the mayhem at Leicester, where Durham were putting the hosts to the sword.

Matt Taylor and Zaman Akhter in tandem after Lunch as the clouds built and showers started to form around the area. It was not long before Zafar was back into the attack, Miles Hammond with his new and quite singular hairstyle (a crew-cut, dyed a pink that is now fading unevenly), donning the shinpads and helmet at Short Forward Square Leg. Zafar could not engineer the breakthrough and, although mostly he kept a lid on the scoring, an expensive over including an under-edged cut between Wicket-keeper and Slip and a six over Mid-wicket as George Hill danced down the wicket persuaded the Captain to bring himself on as seventh bowler. Meanwhile, the Yorkshire fans were the only ones laughing as Mr Bean moved smoothly into the 90s, while George Hill brought up his own 50 and then the team’s 200, hooking Tom Price to the boundary.

Finlay Bean clipped Ben Charlesworth for a single to move onto 99 and, in the same over, pulled the bowler through Square Leg to bring up his second First Class century from 140 balls. We saw a piece of daft cricket immediately after. Bean advanced down the pitch, mistimed his shot and, still out of his ground, but not attempting a run, Zafar threw the ball back, apparently attempting the runout. The throw took Bracey completely by surprise saw the ball run for, fortunately, only a single overthrow – which earned Zafar a lecture from the umpire (you cannot be runout if not attempting a run). However, this may just have unsettled the batsmen. Zamam Akhtar dropped one short, Bean pulled, and Ben Charlesworth took a fine, tumbling catch on the boundary. Finlay Bean out for 114, just short of his First Class best score of 118. 243-4 and the match still moving on like an express train.

Luck was not quite on the side of the bowlers, though. George Hill edged Zafar inches short of Slip and Gloucestershire were agonisingly close to making it 251-5 and starting to get some control. Instead, Yorkshire started to build again. 273-4 at Tea, Hill 77*, Tattershall 25*.

Post-Tea, it was a matter of steady accumulation and grinding down the bowlers. Up came the 300 and the second batting point. The scoring slowed, but the landmarks came: the Tattershaw 50 with a somewhat ungainly pull for four off Tom Price. Hill’s century followed soon after with a clip off his legs to Ben Charlesworth on the Square Leg boundary (177 balls, 13x4, 2x6). Yorkshire closing on the 350 as the second New Ball approached. Charlesworth offered too much width and was cut to the boundary to bring up the 350, two overs before the New Ball was due. With 1-59 from 9 overs, Charlesworth was struggling in the fourth seamer role and presenting the captain with a problem as he could use Charlesworth to block up an end and rest the main seamers. This though was an opportunity for Ollie Price, who came back just before that second New Ball. Hill edged him through to a jubilant James Bracey. 354-5. A bonus wicket on what was proving to be a tough day and Ollie Price with two excellent catches and a wicket to boot.

The second New Ball was taken immediately and given to Zaman Akhtar, a sign of the struggles of Tom Price, who you would have been expected to be offered it first. Fifth ball, he took the edge of Revis’ bat but, again, the ball dropped just short of Second Slip. However, the second New Ball did bring a wicket as the admirably persistent Matt Taylor, who was both economical and threatening, got the edge from Tattersall and Ollie Price brought off yet another excellent catch at Second Slip: 368-6 and a second bowling point.

The floodlights were beginning to shine more and more brightly and, inevitably, 8.4 overs into the second New Ball, the heavens opened and a the groundstaff scampered to protect the wicket. 388-6.

The shower was short and sharp, and after a quick clean-up, the players came out for 2.2 overs and five more runs added. 393-6 at the Close, with the ground bathed in bright sunshine once again.  Maybe not Gloucestershire’s worst day of the season, but far from their best and a substantial score already for the batting to chase and still three wickets to take with overs running out for full batting points. Matt Taylor, with 17-7-43-3, by far the best of the bowlers.

Day 2

When I posted the Day 1 report on social media, one loyal fan came straight back with “yes, it’s a season of struggle, isn’t it?” Certainly, although not plumbing the depths of despair that the supporters felt at this stage last season, it’s not what we had hoped for. Those promising positions of early season in which you felt that only rain robbed the team of a couple of wins have changed into positions where you hope that rain will come back and save the team (stick with that thought: it could happen). At times on Day 1 it looked like a battle between two sides short on confidence who were desperate to attack at any cost. The attack at all costs theme continued, but Gloucestershire were less successful at executing it than their hosts. Another day, another fine mess… but hope of salvation is still there.

It's a truism in sport and, in particular, in cricket, that eight players can carry three, but three players cannot carry eight. Even the great West Indian side of the 1980s had players like Milton Small and Larry Gomes who have been forgotten by 99% of fans, while even Allan Border could not carry the Australian side of 1981. There are some fine players with (deserved) international caps in this current Gloucestershire side, but three seasons of constant injury crises causing an XI that chops and changes from match to match in an attempt to paper over the cracks is no way of building confidence, or of nursing players back to form.

Today’s problem was to take three wickets quickly for full bowling points, limit the damage, hopefully to around 450 and then bat well in what should be favourable conditions. Yorkshire had the fifth batting point in sight. Bright sunshine. Matt Taylor with the still fairly new ball.

Matthew Revis opened with three runs from a ball guided to Third Man, but it took just two more deliveries for Matt Taylor to induce an edge from Matt Fisher that James Bracey pocketed gleefully. A wicket with the fifth ball of the morning! Unfortunately, Matthew Revis was still there and built a handy partnership with Dom Leech. After a quiet start, he warmed to his task with boundaries off Matt Taylor and Zafar then reached his 50 (86 balls) with a single of Charlesworth. When Zafar strayed down leg, Revis launched him far over Square Leg. That left 4 overs for bonus points, the score 442-7. Gloucestershire needed a miracle to get the third batting point, while Yorkshire knew that they would get the final batting point just pushing for singles. The talk now, given that rain was expected on Days 3 & 4, was more about when the declaration might come. On came Ollie Price to try his luck. He broke the stand – two balls after the 110 overs had ended – thanks to a stupendous catch from Miles Hammond, who took a one-handed grab, diving to his right. Meanwhile, in other news, the 50 partnership had come up and then the 450 with a slog from Leech that could have gone almost anywhere but ended up flying over Mid-On. Was this the start of a push for a declaration? There was a flurry of boundaries but then, again, the pace slowed as the 500 approached with Ollie Price and Graeme van Buuren getting through overs rapidly in tandem.

Enough of this frivolity, decided Revis, who carted GvB over Wide Mid-On for six and, next ball, sent a delicate dab down to Third Man for a boundary. His point made, it was back to the singles to bring up the 500 in the 117^th over. From there, until Lunch, every scoring shot but one off the bat was a single.

531-8 from 124 overs at the break. Matthew Revis on a menacing 94* and the looming suspicion that, unless he falls soon, Yorkshire would try to push on to 580-600 before declaring.

The afternoon started with the Gloucestershire “Z-formation”: Zaman followed by Zafar. Once again, the session started well, although it took eight deliveries, instead of the five of the morning session to take a wicket. A quiet over from Zaman, then Mark Steketee danced down the wicket to Zafar, was completely done in the air and James Bracey had the bails off in a flash. 534-9.

Matthew Revis was way past his previous First Class best and, on 99*, produced a sumptuous Cover Drive off Zafar to reach his century from 162 balls. Dan Moriarty then got off the mark with a superb drive all along the ground through Mid-Off to bring up the 550 and, finally, after 130 overs, the declaration came.

So, the pitch had dried out. The green tinge had almost disappeared. Could Ben Charlesworth and Chris Dent make use of it?

Just six runs from the first five overs as the batsmen started cautiously. Four Slips waiting hungrily. Chris Dent pulled Leech through Square Leg and the cracked a very wide delivery through Point for two boundaries in an over in the first signs of aggression. With Ben Charlesworth acting as sheet anchor, Chris Dent went for his shots, outscoring his partner 3-to-1, going hard at anything too wide. It was the wide ball that was his downfall: he drove hard at Dom Leech and edged the ball straight into the midriff of Alex Lees at Second Slip. 45-1, Dent 34 and another promising start cut short, taking his season’s total to 315 runs at 26.3.

Fifty up in the 17^th over. Could Charlesworth and Roelofsen take advantage? Eleven from a Leech over as Ben Charlesworth cut consecutive boundaries through Point, then hit a massive six back over Dan Moriarty’s head. Moriarty has an unusual approach, running a few steps, then stopping and walking before jogging into his delivery stride. He was generating respect. Just two scoring shots – one of them that six – had come from his first four overs. Roelofsen pressed forward against him, missed, and was pinned right in front of middle. 80-2, Tea and some of the shine was coming off the start.

In came Miles Hammond, a player who needed a big score after a rather mediocre first half of the season.

Flat pitch. Men around the bat for Dan Moriarty. What would Ben Charlesworth do? The answer was to jump down the pitch and hammer the ball past the Silly Point, who must have felt the wind as it passed. The next delivery was cut the other side of Silly Point, who was surely thinking that there are better ways to pass an afternoon than be a coconut in a coconut shy. Charlesworth, though, went for one shot too many and edged to Slip. The batsman stood his ground, thinking that it was a bump ball. The umpires consulted and Charlesworth was sent on his way. 93-3. Charlesworth 35 and another nice start cut short.

The score continued to advance rapidly, if not at quite such a pace as yesterday. Graeme van Buuren unleashed a straight drive for four followed by a six over Cover as he tried to hit Moriarty off his length. The theory was fine, the practice was something else: another big shot, a thin edge, and a fumble from Tattersall, but the ball dropped back into his glove. Moriarty with 3-33, 125-4 and Gloucestershire in familiar trouble. Runs coming at 4-an-over, but wickets falling. Still the attack was taken to Moriarty. Miles Hammond was the next to dance down the pitch and launch him back over his head for six. Up came the 150 in the 37^th over: just 301 more needed to avoid the Follow-On. Another skip down the pitch and Miles Hammond launched another big six back over Dan Moriarty to go to 39 and have top score in the innings so far. You would have bet good money that if Miles Hammond got to his 50, it would be with a six of Dan Moriarty. It was. Thumped over the Covers. Adam Lyth came on to twiddle some occasional off-spin and Miles Hammond sent him into the stands at Long-On to move to 64 from 70 balls. The 200 up in the 46^th over, with James Bracey batting nicely in support.

With Moriarty in front of him, could Sherlock Hammond solve the case of the missing centuries? Eleven overs to the Close, stand at 75. Don’t give it away now.

Eleven off an over from Leech, including a boundary from a horrible misfield and Hammond had Lyth in his sights again. Whack over Long On. Hammond on 74. If only someone would stay with him.  James Bracey was batting so confidently but was deceived by a bit of turn from Lyth and edged to Slip. 44 and yet another batsman who could not make a start count. 221-5. Not what the team needed shortly before the Close.

Miles Hammond reached 79 from 81 deliveries with yet another boundary and could have reached his century by the Close, but he and Price decided the discretion was the better part of valour and wisely slammed on the brakes.

232-5. Hammond on 84*, Ollie Price 1*. And rain forecast for the ‘morrow. For once, rain will be eagerly anticipated and cheered.

If a lot of time is lost there is even an intriguing prospect that Yorkshire could try to set up a chase of perhaps 350 on the last day.

Day 3

Heavy rain and the first session hit on its head quite quickly. Everything depended now on how much rain fell and for how long, but with three potential end-games:

·       Yorkshire go for the innings win. The last 5 wickets fall. Yorkshire enforce the Follow-On and try to bowl out Gloucestershire again on the final day.

·       The captains agree to set something up. Gloucestershire declare behind after obtaining 2/3 batting points. Yorkshire go for quick runs to set up a chase.

·       Gloucestershire save the Follow-On and the match fizzles out.

A 14:15 start. One session lost. 62 overs to bowl. The light, gloomy.

Gloucestershire played positively from the start. Miles Hammond was quickly into the 90s with a big six over Long Off from the second delivery of the day, Dan Moriarty again the victim. That was his seventh of the innings in addition to his 5x4. He then went for an eighth and was caught just inside the Long On boundary. It was not the brightest cricket, and the mystery of the missing Hammond centuries remains, but it was still an excellent innings. However, at 246-6, 304 behind, Route 1 seemed to be the most likely way to get a result. The business of obtaining any batting points, was again falling to the tail and Yorkshire were anticipating a quick finish to the innings. With the shadows of the floodlights dark and the umpires getting twitchy, off came Matt Fisher and on came Adam Lyth. The message was obvious: bowl your spinners or we go off.

Ollie Price must have been very close to falling LBW to Lyth but then, next ball, received a filthy delivery that was very wide indeed. Using his long reach, he just about got to it and flat-batted it through the Covers to bring up the 250 and the first batting point. Soon after, when Dan Moriarty gave him one in his zone, Ollie Price joined the “I’ve hit a six off Dan” Club, the ball hammering into the advertising boards at Long Off. The 50 stand came up with a reverse sweep by Ollie, who was batting really well and in the same over, a single from Tom Price for a shot that almost went to hand brought up the 300 and the second batting point. Shortly after that, the players were off for bad light at 300-6.

It was to presage an afternoon of “on-off” hokey-cokey.

The delay was not a long one and the sides were back out rapidly. Immediately the Prices set about reducing the deficit. An on-drive for three brought up Ollie’s 50. Sixteen from a Steketee over – three consecutive boundaries and a ball sprayed down leg for four byes – took Ollie to 70 and helped to bring the 350 closer and three boundaries in the following over from Matt Fisher for Tom Price saw the third batting point come up and the deficit drop under 200. A lovely drive just past the stumps brought four more to Tom Price. Consecutive overs had gone now for 16, 12 and 14 runs. The hundred partnership came up in a blaze of runs.

369-6 at Tea. 181 behind. The partnership 123. Ollie 75*. Tom 37*.

Back out after Tea, it wasn’t “Blazing Saddles” with John Wayne, it was more blazing floodlights and blazing bats with Tom and Ollie. And a tactical decision was coming up: the Follow-On looked certain to be saved; should Gloucestershire try for the 5^th batting point and declare to force Yorkshire to try to score quick runs?

The batmen were seeing the ball well enough, but out came the light meter and off they trooped once more. 384-6. Ollie 82*, Tom 45*, 17 to avoid the Follow-On.

It looked terminal but, at 17:20, off came the covers and back on came the players. Time, though, was running out to reach 450 and declare and get some overs in before the Close. The draw loomed ever-larger. A Square Cut for a boundary took Ollie into the 90s, the score to 398, and brought up the 150 partnership. Successive straight drives had been stopped by a diving Mid-On but, finally, Tom hit one a bit straighter, just out of his grasp, to bring up his 50, the 400, save the Follow-On and add the 4^th batting point: good value for a single shot. The next delivery was hooked imperiously into the stand at Square Leg. Tom then made a cross-batted swipe to the next ball and had his stumps re-arranged to give a no-nonsense sequence of 4 6 W. 408-7.

Zafar did not last long. He ducked a bouncer “periscope up” and glanced the ball to the ‘keeper. 413-8. 12 overs left, 17 remaining to get 37 runs for a 5^th batting point. Ollie had his First Class best score: could he make it a century? A clip off his legs was stopped on the boundary and took him to 96. Then a single. 97. Matt Taylor guided the ball through Third Man for four, then was hit by the last ball of the over. That persuaded the umpires to check the light again and off they went. 421-8, Ollie 97*. And that was that.

With potentially only 92 overs left if there are two changes of innings and a sleeping pitch, a draw now seems inevitable. Gloucestershire will now surely bat on to try to see Ollie Price to his century and to get the 5^th batting point. It is hard to see how, without declaration bowling, Yorkshire can get far enough ahead to set up a realistic chase. Any declaration target would need to be something like 350 from 70 overs: it is hard to see it happening now.

Day 4

Had Gloucester been bowled out perhaps 180 behind we might have got an interesting finish with Yorkshire batting again to chase quick runs and give their bowlers a rest. Gloucestershire’s success with the bat has, ironically, removed their slight chance of a win in a last day chase. The only realistic course now is to bat on for the 5^th batting point, if possible, with Yorkshire looking for a third bowling point and to accept the draw. Even with declaration bowling, it is hard to see how a target can be set and time enough left on a completely placid pitch to bowl a side out. A declaration game can, realistically, only be won by Gloucestershire, so there would be no incentive for Yorkshire to set one up.

Another grey day, although some blue sky was visible and there was an on-time start. Ollie Price on strike and on 97. Four defensive strokes, a ball down leg, a glance and the ball rocketed to the boundary to bring up the century 145 balls (15x4, 1x6). What a find the Price brothers have been.

First ball of the second over of the day Matt Taylor gave a thick edge to 1^st Slip and Yorkshire had their 3^rd bowling point. Gloucestershire were not showing the urgency that suggested that something had been agreed but advancing steadily in search of 450. A lovely straight drive from Zaman Akhtar took him to 11 and the score to 437-9. The sight of a #11 batting comfortably was enough to suggest that no way would 10 wickets fall in the day, let alone 20!

A Cover Drive from Zaman Akhtar and up came the 450 and maximum batting points in the 102^nd over. Ollie Price then edged the last ball of the over, just past Slip, for 3, Finlay Bean producing a fine diving stop on the rope. This was the logical moment to pull out had the captains agreed anything but dream on… they batted on. Seeing Zaman Akhtar make his First Class best score with some ease showed that this pitch remained a bowlers’ graveyard. Finally, Ollie Price played a swipe at Moriarty and lost his leg stump. No red-inker for Ollie. 113 and the Shire 464ao. Dan Moriarty with 5-139.

To make a game of it, Yorkshire would need to be bowled out for no more than 150. It was not going to happen.

Five overs were enough to show that the two sides had agreed the draw. No rush from the batsmen at all. And no great encouragement for the bowlers, although the ball was doing a little more in the overcast conditions. Tom Price was looking livelier and went past the outside edge of Bean’s bat, producing a huge shout that was turned down. At 29-0 from 10 overs, the match was going nowhere. Zafar had loud appeals for bat-pad catches by Miles Hammoind at Short Forward Square Leg (correctly) turned down from consecutive Zafar deliveries, but really, there was little to get excited about.

72-0 from 18 overs at Lunch and rain expected later.

There was just enough in the pitch that if Zafar could keep it very tight, he had a chance of something. Plenty of balls were flying into the air off the pad and being appealed for enthusiastically. Finally, just three balls into the afternoon session, one did take the edge. Bobby Bracey juggled it and caught the rebound. Bean out for 38. 73-1. He almost got a second when Shan Masood top-edged a reverse sweep and the ball dropped just short of the diving Ben Charlesworth running in from the boundary. Adam Lyth reached his 50 and then edged Zaman Akhtar low to Slip where Ollie Price took a good, tumbling catch. In the next over Shan Masood tried and missed consecutive reverse sweeps off Zafar: the second flattened middle stump. Zafar was delighted, the score was 135-3 and the wilder optimists were wondering if this was the start of a declaration charge. However, the skies were getting darker, the floodlights were on, and the forecast rain seemed to be getting closer.

Finally, at 148-3, the umpires decided that the light had got too bad, and the covers came on, followed shortly after by rain and the large sheets. With just 50 overs to go and the lead 234, there seemed to be little point in coming back on later.

Early Tea and a re-start at 15:40, with 43 overs to play. Gloucestershire searching for wickets to end on a positive note. Ironically, now there was some real help for Zafar, who beat Dawid Malan all ends up with a delivery that turned sharply: the ball slid through for four byes, the ‘keeper unsighted. To the next ball, he swept and missed. The three-card trick was completed by another sharply turning delivery that he tried to cut, inside edged and Bracey caught after a little juggle. 160-4. Ben Charlesworth came on and, first ball, Jonny Tattersall edged, and Ollie Price took the catch at the second attempt. 161-5, 38.5 overs left, 247 the lead. Another quick wicket and perhaps Yorkshire might have got nervous. Hill and Revis had other ideas and brought up the 200. 31 overs left. Can we go home now? After handing over his glasses to the umpire, Chris Dent came on to bowl, apparently seam-up. Third ball, George Hill edged, Ollie Price caught. Hill sank to his knees in disbelief. Chris Dent held his face in his hands. It was only missing a McEnroe-like cry of “you cannot be SERIOUS!” This was Chris Dent’s first, First Class wicket for four years.

A few spots of rain came down. Had there been anything hanging on the match they would have stayed on, but it gave Yorkshire the chance to declare at 16:50, by which point the covers were off again. The nominal target was 289 from 28 overs, but the captains had the good sense to shake hands instead.

12 points for Gloucestershire and some confidence from, again, holding the initiative at the end. A maiden century, two wickets and five catches for Ollie Price. Another fifty for his brother. Signs that Gloucestershire had a handy pair of all-rounders developing.

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.