Top 5 From 2016

OK, now all this has been fairly poorly updated, so here's something to make up for all that, a top five games from the 2016 season. The 2016 season was a particularly good one for us Middlesex supporters with a first county championship since 1993 and I also spent the year trying to go to as much as possible, from championship cricket at Scarborough and the women's ODI at Taunton through to Womens T20 at Beckenham and KSL Finals day at Chelmsford, here are my (totally biased) highlights.

A few notes before I list stuff - this is based off what I saw with my own eyes, if we win the Championship the day after I've been there, it doesn't count as a great game solely for that reason, also this is a list of fun and interesting games to me, with no real bearing on sense or neutrality. This means that Gubbins' 200 > Bresnan's 140 for example as Middlesex are superior to Yorkshire in my totally made up system.

Since the 2017 season starts in the UK this week, let's get on with the list

5 - KSL Finals day

I quite like witnessing history, so new cricket history is particularly good. The first finals day of the Women's Super League (sponsored by Kia so KSL...) took place this year at Chelmsford. Not only was it the first franchise based tournament in the UK, it was the first major headline grabbing women's domestic cricket tournament in the country.

The finals day included a semi final eliminator between the 2nd and 3rd teams where the winner then played the 1st placed team for the trophy. The Western Storm chased down the total set by Loughborough Lightning with relative ease. Ellyse Perry was the only Lightning player to fire, and the combined power of the Storm brought then victory.

The final against the Southern Vipers followed the semi, with the Storm batting first and making 130, with the Vipers gunning down the target to take the inaugural title.

4 - Taunton

Another women's cricket game on the list, I hadn't been to a women's international for a couple of years, so a trip to Taunton was a must for the final ODI between England and Pakistan.

England batted first on a sunny day and then went for it. Despite the early loss of Lauren Winfield, Tammy Beaumont and Georgia Elwiss made Pakistan pay for an appalling performance in the field as several dropped catches and flopped misfields but England in record threatening mood.

Having slammed a record 378-5 the previous week, this was a more measured fours and two approach, but Beaumont batted through the innings to make a humongous 168 not out. Elwiss (77) and Nat Sciver (48 off 22) launched England to 366-4.

It was pretty clear from the outset that Pakistan were playing to improve their net run rate, and being 3 down in eight overs it wasn't going to be any closer than that. Sidra Nawaz made 47, but Laura Marsh (3-29) worked through the middle order before Katherine Brunt bowled out each of the last four to finish with 5-30 as England sealed an emphatic win by 202 runs.

Personally in was good to see Alex Hartley's international debut, even through she went wicketless as it meant I'd now seen her play for three teams (Middlesex, Academy and England and later in the summer add the Surrey Stars to that).

3 - Essex One Day Cup

Having only gone to two one day cup games in the season, both of them were crackers, Essex made the trip to Middlesex and put the hosts in on what was an old pitch,

Middlesex started solidly enough with Sam Robson making 41 before a quick collapse to Dan Lawrence's spin (3-35) nabbed 3 wickets in 11 balls. This brought skipper James Franklin to the crease and he revived the innings with a handy 50 with partnership with Simpson and Higgins dragged Middlesex past 200 to an eventual 219-8 which looked too few even given the difficulty of batting.

Essex started well, with Nic Browne and Tom Westley not fussing around to raise the 50 stand before Middlesex slowly dried up the runs after the powerplay, Browne still looked steady to lead them home, but was bowled by Franklin for 79, even then 94 in 20 overs should've been easy. The middle order however, got horribly stuck as Roland-Jones (4-40) struck when the panicked batsmen were forced into bad shots giving some easy wickets. It came down to 11 needed from the final over with two wickets left, Franklin then dismissed the dangerous Ashar Zaidi first ball and held on to finish with 3-25 from 9 overs (later revealing he had a broken finger) as Middlesex pulled off a heist by four runs.

This game kept alive Middlesex's slim chances of making the knockouts and was a win they really had no business in making with 20 overs to go.

2 - Tie at Chelmsford

The other one-day cup game I went to, Essex vs Somerset on a damp day in June, Essex won the toss and fielded, but the match was reduced to 47 overs per side before play began because rain... So we get 3 overs, then more rain and another long delay with Somerset 12-1, and finally get clear skies and actual play with 29 overs per side. With a damp outfield timing the ball was a bit of a problem, with runs only really coming once you got in. This showed heavily as Adam Hose (77) and Jim Allenby (62) added 141 out of Somerset's eventual 179-8. They played the Essex bowlers with relative ease as 200 looked on with four overs to go, but the late slog by the middle order and canny bowling (and fielding) from Ravi Bopara (3-49) brought about 6-24 in the final four overs.

Thanks to DLS, Essex were set 177 to win from 29 overs, and they suffered their own horrible collapse and crashed to 36-5 against Groenewald and Gregory. Zaidi and Bopara doubled the score but both fell caught to Jamie Overton to leave Essex needing 94 from 69 balls with three wickets left.

James Foster was the only Essex batsman to look comfortable as perhaps Somerset took their foot off the gas a touch and dumped Jamie Overton for consecutive sixes to bring up the 100. He lost Napier and Masters to Gregory leaving him with only Matt Quinn for company showed skill in retaining the stroke as he faced all but one ball of the last four overs. A fifty came from 34 balls, but 24 were needed from 8 with rain falling again, when a boundary was followed by a wide and a pull into the gap at fine leg saw them bring in three more to set up a final over with 16 required.

Gregory beat Foster first ball, but keeper Barrow snatched at the ball and it ran clear of him for four byes. The next ball was short and Foster edged fine of Barrow away for four more, 8 off four. Foster nailed the thirs ball of the over to the square leg fielder and rejects the single. The fourth followed a similar pattern, perfectly timed but straight to the fielder on the square leg fence, dot ball. The rain really pouring down now, but we fight on and Gregory bowls a length ball, which Foster sends high and way over midwicket into the marquee beyond the boundary, an extraordinary hit in the circumstances to leave us with one ball, two runs. Field in for the final ball, Gregory bowls short and slow outside off, Foster waits, swings, and misses, but charges off for the single, the throw from Barrow misses the stumps as Quinn dives and makes it in! They'd stolen the tie out of nothing and a 37 run partnership for the last wicket that left Foster 75 not out and cursing that he couldn't quite have seen Essex over the line.

1 - Scarborough

An away trip into the far north as the two best teams in the country took on each other in what was seen as a potential title decider. Yorkshire won the toss and batted, only for Adam Lyth to mess up a leave and edge Murtagh to Simpson from the first ball of the game. Yorkshire recovered fairly well throughout the rest of the day, with Garry Ballance making a 202 ball hundred and a pair of 63s from Lees and Bresnan left them 291-5 with Murtagh grabbing two more wickets.

Day two and runs and wickets came about more quickly as Yorkshire slipped to 371-9 before some hitting from Patterson and Brooks meant they finished at lunch on 406, Ballance 132. Yorkshire then put Middlesex under pressure, but couldn't take many wickets, Gubbins and Robson adding 87 before both fell quickly only for Bailey and Eskinazi saw them to 130-2 at close.

Day three and Middlesex set about the Yorkshire total as the attack toiled away without much success with Eskinazi and Bailey completed 50s and took the total past 200. Bailey eventually fell to Will Rhodes and Simpson soon after but Franklin joined Eskinazi in grinding through the afternoon, taking 47 balls to get into double figures and Eskinazi reaching his 2nd hundred in 2 weeks in the next over. Runs then flowed off Bresnan and Rafiq as Middlesex went along easily at 4 an over to get to 400 and into the lead in the 126th over, Eskinazi passing 150. Trying to up the rate in the closing overs of the day meant Middlesex lost 4-26 in 33 balls as Esknazi went for 157 and Franklin for 99 to give Jack Brooks a deserved 5-for. Roland-Jones and Murtagh saw Middlesex to the close 470-8 a lead of 64.

The final day looked like the game would end a dull draw as the pitch hadn't had too many demons nor proved conducive to quick scoring, but funny things happen sometimes which make any dull play worthwhile. Middlesex started fairly normally for the first 3 overs and Roland-Jones hooked Brooks straight to Patterson on the fine leg fence, but the catch went down and ball rolled over the fence for 4, that drop proved to cost 98 runs in seven overs as the next ball went for four and Murtsgh carted a couple of boundaries off Bresnan in the next over. Roland Jones took advantage of the short boundary on the sea side of the ground to hit Brooks for six just over the fielder. Maybe spin would do the trick? Roland-Jones stuck Rafiq into the back row of seats towards Peasholme Park, Murtagh then hit the last two balls of the over towards midwicket for a couple more huge sixes. Roland-Jones took Brooks for 2 more sixes over midwicket and one straight down the ground. Roland-Jones had 79 off 51 and Murtagh 47 off 38 when Lyth removed Murtagh and Finn with consecutive balls to finish off Middlesex for 577, 107 runs in 10 overs that morning and a handy lead of 171.

Yorkshire saw off Finn and Murtagh's opening spell, but Lyth edged Roland-Jones's first ball to Frankliin at 3rd slip. Roland-Jones then blasted through Williamson, caught behind a couple of overs later to keep things interesting. Rayner was finding some turn and used his height to get some uneven bounce as Lees pulled out a sweep into the body of short leg, with the ball rebounding back towards the diving Simpson. Finn celebrated by bouncing out Ballance for a tortuous 3, Yorkshire now 63-4. Bresnan was the only batsman to find batting easy, Gale giving Rayner another wicket and having figures of 2-5 from 13 overs at one point. Into the final session and Rhodes and Bresnan could still save the game, but Finn and Murtagh shifted them in quick succession and it was a matter of time until the end. Hodd and Patterson were both caught by Rayner at 2nd slip, and when Jack Brooks fished one from Murtagh to Robson at first slip, Yorkshire had crashed to 167 all out and suffered their first Championship innings defeat at Scarborough. Nine of the wickets ended up caght between keeper and third slip as Middlesex went top of table on the way to eventually winning the title.

England Left Feeling a Bit Guptill

The first ODI of a 3 match warm up before the Champion's Trophy took place between England and New Zealand at Lord's, New Zealand won the toss and fielded, handing a New Zealand debut to the former Australian international Luke Ronchi, England playing Chris Woakes and Jade Dernbach. Kyle Mills and Mitchell McClenaghan began well, keeping England to 23 off the first six, Cook and Ian Bell finding boundaries hard to come by. After the first powerplay, England had 45 but then Southee found some swing and Bell edged behind for 18. And soon after, the same thing happened again, Cook edging to Ronchi off Southee for 30 and England were rocked back at 50-2. Jonathan Trott and Joe Root began the rebuilding operation, taking their time against some tight bowling, and only a couple of boundaries came in the next 10 overs, so at halfway it was 104-2, Nathan McCullum going for 20 off his first five overs. Then it began to unravel a bit, as Root was bowled by McCullum reverse sweeping a quicker ball for 30. Then it was 2 in 6 for McCullum as Trott picked out Taylor on the midwicket boundary for 37, and there was enough time for Morgan (6) to freeze on a bouncer from McClenaghan next over, with the ball looping off the bat and going straight up in the air for Ronchi to get an easy catch, 126-6 in the 30th over. Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler struggled to score, and apart from a McCullum slip that led to an all run four, there wasn't much coming as New Zealand kept the ball away from the boundary. The pressure finally got to Buttler, as a nice friendly off break from Kane Williamson was reverse swept by Buttler straight to McClenaghan at point, 159-6.
Woakes then became the fourth to fall in the 30s, holing out to the cover sweeper off Mills for 36 and England crawled past 200 with 23 balls to go and could only finish 227-9, Bresnan and Swann falling, Southee the pick of the bowlers with 3-37.
England needed a quick start, and they got it, Jimmy Anderson having Ronchi smartly held by Swann at 2nd slip, and Williamson taken by a diving Buttler as New Zealand 1-2 at the end of the first over. Unfortunately Jade Dernbach then served up 2 wides and 9 runs straight away easing Ross Taylor into the game. Martin Guptill watched the carnage at the other end, then let Taylor ease to 27 before deciding to target Woakes's first over, with the third ball disappearing to the Grand Stand fence and then going for the hook, which flew straight to Bresnan at fine leg, who went for the catch, only to parry it over the fence for six, 50 up in the 10th and England in need of some luck. More runs flowed freely as Woakes went for nine more in his next and (after a break), 12 off his third as Guptill got to fifty off 64 and the 100 (and 100 partnership) was up in the 23rd. Guptill then went about his business, swinging Swann over long off for six and Taylor was feeling a bit left out, so went to a 71 ball fifty in taking 7 off the hapless Woakes next over. Cook, turned back to Anderson, who picked up Taylor for 54 2nd ball, 120-3, New Zealand on top with only another 100 to win and plenty of batting left.
Dernbach looked to have Grant Elliot LBW, only for him to review and it overturned for the massive inside edge Aleem Dar had failed to notice. Elliot wouldn't last too much longer, bowled by Swann for 27, but it was Guptill's day, he launched Dernbach for his third six and even though Brendan McCullum was caught for 15, Guptill heaved another six into the Grand Stand before pulling the winning four through square leg to bring up a 123 ball hundred as New Zealand won with 19 balls to spare to go 1-0 up.

Raj's Charge Overpowers England

After winning the t20 series 2-0, England Women moved on to take on India Women in the first match of the ODI series at Lord's.
England won the toss and batted, and Charlotte Edwards fell LBW to Nagaranjan Niranjana for the 3rd game in a row for 1 in the 2nd over, 1-1. In form Sarah Taylor joined Tammy Beaumont and they looked to be taking England to a large total, after struggling to 18-1 after 10 overs, the 50 came up in the 17th over as Archarna Das went for 12 in her first over. Niranjana's 2nd spell got the breakthrough as Beaumont fell LBW playing across the line for 27. Taylor then charged Das, missed the inseamer, and was stumped by Sulakshana Naik for 38, 76-3 in the 22nd over with both set batsmen out.
Arran Brindle and Heather Knight began the rebuild, Brindle bringing up the 100 with a four off Amita Sharma in the 29th over. Veda Krishnamurthy then bowled Knight for 12 with only her 5th ball in ODIs, 114-4. Seeing off Niranjana was probably the plan, but Jenny Gunn was bowled from the final ball of an excellent spell as she finished with 3-28 from her 10 overs.
Brindle went on to her 50 from 66 balls as England reached 162-5 after 40 overs, ready for a final push.
Laura Marsh swiped Gouher Sultana for four, then edged behind for 19 from 21, 175-6. Next over, Das got the huge wicket of Brindle, well held caught and bowled smacked straight back at her for 58 from 73, 181-7. Katherine Brunt swung a massive six into the Tavern Stand, but skied Jhulan Goswami to Harmanpreet Kaur at deep square leg for 13. Danni Wyatt gave Das her third wicket caught by Niranjana for 20 from 16, and the innings ended in the final over, Danielle Hazell bowled Das (4-61) for 9, 229 all out, a below par total you felt as England never managed to get away from India.
India needed to bat sensibly and Mona Meshram and Poonam Raut started solidly against Brunt and Georgia Elwiss with runs coming slowly, and India's problem with running returned, Raut pushing to point and running through for the single, and Meshram being beaten out by Wyatt's throw to Taylor for 9, 21-1.
Captain Mithali Raj and Raut then made sure England didn't take any further wickets for a while with some solid strokeplay, seeing out Brunt and Elwiss's opening spell, 24-1 after 10 and then playing solidly against Marsh and Gunn, 59-1 after 20 overs. Raut then opened up, hitting 8 off Wyatt's 2nd over before combining with Raj to have 11 from a poor first over by Brindle, giving easy runs square of the wicket.
Raut passed 50 from 94 balls, before Hazell, the 7th bowler used, struck 2nd over, bowling Raut off stump for 60, 127-2 with 103 needed from 102 balls.
England needed to dismiss new batter Kaur and Raj fairly quickly from now on, but the bowling just wasn't effective, firstly Rak passed 50 from 76 balls then Kaur hit Marsh for four then six into the Tavern Stand as India needed 71 from the final 10 over with 8 wickets left. England tried to constrict the run rate, but Kaur found the Mound Stand boundary at square leg against Wyatt. Raj then chipped the ball just over Elwiss at midwicket, the last chance for England to win really. 18 from 18 and Kaur went to a run a ball 50 then top edged a massive sweep towards square leg where Brunt running round took a spectacular diving catch to give Hazell a deserved 2nd wicket.
Raj settled nerves by hitting the next ball for four to move into the 90s. Krishnamurthy swung at three in a row against Wyatt, scrambling back for the 2nd each time. With two needed to win and the field up Krishnamurthy's next heave went towards midwicket where Brunt (the only fielder outside the circle) took another great diving catch. This left Naik on strike for the final over from Hazell, and after swinging adn failing against the first two balls, the third was hit towards square leg and the batsmen charged through for the single, only for Gunn to pick up and hurl down the stumps at the bowlers end, Naik run out for nought. That got Raj on strike, and she dispatched the next ball over midwicket for four, to win by 5 wickets with 2 balls to spare and finish with a player of the match winning 96 not out from 111 balls. Lord's now goes off limits due to the Olympics until August, an exciting game before the send off.

Blackwell Blackout

The dry run for the Women's Quadrangular final at Lord's between England and Australia wasn't the spectacle it could have been as England folded and we were all done before the rain arrived at 4:30.
England won the toss, batted and were soon 18-1 as captain Charlotte Edwards was caught off Sarah Coyte for 2. Next over Laura Marsh also departed, caught at cover by Alex Blackwell after a juggle for 3. The 11th over brought the third wicketas Danielle Wyatt chipped to mid on off Clea Smith and Claire Taylor was bowled by Coyte for 0 to leave England 26-4.
Sarah Taylor and Lydia Greenway tried to steady the innings but Taylor fell LBW to Jess Cameron, the back-up keeper, for 11 to give her her first ODI wicket in her first spell. 54-5 after 18 made 200 look tough but Greenway and Arran Brindle batted well for 10 overs before Cameron made a diving catch at deep midwicket to get Brindle off Shelley Nitschke for 22. Nitschke then caught Greenway for the eventual top score of 34 to give Lisa Sthalekar an easy wicket. The third spinner, Erin Osborne then had Heather Knight caught behind for 13 leaving England 127-8 with 13 overs still to bat. Holly Colvin and Danielle Hazell added 34 for the ninth wicket before Sthalekar cleaned up with two wickets in two overs as Hazell(19) was caught by another diving catch from Cameron then Colvin was stumped by captain Jodie Fields for 29 to end the England innings for 168 with two overs left unbowled. The end would have been sooner had Meg Lanning not dropped a simple catch at cover, but other than that Australia fielded well and England's spinners would have to bowl as well if they were to have a chance.
England's demise was so quick that Australia had to bat for 30 minutes before lunch and after a couple of tight overs from Catherine Brunt and Brindle, all hell began to break loose. Nitschke and young prospect Meg Lanning surged to 42-0 after 10 overs with Lanning scoring 31.
Colvin bowled the first over after lunch from the Nursery end and had removed Lanning to a wild swing to the midwicket boundary where Brindle completed the catch. Lanning made 43 off 33 with 9 fours. This slowed the scoring and when Wyatt had Leah Poulton caught behind for a duck left Australia 59-2 and a possible collapse was on. The problem was that Nitschke and Blackwell are two of the most experienced players in the side and they took the game from England with a steady partnership that gradually sped up as England rotated seven bowlers with no effect. The 100 came up in the 23rd over and the 50 partnership 3 overs later.
Nitschke hit the only six of the match off Colvin into the Grand Stand in the 30th over soon followed by her 50 then Blackwell also passed the milestone. Nitschke couldn't quite last until the end as she was run out after a mix-up with Blackwell and Greenway, after a mis-field, managed to get the return to Sarah Taylor. 153-3 was a bit late and Cameron(10 not out) and Blackwell(54 not out) saw Australia home to win by 7 wickets with 15 overs remaining, just before the 4:30pm rain arrived.
Blackwell was given the match award in this one-sided hammering as the presentation took place in front of the pavilion with the crowd allowed on the outfield. Both these sides will meet again for the Quadrangular final on Thursday and England have to improve if it is to be a better contest.