After two days of rain, the third day of Middlesex vs Worcestershire began with Middlesex 148-2 after only 40 overs play.
Joe Denly and Chris Rogers resumed in gloomy damp conditions and it wasn't long before David Lucas had Rogers caught behind by Ben Scott for 9. Dawid Malan then fell to Alan Richardson, tearing in from the Nursery End, for a duck and when Neil Dexter left one first ball that annihilated his off stump, Middlesex had slumped to 172-5.
There then followed a long rain delay and at 2:45 with the question being, how long would Middlesex bat for in a now likely draw. Denly passed fifty (94 balls) and John Simpson provided able support as the 200 came up before Richardson took his fourth, finding the edge of Simpson's bat on 14. Gareth Berg joined Denly, and they denied Richardson his fifth and took the score past 250. Both batsmen were a bit lucky as Moeen Ali missed a couple of half-chances at mid-wicket.
Denly then reached his first Middlesex hundred with his 17th boundary, cracking Richard Jones to the long on boundary. A great innings given the poor batting by some of his team mates. Richardson would not be stopped, however, and Berg edged behind for 36 with the score 298-7 for his fifth wicket. Tim Murtagh and Denly then decided to play some shots and get a move on towards the declaration. In three overs they added 29, with Denly swinging Richardson into the Grand Stand for 6 and lashing a couple more fours to finish 134 not out. Murtagh being 8 off 11. 327-7 represented a great total after the morning collapse and Richardson's 5-89 giving the visitors a chance.
Daryl Mitchell and Michael Klinger came out to bat in what was looking like a draw and although generally awful weather was to cut short the day there was still time for action. Klinger edged Murtagh to Strauss who spilled a fairly easy catch. Mitchell wasn't so lucky and after almost heading a Steve Finn bouncer for leg byes, he flicked Murtagh to Dexter at mid-wicket fall for 14. Toby Roland-Jones then had Klinger off what was eventually the last ball of the day, caught by Sam Robson for 17, Worcestershire finishing 45-2, still 133 off avoiding the follow on, which may prove tricky for their batsmen.
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Monday, 23 April 2012
Getting Chopped Up By Onions...
After two days of almost total rain at Lord's, Middlesex were only 132-5 in their first innings against Durham, which became 132-6 when Neil Dexter edged Ben Stokes to Michael Di Venuto at slip from the 3rd ball of the day for 65. Gareth Berg (2) did the same thing off Callum Thorp. Luckily, the tail showed some fight as first Tim Murtagh then Toby Roland-Jones hit 18 and 17 respectably before the destroyer of the 2nd day Graham Onions returned from the Nursery End. Murtagh was caught behind and R-J skied to Ian Blackwell at mid-on to give Onions a handy 5-for, which he turned into 6-45 as Steve Finn poked to slip 2nd ball to leave Middlesx 188 all out, John Simpson unbeaten on 25.
The 6 overs before lunch brought 29 runs as Di Venuto and Will Smith feasted on loose bowling from Finn and Murtagh. The pair took the score to 59 when Finn produced a cracker to flatten Di Venuto's off stump for 30. Next over Murtagh forced Smith to edge to Malan at slip for 29. Paul Collingwood and Stokes played Durham past 100 with some good strokes before Collingwood edged to Strauss off Roland-Jones for 19, 109-3. Stokes hit 7 fours in his 45, when he gave Strauss his 2nd catch (as many balls as he'd faced batting) with an off stump swish off Finn. Dale Benkenstein was caught behind by Simpson off Berg for 24 and Blackwell (12) fell LBW to Finn in the next over to put Durham 164-6 still 24 behind with four wickets left at tea.
After tea Berg took two wickets in 3 balls as Mustard (ct Simpson 5) and Thorp (LBW 0) made the score 181-8. Mitch Claydon then hit two fours to bring up the lead before giving catching practice to Finn at mid-on off Murtagh, 194-9. The last wicket was to provide a crucial partnership as Onions (who else?) and Scott Borthwick clubbed quick runs. Borthwick hit Berg into the Grand stand for 6 and Onions hit an all four 20, including a sweet cover drive and some hard hits off Murtagh. Roland-Jones finally caused a miscue to Finn at mid-on to leave Durham 238 all out, 50 ahead, big, given the circumstances.
Middlesex then made heavy weather of the 11.3 that were possible before bad light stuck with the outfield seemingly slowing down for them, Strauss struggled to get off his pair and when he did it was due to a dropped catch by Thorp at gully. Onions was swinging the ball all around again, and bowled Strauss for 6 off the inside edge. 12-1 and still 38 behind Roland-Jones came in as nightwatchman and saw off the remaining time with Sam Robson to finish 21-1 with a draw looking likely.
The unusual observation of the day was either the three all-run fours or the pigeon that settled on a length as Robson was about to face Thorp and had to be chased away to the Grand Stand.
The 6 overs before lunch brought 29 runs as Di Venuto and Will Smith feasted on loose bowling from Finn and Murtagh. The pair took the score to 59 when Finn produced a cracker to flatten Di Venuto's off stump for 30. Next over Murtagh forced Smith to edge to Malan at slip for 29. Paul Collingwood and Stokes played Durham past 100 with some good strokes before Collingwood edged to Strauss off Roland-Jones for 19, 109-3. Stokes hit 7 fours in his 45, when he gave Strauss his 2nd catch (as many balls as he'd faced batting) with an off stump swish off Finn. Dale Benkenstein was caught behind by Simpson off Berg for 24 and Blackwell (12) fell LBW to Finn in the next over to put Durham 164-6 still 24 behind with four wickets left at tea.
After tea Berg took two wickets in 3 balls as Mustard (ct Simpson 5) and Thorp (LBW 0) made the score 181-8. Mitch Claydon then hit two fours to bring up the lead before giving catching practice to Finn at mid-on off Murtagh, 194-9. The last wicket was to provide a crucial partnership as Onions (who else?) and Scott Borthwick clubbed quick runs. Borthwick hit Berg into the Grand stand for 6 and Onions hit an all four 20, including a sweet cover drive and some hard hits off Murtagh. Roland-Jones finally caused a miscue to Finn at mid-on to leave Durham 238 all out, 50 ahead, big, given the circumstances.
Middlesex then made heavy weather of the 11.3 that were possible before bad light stuck with the outfield seemingly slowing down for them, Strauss struggled to get off his pair and when he did it was due to a dropped catch by Thorp at gully. Onions was swinging the ball all around again, and bowled Strauss for 6 off the inside edge. 12-1 and still 38 behind Roland-Jones came in as nightwatchman and saw off the remaining time with Sam Robson to finish 21-1 with a draw looking likely.
The unusual observation of the day was either the three all-run fours or the pigeon that settled on a length as Robson was about to face Thorp and had to be chased away to the Grand Stand.
Friday, 13 April 2012
In A Good Mahmood
Another cold day, this time at Fenner's again for the 2nd day of Cambridge MCCU vs Lancashire. Lancashire resumed on 277-5 and were quickly moving as Steven Croft and Gareth Cross looked to add quick runs. Croft only added 3 to his score when he sliced Peter Turnbull to Craig Park at slip to pick up his 5th wicket. Sajid Mahmood had a quick hit until being caught low down at cover by Zafar Ansari off Turnbull for 14. 313-7 represented a reasonable performance from the students and although Cross (49*) and Kyle Hogg (12*) took this to 348-7 before the declaration, Turnbull's 6-108 stood out as an excellent performance against the county champions.
Mahmood then struck in the third over having Ben Ackland caught behind by Cross attempting a hook for a duck, Ackland's body language implied hat he didn't hit it, but that was to prove a small worry for Cambridge as the day wore on. Cambridge then played out the remaining overs to be only one down at lunch, but then the the superior opposition began to assert their dominance. Luke Procter, when he wasn't bowling one of his 12 no-balls in 7 overs, bowled James Johnson (20) and had Akbar Ansari (11) LBW in the first 35 minutes of the session. Inbetween Tom Smith had Park caught by Cross for 1, meaning Cambridge were now 74-4. Zafar Ansari then edged Smith behind to fall for a top scoring 25. Smith then caught Rob Woolley in the next over to give Procter his 3rd wicket, making it 86-6.
Dean Bell and Paul Best then brought up the 100, but the return of Mahmood signalled the beginning of the end as Best gave Smith his 2nd catch at slip on 18, and Turnbull was yorked first ball to put Mahmood on a hat trick. Matt Salisbury avoided the hat-trick ball, but Bell was then LBW to Hogg playing across the line for 9.
Mahmood then cleaned up having Patrick Sadler easily caught by Paul Horton at slip for 2, leaving Cambridge all out for 123, Salisbury being 1*. Mahmood finishing with 4-38, Procter 3-52 and Smith 2-12 with extras (35) being top scorer!
Lancashire began their 2nd innings with a "handy" lead of 225 but Steven Moore fell in the 3rd over for one, mistiming a flick off Turnbull to Sadler at mid-on, 5-1. Horton and Tom Smith then ground down the bowling, easily picking runs off the loose bowling before Smith decided to cut loose against Zafar Ansari, playing attacking strokes all round the wicket, reaching his 50 with one of a number of reverse sweeps for four. He celebrated by coming down the pitch and thumping the only six of the day off Ansari over long off. Smith looked like he'd reach his hundred before close but, in the cold and dark, he appeared to have some discomfort in his hamstring, or an immense case of boredom, because he promptly retired hurt on 83 off 70 (1x6, 12x4) with the score on 128. Horton batted in a more circumspect manner, scoring 48* off 112 balls but still with eight fours, picking off the bad balls with relative ease given the conditions.
Horton and Karl Brown (0 not out) batted out the last 5 overs to finish the day 134-1, 359 ahead and looking likely to declare early and have some more bowling practice. Turnbull finished with 1-14 from 7 overs.
Mahmood then struck in the third over having Ben Ackland caught behind by Cross attempting a hook for a duck, Ackland's body language implied hat he didn't hit it, but that was to prove a small worry for Cambridge as the day wore on. Cambridge then played out the remaining overs to be only one down at lunch, but then the the superior opposition began to assert their dominance. Luke Procter, when he wasn't bowling one of his 12 no-balls in 7 overs, bowled James Johnson (20) and had Akbar Ansari (11) LBW in the first 35 minutes of the session. Inbetween Tom Smith had Park caught by Cross for 1, meaning Cambridge were now 74-4. Zafar Ansari then edged Smith behind to fall for a top scoring 25. Smith then caught Rob Woolley in the next over to give Procter his 3rd wicket, making it 86-6.
Dean Bell and Paul Best then brought up the 100, but the return of Mahmood signalled the beginning of the end as Best gave Smith his 2nd catch at slip on 18, and Turnbull was yorked first ball to put Mahmood on a hat trick. Matt Salisbury avoided the hat-trick ball, but Bell was then LBW to Hogg playing across the line for 9.
Mahmood then cleaned up having Patrick Sadler easily caught by Paul Horton at slip for 2, leaving Cambridge all out for 123, Salisbury being 1*. Mahmood finishing with 4-38, Procter 3-52 and Smith 2-12 with extras (35) being top scorer!
Lancashire began their 2nd innings with a "handy" lead of 225 but Steven Moore fell in the 3rd over for one, mistiming a flick off Turnbull to Sadler at mid-on, 5-1. Horton and Tom Smith then ground down the bowling, easily picking runs off the loose bowling before Smith decided to cut loose against Zafar Ansari, playing attacking strokes all round the wicket, reaching his 50 with one of a number of reverse sweeps for four. He celebrated by coming down the pitch and thumping the only six of the day off Ansari over long off. Smith looked like he'd reach his hundred before close but, in the cold and dark, he appeared to have some discomfort in his hamstring, or an immense case of boredom, because he promptly retired hurt on 83 off 70 (1x6, 12x4) with the score on 128. Horton batted in a more circumspect manner, scoring 48* off 112 balls but still with eight fours, picking off the bad balls with relative ease given the conditions.
Horton and Karl Brown (0 not out) batted out the last 5 overs to finish the day 134-1, 359 ahead and looking likely to declare early and have some more bowling practice. Turnbull finished with 1-14 from 7 overs.
What Just Happened?
Arrived at Lords with Surrey playing on the 3rd day against Middlesex and being 161-5 in their 1st innings still 94 behind Middlesex and looking to push for the lead.
Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown swung Corey Collymore into the Grand stand before edging a four of the next ball early in the day, but that was about as well as anyone batted for some time.
Chris Jordan was then bowled off the edge by Tim Murtagh before Batty was squared up by Collymore for Joe Denly to take a diving catch at point. Jon Lewis and Hamilton-Brown brought up the 200 when Toby Roland-Jones had HB lbw for 35. Lewis then heaved Dexter just over Collymore at mid-on before hitting one to Murtagh at mid-off. The End came with Jade Dernbach edging RJ to Gareth Berg at gully, Surrey 222 all out trailing by 34.
In reply Lewis opened the bowling with Zander De Bruyn and De Bruyn quickly enticed Denly to play a horrible hack outside off stump to go for 5, 21-1. After lunch, De Bruyn got Chris Rogers caught by Steve Davies for 4 playing a similarly awful shot, 29-2. Dawid Malan then joined Sam Robson and they moved the total along with comparative ease to 65 when Dernbach then clipped the off-bail of Malan on 13. Robson (43) then fell LBW in Dernbach's next over and Neil Dexter departed 3 balls later Middlesex were now 76-5 only 110 ahead. Berg then gave Lewis his 2nd wicket and Batty his 2nd catch to go for 1. John Simpson was then unluckily run out by Lewis in his follow through for a 27 ball 9. Murtagh brought up the 100 off Chris Jordan before Lewis then blasted out Ollie Rayner (7), Roland-Jones (6) and Collymore (0) to finish with 5-41 as Middlesex were bundled out for 106 leaving Surrey needing 141 to win in 4 sessions.
Roland-Jones got the first wicket in the 6th over trapping Jacques Rudolph LBW for 6 before the catch of the day in the next over. Davies (8) cut a short ball from Murtagh towards point where Denly then flung himself to his right to take a cracking catch, 14-2. Mark Ramprakash looked like a man at the end of his career as he and De Bruyn scratched around for 5 overs when Ramprakash edged Roland-Jones very low where Malan dived forward at first slip and took the catch, Ramps wasn't happy to go, but was sent on his way. 22-3 and Surrey looked in a bit of trouble only for Hamilton-Brown to again start hitting out against the bowling. They hauled down the runs required before a loose cut from De Bruyn on 15 gave Rogers a surprise catch at cover, 68-4. HB wasn't about to start blocking and, with a fair slice of luck, he went to his 50 from 49 balls a great innings given the circumstances. Tom Maynard drove a nice four then edged another away before Dexter missed a return catch off him. The last ball before bad light stopped play, Berg couldn't quite cling onto another caught and bowled chance from Maynard as Surrey, not happy to go off, finished 97-4 only needing another 44 to win in a tough game where 19 wickets fell and everyone batted at least once.
Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown swung Corey Collymore into the Grand stand before edging a four of the next ball early in the day, but that was about as well as anyone batted for some time.
Chris Jordan was then bowled off the edge by Tim Murtagh before Batty was squared up by Collymore for Joe Denly to take a diving catch at point. Jon Lewis and Hamilton-Brown brought up the 200 when Toby Roland-Jones had HB lbw for 35. Lewis then heaved Dexter just over Collymore at mid-on before hitting one to Murtagh at mid-off. The End came with Jade Dernbach edging RJ to Gareth Berg at gully, Surrey 222 all out trailing by 34.
In reply Lewis opened the bowling with Zander De Bruyn and De Bruyn quickly enticed Denly to play a horrible hack outside off stump to go for 5, 21-1. After lunch, De Bruyn got Chris Rogers caught by Steve Davies for 4 playing a similarly awful shot, 29-2. Dawid Malan then joined Sam Robson and they moved the total along with comparative ease to 65 when Dernbach then clipped the off-bail of Malan on 13. Robson (43) then fell LBW in Dernbach's next over and Neil Dexter departed 3 balls later Middlesex were now 76-5 only 110 ahead. Berg then gave Lewis his 2nd wicket and Batty his 2nd catch to go for 1. John Simpson was then unluckily run out by Lewis in his follow through for a 27 ball 9. Murtagh brought up the 100 off Chris Jordan before Lewis then blasted out Ollie Rayner (7), Roland-Jones (6) and Collymore (0) to finish with 5-41 as Middlesex were bundled out for 106 leaving Surrey needing 141 to win in 4 sessions.
Roland-Jones got the first wicket in the 6th over trapping Jacques Rudolph LBW for 6 before the catch of the day in the next over. Davies (8) cut a short ball from Murtagh towards point where Denly then flung himself to his right to take a cracking catch, 14-2. Mark Ramprakash looked like a man at the end of his career as he and De Bruyn scratched around for 5 overs when Ramprakash edged Roland-Jones very low where Malan dived forward at first slip and took the catch, Ramps wasn't happy to go, but was sent on his way. 22-3 and Surrey looked in a bit of trouble only for Hamilton-Brown to again start hitting out against the bowling. They hauled down the runs required before a loose cut from De Bruyn on 15 gave Rogers a surprise catch at cover, 68-4. HB wasn't about to start blocking and, with a fair slice of luck, he went to his 50 from 49 balls a great innings given the circumstances. Tom Maynard drove a nice four then edged another away before Dexter missed a return catch off him. The last ball before bad light stopped play, Berg couldn't quite cling onto another caught and bowled chance from Maynard as Surrey, not happy to go off, finished 97-4 only needing another 44 to win in a tough game where 19 wickets fell and everyone batted at least once.
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Napier, Masters, Wind, Mills
For a cold, windy Good Friday, why not go to Chelmsford to see the 2nd day of Essex vs Gloucestershire? Essex had been all out for 364 the evening before so Gloucestershire strated the day batting and, in tough conditions, they struggled. David Masters and Maurice Chambers found early swing and the first runs of the day were from Chris Dent's edge over the slips for four. His opening partner Richard Coughtrie fell in the next over for a duck, caught at slip by Alviro Petersen.
Dan Housego and Dent then somehow managed to add 62 for the 2nd wicket as edges fell short of the slips and chances were missed by both James Foster and Greg Smith. Finally, Tymal Mills splattered Dent's off stump for 38 before Housego and Alex Gidman saw them to 86-2 at lunch. After lunch was a different story as Gloucestershire's luck ran out and after a couple of good strokes Alex Gidman edged Masters to Foster to go for 15, 91-3. Hamish Marshall then looked all at sea against the swing and could only skew one from Chambers to cover where Masters took an excellent diving catch.
Housego brought up the 100 only to see Iain Cockbain play around a full ball from Chambers (0) and when Housego himself was bowled by Masters for 39, Gloucester were 108-6 having lost 4-22 since lunch. It was now bitterly cold, windy and dark with the ball swinging round corners as Ed Young was caught behind after blasting three 4s, off Masters on 13. Will Gidman, Ian Saxelby, James Fuller and Paul Muchall (on debut) then managed to cobble together a reasonable resistance as they got Gloucestershire to 180, Mills (3-35) and Graham Napier finished off tail still 35 short of avoiding the follow-on at the stroke of tea. Chambers took 3-49 and Masters 3-49 (off 20 overs) as Essex decided to enforce the follow-on against their hapless foes.
Given how badly the previous session had gone, their was only one way the match was heading and Napier and Masters ripped through the top order in a further (floodlight assisted) session of mayhem. First Dent was caught by Foster off Napier for 5. Then, after 45 minutes, Coughtrie was stuck on the pad, loud appeal, given out for a 33-ball duck to bag a pair in a day, leaving him scratching his head as to how Essex had scored runs yesterday. This spurred Napier on and Alex Gidman fell two balls later prodding to Tom Westley at slip for nought. 19-3 became 29-4 as Housego wafted Masters to Peterson at slip before Marshall fell LBW for eight leaving them 42-5 and meaning they had lost their last 13 wickets for 131.
Will Gidman and Cockbain then saw off 3 more overs when the umpires called them off for bad light, which when you've got floodlights on is a bit ridiculous, not that the batsmen complained, they were in the pavilion before Foster had realised what had happened. After all that Gloucestershire are left 55-5 still 129 away from making Essex bat again and making a 3 day finish almost certain.
Dan Housego and Dent then somehow managed to add 62 for the 2nd wicket as edges fell short of the slips and chances were missed by both James Foster and Greg Smith. Finally, Tymal Mills splattered Dent's off stump for 38 before Housego and Alex Gidman saw them to 86-2 at lunch. After lunch was a different story as Gloucestershire's luck ran out and after a couple of good strokes Alex Gidman edged Masters to Foster to go for 15, 91-3. Hamish Marshall then looked all at sea against the swing and could only skew one from Chambers to cover where Masters took an excellent diving catch.
Housego brought up the 100 only to see Iain Cockbain play around a full ball from Chambers (0) and when Housego himself was bowled by Masters for 39, Gloucester were 108-6 having lost 4-22 since lunch. It was now bitterly cold, windy and dark with the ball swinging round corners as Ed Young was caught behind after blasting three 4s, off Masters on 13. Will Gidman, Ian Saxelby, James Fuller and Paul Muchall (on debut) then managed to cobble together a reasonable resistance as they got Gloucestershire to 180, Mills (3-35) and Graham Napier finished off tail still 35 short of avoiding the follow-on at the stroke of tea. Chambers took 3-49 and Masters 3-49 (off 20 overs) as Essex decided to enforce the follow-on against their hapless foes.
Given how badly the previous session had gone, their was only one way the match was heading and Napier and Masters ripped through the top order in a further (floodlight assisted) session of mayhem. First Dent was caught by Foster off Napier for 5. Then, after 45 minutes, Coughtrie was stuck on the pad, loud appeal, given out for a 33-ball duck to bag a pair in a day, leaving him scratching his head as to how Essex had scored runs yesterday. This spurred Napier on and Alex Gidman fell two balls later prodding to Tom Westley at slip for nought. 19-3 became 29-4 as Housego wafted Masters to Peterson at slip before Marshall fell LBW for eight leaving them 42-5 and meaning they had lost their last 13 wickets for 131.
Will Gidman and Cockbain then saw off 3 more overs when the umpires called them off for bad light, which when you've got floodlights on is a bit ridiculous, not that the batsmen complained, they were in the pavilion before Foster had realised what had happened. After all that Gloucestershire are left 55-5 still 129 away from making Essex bat again and making a 3 day finish almost certain.
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Blood Among the Blue Caps
The 2012 season started with a trip to Fenner's for Essex taking on Cambridge MCCU.
Essex won the toss and batted, only to get bogged down by some good bowling from Peter Turnbull, Matt Salisbury and Robert Woolley. Billy Godleman and Tom Westley added 62 before Westley was LBW to Salisbury for 30. Jaik Mickleburgh was then dropped at slip off Turnbull before slicing the next ball to gully to fall for 9, 77-2. He then had Pettini caught behind by Dean Bell for a duck. That left Essex on 91-3 at lunch, which became 91-4 when Woolley got Wheater for another duck caught behind.
Greg Smith, newly acquired from Derbyshire came in began to hit the attack more easily as the bowlers tired.
Cambridge had further chances to take wickets as Godleman was missed from a stumping chance before he passed 50 but Salisbury then splattered his off stump for 57, leaving Essex still in a bit of trouble at 141-5.
The next wicket wasn't to fall for a while, quite a while as it happened as captain James Foster proceeded to hit the bowling around freely, easily milking the spinners including 16 off an over from Josh Poysden as Smith went past 50 and then on to a hundred from 103 balls, despite nearly being run out on 95. Foster reached his 50 soon after. Essex were 286-5 (Smith 106*) at tea and afterwards went about walloping a few more. Smith hit two more sixes before being bowled by Salisbury, only for it to be called a no-ball. Smith managed 21 fours as well as he raced to 160 before to edging Poysden to third man where Salisbury took a great diving catch making the score 366-6. Normally you'd expect the county side to declare now, but Essex, obviously incensed by the morning collapse went on a slaughterfest as Graham Napier joined Foster in 12 overs of Twenty20 hitting as Foster reached his hundred off 103 balls as the score went past 400 then 450 with Napier reaching a 32 ball 50. but that wasn't all as Napier carted 20 off the 87th over from Paul Best including the last ball being taken by the fielder who fell over the rope for six. This left Napier on 77 and Foster gave him the strike before carting 23 more off the over from Salisbury ending the over with a six towards the pavilion, a four over midwicket and finally a colossal six over the Hughes Hall at square leg to reach a crazy hundred from 48 balls with eight fours and eight sixes (including 6 of them in the final 9 balls). Essex promptly declared 506-6 from 88 overs with Foster on 114 (off 117) as well, and the bowlers nursing some painful figures including Best 0-148 from 22, Poysden 1-96 off 11, though Turnbull 2-75 showed some reward from the good morning.
There was just enough time for David Masters to dismiss Bell LBW for 10 as Cambridge ended the day 26-1 from 8 overs.
Essex won the toss and batted, only to get bogged down by some good bowling from Peter Turnbull, Matt Salisbury and Robert Woolley. Billy Godleman and Tom Westley added 62 before Westley was LBW to Salisbury for 30. Jaik Mickleburgh was then dropped at slip off Turnbull before slicing the next ball to gully to fall for 9, 77-2. He then had Pettini caught behind by Dean Bell for a duck. That left Essex on 91-3 at lunch, which became 91-4 when Woolley got Wheater for another duck caught behind.
Greg Smith, newly acquired from Derbyshire came in began to hit the attack more easily as the bowlers tired.
Cambridge had further chances to take wickets as Godleman was missed from a stumping chance before he passed 50 but Salisbury then splattered his off stump for 57, leaving Essex still in a bit of trouble at 141-5.
The next wicket wasn't to fall for a while, quite a while as it happened as captain James Foster proceeded to hit the bowling around freely, easily milking the spinners including 16 off an over from Josh Poysden as Smith went past 50 and then on to a hundred from 103 balls, despite nearly being run out on 95. Foster reached his 50 soon after. Essex were 286-5 (Smith 106*) at tea and afterwards went about walloping a few more. Smith hit two more sixes before being bowled by Salisbury, only for it to be called a no-ball. Smith managed 21 fours as well as he raced to 160 before to edging Poysden to third man where Salisbury took a great diving catch making the score 366-6. Normally you'd expect the county side to declare now, but Essex, obviously incensed by the morning collapse went on a slaughterfest as Graham Napier joined Foster in 12 overs of Twenty20 hitting as Foster reached his hundred off 103 balls as the score went past 400 then 450 with Napier reaching a 32 ball 50. but that wasn't all as Napier carted 20 off the 87th over from Paul Best including the last ball being taken by the fielder who fell over the rope for six. This left Napier on 77 and Foster gave him the strike before carting 23 more off the over from Salisbury ending the over with a six towards the pavilion, a four over midwicket and finally a colossal six over the Hughes Hall at square leg to reach a crazy hundred from 48 balls with eight fours and eight sixes (including 6 of them in the final 9 balls). Essex promptly declared 506-6 from 88 overs with Foster on 114 (off 117) as well, and the bowlers nursing some painful figures including Best 0-148 from 22, Poysden 1-96 off 11, though Turnbull 2-75 showed some reward from the good morning.
There was just enough time for David Masters to dismiss Bell LBW for 10 as Cambridge ended the day 26-1 from 8 overs.
Monday, 16 January 2012
Desert Dreams
Yes, I'm still about though not having any games to go to, I've written a preview of the Pakistan-England series.
So England begin their series against Pakistan tomorrow in the neutral UAE in what is the first test for their number one Test Ranking.
After hammering India 4-0 at home in the summer Andrew Strauss and co. are at first glance the favourites against Misbah-ul-Haq's men who are ranked 5th. But looking deeper into it Pakistan have been one of the most improved sides of the last year after the spot-fixing scandal and with the likes of Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal and all-round hero Mohammad Hafeez they have a strong spin attack and have played enough games in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to know that runs are their to be scored if you are prepared to wait for them.
England have looked shaky in their two warm-up games and have relied on 2nd innings runs and generous declarations to win. Alaistair Cook, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott have all been in great form for the past year but and it would be a surprise if they all failed to adapt to the conditions. That said, England have historically struggled in Asia and there is no better time than now to show they are truly the best team in the world.
The loss of Tim Bresnan for the whole series is a blow for England and has probably scuppered any immediate chance of Monty Panesar playing as a 2nd spinner with Graeme Swann, despite taking 5 against the PCB XI last week. Chris Tremlett will probably be the lucky bowler who gets in ahead of Steve Finn.
Both matches so far in Dubai have been fairly slow, low scoring affairs meaning that a patient start will be required and may not prove good for the likes of Strauss who hasn't scored a test hundred since Brisbane in 2010.
Umar Akmal is the future of Pakistan's batting and was one of the few stand out players from the disaster-thon of Pakistan's 2010 tour of England so ought to play ahead of Asad Shafiq.
England's fast bowlers won't be able to get away with bowling short on a slowish track so the likes of Anderson could prosper most. Umar Gul will lead the Pakistan bowling and his late swing could prove decisive with the older ball.
A draw may well be likely, but any small mistakes from either side could easily cost them the game and possibly the series.
First Test 17-21st January, Dubai
Second Test 25-29th January, Abu Dhabi
Third Test 3-7th February, Dubai.
So England begin their series against Pakistan tomorrow in the neutral UAE in what is the first test for their number one Test Ranking.
After hammering India 4-0 at home in the summer Andrew Strauss and co. are at first glance the favourites against Misbah-ul-Haq's men who are ranked 5th. But looking deeper into it Pakistan have been one of the most improved sides of the last year after the spot-fixing scandal and with the likes of Abdur Rehman, Saeed Ajmal and all-round hero Mohammad Hafeez they have a strong spin attack and have played enough games in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to know that runs are their to be scored if you are prepared to wait for them.
England have looked shaky in their two warm-up games and have relied on 2nd innings runs and generous declarations to win. Alaistair Cook, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott have all been in great form for the past year but and it would be a surprise if they all failed to adapt to the conditions. That said, England have historically struggled in Asia and there is no better time than now to show they are truly the best team in the world.
The loss of Tim Bresnan for the whole series is a blow for England and has probably scuppered any immediate chance of Monty Panesar playing as a 2nd spinner with Graeme Swann, despite taking 5 against the PCB XI last week. Chris Tremlett will probably be the lucky bowler who gets in ahead of Steve Finn.
Both matches so far in Dubai have been fairly slow, low scoring affairs meaning that a patient start will be required and may not prove good for the likes of Strauss who hasn't scored a test hundred since Brisbane in 2010.
Umar Akmal is the future of Pakistan's batting and was one of the few stand out players from the disaster-thon of Pakistan's 2010 tour of England so ought to play ahead of Asad Shafiq.
England's fast bowlers won't be able to get away with bowling short on a slowish track so the likes of Anderson could prosper most. Umar Gul will lead the Pakistan bowling and his late swing could prove decisive with the older ball.
A draw may well be likely, but any small mistakes from either side could easily cost them the game and possibly the series.
First Test 17-21st January, Dubai
Second Test 25-29th January, Abu Dhabi
Third Test 3-7th February, Dubai.
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