County cricket

Mark Footitt and some other stuff: a review of the first round of the County Championship

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The first round of the County Championship is over. Here are some of the things that happened.

Hampshire beat Yorkshire

This match was one for true connoisseurs of momentum in cricket. Hampshire had all the momentum when Yorkshire fell to 152-7 in their first innings, but momentum being momentum, it wasn’t long before the home team had recovered to 273 all out.

From there, Ben Coad made Hampshire be losing at the cricketings, bowling them out for 141. The momentum was clearly now with Yorkshire. Or at least it was until Kyle Abbott did a Ben Coad and bowled them out for 187. Hampshire then sashayed to their target for the loss of just six wickets.

Marks Stoneman and Footitt v Jonathan Trott

Ex-Durham batsman Mark Stoneman made 165 for Surrey and then ex-Derbyshire bowler (and one to watch) Mark Footitt doused Warwickshire in petrol and lit them. After that, Jonathan Trott killed some time by making a hundred but Warwickshire still lost by an innings and a run.

The result means that a certain corner of the cricket press has leapt into “this could be Surrey’s year” mode. This happens a lot. The last time there was a groundswell of excitement, they got relegated. Technically, it could be their year though.

Lancashire may or may not have beaten Essex

We were going to wait until seeing the result before writing our review. That seemed to make sense. But then we suddenly decided we didn’t want to.

Dane Vilas ran Shiv out. That was the main thing that happened in this match. He partially made up for this by making a load of runs, but unforgiveable acts are unforgiveable, so we won’t be forgiving him.

Lancashire’s wicketkeeper Alex Davies made a second innings hundred opening the batting. This probably means that Jos Buttler will return to the side later in the year in a charity case sort of a role, batting at seven and not keeping wicket, purely so that Lancs don’t get told off by England for not picking him.

We can’t see Essex winning many games this year. They don’t seem to have enough bowlers.

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Similar deliveries:

Default ThumbnailThe Nottinghamshire Nosedives – another fairly half-arsed County Championship round-up Default ThumbnailCounty Championship Round Two – not even going to pretend to pass this off as a preview Default ThumbnailFour wickets in the fourth innings for spinners – this week’s County Championship round-up Default ThumbnailGreat performances from Shiv, Coad, Footitt and no-one from Warwickshire, no-one whatsoever

8 comments

  1. Apparently there’s also a King Cricket apathetic fantasy league or summat, and someone or other’s first choice team is absolutely ‘crushing it’, so to speak, but I haven’t been bothered to log in yet to check.

      1. I’m pretty sure it’s fixed. The other lot are a bunch of focaccias and distinctly mid-table fodder. Not sure this is worth all those JEFFING QUIDS, however.

  2. Has anyone ever lost their first match of the season by an innings and gone on to win the title?

    Asking for a friend.

    1. I phoned a friend on behalf of your friend.

      This is what he said:

      “Well, not recently, obviously, but it was very different back in the days of uncovered pitches. Back then, on a sticky dog, even the best teams…”

      …at that point I’m afraid I nodded off and missed the rest of his answer.

      I tried.

      1. Bring back uncovered pitches!

        We need some sort of Campaign for Return of Au-Naturel Pitches.

    2. How strict is the ‘no reselling’ policy on international tickets at the home of the Birmingham YoooooooouuuuuuuuBears, Sam?

      Asking for a friend.

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