The fans' view
Cricket - a classic English tradition
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Tuesday, 18, Sep 2007 06:40
Contributions by: James Amar; Lewis Bazley; Dominic Beaumont; Charles Britten; Richard Garside; Dan Jones; Tim Lesnik; Alistair Potter; Anna Seward; Alex Stevenson.
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September 18th - The most important question arising from England's Twenty20 loss to New Zealand - a match which produced a fitting exit from a tournament in which we couldn't beat a single proper side - is can we send Freddie home now please?
Now the 'hit and giggle' fest is over, there is the small matter of Lancashire being in a great position to win their first County Championship outright since 1934 to attend to.
They sit top of Division One, with one game (against Surrey at the Oval) to go.
I hasten to add that Lancashire's members, who have been paying Freddie's wages through the years, regardless of his size, deserve their star player back.
While you're at it Moores, please stick Anderson on the same flight. And Schofield so he can get back in time to serve up some more looping full tosses on leg stump.
It is a shame that such a Neanderthal form of cricket (if we can call it that), has overshadowed the end to an exciting county season. - RG
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September 18th - The final countdown
So it all comes down to this. Three teams with a strong chance of clinching the County Championship in the last clutch of four-day matches this season. In a summer characterised by. well, lack of summer really, who would have thought that one of Durham, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Sussex, in what was once a one-horse race, can now win a title that has now opened up into a final sprint for the finish.
The latter are the favourites. All Sussex have to do is roll over last-placed Worcestershire and cruise to a win. Should they slip up, though, either of the other two teams could be waiting in the wings to sidle up for an unlikely victory.
The team most likely to upset Yorkshire fans is, of course, Lancashire. They take on Surrey at the Oval and, with a six-point lead at the top, will be confident of taking their first championship since 1934.
Such is the nature of the disappointing season for fans at Headingley that they will probably go on to see their old rivals triumph, however. For much of the first half of the season the White Roses led the tournament and appeared likely to dominate a la Chelsea for the whole season.
Not so fast. The loss of Jason Gillespie, who although past his prime in the Test arena was a potent bowling force in Leeds, was a blow and the lack of skipper Darren Gough also played its part. Losing to Sussex by an innings and 200 runs obviously proved crucial but fans blame the lost toss as being the critical turning point. Being bowled out for 89 was never likely to help their cause though and a terrible performance ensued.
Technically, Yorkshire still stand a chance but the odds are heavily stacked against them. More interesting from a spectator's point of view is the prospect of four close matches going down to the wire. It all starts tomorrow. - Alex S
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September 17th: Lancy at last?
If anyone had said back in April that the championship was about to come to Old Trafford, one would naturally have assumed this was football talk about the imminent dethroning of Chelsea as Premier League champions. That eventual outcome was a memorable event for Manchester United fans, but hardly a novel one in recent times.
This can hardly be said of the other sporting club down the road, (literally the same road, in fact, until bits of it were renamed after Sir Matt Busby and Brian Statham), for Lancashire have not been outright champions of England since 1934, a year when Manchester United's last away league fixture was not a gloatfest under the envious noses of their defeated rivals, but a winner-takes-all battle with Millwall where only victory prevented relegation to the third division north. Far from being immortalised in a road sign at Old Trafford, Busby was captaining neighbours City to victory in the FA Cup final. It was a very different era indeed.
When Lancashire won the 1934 title, the other victors in the summer were the Australians, regaining the Ashes thanks to the monumental run-scoring feats of Bradman and Ponsford, although England beat Australia in a Test at Lord's for the only time in the 20th century thanks to a man called Verity taking 15 wickets. The championship-winning team was captained by Peter Eckersley and included Eddie Paynter, one of the tourists in the 1932/33 Bodyline series.
Since then, Lancashire have had nothing more than one shared championship to celebrate, when they split the trophy (hopefully not with a hacksaw) with Surrey in 1950. Ironically, they now just need to beat the same county at the Oval and pick up 17 points to ensure the 73-year itch to be outright champions is finally ended.
Even more ironically, the last game of Lancashire's 1934 campaign was also at the Oval. Then, however, the game was a draw which did not matter - a bit like United at Stamford Bridge last May. This time, the trip to London is very much like Millwall away - a win being critical - for surely one of Sussex, Yorkshire or Hampshire will snatch the prize away if they fail. Having finally hit the top of the table with a week to go, their nerves will be tested to the limit.
The man after whom the road outside is named never did win domestic cricket's biggest prize outright. The likes of Clive and David Lloyd, Frank Hayes, Mike Atherton and Wasim Akram never won it at all. The roll-call of Lancastrian championship misery is distinguished and all the more embarrassing for it.
Never in history has Old Trafford been home to the champions of England in cricket and football at the same time. It is a symmetry which has been a long time in coming, but if it happens this year it will be welcomed with delight and relief by all fans of the red rose, whatever their football colours. - CB
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August 31st: With Stuart Broad heading off to Notts next year (an announcement only tempered by the selfish thought that he'll be too busy playing for England for the next 15 years to ever turn out for them), and Leicestershire suffering at the hands of Kadeer Ali and Craig Spearman in their latest game at Grace Road, it's hard not to turn once again to some of our old boys and wonder what could have been.
Similar thoughts could well have been running through the mind of Ottis Gibson a few years back when he retired from the game after a series of minor injuries. That changed when he appeared in the Leicestershire team in 2004, staying with them for a couple of years before joining the annual array of departures at the end of last season, heading north to Durham.
This season of course has seen Gibson produce some of the best form of his career at the grand old age of 38. He's picked up more wickets than Murali this summer and enjoyed his share of the limelight when he took 10-47 against Hampshire earlier in the season, before cementing his place as the unlikeliest of Shane Warne's many nemeses with a man-of-the-match performance in the Friends Provident Trophy final.
Old Ottis hasn't stopped there, and for a moment it looked like he might repeat the ten-wicket trick against Worcestershire the other day - though in the end he's had to settle for seven in the first innings and 11 in the match.
No such fireworks back at Grace Road of course, at least not from the home side - but who knows what could happen next season now that Paul Nixon has signed a new three-year deal, taking over the captaincy in the process.
Here's hoping the man they call the Badger can work wonders with the Foxes in 2008. - DJ
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August 29th: In a change of fortunes akin to Manchester City's miraculous transformation into something resembling a good football side, Somerset's fantastic performances have seen them rise from second division obscurity to promotion favourites in both the LV County Championship and the Natwest Pro40.
With last night's crushing defeat of Leicestershire, the Sabres climbed to the top of the Pro40 league and, with games against fourth and fifth-placed Surrey and Middlesex remaining, look a good bet for the Division Two title.
Though Marcus Trescothick and Craig Kieswetter got the Somerset innings off to a fiery start with an 89 partnership, the sixth-wicket partnership of Millfield alumni James Hildreth and Wes Durston proved to be the high point of the West Country side's batting performance.
Seeming to ignore their alma mater's motto Molire Molendo ("to drive forward by grinding"), the youngsters smashed 86 off just 50 balls to take Somerset to 287-6, setting the Foxes an asking rate of 7.2 per over.
A sturdy bowling performance followed - including a 3-40 from Andy Caddick - and with Leicestershire languishing at 171-6 after the dismissal of Paul Nixon, a batting collapse redolent of a mid-90s England ensued, with Somerset dispatching the Midlands side for a humbling 177.
Three wins in five days, a healthy lead in the LV County Championship second division and now a superb chance of promotion in the one-day competition too - who needs Sven when you've got Brian Rose? - LB
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August 20th: The FP Trophy final - A Durham fan's view
Shane Warne, Kevin Pietersen, Robin Smith, David Gower, Mark Nicholas - can you hear me, Mark Nicholas! Your boys took one hell of a beating!
If I had made a prediction on Friday it certainly would have been for a closer game than that. Not that I'm complaining of course.
I cheered every boundary with equal gusto, if only to try and keep warm in conditions that were more reminiscent of Chester-le-Street in September than Lord's in mid-August.
An interesting day began on the steps of the Compton Stand waiting to take my seat where a fellow supporter was somewhat disgruntled by the lack of progress. The 30-something man had a hissy fit that an 8-year-old would have been embarrassed by (you know who you are Sir!).
A lot of runs and a lot of alcohol later and the banter was in full flow. A middle-aged man was attempting to find out the football scores on a somewhat unwieldy hand-held radio, only to be asked from the back of the stand: "Here, young 'un, how's that MP3 working out for you?"
I had the good fortune to land a spot at a hotel round the corner from the ground and can report that some of the Durham players, who were also in the same hotel, were unsurprisingly confident of victory after day-one.
Paul Collingwood whizzed past wearing a frilly black number claiming he couldn't stop because he had a taxi waiting, while Steve Harmison was organising others into the team's private suite. Radio 4's 'Aggers' was ensconced in the hotel bar taking delivery of another bottle of wine when I decided to retire for the evening.
It was good of the weather to abate in the exact window I had between finishing my morning reports and the train back north, so I was one of the few who was able to see the boys lift the trophy. Here's hoping we don't have to wait another 15 years for the next one! - DB
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August 20th: Langer key to Somerset rise
Somerset's deserved lead in the LV County Championship Division Two might be down to the return of old hands Marcus Trescothick and Ian Blackwell, but it's the contribution of one tiny Aussie that's cemented the West Country side's 2007 ascendance.
With his 113 in the recent draw with Glamorgan making him the fifth Somerset batsman to pass the 1,000-run mark this season, Justin Langer's performances, not to mention his superb captaincy, have made the side's four-day form unrecognisable from last year's horrific showing.
Averaging 62.7 this season, the diminutive Perth native has transformed a misfiring Somerset squad into a side almost certain of returning to the top flight for the first time in six years, even if the one-day game appears as alien to the team as a glass of Slimfast to Inzy.
Of course the track at Taunton's County Ground offers so little to bowling sides that it might as well be made of tarmac, so it's little wonder that five Somerset batsmen have passed the four-figure mark for the first time since 1975.
Then again, the little man broke the county's run-scoring record with a 342 at Surrey's Woodbridge Road ground in 2006, so as an intensely biased Somerset fan I'm going to relate the team's seemingly inevitable capture of the Division Two title to his plucky efforts. - LB
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August 20th: Don't mention the Warne
So Paul Collingwood has finally had the last laugh over Shane Warne.
The Durham skipper was the subject of barbs from the world's most famous texter over his MBE in the Ashes series and Hampshire's captain reignited the fire in the lead-up to the Friends Provident Trophy final, suggesting the trophy would look better on his mantelpiece next to his forthcoming knighthood (for services to the mobile phone industry?) than it would next to Collingwood's MBE.
Besides the fact that the trophy is a slightly hefty bit of silverware and would requiure a pretty big mantelpiece anyway, Warne was left looking red-faced after a good thrashing, perhaps forgetting that through most of his career he has left this sort of trash-talking to Glenn McGrath.
Thus a grinning Collingwood walked off with the trophy and is currently seeking a mantelpiece extension, while Warne and his defeated Hampshire colleagues headed back to Southampton with their tails between their legs.
For Collingwood, the experience of victory as one-day captain will hopefully inspire him to repeat the feat as he takes charge of England in the seven-match series against India.
As for Warne, he was then thrown back on the defensive following his confession that he was trying to become a German passport holder on the basis that his mum was born there, so he wouldn't have to play as an overseas player in county cricket. All this the week before England play Germany at football.
Of course, plenty of Aussies have German ancestry - with names like Langer, Rackemann, Bichel and Hauritz among their players in recent years - not to mention that it was German settlers who started off all those wineries in the Barossa Valley. But Warne shouldn't forget that the last time his mother had anything to do with his cricket career he got banned for a year.
If he gets the passport (if the Germans know what they're letting themselves in for, they may have second thoughts) we can expect the predictable and stereotypical tabloid pictures of Warne's head superimposed on a body dressed in leather shorts and braces, or a tasteless SS outfit in the Daily Mirror's case. Already he has had to deny that he is changing his name to Adolf, presumably because some might wonder if he is looking for an Iron Cross to go with that Knighthood. On the field, expect plenty of John Cleese style goose-stepping and of course a blaming of any expansion of the famous Warne waistline on the Oktoberfest.
Poor Shane. Having given so much ammunition to opponents, he'll never come out on top in a sledging match again. - CB
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August 17th: With Hampshire already being touted to take the Friends Provident Trophy at Lord's tomorrow, I'd like to add my two pence-worth to the argument. I'm going to go with underdogs Durham.
In my opinion the loss of Steve Harmison is likely to improve the Durham team, more than detract from it. We all know he bottles it on the big stage.
Ottis Gibson has already proved he has a voodoo over those soft southerners - taking all ten wickets in a County Championship match last month - and the Graham Onions-Liam Plunkett combination is arguably one of the most capable one-two pace punches in county cricket at the moment.
Add to this a batting line-up that includes Shivnarine "You couldn't get me out if I was batting with a twig" Chanderpaul and the grit of Paul Collingwood, who knows how to play a certain Mr Warne, and you have a far more accomplished middle order than most international sides. Opening up is wicketkeeper-batsman Phil Mustard - and lord knows he's been spicy in one-dayers this season.
Kevin Pietersen will have one eye on the England v India one-day series next week, and will probably get out to a nothing ball trying to tonk it for six, and John Crawley's luck in major finals (he's won six out of six) is bound to run out sooner or later.
As such, I will plump for Durham to make it one out of one in major finals at Lord's. - AP
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August 17th: Tomorrow's Friends Provident final looks set to be an intriguing one. The main battle is surely set to pit Shane Warne against arguably the player of the summer - Shivnarine Chanderpaul. I didn't rate Durham's chances in this game until they pulled off the coup of signing the diminutive batsman until the end of the season.
It's a shame that Steve Harmison has been ruled out with a side strain. The Ashington exoset has done much to boost the profile of the side over the years and deserved to be a part of their first major final.
As I am attending the final I have promised myself a sly "Bowling Shane!" in the style of Adam Gilchrist just because, as an Englishman, I can't not yell at Aussies. It's almost like a subconscious reflex.
I'm holding off making any predictions, as a true sports fan I am naturally and inexplicably superstitious so making a prediction would, in my eyes, jinx things and leave me worried all day.
However, the objective observer in me says that the key to each side winning will be how Kevin Pietersen plays. The Durham seam attack has demolished most sides they have faced this summer, but Pietersen is such a prima ballerina that a Lord's final seems like just the place for him to show off.
Finely poised it is then, here's hoping the weather holds! - DB
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August 17th: For me, tommorow's FP Trophy final is almost too close to call. Both teams have decent batting line-ups, each with a stand-out danger man. Chanderpaul for Durham and Pietersen for Hants.
I think Durham's loss of Steve Harmison through injury makes Hants slight favourites. A probable seam attack including Onions, Plunkett and Gibson is respectable, but lacks the menace that Harmy would bring.
Add to that Hants' depth of batting with the unflappable John Crawley at the top of the order and Warne and Mascheranas able to provide runs down the bottom and Durham will do well to limit them to a beatable score.
I will go for Hants, sheperded by possibly the greatest fat man to play any sport - SK Warne - to take the cup. - RG
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August 17th: Yesterday's news of Inzamam's signing for Yorkshire has sparked a bit of a debate on this blog, not least over the potential of a lardy 37-year old to deliver as many runs as a younger and fitter Younus Khan. But of course Inzy has always been more than a tad overweight, which of course raises the critical and under-debated issue of how important fat is in cricket.
After all, Australia's first Ashes whitewash, back in 1920-21, was engineered by the 22-stone Warwick Armstrong, while Mike Gatting and Mark Taylor were other Ashes-winning captains who needed certain doorways lubricating to pass through.
Add to that the substantial girth of Shane Warne and WG Grace, two of the game's greatest legends, and one can see why cricket has a broad appeal to salad dodgers.
This leaves us with clear grounds to reconsider the current hot topic of jelly beans on the pitch.
Now as it happens, India are a bit short of flab and it clearly had the wrong effect at Trent Bridge, but the tactical placing of sweets in the middle of a pitch may well lure the odd hungry batsman into a little wander and then the chance to tuck into something more substantial back in the pavilion following the resultant stumping.
Australian wicket-keeping (and sledging) legend Ian Healy had this idea once when he suggested baiting the rotund Sri Lankan Arjuna Ranatunga with a Mars bar on a good length. Of course, the plan failed because Warne reached the aformentioned confectionary first.
Yet for all that, who would bet against the pie-eating spinning king having the last laugh with another match-winning performance for Hampshire against Durham in the Friends Provident Trophy final?
He may be a bit tubby and lands himself in all sorts of proverbial but somehow Warnie always manages to come up smelling of Roses - the chocolate sort, of course. - CB
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August 16th: I must say I fail to understand the fuss that is being cooked up as soon as Inzy rolls into town (see blog entry below).
Incredibly, even a man of his stature will find it very hard to fill the void left by Younus Khan, who has made over 800 runs duing his stint with the White Rose county.
His paltry World Cup runs total of less than 80 was disappointing, particularly as bowlers from the likes of Zimbabwe and Ireland used to be meat and drink to this giant of the sport.
One can only think that the reason Yorkshire have gone for Inzy is the impact a big figure like him will have on gate receipts. - RG
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August 16th: Still reeling from their Roses thrashing by Lancashire, Yorkshire have come up with the biggest of responses by lining up larger-than-life former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq to add his considerable weight to their stuttering campaign.
It could be another coup for Geoffrey and co, with the forthright commentator and board member using his extensive sub-continental contacts to land (with rather a large thud, one imagines) one of the better batsmen of the last decade. Leeds curry houses can expect some extra custom over the rest of the season too.
While Inzy left behind the captaincy amid a storm over his less than tastefully-timed departure announcement, coming just two days after Bob Woolmer died, this offers a new chance for him to make an impact by bulking up Yorkshire's batting.
Will he succeed? That remains to be seen, but his hunger can never be questioned. - CB
For the full story, click here.
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August 12th: There is nothing Roses fans like more than thrashing their ancient rivals into the ground. Unfortunately for the miserable crowd at Headingley, it was Yorkshire who were on the receiving end as their Championship hopes received quite a setback last week.
After bowling out the home side for 144, thanks in part to the pesky machinations of Andrew Flintoff who clearly should have been on England duty, Lancashire set about notching up a match-winning 517.
The Roses record struck by Lancashire's Stuart Law, who hit a passable 206 from 250 balls, was followed by Muralitharan's 5-66 in the ensuing innings defeat. That's not so great for Yorkshire, who trail Sussex by eight points in the County Championship table.
In sheer distraction from this depressing development, I have concocted a solution to England's wicketkeeping problem. Whether it be Matt Prior, Chris Read or Geraint Jones it seems none of them are batting freely enough because they are worried they are going to get dropped.
The answer for next season is a simple one: allocate them all one Test next summer, bringing in James Foster and Tim Ambrose to make up the quota. They know they'll be on the train back home once their five days are up so the pressure will be well and truly taken off. It's genius, even if I do say so myself. - Alex S
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August 9th: The King is...er, retired
Never in the field of sporting action has so much been owed by one journeyman player to one misprint. That's the ultimate truth about Ashley Giles, as the King of Spain - who was so named after the famously erroneous mug moniker - announces his retirement.
It's ironic that he has been forced to bow out through a hip problem, because the key was that Ashley just wasn't hip. He was the Emile Heskey of the England team, a bits-and-pieces cricketer of modest bowling ability (143 wickets at 40.6), labelled a wheelie-bin by the dastardly Blofeld, who could make a few useful runs (Test average 20.89 with four 50s) and field superbly in the gully. And all of Spain, sorry, England loved him for it.
Time moves on, of course, and the Warwickshire man has seen his cult status inherited by his direct replacement, Monty Panesar. While England's own turbanator will win more Test matches with his bowling, the fact remains that Giles was part of a golden period in English cricket history - part of the side that won all seven home Tests in 2004, triumphed in South Africa for the first time in 40 years and won back the Ashes.
Let nobody forget his half-century made while Kevin Pietersen blazed away at the other end on that crucial final day at the Oval, nor his Warne-like magic ball to Damien Martyn at Old Trafford. The King of Spain's achievements were modest, but often spectacular. Which other derided bowler could claim his 100th Test wicket by bowling Lara neck and crop at Lord's?
So it's goodbye to Ashley the player, but expect Spanish royalty to reappear in a commentary box near you anytime soon, holding forth on a game he never mastered but somehow graced without ever being graceful. - CB
For the full story, click here.
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August 6th: New Road may have been under water for half the summer - and won't see anymore cricket until 2008 - but one thing slightly less changeable than the season's weather is the presence of Graeme Hick at Worcestershire County Cricket Club.
Hick has just signed a new contract and will faithfully troop out for his 25th campaign with the club next year at the grand old age of 42. True to form, he marked the occasion with a swashbuckling 93 not out at Trent Bridge on Saturday as Worcs narrowly saw off Notts in a Pro40 game.
Three sixes are evidence enough that Hick has always been fond of swinging the bat and clearing the boundary - a talent that mystifyingly seems to be beyond half of England's current ODI team.
He was, of course, famously in and out of the national set-up more often than a cuckoo in a Swiss clock, but you get the sense that being born a decade later would have done his career wonders - no more hassle against the short balls of Ambrose, Donald et al, leaving him free to capitalise on Fletcher and Moores' tendency to stick with their players through thick and thin.
Naturally such talk is all by the by, and whatever his technical flaws, it's probably unthinkable to the Worcestershire faithful to imagine a team without the man who has knocked up more than 40,000 runs over the past quarter century, rain or shine. - DJ
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August 3rd: With the Twenty20 finals day coming up, it could be a nervous time for one of the ice cream van staff at Edgbaston.
During the 2003 Test match with South Africa, one girl in the van was terrified of using the Mr Softee machine, as if it was about to erupt and drown her in ice cream or something.
By the time I had ordered a double 99 off her for the seventh time her hand had just about stopped shaking.
Many people will be concerned with what happens on the field and rightly so, with Lancashire looking a good bet for the title.
Yet my biggest hope is that if she's still there, the young lady has overcome her phobia and is able to cope with that terrifying mixture of soft vanilla, flake and squirty red syrup.
Luckily for her state of mind I shall not be there to order one. - CB
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August 3rd: Tommorow is Twenty20 finals day, the showcase of the new ultra-short form of the game is set to be an event packed with efforts at the sort of blown-up razzmatazz the ECB have thrown at us so far - last year's 'half-time' featured Girls Aloud - a welcome change from watching Gower, Botham and Holding sit in a studio.
As far as the cricket goes, I think it is fair to say there is one stand-out favourite this year. Which other team can call on the services of five past or present England seamers, the best spinner in the world, can bat down to number ten and have a one-day cricket human wrecking-ball that is FREDDIE? He may not have set the world alight in the past year, but rest assured he has the potential to make finals day his own.
The Red Rose may not have won a one-day knockout trophy since 1998, but will take some stopping this year. Sussex are a very tight unit under the stewardship of Chris Adams and have Mushtaq Ahmed - the Pakistani wicket-machine can make life difficult for batsmen in any form of the game.
Having also just beaten Lancs convincingly in a four-day game, they will pose the biggest threat if they get past Kent and into the final. - RG
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August 2nd: It is indicative of the success of the still-young Twenty20 tournament that players are now said to have joined a county specifically for this competition. I know Lancashire had the Twenty20 in mind when they signed Sanath Jayasuria, and Adam Hollioake recently returned to the country to play for Essex exclusively in this competition (albeit he tied it in with a family holiday). I beleive it is now on par with the C&G Trophy as the most desirable one-day competition for counties to win.
On a different note, however, it annoys me the way the packed international schedule has resulted in overseas players coming for only part of the season, in some cases only weeks. VVS Laxman, Lasith Malinga, Muttiah Muralitharan and others will be good to watch, but it will be a shame if the days of overseas players being synonomous with a certain county (Wasim Akram with Lancashire, Chris Cairns with Nottinghamshire, Courtney Walsh with Gloucestershire, etc...) are gone. - RG
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August 2nd - The dreaded Malinga
So Lasith Malinga is heading for Kent, and just in time for the Twenty20 finals day this weekend too. This signing is perhaps one of the shrewdest by any county so far this year.
From the World Cup in the spring, we already know Malinga is very adept at the shortened versions of the game. His swingy action and devastating pace-bowling have the capability to destroy any batting line-up in the world on his day, let alone domestic cricket. And if you're South Africa, he can rip apart that line-up in less than a single over.
Either way, Kent can only benefit from a world-class signing like Malinga, who I personally rate more highly than the man he is down to replace - Andrew Hall. I'd even go so far as to tip them for the Twenty20 Cup this weekend on the back of this. - AP
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July 24th - A wet weather warning
With the weather putting paid to several more County Championship fixtures this week, it seems the domestic winners this year may be decided more by luck (ie, who manages to finish their matches without getting rained off), rather than being the best team.
There was not one match out of the seven in divisions one and two this week that did not end in a draw, as teams struggled to get enough time at the crease to produce a result.
With the exception of a bonus point here and there, it was another frustrating week for all concerned thanks to the flooding and inclement weather.
Never mind England losing out in the first Test against India because of the rain (although that was, in itself, rather annoying) - it could well make for one of the most frustrating domestic seasons English cricket has ever seen. - AP
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July 20th: Can Lancashire push for Championship?
'A sleeping giant,' is surely a fitting term to be used when describing Lancashire - the county with the most members in the land hasn't won the Championship outright since 1934.
Mid-way through the season and in a mid-table position, Lancashire will have to hope that the weather gives them an opportunity to win some games in the reminder of the summer, after the usual glut of washed out draws in May and June.
The squad has perhaps the best blend of youth and experience in recent memory, as well as considerable strength in depth.
A seam attack led by stalwarts Glen Chapple and Dominic Cork - both useful with the bat - is supplemented by Jimmy Anderson and Saj Mahmood when they are free from England duty.
The spin department, led by magician Muttiah Muralitharan and backed up by the trusty Gary Keedy can, weather permitting, pose a serious threat to sides on four-day pitches. Their placing in the bowling averages at three and 11 respectively confirms their potency.
Where Lancashire have been less convincing this season is stability down the batting order. Gone are the days when John Crawley and Neil Fairbrother held together the middle order, and the tail - shepherded by wicketkeeper Warren Hegg - batted right down to number 11.
Indeed, at one stage in the 1990s, Lancashire could field a side that all had first-class hundreds to their name.
Overseas signing Sanath Jayasuriya has travelled to Sri Lanka and Brad Hodge has gone to join the Aussies' Twenty20 training camp, leaving his countryman Stuart Law, Mal Loye and captain Mark Chilton with the responsibility of putting runs on the board.
The signing of Indian VVS Laxman will hopefully bring fans through the turnstiles, but can a batsman with erratic recent fortunes and no experience of county cricket really help propel Lancs up to a challenging position at the end of the season?
But, as usual, Lancashire's most feared and frequent opponent this year will remain the weather. - RG
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July 18th: VVS Laxman going to Lancashire is something of a coup for county cricket, in my opinion.
Although he has endured a difficult time with India in recent years, this has largely been down to being shuffled around the Test order more than a joker in a pack of cards.
At his best, and given license to express himself, Laxman is an exciting and destructive force. It is only when he has been reined in by the selectors - who continue to persist with him at number five or six - that he becomes a liability to what is a high-class international batting line-up.
He might not be first choice for his country, but when the batsmen picked ahead of you have included the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, this is not as bad as it sounds. - AP
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July 12th: Shock return for Schofield
Though the recall of Marcus Trescothick to the England fold has understandably grabbed all the headlines - are we even sure if the 'stress-related illness' is gone? - the announcement of the 30-man squad for the forthcoming Twenty20 World Cup featured a far more surprising detail.
Chris Schofield's return to England colours is fairly unremarkable on the grounds of current form. He's picked up 17 wickets in 25 overs for Surrey in Twenty20, at a very economical nine runs per over, and his tidy leg-spin is well-suited to capitalising on the attacking instincts of Twenty20 batsmen.
But in light of his remarkable career-path, it's an extraordinary recall.
Let's go over it again - over-hyped in 2000 as 'the English Shane Warne'. Fails to take a wicket in his two Tests. Accused of arrogance as relations with his county Lancashire grow strained. Unceremoniously released, leading to a costly lawsuit. Plays Minor Counties cricket, while failing trials with Durham and Sussex. Does a bit of painting and decorating while playing for Ormskirk.
Hardly the path to England greatness, you'd rightly say. But while his Championship form has remained decidedly mediocre since Surrey revived his career, he's proved a boon to their fortunes in the Twenty20 Cup.
Should he make the final 15-man England squad and travel to the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa this September, it'd be the culmination of an incredible comeback and, barring anymore 'Fredalo' incidents, potentially the cricket story of the year. - LB
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July 11th: After the last round of matches it is getting very tight at the top of the County Championship table. Yorkshire still lead the way despite heavy rain diminishing the Roses battle with Lancashire this week.
The red rose county have still managed to rise to second in the table but there is just two points between them and sixth placed Hampshire.
Its 57 years since they shared the County Championship crown with Surrey. Lancashire are yet to lose a game in this year's competition but can they overcome their hoodoo?
In division two the draw between Essex and Nottinghamshire was more interesting than first meets the eye.
To start with, there was the 1,581 runs the sides scored between them in their first innings'.
More impressive was the performance of two former England wicketkeepers, passed over because of their apparent deficiencies with the bat.
Essex's James Foster was first to weigh-in with 204 before his effort was topped by Chris Read's 240 for Notts. That should give Matt Prior something to think about! - DB
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July 9th: Yorkshire surprised just about everyone by pulling off the virtually impossible in the qualifying stages of the Twenty20 Cup.
Having lost three of their first four - the fourth being called off for rain - they had to win their remaining four matches in order to have any hope of getting through to the quarter-finals.
The first victory sprang from some sharp bowling from Gough (1-7) which restricted Durham to a poor 65-9 from their rain-affected nine overs. Gerrard Brophy hit an unbeaten 31 off 21 to see Yorkshire home off just 6.5 overs.
When the two sides played again three days later the result was the same, with Andrew Gale (56) doing the business. Still the task for the next two days was an uphill one. The sun was truly shining.
Except it wasn't, as avid readers of this website will be thoroughly aware. On July 4th, the covers kept coming on and off until the match became a five-over slog when play finally started at 19:59 BST.
Even the groundstaff contributed for keeping the game alive as other matches up and down England were being called off. Not so Yorkshire. Amazing bowling from the first three overs saw just 23 runs slip through, with Jason Gillespie (1-4) in particular showing the uninitiated that he is still a giant in the county game.
They may have slipped up as Gough (0-17) and Anthony McGrath (0-20) let David Hussey and Chris Read in but, with Craig White blasting 31 off 11 balls, it didn't matter. One to go.
The final qualifier was extremely tense. Some great bowling from Yorkshire reduced Derbyshire to 119-7 (Gough 2-10 from three overs) and Gale and White started well, but a flurry of wickets brought things to the brink.
Eventually McGrath steadied the ship along with Tim Bresnan, allowing Yorkshire to qualify on run rate. Leicestershire may well curse the rain which prevented them from accruing more points, but you won't find much sympathy from anyone at Headingley. - Alex S
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July 5th: Somerset fans have received a huge boost with the news that Marcus Trescothick will be back in action next week.
Though the opener will miss the rest of the county's Twenty20 games, his return should prove a big help to Somerset's quest to gain promotion from the second division of the County Championship.
They currently top the table but are just 1.5 points clear of Nottinghamshire, who face a tough clash with third-placed Essex this weekend.
While Somerset are likely to slip in the table as they sit out this weekend's action, the return of Banger should lift the Taunton side to home wins against Northants and Essex.
Somerset spokesman Guy Wolfenden told BBC Sport that groin scans had revealed no lasting damage for the troubled left-hander: "There was nothing serious, it is just a bit of a niggle. He has been told to put his feet up for five or six days."
Tresco has been in good form since his return from a stress-related illness, but even the biggest fans of the Keynsham batsman would admit that he's some way from earning a return to the England fold. - LB
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July 3rd: Leicestershire were saved from almost certain defeat thanks to the weather in their Twenty20 game with Derbyshire last night, leaving the 20-over specialists and title-holders perhaps wondering where to turn next following their latest underwhelming effort.
One player they can no longer rely on in a crisis is Darren Maddy, released by the club over the winter and now making his mark at Warwickshire in rather unusual circumstances.
The highest-scoring player in the history of Twenty20 cricket, Maddy had been on the fringes of the county set-up for some time at Leicestershire, with a series of below-par club performances leaving him out for most four-day games last year in favour of a handful of similarly-underachieving Kolpackers.
So despite his heroics in the 20-over final last year, it was hardly surprising when Maddy was let go in the summer. What was unusual though, was the revelation that he had been appointed captain of Warwickshire (despite getting a golden duck just days earlier) after Heath Streak had resigned at the end of the Bears' first championship game.
Hence a journeyman county professional suddenly found himself in charge of one of the most respected sides in the country. While success wasn't exactly immediately forthcoming (Maddy followed up the duck with scores of 2, 2 and 0), a century against Derbyshire in the Friends Provident Trophy emphasised just how much more at home he is in the one-day game.
Another curious aspect of Maddy's season is the way he's suddenly turned himself into something approaching a genuine all-rounder.
Usually content to throw down a few overs to little effect, this season has seen him achieve cumulative first-class figures of 56 overs, 20 maidens, 126-8 - a testament to just how frustrating wily medium pace can still be. If England go with a specialist Twenty20 squad for this September's inaugural World Championship, then Maddy could yet follow in the footsteps of his long-time Leicestershire colleague and reverse-sweeping brother-in-arms Paul Nixon. - DJ
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June 29th: Hollioake the hero
Essex Eagles handed a first Twenty20 Cup defeat to Surrey Brown Caps at the County Ground yesterday, with none other than former Surrey man Adam Hollioake playing a decisive role in the match and justifying Essex's decision to lure him out of retirement in the process.
Not only did the former Brown Caps captain - who was signed after impressing Graham Gooch in the highly competitive 'beach cricket tri-nations series' in Australia - bludgeon 21 off 12 balls, he also took the crucial wicket of James Benning in his first over of the match.
Surrey, who batted first, were in a good position after a second-wicket stand between Mark Ramprakash and Benning resulted in 103 runs off 12 overs, but Hollioake's timely intervention and the introduction of Danish Kaneria - who managed to slow the run rate down - ensured Essex's eventual target was attainable.
The Eagles, though, did their best to throw it all away as Matt Nicholson took three wickets early on, before James Foster steadied the ship with 52 off 34 balls. Hollioake steered them towards the finish line with his gazumping effort after coming in at number seven with 51 still needed, and James Middlebrook and Graham Napier saw the team home and dry.
Unfortunately, Hollioake won't be around for too much longer - he's only committed for a year before he will leave to tend his 'business interests'. - TL
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June 29th: KP offers fashion tips
He might have just been confirmed as the world's number one batsman and the Twenty20 internationals against the West Indies are upon us, but Kevin Pietersen seems more concerned about the sartorial choices of his team-mates.
Talking to thelondonpaper, Pietersen said that team-mate Andrew Strauss - currently struggling for form - had the worst dress sense in the England dressing room.
"It's not that it's awful, it's just - I have to choose my words carefully here - it's just that he's very posh. He's always got shoes, neat jeans and a collared shirt.
"But that's old Straussy. He's very posh, bless him."
His wardrobe probably can't be blamed for his poor batting of late (and after all, Strauss went to Hatfield College at Durham, that type of outfit is practically mandatory there), but it's surely a bit rich for Pietersen to offer style advice, isn't it? He might have a neatly-shaved bonce now, but his Ashes '05 brilliance was very nearly eclipsed by his ludicrous badger mohican and too-tacky-for-a-footballer cricket ball earrings.
Then again, maybe Geoff Boycott's sentiments are the most sensible to remember when thinking of the prodigious talent of Pietersen: "They don't care what colour his hair is, if he has got danglers in his ears or round his neck. They're interested in - can you do something?"
As the odds-on favourite to batter the dreadful West Indies bowling attack in the upcoming one-dayers, there's one all-important issue to return to. He's the best batsman in the world. And he's English....well, sort of. - LB
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June 28th: Sunny Old Trafford topped a triumphant month as Lancashire beat Yorkshire in front of 15,000 fans under blue skies on Wednesday.
The occasion followed five uninterrupted days of Test cricket when England played the West Indies earlier this month, leaving the club grinning on both counts as it dodged the showers on the days it mattered most and beat their traditional rivals.
Lancashire lost their way after a bright start in which Brad Hodge struck a quick half-century, but their total of 143-9 was enough for a 30-run win as Yorkshire struggled throughout, despite Kolpak-player Jacques "honest, I'm not an overseas player even though the last time you saw me it was in a Test match in Durban" Rudolph smiting a six so big it landed by the nearby Metro line running past the ground.
Thus Yorkshire caught the boat home and the freshly-sheared Jason Gillespie attracted more notice for his gentle medium-paced bowling than his hair. If only he was still playing for Australia. - CB
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June 27th: Worcestershire washout - a £150k headache
Worcestershire's flood-prone county ground has once again succumbed, leaving the club's management team with a serious financial and logistical headache.
The lost revenue and cleanup costs could amount to well over £150,000. And the likelihood of the club ever securing flood insurance is similar to that of the pitch making it through 12 months without a serious soaking, so this heavy cost will be the club's own to bear.
Apart from trying to come to terms with their worst financial nightmare, the club has also had to make alternative arrangements for a number of games.
Last night's Twenty20 fixture against the Warwickshire Bears had to be cancelled and, with the square still under some three feet of water and more rain scheduled for the weekend, forthcoming games will now take place at Kidderminster (June 29th and July 1st) and Himley (July 5th).
Needless to say, the club has been quick to pour cold water on the possibility of refunding the £100,000 worth of advanced ticket sales, and fans are being asked to show their loyalty by bringing along their chairs and rugs to the 'away' home matches. - Anna S
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June 20th: It's nice to see Adam Hollioake back playing county cricket again, even if it is just for the Twenty20 competition, a welcome return for one of the game's good guys.
Hollioake has signed for Essex Eagles who will hope to benefit from the 35-year-old's vast experience in the competition with Surrey - who won the inaugural trophy in 2003.
Expect much high jinx and laughter from the Sky Sports commentators who used to play with Holliaoke, the likes of Nasser Hussain and former England coach David 'Bumble' Lloyd, who will waste little time in mentioning his age and the fact he has not played since a charity game in 2005.
Essex Eagles kick off their Twenty20 campaign against Sussex on Friday in what is best described as cricket's silly-season.
That said, it is good to see the county grounds fill up and everyone having some fun. Though given current weather conditions I'm not sure the hot-tubs will be required this year. - DB
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June 18th: The Voges saga
It had to happen sooner or later - an act of high treason against English cricket by another self-absorbed county with no concern for the national team. What am I talking about? Hampshire's decision to sign up emerging Australian batsman Adam Voges.
With so many of the Australian team retiring, or likely to, before 2009 England's best interests are hardly served by letting their promising young players come over here and learn how to bat and bowl in our conditions. What we want is a team of wet-behind-the-ears rookies showing up with no idea of how to play the swinging ball or what length to bowl, not players whose skills have been finely honed through taking on these new technical challenges. Never mind beating the best, we did that in 2005 and look what sort of revenge was exacted. Now we need to put ourselves in the best possible position to give the baggy greens the biggest slapping they have ever had in 2009. But no, winning the County Championship is more important to some.
This is an act of treason by Hampshire for which they should be punished severely. Doubtless that balding mobile phone misuser Shane Warne has something to do with it, but does he now run the whole club? Is Hampshire for or against England? There must be Englishmen responsible for this in some way and equally there must be space available in the Tower of London.
Better still, let's punish them properly. The Rose Bowl is to host a Test match in 2010, despite having a pitch as trustworthy as a Falklands minefield and transport access so notorious that fans trying to queue for the park-and-ride might as well try to re-wire their TMS radio headsets in a bid to accidentally invent a Star Trek-style teleport in order to get home that night.
In light of this abominable decision, the ground should be bulldozed and the team forced to play somewhere like a field near Watership Down (yes, its a real place). If Adam Voges is the star of the Ashes in 2009, we will all know who to blame. - CB
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June 17th: Congratulations Graeme Hick
Just a brief note to say a hearty "well done" to England legend Graeme Hick, who surpassed 40,000 first-class runs over the weekend.
The Worcestershire man joins an elite band of just 16 players to have reached the milestone in the history of cricket.
Hick was one of the stalwarts of what was an underwhelming England side in the 1990s but frequently gave beleaguered supporters something to cheer with his cameo innings' in the face of adversity (usually baggy green-clad adversity, that is).
While many feel he never reached his full potential wearing the whites of England, his consistent selection over a decade-long period suggests that despite flaws in his game and arguably a mismanagement of his talents by some of the coaching staff, he was and remains an inspiration - particualrly in the West Midlands.
Anyway, the plaudits cannot come fast enough for one of the true veteran stars still playing the game. Take a bow Hicky. - AP
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June 8th: The county of Essex is in mourning after legendary batsman (and former all-rounder) Ronald Charles Irani announced he is to retire at the end of the season.
Despite being offered a new two-year deal by the Eagles, Ronnie felt his deteriorating right knee - which forced him to give up bowling in 2003 - would restrict him to a bit-part role in the seasons ahead, so has decided to call it a day.
Ronnie, currently out of the side through injury, has been at Essex since moving from Lancashire in 1994, was made captain six years later and led the club to back-to-back National League titles in 2005 and 2006.
He was restricted to only three England test appearances, although made a greater impact on the ODI side, being capped 31 times and playing in the 2003 World Cup.
The good news for Eagles fans is that Ronnie's announcement appears to have galvanised Ravi Bopara into action.
The England hopeful seems to think that he can do the absent club captain's job at the crease as well as his own at the moment - having smashed 147 not out against Glamorgan in Cardiff at the weekend, he racked up his maiden double-century with 229 from 392 balls in the ongoing County Championship match against Northants. - TL
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June 7th: Things are finely poised at the Riverside in the clash between Durham and Lancashire. The home side got off to a great start, claiming three quick wickets but Mark Chilton scored a well crafted century to leave things at 290-6.
With the likes of Michael Di Venuto, Scott Styris, Brad Hodge, James Anderson and Muttiah Muralitharan on show it's hard to deny that county cricket can provide some high class encounters.
The Lightning are unbeaten in the four-day format this year while Durham need a positive result to keep pace with leaders Yorkshire.
The Tykes are currently well on top of Kent finishing the first day on 310-3 thanks to a 200-run partnership between Joe Sayers and Younis Kahn.
Much has been made of Yorkshire declaring South African Test batsman Jacques Rudolf as a Kolpack player this year while still fielding two other overseas players.
It is therefore refreshing to see Sayers claim his third century of the season. The 23-year-old hails from Leeds and has clearly been brought up in the mould of Geoffrey Boycott.
He took 297 balls for his 137 not out and is proving very hard to get out. His batting is deceptive because while he scores at that rate the opposition feel they are still controlling the game.
But, as happened yesterday, it only takes one batsman to stay with Sayers and a huge total is on the board. If he continues to show that kind of patience when building an innings an England call-up can't be far away. - DB
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June 5th: Grow up Gayle
Though it was hardly a crucial game, it must be a little disheartening for West Indies fans that their leading lights don't seem particularly bothered about the alarming decline of the national team.
You'd imagine that after England inflicted the heaviest defeat in West Indies history at the Headingley Test, the elder statesmen of the struggling team would be eager to stop the rot and get some pride back into Caribbean cricket.
Yet as the West Indies battled to a draw with a capable MCC side at Durham's Racecourse ground over the weekend, Gayle was spotted strolling nonchalantly around the boundary, eyeing up the (admittedly lovely) female support.
Fair enough, you might think - he'd sustained an injury whilst bowling in the MCC first innings and it's understandable that the Windies management would be reluctant to risk his all-round prowess for the remainder of the Test series.
The problem is more one of attitude; in a recent interview, the legendary Viv Richards rubbished the suggestion that cricket was no longer the number one sport in the Caribbean and attributed the decline of the national team to a lack of respect and a poor work ethic.
If Gayle was carrying an injury, then of course he shouldn't be expected to risk his fitness in the week leading up to a Test. But if a team once famed for intimidating their opponents and dominating the Test arena have fallen so far that a journeyman seamer like Ryan Sidebottom can skittle through their batsmen, surely the professional thing for a cricketer like Gayle to do is to get in the dressing room to encourage the younger members of the team and lead the way in brushing up on his technique.
Spending your time sauntering around a boundary chatting up posh girls isn't going to help anyone and with Sarwan injured, it's up to men like Gayle to show some responsibility if the sad decline of calypso cricket is to be stopped. - LB
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June 5th: Good to see England's emerging star Alastair Cook keeping his eye in over the weekend.
The Essex opener may not be able to play much of a part for his county this season due to his Test commitments, but if he keeps making cameo appearances like his 125 against former FP Trophy leaders Surrey over the weekend then I'm sure the fans will forgive him without too much grumbling.
And while Chelmsford regulars are being forced to do without their prized asset for the sake of the country (although it seems England don't really need all their star players firing to beat what has been a hapless, and somewhat unlucky, West Indies touring team so far), the rest of the nation will be happy that Cook is staying in the grove while he's got the time to return to the county game. - AP
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June 2nd: Heroic Hildreth
James Hildreth has restored Somerset to a respectable position on the third day of their four-day match against Middlesex at Lord's, after captain Justin Langer's bungled declaration plans (see JA entry below).
Middlesex had ended the second day with a 202-run lead, after Langer's decision to declare early in difficult conditions backfired, with openers Nick Compton and Billy Godleman forging a dangerous partnership.
Though the Somerset attack was able to quickly polish off the Middlesex tail early this morning, Langer's bad luck seemed set to continue, as openers Marcus Trescothick and Neil Edwards both fell without scoring.
A mediocre middle-order performance followed before Hildy and Aussie big-hitter Cameron White forged a superb partnership, White notching an excellent 77 before falling to Chris Silverwood.
Old Millfieldian Hildreth, famed for catching Australian captain Ricky Ponting in the Lord's Test of the 2005 Ashes, was unbeaten on 125 at tea, with Steffan Jones marking his return to the side with a hard-fought 56 not out.
Somerset fans will be hoping that Hildy and Jones can build on the 121-run lead on the final day. - LB
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June 1st: Langer's clanger
Somerset skipper Justin Langer tried bowling Middlesex a googly at Lord's yesterday by declaring his side's first innings at 50-8 on the second morning of play. Bemused spectators (OK, groundstaff) were left well and truly stumped by the former Australian opener's decision to call an abrupt halt to Somerset's dismal showing with the bat.
It turns out the thinking behind Langer's unorthodox decision, aside from denying the home team another bonus point, was that conditions were bowler-friendly - and the sooner his seamers could get stuck into the Middlesex openers the better. So he was left with egg on his face when youngster Nick Compton and Billy Godleman put on 97 for the first wicket, helping Middlesex on their way to a 202-run lead.
And to further prove it was Somerset's inept batting, rather than the weather or pitch conditions, which were to blame Chris Silverwood and Alan Richardson continued their mesmeric form of late by removing both openers without a run on the board. A bad day at his old office for Langer. - JA
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June 1st: A brief history of Durham
Durham became the 18th first class county in 1991 and their inaugural match was a one-day game against Lancashire in April 1992.
Australian import Dean Jones compiled a neat hundred and Ian Botham sealed victory for the home side with a final-over run out.
Since then it's been hard work for England's most northerly first class county. They were the league's whipping boys for a decade and struggled to gain the sporting limelight in the shadow of their football-playing neighbours.
But having started to provide a steady stream of players to the national side the Dynamos are beginning to become a force to be reckoned with on the county stage.
Michael Di Venuto has bolstered the top of the order while Scottish youngster Kyle Coetzer has looked like a solid prospect since breaking into the team at the start of the year.
Seam bowler Graeme Onions has been tipped to follow in the footsteps of Steve Harmison and Liam Plunkett having impressed at England under-19 level.
Despite being without their England trio Durham felled Championship leaders Yorkshire by six wickets last week and now lie just 4.5 points behind them.
They are well poised in the Friends Provident league as well and could be eyeing a semi-final spot if they can overcome Worcestershire and Yorkshire in the next few days.
All this is a far cry from the side of the 90s who struggled to get any wins at all while living a nomad existence in pavilions from Gateshead to Darlington waiting for their Riverside ground to be built.
With the addition of New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris for the rest of the campaign the side will hope to maintain their early season form and push on to greater achievements.
Their next County Championship match is against Lancashire next week and though the team's achievements this year may come as a surprise to some, Durham fans know that it has taken 15 years to become an overnight success. - DB
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May 31st: Six months ago, Yorkshire were in what could only be called a dire state. With no captain, no coach and one of their most senior batsmen turning down contracts left right and centre, the thought of even finding 11 players to take on the rest of county cricket's giants seemed less likely than Matthew Hoggard calling his son anything other than Ernie.
Take a look at their recent form and, my my, how things have changed. The view from the pinnacle of the County Championship looks pretty good for a start. Inspired by Darren Gough and driven on by his fellow Yorkshiremen Jacques Rudolph, Younis Khan and Jason Gillespie, the White Roses have won three out of their first five matches. If it hadn't been for rain and the battling prowess of Nic Pothas of Hampshire it would have been four out of five. Not that anyone's counting.
Prospects for the rest of the season still look in fair shape. Without talismen Matthew Hoggard and Michael Vaughan matches won't be quite so easy to win, but the side has good backup from Andrew Gale and Richard Pyrah and the young talent are surely about to shine through. The race at the top of division one has tightened after the six-wicket defeat to Durham, but obviously the purpose of that was to make the competition more interesting.
Perhaps it's best to ignore any form of one day cricket Yorkshire play in. This month's defeat to old rival Lancashire - not quite a massacre - was always going to be hard to swallow. At least it doesn't count as a Roses match. Not technically, at least. - Alex S
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May 25th: County cricket has come under fire recently from a number of so-called experts, most notably Wayne Clark, the former coach of Yorkshire and Western Australia.
Clark is of the opinion that the county cricket scene is significantly inferior to Australia's domestic cricket set-up and is hampering the development of England's best players as a result.
Specifically, he talks of the added intensity of the Australian game, which is the result of increased preparation and playing fewer matches.
However, the performance of Essex Eagles star Alastair Cook in the first Test against the West Indies at Lord's suggested the quality and intensity of county cricket might not be the problem, so much as the lack of time England players spend with their clubs.
With two hundreds in his first three games for the Eagles, Cook has started the season in a blazing fashion and was able to carry this into the Test arena.
Cook himself has attributed his form in the first Test - in which he scored 105 and 65 - to missing the World Cup and preparing for the start of the new season with his club side.
If we can get Vaughan, Harmison and Flintoff in particular to play more club cricket, rather than less, I reckon we'll see their form improve as well. - TL
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May 24th: Worcestershire will be hoping for a more impressive display from their bowling line-up following the signing of Scotland seamer Dewald Nel.
The right-arm medium-fast bowler, who claims to be 100 per cent Scottish at heart despite being born in South Africa, impressed during a ten-day period at New Road and has now been signed for the remainder of the season to help inject some life into an injury-strewn bowling department.
Widely regarded as the leading under-30 pace bowler north of the border, the 26-year-old will still be available for Scotland's one-day internationals, as well as the Twenty20 world championships in September.
New Road regulars will no doubt be relieved to welcome Nel as a full-time member of the team's bowling attack, which has been weakened by injuries and no doubt contributed to the team's lacklustre performance so far this season.
The Worcestershire faithful will also be buoyed by Aussie fast bowler Doug Bollinger's return to fitness, although all-rounder Roger Sillence has joined paceman Matt Mason, who is still not quite match-fit following shoulder surgery, on the injury list. - Anna S
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May 23rd: Mark Ramprakash is at it again. The 38-year-old Surrey man may have spent more time on the dancefloor than in the nets over the winter, but it certainly hasn't affected his batting.
He's already racked up 676 County Championship runs, including four centuries, to add to the phenomenal 2,211 he plundered last season.
Ramps is, quite simply, head and shoulders above the rest and should surely get the England nod ahead of Bell, Shah, Joyce, et al.
Obviously, his critics will point out he's too old, lacks the mental temperament for Test cricket and represents a step backwards. And they would be right.
But his new-found sex symbol status will help boost ECB coffers as female fans flock to Test venues to see him waltz at the wicket. What better way to bring cricket to the masses? - JA
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May 22nd: Somerset will be hoping to improve on last Sunday's dire performance, as they face local rivals Gloucestershire in a County Championship Division Two match.
Despite a good showing from one-day specialist Ian Blackwell - top-scoring with 72 and taking 2-31 - the rest of the side showed a startling lack of maturity in Sunday's Friends Provident Trophy match-up at Bristol.
The Sabres collapsed to 201 all out after just 43.5 overs, in reply to Gloucestershire's 259 for 7, with this season's previously consistent top four of Langer, Trescothick, White and Hildreth contributing just 29 runs.
The Taunton side currently sit second in the County Championship Division Two table, and with league leaders Nottinghamshire missing new England call-up Ryan Sidebottom, the four-day local derby is a good chance for a climb to the top of the table.
Tresco and Langer will open again, while Matthew Wood and Mark Turner have both been added to the squad.
The Somerset players will be eager to avoid defeat, after director of cricket Brian Rose was highly critical of Sunday's 58-run defeat, saying: "You can have too many batsmen who want to play big shots and we have to look at that." - LB
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May 19th: Dale Steyn is looking like a real catch for Warwickshire. Sunday's storming performance against Leicestershire on Sunday (5-29) has put him on top of the PCA bowling rankings ahead of Harmy, away on international duty.
Steyn's presence and form will be important for the Bears this season, in part because their bowling ranks will suffer as a result of the absence of the 'wheelie bin', Ashley Giles.
But if the South African can keep up his current form, it'll be hard to see Warwickshire wanting to pass up on an option to keep him for the remainder of the summer. And if he stays and the team keep up their unbeaten start for a while longer, a shout at the FP Trophy, or even the County Championship, could be on the cards as long as they can overcome the loss of Giles as well. - AP
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