Leicestershire CCC & England

[Joe Baldwin]

I've decided to start my first CC17 career with Division 2 strugglers Leicestershire, while also starting as the England captain as I love the international cricket on the game.

Leicestershire have some reasonable players, with Mark Pettini, Mark Cosgrove, Colin Ackermann and Neil Dexter expected to be our most important batsmen and Clinton McKay, Ben Raine and Dieter Klein looking like they'll be our best seam bowlers. In the absence of a decent spinner, I opted to sign Monty Panesar in the transfer window, as well as bringing in Andre Russell as our reserve overseas. Russell promptly injured his back and is out for the season before a ball has been bowled

In the 2017 season, I'm really just looking to win as many games and be as competitive as possible with Leicestershire, and win the Champions Trophy, series against South Africa and the West Indies with England, allowing us to fully prepare for an Ashes winter!

[Joe Baldwin]

Having finished bottom of Division 2 in the County Championship in four of the last six seasons, and 7th in the other two, I was of the mindset that any positive result throughout the season would be a bonus, and I'd struggle through it before reshaping the squad next spring. However, our opening fixture of the County Championship was at home to Nottinghamshire, and we produced an amazing performance.

Despite Alex Hales smashing 116 and Samit Patel a quick-fire 81, we dismissed Notts for 424 in their first innings - Ben Raine took 7-107. In reply, a brilliant innings from Colin Ackermann (115*) helped us get within reach of their total, and we were dismissed midway through the third day. A draw looked certain, but an inspired bowling performance, led by Dieter Klein (5-34), gave us a chance at victory - Notts were bowled out for 155, meaning we needed 169 to win from two sessions and one over.

It was a very bowler friendly wicket by this point, and the Notts attack were spearheaded by Stuart Broad, James Pattinson and Jake Ball, who quickly got stuck in - at lunch on day 4, having faced one over, we were 0-1. Wickets fell quickly - we were 38-3 and 91-5, but a brilliant partnership between Mark Pettini, who made an unbeaten 95, and Ned Eckersley (26*) steered us to a five-wicket victory with just ten minutes of the match to go.

Notts 1st: 424 (Hales 116, Patel 81; Raine 7-107)
Leics 1st: 411 (Ackermann 115*, Cosgrove 71; Pattinson 5-101)
Notts 2nd: 155 (Patel 41; Klein 5-34, McKay 3-35)
Leics 2nd: 169-5 (Pettini 95*, Eckersley 26*; Fletcher 2-28, Broad 2-38)

Leicestershire won by 5 wickets.

I'm going to provide quarterly updates I think, but I was so delighted with an unexpected victory against a very strong Notts side that I felt it was worthy of its own update. We played brilliantly. Let's hope we can keep this up every week!

[Joe Baldwin]

After our opening day win, we've continued to perform above expectations in the County Championship. Halfway through the campaign, we've won three and drawn three of our eight matches in Division 2, despite not playing a couple of matches due to my England duties. Colin Ackermann is currently our leading run scorer with 622 - he's averaging 56 - while Ben Raine has impressed with the ball, taking 39 wickets at 22.82.

However, our Challenge Trophy campaign was disappointing. We finished 8th in our group with just two wins to our name, beating only Derbyshire in the standings. Ackermann again top scored with 284, but he received little support from his fellow batsmen. Hopefully I can reshape the squad ahead of next season and bring in some stronger players - we struggled to compete against the Division 1 sides in our group, and were badly beaten by a full strength Yorkshire side.

England were in action, of course, against South Africa and in the Champions Trophy. England won the ODI series 2-1, but when the two met in the Champions Trophy Semi-Final, South Africa won by six wickets and proceeded to win the tournament, beating Australia in the Final.

We then won the three-match T20i series 2-1, but we enter the four Test series with all of our bowlers supposedly struggling for form. I've selected an uninjured Woakes ahead of Dawson in my only personnel change from the real life First Test, but our most in-form bowler is just two stars!

Leicestershire will continue in my absence - we've got six County Championship matches left and the entire T20 Trophy to play, although I anticipate I'll probably miss most of that with England duties.

[Joe Baldwin]

England vs South Africa - 1st Test - Lords

England	South Africa
Alastair Cook	Dean Elgar
Keaton Jennings	Aiden Markram
Joe Root (c)	Quinton de Kock (wk)
Jonathan Bairstow (wk)	Hashim Amla
Gary Ballance	Francois du Plessis (c)
Ben Stokes	Tembo Bavuma
Moeen Ali	JP Duminy
Chris Woakes	Vernon Philander
Stuart Broad	Keshav Maharaj
Mark Wood	Morne Morkel
James Anderson	Kagiso Rabada

With the pitch offering little for the bowlers, South Africa won the toss and elected to bat. With Day 5 predicted to be a wash-out, Dean Elgar set about his business quickly, but England made the breakthrough at the other end when debutant Markram nicked Anderson to slip. Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla got starts, but both were dismissed in the 30's, but Elgar was smashing the ball to all parts - he made 131 from 162 balls, and was dismissed by Moeen Ali just before tea. Elgar's wicket was the second of three quick wickets for England, who recovered from 202-2 to 253-6. JP Duminy then started taking the game to the bowlers, and scored 83 despite predominantly batting with the tail. The tenth wicket (Duminy and Rabada) frustrated England and put on 64, but Rabada eventually fell with South Africa on 397.

Morne Morkel reduced England to 50-2 when he clean bowled Jennings (18) and Root (6), and England looked to be in trouble. However, Cook and Bairstow rebuilt the innings, and proceeded to take the game away from South Africa with an absolutely mammoth partnership of 314. Bairstow eventually nicked Maharaj through to the keeper on 181, and Cook fell soon after - he made 164. With the Day 5 rain playing on the captain's mind, Balance, Stokes, Ali and Woakes batted aggressively and took England's score to 561-8 before they declared on the morning of Day 4, with a lead of 164.

Stuart Broad snaffled Dean Elgar's wicket early - he scored just 9 second time around - but Markram and de Kock put on a 50 partnership as they looked to overhaul England's lead. They were dismissed four balls apart, with Markram falling four runs short of his maiden Test half-century, and South Africa were reduced to 80-3. Broad then dismissed Amla after a 50 partnership between him and du Plessis, and South Africa closed the Day 4 with six wickets intact.

Day 5 arrived, and as expected, so did the rain. An hour of the first session was lost, but when play finally started, Stuart Broad bowled one of his great spells and having accounted for du Plessis (45) and Bavuma (48), he then ran through the tail, leaving South Africa floundering on 224-9 at lunch on Day 5 - a lead of just 60. The rain came again, with play resuming an hour into the session, and even more frustratingly, once again Kagiso Rabada proved a stubborn number 11. He added 45 for the final wicket with Philander, although when the breakthrough came, it was a Ben Stokes bouncer which caused Rabada to retire hurt - could that be important later in the series?

Another hour and a half were lost after tea, giving England just eight overs to chase 105 - an impossible task, and England ended the Test on 22-0. They would surely have won if it hadn't been for the rain. Jonathan Bairstow's magnificent 181 gave him the Man of the Match award. The first Test was drawn.

South Africa 1st: 397 (Elgar 131, Duminy 83*; Ali 5-102)
England 1st: 561-8 dec (Bairstow 181, Cook 164; Maharaj 3-100)
South Africa 2nd: 269 (Bavuma 48, Markram 46; Broad 7-88)
England 2nd: 22-0 (Cook 17*)

MATCH DRAWN.

[Joe Baldwin]

England vs South Africa - 2nd Test - Nottingham

England made one change to the side that could have won the first Test. Liam Dawson came in for Mark Wood on what looked to be a spinners pitch at Nottingham. South Africa replaced the injured Kagiso Rabada with fast bowler Duanne Olivier, who was earning his second test cap.

England	South Africa
Alastair Cook	Dean Elgar
Keaton Jennings	Aiden Markram
Joe Root (c)	Quinton de Kock (wk)
Jonathan Bairstow (wk)	Hashim Amla
Gary Ballance	Francois du Plessis (c)
Ben Stokes	Temba Bavuma
Moeen Ali	JP Duminy
Liam Dawson	Vernon Philander
Chris Woakes	Keshav Maharaj
Stuart Broad	Duanne Olivier
James Anderson	Morne Morkel

England won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat in the Nottingham sunshine. Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings put on 84 before Jennings was trapped LBW by Maharaj, but England slipped to 130-3 as Root and Bairstow got out cheaply. However, Cook is in great form, and he followed up his century in the first Test with another in the second, ably supported by Gary Ballance throughout. Both succumbed to Philander - Cook made 119 and Ballance 83, and England's score was bolstered even further by a hundred partnership for the eighth wicket, as Dawson and Woakes both made half-centuries. England racked up exactly 500, although Philander bowled well to end with five wickets.

The South African openers fought their way through Anderson and Broad's opening spells, but Chris Woakes then did for both - he found the edge of Elgar's bat, Ballance snaffling the catch, before Markram was clean bowled. Amla then forged partnerships with de Kock and du Plessis on his way to 87, but aside from him, the South African middle order all got out before they could capitalise on their decent starts. Unlike in the first Test, the South African tail offered little resistance this time around, and they slumped from 303-5 to 331 all out, giving England a first innings lead of 169 with two days to play.

By this point the pitch was offering lots of turn for the spinners, and Maharaj trapped Cook LBW for just 11 as England looked to set a big target for South Africa. Jennings and Root got the innings going with a partnership of 73, and although South Africa took three quick wickets to dismiss Jennings, Bairstow and Ballance (the latter two cheaply), Stokes smashed a quick-half century to take the game away from South Africa. England wanted to declare in time to have a few overs at the South African openers before the close, and they did so with Root unbeaten on 93 - the target was 400.

On a very worn wicket, this was always going to be a tall order. Elgar and Markram put on 65 for the first wicket but that was the biggest partnership of the innings as England took wickets at regular intervals. The dangerous Quinton de Kock edged Stokes to slip for a second-ball duck, and Stokes dismissed du Plessis in identical fashion as England made the most of the conditions. With the old ball, the captain trusted the spinners to knock the tail over, but once again the last wicket partnership proved tough to break down. With 20 minutes to go of the final session, the new ball was taken, and Anderson wasted no time - he found the edge of Morkel's bat and Bairstow made no mistake behind the stumps.

England had won in tense circumstances - the final wicket coming so late in the final day - but they'd had the better of both Tests and deservedly took a 1-0 lead in the series. Alastair Cook was given the Man of the Match award after his century in the first innings.

England 1st: 500 (Cook 119, Ballance 83; Philander 5-120)
South Africa 1st: 331 (Amla 87; Ali 4-101, Woakes 3-50)
England 2nd: 230-6 dec (Root 93*, Jennings 54; Maharaj 4-83)
South Africa 2nd: 257 (Elgar 50, Amla 49; Stokes 3-28)

ENGLAND BEAT SOUTH AFRICA BY 142 RUNS

[Joe Baldwin]

England vs South Africa - 3rd Test - Birmingham

England	South Africa
Alastair Cook	Dean Elgar
Keaton Jennings	Aiden Markram
Joe Root (c)	Quinton de Kock (wk)
Jonathan Bairstow (wk)	Hashim Amla
Gary Ballance	Francois du Plessis (c)
Ben Stokes	Tembo Bavuma
Moeen Ali	JP Duminy
Liam Dawson	Vernon Philander
Chris Woakes	Keshav Maharaj
Stuart Broad	Duanne Olivier
James Anderson	Morne Morkel

After England's crushing victory in the second Test, both sides were unchanged - surprisingly in the case of South Africa, for whom Aiden Markram hadn't made a score and Duanne Olivier was wicketless in Nottingham. South Africa won the toss and elected to bat in glorious sunny conditions - again, the pitch was expected to turn later in the game, and overcast conditions forecast for the week.

Broad got England off to the perfect start, removing Markram for just 12 and de Kock for 6, but a hundred partnership between Elgar and Amla helped the tourists recover to 143-2. Ben Stokes made the breakthrough, trapping Amla LBW for 58, before Dawson quickly removed Elgar (74) and du Plessis (2). South Africa recovered again through Bavuma and Duminy - the latter ended up top scoring with 81, before Dawson found an edge through to the keeper. South Africa were eventually bowled out for 351 just before lunch on Day 2, with Dawson taking 4-85.

Day 2 was affected by rain and a couple of hours were lost, meaning England decided the best way to try and force victory would be to bat once. Cook and Jennings performed brilliantly in the conditions, keeping their wicket as conditions favoured the bowlers, and their partnership was worth 201 when Jennings finally departed for 83. Root then added a half-century before Bairstow and Ballance chipped in with 30's, and all the while Cook kept ploughing on. When he was finally dismissed, he'd scored 158 - his third century in as many Tests. Moeen Ali also made a half-century, and when England were finally bowled out, they'd racked up 522, and had a first innings lead of 171.

South Africa started their second innings badly. Markram failed again, scoring just 13, before Anderson bowled Elgar to leave the visitors 47-2. However, de Kock survived being caught at mid-on off a no-ball and went on to score a half-century, while Amla showed his class with an excellent 83 which kept England at arms length on the final day. When rain robbed England of another hour on the final day, it became clear that the Test was petering out, and the ground was emptying fast when Day 5 drew to a disappointing close with South Africa on 281-9.

England maintained a 1-0 lead in the series with one Test remaining, and having been the better side throughout each Test, confidence was high that they'd be able to secure the series in Manchester. The result confirmed that they'd gain at least one point in the Test rankings - the previous England vs South Africa series had resulted in a 2-0 defeat, and they now couldn't lose this series. Liam Dawson was voted Man of the Match after taking seven wickets in the match and scoring 35.



South Africa 1st: 351 (Duminy 81, Elgar 74; Dawson 4-85)

England 1st: 522 (Cook 158, Jennings 83; Maharaj 4-173)

South Africa 2nd: 281-9 (Amla 83, de Kock 56; Dawson 3-87)

MATCH DRAWN

[Joe Baldwin]

England vs South Africa - 4th Test - Manchester

England	South Africa
Alastair Cook	Dean Elgar
Keaton Jennings	Aiden Markram
Joe Root (c)	Quinton de Kock (wk)
Jonathan Bairstow (wk)	Hashim Amla
Gary Ballance	Francois du Plessis (c)
Ben Stokes	Temba Bavuma
Moeen Ali	JP Duminy
Liam Dawson	Vernon Philander
Chris Woakes	Keshav Maharaj
Stuart Broad	Duanne Olivier
James Anderson	Morne Morkel

For the third time in the series, Francois du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat first. The Manchester surface was expected to wear quite heavily throughout the match, and with a touch of rain forecast on Day 5, England quickly set about their work. Markram failed again, making 28 before falling victim to Chris Woakes, and South Africa were 62-3 when Stokes removed Elgar and Amla in quick succession. Quinton de Kock and Francois du Plessis then made 83 for the fourth wicket - de Kock making a half-century - but England pounced just before tea, taking three quick wickets to reduce South Africa to 157-6.

South Africa looked in real bother, needing to win this Test to draw the series, but JP Duminy was in inspired form, and having shared a stand of 86 with Vernon Philander, who made 48, he then formed a crucial partnership with Keshav Maharaj. An incredible eighth wicket stand of 176 put South Africa back in control, and Duminy completed a well deserved century in the process - he made 104 before Stokes finally got his man. Maharaj himself batted wonderfully, making his first Test half-century and falling just three runs short of a century. England mopped up the tail quickly but the damage had been done - South Africa's terrific recovery allowed them to post a very competitive 437.

England's reply started badly. Both openers fell cheaply and now it was England's turn to need a recovery from 47-2. Joe Root played superbly but nobody else could kick on after making a start, and when Gary Ballance retired hurt on 31, it looked like the cricketing gods were smiling on South Africa. Root eventually nicked Maharaj through to de Kock, and on a spinning wicket, Maharaj added a five-wicket haul to his earlier 97 as England were bowled out for just 258 - a whopping 179 runs short of South Africa's total.

With so much time left in the game, a South African victory looked almost certain, and England knew they'd have to bowl incredibly well to claw themselves back into the game. Markram compounded a miserable debut series with just 21 - he'd failed to make so much as a half-century in the series - and Anderson promptly removed Elgar for 9 to reduce South Africa to 50-2. Quinton de Kock shared a 50 partnership with Hashim Amla, but Stokes then clean bowled de Kock for 45. With the pitch offering sharp turn, the captain brought Liam Dawson and Moeen Ali into the attack, and the two made the most of the conditions. South Africa couldn't deal with the spin, and incredibly, they slumped from 121-3 to 167 all out! Dawson and Ali took three wickets apiece, and when it looked like Duminy and Olivier could frustrate England for the ninth wicket, Duminy ran his partner out. England needed 347 to win.

South Africa could have killed England off completely with a decent second innings score - there was so much time left in the game that England were 21-0 in their run chase at the close of play on Day 3. There was no need to score quickly, but on a wicket with so much assistance for the bowlers, especially the spinners, 347 would still be a massive task, especially with Ballance unable to bat.

The bowling performance of Maharaj was going to determine who won the game, and he started excellently, removing Cook for just 7 and Root for 12. Bairstow made just four before Morkel found his edge and du Plessis took a good catch at short leg, and with Ballance injured the score was essentially 77-4.

But Keaton Jennings was playing absolutely brilliantly, and Ben Stokes provided excellent support to his Durham teammate. The two single-handedly dragged England back into contention with a wonderful partnership of 128, and having batted for almost the entire fourth day, Jennings eventually sealed his second Test century. He made 103 before Philander trapped him LBW with the score on 204-5.

The odds were still in South Africa's favour, but Ben Stokes was still in and batting beautifully. Moeen Ali now took on the supporting role, and Stokes continued what had been a measured innings by his standards. The two began building another partnership, and suddenly victory was within reach for England! South Africa had gone defensive, allowing the two men to regularly pick up singles, and the momentum had swung completely in England's favour. Stokes completed his century, Ali made a half-century and the partnership was worth 141 when Maharaj finally dismissed Ali for 70 - England needed just one run to win.

England had snatched an improbable victory from the jaws of defeat. Stokes scored the final run and finished unbeaten on 131, and England won by five wickets in the end - nobody could have predicted that after being so far behind after the first innings. Ben Stokes was awarded the Man of the Match award, and England wrapped up a 2-0 series win - the right result given that England would have won the two drawn Tests if rain hadn't intervened.



South Africa 1st: 437 (Duminy 104, Maharaj 97; Stokes 4-51)

England 1st: 258 (Root 90; Maharaj 5-83, Philander 3-77)

South Africa 2nd: 167 (de Kock 45; Ali 3-26, Dawson 3-60)

England 2nd: 347-5 (Stokes 131*, Jennings 103; Maharaj 3-106)

ENGLAND BEAT SOUTH AFRICA BY 5 WICKETS

[Joe Baldwin]

England vs West Indies - 1st Test - Birmingham

After an exciting 2-0 series victory over South Africa, in which England played excellent Test cricket for the most part, the West Indies began their tour quickly afterwards. England were heavy favourites for the three-Test series: the West Indies are 8th in the Test rankings, and don't have a side capable of competing with the top Test sides.

England	West Indies
Alastair Cook	Kraigg Brathwaite
Keaton Jennings	Devon Smith (c)
Joe Root (c)	Shane Dowrich (wk)
Jonathan Bairstow (wk)	Marlon Samuels
Mark Stoneman	Roston Chase
Moeen Ali	Shai Hope
Dawid Malan	Jermaine Blackwood
Liam Dawson	Jomel Warrican
Chris Woakes	Kemar Roach
Stuart Broad	Devendra Bishoo
James Anderson	Miguel Cummins

England had to make two enforced changes to their team. Gary Ballance hadn't recovered from the injury he suffered in the 4th Test against South Africa, so Mark Stoneman replaced him, while Ben Stokes was ruled out with illness so Middlesex batsman Dawid Malan, who had a First Class average of 49 in the 2017 season, replaced him.

England won the toss and elected to bat in gloriously sunny conditions in Birmingham, and quickly asserted their superiority over the West Indies. The visitors could only take one wicket on the opening day, which came when Warrican had Jennings caught at slip for 71, but Cook and Root established a colossal partnership which took England into the second day. Both made centuries, and the partnership was worth 219 when Root was trapped LBW by Bishoo for 112. No other England batsman made a half-century, despite Bairstow, Ali and Malan getting starts, but Cook continued destroying the West Indies, and by the time he was finally out, he'd amassed an incredible score of 272. England eventually declared on 602-7 on the morning of the third day.

Having had their feet up in the dressing room for the first two days, Anderson and Broad quickly sunk their teeth into the West Indies batting lineup, removing Brathwaite and Dowrich early. Devon Smith made 35 before nicking Woakes through to Bairstow, and Samuels did likewise off the bowling of Dawson. Broad returned and ran through the middle order, leaving West Indies on 91-7 and with no chance of saving the game. The tail wagged briefly when Roach made 42, but the West Indies were bowled out for 181. They would need 421 just to make England bat again.

Needless to say, the result at this point was a formality. England had two days to bowl West Indies out for a second time, and it looked like it would be over quickly when Woakes removed both openers and the visitors slipped to 43-3. On the fourth day, the West Indies finally offered some resistance when Marlon Samuels and Roston Chase made big scores. Samuels made 90 while Chase managed to complete a hard-fought century, but once their partnership of 169 was broken, it was business as usual. Shai Hope made a very slow half-century but wickets continued to fall around him, and the West Indies were bowled out for 308.

England had won by well over an innings, and with Ben Stokes to come back in the next Test, it certainly won't be getting any easier for the tourists. Alastair Cook won the Man of the Match award for his incredible innings of 272, adding to the three centuries he made against South Africa.


England 1st: 602-7 (Cook 272, Root 112; Bishoo 5-188)

West Indies 1st: 181 (Roach 42, Smith 35; Broad 4-45)

West Indies 2nd: 308 (Chase 103, Samuels 90; Woakes 4-49)

ENGLAND BEAT WEST INDIES BY AN INNINGS AND 113 RUNS

[Joe Baldwin]

England vs West Indies - 2nd Test - Leeds

England	West Indies
Alastair Cook	Kraigg Brathwaite
Keaton Jennings	Devon Smith (c)
Joe Root (c)	Shane Dowrich (wk)
Jonathan Bairstow (wk)	Marlon Samuels
Gary Ballance	Roston Chase
Ben Stokes	Shai Hope
Moeen Ali	Jermaine Blackwood
Liam Dawson	Jomel Warrican
Chris Woakes	Kemar Roach
Stuart Broad	Jerome Taylor
James Anderson	Devendra Bishoo

The second Test of this rather pointless series took place at Leeds. Ballance and Stokes walked straight back into the side in place of Stoneman and Malan. Again England won the toss, again they elected to bat, and again Alastair Cook was in sensational form.

The West Indies did manage to take the early wicket of Jennings, who only made 11, but Joe Root combined well with Cook and shared a century stand with the former skipper. Root was trapped LBW by Warrican for 56, but Cook shared reasonable partnerships with Bairstow (25) and Ballance (20) before Ben Stokes walked to the crease. Any doubts about his fitness were dispelled with a wonderful display of ball striking, and he and Cook shared a partnership worth 178. Stokes eventually departed for 107, and Cook fell in the next over, having completed a second consecutive double hundred. England were bowled out for exactly 500.

The West Indies started badly again. Smith and Dowrich failed to make an impact, and when Brathwaite was bowled by Anderson for 31, it looked like they'd fail to avoid the follow-on again. However, Samuels and Chase had other ideas, and proceeded to piece together a hundred partnership, just as they did in the first Test. Moeen Ali was the man to make the breakthrough - first he had Samuels caught behind for 83, then he bowled Chase for 85 - and England ran through the tail fairly quickly, as West Indies lost their final five wickets for 27 runs. West Indies were bowled out for 289 and were made to follow-on, 211 runs behind.

The West Indies second innings was punctuated by wickets at regular intervals. The West Indies failed to make a single 50 partnership, though Smith, Dowrich and Chase all reached the 30's, and it was England's seam attack that had the most fun. The West Indies did make England bat again after reaching 226, but the match had long since been a formality, and England reached their target of 16 without losing a wicket.

Alastair Cook was again named Man of the Match after his second consecutive double hundred set up another comfortable England victory. England had ensured the series victory with one Test still to play.


England 1st: 500 (Cook 213, Stokes 107; Chase 4-91)

West Indies 1st: 289 (Chase 85, Samuels 82; Anderson 5-63)

West Indies 2nd: 226 (Dowrich 32; Woakes 3-37, Broad 3-54)

England 2nd: 16-0 (Jennings 9*)

ENGLAND BEAT WEST INDIES BY 10 WICKETS

[Joe Baldwin]

England vs West Indies - 3rd Test - Lords

England	West Indies
Alastair Cook	Kraigg Brathwaite
Keaton Jennings	Devon Smith (c)
Joe Root (c)	Shane Dowrich (wk)
Jonathan Bairstow (wk)	Marlon Samuels
Gary Ballance	Roston Chase
Ben Stokes	Shai Hope
Moeen Ali	Jermaine Blackwood
Liam Dawson	Jomel Warrican
Chris Woakes	Kemar Roach
Stuart Broad	Jerome Taylor
James Anderson	Devendra Bishoo

With rain in the air on Day 1 of the third Test, the West Indies won the toss and elected to bowl. Their decision was vindicated by three early wickets in difficult atmospheric conditions - Cook could only make 34, and England looked in trouble on 59-3. Things got worse for England when for the second time in the summer, Gary Ballance was forced to retire hurt. Jonathan Bairstow was batting well, and minor contributions from the middle and lower order gave him the time to make 88 before Chase trapped him LBW - without Bairstow's contribution, England would have been right on the back foot. As it was, England made 271 in an innings affected by a shower in the afternoon on Day 1.

England's response with the ball was excellent. Brathwaite offered some resistance, making a stubborn 42, but when he was dismissed the West Indies were on 98-5. Chris Woakes was the star of the show, and six wickets for him left the West Indies barely breathing on 126-9. But the West Indies had Hope, quite literally - Shai Hope stood up and produced a tenth wicket partnership worth 78 with Bishoo, who made 34 before Anderson bowled him with the new ball. Hope was left unbeaten on 72, but he dragged West Indies to 204, just 67 behind England.

The West Indies needed to get England out cheaply to have a shot at an unlikely victory, and when Cook was given LBW off the bowling of Kemar Roach for just 8, the tourists looked optimistic. The smiles were quickly wiped from their faces when Jennings and Root began systematically tearing the visiting bowlers apart. The two built a mammoth partnership, forcing the West Indies to set defensive fields, and both made centuries without too much hassle. Indeed, the partnership was worth 310 by the time it was broken. Jennings made 143 while Root scored 166, and England were able to declare on 367-4. The West Indies needed 435 to win.

By this point, the pitch had degraded to the point that such a high score was always going to be extremely difficult to chase, especially against England's potent seam attack. The West Indies top order didn't do too badly - Devon Smith made 40 and Dowrich 54, but the middle order capitulated when faced with the pace of Broad and the guile of the constantly improving Dawson. The West Indies had been 77-1, but they slumped to 144 all out as Broad and Dawson helped themselves to three wickets each.

So England wrapped up one of the easiest series victories they'll ever come across. Three comprehensive wins gave the Test side a confidence boost ahead of what looked like being an epic Ashes winter, although the standard of opposition was perhaps not the ideal preparation. Joe Root's 166 gave him the Man of the Match honours.


England 1st: 271 (Bairstow 88, Ali 36; Chase 2-10)

West Indies 1st: 204 (Hope 72*, Brathwaite 42; Woakes 6-38)

England 2nd: 367-4 dec (Root 166, Jennings 143; Roach 2-109)

West Indies 2nd: 144 (Dowrich 54; Dawson 3-22, Broad 3-46)

ENGLAND BEAT WEST INDIES BY 290 RUNS

[Sureshot]

Those are some big wins, I fear these are the kind of scores we will see this summer.

Day/Night Test!

[Joe Baldwin]

Those are some big wins, I fear these are the kind of scores we will see this summer.

Day/Night Test!

I agree, the West Indies aren't that competitive, and we have home advantage as well.

The Ashes (if it goes ahead) will be infinitely tougher I think...

Really like the Day/Night Test, in CC16 there was about eight random overs of night in the middle of the day. This is much better

[Joe Baldwin]

2017 Season Review - Leicestershire

I entered the 2017 season with Leicestershire thinking that while we'd obviously try and compete, we'd struggle for the most part and we'd only really improve once I could reshape the squad. However, as it turned out, we exceeded my own expectations in the County Championship and in the 20 Trophy, although I was only partly responsible for the latter as the matches took place while I was managing England.

		P	W	D	L	Bat.	Bwl.	Pts.
1.	Derbyshire	14	7	3	4	26	36	189
2.	Sussex	14	6	6	2	29	31	186
3.	Durham	14	9	2	3	36	36	178*
4.	Worcestershire	14	6	3	5	30	33	174
5.	Leicestershire	14	5	5	4	27	36	168
6.	Nottinghamshire	14	5	3	6	27	40	162
7.	Kent	14	6	0	8	27	33	156
8.	Northamptonshire	14	4	4	5	16	37	137
9.	Gloucestershire	14	3	4	7	33	35	136
10.	Glamorgan	14	2	4	8	26	37	115

We came an impressive 5th in Division Two, the best result that the county has achieved in a number of seasons. Our bowlers were mostly responsible for that - none of our batsmen reached 1000 runs but both Clinton McKay (57) and Ben Raine (66) took plenty of wickets. I'd started the season well with two wins and a draw before the Challenge Trophy began, and whenever I was given the opportunity to manage matches further in the season we did well, although once the series with South Africa got underway the internationals came thick and fast so those opportunities were limited.

Durham would have won the league by a distance but of course they had a 48 point deduction at the start of the season.

Name	Matches	Runs	Avg.	Wickets	Avg.
Colin Ackermann	14	985	51.84	1	47.00
Mark Cosgrove	14	921	36.84
Neil Dexter	14	763	36.33	5	85.80
Paul Horton	13	714	27.46
Ned Eckersley	14	488	28.71
Harry Dearden	9	480	30.00
Cameron Delport	12	479	25.21
Clinton McKay	14	414	23.00	57	26.74
Ben Raine	14	405	22.50	66	25.97
Mark Pettini	5	305	33.89
Dieter Klein	13	303	20.20	49	28.65
Richard Jones	5	50	7.14	30	21.47
Steve March	2	38	9.50
Ian Beckett	5	33	8.25	18	28.78
Monty Panesar	5	27	6.75	8	51.37
Sam Evans	1	11	11.00

Colin Ackermann was our leading run-scorer in the County Championship, very nearly reaching the 1000-run mark, but aside from Mark Cosgrove none of the other batsmen could pile on the runs like he could. When I wasn't managing the side, Mark Pettini was dropped which frustrated me slightly because he played better than some of the others when I was managing the side. With the ball, as I've mentioned, Raine and McKay took wickets, as did Dieter Klein. I preferred playing Panesar because we didn't have an other spin options until Beckett was promoted from the youth team, but Richard Jones was given his chance when I was away with England and he bowled superbly, thus bringing him up in my estimations.

		P	W	L	T	NR	Pts	NetRR.
1.	Yorkshire	8	6	2	0	0	12	+0.37
2.	Nottinghamshire	8	5	3	0	0	10	+0.48
3.	Lancashire	8	5	3	0	0	10	+0.10
4.	Northamptonshire	8	5	3	0	0	10	0.00
5.	Durham	8	5	3	0	0	8*	-0.33
6.	Warwickshire	8	4	4	0	0	8	+0.09
7.	Worcestershire	8	3	5	0	0	6	+0.32
8.	Leicestershire	8	2	6	0	0	4	-0.29
9.	Derbyshire	8	1	7	0	0	2	-0.75

Our performances in the Challenge Trophy were very poor, and given I was there for the entire campaign I felt partly responsible. However, I kept my tactics the same when I was with England and I had success there, so the players simply not being that good must have been a big reason for our ineptitude in this format. At least we didn't come last, eh?

Name	Matches	Runs	Avg.	Wickets	Avg.
Colin Ackermann	8	284	47.33	6	44.33
Mark Pettini	8	249	31.12
Harry Dearden	7	238	39.67
Mark Cosgrove	7	219	31.29
Paul Horton	8	185	23.12
Ned Eckersley	8	170	85.00
Cameron Delport	7	167	41.75
Ben Raine	8	88	88.00	8	40.00
Clinton McKay	8	68	17.00	12	26.67
Neil Dexter	2	36	36.00	2	58.50
Dieter Klein	5	31	31.00	8	34.37
Sam Evans	1	5	5.00
Monty Panesar	6	0	0.00	6	43.33
Gavin Griffiths	3	0	-	3	49.00
James Sykes	1	0	-	1	49.00
Charlie Shreck	1	0	-

Ackermann was the only man to come out with any real credit with the bat - I can't say I knew my best team, but he was a fixture at number 3. He bowled well as well when I lost faith in Panesar. McKay took some wickets but Raine was very expensive and the less said about Panesar the better - thank goodness he's retired now the season has finished. We'll be back next season, hopefully with an improved squad.

		P	W	L	T	NR	Pts	NetRR.
1.	Yorkshire	14	11	3	0	0	22	+0.71
2.	Warwickshire	14	8	6	0	0	16	+0.27
3.	Lancashire	14	7	6	1	0	15	+0.17
4.	Nottinghamshire	14	7	6	1	0	15	-0.31
5.	Leicestershire	14	7	7	0	0	14	+0.03
6.	Worcestershire	14	6	8	0	0	12	+0.37
7.	Durham	14	6	6	2	0	10*	-0.01
8.	Northamptonshire	14	5	9	0	0	10	-0.25
9.	Derbyshire	14	4	10	0	0	8	-1.00

The 20 Trophy was a very good competition for us. I managed a few matches in between England duties but the team as a whole performed excellently, winning quite a few games when I wasn't available and very nearly qualifying for the quarter-finals, which would have been a great achievement.

Name	Matches	Runs	Avg.	Wickets	Avg.
Neil Dexter	14	405	31.15	6	29.33
Mark Cosgrove	14	389	29.92
Colin Ackermann	14	283	20.21
Cameron Delport	14	245	22.27
Ben Raine	14	168	24.00	13	29.46
Steve March	12	120	15.00
Luke Ronchi	3	111	37.00
Clinton McKay	14	111	15.86	25	15.12
Mark Pettini	4	61	30.50
Dieter Klein	10	20	10.00	11	29.55
Lewis Hill	1	14	14.00
Ian Beckett	11	14	4.67	12	26.25
Monty Panesar	14	7	3.50	12	32.50
Paul Horton	2	3	1.50
Charlie Shreck	1	1	1.00	2	17.50
Sam Evans	1	-	-

We missed our only T20 Overseas player Luke Ronchi through injury for most of the campaign, but the likes of Dexter and Cosgrove batted very well in the tournament, while McKay was inspired with the ball, taking nearly double the wickets of our next highest wicket-taker. Even Panesar bowled fairly well in this format, and Ben Raine surprised everyone with the bat, hitting a few decent scores down the order.

I'm planning on reshaping the squad significantly ahead of next season. There are several players whose contracts are expiring, so hopefully some quality players become available - I'm looking for quality, not quantity, and I've also bumped the amount spent on youth players up to 50,000 so we should get a couple of decent youth products next season.

Before then, though, we have the Ashes tour of Australia....

[Joe Baldwin]

Australia vs England - 1st Test - The Gabba, Brisbane

Having won five and drawn two of their seven summer Tests, England travelled to Australia for one of the most highly anticipated Ashes series. The Aussies had sorted out their contract dispute with Cricket Australia just in time for the series to be given the go ahead, and with two great sides going head-to-head, everyone was looking forward to seeing the number 1 ranked Test nation try and wrestle the Ashes away from a strong England side.

Australia	England
David Warner	Alastair Cook
Matthew Renshaw	Keaton Jennings
Steven Smith (c)	Joe Root (c)
Hilton Cartwright	Jonathan Bairstow (wk)
Peter Handscomb	Gary Ballance
Usman Khawaja	Ben Stokes
Matthew Wade (wk)	Moeen Ali
James Pattinson	Liam Dawson
Mitchell Starc	Chris Woakes
Joe Mennie	Stuart Broad
Josh Hazlewood	James Anderson

England named what many considered to be their strongest side. They'd played together regularly over the summer and came up against an Australia side with no front-line spinner. The Australian summer was in full swing - the forecast for the five days was extremely good - and the pitch looked like a batsman's paradise. Joe Root won the toss and he unsurprisingly elected to bat first.

Day One

Despite the excellent batting conditions, Cook and Jennings found it very difficult to score runs against a pumped up Australia seam attack. Hazlewood, Pattinson and Mennie were all extremely economical, and the pressure eventually told when Jennings edged Mennie to slip for just 14. England were able to get through to lunch on just 55-1.

Once again, Cook looked in tremendous form, and despite losing Root, given out LBW to Pattinson, he completed a hard-fought 50. Unfortunately for him, Mennie trapped him LBW soon after, and he departed for 53. Australia were in the ascendancy, and Mennie was bowling beautifully. Jonathan Bairstow was on 7 when he tried an aggressive shot and was caught at mid-on... but Mennie had overstepped! England managed to scramble through to tea with the score 151-3, but it could have been so much better for Australia.

Bairstow looked to punish Mennie for his mistake. Despite losing Ballance (19) and Stokes (10) cheaply in the evening session, Bairstow had reached his half-century by the close and with the help of a decent knock by Moeen Ali, England recovered to reach the close at 265-5. In the conditions, it was arguable that Australia were ahead.

Day Two

The second morning saw Jonathan Bairstow complete his century. Mennie trapped him LBW on 109 soon after, but the damage from his no-ball had already been done. Moeen Ali fell just two runs short of a half-century of his own, while Chris Woakes made a flamboyant 36 as England reached 371-9 at lunch. Australia took the final wicket with the first ball of the afternoon session, meaning England had posted a respectable 371 in their first innings of the series.

Knowing how destructive David Warner can be at the top of the order, England tried to target Matthew Renshaw, who had a batting average of just 24 in his fledgling Test career. However, the 21 year old withstood the barrage and after seeing off the new ball, Warner began to cut loose. He smashed Ali for six and was really finding his feet before Stuart Broad trapped him LBW with a full delivery. He'd made 55 - Renshaw was still in the 20's. It was the only English wicket of the afternoon session, and Australia reached 99-1 by tea.

The evening session was dramatic. Of all the people to drop, Steven Smith would be last on anyone's list, but that's exactly what happened - with Smith on 17, Woakes found the edge and second slip put it down. On this occasion, England got away with it - Woakes trapped him LBW in his next over, and he'd only added one more run to his total. Cartwright's dismissal at the hands of Ben Stokes brought Peter Handscomb to the crease, and England proceeded to give him a life as well when he edged Stokes to slip, who couldn't hold on. Unlike Smith, Handscomb made the most of his opportunity, and was unbeaten at the close. Australia were 205-3.

Day Three

Renshaw and Handscomb built a decent partnership in the morning session, and a first innings lead was looking likely. Renshaw was trapped LBW by Anderson on 88, and Khawaja made an exciting 38 before he was clean bowled by Stokes. Those were the only two wickets England could muster in the session, and once again it was advantage Australia in the Test - the home side were 302-5 at lunch.

Once Handscomb was dismissed for 82 after lunch, Wade began to bat more aggressively. Pattinson and Starc both fell cheaply, but Wade continued to blast the ball around as and when he could. With Mennie at the crease, Wade started to farm the strike, slowing the run rate down a little, but by the tea break Australia had passed England's score and were 382-8.

Wade continued his assault on the England bowlers after tea, and suddenly, it looked like Australia were becoming favourites to take the first Test. Mennie blocked when needed, and Wade's brilliant innings finally came to an end with him on 84. Australia were bowled out for 436, and had a lead of 65.

Australia wanted a wicket before the close, and they got their wish. Jennings nicked Hazlewood to second slip, who made no mistake - it was the first duck of the series. England scrambled through to the close, reaching 38-1 against some hostile bowling and extremely aggressive fields.

Day Four

Australia could smell blood. Cook and Root had tried to make the most of the very attacking fields by scoring at a quicker rate, but this backfired when Root chipped Hazlewood straight back to him and departed for 35. In the very next over, with the scores level, Bairstow was caught at short leg for a duck - England were essentially 0-3. Cook and Ballance steadied the ship, and England reached lunch on 120-3 - a lead of 55.

Ballance was dismissed soon after the lunch break, but Stokes joined Cook at the middle and the two produced a strong partnership in the afternoon. Cook completed yet another century in what has been an amazing season for him, and Australia just couldn't press home their advantage. England safely navigated their way to tea on 211-4, and were now beginning to think about what they'd like to set Australia as a target.

Joe Mennie managed to snare Stokes in the evening session, but on a pitch which hadn't really degraded, the batsmen were still comfortable, and Moeen Ali was solid in his support of Cook, who continued to pile on the runs. At the close of play, England were 289-5, and there was a strong sense that England had lifted themselves out of danger of losing the Test.

Day Five

The deciding day of the first Test was packed with drama from the word go. With England only 224 runs in front, Josh Hazlewood dismissed Ali and Dawson in the first over of the day, and suddenly there was optimism from Australia that they could still win the Test. However, Cook quickly put paid to that, and Woakes produced another decent cameo with the bat as England regained control of their own destiny. Hazlewood finally got Cook out for 149, and once Woakes and Broad had piled a few quick runs on the board England declared on 368-8. Australia's target was 303, and they safely survived the last ten minutes of the morning session to reach lunch on 11-0.

There were a few demons in the pitch on Day 5, and England piled on the pressure as they tried to take ten wickets in two sessions. In usual circumstances that would have been unthinkable, but two early wickets in the afternoon - those of Warner and Renshaw - put the Australian middle order under some pressure. They began by trying to bat aggressively and give themselves a chance of winning the Test, but at times they rode their luck and by tea, they'd reached 131-2 - still 172 away from their target.

It looked like the game would be heading for a draw. Smith and Cartwright proceeded serenely through the first half hour of the final session, seemingly giving up on any chance of victory. However, once Cartwright was dismissed for 49, England turned up the intensity. Handscomb couldn't handle it, edging Dawson to Root for just 8, and Khawaja went even sooner, nicking Broad to slip for 7.

Smith and Wade settled the innings down momentarily, but Woakes trapped Smith LBW on 69 to give England a real chance at victory - they were into the tail! With eight men around the bat, Dawson managed to dismiss Pattinson for just 5, and Starc made 4 before Broad snuck one through the gate and bowled him. With five overs to go, England just needed two wickets!

Wade was doing his best to farm the strike, but he couldn't take a single at the end of the penultimate over, leaving England with one over to bowl to Joe Mennie. Chris Woakes was charged with delivering it, and with his fifth ball, he found the edge of Mennie's bat and Bairstow took the catch!

There was one ball for Josh Hazlewood, the number 11, to survive. England had everyone in close, and Hazlewood swung his bat at Woakes' delivery... but he contrived to squeeze his shot through the crowd of bodies, along the ground, and Australia had survived. England were just one wicket from victory, but the Test match was drawn. Australia reached the close on Day 5 with their score on 202-9!

Alastair Cook was named Man of the Match after scoring 202 runs in the Test, although it was he who dropped Peter Handscomb in the first innings that could have made all the difference. Nevertheless, the first Test of the Ashes was drawn, and if they were all as close as this, the series would be utterly epic.


England 1st: 371 (Bairstow 109, Cook 53; Mennie 3-75)

Australia 1st: 436 (Renshaw 88, Wade 84; Woakes 3-73)

England 2nd: 368-8 dec (Cook 149, Stokes 52; Hazlewood 5-90)

Australia 2nd: 202-9 (Smith 69, Cartwright 49; Woakes 3-29)

MATCH DRAWN