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**BlueStar** · 12-20-2010, 08:55 AM

3-5 April 2010
University Match
Gloucester vs. Cardiff UCCE

Gloucester : Porterfield, Ali, Batty (+), Gidman (*), Marshall, Taylor, Franklin, Lewis, Banerjee, Kirby, Ireland

Gloucester win the toss and elect to bat on a batsman pitch. Porterfield is the key player here: opening the batting and hitting 145 before getting run-out. He gets good support through the innings: after a brief hic-up (Ali falling for 25 and Batty for a duck) Gidman and Marshall hit 50’s and Taylor, Franklin and Lewis all reach the 30’s or 40’s. At the end of the day, Gloucs declare at 469 for 9, leaving Cardiff 2 days to withstand our bowling.

Cardiff struggle in their first innings: Kirby takes 5 wickets in his second spell to absolutely destroy them. He ends with 5 for 18 off 13 overs, all other bowler chip in with one or two wickets as Cardiff follow on after reaching 82 all out.

The second innings is a bit harder for us: the Cardiff openers survive a few scares and hit half centuries but then Ireland comes on for a devastating spell: he removes both openers and then everything crumbles, with Ireland taking 7 wickets for 35 runs off 11.2 overs. Kirby picks up another two as Cardiff end early on D3 with 187 all out and that’s an innings and 200 runs defeat. William Porterfield picks up the man of the match award.

**BlueStar** · 12-20-2010, 12:28 PM

15-18 April 2010
County Championship D2
Gloucester vs. Northamptonshire

Gloucester : Porterfield, Ali, Batty (+), Gidman (*), Marshall, Taylor, Franklin, Lewis, Banerjee, Kirby, Ireland
Northants: Loye, O’Brien(+), Sales, Hall, Peters, White, Chigumbura, Boje, Lucas, Wigley, Brooks

We lose the toss and are put in to bat on an overcast day. The wicket looks decent though. Ali falls early, caught with a cross bat cut that flies to Sales at first slip. Batty looks settled and then misreads a Lucas delivery to get cleaned up for 20. Porterfield continues his fine form in the morning though with a solid fifty, not giving away any chances. SkipperGidman falls after lunch with his first mistake: a mistimed pull off Lucas directly at Boye at square leg for 19. We’re at 146 for 3 now, which is not good but not too bad either. Marshall falls for just 6, clean bowled by Chigumbura but Porterfield grinds on to hit his century just before tea off 179 balls. Good innings and a promising start to the year for him. Chris Taylor comes in at nr. 6 and hits a good 50 off 99 deliveries in support of Porterfield, who goes on to 150 in the evening session. We go off for bad light at 311 for 4 and that’s a good total so far.

Another overcast morning and the medium pace off Chigumbura has Taylor lbw early for 84. A good innings from the veteran. Porterfield finally goes, c&b off Hall for a beautiful 161. Jon Lewis hits a nice 26, before giving away a caught and bowled to Boye. Franklin takes the score to over 400 but goes lbw to Hall for 39. 420 all out just after lunch on D2 is the final verdict. That should put us in command of the game.

Northants start well, hitting a fifty partnership until Lewis strikes to remove O’Brien, caught by Taylor at mid-on for 20. Sales goes for just one: Lewis delivering a Yorker and Porterfield taking a stunning catch at first slip. At tea, Northants are 68 for 2. After tea, Lewis strikes again: Hall goes lbw for 18. Kirby removes Loye, lbw for 48 and that’s a good wicket as he looked in good form. Lewis continues to put Northants into turmoil as Peters falls lbw for 1. Kirby takes another to bowl Chigumbura for 1. Franklin strikes to remove Boje lbw and then has White caught at slip by Porterfield. Northants end at 179 for 8 and needing 91 to avoid to follow on at the end of D2.

Wigley and Lucus hit a lovely partnership but Kirby traps Wigley lbw for 40. Lucas gets 50 but can’t protect Brooks as Ireland removes him lbw. Northants are 232 all out and will have to follow on. Lewis takes 4 for 58 with good support from Franklin and Kirby.

Northants look intent on surviving this game though as Loye and O’Brien get to a very solid start. Kirby gets the breakthrough, finding the edge of O’Brien and the safe hands of Porterfield at slip as he goes for 43. Ireland comes on to remove the stubborn Loye, caught at short leg by Gidman, off his first ball and then gets Sales lbw. Northants get to 247 for 3 though at the end of D3 and we need a good morning session to have any chance of winning this one.

Lewis removes Peters with the new ball, caught by Ali, for 71. Ali then drops White in the slips of Lewis and Northants settle in again. Ireland gets White, caught and bowled. Northants still have 5 wickets at lunch and a draw seems on the cards as our bowlers struggle.

Franklin removes Chugumbura, clean bowled. Hall hits a century that saves the game for Northants though. Ireland has Boje caught but it’s a no ball but he bowls Hall the next over. Still something that needs to be saved for Northants as they lead 200 runs now. Ireland gets his fifth, bowling Lucas and Northants declare at 429 for 8. We need 241 runs off a session and a half. Ali and Porterfield start the chase but Porterfield falls lbw for 6. We need 193 runs off the final session which seems a lot. Batty goes, edging a delivery into the slips for 15. Kadeer Ali hits a positive fifty off 51 balls to keep the chase going. Marshall is caught in the slips for 3 though. Ali smacks 2 sixes to keep things going. We need 133 runs in a good hours play. Gidman falls, lbw to Boje for 20. Taylor is bowled by Boje for just 10…that’s just Franklin left and the tail and we need 85 runs. Ali continues and hits his century off just 99 balls. Franklin is caught in the slips as well for 5. Lewis gets bowled but we finish at 194 for 7, 50 runs short of the win in an exciting game. Kadeer Ali finishes with 123no.

Porterfield gets another man of the match as we get 9 bonus points for this draw.

**BlueStar** · 12-21-2010, 08:15 AM

15-18 April 2010
County Championship D2
Gloucester vs. Sussex

Gloucester : Porterfield, Ali, Batty (+), Gidman (*), Marshall, Taylor, Franklin, Lewis, Dawson, Kirby, Ireland
Sussex: Nash, Thornely, Prior (+), Joyce, Wright, Yardy, Goodwin, Arafat, Aga, Panasar, Collymore.

We win the toss and on a cloudy overcast day we put Sussex in to bat. Vikram Banerjee is out for a month with an ankle injury, Richard Dawson comes in as the designated spinner. Kirby starts off aggressively and gets reward in his second over, getting Nash caught by Marshall at short square leg for 8. He repeats that one: Matt Prior going for a duck, caught by Hamish Marshall again! Sussex at 8 for 2 now! Kirby should have gotten a third but Porterfield puts down Joyce at first slip the next over. No biggie, Kirby just bowls Joyce over the wicket to get his third wicket! Steve Kirby has an absolutely killer session, getting Wright lbw for 2. That gives him 4 for 16 off 6 overs! Anthony Ireland then comes on and gets Yardy for 5, caught by Batty off an inside edge. Sussex are now 35 for 5 and in a horrid state! Ireland continues to wreak Sussex into misery, bowling Thornely! Jon Lewis gets Goodman, snared by Porterfield for a duck. Sussex at 47 for 7 now. Ireland bags a third, removing Arafat caught behind for 12. Panasar goes first ball as Ireland is on a hat-trick! Ireland beats the bat on his hat-trick ball but Collymore doesn’t touch anything! Kirby returns and gets Aga at first slip, ever safe by Porterfield as he bags 5 wickets for 23 runs. Ireland has 4 for 10. And Sussex crumble to an ever so poor 59 all out in just one session!

Kadeer Ali and Porterfield start off our innings okay until Ali gets bowled by Wright for 26. 62 for 1 at tea…we’re playing to get a massive lead here. Batty goes for another failure at the number 3 slot: bowled by Arafat for 9 runs! Alex Gidman falls too easily for just 1 run, caught short off Arafat and Porterfield sets off for a horribly judged single to leave Marshall run-out for a duck without facing a ball! A bit of a collapse here. Panasar beats Taylor, lbw for 23 runs! Porterfield hits his fifty though, a slow one off 152 balls. Franklin hits a horrible sweep to first slip to go for just 4 runs! At 124 for 6, we are really struggling! Lewis also goes but Porterfield and Dawson survive the end of D1, at 146 for 7!

Porterfield tries his best but loses Dawson early. He hits a few shots but goes, caught behind for 69 runs! In the end we get 166 all out. Not good at all but a good 100 runs lead.

James Franklin gets an early blow to Sussex, trapping Thornely lbw for just 2. He gets Prior as well, caught behind by Batty for just 6! We’re in command here! Franklin strikes for the third time: Nash clean bowled for just 2! Sussex at 15 for 3! Anthony Ireland, having had a good first innings, comes on and Gidman pouches Wright at short square leg for 18 off Ireland. At lunch, we still lead a good 50 runs and Sussex have lost 4 wickets!

Jon Lewis removes Yardy after lunch, caught by Gidman for 9. Kirby comes on to remove Goodwin as Sussex now have 6 wickets down and still trail by 26 runs! Kirby gets Arafat caught behind for 6. Joyce hits a fifty though. Sussex have 147 for 7 at tea and a narrow lead. We need to get these wickets! Ireland struggles but removes Joyce, who plays a horrible shot to go for 80, clean bowled. Kirby offers no mercy for Panasar, trapping him lbw with a Yorker. He also gets Aga lbw, finishing at 4 for 44. Franklin has 3 for 45. Well, we just need 79 runs and have 2 days in hand!

Porterfield and Ali start off confidently. Porterfield gets bowled by Collymore for 13 but the win seems to be in reach easily. On day 3 Batty again fails, caught behind for 4! Gidman also struggles against the pace of Aga but Kadeer Ali (39no) and Marshall see home a comfortable win on D3 by 7 wickets! Good stuff!

That's a supurb and confident win over the title contenders. Man of the Match is Steve Kirby for his bowling performance: 9 wickets in this game. He got good support from Franklin and Ireland though. Spinner Dawson never really featured.

**BlueStar** · 12-22-2010, 08:03 AM

25 April 2010
Challenge Trophy – Group Match
Gloucester vs. Derbyshire

Gloucester : Porterfield, Ali, Gidman (*), Marshall, Taylor, Franklin, Dent (+), Lewis, Dawson, Kirby, Ireland
Derby: Madsen, Durston, Park, Smith, Sadler, Goddard (+), Clare, Peterson, Wagg, Groenewald, Lungley.

Chris Dent, after being in good nick with the second team, replaces Batty as the wicketkeeper, which means that all specialist batsman move one position up the roster. We lose the toss but are put in to bat on a good pitch. No worries there!

Porterfield and Ali get off to a good start, even if Porterfield gets bowled for 19 in the 9th over. Ali hits a strong 37 but gets caught behind of the spin off Peterson for 39. Hamish Marshall goes lbw for just one run, another one for the poor form he’s in. Gidman goes, caught in the deep, for 17. Chris Taylor hits a good fifty but with little solid support. Taylor falls in the 36th over for 56 and we are left struggling. Steve Kirby is the last to go, hitting 13 but at 185 all out, we pretty much failed.

Kirby and Franklin start off but Madson and Durston get the better start. Franklin gets a breakthrough, getting Durston caught behind by Dent for 12. Ireland gets Park, caught at second slip by Ali for 22. Derby now at 62 for 2, requiring 4.5 an over. Smith gets careless, trying to hit away at Richard Dawson but he edges one as Dent snares another one. Madsen then hits 3 fours off Dawson to step up the run chase. Madsen however gives away his wicket: straight caught and bowled to Ireland for 40 runs. Derby now at 85 for 4; Kirby comes back on during the second powerplay and removes Goddard, caught at first by Porterfield. We have a match now! Clare goes in the same over for a duck, held by Dent again. Ireland then bowls Sadler from over the wicket as we gain the upperhand, Derby now at 94 for 7 and still trailing 92 runs! Franklin chips in with a wicket and another catch for Dent as he removes Peterson for 13. Wagg offers resistance but Lewis removes him, lbw for 16 and gets the final wicket of Lungley, caught deep in the covers by Kirby. Gloucester win by 43 runs! Robin Peterson of Derby gets the consolation Man of the Match for his bowling performance though.

Another win and our key bowlers look in good form!

**BlueStar** · 12-23-2010, 08:07 AM

27-30 April 2010
County Championship D2
Middlesex vs. Gloucestershire

Middlesex: Strauss, Robson, Dexter, Shah, Malan, Scott (+), Berg, Udal, O’Brien, Collins, Finn.
Gloucester : Batty, Ali, Gidman (*), Marshall, Taylor, Franklin, Dent (+), Lewis, Dawson, Kirby, Ireland

Porterfield is away with Ireland so Batty moves up in the batting order. Young Chris Dent is retained and keeps wicket in this game. We lose the toss and on a good batsman’s wicket, Middlesex opt to bat first. This could be a long and toiling day for us.

The pace bowlers hardly get a chance, Ireland even whipped around for 28 runs off 3 overs but Dawson provides a breakthrough, getting Strauss lbw from over the wicket for 39 runs. That provides some inspiration for Kirby as he removes Robson with an inswinger in the first over of his second spell. Middlesex lead by 106 for 2 at lunch though. Dawson removes Dexter after lunch, caught by Ali at short square leg for 26. Ireland keeps struggling though. Franklin comes on and removes Shah, stunning catch by Ali at second slip. Middlesex now at 152 for 4. Dawson gets wicketkeeper Scott lbw. Franklin then removes David Malan, caught short by Ali for 31. Gidman pulls off a stunning catch at silly mid on to get Berg off Dawson! Dent drops Udal off Franklin, but it would have been a blinder! Kirby then returns to remove O’Brien lbw and get Collins caught by Taylor at point and he also gets Finn bowled. Middlesex just short of 200 runs on a good wicket…they’ll hate that. Kirby is the pick of the attack, getting 4 for 17 off 10.4 overs and Dawson has 4 for 85 off 19. Franklin chipped in with 2 good wickets as well.

Ali and Batty start off well and after settling in after tea, Ali creams Finn for a few fours. Finn gets revenge though, trapping Ali caught behind off an inside edge for 38. With 104 for 1 we end D1, looking to get a good solid lead the next day.

Gidman starts off badly, flapping at a wide one by Finn and getting caught in the slips for just 9 runs. Batty pads up to O’Brien to fall for 48 after looking solid yesterday. O’Brien then gets Taylor bowled for just 1 as out batting line-up has now collapsed! Franklin gets a duck, caught behind…at 120 for 5, all the good work by the bowlers has become undone in one session. We need a solid innings by Hamish Marshall now! Young Dent falls lbw to Udal for 12. Marshall hits a good positive half century though, including 8 fours, with good support from Lewis. By lunch we have a 2 run lead. Let’s hope we can add another 50 or more to that.

Lewis goes after lunch but not after having faced 50 balls for 19 runs. Good supporting innings. Dawson manages 10 runs before O’Brien bowls him. Kirby goes for a duck. Marshall then goes all out but gets bowled by Finn for 91 to end the innings at 250 all out.

Kirby removes Strauss from over the wicket for just 10, caught by Ali mistiming a pull. Kirby also removes lbw after tea for 29, Middlesex now leading slightly. Dexter and Shah look to take control but Franklin gets Dexter from over the wicket, caught by Batty for 41. Middlesex lead by 86 runs at the end of D2 though. Very even match so far!

Kirby removes Shah, and that’s a prize wicket…bowled middle stump for 46. He also gets Scott lbw for 5 runs. Middlesex, with 5 wickets left, lead by 104 runs. Kirby puts the cherry on the pie by removing Malan lbw as well. Franklin removes Berg for a duck. Lewis traps Udal, caught behind by Dent who gets his maiden first-class catch. Ireland continues bowling luckless though. Franklin returns to remove O’Brien caught by Batty at slip and Finn by Marshall at gully for a duck. Kirby gets 5 for 46 off 20 and Franklin has 4 for 53 of 20.5. We need just 140 runs to win this one. We really should be able to get those.

Batty and Ali survive early chances, Batty even first ball. Batty falls bowled by O’Brien for just 4 runs as his poor form continues. Udal gets a confident Ali lbw for 19 as we are 33 for 2. Gidman and Marshall see us to 71 for 2 at tea though, needing another 70 runs. Marshall plays a loose stroke after tea to get caught in the slips for 28 and Taylor falls for a duck off Finn to put something into this game! Gidman gets nervous and gets bowled by O’Brien! Oh dear…we need 53 runs with 5 wickets in hand! Franklin and Dent now at the crease…Dent plays things like a veteran though: he hits 7 fours off 57 deliviries to end this one in a victory! He hits the winning run to end with 39no and bag us the match with 5 wickets in hand!

Steve Kirby is the deserved man of tha match as we get 21 points for this one. That sees us in the middle of the table with one game in hand. Sussex lead with 3 wins though.

**BlueStar** · 12-30-2010, 07:47 PM

4-7 May 2010
County Championship D2
Surrey vs. Gloucestershire

Surrey: Davies (+), Brown, Khal, Afzaal, Ramprakash, Hamilton-Brown, Schofield, Batty, Tremlett, Nel, Dernback
Gloucester : Batty, Ali, Gidman (*), Marshall, Taylor, Franklin, Dent (+), Lewis, Dawson, Kirby, Ireland

Next up, a game against bottom of the table Surrey. Which is a surprise as they have quite a good team but with 3 losses and 11 points, we should be able to get something here. Porterfield’s still with Ireland on international duty and with few alternatives in the batting line-up, the same team that faced Middlesex will play.

We lose the toss and are put in to bowl. The wicket is dead but there’s some clouds coming in day two so we’re regretting losing this toss. Kirby gets Davies early, caught at leg slip by Gidman for 6 to get us off to a good start. The first bowling change sees Jon Lewis removing Brown, caught behind by Dent for 6. Richard Dawson comes on and Dent takes a great catch to remove Khan for 39 off his off-spin bowling. Surrey finish at 93-3 at lunch, which isn’t too bad for us. Kirby gets Afzaal with an inswinger from over the wicket, snapped up by Dent to get a breakthrough. Lewis replaces Dawson and removes Hamilton-Brown, caught at short leg by Gidman for 5. Surrey at 136 for 5 now. Ramprakash is cutting loose though, hitting a fifty with a 6 and a 4 off James Franklin. Schofield and Ramprakash look good though as Surrey get to 215 for 5 at tea. Lewis removes Ramprakash the 5th ball after tea to get the prize scalp! He hit a solid 70 this innings. Schofield and Batty take control though and it takes the new ball and an over-the-wicket Franklin to bowl Schofield for 60. Batty catches … Batty off Franklin for 44. Andre Nel provides some entertaining tail-end batting, smacking Franklin for 3 fours off one over. Lewis cleans up the tail. Surrey have set a good 339 all out. Lewis finishes with 5 for 68 and Kirby and Franklin bag 2 wickets each. Ireland struggled again. And that’s the end of day 1.

Ali and Batty start off well, especially Ali as they hit a 50 partnership in one hour. No chances for Surrey so far. Batty falls, lbw to … Batty (oh double irony), for 29 as he keeps struggling with his batting form. Kadeer Ali hits 2 fours off Schofield to get his fifty, 74 balls faced and never looked like getting out. We get 106 for 1 at lunch, which is pretty good. Ali looks solid today! Kadeer Ali keeps playing well till he gives a c&b to Tremlett, who drops it! Tremlett gets Ali though the next over, caught at second slip by Schofield for a very positive 85! (Our total being 136 at this stage!). Gidman hits a fifty, stylishly with a 6 off Dernback and he’ll be pleased with that one. 226 for 2 at tea, with Gidman and Marshall looking in good nick. We should be able to catch the Surrey total at the end of the day.

Gidman and Marshall try to take it to Surrey in the evening session but Nel bowls Gidman, out for 75. Marshall goes the next over for 45 to put a lid on our forward push. Taylor survives an easy catch at mid-off when he’s on 3 runs. Just putting off the inevitable: Dernback gets him lbw with the new ball for 11 as Taylor looks absolutely poor! Franklin goes for 5, caught deep of a big edge. Well, 280 for 6 and bad light is offered to us. We’ll take it. This ends day 2 at 280 for 6. We’ll bat as long as we can and hope to skittle out Surrey in the second innings.

Lewis goes for 19, caught behind off Batty for a good supporting innings. Chris Dent hits a lovely 50 though, 87 balls and 7 fours to take us to lead this game. Dent takes it to Surrey but falls lbw for 66, a beautiful innings from the youngster who now looks to cement his place in the side. We declare at lunch with 396 for 9 on the board. That’s 57 run lead and we need to bowl out Surrey in 2 or 3 sessions to have a chance of winning.

Davies and Brown start off well against Kirby and Franklin but rain stops play in the afternoon and a good half hour is lost. No breakthrough however, Ireland again in poor bowling form and being the one who gets hammered around. Tea has Surrey leading now, 83 for 0. Looks like this is heading to a draw, especially with more rain potentially being around.

Steve Kirby gets reward in the evening for his good form, trapping Brown lbw for 40. Davies hits a good fifty though. Kirby also gets Khan, caught at second by Ali for just 7. Ireland bowls Davies over the wicket for 82…which has some irony as Davies smashed Ireland around everywhere this innings. Lewis removes Ufzaal the next over to leave Surrey at 158 for 4. That’s not that safe yet. But no more collapse from Surrey: they end 125 runs in front as all things seem to point to a draw.

Kirby strikes the first over to get Hamilton-Brown caught by Dent, good catch, for 8. Taylor catches Schofield off Franklin for 8 runs and gets Batty the same over, caught short by Ali! Well, Surrey just lead 148 runs and only have 3 wickets left. Franklin continues his good spell, Tremlett caught behind for 1. Marshall pulls off a blinder to hold Ramprakash at third slip off Franklin again! Rain stops play though as lunch is reached with Surrey holding one wicket and leading 176 runs. Rain continues in the afternoon…just one hour to play before tea. Kirby cleans up Nel to end with 4 wickets for 69 runs. Franklin has 4 for 58. Surrey lead 190 runs…that might be too much in a session and a bit.

Well, we’re going to go for it. Batty falls lbw though, 13 runs, to Nel. Nel, in a good spell, also gets Ali caught behind for 16. That means tea and us requiring 152 runs in the final session. That seems like a lot. 33 overs left to be bowled…That’s 4.5 an over it seems. Marshall falls the first over in the session, caught in the slips. Taylor and Gidman aren’t laying down though: Taylor falls though, prodding at a poor Batty delivery for 30 runs. Franklin comes in aggressively, hitting a 4 and a 6 off Batty. We now need 70 runs off 18 over, with 6 wickets in hand. Gidman hits his fifty, super innings, off 67 balls. We trail 46 runs and have 16 overs left. Still 14 required off 4 overs….and we’re suddenly struggling…Gidman gets caught behind for 68. Lovely innings…but who will finish it? Dent goes lbw to Nel! Well, one over left and we need 8 runs! Come on, Franklin! Well now, Nel bowls a beauty to him and we only get 6….TWO RUNS SHORT OF A VICTORY! Match Drawn! Franklin has 42no but this is a disappointment!

James Franklin gets the Man of the Match but surely that’s consolation. We get 9 points, Surrey 8, but Surrey deserved their 4th consecutive defeat. Loss for us! After 4 games, we’re in 3rd position after Sussex and Derby.

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