Hampshire - Square Leg's Story

[Square_Leg]

Away v Northamptonshire

Northants haven't won a game yet but then neither had Lancs and look what happened there. We arrive to find grey clouds and a what looks like a village green pitch.

The team is as such:

1. McKenzie
2. Adams
3. Carberry
4. Dawson
5. Bailey
6. Wheater
7. Ervine
8. Bradley
9. Balcombe
10. Tomlinson
11. Briggs

We hand Bradley a FC debut. He has been doing well in the 2nds. Wood misses out as he too is on the physio couch.

We win the toss and have a bat. This pitch is only going to get worse.

1st Innings

Mckenzie goes for a duck and Carberry follows a little while later for 41. Adams (59) and Dawson (57) get things rolling though both passing 50 just after lunch. Both fall though halfway through the session and things start to go down hill. Bailey (25) offers a little resistance but it is Ervine (45*) and Bradley (19) who see us past 200.

Just before the new ball we are all out for 238. Probably about par considering the conditions.

2nd Innings

Northants have a tricky period before the end of day 1 to negotiate which they don't do well losing Newton (3), Peters (21) and Sales (21) all before the close.

The next morning things don't really improve for them and Tomlinson is on song picking up 5-47. Bradley gets his first scalp too. Northants all out for 144 in 50 overs.

3rd Innings

I feel that with a lead of 300 we can win this game so we set off with the mindset of not losing wickets and occupying the crease. runs are slow but an opening stand of 95 gives us a great start. McKenzie (55) and Adams (42 from 199 with only 1 four!) do the job but then we collapse to 154-7. Up step Ervine who attacks knowing the tail probably won' last long. He hits 83 from 75 balls and means that we post a daunting target of 360 to win.

4th Innings

Northants start well with Newton (67) and Peters (45) putting on 110 for the 1st wicket. But then Dawson and Briggs start to operate in tandem. Briggs gets Peters as the first but then Dawson rips through them getting 5 wickets very quickly. He is replaced by Tomlinson who, on the back of his 5 in the 1st innings proceeds to clean Northants up.

In the end they make 238 all out and we win! Tomlinson 4-35 and Dawson 5-30.

Championship	back up to 4th with a game in hand over 3rd.
Batting Award	Ervine was the man
Bowling Award	Tomlinson for 9 wickets

[Square_Leg]

Home v Kent

Straight into it here:

1. McKenzie
2. Adams
3. Carberry
4. Dawson
5. Ervine
6. Wheater
7. Wood
8. Dyer
9. Balcombe
10. Tomlinson
11. Briggs

Lots of bowling options there but the batting may be a little light... Only time will tell.

We lose the toss and bowl.

1st Innings

Balcombe nips out Northeast (7) early and Wood gets Nash (21) just he looked like he was getting going. Just before lunch I bowl my customary couple of overs of spin and Key (43) nips one to slip. They are 98-3. Session 1 to us!

After lunch I decide to give Briggs one more and he gets Powell (16) caught behind. Wood meanwhile is finding his form again after a pretty mediocre start to the season as he has Stevens (14) caught at 2nd slip. Edwards and Harmison start to build though and at tea Kent have recovered to 190-5. Session was a little more even but we are still on top I think.

The new ball doesn't see us create a hell of a lot and it is only when Balcombe has Edwards (66) trapped LBW with the score on 248 that we get our 6th wicket. Coles and Harmison hang on until the close of the day and Kent have made it to 256-6. That was Kent's session. Overall the game is closely balanced.

Day 2 and the Kent tail crumbles to 269 all out. Harmison (71) did well but Wood (36-15-84-4) and Briggs (26.3-5-57-4) bowled superbly.

2nd Innings

McKenzie (9) falls early to Coles (now at Hamphire on loan in real life!) but that only brings Carberry to the crease who looks in good form. We make it to lunch at 48-1. Our session.

Adams plods along but he is trapped LBW by Shreck for 34. Carberry continues and passes 50 midway through the session. At tea we are 131-2. Our session also.

The final session sees us score at a decent pace. Dawson has a few scares as he bunts a few balls into the covers, but other than that it all goes to plan. Carberry gets to his first ton of the season just before the close. Score is 206-2. Very much our session.

Day 3 and the runs keep flowing. Dawson passes 50 but there is a setback when Carberry is caught in the slips for 130. Ervine comes in and takes over where Carberry left off. Dawson is flowing now and gets to his first ton of the year just before lunch. Score is 322-3.

After lunch Ervine is caught at slip for 36 and the out of form Wheater joins Dawson. Some tame bowling allows him to get a start and he makes a useful 38 before being bowled. Dawson (135) falls next but his innings was very well made after a tricky start. The tail is going o have a swing and see if we can get some quick runs. If not then we can a decent bowl at Kent before the end of the day. Tea score is 412-6.

Both Wood and Balcombe make 34 and we are all out for 483. A lead of 213. Kent have 35 mins to survive until the end of the day.

3rd Innings

Kent survive. We have a day to bowl them out. By lunch we only have 2 wickets, both the openers fall to Tomlinson. Must do better next session!

Briggs gets to work picking up Powell, Edwards and Nash. Dyer then chips in on the cusp of tea with Stevens. 165-6 and we need to crack their tail.

Its getting close... Wood and the new ball remove Coles but Harmison is proving stubborn but Wood cracks him with 50 mins to go. Tomlinson then bowls Billings and we are very close needing just 1 wicket with 38 mins remaining. Briggs does it bowling Shreck and we win by and Innings and 3 runs! Woot!

Championship	We are 3rd on 89pts 15 behind Essex in 2nd and 29 behind Gloucestershire who are top. We play Gloucs next - we spanked them in the 1st match.
Batting awards	Carberry was more fluent but Dawson was excellent too
Bowling award	Danny Briggs is starting to perform really well.

[Square_Leg]

Home v Gloucestershire

Here is the team:

1. McKenzie
2. Adams
3. Carberry
4. Dawson
5. Ervine
6. Wheater
7. Mascarenhas
8. Wood
9. Balcombe
10. Tomlinson
11. Briggs

Weather looks awful and the pitch should seam about a bit. We win the toss and put them into bat.

1st Innings

Gloucestershire seemed to always be ahead of the game but we eventually dismissed them for 247 which wasn't too bad. Roderick (67) and Dent (59) where the mainstay of their innings but we chipped away. Wood (4-51) and Briggs (4-82) were the dangermen again bowling really well in tandem with one-another. We lost a whole session and a quarter on the 1st day to rain so as we begin our innings it is already nearly at tea on day 2.

2nd Innings

We last until tea without losing a wicket but after tea McKenzie is out for just 14. His form is dipping and we may need to drop him next game. The day ends with bad light and we go into day 3 at 68-1.

Unfortunately a spurt of wickets see us in trouble as Carberry (23), Dawson (4), Adams (50) and Wheater (16) all head back to the warmth of the pavilion before tea. The score is 164-5.

Ervine and Mascarenhas bat well and spot an opportunity when Fuller and Payne start bowling badly in tandem. The aggression is upped and it pays off as we get the scores level. Gloucestershire then take the new ball and Ervine falls for 74. Mascarenhas falls a couple of overs later for 52 and it is up to the tail to build us a lead. At tea we are 276-8.

Wood and Briggs pull off a blinder after Tomlinson departs cheaply in the evening session. Wood goes full on attack whilst Briggs looks to just keep them out. It pays off as Wood scores 90 from 95 balls. Briggs scored just 17 in a partnership worth 90. We lead by 135 and actually have a chance on a wearing wet pitch. 382 all out was a great effort from 139-5.

3rd Innings

There are 3 overs left before the end of day 3 in which nothing happens except 10 runs. The next morning starts quietly enough with Mascarenhas and Balcombe not really creating that much. It takes a jaffer of a bouncer from Dimmi to remove Klinger and we are underway. Wood comes on the replace Balcombe and gets Roderick LBW with his 3rd ball. We have a really good chance with him removed. If we can get Dent then I'll feel pretty confident of wrapping this up.

Marshall and Dent seem to be rescuing Gloucs here and I'm nervous about getting a win. We don't have that many runs to play with and as their partnership reaches 75 Balcombe pulls out a couple of great overs to get both men in quick succession. At lunch they are 108-4 and we lead by 25. Realistically we need to get them in this next session which with the bounce being "erratic" we have a chance to do.

Wood gives us a shout again by dismissing Cockbain (36) and then du Toit (0) very next ball. We are up against their tail now but there isn't long left and Gloucs a lead already...

In an inspired move by the captain, the ball is tossed to Dawson to see if he can come up with anything. He gets a bit of tap but then has Howell caught in close. Meanwhile Wood at the other end picks up Payne for 14. Bowl full and straight and make them play... Mascarenhas has Saxelby trapped LBW and then an over later Norwell nips him to the keeper! 202 all out and we require 68 with a session and an over to go!

4th Innings

I decide to open up with Dawson and Carberry but Carberry departs for 14. We should still win this though so long as it doesn't rain...

It stays dry and we win with an hour to go! Dawson (34*) and McKenzie (16*) see us through.

Championship	Essex drew with Lancs which means we are level on points with them in 2nd on 111. Gloucs are top still on 119.
Batting award	Chris Wood made a quite brilliant 90 to set the win up
Bowling award	Well Chris Wood completes an excellent allround performance claiming 8-97 in the game. Superstar!

[Square_Leg]

Mid season review of the County Championship

We have now played 8 of the 16 games in the County Championship so I'm going to take this opportunity to have a look at how the season is developing in both divisions.



Division 1

Warwickshire are looking very dominant this year boasting a 30 point lead over 2nd placed Yorkshire. Nottinghamshire still have a game in hand which if they win will put them very close to Yorkshire in 2nd. Derbyshire are having a terrible season and languish at the foot of the table with it seemingly inevitable that they will be relegated this year. The 2nd relegation spot is harder to predict with Durham (this year winners irl) currently in that spot.

Division 2

Gloucestershire are top by 8 points from us and Essex. I'm not sure why we are placed in 2nd over Essex especially since they won the rubber they played but I'm not going to complain if come the end of the season we go up instead of them! We have played everyone except Gamorgan with the extra game against Gloucs. Right now I'm feeling really confident of going up but that can quickly change in this game. The reason Hampshire sit in 2nd is mainly that form has moved around the side freely and we haven't had to rely on any one or two people to perform. You can see this in the batting and bowling stats which I'll put up next.

Predictions

Div1

Winners - Warwickshire although I'd love Notts to come from behind!

Relegation - Derbyshire and Sussex

Div2

Promotion - Hampshire and Essex. I'm not sure Gloucestershire have the batting to maintain their position.

Wooden spoon - Lancashire

Player Stats

Batting



The runs have been spread about a bit with no one stand out performer. Carberry is the only one I would expect to be doing slightly better but he wasn't in very good form for quite a long time. His 130 against Kent got things rolling and I hope he can have a good end to the season.

Wheater has been better than expected although his average is built on that great 171 in the record partnership with Bailey and a 104* against the university side.

Bowling



Balcombe was the man at the stat of the season but recently he hasn't been great. Tomlinson has been chipping in all season and in all honesty, I should have bowled him more. Wood was bad at the start of the season but recently he has been top dog. Briggs too started badly but now he is quite dangerous and Dyer nicely complemented that by being dangerous at the start but not so much now.

Dawson is the go to man for breaking partnerships and Ervine has chipped in nicely. With the return of Mascarenhas we have another option for when Balcombe/Wood or Tomlinson is out of form.

The bowling has been really strong of late. The last 6 innings of the opposition have been 202,247,211,269,238,144. A team bowling average of ~21.8. That's what has won us 3 games in a row and put us in contention.

Next up we have 2 40-40 games followed by the start of the 20-20 campaign.

[Square_Leg]

40 Over vs Derbyshire

1. Vince
2. Carberry
3. Dawson
4. Ervine
5. Terry
6. Dyke
7. Mascarenhas
8. Wheater
9. Briggs
10. Wood
11. Tomlinson

We win the toss and have a bat.

1st Innings

Vince (78) and Carberry (21) get us off to a good start and there is support from Dawson (20), Ervine (39) and then Terry (56) that set up a good total of 231-6. Should be enough against a poor Derbyshire side.

2nd Innings

Derbyshire get off to a flyer and their whole innings is based around one man - Durston. He doesn't find much support though and despite his 123, Derbyshrie fall short 216 all out in the 39th over.

Table	We are still right up there but Durham keep on winning to stay top
Batting award	James Vince - he is a very good one day opener
Bowling award	Mascarenhas bowled really well in the middle section claiming 2-42.

40 Over v Durham

A win here would be really useful for our qualification aspirations.

We name an unchanged team for this game and lose the toss but bat on a decent track.

1st Innings

Vince (112 from 98) was superb but the support was bitty... Carberry (33), Terry (24) and Dyke (26) where the only real partners he found as we posted 235-6. This still is a very good total and one that we could certainly win with.

2nd Innings

We just couldn't really get a grip on the game as they started their innings with Mustard (37), Soneman (52) and Collingwood (50) all scoring at about 5.5-6 runs an over. We got a couple of wickets but because they weren't ever really behind the rate it allowed Benkenstein (47*) and Snell (32*) to see them home on the last ball.

A close game but we lost.

Table	We are still 2nd but Durham are 4pts clear at the top
Batting award	James Vince once more! Great ton
Bowling award	No one person stood out but Tomlinson had the best figures.