Championship Review - Final Week

And so another thrilling season ends, with issues at the top and the bottom of Division 1 going right down to the wire. In another shock move, my predictions from last week turn out to be spot on. And congratulations to Warwickshire, who pip Worcestershire to the 2nd division title

Division 1
Durham started the week in second position and needed a win against struggling Kent, who also needed good points in their battle against relegation. Putting Kent into bat, Durham made a great start, Steve Harmison taking four wickets as Kent made just 225. In reply, Durham declared on 500 for 8, with Mike di Venuto scoring 90 and Gareth Breese an unbeaten 121. Kent were quickly reduced to 17 for 3 in reply and with Callum Thorp getting the first seven wickets to fall, never looked like making Durham bat again. Harmison cleaned up the tail and Durham won by an innings and were now waiting on the Nottinghamshire result. Kent took just two points from the game and were reliant on a positive result between Yorkshire and Sussex to stay up.

Nottinghamshire were entertaining Hampshire, who also started the week with their eyes on the title. Durham’s haul of bonus points put paid to that, but they started match very much on an even keel, with their 203 being only slightly bettered by Notts 211, Notts losing their last five wickets for just 9 runs, thanks largely to Imran Tahir. Second time round, Hants found batting easier, amassing 449 for 5, with 93 from Michael Brown and unbeaten centuries from Nic Pothas and Liam Dawson. Notts thus needed 442 to win at a run rate of around 6 an over to take the title. They gambled in opening with Graeme Swann. However, the task was too great for them and they were bowled out for 238 to give Durham the title.

Meanwhile at Sussex, the relegation battle between the home team and Yorkshire was twisting and turning day after day. Yorkshire, who started the week in the relegation zone, batted first and were 80 for 6 at the end of Day 1. However, centuries from spin duo Adil Rashid and David Wainwright, with support from Tim Bresnan and Matthew Hoggard got Yorkshire to 400 for 9 and maximum batting points. Sussex were then reduced to 207 all out, despite a century from Chris Nash. Second time round, batting was easier for Sussex with a Murray Goodwin century leading Sussex to a draw on 397 for 9, despite Rashid taking seven wickets. Both teams stay in Division 1 and will look to build on seasons that promised more.

At Taunton, the home team still had hopes of the title, while Lancashire were still in danger of relegation. However, the goings on between Durham and Kent soon put paid to both eventualities. Somerset struggled to 202 all out in their first innings, conceding a lead of 46 to Lancs who made 248. Somerset then made 227 second time round, with Gary Keedy taking 5 wickets. Lancs knocked off the 183 to win for the loss of two wickets, with Mark Chilton making 93.

In a spirit of disbelief rather than anything else, last week I wrote:

Prediction time: Very rarely this season has a team stayed at the top for more than a week (and most teams have topped the table at some point). I am therefore going to predict a Hants win over Notts, opening the door for Durham to take the title, whose win will relegate Kent, as Sussex and Yorks play out a draw.

I just wish I’d put some money on it!

Congratulations to Durham, whose mix of local talent and Kolpak experience has taken them to their first title, despite the loss of Paul Collingwood for most of the season and Steve Harmison for parts of it. Commiserations to Notts and to Kent, who were the only ever-present team in Division 1.

Division 2
The only unfinished business was whether Warwickshire could take the title and they started with 315 against Glamorgan, despite Adam Shantry taking five wickets. Glamorgan, who have had a much more promising 2008, then subsided to 193, with the 18 year old Chris Woakes taking 6 wickets. Second time round, the Bears made 280, with Shantry taking another five wickets. Not to be outdone, Woakes also took his tally to ten in the match and with Neil Carter taking five wickets Glamorgan made 223 to give Warwickshire a win by 179 runs and the Division 2 title.

Essex’s title hopes were finished by Warwicks last week, but they put that disappointment behind them to make 510 against bottom club Gloucestershire, Varun Chopra getting his first ton of the season and James Foster continuing his recent good run with another century. Gloucester made just 195 in reply. Second time round a century from Kadeer Ali and an obdurate unbeaten 70 from Steve Snell saw Gloucester to a draw.

Middlesex have finished the season well and scored 545 for 7 against previously challenging Northamptonshire. Centuries for Andrew Strauss, Owais Shah and Eoin Morgan, with Monty Panear taking five wickets. Northants made 256 in reply, with Shaun Udal taking 5 wickets and after Middlesex had declared on 171 for 2 second time round, Northants needed 461 to win. A century from Rob White and 95 from Riki Wessels took Northants to within a hundred runs. However, with the last four wickets falling for 6 runs Middlesex ran out victors.

Finally, Derbyshire opened up with 194 against Leicestershire, Garnett Kruger taking five wickets. In reply, Jake Needham took 6 wickets as Leicester made 208. Derby managed 203 second time round, leaving Leicester needing 193 for victory, which they made with the loss of just 2 wickets thanks to an unbeaten 84 from Boata Dippenaar.

So Warwickshire and Worcestershire go up, while Middlesex must be wondering what would have happened if they had found their end of season form a couple of weeks earlier. At the bottom, Gloucestershire finish winless.

England Player watch
The last chace to make an impression before the winter tour is announced and centuries for Andrew Strauss, Owais Shah, James Foster and Adil Rashid will advance their cases while Eoin Morgan will surely make at least the Lions tour. Ravi Bopara missed out on the Essex run-fest.

Steve Harmison took seven wickets, as did Monty Panesar while Adil Rashid went two better with nine.

Player of the Week
All of the important action was in Division 1, so while Chris Woakes and Adam Shantry bowled well, the main contenders come from the top flight. Bowling brilliantly to take Durham to the title was Callum Thorp. However, coming into bat at 80 for 6 with relegation looking certain and marshalling the tail to get to 400, then taking nine wickets to almost force a victory, the Player of the Week is Adil Rashid.

Championship Review – Week 11

New leaders (again) in Division 1 as Notts have the week off, while at the wrong end of the table, the bottom two are beginning to come adrift. In Division 2, last year’s relegated teams occupy the top spots after big wins.

Division 1
With Nottinghamshire having a week off, Kent were the best placed team to take advantage. Somerset, however, had different ideas and set off like a train to record 427 all out at nearly 5 runs an over. The three bowling points did take Kent to virtual top spot, but that was as good as it got for them as they were bowled out for 208. Somerset declared second time round on 243 for 8 leaving Kent needing 463 to win, with Rob Key unable to bat for family reasons. Stefan Jones took 5 wickets, Kent made 216 and Somerset move up to second, ahead of Kent, who stay third.

This meant that Durham had the chance to go top as they played Surrey at the Guildford festival. Guildford is normally a batsman’s paradise. However, while Scott Newman didn’t seem to have many difficulties, his 113 was more than half the team score of 220 as Surrey were missing both Marks Ramprakash and Butcher from their middle order. Will Smith, the man most likely to make way for Paul Collingwood, then made an unbeaten 201 as Durham scored 410 for a healthy first innings lead. Surrey did better second time round scoring 323. However, Durham knocked off the 134 needed for victory without losing a wicket and move to the top of the table. Surrey, however, are struggling.

Also struggling were Sussex and Hampshire who met at Arundel. Sussex batted first and recovered from 25 for 4 thanks to a stand of 194 between Murray Goodwin (184) and Carl Hopkinson (106), ending up on 426 all out, James Tomlinson taking 5-fer. Corey Collymore took four wickets as Hants were unable to meet the follow on target, making just 257. They did even worse second time round, scoring 179, Ollie Rayner taking 5 wickets as he bids to keep the returning Mushtaq out of the team. Sussex scored the 11 they required without loss to move up the table while Hants remain bottom.

Division 2
The top two met at Uxbridge, with Warwickshire batting first and making 393, built around a stand of 157 between Jim Troughton and Tony Scott. Middlesex could only make 170 in reply, and then made 3 less in their second innings, Chris Woakes showing his promise with a five wicket haul. The Bears thus won by an innings and remain well set for promotion.

Also pushing hard for promotion are Worcestershire, for whom the match saw Simon Jones facing his old county, Glamorgan for the first time. Batting first, Worcester declared on 457 for 8, with Ben Smith top scoring on 99. Imran Arif then took five wickets on his debut as Glamorgan made 279. Following on, they made the same score in their second innings, with Kabir Ali taking 6 wickets. Worcester made the 102 required without losing a wicket and move into second.

Northamptonshire were also looking to make up ground towards the top of the table. However, the weather, and a flat Northampton pitch meant that their game with Derbyshire could not produce a result. Batting first, Derby declared on 485 for 7, thanks largely to a stand of 203 between Graham Wagg and Jonathan Clare, both of whom hit tons. Clare then turned to his stronger suit and took seven wickets as Northants made 341. Batting again second time round, Derby were in a strong position at 278 for 5, Chris Rogers getting a ton, when the game drew to a close.

England Player Watch
Following the surprise selection of Darren Pattinson, it would seem that any player is fair game. However, I will keep the search to those I believe should be considered rather than Australian wild cards.

Owais Shah had a pretty miserable time with the bat as Middlesex collapsed twice, while neither Rob Key nor Joe Denley were able to put pressure on the England top order. As the wicket-keeper debate starts again, Matt Prior’s runs have dried up. Stephen Davies, however, made 83 for Worcester.

Bowling-wise, Simon Jones had a quiet match against his old county, although encouragingly, he did bowl 21 overs in the first innings (taking 3 wickets). Steve Harmison took 6 wickets for Durham while Liam Plunkett continued his recovery from injury with 5 wickets.

Player of the Week
I normally like the winning player to have had an impact in a positive result. However, despite the double hundred for Will Smith, Kabir Ali’s 6-fer and Chris Woakes’s performance, this weeks award goes to the stand out performer in a drawn game. For an unbeaten 129 and 7 for 74 in the only competed innings of his match, this weeks Player of the Week is Jonathan Clare.