There are runs and there are runs. Sometimes it is about the way you get
them. Casting an eye around the drawn fixtures in the latest round of County Championship matches you could be forgiven for thinking that Ben Stokes’s chest thumping rallying cry to county cricketers after sealing the 3-0 series win against New Zealand at Headingley had fallen on deaf ears. On a soporific final day only a few matches held out hope of a result as the afternoon drew on but if Stokes and McCullum delve a little deeper then they will see some performances that might please them.
The most obvious being Glamorgan chasing down a target of 332 in the
final innings against Worcestershire, Billy Root scoring an impish 99 not out to get his side over the line at New Road. The Welsh side completing a truly Stokesian turnaround after being bowled out for 139 in their first innings and conceding a lead of 132. They are still on the prowl for promotion into Division One.
There were further signs of the “Bazball” phenomenon on the south coast as Derbyshire declared on 127 for seven in Hove to set Sussex a challenging 342 to win, a target the home side hauled down in 76 overs to win by five wickets.
Stokes may have inferred that stats might not be top of the agenda but Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond impressed at the Oval, scoring twin hundreds in a first-class match for the first time in his career to defy Surrey. Rory Burns bowling an over of erratic medium pace with an eyebrow tilting three short covers at the last before the players shook hands on the draw in the spindly shadows of the gasometer.
Elsewhere, Luke Procter hit 144 not out to secure a draw for Northamptonshire against Warwickshire, partaking in a club record third-wicket stand of 226 in 51 overs with Ryan Rickelton. The South African, making his debut in County Cricket took to English conditions immediately, batting fluently for 103 runs that will please his Test captain Dean Elgar ahead of the Proteas visit later in the summer. Dom Sibley had scored a limpet-like century earlier in the game, soaking up 273 balls and 344 minutes in compiling his 102, the former England opener not getting the McCullum memo exactly.
Two other discarded England Test openers showcased their batting
chops in another Trent Bridge run-fest. Middlesex’s Mark Stoneman and Sam Robson compiling second innings centuries to ensure a draw against
Nottinghamshire. Gloucestershire and Lancashire played hokey-cokey with the weather on a frustrating final day in Bristol that was eventually called a draw in the mizzle.
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That’s all from me. Thanks for your company throughout the day, good fun that. I’d like to say thank you on behalf of the group (Tanya) and myself and I hope I passed the audition.
You’ll be glad to hear Tanya will be back on the tools for the next CCLive, in the meantime go and buy her new book!
Until next time, goodbye!
