The Reverse Sweep

12 County players to watch in 2010 - Round 4 League Table

Just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch - see Part 1 and Part 2 here. We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the coming season, so have devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress.

There wasn't too much movement in the table in round four, with Craig Kieswetter and Ravi Bopara away with England at the World T20, Steve Finn injured, as well as Surrey (Rory Hamilton-Brown and Chris Tremlett) and Notts (Alex Hales) not having games. Of those that did play only Adil Rashid with 43 for Yorkshire in their draw with Durham and Monty Panesar with three second innings wickets in Sussex's fourth successive victory of the season against Leicestershire made any real inroads into Finn's lead at the top of the table. The only other point of note was that Steve Borthwick made his first appearance for injury-hit Durham against Yorkshire.

	The Reverse Sweep's County Players to watch 2010 - League Table
	Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
	Finn	Middlesex	3	46		County Appearance	5
	Rashid	Yorkshire	4	37		Test appearance	20
	Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	3	27		Score of 40-49	3
	Panesar	Sussex	4	26		50-99	5
	Taylor	Leics	3	24		100-199	10
	Kieswetter	Somerset	2	16		200+	20
	Northeast	Kent	3	15		3 wickets in an innings	3
	Wainwright	Yorkshire	3	15		4 wickets	5
	Borthwick	Durham	1	5		5 or 6 wickets	10
	Bopara	Essex	0	0		7wickets+	20
	Hales	Notts	0	0		Catches	1
	Tremlett	Surrey	0	0		Stumpings	3
	* County championship & test matches only

12 County players to watch in 2010 - Round 3 League Table

Just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch - see Part 1 and Part 2 here. We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the coming season, so have devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress.

In the third round of matches that finished at the weekend, four of our dozen still haven't made their bow for their counties this season. Ravi Bopara has gone from the IPL to the Caribbean for the World T20, Chris Tremlett is injured again (or so we believe), Durham look like they are holding Scott Borthwick back for later in the season when pitches will be more accomodating to his leg-spin and Alex Hales has still surprisingly not been picked by Nottinghamshire. Leicestershire didn't play so James Taylor was unable to add to his tally.

Steve Finn stays top of the table but his county Middlesex lost again and both Adil Rashid, thanks to his batting rather than his bowling, and Rory Hamilton-Brown made inroads into Finn's lead. Hamilton-Brown really proved his mettle with a quickfire hundred against Worcestershire, but it wasn't enough for Surrey to win their first match of the season. Elsewhere, Craig Kieswetter failed twice with the bat as Somerset lost to Notts, David Wainwright picked up a couple of wickets for Yorkshire in their draw with Kent and Sam Northeast didn't make much of an impression in the same match. Sussex continued their excellent start to the season but Monty Panesar's bowling wasn't needed as they beat Gloucestershire on a seamer's wicket at Bristol. 

	The Reverse Sweep's County Players to watch 2010 - League Table
	Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
	Finn	Middlesex	3	46		County Appearance	5
	Rashid	Yorkshire	3	29		Test appearance	20
	Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	3	27		Score of 40-49	3
	Taylor	Leics	2	19		50-99	5
	Panesar	Sussex	3	18		100-199	10
	Kieswetter	Somerset	2	16		200+	20
	Northeast	Kent	2	10		3 wickets in an innings	3
	Wainwright	Yorkshire	2	10		4 wickets	5
	Borthwick	Durham	0	0		5 or 6 wickets	10
	Bopara	Essex	0	0		7wickets+	20
	Hales	Notts	0	0		Catches	1
	Tremlett	Surrey	0	0		Stumpings	3
	* County championship & test matches only

12 County players to watch in 2010 - Round 2 League Table

This seemed like a good idea when I devised it, but the second round of county matches didn't endear it even to its creator. But anyway we'll persevere for now.

Just before the start of the county season, we named our dozen players to watch - see Part 1 and Part 2 here. We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the coming season, so have devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress.

In the second round of games four of the dozen didn't play with Alex Hales and Scott Borthwick not selected, Ravi Bopara fulfilling his IPL commitments and Chris Tremlett presumably injured. Of those that played, no-one really made a significant impression unless you count Adil Rashid's fifty for Yorkshire. So, Steve Finn still leads the way thanks to his fourteen wicket haul against Worcestershire, and poor old Rory Hamilton-Brown is probably wishing that he had stayed at Hove.

	The Reverse Sweep's County Players to watch 2010 - League Table
	Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
	Finn	Middlesex	2	40		County Appearance	5
	Taylor	Leics	2	19		Test appearance	20
	Rashid	Yorkshire	2	18		Score of 40-49	3
	Panesar	Sussex	2	13		50-99	5
	Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	2	11		100-199	10
	Kieswetter	Somerset	1	9		200+	20
	Northeast	Kent	1	5		3 wickets in an innings	3
	Wainwright	Yorkshire	1	5		4 wickets	5
	Borthwick	Durham	0	0		5 or 6 wickets	10
	Bopara	Essex	0	0		7wickets+	20
	Hales	Notts	0	0		Catches	1
	Tremlett	Surrey	0	0		Stumpings	3
	* County championship & test matches only

12 County players to watch in 2010 - Round 1 League Table

Last week we named our dozen players to watch this county season - see Part 1 and Part 2 here. We thought it would be fun to see how the 12 fare over the coming season, so have devised what is probably a flawed points system to help assess their progress.

We aim to update the table after each round of county championship matches and will also include test matches should any of the 12 play against Bangladesh and/or Pakistan this summer. It would be far too much work to extend the league to limited overs games and in any case our 12 names were based on first-class cricket only.

In the first round of games, the outstanding performer by a mile was Steve Finn, who we already praised to the hilt yesterday. Elsewhere, James Taylor made an excellent 1st innings 88 as Leicestershire defeated Northants, Monty Panesar made a reasonable start for Sussex and Adil Rashid's batting was more impressive than his bowling on this occasion. By contrast, Rory Hamilton-Brown had a bit of a nightmare in his first match as Surrey captain as his side lost heavily to unfancied Derbyshire and he posted single figure scores in both innings.

Our other seven nominees didn't play. David Wainwright was overlooked in favour of Adil Rashid as Yorkshire opted for only one spinner on early season wickets. Chris Tremlett was presumably injured, so didn't play for Surrey whilst Ravi Bopara is earning some wonga in the IPL. Somerset, Kent, Notts and Durham didn't play so Messers Kieswetter, Northeast, Hales and Borthwick will have to wait until round two before they can make their mark.

	The Reverse Sweep's County Players to watch 2010 - League Table
	Player	County	Played	Points		Points awarded*
	Finn	Middlesex	1	35		County Appearance	5
	Taylor	Leics	1	12		Test appearance	20
	Panesar	Sussex	1	8		Score of 40-49	3
	Rashid	Yorkshire	1	8		50-99	5
	Hamilton-Brown	Surrey	1	6		100-199	10
	Borthwick	Durham	0	0		200+	20
	Bopara	Essex	0	0		3 wickets in an innings	3
	Hales	Notts	0	0		4 wickets	5
	Northeast	Kent	0	0		5 or 6 wickets	10
	Kieswetter	Somerset	0	0		7wickets+	20
	Tremlett	Surrey	0	0		Catches	1
	Wainwright	Yorkshire	0	0		Stumpings	3
	* County championship & test matches only

County preview - 12 players to watch in 2010 (Part 1: 12-7)

The new English domestic cricket season gets into full swing on Friday with the first round of county championship matches. As usual and despite the annual MCC-County Champions match decamping to Abu Dhabi, the start of the season will be low-key. Talk of pink balls, floodlights and sheikhs did create a ripple of interest but the focus of the cricket world is now firmly on the IPL, whilst England obsesses about football and the forthcoming General Election.

 

To mark the start of the season, we at the Reverse Sweep have been busy compiling our view on the players and teams to watch. Today, we name the players who fill positions twelve down to seven in our dozen cricketers to look out for this domestic season. Players six to one will follow tomorrow, with our tips for the main county prizes bringing up the rear at the end of the week.

 

The cricketers we have selected range from youngsters to former England players looking to return to national colours, but the common denominators are that they are all qualified to play for England plus we believe they will make a mark once the action starts on Friday.

 

12. Scott Borthwick, Durham

Our first selection is a bit of a punt, as 19 year old Borthwick has only played two first-class games to date. But he is a leg-spinner and we at the Reverse Sweep love leg spinners; especially English ones. Borthwick was one player who did enjoy the pink ball and the conditions in Abu Dhabi, taking match figures of 8/84 as Durhamthrashed MCC.

 

11. Sam Northeast, Kent

Old Harrovian Northeast was a child prodigy who once scored 19 hundreds in a term when only 13. He got some game time for Kent as an opener towards the end of last summer when Joe Denly was away with the England ODI squad. Northeast took his chance with some aplomb and will be looking to secure a permanent spot in the 1^st XI this summer. We’ll stick our neck out now and predict that Northeast is an England player of the future.

 

10. David Wainwright, Yorkshire

Whilst all the attention has been focused on Adil Rashid, David Wainwright has developed under the radar at Headingley. With two first-class centuries to his name and his consistent slow left-arm bowling, Wainwright is just the sort of multi-dimensional player that the England hierarchy love; and apparently he impressed them during his time with the Lions over the winter.

 

9. Ravi Bopara, Essex

Bopara is too good a player to not come back from his disappointing Ashes series last summer. He wintered in New Zealandand has started the IPL in fine fettle for Kings XI Punjab, and was deservedly picked for the World T20 squad. Expect him to score a mountain of runs for Essex in the Championship and to be knocking on the door of the test side come the end of the summer; although hopefully not as a test match number three.

 

8. Chris Tremlett, Surrey

The short move from the Rose Bowl to the Oval could be a career defining moment for Tremlett. He looked the part when he played his three tests against India in 2007, but injuries, poor form and the underlying belief of many that he lacks the killer instinct has kept him out of the test side since. Tremlett possesses all the attributes needed to succeed on Australian pitches with his height, natural bounce and accuracy. And with Steve Harmison now out of favour, a good season for Surreycould see Tremlett rival Steve Finn for this crucial role in the side.

 

7. Alex Hales, Nottinghamshire

We at the Reverse Sweep have been singing Hales’ praises even since we saw him blast a superlative 150 not out off only 102 balls in a Pro 40 match against Worcestershire last summer. He also got into the Notts championship side towards the end of last summer and did well. If he kicks on, the tall right-hander could prove a suitable successor to Marcus Trescothick at the top of the England order in time.

 

Tune in tomorrow for numbers six to one.