The Reverse Sweep

County Championship XI of the week #12

Neil McKenzie (Hampshire) - Whilst his former South African team mates ground England into the dust at The Oval, the Hampshire opener took 139 runs off the Essex attack at Chelmsford. 

Sam Northeast (Kent) - Hit a stylish hundred - the fourth of his first-class career - as the game with Glamorgan petered out to a draw.

Nick Compton (Somerset) - Kept his side in the game against Warwickshire with an unbeaten 73 in the first innings and then provided sterling support to Kieswetter as Somerset pulled off a remarkable turnaround at Taunton. 

Jim Troughton (Warwickshire) - The captain's hundred looked to have set up a decisive advantage for the title challengers at Taunton before Somerset turned the tables in the second innings.

Craig Kieswetter (Somerset) - Bludgeoned Somerset to a narrow one wicket victory against the Division 1 leaders with 152 from just 170 balls at Taunton.

Moeen Ali (Worcestershire) - Won the battle of the part-time bowlers with 12 wickets to Steven Croft's nine as Lancashire were humbled at Old Trafford.  

David Wheater (Essex) - Nearly pulled off a remarkable heist at Chelmsford, but with his score on 98 and Essex just three runs short of their 360 run target, the keeper holed out to Sean Ervine on the long-on boundary

Ben Scott (Worcestershire) - A week for keepers - as well as Kieswetter and Wheater, Mark Wallace hit a hundred and Chris Read 98, but Scott's 1st innings hundred proved decisive in a low-scoring contest at Old Trafford.

Alfonso Thomas (Somerset) - Demonstrated that he isn't just a limited overs specialist with nine wickets as Somerset beat previously unbeaten Warwickshire at Taunton. 

Steve Magoffin (Sussex) - Was the difference between the sides at Arundel with match figures of nine for 50 (off 34.4 overs) and then hit the winning runs after Sussex had stumbled in their pursuit of 94 against basement side Durham.

James Tomlinson (Hampshire) - Grabbed five for 86 including the final wicket of Wheater as Hampshire narrowly defeated Essex at Chelmsford.

Where next?

Read our previous County Championship XI's of the week

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship XI of the week #11

The Championship returned at long last, but the weather was just as bad as when the Friends Life T20 interrupted proceedings at the start of June, but we still managed (just) to cobble together an XI of the week...

Andrew Strauss (Middlesex) - Scored 50 out of his side's dismal 1st innings total of 98 and then demonstrated he is ready for the South Africans with an unbeaten 127 against Notts at Uxbridge.

Joe Root (Yorkshire) - Many believe the young Yorkshireman is the heir apparent to Strauss at the top of the order of England's Test side and a classy unbeaten career best 222 at Southampton certainly confirmed his candidature.

Kevin Pietersen (Surrey) - Amidst the soap opera of the has he or hasn't he retired from limited overs international cricket, KP's rare foray into county cricket produced a quite stunning 234 not out off just 190 balls against the county champions at Guildford. 

Steven Croft (Lancashire) - Hit a career best 154 not out at Guildford but was ultimately overshadowed by the rain and Pietersen's remarkable innings.

Jim Allenby (Glamorgan) - Steered his side to their first win of the season and lifted them off the bottom of Division 2 with a brisk half century at Northampton as the Welsh side successfully chased down 351.

Chris Read (Nottinghamshire) - Struck his fifth fifty plus score of the season to put his side in the ascendancy at Uxbridge before the rain fell again. 

Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire) - Hit his third hundred in eight Championship innings to help secure maximum batting points at Edgbaston and then added three wickets to lift Warwickshire to the top of Division 1. 

Andre Adams (Nottinghamshire) - Took his tally of Championship wickets for the season to 46 (at just 15.5) with a six wicket 1st innings haul at Uxbridge before the rain prevented Notts from going clear at the top of Division 1. 

Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire) - Not for the first time this season the rain fell on Edgbaston, but the New Zealander's five for 77 at least ensured maximum bowling points for his side.

Tim Murtagh (Middlesex) - Grabbed four wickets at Uxbridge to take his season's tally to 34 at 25.

Reece Topley (Essex) - The 18 year old future England Test bowler took three of the four wickets to fall as rain ruined the first part of the Cheltenham Festival.

Where next?

Read our previous County Championship XI's of the week

Kevin Pietersen's retirement from limited-overs cricket: the case for the defence

Hedley Verity - a proper hero with 'no breaking point'

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Tom Maynard RIP: He'll always be 23...

At the start of the season as we selected our County Championship XI to watch in 2012 we suggested that Tom Maynard was a good outside bet for England's squad to defend the World T20 trophy in Sri Lanka in September. Now we will tragically never know.

The circumstances surrounding his death are still shrouded in mystery, but it seems he was hit by a tube train after running away from police who had stopped his car in the early hours of the morning.

23 is no age to die. Like Ben Hollioake before him, we will never know now how good Maynard could have been and whether he could had the successful international career that his father Matthew so richly deserved.

Maynard hit over 1,000 runs in the championship at 40 in his debut year for Surrey last season after moving from Glamorgan to help his new side to promotion. He already had 525 at 40.38 this season including a phenomenally good hundred at New Road that nearly enabled Surrey to win after following on. But it was as a hard hitting ODI or T20 batsman and brilliant fielder that Maynard was likely to first break into the England side.

We heard Stereophonics 'Local Boy in the Photograph' on the radio this morning for the first time in ages. This was a couple of hours before the terrible news surfaced about Maynard, and it is his fellow Welshmen that perhaps have the most poignant words on this desperately sad day:

"He'll always be 23, yet the train runs on and on
And all the friends lay down the flowers
Sit on the banks and drink for hours
Talk of the way they saw him last
Local boy in the photograph
Today
He's gone away"

Rest in peace, young dragon.

Where next?

An XI of cricketers that tragically died young

County Championship Division 2 XI of 2011

Cricket Heroes: Graham Dilley R.I.P

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County Championship of the week #10

Chris Rogers (Middlesex) - We've said it before and doubtless we'll say it again but it's criminal that the Victorian has played just one Test. His 173 against Somerset at Lord's emphasised his classy batsmanship once again.

Joe Denly (Middlesex) - Rogers' accomplice in a 245 run stand for the 2nd wicket continued his renaissance since arriving from Kent - his record in the championship in 2012 is 557 runs at 61.88.

Nick Compton (Somerset) - The batsman of the season continued to shine with 275 minutes of defiance for 69 to prevent Middlesex from securing the victory their dominance deserved. 

Luke Wells (Sussex) - Scored his second hundred of the season against Surrey to rescue his side from 87 for six and instead secure a winning position at Horsham.

Ravi Bopara (Essex) - Whilst Jonny Bairstow continued his struggles in the Test series against West Indies, Bopara put on a batting exhibition against Northants with 174 for his second ton of the week.

Liam Dawson (Hampshire) - Finally passed fifty for the first time in a disappointing season and promptly turned it into a fine unbeaten 134 not out against Kent.

James Foster (Essex) - Completed the 18th first-class hundred of his career in the rain-affected clash with Northants as he and Bopara added a mammoth 294 for the fifth wicket.

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) - Continued his impressive belated start to the season with seven wickets and 29 runs at Durham where a washout on the final day ruined what looked set to be a tremendous finish between the sides at the top and bottom of the table.

James Anyon (Sussex) - Fine all-round match at Horsham with four 1st innings wickets, a career-best 64 not out and then two of the final three Surrey 2nd innings wickets to fall as Sussex won in the final half hour. 

Monty Panesar (Sussex) - Helped Anyon add 80 for the final wicket and then produced a high-class exhibition of spin bowling to send Surrey spiralling to defeat - his 2nd innings analysis was 32-21-33-3.

Tim Groenewald (Derbyshire) - Whilst Tony Palladino's hat-trick stole the headlines it was Groenewald's five for 29 that looked to have helped his table-topping side create a winning position against Leicestershire before the rain intervened.

Where next?

Read our previous County Championship XI's of the week

We Need To Talk About Durham - we really do

Guantanamo Cricket Club - seriously, we're not kidding...

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We Need To Talk About Durham - we really do

We were reminded last weekend by an amused Lancashire supporting friend that we predicted Durham would be County Champions prior to the start of the season.

Given that his tottering champions had just registered the first victory of their faltering campaign at Chester-le-Street of all places to leave my tip languishing at the bottom of Division 1 he was particularly sarcastic and downright irritating in his sanctimonious baiting.

But we grudgingly did concede that he had a point. Our prediction was up there with Neville Chamberlain's on his return from Berlin in 1938 when he confidently declared 'peace in our time' after supposedly securing guarantees from Adolf Hitler that he had no intention of invading any other territories in Eastern Europe.

So, the trials and tribulations of Durham's puzzlingly disastrous start to the season seemed as good a topic as any for our latest piece for All Out Cricket's sparklingly good website.

Of course since then Durham have had the better of a tight clash with the previously indestructible Warwickshire and given good weather and a strong final day could finally register their first win of the season. Durham's position has been created by two typically battling innings by Paul Collingwood - a player whose struggles we highlighted in our piece and a five wicket haul from Chris Rushworth - a bowler we failed to mention.

Irrespectively, we still believe that We Need To Talk About Durham.

Where next? 

The Plan by Steve James | Book review

Cricket heroes: Paul Collingwood

County Championship XI of the week

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County Championship XI of the week #9

Paul Horton (Lancashire) - Whilst Joe Root's hundred at Northampton was a more classy knock, Horton carried his bat in a 225 minute rearguard for 49 not out, enabled others to play around him and secured his side a lead that finally led to the reigning champions breaking their duck for the season.

Michael Thornely (Leicestershire) - Overcame the disappointment of missing his maiden first-class ton by three runs in the 1st innings to secure it second time around to frustrate Glamorgan at Cardiff.

Nick Compton (Somerset) - The weather may have prevented him from reaching the Holy Grail of 1,000 first-class runs by the end of May, but achieving the milestone just one day late with his fourth ton of the season was still a mightily impressive feat for the grandson of the Brylcreem Boy.

Marcus North (Glamorgan) - Sublime hundred helped Glamorgan - the Australian's sixth county - top 550 at Cardiff even if it did provide an impressive template for Thornely and Eckersley to emulate shortly after.

Alex Gidman (Gloucestershire) - The captain stroked 129 as high-flying Derbyshire were surprisingly downed at Bristol.

Ben Stokes (Durham) - A first championship ton of the season set up a tremendous match at Chester-le-Street and demonstrated that the talented youngster's star is going in the other direction from that of his rapidly fading bottom of the table side.

Ned Eckersley (Leicestershire) - A career best 137 not out saw the keeper add 245 in 88 overs with Thornely and earn his side a draw at Cardiff.

Will Gidman (Gloucestershire) - Why settle for one Gidman brother in the XI when you can have two? Will took four for 29 to skittle Derbyshire for 95 and then after Alex's hundred followed up with four more in the 2nd innings at Bristol.

Luke Proctor (Lancashire) - A maiden first-class five for saw Durham shot out for just 102 in the basement battle at Chester-le-Street. Three more when the home side batted for the second time helped the champions finally record a first win of the campaign.

Kyle Hogg (Lancashire) - Grabbed four wickets as the support act to Proctor and as he did several times last season added vital runs with the bat - 33 in the 1st innings to earn a decent lead and a quickfire 13 not out to beat Onions and the clock in the nick of time as the match came to a tumultuous end.

Graham Onions (Durham) - A career best eleven for 95 was still not enough to foil Lancashire, but his season record of 34 wickets at 12.61 and a strike rate of 29.7 plus the fact he is a more like-for-like replacement for the rested Anderson means he could earn his first Test cap for two and a half years at Edgbaston later this week.

Where next?

The Holy Grail, Nick Compton, Indiana Jones and the dastardly Graeme Hick

Read our previous County Championship weekly XIs

Read our Division 1 previews: Durham, Lancashire, Middlesex, Notts, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire and Worcestershire

Division 2 previews: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northants and Yorkshire

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The Holy Grail, Nick Compton, Indiana Jones and the dastardly Graeme Hick

So in the end God’s only way of preventing Nick Compton from drinking from the Holy Grail of 1,000 first-class runs by the end of May was to send the rain clouds to Worcester. Compton was playing himself in and had reached nine not out – just 50 runs short of the landmark – when the deluge arrived and play was abandoned for the day.

We’re pretty sure Graeme Hick had an influence somewhere. The last man to sup nectar from the legendary grail accomplished his feat at his beloved New Road in 1988. God and Hick obviously decided between them that for Compton to have the temerity to try and emulate the former Worcestershire batsman at the same ground was too much.

So Nick Compton is no Indiana Jones after all then.

Where next?

Nick Compton and the Holy Grail

Kevin Pietersen's retirement from limited-overs cricket: the case for the defence

Nick Compton: runs and jokes at Kevin Pietersen's expense

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County Championship of the week #8

Riki Wessels (Nottinghamshire) - The full-time website entrepreneur and part-time county cricketer blasted a career best 199 as Notts beat Sussex at Hove for the first time since 1983 to go back to the top of the table.

James Middlebrook (Northamptonshire) - Scored a hundred as an emergency opener and then rounded things off with the ball with a five wicket haul to defeat Gloucestershire in the nick of time at Wantage Road.

Wes Durston (Derbyshire) - Brisk hundred at Chelmsford to help unfancied Derbyshire extend their lead at the top of Division 2.

Mike Powell (Kent) - Second hundred of the season for the revitalised former Glamorgan man as Kent thumped Leicestershire at Canterbury.

Sean Ervine (Hampshire) - Rescued Hampshire's first innings with an unbeaten 104 to help his side to a narrow win over Glamorgan at the Rose Bowl.

Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire) - Steered his side to a tricky winning target of 222 with an unbeaten 89 at The Oval.

Gareth Batty (Surrey) - Ten wickets in the match was still not enough for Surrey to overcome Warwickshire at The Oval.

David Wainwright (Derbyshire) - His renaissance since arriving from Yorkshire continued with a third five for and eight wickets in all as Essex were brushed aside at Chelmsford.

Mat Coles (Kent) - Glorious season continued with another five for to skittle Leicestershire on the opening day at Canterbury. His season's tally now stands at 34 first-class wickets at 18.

David Balcombe (Hampshire) - Took six wickets and made crucial knocks of 39 and 26 to help his side scrape past Glamorgan. The leading wicket taker in the country with 38 at 20.

George Dockrell (Somerset) - Spun Durham into deeper oblivion at Taunton with six for 29 - including four in nine balls - as a young Somerset side continue to impress. Completes our army of spin in this XI.

Where next?

Nick Compton and the Holy Grail

2nd Test: England vs West Indies - England marks out of 10

Read our previous County Championship weekly XIs

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Nick Compton and the Holy Grail

Last year we got momentarily excited when Marcus Trescothick nearly secured the Holy Grail of 1,000 first-class runs by the end of May.

Trescothick would have been the first batsman to achieve the feat since 1988 when Graeme Hick set expectations of the international career he would be eligible to start for England three summers later.

This time it is the turn of Trescothick's Somerset team mate who has enjoyed a relevatory start to the season and with the game at Worcester starting tomorrow probably has one chance to the 59 runs he needs to become the ninth batsman to emulate Indiana Jones and sup the elixir of life from the Grail.

WG Grace was the first to achieve the feat in 1895 and was followed by Tom Hayward (1900), Wally Hammond (1927), Charles Hallows (1928), Don Bradman (1930 and 1938), Bill Edrich (1938) and Glenn Turner (1973) before Hick (1988). Even Compton's illustrious grandfather didn't manage to achieve this milestone.

If the season continues to start earlier and earlier each year, the chances are that this exclusive club could increase its membership on a far more regular basis. But that shouldn't detract from Compton's sublime performances this year.

Hick was helped in no small measure by the 405 he scored at Taunton for Worcestershire, so it would be rather apt if Somerset's Compton emulated him at Worcester tomorrow or Thursday.

Where next?

Nick Compton: runs and jokes at Kevin Pietersen's expense

Kevin Pietersen is innocent (and right about Nick Knight)

Hedley Verity - a proper hero with 'no breaking point'

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County Championship of the week #7

Paul Horton (Lancashire) - Seven and a half hour vigil saved Lancashire from defeat at Edgbaston. It was his first hundred in the Championship for two years and could prove a turning point in the champions faltering defence of their title.

Wayne Madsen (Derbyshire) - The skipper struck his second ton of the season as Division 2's surprise packet beat Glamorgan to extend their lead at the top of the table.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (Leicestershire) - Whilst the West Indies top order struggled at Lord's the man with 15 Test tons made hay at Grace Road with innings of 117 and 98 against Essex.

Simon Katich (Hampshire) - Australia's loss, Hampshire's gain and Yorkshire's pain as Michael Clarke's favourite ex-team mate stroked 196 and 61 not out at Headingley.

James Hildreth (Somerset) - High-class hundred gave Somerset the early initiative in a highly competitive and entertaining draw at The Oval. 

Michael Bates (Hampshire) - Purists have raved about his high-quality keeping, but could he improve with the bat? A maiden hundred at Headingley suggests he can - see also Our County XI to watch in 2012.

Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire) - No wickets in the draw with Lancashire, but his fine year with the bat continued with a second championship ton of the season at Edgbaston. 

David Wainwright (Derbyshire) - Took a five wicket second innings haul at Derby to put his side into a winning position against Glamorgan.

Stuart Meaker (Surrey) - Brought his side storming back into the match at The Oval with a second innings haul of eight for 52 and grabbed 11 in the match.

David Masters (Essex) - Last season's leading wicket taker grabbed six first innings Leicestershire wickets in the draw at Grace Road. 

Monty Panesar (Sussex) - Took five wickets and probably deserved more in 37 probing overs at New Road.

Where next?

Our County Championship predictions - Thank God for Yorkshire

Hedley Verity - a proper hero with 'no breaking point'

Read our previous County Championship weekly XIs

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Our County Championship predictions - Thank God for Yorkshire

Can there be a league competition anywhere in the world, in any sport that is more dificult to predict than English cricket's County Championship? We doubt it.

Last season we confidently tipped that Warwickshire and Lancashire would be fighting a relegation battle rather than ending up dualling for the title on the final day.

This year we may even have surpassed that ignominious prediction given that our title tip Durham are floundering at the bottom of Division 1 with their batsmen suffering a collective lapse of form that make Ian Bell's struggles in the winter against Saeed Ajmal seem mild in comparison.

To compound our error, the team that we predicted would be battling it out with Durham for the title were, yes you've guessed it, Lancashire. We should have known that one title every 77 years is quite enough.

The weather hasn't helped and there is still plenty of time left, but in Division 1 at least we can probably already resign ourselves to the fact that we won't be cashing in our chips come September.

Whilst we are clearly appalling tipsters, it is still evident that trying to predict what is going to happen in the County Championship is even more difficult than picking the winning lottery numbers or trying to work out what will happen with the Euro crisis.

Thank God then for Yorkshire - and it's not often we find ourselves saying that. Despite the club doing as much a possible to shoot itself in the foot - chasing Ajmal Shahzad over the Pennines into the grateful arms of Lancashire and making Mitchell Starc go around the world one more time than Phileas Fogg - on the field at least they are justifying our tip that they would win Division 2. Chasing 400 to win at Bristol last weekend was mighty impressive indeed. 

But with Colin Graves armed and dangerous, we are sure that Yorkshire's promotion charge still has plenty of time to come off the rails yet.

Where next?

Read our Division 1 previews: Durham, Lancashire, Middlesex, Notts, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Warwickshire and Worcestershire

Division 2 previews: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Leicestershire, Northants and Yorkshire

County Championship of the week #6

Another 'bloody disgrace' at Yorkshire

10 reasons why neutrals should be glad Lancashire won the County Championship

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County Championship of the week #6

Bilal Shafayat (Hampshire) - The Comeback Kid grabbed his second opportunity with a redemptive zeal at the Rose Bowl even if he fell seven short of a deserved fairytale hundred.

Phil Jaques (Yorkshire) - Powered the second-highest successful chase in Yorkshire's long history with 160 at Bristol.

Michael Lumb (Nottinghamshire) - Continued his stunning immediate impact at Trent Bridge with 162 and 55 in the draw with Middlesex.

Gary Ballance (Yorkshire) - Played the support role to Jaques in their 203 run stand and then timed his acceleration to perfection to reach his own ton and take Yorkshire over the line.

Tom Maynard (Surrey) - Turned the game at New Road on its head together with a magnificent 143 (off 154 balls) as Surrey narrowly failed to win a game after following on for only the second time since 1868.

Darren Stevens (Kent) - Stared ignominy in the face at Chelmsford when his side were 9 for five to strike a beligerent hundred against Essex.

Geraint Jones (Kent) - Kept Stevens company in a 194 run partnership to score 88 - the other nine Kent wickets added just 31 runs.

Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire) - Bagged only his sixth first-class five wicket haul and then struck a quickfire 38 to help Yorkshire beat the clock at Bristol.

Ollie Rayner (Middlesex) - Hit his maiden Championship hundred after going in as nightwatchman at Trent Bridge and remained unbowed on 143 before taking four 2nd innings Notts wickets with his off-breaks. 

Craig Meschede (Somerset) - Took three wickets in each innings as well as hitting a better than a run a ball 62 as the weather denied injury hit Somerset at Chester-le-Street.

Mark Davies (Kent) - Showed his struggling old county what they are missing with a masterful display of seam bowling, which saw him take four Essex wickets for 20 runs in 24.4 immaculate overs at Chelmsford. 

...and a quick word for our 12th man, who with apologies to Rory Hamilton-Brown, who continued his good start to the season with a hundred at New Road, is his young team-mate George Edwards, who impressed on debut with five wickets. Just how deep is Surrey's stock of fast bowlers? 

Where next?

Read our previous County Championship weekly XIs

Nick Compton: runs and jokes at Kevin Pietersen's expense

If at first you don't succeed...

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If at first you don't succeed...

Try, try again. Bilal Shafayat certainly has.

One of the favourite pieces we read last year was Shafayat’s refreshingly honest interview with Andy Bull of The Guardian where the tale of Shafayat’s career from prodigious England Under-19 captain and a championship debut at 16 to being released in 2010 by Nottinghamshire was told.

As Bull explained, Shafayat was judged to be such a good prospect that he was described by the Daily Telegraph as "the most naturally talented English batsman since David Gower". He was also considered the star turn in an Under-19 team that included Alastair Cook, Tim Bresnan, Luke Wright, Samit Patel, Ravi Bopara, and Liam Plunkett.

Bull’s piece ended with Shafayat about to have a second trial with Sussex’s 2nd XI, but that didn’t lead to a contract and he went off to play for Hampshire’s 2nd XI last summer before having a spell with Habib Bank over the winter in Pakistan’s domestic competition.

What seemed another story of an unfulfilled talent drifting slowly out of the game at an early age (Shafayat is now 27), may have taken an unexpected and heart-warming turn after Hampshire gave him a short-term contract to cover for Michael Carberry (away with the Lions) and Jimmy Adams (injury concern).

Shafayat has taken the opportunity with both hands and today stroked 93 off just 119 balls against Derbyshire at the Rose Bowl. He couldn’t quite add to his tally of 10 first-class hundreds, but that seems rather apt given his tale of resurrection.

David Bowie’s second coming after Space Oddity had looked to have consigned him to the one-hit wonder brigade was better, longer lasting and far more successful. Not a bad template for Shafayat to emulate.

Billy may prove to be the Comeback Kid after all.

Where next?

Nick Compton: runs and jokes at Kevin Pietersen's expense

County Championship XI of the week #5

Cricket XIs: Cricketing Criminals

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Nick Compton: runs and jokes at Kevin Pietersen's expense

Strong gene pool? Check. Born and raised in South Africa? Check. In the form of his life? Check.

Nick Compton would certainly seem to have all the right credentials to play Test cricket for England this summer – either in the vacant number six spot or to replace one of the hallowed top five should the winter travails of say Ian Bell for example extend into the summer Tests against West Indies and South Africa.

Compton is rapidly becoming a bit of a favourite at Reverse Sweep towers. Not only is he in line to become the first batsman to reach 1,000 first-class runs before the end of May since Graeme Hick in 1988 – he already has 715 at a fairly decent 143, but he seems to have a rather splendid sense of humour.

On his famous grandfather, Compton recalled this week “My fondest memory of him was when I was 12 with dad throwing me some underarms in the back yard and I was batting with a high elbow hoping to impress. Denis was sitting on the porch, with the ever-present glass of brandy, and he just said to me: ‘For God’s sake, hit the bloody thing’.

Whilst perhaps even more amusingly he spoke of coming across Kevin Pietersen as a teenager at the KwaZulu-Natal Academy and with timing that Denis Compton himself would have been proud, mischievously quipped “He was there when I was a junior member. I didn’t know him very well but I could hear his voice from quite far away.”

Some things never change, a Compton is scoring runs by the bucket-load and KP still likes the sound of his own voice.

Where next?

Who should bat at six for England?

The mystery of Ajmal Shazad's sacking solved

It's not jealously KP, it's pure and simple indifference

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Another 'bloody disgrace' at Yorkshire

Life is rarely boring at Yorkshire and whilst chairman Colin Graves will doubtless try and pass the buck, he has presided over a right royal mess over the last week.

The bizarre release of the immensely talented Ajmal Shahzad is puzzling. Whilst according to Graves, he is a bit of a loose cannon and has a high opinion of himself, Yorkshire can ill afford to lose a player of Shahzad's ability. To lose him to bitter rivals Lancashire is to put it frankly embarrassing. 

It would be harder to find stronger personalities than the likes of Fred Trueman, Brian Close, Raymond Illingworth and Geoff Boycott - one has to wonder if Graves could have coped with this famous quartet of Yorkshire greats.

If the Shahzad situation wasn't bad enough, his short term replacement Mitchell Starc has had to fly back to Australia after being deported due to a visa error, which meant he was unable to get past UK customs. Graves quickly tried to put the blame on Cricket Australia, but surely Yorkshire should have ensured that Starc's paperwork was correct before he was allowed to board his flight.

In the wake of Yorkshire's relegation last season, Graves launched a very public attack on his players where amongst other criticisms, he said the squad were a 'bloody disgrace'. We're sure that many Yorkshire fans are probably using those exact words to describe Graves after the events of the last week. As Chairman, he has to take responsibility.

A bewildered Starc tweeted "Well that's a first! Being deported from England.. Surely nothing else can go wrong can it?!?!". Given that he is about to join Yorkshire - seemingly run by the cricket equivalent of Blackburn's owners Venky's, he probably hasn't seen anything yet.

Where next?

Yorkshire chairman Colin Graves gets straight to the point

The mystery of Ajmal Shazad's sacking solved

County Championship XI of the week #5

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County Championship XI of the week #5

Matthew Boyce (Leicestershire) – Hit a defiant near six hour ton as his side followed on against Yorkshire but was ultimately unable to prevent an innings defeat at Headingley.

Alviro Petersen (Essex) – Made a triumphant return to Cardiff with 145 out of a first innings total of 259, although rain denied him victory over his former team mates.

Joe Denly (Middlesex) – His promising start at Middlesex continued with 134 to help set up a win over Worcestershire at Lord’s – see also Our County XI to watch in 2012

Ian Bell (Warwickshire) – 2012 had thus far been an annus horribilis, but his 120 on a difficult Edgbaston pitch where the next best score was 45 not only helped his side win again but proved the old adage true of form being temporary and class being permanent.

Kane Williamson (Gloucestershire) – The overseas star saved his side from defeat with a patient and classy 128 after his side had followed on at Derby.

Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire) – Helped the Yorkshire faithful forget Ajmal Shahzad with 182 brisk runs to set up the win at Headingley and underline his credentials as a candidate for the number six spot in the Test side should the selectors choose to look beyond Ravi Bopara.

Anthony McGrath (Yorkshire) – Made an impressive start to his reinvention as an all-rounder batting down the order with an innings of 90 and four for 21 to help enforce the follow-on against Leicestershire.

Keith Barker (Warwickshire) – Took his maiden ten wicket haul as Durham were thumped at Edgbaston to set the early pace in the running for the Most Improved Player of the Season award.

Andre Adams (Nottinghamshire) – Broad, Swann and Anderson were all on show at Old Trafford, but Adams upstaged them all with a first innings seven for 32 to wrest the initiative from the title holders and then three more to wrap things up and continue Nottinghamshire’s and his flying start to the season.

David Willey (Northamptonshire) – Brought his side’s depressing start to the season to an end with eight wickets as Hampshire were put to the sword at Northampton.

Simon Kerrigan (Lancashire) – His side may have made a disastrous start to the defence of their crown but the left arm spinner continues to impress and his seven wickets in the defeat to Notts suggests he at least will enjoy the move back to Old Trafford.

Where next?

Read our previous County Championship XIs

The mystery of Ajmal Shazad's sacking solved

An XI of cricketers who also played in the FA Cup Final

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship XI of the week #4

We doubt whether this much rain fell in the first four days of the flood that followed Noah's inaugural launching of the Ark. At this rate, Noah may have to find some room for cricketers to go in two by two also.

As such, picking an XI this week, has proved somewhat challenging, but here goes: 

Varun Chopra (Warwickshire) - The man who started last season at warp speed with double hundreds in each of his first two matches has started a bit slower this time - but a good hundred at Hove means he must have been close to Lions selection.

Michael Carberry (Hampshire) - Made his way to a classy unbeaten 84 at the Rose Bowl before being left stranded by the deluge.

Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire) - Made up for the fact that his appearances in the Warwickshire line-up will be rarer than him hitting a six, with a 400 minute 178 at Hove - that was a full 178 runs more than managed by his England colleague Ian Bell.

Steven Croft (Lancashire) - They may have won the title last season, but hundreds were a bit of a rarity for Lancashire with only seven being recorded. Croft's 113 at Taunton was the Red Rose's first of 2012.

Brendan Nash (Kent) - Whilst his former West Indies team mates - the redoubtable Shivnarine Chanderpaul aside - struggled against Australia's bowlers, Kent's overseas import has made an immediate impact and made his way to an unbeaten 132 against Yorkshire before the rain.

Liam Dawson (Hampshire) - Originally a promising left-arm spinner, before moving up to open last season. Could figures of five for 29 against Leicestershire have rekindled his reputation as a twirler?   All-rounder status may well await.

Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire) - Forgotten England keeper - yes, he really does have 10 Test caps to his name - scored 75 against his former county as Warwickshire piled on the runs at Hove.

Mat Coles (Kent) - A hugely impressive start to the season with bat and ball continued with four for 70 against Yorkshire at Canterbury and has resulted in a call-up for the Lions and his third appearance in our XI of the season.

Andre Adams (Nottinghamshire) - Yet another five wicket haul for Notts' main weapon with the ball as he targets 60 championship wickets for the third successive season.

Jack Brooks (Northamptonshire) - Only 27 overs were possible in the match, but Brooks still had enough time to impress with four for 22 to put Essex on the rack at Chelmsford.  

Harry Gurney (Nottinghamshire) - Robin Hood used to rob from the rich to give to the poor - Nottinghamshire rob repeatedly from Grace Road and Gurney's four for 40 at New Road, suggests that he could prove yet another good steal.

Where next?

A mention in Wisden? Surely not...

County Championship XI of the week #3

County Championship XI of the week #2

County Championship XI of the week #1

County Championship preview: Our XI to watch in 2012

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

Naughty boy nets - 2012 style

Unlike many of his predecessors as England coach, Andy Flower doesn’t inflict naughty boy nets on his charges. Instead, he has the modern equivalent of punishing poor performers by releasing them to play county cricket in chilly April.

Whilst central contracts have played a significant role in the improvement of England’s fortunes since their introduction and eradicated the ridiculous motorway dash as players scramble to get back to their counties at the conclusion of a Test match, many county cricket fans rightly lament the almost total absence of their England stars from their county line-ups. So, perhaps England’s struggles over the winter have a silver lining after all?

Middlesex and Warwickshire fans will certainly be happy that the winter’s biggest dunces Andrew Strauss and Ian Bell will be turning out for their counties this week against Durham and Lancashire respectively.

Over the forthcoming weeks all of England’s winter squad will feature for their counties ahead of the 1st Test against the West Indies on 17 May – even Kevin Pietersen will have to cut short his stay in India to return for Surrey’s game at Worcester, which starts on 9 May; that’s if he can find his way to New Road as it is an awfully long way from Chelsea.

But is it enough? Whilst one can understand why James Anderson for instance needs a decent rest following his sterling efforts over the winter, it is difficult to understand why Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior (especially if he played solely as a batsman) are being held back longer than Strauss and Bell.

Maybe Flower is indeed punishing the biggest failures over the winter with a longer stint with their county - Eoin Morgan may not be so disappointed to be warming the bench for the Knight Riders after all.

Where next?

It's not jealously KP, it's pure and simple indifference

County Championship XI of the week #2

2nd Test: Sri Lanka vs England - England marks out of 10

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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County Championship XI of the week #2

Chris Dent (Gloucestershire): Steadfast six hour ten minute knock of 114 from the 21 year old Bristolian gave his side the initiative over fancied Hampshire at a bowler friendly Rose Bowl.

Michael Lumb (Nottinghamshire): The forgotten hero of England's triumphant World T20 side from 2010, made an instant impression for his new county with a crucial 131 at the Riverside as Notts beat Durham.

Nick Compton (Somerset): After 236 against Cardiff MCCU and 99 against his former county Middlesex, the grandson of Denis continued his run-laden start to the season with a second innings 133, which so nearly helped his side turn the tables on Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Dawid Malan (Middlesex): It could just quite as easily have been Kent's Mike Powell, but Malan's painstaking 297 minute epic 88 was worth at least a hundred runs more due to an unusually treacherous Lord's surface. He was eventually last man out after shepherding the tail to add 127 for last three wickets to help Middlesex post 256. It proved crucial in the final reckoning.

Michael Yardy (Sussex): In the week his honest and heartfelt account of his depressive illness was published in this year's Wisden, Yardy compiled a captain's knock of 110 to lead his side to a big victory over the reigning champions at Aigburth - where Sussex were hammered in the corresponding fixture last season.

Michael Bates (Hampshire): The purists have been salivating about his keeping, but where were the runs his detractors asked? A second innings 87, which so nearly helped his side avoid defeat against Gloucestershire allied to an eye-catching display behind the stumps should go some way towards answering that one for one of our County XI to watch.

Mat Coles (Kent): Last week he made our XI with his maiden first-class ton, this time it was his bowling that shone with nine wickets as Northamptonshire were put to the sword by an impressive Kent.

Jonathan Clare (Derbyshire): A dream match for the budding all-rounder saw him hit 21 and 43 with the bat and take five for 17 and six for 40 with the ball to help Derbyshire win their first two matches of the season for the first time since 2002.

Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire): Employed as overseas star for his bowling, his county will be grateful that he can bat too after the New Zealander strolled to the crease at number 10 with 52 required to beat Somerset and duly smashed 43 in 36 balls to settle the epitomy of a see-saw clash at Edgbaston. 

Steve Magoffin (Sussex): The Australian was too good for Lancashire as he ripped through their fragile batting line-up with seven for 34 in the second innings and nine wickets in the match. His match figures were an astounding 35.5-18-55-9. 

David Balcombe (Hampshire): After impressing on loan at Kent last year the 27 year old started the season with a bang with the best figures ever at the Rose Bowl of eight for 71 as part of an 11 wicket match haul.

Where next?

County Championship XI of the week #1

County Championship preview: Our XI to watch in 2012

It's not jealously KP, it's pure and simple indifference

Retaining the County Championship isn't easy...

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

It's not jealously KP, it's pure and simple indifference

"Engage brain before mouth" is a simple idiom, but one that time and time again Kevin Pietersen absolutely fails to comprehend, which in combination with his breathtaking and unorthodox strokeplay makes him compulsory viewing both on and off the field of play.

Pietersen's latest foot-in-mouth moment came when he suggested that negative attitudes in England towards the IPL can in the main be put down to "jealously".

Not for the first time, we believe that KP has got it completely and utterly wrong. We can only speak as one English cricket following enclave, but our feelings towards the IPL border on indifference rather than envy or anything more sinister, and we believe that the same is true for most.

First and foremost for all the glitz, glamour and money that is part and parcel of the IPL, it is after all to everyone bar one billion Indians (a not insignificant number, we grant) a foreign domestic league. As such, we care as little for the IPL as we do the Sheffield Shield or indeed Zimbabwe's domestic competitions.

Secondly, it's Twenty 20 cricket, a form of the game that leaves us cold. It has a place to widen the appeal of cricket beyond its traditional geographic, social and demographic groups and it undeniably has helped bolster the coffers of clubs and cricket boards everywhere, but to our tastes at least it is little more than two pumps and a squirt compared to the delights of four or five day cricket.

Finally and perhaps most relevantly, for the last two years, the IPL has started in exactly the same week as the first round of the County Championship - a competition dripping in tradition and history and which still holds a special place for the majority of English cricket followers. For most, a choice between the hit and giggle of a foreign Twenty 20 cricket league and the unique institution that is the domestic County Championship is a straightforward one.

If it wasn't for the fact that the money on offer to players for participating in the IPL was enticing the likes of Owais Shah, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Luke Wright and England players such as Pietersen himself away from County Cricket, the IPL would be a complete irrelevance for most English cricket fans.

We did try the IPL once in 2010, but crucially in that year it started one month before the County season and immediately preceded the World T20 in the Caribbean. This meant that seeing how the likes of Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara got on with their respective IPL sides was of a modicum of interest. As soon as the County season started, our interest waned.

KP seems to love attention, celebrity and glamour, so is likely to be drawn to the sometimes crass and over the top spectacle of the IPL. Perhaps he has forgotten that it was County Cricket that first gave him the platform to exhibit the innate and untamed talent that ultimately led to an international career with England where he has delighted and astounded in equal degree.

He has worked tremendously hard to achieve all he has, but without the opportunity afforded him by Nottinghamshire, would he still be a spinner who bats a bit struggling for a game in South African domestic cricket? Only the Gods of cricket know the answer to that.

From what we've read, heard or seen there isn't much jealously out there towards the IPL. A touch of anger maybe for the loss of an important player to one's county (or country in the case of the West Indies), even some good old fashioned English snobbery towards the nouveau riche, but for the most part it is pure indifference. It's just another cricket competition being played in the world at the same time as the revered County Championship, nothing more, nothing less.

Where next?

Kevin Pietersen's 2010/11 Ashes Diary

Wayne Rooney, County Cricket, the IPL, Luke Wright and loyalty

It's time to end the farce of Two-Test series - Johnny Rotten agrees

Check out all our Reverse Sweep heroes and zeroes including David Gower, Shane Watson, Justin Langer and Hedley Verity

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