The Reverse Sweep

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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County Championship 2012 Preview: Division 2 - Derbyshire

Many - including us - tipped the perenniel strugglers for the wooden spoon in 2011, but despite sacking coach John Morris in the middle of a game they managed to finish fifth. Will 2012 bring further improvement or a return to more familiar surroundings? 

Strengths

On paper these appear to be few and far between. Martin Guptill and Usman Khawaja return to share duties as overseas player in the Championship. Captain Wayne Madsen is a solid opener, Wes Durston passed 1,000 runs last year, Chesney Hughes is a decent batting prospect and Jonathan Clare will look to build on a solid performance with bat and ball in 2011. Slow left arm spinner David Wainwright arrives from Yorkshire with much to prove to support the unheralded new ball pair of Tim Groenewald and Tony Palladino who shared 100 Championship wickets last season.  

Weaknesses

Last year's captain Luke Sutton has retired. Attack leader Palladino could miss the start of the season with a broken jaw. That and any other injuries could severely hamper their chances as strength in depth is an alien concept with the county. Guptill and Khawaja apart, the batting looks decidedly brittle and lacking in quality. 

Main man

Jonathan Clare made the great leap forward in 2011 with just shy of 700 Championship runs at 33 and 43 wickets at 27, elevating him to the ranks of a genuine all-rounder. Can he build on this in the coming season?

Look out for

How Wainwright fares after his move from Yorkshire. Two seasons ago he was being talked about as a possible England player but his form and confidence then vanished. If they return then Derbyshire's bowling attack could surprise in its potency. 

Prediction

6th - Mid-table obscurity, but Derbyshire will take that with both hands.

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

2011 County Cricket Review: including Heroes of the Season, Best and Worst XIs, and a whole host of other nonsense

County Championship 2011 Preview - Derbyshire

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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County Championship XI of the week (#2 2011)

 
The second round of the County Championship saw some surprise results none more so than at Taunton where pre-season favourites Somerset were humbled by Warwickshire.

We took in some of the first day of the Middlesex-Essex encounter on our pilgramage to Lord's and saw 17 year old Reece Topley take a second successive five-fer.

But does Topley make our County XI of the week? Find out below: 

Varun Chopra (Warwickshire) - The former England under-19 captain never really made the grade at Essex and had a disappointing first season at Warwickshire, but managed more than half his total for the entire 2010 season by hitting a dominant 210 against Somerset at Taunton.

Wayne Madsen (Derbyshire) - Ground out 106 in a five-hour vigil at the crease to put his side into the ascendancy against Leicestershire.

Dale Benkenstein (Durham) - Durham's stand-in captain makes it into our XI for the second successive week thanks to a commanding 150 against a strong Yorkshire attack at Headingley.

Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire) - One of our 10 to watch in 2011 demonstrated his class with a brilliant hundred for the reigning county champions just when Hampshire appeared to be on top at Trent Bridge. Not bad for a fat lad. 

Andrew Hall (Northamptonshire) - The game was in the balance when the captain strode to the crease against Kent at Northampton, but by the time he departed for a masterful 146 victory was almost assured.

Michael Richardson (Durham) - The son of former South African Test keeper Dave Richardson, had had to wait for his chance due to the form and fitness of regular keeper Phil Mustard, but a late injury gave the understudy his chance and he took it with both hands with 67 and 73 not out at Headingley. 

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) - Once again demonstrated his all-round abilities with a run-a-ball 129 and swung the ball both ways to record match figures of nine for 101 as Somerset were crushed at Taunton.

Rikki Clarke (Warwickshire) - Surprised a shellshocked Somerset with pace, bounce and control to grab seven wickets in just 11.4 overs at Taunton; that's a strike rate of a wicket every ten balls. Impressive. 

Tim Groenewald (Derbyshire) - Another of Derbyshire's Kolpak legion to star against Leicestershire, Groenewald took eight wickets in the match and added a useful late order 60 to get his team up and running. Who said Derbyshire were wooden spoon favourites? Oh yes, we did...

James Harris (Glamorgan) - One of our 10 to watch for 2011 bowled beautifully to produce impressive match figures of 45.5-11-101-8 as Glamorgan beat Gloucestershire.

Andre Adams (Nottinghamshire) - Last year's leading wicket-taker in the championship with 68 picked up where he left off with a career best match haul of 11 for 76 as Nottinghmashire crushed Hampshire at Trent Bridge.

12th man - Graham Onions (Durham) - We don't intend to always pick a 12th man, but it is hard to ignore Onions' claims after he returned from a 15 month lay-off with a serious back injury to take a first innings five wicket haul against Yorkshire. That's what we call a return.

Where next?

County Championship XI of the week #1

Ten to watch in 2011: Adam Lyth, Jade Dernbach,  Rory Hamilton-Brown, Samit Patel, Alex Hales, Danny Briggs, Ben Stokes, James Harris, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid

An England under-23 XI - the future looks bright

County Championship Previews - Division 2: Derbyshire, Essex, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire,  Kent,  Leicestershire,  Middlesex,  Northamptonshire,  Surrey

County Championship Previews - Division 1:  Yorkshire,  Worcestershire,  Warwickshire, Sussex,  Somerset,  Nottinghamshire,  Lancashire,  Hampshire,  Durham

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