The Reverse Sweep

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

County Championship 2012 Preview: Division 1 - Middlesex

2011 saw Middlesex finally return to the promised land. Can they make a big impression in Division 1 or will they quickly return to whence they came?

Strengths

A good blend of youth and experience was augmented over the winter by good acquisitions in Joe Denly and Olly Rayner. Chris Rogers leads a solid batting line-up, which will be bolstered by Andrew Strauss and Eoin Morgan for parts of the season. Much will depend on how Corey Collymore and Tim Murtagh make the transition to bowling with a Duke to Division 1 batsmen although Steven Finn will be around for some matches too.

Weaknesses

The step-up to Division 1 is quite large and despite their talent, the likes of Sam Robson and Dawid Malan are unproven at this level. The lack of a top-class spinner may also prove crucial in the final reckoning.

Main man

Having lost his place in the England Test side, Eoin Morgan knows he will need to make a big impression in County Cricket after he returns from the IPL. He certainly has the nerve and the talent, but can he improve his hitherto less than impressive first-class record?

Look out for

How Denly gets on after his move from Kent. His career had fallen away after playing for England in 2009 until a revival towards the end of last season, so this is a big opportunity for him.

Prediction

8th - Not quite enough quality to prevent a quick return to Division 2. 

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 Cricket 2011 Heroes: The Tiflex cricket ball

County Championship 2011 Preview - Middlesex 

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

The Reverse Sweep's County Cricket 2011 Awards

 
The last post of our 2011 County Cricket Review sees the prizes (and wooden spoons) handed out:

Best Team

Surrey won promotion to Division 1 and lifted the CB40, whilst Worcestershire defied the odds and the loss of their first six games to stay up - ditching the yo-yo tag into the process, but Lancashire have to take this for finally breaking their 77 year duck. They may have not had the strongest side on paper, but they did where it counted - on the pitch.

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

Worst Team

Leicestershire may have finished bottom of Division 2 by some distance, but they did give Paul Nixon a fitting send-off by lifting the FLt20, so this award has to go to Yorkshire, who in the words of their own chairman were 'a bloody disgrace'.

See also: Yorkshire chairman Colin Graves gets straight to the point

Best Player

With due deference to Glen Chapple and Marcus Trescothick, this award has to go to the unheralded Will Gidman for becoming the first English qualified player since David Capel in 1989 to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 50 wickets. So why didn't he receive a call-up to any of England's winter performance squads? No, we don't know either.  

Best Batsman

Marcus Trescothick, who scored nearly 300 Championship runs more than any other batsman despite missing his side's last three matches. Tres ought to almost receive a handicap such is his total dominance of county bowlers.

See also County Cricket 2011 Heroes: Marcus Trescothick

Best Bowler

93 Championship wickets is impossible to argue with even with the supposed advantage of having a Tiflex cricket ball in your hand, so David Masters pips Alan Richardson (Worcestershire's saviour), Chapple, Kyle Hogg and Tim Murtagh for this honour.

Best Spinner

Gary Keedy may not have received as many plaudits as old Long John Silver himself, Glen Chapple, but his contribution of 61 wickets at under 24 was just as crucial to Lancashire's title success, and enables him to pip Monty Panesar and team-mate Simon Kerrigan for this prize.

Best Cameo

Shivnarine Chanderpaul looked to have this one sown up until Warwickshire failed to secure victory at the Rose Bowl on the final day, so Pragyan Ojha steals this prize for a stunning four match cameo with Surrey. Four wins, 24 wickets at 13 and promotion back to Division 2. And the Indian selectors picked Amit Mishra above him?

Worst Player

South African bowlers didn't exactly cover themselves in glory with Friedel de Wet and Wayne Parnell struggling for Hampshire and Sussex respectively, but Lonwabo Tsotsobe took the biscuit here. Five wickets in three first-clas matches at 77 and a broadside via Twitter prompted Essex coach Paul Grayson to describe him as 'downright rude'. Thanks to @ianashworth for reminding us about this one.

Best Temporary Home

Unquestionably Aigburth. How many times have Lancashire been foiled by the Manchester weather and Old Trafford pitch? A temporary move along the M62 to the sunshine coast of Liverpool and voila, a first title for 77 years. Liverpool 1 Manchester 0.

Let them catch the next bouquet

Surely it's time perenniel bridesmaids Somerset got hitched? Runners-up finishes in the FLt20 and CB40 meant it five second places out of the last six domestic prizes to be awarded leads one to speculate that Somerset would probably finish second in a one horse race.

The Devon Loch honorary Award

At one time it looked like this would go to one of the four title chasing protagonists in Division 1, but by the end of the season there was only one candidate for this award. Northamptonshire looked absolute certainties for promotion to Division 1, but only managed to win one of their last seven matches. They fared no better in the CB40 where despite winning their first five matches, they failed to reach the semi-finals. Did Andrew Hall's South African background obviously had an unexpected choking effect on his charges?

Best Youngster

Mentions to Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes and Alex Hales, but this one has to go to Jonathan Bairstow. He stood tall in the manure that was Yorkshire's season and his blistering one day debut innings was the delicious cherry on the top.

Best Resurrection

Only one possible winner here - Michael Carberry, whose return from a debilitating illness was the most uplifting story of the summer.

See County Cricket 2011 Heroes: Michael Carberry

Biggest Moan

The demise of the Tiflex was disappointing, but the ridiculous fixture schedule has to take the wooden spoon here. For example, Leicestershire finished a championship match on the Thursday, won the FLt20 on the Saturday, played the Indian tourists on the Monday and then started another Championship game against Middlesex on the Tuesday. It is hardly surprising that Middlesex ended the first day on 370 for 1.

Biggest Anti-Climax

Sachin Tendulkar's hundredth international hundred anyone?

Where next?

A Year To Forget: County Championship Flops XI of the season

County Cricket 2011 Heroes: The Tiflex cricket ball

County Championship Division 1 XI of the season

County Championship Division 2 XI of the season

Read all of our County Cricket coverage

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Cricket 2011 Heroes: The Tiflex cricket ball

This post could just as easily have been about David Masters or even Tim Murtagh or Tim Linley, but given the confirmation last week of its untimely demise we'll instead declare the Tiflex cricket ball - something each of the aforementioned three owe some of their success to - a County Cricket hero of 2011.

Cricket was hitherto an equal battle between bat and ball, but that notion has been increasingly eroded as pitches, packed fixture lists and yes, even cricket balls have been heavily weighted towards the batsmen.

The Tiflex cricket ball (perhaps inadvertently) had helped to redress this since it was introduced to Division 2 of the County Championship in 2009. For three seasons now batsmen haven't had it all their own way and a good thing to.

But batsmen do like a good grumble and boy how they have moaned and whined about the Tiflex. 

You see the Tiflex seemed to swing and seam excessively early in an innings - certainly compared to the Dukes ball that has been used in Division 1.

Whilst most of us would be tempted to say diddums and have little or no sympathy for their predicament, the ECB has relented and from next season Dukes balls will be used in both divisions.

This is a shame because one could strongly argue that the Tiflex ball provides a better test of a batsman's technique and perhaps therefore prepares them for facing the better standard of bowler they would encounter should they ever play international cricket. James Taylor for instance may reap the dividends of his three seasons combating the Tiflex if and when he makes his Test debut.

For Masters, Murtagh, Linley and other bowlers of their ilk who put the ball in the right place and wobble it about a bit at around 80 miles per hour, the death of the Tiflex is tantamount to a disaster. Masters took 93 wickets in Division 2 this season at a rather impressive 18.13. One would guess that the odds of him improving on this just got a whole lot longer.

We'll leave the final word to Rob Key who on hearing the news of the Tiflex's demise sent a joyous Tweet to some of his fellow batsmen:

"Ding dong the tiflex is dead @MarkRamprakash @Stevo208 @joed1986 @Gojones623 @ravibopara we can come out of hiding now." 

The Tiflex cricket ball RIP.

Where next?

County Cricket 2011 Heroes: Marcus Trescothick

County Cricket 2011 Heroes: Rory Hamilton-Brown

County Cricket 2011 Heroes: Michael Carberry

County Championship XI of the season

County Championship Division 1 XI of the season

County Championship Division 2 XI of the season

Read all of our County Cricket coverage

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship Division 2 XI of the season

 
Rory Hamilton-Brown (Surrey, Captain) – 1039 runs at 37.10: We’ll probably get it in the neck for this pick, but in our view the boy king (and one of our ten to watch in 2011) had a tremendous season. He took on the challenge and added responsibility of opening the batting with gusto and led his charges back into the top division. Chris Adams reckons his young skipper will captain England one day – we’re not sure about that, but he pips Stephen Peters, Alviro Petersen and the resurgent Joe Denly to an opening berth in this XI.

Sam Robson (Middlesex) – 885 runs at 59.00: His season’s entry was delayed by the presence of Andrew Strauss, but the 22 year old more than made up for the wait with a string of impressive performances to lay a solid foundation for his side’s climb back into the top flight.

Chris Rogers (Middlesex) – 1286 runs at 58.45: His runs propelled Middlesex’s title success and once again left this observer scratching his head as to how the Australian selectors only gave the Victorian just the one solitary Test cap.

Zander de Bruyn (Surrey) – 1383 runs at 55.32; 15 wickets at 39.26: Proved a canny acquisition with four hundreds and nine fifties to be the leading run scorer in the division. Having taking a risk in dropping a division when moving from Taunton, he is now back where he belongs. If that wasn’t enough, he chipped in with some useful wickets too.

Tom Maynard (Surrey) - 1022 runs at 40.88 There’s certainly a Surrey flavour to our batting line-up, with Maynard immediately fulfilling his promise at The Oval following his acrimonious departure from Glamorgan. Of his three Championship hundreds, none would have given him more pleasure than his maiden first-class ton, which came at of all places – Cardiff. Beats Chris Taylor, Will Durston and James Taylor (who despite being the best number four in county cricket was generally a bit below par in the Championship) to the final batting slot.

James Foster (Essex) – 931 runs at 46.55: Stephen Davies and Mark Wallace may have scored more runs, whilst John Simpson also impressed, but Foster’s superiority with the gloves and a decent tally of runs gets our vote.

Will Gidman (Gloucestershire) – 51 wickets at 21.33; 1006 runs at 45.72: Topped the Gloucestershire averages with both bat and ball and was the only player in either division to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 50 wickets. Gareth Berg, Darren Stevens and Andrew Hall also impressed, but it was Gidman who was head and shoulders above the pack.

Stuart Meaker (Surrey) – 44 wickets at 22.56: With the other seamers we’ve picked, we needed a pace weapon and Meaker was anything but mild. His team-mate Tim Linley may have taken more wickets (73 at 18.34), but Meaker’s came from only 10 matches at a strike rate of 38 and it was his devastating spell at Northampton that gave his side the vital initiative in a must-win game. Born in Durban, so seems to have all the qualifications required to play for England too!

David Masters (Essex) – 93 wickets at 18.13: The highest wicket-taker in the country despite playing in a struggling side and an absolute master of line and length, as well as miserliness. Leicestershire’s batsmen must still be having nightmares about his eight for 10 against them in July – one of eight times he took five wickets or more in an innings.

Tim Murtagh (Middlesex) – 80 wickets at 20.98: The primary weapon in Middlesex’s arsenal had a magnificent season taking a wicket every 36.4 deliveries and clearly enjoyed bowling with the Tiflex ball. Will he be as successful next summer with the Duke ball against Division 1 batsmen? Other seamers considered included the wily old Chaminda Vaas (70 wickets at 21.44) and David Balcombe (33 wickets in five matches for Kent at just 17.81).

Pragyan Ojha (Surrey) – 24 wickets at 12.95: What would have been a close battle between Dean Cosker (49 wickets at 33.67) and James Middlebrook (43 wickets at 30.39 as well as 644 runs at 42.93) became no contest after Ojha’s devastating four match spell for Surrey. Four wins , 24 wickets and one promotion later, one has to ask how Amit Mishra was preferred to Ojha in India’s Test squad this summer.

Where next?

County Championship Division 1 XI of the season

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

Ten to watch in 2011: Half-Term report - Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

County Championship XI of the week: Division 1 Half-Term XI

County Championship XI of the week: Division 2 Half-Term XI

Read our 2011 County Championship XIs of the week

Read all our County Cricket coverage

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 #15

Marcus Trescothick (Somerset) – Fifth Championship ton of the season set his side on the way to victory against leaders Durham to blow the title race wide open. Has now usurped Mark Ramprakash as County Cricket’s run plunderer extraordinaire.

Will Smith (Durham) – Carried his side’s batting at Taunton with 74 and then 114 when Durham followed on. Alas for Smith, his heroics were in vain.

Neil McKenzie (Hampshire) – On a pitch where Adam Voges was the only other batsman to reach 50, McKenzie’s 235 ball 97 not out was a mighty impressive knock.

Chris Taylor (Gloucestershire) – Fluent 196 against Kent helped his side to a big victory and enhanced their promotion prospects.

Tom Maynard (Surrey) – Blistering 141 off just 101 balls helped Surrey at least set a target after following on against Middlesex.

Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire) – Took a career best seven for 68 and match figures of 11 for 111 on a controversial spin-friendly Rose Bowl pitch. 

Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire) – In a week where few keepers shone with the bat, it was Ambrose’s 73 against his former county that stood out.

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) – Continued his fine season with bat and ball by scoring 74 and taking six wickets in the win over Sussex. His all-round performance gets him the nod ahead of Rick Pyrah, whose remarkable hundred transformed the Roses match into a truly gripping contest.

Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire) – Put Sussex in a spin at Edgbaston with match figures of 10 for 168 after scoring a quickfire 65 - a victory which has put Warwickshire firmly in the title mix-up

Kyle Hogg (Lancashire) – Reduced Yorkshire to 42 for eight in their 1st innings with five wickets and then after a stunning fightback by the home team revived his side by top scoring with 52 in their 2nd innings before picking up two further wickets.

Tim Murtagh (Middlesex) – The veteran seamer sent Surrey packing at Guildford with a ten wicket match haul to keep his side in the hunt for promotion.

Where next?

Read all our County Cricket coverage

See if you agree with our other County Championship XIs of the week

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

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 #12

 
The ECB seem to have played pin the tail on the donkey with the fixture list, so inexplicable was the sudden reappearance of the County Championship this week. Nevertheless, we are duty bound to select our XI of the week, so here goes:

Ian Westwood (Warwickshire) – With not even a 50 to his name in 2011, it didn’t need director of cricket Ashley Giles to warn that his former captain’s season had reached a “crossroads”. So by featuring in a 202 opening stand and going on to score his first Championship ton since 2009, Westwood will have hoped to have turned a very important corner.

Stephen Moore (Lancashire) – His first hundred since July 2009 and his maiden one for Lancashire couldn’t have come at a more critical time as his unbeaten 124 steered his side to a tricky victory target of 240 at Trent Bridge.

Vikram Solanki (Worcestershire) – Victories at New Road have proved to be like London buses for the home side and it was Solanki who set up their nine wicket win and second successive home triumph (and only their second in Division 1 since 2004) with a sparkling 173 against basement side Hampshire.

Paul Collingwood (Durham) – Whilst his omission from the England ODI and T20 squads confirmed the end of the international career of England’s working class hero, it was typical of the man to hit a defiant hundred in his first Championship outing of the season. Colly took a couple of wickets too for good measure.

Alex Gidman (Gloucestershire) – In the battle of the captains for the last batting slot in our XI, it is Andrew Gale who has to give way despite his unbeaten 101 steering Yorkshire to safety at the Riverside. Gidman followed up his 1st innings 43 with an unbeaten 76 to lead his side to their target of 161 at The Oval having slipped to a precarious 54/5.

Shakib Al Hasan (Worcestershire) – One of the driving forces behind Worcestershire’s promotion last season came back for a one-off Championship guest appearance. And what a cameo it was, with seven wickets and a quickfire 54 to help lift his side out of the relegation places.

Phil Mustard (Durham) – Made the most of a charmed innings against Yorkshire to crash 70 off just 67 balls to hand Durham the initiative. Now has 436 Championship runs in 2011 at an average of 109 and a strike rate just a touch under 80 as his side lead the way in Division 1.

David Lucas (Northamptonshire) – A stunning match for the left-arm seamer at Grace Road saw him follow up a haul of 4/55 with a career best 60 as nightwatchman, before taking 5/20 as Leicestershire were skittled second time around for 48.

Sajid Mahmood (Lancashire) – A feature of Lancashire’s season is the collective effort of the squad. Even the sometime malfunctioning and misfiring Mahmood stepped up at Trent Bridge with match figures of 10/186 – albeit at over five runs an over - and a handy knock of 46 to help defeat the reigning champs.

Boyd Rankin (Warwickshire) – Alan Richardson and Tim Murtagh may have bagged nine wicket hauls, but it is Rankin who gets into our XI for being acknowledged as the catalyst behind his side’s triumph over Somerset. Rankin’s pace, hostility, bounce and movement hauled his opponents back on a pristine batting wicket with his burst of three wickets for four runs being the decisive act of the game. "Rankin just blew us away," Marcus Trescothick admitted afterwards.

Ian Saxelby (Gloucestershire) – The 22 year old grabbed career best figures of 6/69 and the first ten wicket match haul of his career as Gloucestershire surprised Surrey sans walk-on girls at The Oval.

Where next?

Read all our County Cricket coverage

See if you agree with our other County Championship XIs of the week

Strauss’s Somerset stint is a sad indictment of county cricket

Gideon Haigh eulogises Test cricket and compares it to The Pixies

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

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 #8

 
Marcus Trescothick (Somerset) – Hundreds in each innings against Yorkshire, and his brutal 2nd innings knock of 151 (off just 131 balls) led Somerset’s charge to victory. Narrowly failed to reach cricket’s Holy Grail.

Alviro Petersen (Glamorgan) – When we made-up with the Glamorgan captain after our spat on Twitter, we implored him to score a double hundred. He did just that at The Oval in what by all accounts was a wonderful innings. Good on you, Alviro.

Will Smith (Durham) – A sad tale with a happy ending. Smith abruptly resigned the Durham captaincy halfway through 2010 and didn’t play again last summer. But he is back now and his 179 set up an innings victory against Warwickshire.

Karl Brown (Lancashire) – The likes of Dale Benkenstein, Usman Khawaja and Sam Robson may have scored tons, but Brown’s anchoring innings of 96 on a tricky Rose Bowl pitch gets him the nod for this XI.

Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire) – His golden summer continued with 136 and 80 in the defeat at Taunton. A good long-term bet to eventually replace Matt Prior in the Test side.

Andrew McDonald (Leicestershire) – The game with the Division 2 leaders may have petered out to a draw, but not before McDonald had exhibited his all-round abilities with 164 and 51 not out with the bat and three wickets in Northamptonshire’s only innings.

Ben Stokes (Durham) – Normally more of a batting all-rounder, but starred with the ball at Edgbaston taking seven wickets as Warwickshire were trounced by an innings. One of our ten to watch in 2011.

Adil Rashid (Yorkshire) – In a poor week for spinners, Rashid bagged four first innings wickets and then an unbeaten 51 at Taunton. However, his is a fortunate selection given that he went for 88 in 10.1 wicketless overs in the second innings as he was punished severely by Trescothick.

Kyle Hogg (Lancashire) – Took a stunning 11 for 59 as the leaders cruised to victory at the Rose Bowl including a first innings seven for 28. Not bad for his first Championship outing of the season.

Tim Murtagh (Middlesex) – Eight wickets in the match to nearly help Middlesex to victory at Chelmsford.

Ashley Shaw (Kent) – The 20 year old bagged a five-fer on Championship debut at Canterbury.

Where next?

Marcus Trescothick so close to cricket's Holy Grail

County Championship XI of the week #7

County Championship XI of the week #6

County Championship XI of the week #5

County Championship XI of the week #4

County Championship XI of the week #3

County Championship XI of the week #2

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

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep