The Reverse Sweep

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

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County Championship 2012 Preview: Division 1 - Warwickshire

We tipped them for relegation last season. They finished second and would have won the title but for a tremendous Hampshire rearguard on the final day of the season. We won't be making that mistake again. Or will we?

Strengths

The seam attack is one of the best in the country with Chris Woakes, Boyd Rankin and Rikki Clarke all having outstanding seasons in 2011. The addition of Jeetan Patel as overseas player completes the bowling picture. On the batting front, Varun Chopra finally showed his talent last season whilst Ian Bell could feature more than usual given that he is not currently in England's limited overs squads.

Weaknesses

Other than Chopra, none of the regular top six batsmen who will feature this season averaged above 35.50 last year. An injury or international call-up for Woakes or Rankin would seriously affect the potency of the bowling.

Main man

That Chris Woakes has fallen down the pecking order for England's limited overs squad is a surprise. If he can repeat his performances of last season with ball (56 wickets at 22) and bat (nearly 600 runs at 48), the Bears may punch above their weight again.

Look out for

The silky smooth skills of Bell on show in several championship games. His struggles against spin on slow Asian pitches are unlikely to be replicated once he returns to English shores.

Prediction

4th - There or thereabouts but not good enough to win the title.

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 - Warwickshire

Check out all our Reverse Sweep cricket heroes and zeroes 

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Warwickshire up to their necks in dastardly Chanderpaul scandal

Forget the twin furores of pink cricket balls and the FA's lenient stance against drugs, the real scandal in town involves Warwickshire's challenge for the County Championship.

They stand accused of a crime far more serious and underhand - the shadow of performance enhancing runs now hangs over their title tilt.

The evidence became irrefutably clear yesterday when Shivnarine Chanderpaul eased to his third Championship ton in just four matches. If that wasn't performance enhancing enough then look at the effect of the dastardly West Indian veteran on the rest of his new batting colleagues.

Messrs Westwood, Troughton, Chopra and Clarke could hardly ever be called prolific run scorers, but Shiv has obviously supplied them all with the same thing that he has been taking. There is no clearer proof than the fact that Troughton hit his first Championship ton for 25 months against Notts last week. Even Clarke came to the party with his first century of the season in the same match.

And then yesterday in their final match against Hampshire where victory and maximum bonus points will give them the title, Chopra scored his third hundred of the season, but (and this is the crucial point) his first since scoring back to back double hundreds in the first two matches of the season.

Chanderpaul has got previous too - he was on the field when Durham won their consecutive titles in 2008 and 2009, so it seems incredible that the ECB didn't notice. Whilst they have been too busy tossing their pink cricket balls in the air, Warwickshire and the evil Shiv have been stealing away the County Championship from 77 year title famine victims Lancashire.

It also looks like ensuring that our County Championship casserole will come to the boil far too early.

The rotters. 

Where next?

Warwickshire, Lancashire or Durham? The County Championship reaches another thrilling conclusion

Is it time for the County Championship equivalent of Match Of The Day?

Our Top 20 Cricket Blogs

Read all our County Cricket coverage

County Championship XI of the week #18

County Championship XI of the week #10: Division 1 Half-Term XI

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

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County Championship XI of the week #10: Division 1 Half-Term XI

 
With the County Championship on an enforced break thanks to the ‘delights’ of the domestic T20 competition, we thought it was a good opportunity for us to select the Reverse Sweep’s Division 1 XI of the season so far. Our Division 2 selection will follow tomorrow.

Marcus Trescothick (Somerset, Captain): 978 runs at 81.50 – After a spluttering start, Banger more than lived up to his nickname to smash four hundreds (including a century in each innings against Yorkshire) and nearly achieve one of English cricket’s Holy Grails of a 1,000 first-class runs by the end of May. Unsurprisingly, the leading run-scorer in the country is an automatic pick.

Varun Chopra (Warwickshire): 726 runs at 55.84 – A pair of double hundreds against Somerset and Worcestershire in his first two matches suggested a rebirth after a barren 2010. Whilst he has only recorded one half century in the Championship since, he has starred in the CB40 and has done just enough in our opinion to get the nod ahead of the Sussex pair Chris Nash and Ed Joyce.

Luke Wells (Sussex): 574 runs at 52.18 – The rookie has surpassed all expectations in his first full season at Hove. His maiden hundred helped Sussex chase down over 300 against Durham, his second secured a draw at the Rose Bowl and his third came after being promoted to open against Yorkshire. Clearly a huge talent.

Ben Stokes (Durham): 609 runs at 55.36, 17 wickets at 33.00 – Promise fulfilled from one of our ones to watch in 2011. The youngster looked a good prospect in 2010 but is now clearly an exceptional one. With the bat he has three hundreds at a strike rate of over 70 and nearly achieved cricketing immortality with five sixes in one Liam Dawson over in April. He has also improved dramatically with the ball and whilst he still goes for a few, has the happy knack of taking wickets. Just don’t call him the new Flintoff.

Dale Benkenstein (Durham): 855 runs at 77.72 – South Africa’s loss continues to be Durham’s gain. Like Trescothick, he has hit four championship tons and has been the model of consistency in what has been a prolific Durham batting line-up. The second highest run scorer in the country.

Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire): 749 runs at 68.09 - Has shone as much as Yorkshire have been dismal. After 58 first-class innings and 17 scores of 50 plus, Bairstow finally reached three figures against Notts and promptly turned his maiden ton into a double. Having removed the monkey from his back, he scored a second century at Taunton soon after. He still has some room for improvement with the gloves, but at this rate he will be good enough to play for England as a specialist batsman.

Ian Blackwell (Durham): 558 runs at 50.72, 19 wickets at 28.42 – The balance of this XI would be better with a leg-spinner such as Adil Rashid or Steve Borthwick, but it has proved impossible for us to ignore the larger than life Blackwell. He has the best strike rate of any batsman in Division 1 with over 300 runs (78.59) and the best economy rate of any bowler with more than seven wickets (a miserly 2.06 runs per over).

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire): 24 wickets at 18.54, 262 runs at 52.40 – He may have been laid low by spin splints, but Woakes did enough in his four matches to warrant selection. After starting with nine wickets and a hundred against pre-season favourites Somerset, Woakes continued to impress with bat and ball. His strike rate of a wicket every 36 balls is the best of those that have bowled over 60 overs.

Glen Chapple (Lancashire): 23 wickets at 19.34, 116 runs at 19.33 – We suggested at the start of the season that Chapple held the key to Lancashire’s fortunes. Whilst that hasn’t proved entirely correct, the captain has more than held his end up whilst inspiring his side to second place in the table. Can he lead the Red Rose county to their first title since 1934?

Steve Kirby (Somerset): 31 wickets at 25.00 – One of the ultimate unsung heroes, Kirby has held together what is a fairly ramshackle and pedestrian Somerset bowling attack to take a steady flow of wickets even on Taunton’s batting paradise. Second to only Gary Keedy as Division 1’s leading wicket taker.

Gary Keedy (Lancashire): 34 wickets at 22.35 – Talking of unsung heroes, Keedy has been Lancashire’s undoubted star in their impressive first half of the season. Has enjoyed bowling at Aigburth, no more so when picking up ten wickets in the Roses match when he had staggering match figures of 77.3-14-177-10. Keedy has been the best spinner in the country to date ahead of supposed bigger names like Panesar and Rashid.

Where next?

Cricket Heroes: Marcus Trescothick

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

Read our previous 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

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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Who should make the England Lions XI to play the Sri Lankans?

 
The England selectors will meet in the coming days to pick their Lions squad to face the Sri Lankan tourists in a game starting on 19th May at Derby.

They will have their work cut out as one of the features of what has been a fascinating start to the County Championship is the number of impressive performances by young English cricketers.

We’ve had a go at naming our XI:

Varun Chopra (Warwickshire) – The former England under-19 captain has started the season like a runaway train and deserves an opportunity to see whether he can flourish against an international bowling attack.

Adam Lyth (Yorkshire) – Whilst the young opener still needs to turn more of his fifties into big hundreds, he is still probably at the head of a queue that also includes Stephen Moore and Jimmy Adams. But for injury Alex Hales and Michael Carberry would also have come into the equation.

James Hildreth (Captain, Somerset) – Has had a bit of a slow start to the season after a phenomenal summer in 2010 and impressive performances for the Lions over the winter, but is still on the shortlist for the vacancy created in the Test side by the retirement of Paul Collingwood.

Ravi Bopara (Essex) – With Eoin Morgan opting for the riches of the IPL, Bopara is Collingwood’s probable replacement in the Test squad. He is running into form with the bat as an unbeaten match-winning ton in his last Championship match Glamorgan testifies. Underrated bowler.

James Taylor (Leicestershire) – Supremely talented and gutsy too, if his batting against a fiery Surrey attack on a lively Oval pitch last week is anything to go by. It is a case of when, not if, Taylor plays Test cricket. Other middle-order batsmen that could come into contention include Samit Patel, Andrew Gale and Ben Stokes.

Craig Kieswetter (Somerset) – It’s a borderline decision between the Somerset keeper and Stephen Davies, but Kieswetter has made the more impressive start to the season. Jonathan Bairstow may also get a mention in dispatches.

Adil Rashid (Yorkshire) – Presumably the selectors know all they need to about Monty Panesar, so the game against Sri Lanka offers another opportunity to take a look at the young Rashid - still the pick of an ever-growing list of young English spinners that also includes Danny Briggs, Scott Borthwick and Simon Kerrigan.

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) – Not many have started the season better than Warwickshire’s bowling all-rounder, who has 24 wickets in the Championship at 18.54 and 262 runs at 52.40. A real candidate for further England honours after demonstrating he had the temperament for international cricket in Australia over the winter.

Ajmal Shahzad (Yorkshire) – Has now been on the fringes of the England Test, ODI and T20 sides for a while now and deserves his chance to show what he can do against the tourists. Alex Hales’ jaw will vouch that Shahzad has fully recovered from the injury that saw his World Cup curtailed early.

Steve Finn (Middlesex) – With Chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan and Stuart Broad likely to be in a three-way race for two spots in the Test XI, the selectors will probably want to take a look at next cab on the rank Finn in a Lions shirt.

Jade Dernbach (Surrey) – The surprise late call-up to the World Cup looked the real deal against Leicestershire last week and will probably pip the likes of Steve Kirby, Stuart Meaker, James Harris, the returning Graham Onions and 17 year old Reece Topley to the final spot in the XI.

Where next?

County Championship XI of the week #5

Our 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

2010 County XI of the season

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County Championship XI of the week #3

 
As we wrote yesterday, round 3 of the County Championship produced some classic matches, fine individual performances and generally showed that rumours of its imminent death had been greatly exaggerated.

Perhaps not unsurprisingly, trying to whittle down the top performers to an XI is an arduous task to say the least. We could find no place for Zander de Bruyn despite his 172 against Glamorgan, nor Tom Maynard who served his revenge cold against his former county with 123 in the same match.

Spare a thought too for Tony Palladino, whose nine wickets and 44 unbeaten runs from number 11 proved in vain against Middlesex. Gary Keedy and Farveez Maharoof also miss out despite starring for Lancashire in their innings win over Somerset.

Here without further ado is our XI for this week:

Varun Chopra (Warwickshire) – from 409 runs in the whole Championship season in 2010 to a sublime 471 in just two matches this season. A second successive double hundred turned the match around at New Road for Warwickshire. A talent that is finally flourishing.

Alastair Cook (Essex) – the tormentor of the Australians got his season off and running with 155 against Northants - an innings described by Derek Pringle as clean and exhilirating. More of the same against Sri Lanka and India please.

Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire) – One of our 10 to watch in 2011 ploughed a lone furrow in the 1st innings at Headingley with a magificent 85 (off just 89 balls) in a sorry Notts total of 143, and then repeated the dose with 83 (off 112) second time around to help stun Yorkshire.

Luke Wells (Sussex) – maiden first-class hundred from the 20 year old was the solid backbone of Sussex's impressive chase of 309 to beat Durham (despite a late scare) at Chester-le-Street.

Andrew Gale (Yorkshire) – looked to have secured Yorkshire's complete supremacy against Notts with a brilliant 145 not out. Alas a 193 run 1st innings lead did not prove enough.

Chris Read (Nottinghamshire) – How many times has Read scored runs when Notts were in dire straits? His 86 and partnership of 150 with Steven Mullaney gave his side something to bowl at and led to a stunning comeback win against Yorkshire.

Gareth Berg (Middlesex) – six wickets and a match-winning knock of 80 as Middlesex chased down 328 at Derby

Chaminda Vaas (Northamptonshire) – five for 76 in a first innings of 433 and then hit 96 as Northants wrested back the initiative against Essex at Wantage Road.

Chris Woakes (Warwickshire) – a crucial first-innings 47 gave his side at least a few runs to play with before a brilliant performance with the ball saw his six second innings wickets condemn unlucky Worcestershire to defeat at New Road.

Ryan Sidebottom (Yorkshire) - couldn't have done much more to secure a win over his former county with match figures of eight for 97 against Nottinghamshire. Getting into this XI is unlikely to prove much consolation.

Monty Panesar (Sussex) – seven wickets for 144 in 44 controlled overs helped Sussex back into the match twice at Chester-le-Street. Any spinner who takes four wickets on day one of a Championship match at Durham in April deserves automatic selection.

Where next?

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

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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The County Championship: There's life in the old dog yet

 
Despite competition from the IPL, a severe financial crisis and having most of its matches shunted from mid-summer in favour of an over-elongated Twenty 20 competition, the latest round of County Championship games showed that reports of its imminent death have been greatly exaggerated.

As county aficionados who have had the good fortune to witness events will concur, the matches that finished on Friday or Saturday threw up a number of classics to emphasise just why first-class cricket will always surpass its impatient limited overs cousins.

Terrific turnarounds

Reigning champions Nottinghamshire (193 runs behind), Sussex (98) and Warwickshire (174) all faced big 1st innings deficits but all came back to win.

Thrilling run chases

Sussex (309) and Middlesex (328) both thrillingly chased down 300+ victory targets against Durham and Derbyshire respectively in topsy-turvy games at Chester-le-Street and Derby.

Shocks

Pre-season Division 1 favourites Somerset were on the receiving end of a second successive innings defeat, this time against Lancashire at Liverpool. Unpredictability is another facet of the County Championship – can you imagine Manchester United losing their first two games of the season heavily?

God loves County Cricket

Despite the ridiculously early start to the season, the Gods have been kind with the weather - for instance whilst the South of France (and we should know) experienced a deluge yesterday, the sun shone on England's green and pleasant cricket fields.

New stars

Wherever you looked, young players are really making their mark. A second successive double hundred from Varun Chopra and six wickets from Chris Woakes saw Warwickshire turn the tables on Worcestershire. 20 year old Luke Wells scored a maiden first-class hundred in Sussex’ssuccessful run chase and the likes of Alex Hales, Nathan Buck, Ben Stokes, Adil Rashid and seventeen year old Reece Topley have also starred so far this season. The future does indeed look bright for England.

There’s certainly life in the old dog yet.

Where next?

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

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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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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Somerset has a really, really bad day at the office

 
We all know what it is like to have a bad day at the office. The big deal didn’t come in. The boss acted like a prick. You had an argument with a colleague. All are eminently possible.

But have you ever had a cataclysmic day at the office? Did you set the building on fire? Were you got caught with the Managing Director’s PA in a compromising position in the disabled loo? Was the aforementioned PA also the MD's wife? Or maybe you are just Nick Leeson.

Somerset had one of those days on Saturday.

On paper, the favourites for the Division 1 County Championship should have had too much firepower for what had seemed to be a weak Warwickshire side.

But after winning the toss and putting the opposition into bat, Somerset captain Marcus Trescothick presided over a disaster akin to the Titanic’s maiden voyage – albeit without the drastic loss of life.

Firstly, Ajantha Mendis didn’t bamboozle county batsmen as had been predicted. Indeed, he bowled like a drain as Varun Chopra and Chris Woakes helped themselves to hundreds and Warwickshire racked up 642. Somerset’s much vaunted bowling attack was as impotent as a particularly inebriated drunk with a chronic problem of erectile dysfunction.

But surely Somerset’s stellar batting line-up would be able to play out a draw? It was the batting featherbed of Taunton after all.

Not a bit of it. If capsizing in the first innings for 210 was bad enough, what happened when they followed on was downright embarrassing.

50 all out in just 88 deliveries.

The losing margin of an innings and 382 runs was the sixth largest margin of defeat since 1921.

It was Somerset’s largest defeat since 1895.

You know things must be bad when Rikki Clarke takes seven wickets in less than 12 overs.

And who predicted that Somerset would finally win its first Championship and that Warwickshire would be relegated?

Guilty as charged, your honour.

Where next?

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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