The Reverse Sweep

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

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 

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

County Championship XI of the week #11: Division 2 Half-Term XI

 
Yesterday we named our County Championship Division 1 Half-Term XI. Today we turn our attention to Division 2 and an XI that seems to be comprised of a number of unsung heroes:

Will Jefferson (Leicestershire): 609 runs at 46.84 – Division 2’s leading runs scorer thus far was once talked about as a possible England player when he was at Essex. Those times have long since gone, but the 31 year old has scored freely in a struggling side.

Chris Rogers (Middlesex): 479 runs at 47.90 – It remains a mystery why the Victorian has played just the one Test, but Australia’s loss has proved to be Derbyshire’s and now Middlesex’s gain. Pips Glamorgan pair Gareth Rees and Alviro Petersen, as well as former team mate Wayne Madsen for his spot.

James Taylor (Leicestershire): 461 runs at 46.10 – Others have scored more runs, but has anyone showed their mettle and had their technigue and bottle tested as much as Taylor did when facing down a fearsome Surrey attack on a rare Oval greentop? Taylor’s innings that day proved once and for all that a long Test career awaits.

Rory Hamilton-Brown (Surrey, Captain): 587 runs at 48.91 - One of our ten to watch in 2011. Despite the distraction of the captaincy and having volunteered to open, Hamilton-Brown has shone with the bat, is Division 2’s second highest run scorer and has a Sehwagesque strike rate of 78. That Surrey appear to have woken from their slumber and are challenging for promotion makes it a doubly good first half of the season for the young skipper.

Tom Maynard (Surrey): 560 runs at 56.00 – After his explosive departure from Glamorgan, Maynard has really sparkled in his first season at The Oval and had the pleasure of serving his revenge cold by scoring his maiden first-class hundred against his former county at of all places Cardiff.

Niall O’Brien (Northamptonshire): 417 runs at 83.40 – Ireland’s wicketkeeper has ably demonstrated that there is more than one cricketer in the O’Brien family and pips the likes of John Simpson, James Foster and Mark Wallace to wear the gloves in this XI.

James Harris (Glamorgan): 26 wickets at 21.96, 224 runs at 37.33 – Another of our ten to watch in 2011, Harris is developing into a useful bowling all-rounder. Would have more wickets but for injury restricting him to just five Championship matches and pips Will Gidman and Andrew Hall given he is by far the best bowler of the three.

Claude Henderson (Leicestershire): 26 wickets at 28.26, 321 runs at 40.12 – A slightly contentious pick as Glamorgan’s Dean Cosker has taken more wickets to put his side in the promotion shake-up, but Henderson has done well in a struggling side and offers the added bonus of runs in an XI with an otherwise long tail.

Stuart Meaker (Surrey): 23 wickets at 18.78 - Another contentious pick as many would probably go with the old warhorse Chaminda Vaas. But Meaker’s wickets have come in only four games and his phenomenal strike rate of a wicket every 32.4 balls is just too good to ignore.

Jack Brooks (Northamptonshire): 30 wickets at 22.03 – The benefit of opening the bowling with Vaas has been all too clear for Brooks who is having a glorious season thus far to help inspire his side to the top of the table.

David Masters (Essex): 40 wickets at 20.77 – The leading wicket taker in either division, the experienced opening bowler has once again been the model of consistency despite a faltering return to Division 2 for Essex.

Where next?

Geoffrey Boycott apologises to Michael Yardy

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

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

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep

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

If you like this, follow us on Twitter @thereversesweep