County Championship/Bob Willis Trophy 2021

First topic message reminder :

Starts in eight days time on the 8th of April, so we may as well have a thread for it. It's another revised structure for this year, with two trophies up for grabs: the County Championship and the Bob Willis Trophy.

The 18 counties have been split up into three seeded groups:

Group 1: Derbyshire, Durham, Essex, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire
Group 2: Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey
Group 3: Glamorgan, Kent, Lancashire, Northamptonshire, Sussex, Yorkshire

Counties will play every group opponent home and away - a total of ten matches. After ten matches, the top two teams in each group advance to Division One. Teams finishing 3rd and 4th go to Division Two. Teams finishing 5th and 6th go to Division Three.

In the division stage, each county will play a total of four more games. They will not, as far as I'm aware, play again against their initial group opponents. For instance, if Essex and Warwickshire make it through to Division One, they won't play each other in the division stage, just the top two from groups two and three.

After these four extra games, the team that is top of Division One will be classed as the County Championship winners. The County Championship winners will then play the team that finished second in Division One in the five-day final to determine the Bob Willis Trophy winners.

The group stage will run from April-July. The division stage will start late August and conclude in September. The final is set to be played from the 27th September-1st October (the ECB know it rains and gets dark then, right?).

I can't say I'm a fan of this format, to be honest, as the County Championship trophy has been relegated in stature, but I hope it all works out well.

With SkyBet, defending champions Essex have been installed as favourites at 5/1 to win the Bob Willis Trophy. Perennial runners-up Somerset are the second favourites at 13/2, then Yorkshire at 7/1. Lancashire, Nottinghamshire and Kent a bit further back at 9/1. Forum favourites Surrey at 12/1. No-hopers such as Durham, Glamorgan and Leicestershire way out at 66/1.

Meanwhile, Surrey's Division Two match at Durham which was due to start tomorrow is off. One of the Surrey players has Covid and many of the squad who had contact with him are having to self isolate.

No further explanation of the requirement to self isolate has been given. Don't believe it's a Government stipulation now (think that went on 16 August) although possibly it still is if the (younger) players haven't had a second jab?? Possibly an ECB or Surrey thing.

Anyone know? Whatever the answers, I feel sorry for those who were were planning to go and watch, especially those who had already booked accomodation.

I don't see what would have stopped Surrey picking players from the Surrey Championship League to make up the team. They might have been thrashed but it would still have been a highlight for the players chosen and meant the game went ahead.

It does seem like there should have been enough time to find an alternative team, and as you say, from the outside it doesn't seem like a great look for county cricket if they've just looked at the players on their books and called it off.

Somerset, who have never won the County Championship due to being cursed, are set for a hammering at the hands of Nottinghamshire. Notts made 448 - odd looking scorecard with everyone from 2-10 in the batting order making at least 24 and only one centurion - and Somerset are 87/7 in response, Fletcher with a burst of 4/21.

Warwickshire-Lancashire is a lot tighter. Warwickshire crawled to 371ao - Hain and Benjamin with centuries, Mahmood 4/77 - and Lancashire are 100/1 in response. Brilliantly balanced going into day three.

Yorkshire-Hampshire is an intriguing battle. Yorkshire 243ao, Hampshire only mustering 163ao in reply, and Yorkshire steadily on 34/1 in the third innings. A swift flurry from Hampshire tomorrow morning may set up an interesting chase on a pitch that is unfriendly to anyone holding a bat. They'd need to keep the lead below 250 to have a realistic chance.

And I see Darren Stevens is still pushing hard for an England call. Top score of 55* in the low-scoring Kent-Leicestershire game, Zak Crawley also made a half-century in that one.

Stevens at it again this morning. Six 6s in a brutal 100.

Spent the day at Lord's yesterday watching a very good 90 from Derbyshire's du Plooy.

Ethan Bamber completed a five-wicket haul this morning while new recruit Stoneman - summing up Middx's wretched season - was out first ball to complete a debut pair.

Darren Stevens does it again - this time ending up with an unbeaten 107 off 70 balls. He unfortunately ran out of teammates.

Outstanding rearguard action by Hants to draw against Yorks. Just 151 runs scored off the full 96 overs in the day but crucially only 7 wickets lost. Yorks needed 8!

Vince batted 151 balls for his 42 whilst last pair Abbott and Wheal saw out almost 8 overs.

Notts did win by an innings. Lancashire and Warwickshire was a solemn draw. The best drama was between Hampshire and Yorkshire - Hampshire mounting a 115 over rear-guard to draw the game, ending up with 9 down and the last pair having to survive 46 balls. The rear-guard was led by the unlikely Mason Crane in position as nightwatchman, who lasted 197 balls. Could be a crucial 8 points for Hampshire in the final reckoning.

In the lower divisions Worcestershire completed an incredible chase of 315 in 74 overs to beat Sussex.

Duty281 wrote:Notts did win by an innings. Lancashire and Warwickshire was a solemn draw. The best drama was between Hampshire and Yorkshire - Hampshire mounting a 115 over rear-guard to draw the game, ending up with 9 down and the last pair having to survive 46 balls. The rear-guard was led by the unlikely Mason Crane in position as nightwatchman, who lasted 197 balls. Could be a crucial 8 points for Hampshire in the final reckoning.

In the lower divisions Worcestershire completed an incredible chase of 315 in 74 overs to beat Sussex.

Wow! I overlooked Crane's contribution - incredible!

guildfordbat wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Notts did win by an innings. Lancashire and Warwickshire was a solemn draw. The best drama was between Hampshire and Yorkshire - Hampshire mounting a 115 over rear-guard to draw the game, ending up with 9 down and the last pair having to survive 46 balls. The rear-guard was led by the unlikely Mason Crane in position as nightwatchman, who lasted 197 balls. Could be a crucial 8 points for Hampshire in the final reckoning.

In the lower divisions Worcestershire completed an incredible chase of 315 in 74 overs to beat Sussex.

Wow! I overlooked Crane's contribution - incredible!

Probably not enough to overturn your distaste for night watchmen though

Appalling list of County Championship scores. Of the eight games today* only one team that was batting first managed to bat the day - that was Leics who closed on 282/3 v Derbyshire.  Everyone else got bowled out for some truly awful scores - 97, 76, 133, 89, 116 and 134. Warwickshire and Hampshire is already in the third innings, twenty wickets falling in 74 overs.

Although I do note, with some happiness, Darren Stevens has blasted some more runs - 56 off 59 and still unbeaten for Kent.

*The ninth is, for whatever reason, starting tomorrow.

England may be losing but at least Somerset have had a good start to the second stage of the CC…

I see Middlesex are on an interesting score of 333/0 in just 71 overs. Two ex-England openers, Stoneman and Robson, going past 150 each.

Duty281 wrote:I see Middlesex are on an interesting score of 333/0 in just 71 overs. Two ex-England openers, Stoneman and Robson, going past 150 each.

Durham also racked up 503/8 declared with a highest score of 81 and a lowest of 20.

The highest score at Test level without a century, unless it has been beaten in the last few years, is India vs NZ in 76/77 where they made 524/9 with a high of 70!

The Robson/Stoneman stand reached 376 to knock Gatting/Langer's 372 off the record books as a Middx first-wicket stand.

Sussex, though, are fielding a very young side who could now be in the field to mid-afternoon on the second day in great heat.

Interesting start to life at Lord's for Stoneman. He began with a pair in his first match and now could be in the Middx record books for many years.

I think as a batsman I would have settled for 0,0 and then 174.

Robson out for 253. Thought he was going to 300!

Lara's record safe for another week then ...

I'm guessing that game is being played on a road because Middlesex finished up 676/5 declared, now Sussex are 103/0 at stumps in reply.

Got some interesting chases going into the final day:

Lancashire 115/1 needing 329 more to beat Notts. Warwickshire 139/2 needing 157 more to beat Hampshire. Away from Division One, Northants are 106/2 and need 214 more to beat Surrey.

Good to see the bowlers toil on a hot day in the county championship. ( I speak as a batsman, of course).

Red-ball batsmen have a tough time dealing with the seam-friendly pitches of April-May and then the autumn mist swing-bowler conditions in September.

Nice to see them cash in on an ultra-hot September day. Sam Robson, for one, has endured a torrid time in a poor Middx team. He's grabbed his chance on flat pitch against an inexperienced attack.

As Ken Barrington told Gooch once: "When everything's in your favour you have to book in for bed-and-breakfast."

Total match score at Hove at lunch on third day - 893 for six.

sirfredperry wrote:Total match score at Hove at lunch on third day - 893 for six.

Suspect it might be quite batsman friendly...

dummy_half wrote:

sirfredperry wrote:Total match score at Hove at lunch on third day - 893 for six.

Suspect it might be quite batsman friendly...

But not for long. A young leg-spinner has ripped thru Sussex and already has two wickets as they follow on. Reckon if Sussex had been playing anyone else they wouldn't be getting such a spanking. But Middx have had such a wretched season that they're happy to go into bully mode.

Overton, Gregory, Davey and Leach is a hell of an attack to be not playing for Somerset. Such a shame.

Ryan ten Doeschate has announced he's going to retire from cricket after the T20 World Cup later this year. A true Essex CCC great who at his peak could win games single-handedly. I'm delighted that he has returned to the Netherlands squad and hope he can go out on a high with some strong performances at the cricket world cup.

Tendo has a reputation as having a brilliant cricketing brain so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he remains very successful in cricket as a coach or administrator.

king_carlos wrote:Ryan ten Doeschate has announced he's going to retire from cricket after the T20 World Cup later this year. A true Essex CCC great who at his peak could win games single-handedly. I'm delighted that he has returned to the Netherlands squad and hope he can go out on a high with some strong performances at the cricket world cup.

Tendo has a reputation as having a brilliant cricketing brain so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he remains very successful in cricket as a coach or administrator.

Carlos - a highly appropriate and much deserved tribute to Tendo.

Ronnie Barker on 10fer watch! He has the first five vs Notts

JDizzle wrote:Ronnie Barker on 10fer watch! He has the first five vs Notts

7 from 7 now…

Whilst Somerset are being run through by Blatherwick and Balderson - whose names wouldn’t look out of place on a Test scorecard from 1896.

I think Guildford could pass a happy man if Ronnie Barker gets a 10fer!

I presume guildford will shortly be starting a "Barker for the Ashes Tour" campaign...

And at least Somerset are putting their supporters out of their misery quickly this year .

A chap on BBC HYS a few weeks back referenced Arthur C Clarke's short story , "The 9 Billion Names of God" , to suggest that if Somerset were to finally achieve a County Championship , it might herald The End of The Universe...

I think we can safely assume that danger is past for another year at least

Brad Wheal hates fun!

Had a really good day at Lord's yesterday. Middx v Worcs. Division Three, end-of-season, nothing at stake.

But what we saw was a fine, hard-fought day. Worcs bowled, and fielded, like demons and then Middx, having arguably their worst-ever season, bounced back from the equivalent in match terms of 12 for four to establish a lead of over 200.

There weren't that many people there. Half the ground was shut off. It was a bit chilly to start with. But then the sun came out and the Middx fightback began as the shadows lengthened. County cricket, eh?

Last games of the regular season start tomorrow. Rain looks like it'll stay away for the most part, but I imagine the light will curtail things early in most of the games.

Four teams in contention in Division One for the County Championship - Hampshire leading on 58.5 points, Warwickshire on 55, Lancashire on 54.5 and Nottinghamshire on 52. Top two teams, of course, get through to the Bob Willis Trophy final. Last fixtures:

Lancashire v Hampshire
Notts v Yorkshire
Warwickshire v Somerset

Interesting set of fixtures.
You'd fancy Warwickshire over Somerset and to get enough points to guarantee one of the top 2 spots. Winner of Hampshire v Lancashire has a very good chance of top 2, but close enough that bonus points are going to be an issue so Notts are far from out of the picture.

Somerset well out of it and Yorkshire would need to win with a very good haul of bonus points, probably Hampshire winning and Warwickshire losing (so an unlikely set of results) - that rear guard by Hampshire a couple of weeks ago has made a big difference to the positions.

Bowlers having fun at a couple of grounds I see...

Hampshire in lots of trouble ; Northants skittled for 81 . Even the England Women collapsed to 48/5 in their ODI.

Something in the air ?

Hampshire bowled out for 143. Odd to say, but they may not be too concerned at the moment because their batting has been poor throughout the season and their bowling frequently bails them out. No bonus points could hurt, however.

Warwickshire currently on course to 350 inside the 110 overs. If they get that 350, collect all three bowling points later and beat Somerset, that would virtually seal the County Championship for them - only Lancashire scoring 400 and winning would stop them in that scenario, I think.

Warwickshire closing on 286/4, Sam Hain leading the way. Sibley also got a half-century. They've got 14 overs tomorrow to score 64 runs and get a fourth batting bonus point, which would put them in prime position to win the County Championship.

Hampshire have reduced Lancashire to 25/3. It's a horrible batting wicket with plenty of uneven bounce and how Abbas only picked up two wickets this evening is a mystery. Hampshire have actually got three spinners in the side which I think is an error on this pitch.

Notts 292/9 v Yorkshire, Joe Clarke with an unbeaten century. Notts' chances of the County Championship are virtually extinguished, but that's a decent start for them.

23 wickets have fallen on the opening day in Essex! Still a few more overs left as well.

Ended up with 25 wickets falling in Essex. Odds-on that Essex will win by an innings before lunch on day two!

Warwickshire have lost three wickets in the first twenty minutes, derailing their chances of making 350 and leaving the Championship in Hampshire's hands.

Hampshire, meanwhile, have Lancashire in knots with Abbas and Barker picking up early wickets to leave the batting side floundering on 27/5.

Essex's win completed within 30 minutes of the start of day two.

Amazing effort from Briggs - 41 off 26 - has propelled Warwickshire to 350 just inside the 110 over limit, despite being 304/8 and 322/9.

If Warwickshire win, and capture at least 9 wickets in the first 110 overs of Somerset's innings, they'll take the County Championship.

Essex/Northants pitch needs to be investigated. Is it any wonder England haven't produced a test quality batter in like a decade with this standard of first class cricket/wicket?

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Essex/Northants pitch needs to be investigated. Is it any wonder England haven't produced a test quality batter in like a decade with this standard of first class cricket/wicket?

Not spinning though so totally fine.

Somerset providing some stubborn resistance to Warwickshire's title push - 147/3 after 47 overs. It is a good batting wicket and one of the boundaries is ludicrously short - no doubt meant to aid Warwickshire's earlier batting effort.

Hampshire leading by 86 in the second innings but already five down. Anything over 150 will be tough to chase on that pitch.

Somerset 239/5 after 77 overs at stumps. Means Warwickshire need another morning push - minimum of four wickets needed in the next 33 overs, otherwise the Championship is back in Hampshire's hands.

In the Hampshire game they have a lead of 160 for seven wickets lost, a brilliant partnership of 80 between Vince and Dawson putting them in a good position, though they did lose both of them late. Another 40 tomorrow will put them in a very strong position.

JDizzle wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Essex/Northants pitch needs to be investigated. Is it any wonder England haven't produced a test quality batter in like a decade with this standard of first class cricket/wicket?

Not spinning though so totally fine.

My thoughts precisely, JD. If it was Harmer or Leach taking those wickets instead of Porter, Cook and Snater it would be investigated and sanctioned. Green tops just produce such boring cricket when produced too often.

Well poised at lunch. Somerset 325/8 - Warwickshire only have 3.4 overs to take one more wicket and get that crucial third bowling point, otherwise it's out of their control. Even if they do get that wicket it may be tough to force victory.

Lancashire 19/0 chasing 196 on a prime bowling wicket v Hampshire.

Warwickshire can't get the ninth wicket in time, so the County Championship is Hampshire's if they defeat Lancashire...but at 37/0 it's a strong start from the batting side.

All getting quite interesting:
Warwickshire v Somerset looks like it could be heading for a draw - basically nothing between the teams on first innings and looks like an OK batting track.
Nottinghamshire look on course for a win over Yorkshire, who are effectively 58-5 batting much better 2nd after an abysmal first innings.
Lancs v Hampshire definitely getting a result unless the weather intervenes. Lancs just lost their second wicket and need another 134 on a pitch where the first innings scores were both in the 140s

Am I right to think:
Warwickshire - 7 bonus points (4 batting, 3 bowling)
Notts - 6 bonus points (2 batting, 4 bowling)
Lancs + Hampshire - 4 bonus points (all bowling)

So Hampshire win if they win (by half a point if Warwickshire also win). If not, then Warwickshire win if they win. Lancashire need to win and for Warwickshire to not win, while Notts would need to win and both other matches to be drawn, which is now very unlikely.

Oh, and when do we start thinking of Jack Leach as an all rounder, at least at County level. Averaging 24 this season and currently 41no as he nudges Somerset level with Warwickshire on first innings

dummy_half wrote:So Hampshire win if they win (by half a point if Warwickshire also win). If not, then Warwickshire win if they win. Lancashire need to win and for Warwickshire to not win, while Notts would need to win and both other matches to be drawn, which is now very unlikely.

Fairly sure that's correct. As you say, Warwickshire/Somerset looks like being a draw, so the winners of Lancashire and Hampshire will get the Championship. Lancashire in decent shape at 85/2, but it's the type of pitch where you can easily lose three or four for barely any runs.

dummy_half wrote:Oh, and when do we start thinking of Jack Leach as an all rounder, at least at County level. Averaging 24 this season and currently 41no as he nudges Somerset level with Warwickshire on first innings

I love this especially because prior to that 92 against Ireland he was averaging terribly in the CC. That innings as nightwatchman followed by his 1* at Headingley seemed to revolutionise his batting through confidence alone.

I also love that he looks like a BOGOF Marcus Trescothick when he bats in his glasses with that little trigger movement. He's just a very likable cricket is Jack Leach!