Stuart Broad doesn’t let Zak Crawley’s misery fire for Kent and shows that age is just a number – while Lancashire’s excessive caution paid Bazball no harm – FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED from County Championship
- Zak Crawley fell twice against LBW as his batting problems for Kent persist
- But Ollie Pope shone for Surrey when he went 122, not off 102 balls
- And Stuart Broad produced a match-winning bowling spell for Nottinghamshire
After starting the season with a promising 91 for Kent against Northamptonshire, England test opener Zak Crawley has managed just 3, 0 and 12, losing lbw twice this week at Edgbaston to Warwickshire’s Chris Rushworth.
The second decision looked dire, but it meant his first-class batting average fell below 30 – and invited further scrutiny into England’s apparent determination to stick with a player who, they say, isn’t around due to his consistency.
Still, it’s curious to think of players with higher averages being Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, and Adil Rashid.
Meanwhile, Crawley’s opening partner at Kent, Ben Compton, took his own average to nearly 58 with a rushing 88 in the second innings at Edgbaston.
Sportsmail’s Lawrence Booth gives us five things we learned from the County Championship this weekend.
Zak Crawley’s troubles at the crease for Kent continued into the weekend as he had done LBW twice
Pope jumps forever
While other members of England’s Test line-up made it to the IPL, Ollie Pope prepares for Ireland and Australia with some typically classy runs for defending champion Surrey.
Furious with himself after falling for 91 – one of six wickets in the first innings to metropolitan Pakistani sailor Mohammad Abbas – on the third day of his side’s match against Hampshire at The Oval – he batted beautifully to take control taking in a chase of 243 on the final day. with 122 not from just 102 balls.
His 17th first-class hundred was his 11th at The Oval and sixth against Hampshire. Fighting to regain his Test place, Dom Sibley made an unbeaten 79, including an unusual reverse sweep for four, as Surrey won by nine wickets.
Ollie Pope (right) shone with bat in hand for defending champion Surrey
Pope hit 122 not off just 102 balls in a final day chase for Surrey against Hampshire
No bazball?
One wonders what Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum would have made of Lancashire’s decision to field Essex as many as 340 on the final day at Chelmsford, not least because they had Jimmy Anderson at their disposal.
At a pre-season meeting, the Test captain and coach urged the counties to take a leaf out of England’s Bazball book, but Lancashire’s excessive caution saw Essex play an easy draw – even after Anderson old mate Alastair Cook had removed lbw for the second time in the match, this time for a duck.
Broad still has it
Never mind Stuart Broad didn’t get the headlines when Nottinghamshire beat Somerset by 165 runs at Trent Bridge. Those instead went to Brett Hutton (six for 45 in the first innings) and Dane Paterson (five for 46 in the second).
But the way Broad bowled former Australian opener Cameron Bancroft for 16 as Somerset folded for a second time for 129 was reminiscent of his match-winning spell against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui in February.
In fact, Nottinghamshire took the win in time for Broad to hop across the road to watch his beloved Nottingham Forest take on Manchester United.
Stuart Broad (left) showed he still has all the skill needed with the ball in hand
Broad bowled out former Australian opener and Somerset batsman Cameron Bancroft (pictured)
It never rains…
Most counties reacted with hostility to proposals by Andrew Strauss in his strong review to reduce the number of championship games from 14 per season to 10.
And critics had more ammunition when Gloucestershire v Yorkshire was abandoned with no ball bowled due to a waterlogged outfield on Bristol’s Nevil Road.
Not unreasonably they argued that, under Strauss’ plans, this would have effectively left Gloucestershire with just four home games all summer.
Yorkshire started the season hoping to return to Division One straight away.
Instead, they’ve lost to Leicestershire and are now limited to five points in Bristol – the sort of gain you’d normally expect from defeat.