Season Review - Part Five - First half of July

Date: Friday 23 January 2009

In the fifth part of our season review of 2008, we take a look back at the first half of July.

The team had a bit of time to reflect on that Worcestershire defeat given there was a week’s break in the fixture list due to FPT semi-finals and T20 quarters.

The next challenge was a trip across the East Midlands to face near-rivals Derbyshire and the match developed into a slow burner, which ebbed and flowed throughout before County nearly won dramatically on the final day.

Progress was difficult on a pitch that did not encourage flamboyant strokeplay, so County had to grind themselves into a winning position. Tom Smith showed the player he is with battling knocks and excellent bowling in all four innings of the game, and it was his partnership with Paul Nixon that got County somewhere near parity after one knock each.

Derbyshire had been bowled out for 208 – which was a decent effort in the circumstances, with Smith and Jim Allenby each taking three wickets as the ball moved around throughout. County were then indebted to Nixon (26) and Smith (47*) in getting to 189 as the pair shared a gritty stand.

The duo battled through the opening session on the third day, scoring just 58 runs in the 32 overs bowled but forming a platform needed to bring the team towards that Derby total. County managed 189, and then hit back with the ball.

A gutsy 36 from Jake Needham as stand-in opener helped the hosts to build a decent lead. The youngster, already seen by those who witnessed Kibworth’s 2004 Cockspur Cup win over Ockbrook and Borrowash, opened in the absence of Dan Birch, who had a stomach upset.

Needham starred in defeat for his side against Kibworth that day and proved a tough nut to crack here, too. However, County managed to keep the run rate down, mainly thanks to Claude Henderson taking 3-43 from 37 probing overs.

With Nadeem Malik and Smith also taking three a piece, Derbyshire had to settle for a score of exactly 200 just after lunch on the final day. It set up a victory target of 220, but at 100-6 it looked as though Derbyshire were in the box seats, with still plenty of time left to force a result.

Cue a marvellous partnership between Allenby (72*) and Smith, which yielded 93 runs. The latter was brilliantly caught and bowled by Charl Langeveldt for 42 trying to edge the Foxes over the finishing line and when Henderson followed, an unlikely 18 runs were needed from the final seven balls.

Home captain Rikki Clarke did his best to ensure neither side would win by placing every fielder on the boundary despite Malik and Allenby shutting up shop, a move which prompted criticism for the former Surrey man. The pair saw out the final few balls and honours had finished even after a good game.

The next game was a friendly against Bangladesh A, which saw young duo Greg Smith and James Taylor bat well. Smith opened and made 35, with Taylor making his first half-century for the club. Allenby built on his Derbyshire performance with a near-faultless century, and Tom New also batted well in each innings.

Rain intervened and ensured no result was possible, despite Jigar Naik, Smith and Sam Cliff sharing some wickets. During this week, the new domestic structure was announced by the ECB, a move which saw the introduction of the EPL and an extended Twenty20 league.

Chief Executive David Smith and Senior Coach Tim Boon both nodded in approval at the new structure, which will come in ready for the 2010 season. Next up came the introduction of the Pro40 campaign, which ironically is the competition to make way when the new domestic pattern sets in.

If the ECB administrators needed any reminding why Pro40 was bought in in the first place, County and Essex Eagles served up a timely reminder during a thrilling tie. Both teams shared the spoils after a brilliant unbeaten 99 off 66 balls by visiting all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate, who scored twelve off the final three balls to secure the result.

ten Doeschate’s efforts helped to take Essex to 255 for eight in reply to Leicestershire's 255 for six. That ended a remarkable game where both sides scored 93 runs off the final 10 overs of their innings, but Leicestershire looked set for victory when Essex still needed 16 for victory off the last over of the game.

However, after the run-out of ex-Fox David Masters, ten Doeschate struck Dillon du Preez for a six and then followed up with another boundary and then two more runs off the final ball to bring the scores level.

Earlier in the day, opener Matthew Boyce recording his best one-day score of 59, made off 65 balls and containing 10 fours. He put on 48 for the first wicket with HD Ackerman, who made 23, and also shared a 75-run partnership with Boeta Dippenaar, who also reached 50 off 59 balls with six fours.

Captain Nixon also registered a half-century off just 40 balls with three fours and two sixes, sharing a stand of 69 with Allenby, who made 46 off 41 balls with two fours and two sixes, as the Foxes posted a competitive total. However, the team were going to have to bowl well in order to keep a strong-looking Eagles side in check.

The team would have felt even better when dismissing Ravi Bopara – who hit a sumptuous double-hundred against the Foxes earlier this season – for just 14, and Graham Napier, who had been hitting the headlines for his Twenty20 exploits, for a second-ball duck.

However, before ten Doeschate’s onslaught was a good knock by Jason Gallian, who also batted well to score 63 off 76 balls before falling to Claude Henderson, who was helped by a quite spectacular diving catch at midwicket by HD Ackerman.

Gallian was sixth man out with the score on 147, and before that visiting captain Mark Pettini was also caught by Ackerman off Malik, before du Preez trapped Napier lbw. Smith also trapped Bopara and James Foster leg before wicket, and inbetween those strokes, Grant Flower was bowled by Allenby.

The former Notts opener was a reassuring presence though amid the tumbling wickets, and he shared 48 with ten Doeschate, who hit eight fours and three sixes in his outstanding knock.

At 99 for five after 20 overs, the Eagles looked to have little chance - and their chances further diminished when anchorman Gallian was next to go - but a seventh-wicket stand of 61 in eight overs between ten Doeschate and James Middlebrook put them back into the match before the former produced the glorious finale.

Smith ended with the best figures for the Foxes with 2-34 off eight, but in all truth it was a day for the batsmen as 510 runs were scored in the 80 overs bowled.