2018 Kiwi County Tour #1
Yeah nah, chur malo.
The Kiwi County Tour is back! Spark up the buckie and hop on the KCT bus, joining Ross Taylor, Matt Henry, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Matt Quinn, Douglas Bracewell, Neil Wagner and of course the new captain of Warwickshire Lord Jeetz (plus a few more). While other kiwis are more concerned with the shenanigans of the IPL, you're here because like me, you love the thought of kiwis taking up the County cricket challenge and enjoying all the vibes that only County cricket can offer.
To get things started, there were three games in Division One and Two, a the second cluster of fixtures to start on the 21st NZT. We had a nice mix of players in that first cluster of fixtures, although not quite the level of contributions that we'd like. Matt Henry was the star performer with a bunch of wickets and regardless of what any of the KCT lads did, the first game of the season was always going to be headlined by Jeetan Patel getting his season as Worcs captain underway.
I went into detail about what it means for Jeetz to skipper Worcs with context around their situation, transitioning between eras and what not. Check that out if youz wanna, otherwise merely saviour the fact that Jeetan Patel is the captain of Warwickshire.
Kent vs Gloucestershire
Matt Henry vs Kieran Noema-Barnett
Even though Gloucs snatched a fairly easy win, Matt Henry took 7w in total for Kent. They were skittled for 64 first up with Henry scoring 4 and Noema-Barnett not bowling, then Henry took 4w @ 2.35rpo to return the favour and skittle Gloucs for 110. Noema-Barnett chimed in with 18 batting #8 and Kent couldn't do much better in their second dig, all out for 153 with Henry hitting 14.
Gloucs chased down their target of 108, in 29 overs, after Henry had taken 3w @ 2.64rpo.
In a game where the ball dominated, it was no surprise that Henry was so effective as his style of bowling suits these English decks at this time of year. These decks would also suit Noema-Barnett and with the former Central Districts all-rounder operating more as a bowler in County cricket, I was intrigued to see he didn't get a crack with the ball. It's not like Noema-Barnett was really needed though.
Middlesex vs Northamptonshire
Douglas Bracewell
There was no James Franklin for Middlesex, but we did have Doug in action for Northamptonshire and ol' mate Doug put in a solid shift. Middlesex took home a fairly easy win; batted first and were all out for 214, bowled out Nthnts for 74, were then all out for 159 and Nthnts had a target of 303 but were bowled out for 142.
In all of that, Doug took 4w. That started with a wicket in the first innings - the #10 batsmen - and Doug bowled the most overs of the Nthnts bowlers with 23ov @ 2.65rpo. Doug also bowled the most overs in the second dig with 9ov, 3w @ 3.44rpo and this time all 3w were top order wickets as Bracewell sent three of Middlesex's top four back to the sheds, including Australian all-rounder Hilton Cartwright for a duck.
Doug didn't do too much with the bat, batting #8 and then dropping down to #9 in the second innings as Nthnts sent in a night-watchman. In general, I'm chuffed to have Doug on the KCT bus as he needs to get consistent cricket in after suffering plenty of injuries and having his off-field stuff lingering. This sets up a funky battle between Henry and Doug (lol, Henry and Doug) as they are both fringe Blackcaps Battler seamers with plenty of room to blossom during the winter in England. Right now Henry has his nose ahead and Doug is buying the Fish n Chips for Henry.
Warwickshire vs Sussex
Jeetan Patel
Other than the #9 batsman for Sussex hitting 106 off 105 balls, nothing really happened in this draw between Warwickshire and Sussex. Jeetz only bowled in one innings, after being dismissed for a duck, batting #9 in the first dig (299 all out) and Jeetz went wicket-less while conceding 4rpo as Sussex worked their way to 374 all out.
The game finished with Warwickshire 87/3 in their second bat. A quiet start for Jeetz, easing him into the KCT.
Lancashire vs Nottinghamshire
Ross Taylor
My favourite kiwi batsman, thus my kiwi GOAT Ross Taylor contributed 9 runs to a Notts win as their bowlers did the damage in dismissing Lancashire for 158 and 73. Rossco hit 9 in the first innings as Notts were 222 all out in reply to Lancs' first dig and then, with Notts chasing 10 runs to win Ross was dismissed for a duck and Notts somehow lost 4w in 5 overs. They did manage to get the required 10 runs, so chur to them.
The uso Ross has had a rough time of it lately, in long-form cricket that is. After hitting two centuries in three ODIs vs England, Ross had scores of 20, 3 and 13 in the Test series and has followed that up with scores of 9 and 0 in his first County outing of the winter. Given how prolific his run-scoring has been since having his eyes sussed out, you'd imagine that Ross will catch fire at some point. This makes it low key interesting to see how long his current form slump lasts, form slumps happen to every batsman and 5inns with nothing over 20 runs is a hefty slump for Ross.
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Peace and love 27.