Kiwi County Tour #9 (Back To County Cricket)
This shot went for six over mid-wicket, chur.
County cricket swung back into action over the weekend and as I'm typing this, all the boys on board the Kiwi County Tour bus are enjoying a few pints as they performed tremendously well. When the Kiwi County Tour is on fire as we were this round of County cricket, you can't help but celebrate and toast to glory as we're usually toasting to one or two individuals, not the entire group.
Before we crack on to debriefing the return of County cricket, it's a good time to touch base with how our lads are sitting in the Royal London One-Day Cup. This competition stops while the County stuff is back on, before quarter-finals start on June 13. Not that this matters for Neil Wagner and Matt Quinn as Essex have already qualified for a semi-final on June 16, which is handy because they're the only KCT lads involved in RLODC finals cricket.
Essex have a talented team led by Alistair Cook and with Wagner and Quinn in their bowling attack, they've been far stronger than their opposition with bat and ball. While Cook was scoring runs for fun as he does, Wagner sits as the leading wicket-taker for Essex and is ranked 8th overall. He's got 13 wickets @ 21.69avg/5.71rpo and he's one of three bowlers to take 4+ wickets twice. That's exactly what we've come to expect from Wagner and yup, regardless of the format we just expect Wagner to shine.
Quinn wasn't quite as dominant, taking 8 wickets @ 35.25avg/5.35rpo but you'd expect that from Quinn as he doesn't have the experience that Wagner has and is still looking to really establish himself as a consistent presence in the Essex bowling attack. Quinn's last three games countered the good work he had done earlier in the competition, taking just 2 wickets, compared to 6 wickets in the three games before that. When Quinn dropped back to the Essex 2nd XI at the start of the competition, he took 4/26 and 2/35, earning him a recall to the big-dawgs.
Also on the wicket-taking leaderboard was Jeetan Patel and Patel's 10 wickets @ 35.30avg/5.12rpo paints a complex picture. Patel has been selected in the Blackcaps Champions Trophy squad and this is his major preparation for that tournament as he isn't with the Blackcaps in Ireland, so given that the CT is also in England, you could view Patel's work as less than ideal. Patel wasn't as dominant as he has been and his Warwickshire Bears weren't very good, although he only went wicket-less in two games and finished this competition with a wicket in each of his last four games.
Jeetan Patel
Somerset vs Warwickshire (May 19-22)
Lord Jeetz loves to bat in County cricket - much more so than RLODC - and it was good to see him swinging his willow for 14 off 9 balls in Warwickshire's first innings against Somerset. Patel took Warwickshire up over 400 after Jonathan Trott hit 175 and with 413 on the board, Jeetz got back to his four-day business in bowling 27.3 overs which was more than 10 overs more than any other Bears bowler.
Jeetz took 2/93 @ 3.38rpo and helped Warwickshire dismiss Somerset for 230, enforcing the follow-on. Only 25.1 overs could be bowled and this game finished as a draw, with Lord Jeetz getting through 8 overs @ 1.37rpo without a wicket.
James Franklin
Middlesex vs Surrey (May 19-22)
James Franklin also featured in a draw, just a way more exciting draw. Batting first, Surrey were dismissed for 313 and the chief destroyer with the ball was the skipper. Franklin took 4/40 off 15 overs @ 2.66rpo and this was headlined by the key wicket of Kumar Sangakkara, after Sangakkara had scored 114. Of Franklin's 4 wickets, 3 of them were top-four batsmen and any time you snatch the wicket of Sangakkara, you deserve to be king of the KCT bus.
Dissappointed that he only took 4 wickets and sent Sangakkara back to the sheds, Franklin then hit 112 batting a No.7 with 14 fours and 4 sixes. Franklin steered Middlesex to 411 all-out with that century, putting Middlesex in a strong position until that pesky bugger Sangakkara came out to bat and hit his second century of the game. Thankfully for all involved, Franklin was there to save the day, saving everyone from getting stuck in the cover-drive porn from Sangakkara. Franklin had Sangakkara caught behind on 120 and finished with 1/16 off 11 overs @ 1.45rpo, dismissing Surrey for 339.
Middlesex were chasing 242 to win, before this game fizzled to a draw.
That pesky bugger Sangakkara has hit four centuries in four County games (592 runs @ 98.66avg).
Matt Quinn/Neil Wagner
Essex vs Hampshire (May 19-22)
Matt Quinn and Neil Wagner are loving life with Alistair Cook in their batting line up as the England veteran got this game underway with a century. After Cook was dismissed, Essex couldn't really kick on, with Wagner hitting 13 and Quinn 15 batting No.9 and 10 respectively before Essex were dismissed for 360.
Some geezer named Jamie Porter did much of the damage for Essex as they skittled Hampshire for 115, although Quinn and Wagner played their roles perfectly. Quinn took the new-ball behind Porter and had former England opener Michael Carberry trapped lbw in the 6th over, before Quinn and Wagner combined to send South African batsman Rilee Roussouw back to the sheds, another wicket for Quinn, caught Wagner.
Quinn finished with 2/32 off 12 overs @ 2.66 while Wagner's only wicket was Fidel Edwards batting at No.11. Wagner only bowled 6.3 overs though, with Quinn and Porter combining for 26 of the 3.73 overs bowled.
Essex enforced the follow on and Wagner was all up in the mix with 2/39 off 16 overs @ 2.43rpo. This time around, Wagner bowled 5 overs more than Quinn (11) and Wagner claimed an early wicket of James Vince, before Quinn took the wicket of Aussie George Bailey.
That gave Quinn 1/47 off 11 overs @ 4.27rpo and Essex were too slick for Hampshire, rolling them for 148 to claim a hefty win.
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