Bell’s Batting and Alex Hales’ Squeaky Bum – County Championship Roundup

I love April. It’s such an optimistic time of year. The magnolias in my garden are blooming, I’m glued to The Masters, and most importantly of all, the domestic cricket season starts.

Browsing the championship scores before dinner has become a form of therapy for me: forget work, sod family for a bit, and focus on how many runs your favourites have scored. And if I haven’t finished by the time my sausage and mash turns up, it gives me something extra to do while the Mrs is watching Eastenders.

Anyway, let’s get stuck into the roundup. Surrey’s return to the big time was a surreal affair. Notts were obviously hurting after the James Taylor news but rallied to claim a hard-fought victory on the fourth day. First innings runs from Mullaney, Wessels, Read and Fat Sam put Notts in a strong position. Surrey looked dead and buried when they conceded a first innings deficit of 221.

However, the Londoners showed some fight in the second dig and made Notts work extremely hard. Runs from Harinath and a little known Sri Lankan called Kumar Sanga-Something (no, I’ve never heard of him either) set up a tense chase on the fourth afternoon. Notts were were initially cruising at 72-0 but good bowling from Tom Curran and Ravi Rampaul pegged them back. The home side eventually reached their target of 170-odd for the loss of seven wickets – a bit too close for comfort. Mark Footitt had a poor Surrey debut. He took 2-147 in 31 overs. That’s about as economical as CentreParks in the summer holidays.

There was better news for an England hopeful at The Rose Bowl, where Ian Bell (now captaining Warwickshire) scored a sublime 174. I guess it was inevitable really. I wonder if the news about James Taylor piqued his interest? With England now looking for a middle-order batsman, they could do a lot worse than a bloke who averages 48 at number five (with nine centuries). I guess it depends if they want to invest in someone a tad younger. I’m sure we all trust the selectors to make a wise decision. Ahem.

Although a washout on day two ultimately prevented any chance of a result, Warwickshire should be relatively pleased with their start to the season. Trott, Sam Hain and Woakes spent a little bit of time in the middle and Jeethan Patel, who will be absolutely crucial again this summer, got some overs under his belt. The only negative was a potential injury to Chris Woakes. He fell awkwardly in the field and didn’t bowl as a precaution. Let’s hope he’s ok.

Durham’s draw against Somerset was most notable for the performance of the young South African Keaton Jennings. With a first class average of just 30, Jennings has found professional cricket hard work so far. But perhaps he’s slowly figuring it out. He made a hundred in both innings (the second of which was undefeated). Nobody else in the match made 50. Well played, sir.

Somerset were lucky to escape with a draw in all honesty. They were bundled out for just 179 in their first innings and only the promising Lewis Gregory made an impact with the ball. He took 6-112 in the match. Durham will be frustrated with the weather, but heartened by the performance of their opening bowlers. If they can keep Onions and Rushworth fit, they should be very competitive this year.

The big story of Essex’s resounding win over Gloucestershire wasn’t Tom Westley’s 121, or even Gareth Roderick’s 146 runs in the match. Somewhat predictably it was Alastair Cook’s 105. It’s good to see the skipper start the season off strongly. He’s probably a bit too good to be playing division two cricket, but you can only score runs off the bowlers in front of you.

The pick of the Essex bowlers was young Jamie Porter, who’s had a promising start to his career. The medium-fast seamer (that’s how they like them at Essex) has now taken 73 first class wickets at 25.41. I’m yet to see him in the flesh but his match-figures of 7-112 bode well. Perhaps Essex won’t be so reliant on Jesse Ryder after all.

Sussex’s division two campaign started with a damp squib in Northampton. After the non-toss the home side were invited to bat first – a decision Ben Brown probably regretted. Northants made a whopping 481-7 – not bad for April in England – with the impressive Ben Duckett (who wasn’t due to keep wicket) making the small matter of 282 not out. A few more performances like that and Alex Hales might get a squeaky bum … sorry about that rather unpleasant image.

Although Northants will be annoyed that rain prevented any play on days three and four, I imagine they’ll be relatively happy with life. As for Sussex, life in div 2 might not be as rosy as they expected. Steve Magoffin was strangely ineffective and Danny Briggs’ debut turned into a bit of a horror show: he took just 1-107 in 36 overs. I’m sure he’ll improve when the wickets dry out later this year. I imagine the surface at the County Ground was somewhat moist.

Talking of damp wickets, there’s nowhere wetter than a wet winter at New Road, where the water table is usually so high that it submerges the entire outfield and most of the pavilion too. Unfortunately the game between Worcestershire and Kent was abandoned without a ball being bowled. I imagine both teams buggered off to Nandos. I bet it’s Rob Key’s favourite.

James Morgan

PS I’ve added audio of the Lord’s podcast at the top of the page. The guests are Simon Jones and Lawrence Booth. There’s some good chat about poor James Taylor, Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, England’s summer ahead, plus how the 2005 Ashes defined Jones’ career. It’s worth a listen.

70 comments

  • There was another negative at the Rose Bowl – Reece Topley had his hand broken by Boyd Rankin and is out of the game for possibly as long as two months.

    Topley had a bit of a ‘mare at the WC but I hope his bowling in the ODI series in SA (only England bowler to average under 40) won’t be forgotten.

    • He did bowl quite well in SA, you’re right. I’m not sure what to make of Topley to be honest. I’m a bit of a sucker for a bowler with pace, and unfortunately he doesn’t tick that box. Having said that, he’s usually got decent control and he’s still young. Can see him playing a lot of ODI cricket, if not test matches.

      • Agree with you here, would love to find out about mills internationally James. Other than age topley doesn’t seem to be anything better than gurney. Good luck to him though, incredible how young he is, played quite alot

        • Crikey, not much liking for Topley here, is there? He’s played the same number of matches as Gurney, taken five more wickets, has an average of 25 to Gurney’s 39 and has a better Economy Rate (5.3 to 5.7)! He has also only just turned 22.

          I wonder if the lumping together of ‘white-ball bowlers’ obscures the fact that ODI and T20 bowling are increasingly diverging? Topley might be better at one than the other. Alternatively. maybe he just lost the ability for a couple of games to swing the ball into the RHB – always the LFM bowler’s best weapon.

  • Immense innings from Bell. Building an huge century almost like therapy. He’s a very dedicated Bear. That’s enough incentive. He would have been devastated about James Taylor who is a very popular guy and a huge mate of Bell’s batting partner on the day, Woakes. But a great riposte to those who said his eyes had gone and likewise his concentration etc. etc. and that he was finished and should retire. It’s amazing what a decent break and rest will do.

  • Yes, well done Ian Bell, last of the O5 brigade. Hope he isn’t finished at Test level. If he’s scoring runs he should be picked, if only it were that simple.

  • Bells record for Warwickshire is outstanding. He’s to good for county cricket only. Think ballance would have come in for Compton before Taylor retirement with bell requiring half a season of strong form. I think hales has been given assurances over place. He’s a player like Taylor we need to give an extended run to find out about as they both are unorthodox and therefore hard to judge how they will go based in cc form. England top 5 cook hales root ballance bell

    • Cook, Hales, Ballance or Compton, Root, Bell. You fellas are so gung ho. Leave Root where he is!

      • I like Jenny’s team albeit her predictive text and use of nicknames has confused me as to who the bowlers are.
        I’m guessing ‘are so’ is Stokes (let it go, Jen) and ‘gung Ho’ Broad. ‘You fell as’ (you delivered?) might be Finn. ‘Leave Root’ could be Jimmy during a Roses battle. Just stuck with ‘where he is’…
        Oh, I get it, now. Sorry, Jenny. Guess, not for the first time, I’m the ‘arse ol’. ?

      • I just don’t see how Compton gets in the side. Seems a negative selection. I don’t see him holding down a position and there are certainly better batsmen that can play all types of innings. Ballance has so much potential and has a much better record at 4/5. Moores moving him to 3 completely muddled his technique and mentality. In the middle order he is very fluent. I don’t see why root couldn’t bat 3, only reason he wouldn’t is to hide him but he’s the senior batsman now and could dominate from 3 spot.

        • Have you seen root against the new ball ?? He’s actually technically weak and nicks off!! He’d get found out at three should any team fine some decent bowling

          Root is a middle order player, not top order

    • I’m not sure why Ballance doesn’t need a run in the County season. He was quickly reselected for the squad without much evidence that he had repaired his technical issues. Maybe the management think he has?
      I would imagine that Bell thought he would get a run in the County season that is why he accepted the captaincy. However the Taylor retirement has put an awkward question to the selectors. I don’t think there was any chance of Ballance returning to be exposed at 3. It is possible and even likely that Root will be moved up given his current form. Which leaves 4 and 5 open and 2 of course.
      Were the selectors prepared to risk Hales opening again or will he be replaced by Compton. Cook was pretty clear that the opening slot was up for grabs and everyone needed to brush up their game. Let’s see how Hales, Compton and Ballance set out their stall. Bell also played well in Dubai as captain of the MCC and won the match against Yorkshire.

  • OK, so Hales is a Test match dead loss and has been given ‘assurances’ allowing him to avoid early season games which might trip him up. Bell, whose eye sight, and probably nerve, has gone at the top level, will be back, honest; even after he fluffed his exit at the Oval last year. A young lad makes a HUGE score in Div 2 and is already tipped for the Tests, and Cook scores runs against probably the most nameless attack in the history of the CC. And the ultimate lunacy – Ballance can make it as a Test no 3! Yes, a new season is upon us and I love it.

      • Scoring runs against the weakest attacks around isn’t exactly something to brag about

    • I’m also confused how you doubt bell so much and even further confused as to why you are able to assess his eyesight. Always comes up when a 30+ bat has a loss of form! Clearly he can’t see!!!!

      • Ballance made runs at 3 against some of the weakest Test bowlers on the circuit; I suspect if he is to return successfully it will be t 5, away from the new ball. Bell’s eyesight was clearly effecting his catching and therefore likely his batting; a swift 40 every third innings is not what is required; rather see a new player given a chance – maybe they’d score 100

        • The eyesight comment is ridiculous in this age. After Bell, the catching in South Africa at times bordered on the ridiculous. Have you forgotten the match in which 10 catches were dropped? Has the eyesight of the whole team gone? There has been plenty of drops in the slips since then and on and off a reprimand or two from Bayliss.
          Bell was put in the slips by Bayliss because he put his best fielder in that position but Bell has never been a specialist slip fielder in his whole career. Short leg, yes, and close in fielder in the ring. Up to then Bell has always been a safe pair of hands and excellent at cutting off runs. But former glory doesn’t count of course. If Bell does go back in the side I hope the coach has the sense to put him where he gets the best results.

  • Last season a 300+ was universally condemned as only against 2nd division bowling? This season 105 scored against 2nd division bowling is, it appears, universally seen as a glorious portent for the Summer?? My, how times change?

    • Eh? Who has described it that way?

      In terms of the England batting line up, I think the best bet is see who shows the best form before the first test. Bell would appear to be a good option to slot in. I’d also like to see Ballance given another ago, preferably middle order this time so that would suit.

      Still disappointed about Taylor. I genuinely thought we might be talking about him in a couple of years the way we’re talking about Root now.

      • Ballance should bat 4 imo, root at three – he seems the perfect three and could transform our line up. Bell after ballance gives the lineup good ballance and adaptability imo

      • No one. Anywhere Jamie. Just someone trying to stir.

        Its a tragedy what’s happened to Taylor. Just starting to cement his place, universally liked it seems too.

  • Would equally be great to see a young gun come through and establish themselves this year. James Vince? Sam Hain? Who else could come onto the radar?

    • A lot of good young players. Bell Drummond Duckett Clarke burnham and Lawrence are all super talented, strong seasons could get them test spots, all good players of spin too!

      • What have these young players done in red ball cricket to deserve a test spot??

        Burnham looks like he is a white ball player and has technical faults which should (assuming decent bowling and non roads!) get found out in quick time.

        Problem with the youngsters now is so few will be up to red ball. Let them score county runs at 45+ avg before even talking about test spots
        A few runs for the lions or u19’s isn’t anything to write home about

  • Good start for Durham – Somerset were indeed fortunate the last two days were washed out. Keaton Jennings is apparently only the third player to score a hundred in each innings for Durham – hopefully he will become the opening batsman we’ve lacked since Di Venuto retired. A first class average of 30 isn’t that bad when you play half your games at Riverside!

    • That’s a good point actually mate. An average of 30 at the riverside in May is probably worth an average of 50 at Taunton in July!

  • We have try some things this summer, its the perfect opportunity. The weakest Sri Lankan side in years followed by the mercurial Pakistan, who will test us with their pace bowling but won’t be able to score the runs to compete.
    After that its India, South Africa and Australia so its now or never.

    Firstly the Bell issue, I wouldn’t bring him back immediately. I’d give Vince or Ballance a go at 5. I’d shift Hales down to three and give the heaviest scoring opener (whoever it is) all summer to finally nail this opening spot.
    On the bowling front there is just no point in Broad and Anderson playing 7 tests. So there’ll be plenty of opportunity for others.
    One thing I really want to see is some dry weather in June/July, we need to prepare at least one turning track against Pakistan. One to make it a contest and two to try a spinner out before India.

    This could be a real summer of opportunity for England, I hope we use it.

    • It’s true that England have on paper an easy summer but we should t be ‘experimenting’ with a batting line up that has been struggling for consistency. Hales has scored well for a few seasons and I don’t believe players should be dropped without someone else banging the door down and being obviously better. As I’ve said above if root was playing for any other country he’d bat 3. England need to pick their best players and Ian bell shows that he is one of those. Vince has been pretty ordinary in 4 day game and it would seem there are better options. Ballance scored very well for 3+ years and really was harshly dropped.

      • I think we’ve been experimenting for a couple of years now. The revolving opener door, Compton recalled after 3 years, Bell at 5 then 3, Bairstow in and out. The only constants are Root & Cook.
        I’d love a settled batting line up, but with Taylor going, Hales and Compton hardly setting the world alight we have to experiment.

        Ballance was a beaten man, he had to be left out for his own good. I’d be happy to see him back but no higher than 5.

        • If only there was a player who’d scored loads of,runs and shown he had the bottle to take on the worlds best (when they were actually decent ).. Scoring 300+ and being hung for,it and now cook and duckett are being lauded as world class test batsmen..m

          Oh the irony of ECB lovers

          • How dare they make runs… Of course the kp brigade will still rim him and ridicule any success of anyone else…

          • How long is this gonna go on?

            If everything in the garden had stayed rosy, my bet is Kevin would have retired after the SA series and maybe all-together after the T20.

            Do we have to keep it going on the internet?

            • It’ll keep going until people like you stop following the ECB like sheep..

              Where downtown, Clarke, graves, Harrison lead sadly some follow blindly

              Beleiving the PR trash and not ever saying ‘ hold on, you guys are bad for the game and should be accountable’

            • Until KP retires then he is no longer eligible for selection. It’s still a live discussion until that day. If someone is good enough and not being picked for no apparent reason then it is still right to be questioned

              • Neil, I suggest that a man who chooses not to play any form of cricket for a county this summer is a man who accepts he will not be selected for England in any format and has moved on. Whatever the the rights or wrongs of that situation life is finite and precious, chasing lost causes is such a waste of it.

        • He scored a battling and crucial 60 odd and was dropped two knocks later. Can’t be a bad player with his record…

    • Hales at 3 with Ballance at 5 is a fair option but I understand Hales is secure as opening bat.
      I wouldn’t like to see Bell back at 3. A bit of a conundrum there.

          • The fact you’re considering lumb a red ball player and hales.. Wow

            Hales will avg 40 ish I’m sure but that’s because modern test cricket is lesser than previously, not because he’s actually any good . Technique is shocking

  • I’m sure we’ll get to this in upcoming weeks but for what it’s worth I think England’s test batting is in real trouble. I have no idea how we won in South Africa, especially as Cook had a poor series. Only Root and the skipper look genuine test quality to me. Doubts over Hales, Compton for sure, and now Taylor is gone. It’s a real conundrum.

    I’d be interested to see how Ballance goes at 5, but rumour has it he’s done nothing to work on his technique and angered the selectors in the non-process. Personally I’d be tempted to let Bayliss watch lots of county cricket and hand pick 3 guys to start against SL. Just like Fletcher did with Tresco and Vaughan. They might not be the most well known players, but Bayliss will see something in them. I’m afraid I don’t really trust the judgement of Whitaker & Fraser. Nice guys but they rarely say anything insightful. That’s just my opinion of course. I’d much rather leave it to Bayliss.

    • Sadly people seem to think players like Roy, vince, hales and co are test quality.. The sadder thing is given the poor state of world cricket they probably could avg 40 ish given time ???

      None are good enough and shouldn’t ever be considered, Compton is the style England need but he isn’t good enough either. Stokes is the golden boy but is no test batsmen ( ie top 6), buttler is never going to make it either unless he’s simply allowed to go in and play white ball (not great if he’s ever needed to bat for the teams life)

      Very very troubling times unless you are behind white ball style red ball and follow the ECB to the grave

    • Duncan Fletcher had seen quite a bit of county cricket when he coached Glamorgan. Tres scored a reportedly brilliant 160-odd against a strong Glamorgan attack which was instrumental in Fletcher backing him despite less than stellar overall CC stats at the time. Tres had also done well at U19 level so it wasn’t as if he completely came out of nowhere.

  • Continue to be amazed to hear suggestions that Hales can bat 3 if there is no place as opener: he clearly is a dead loss as a Test cricketer – he hasn’t the technique for it (I’m with Boycott on that). Though I doubt the selectors will heed this, any more Tests for him will prove nothing that is not known already. And will be grossly unfair on more deserving players who might be picked instead

    • Issue is.. Is there anyone ‘more deserving’ ??

      The stocks are very very bare as county cricket produces hitters and white ball players now

      • True. It’s not easy. Nor is following James’s suggestion of allowing Bayliss to pick any 3 from the CC: presumably, Bayliss picked Hales, Compton and Taylor for SA and that hardly worked…

        • I don’t think that’s quite right. The selectors picked those players. Bayliss might be consulted, but he’s had very, very little time to watch county cricket since being appointed. This window now, before the international summer schedule starts, is probably the only window he’s had to take in some county cricket. When he was originally appointed he had to hit the ground running managing the team and the players already selected.

  • I don’t think we’re that far off actually. It’s pretty rare for a team to have a batting line up without some questions associated.

    Root and Cook are world class, but after these two there are a number of players who I would say have performed sufficiently to be persisted with in the short run; e.g. Compton and Bairstow. Taylor’s middle order position doesn’t entail as much pressure as higher up and I think there are options there.

    The one for me which needs serious consideration remains the opener’s slot. It’s not just Hales returns so far (which have been very disappointing), but more so the fact that he hasn’t looked at ease at all whilst batting. His strike rate has been so low so as to negate what he was brought into the team to do in the first place, which was bat positively. A conundrum. We don’t want to continue the conveyor belt situation but it’s worse to stick with the wrong player, particularly if we could be blooding someone in.

  • The Compton situation is a bizarre one. After three years he finally baited the selectors into picking him again (out of nowhere?). But not as an opener v PAK (where he would have been useful considering how he did in India) nor as an opener v SA, while two plainly unsuited players did. Seemed he’d nailed it after one Test, to spend the rest of the series playing himself out of the side. And yet his temperament and technique in Bangladesh and India next winter would be useful. What to do?

    • The real problem is – one very difficult for fans to face – is that good Test players are actually quite rare. Other teams have the same problem shuffling players around their core batsmen – and the problem gets harder if the core batsmen go out of form. Cook didn’t contribute in SA and if SA themselves hadn’t been in disarray, then the outcome could have been another Series lost.
      I agree with all those who think our Test team doesn’t look too good. It’s been a bit in the shadow of all the attention on the ODI side and the t20 side. Bairstow is a good addition as a batsman but his keeping is not up to scratch at times. Hales and Compton are bizarre picks that just show the lack of choice available. It was bizarre to open with Ali. The influence of t20 is plain to see. When England gets out of that immature mindset then Test cricket might start to function again. Bell was going through a rough patch – exhaustion etc? – but he had no management plan to keep him in the side. Should he have been rested for Pakistan – the whole winter? And no appreciation either when he did deliver – like at Edgbaston in the Ashes. Cook is always cosseted. The rest of the team go hang. It’s all a bit toxic and has been after the Kevin acrimonious departure. The whole pressure to stay “loyal” and not step out of line is not healthy. I’m not surprised that players like Ballance found the atmosphere unproductive.

      • Disagree.. Test players shouldn’t be that hard to find (world class ones by definition should be)

        18 counties

        36 openers for a start. Sadly, out of those counties how many play white ball players at the top.. Most id say now play white ball players because otherwise they’d have to employ specialist 4 day players who aren’t cost effective. Better off having a hales, lumb and co up top who play white ball and ‘do a job’ in red ball..

        So already, you’ve limited your talent pool by lazy counties completely discount the skill difference between formats and focusing on one type (white ball).

        • Opening the innings in red ball cricket is difficult, opening in England is even harder. It takes a particular kind of bloke to even want to try it. You are never going to find many who specialse in it. So to expect to have 36 is rather simplifying it.
          How many really good openers have England produced in the last 40 years, say since Boycott?

          Worcester have a good one in Mitchell, knows the role, does his job and gets scores along the way, definitely a specialist . But international class? No.

          • I don’t expect 36 international class.. I expect 36 specialist openers though of varying degrees of success.. It’s a position you should need in county cricket of the pitches were challenging snd bowling good.

            As we know, some of the players able to open show that the bowling isn’t challenging enough, aka… The standard isn’t high

          • “Opening the innings in red ball cricket is difficult, opening in England is even harder. It takes a particular kind of bloke to even want to try it”.

            Test averages for opening batsmen by continent in the last two decades:

            http://goo.gl/Khj4qn

            They do not support your assertion that opening in England is harder than anywhere else.

            • My assertion wasn’t about test cricket Simon, it was about county cricket.
              I can’t imagine too many kids jumping at the chance to try their luck on a green seamer on a cloudy day in 10 degree April.

  • I don’t see Hales as a test batsman and never did, but there is no crowd waiting at the gate to take his place. Likewise Compton. He is too pedestrian for me but we seem to have such a shaky top order he is at least worth considering. The test side might be weak but toxic is is somewhat retrospective. Cook might be cosseted but you are surely not suggesting we drop him?

    • Comptons SR is fine in red ball cricket !! He’s there to bat long, not go at 70+ SR..t hats the middle orders job!

      Jesus, people seem to want players to play like one dayers and forget it’s 5 days !! So so much time.. This is why tests are finishing inside 4 days, because the batsmen all go out and play white ball is read of taking their time

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