Story Brendon vs Callum vs Jono - A Worcestershire Battle

[Dutchmen]

Nice pick from you both. I'm supporting Shaaiq Choudhry, He is a great youngster. And Both the team are same? Why? No Ben Scott. /:

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Go Callum Go, you will win for sure

 

[Varun]

The story section is becoming exciting and exciting!

 

[Ollie_H]

And the quality of the posts get worse and worse.

 

[Chewie]

Nice pick from you both. I'm supporting Shaaiq Choudhry, He is a great youngster. And Both the team are same? Why? No Ben Scott. /:

Not quite sure what you mean? We're purposely taking the same team to see who does better

And the quality of the posts get worse and worse.

At least people are reading it I suppose. Activity in this section has increased

 

[Ollie_H]

At least people are reading it I suppose. Activity in this section has increased

As a N.B, I'm not actually talking about this story in itself, I am talking some of the other 'stories' and the comments that people put down.

 

[CG123]

Callum's Worcestershire Squad 2010

Batsmen:-

Vikram Solanki - Part-time wicket-keeper (captain)
Moeen Ali
Shaaiq Choudhry
Phil Jacques (reserve international player)
Sanath Jayasuriya - Spin (T20 contract only)
Alex Kervezee
Jack Manuel
Daryl Mitchell
Matthew Pardoe
Neil Pinner
Ben Smith

Wicket-Keeper:-

Ben Cox

All-Rounders:-

James Cameron - Pace
Joe Leach - Pace
Shakib Al Hasan - Spin (Overseas player)
Steven Smith - Spin (T20 contract only)
David Wheeldon - Spin

Bowlers:-

Gareth Andrew - Pace
Imran Arif - Pace
Richard Jones - Pace
Matthew Mason - Pace
Alan Richardson - Pace
Chris Russell - Pace
Jack Shantry - Pace
Chris Whelan - Pace

Callum has named a predictable 25 man squad for the upcoming county cricket season. It features only one player who has previously represented England, and six uncapped players at the county cricket level. The will have to rely heavily on their overseas player playing in each match, and the likes of Vikram Solanki to score the bulk of their runs.

Their first match is against Middlesex in division two of the county championship.​

 

[CG123]

Worcestershire vs Middlesex
County Championship - D2
9th April 2010​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Daryl Mitchell
2. Vikram Solanki*?
3. Moeen Ali
4. Ben Smith
5. Shakib Al Hasan
6. Alex Kervezee
7. Shaaiq Choudhry
8. Imran Arif
9. Matthew Mason
10. Alan Richardson
11. Chris Russell

I wanted to have some depth to our batting, but at the same time play five proper bowling options, and the only way really to do this was to play Vikram Solanki as our wicket-keeper. We would go into the match with six batsmen, one all-rounder (Shakib), and four specialist pace bowlers.

Middlesex

1. Andrew Strauss
2. Scott Newman
3. Neil Dexter
4. Dawid Malan
5. Sam Robson
6. Ben Scott?
7. Gareth Berg
8. Tim Murtagh
9. Shaun Udal*
10. Iain O'Brien
11. Pedro Collins

On paper they didn't look too much stronger than us, but the likes of Strauss, O'Brien and Collins were sure to have a massive impact on their other younger players, even if they themselves didn't preform.

Toss:

Worcestershire won the toss, and chose to bowl first.

Match:

Middlesex - 384 all out

Scott Newman 68
Tim Murtagh 61
Andrew Strauss 54

Alan Richardson 4-94
Imran Arif 3-70
Shakib Al Hasan 3-74

Worcestershire - 303 all out

Ben Smith 92
Alex Kervezee 53
Shaaiq Choudhry 50

Tim Murtagh 3-52
Iain O'Brien 3-90
Shaun Udal 2-70

Middlesex - 204 for 2 declared

Scott Newman 83*

Shakib Al Hasan 2-58

Worcestershire - 200 for 3

Vikram Solanki 111
Ben Smith 44*

Result:

Match Drawn

Points:

Middlesex 8
Worcestershire 6

MOTM:

Scott Newman (69 and 83*)

Reaction:

An alright first outing for us. We had them in a spot of bother in their first innings, but a 61 from Tim Murtagh down at eight helped propel them into a better position than they should of been in.

In our first innings of the season with the bat, our middle order got amongst the runs with three fifties. However our tail could not propel us any higher than 300, as our bottom four managed 17 runs between them.

Our pace attack just lacked a bit of everything in their second innings, as only Shakib could pick up any wickets. They declared giving us 280 odd to chase in two sessions.

It was a big decision to make whether or not to try to chase it down, but in the end we decided to play the match out and take the draw. Our captain Vikram Solanki was this time amongst the runs, with a well played hundred.

In the end a draw was probably a fair result, and the points reflected how the match was played. Scott Newman was named MOTM for two decent contributions with the bat.

 

[Chewie]

A good match to start for you Callum Looks like it was pretty even, no team having a great advantage over the other. I will play my match shortly, hopefully I do better than you How many points did you get btw? That'll probably be the easiest way to compare us.

 

[CG123]

Brendon vs Callum vs Jono - A Worcestershire Battle

Worcestershire County Cricket Club was founded in 1865, and is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic cricket structure. They are currently in Division Two of the County Championship, and they play under the name Worcestershire Royals in One Day Cricket. Their home ground is the County Ground, New Road, which has a capacity of 4,500.

Captain: Vikram Solanki
Overseas player: Shakib Al Hasan
Founded: 1865
Home ground: New Road

2009 proved to be a disastrous year for Worcestershire in first-class cricket, finishing bottom of the First Division without a single victory to their name, the first time the county had failed to win a Championship match since 1928. Because of this they have sacked all their old staff, and want to see how they go under me, Brendon and Jono simultaneously.

Pretty much me (CG123), Brendon (hedger_14) and Jono (Chewie) are each going to take up the captaincy of Worcestershire in International Cricket Captain 2010, and post our progress here.
They are one of, if not the worst English county in ICC 2010, hence it will probably be a struggle, and hopefully rather entertaining for you to see how we go.

Brendon - Squad
County Championship Stats
Challenge Trophy Stats
Season Summary
Off-Season Update

Callum - Squad
County Championship Stats
Challenge Trophy Stats
Twenty Over Cup Stats
Season Summary
Off-Season Update

Jono - Squad
Twenty Over Cup Stats
Off-Season Update

County Championship

| . P . | . W . | . L . | . T . | . D . | . Bat . | . Bwl . | . Pts . Brendon. |

16​

|

2​

|

4​

|

1​

|

9​

|

32​

|

40​

|

139​

Callum |

16​

|

2​

|

3​

|

0​

|

11​

|

28​

|

38​

|

131​

Jono |

16​

|

1​

|

8​

|

0​

|

7​

|

39​

|

32​

|

108​

Brendon

vs Middlesex - CC D2 (9th Apr)
vs Leeds UCCE - University Match (15th Apr)
vs Surrey - CC D2 (21st Apr)
vs Glamorgan - CC D2 (27st Apr)
vs Leicestershire - CC D2 (4th May)
vs Derbyshire - CC D2 (17th May)
vs Sussex - CC D2 (24th May)
vs Gloucestershire - CC D2 (29th May)
vs Leicestershire - CC D2 (28th Jun)
vs Derbyshire - CC D2 (21st Jul)
vs Northamptonshire - CC D2 (29th Jul)
vs Gloucestershire - CC D2 (4th Aug)
vs Glamorgan - CC D2 (9th Aug)
vs Surrey - CC D2 (16th Aug)
vs Northamptonshire - CC D2 (25th Aug)
vs Middlesex - CC D2 (7th Sep)
vs Sussex - CC D2 (13th Sep)

Callum

vs Middlesex - CC D2 (9th Apr)
vs Leeds UCCE - University Match (15th Apr)
vs Surrey - CC D2 (21st Apr)
vs Glamorgan - CC D2 (27st Apr)
vs Leicestershire - CC D2 (4th May)
vs Derbyshire - CC D2 (17th May)
vs Sussex - CC D2 (24th May)
vs Gloucestershire - CC D2 (29th May)
vs Leicestershire - CC D2 (28th Jun)
vs Derbyshire - CC D2 (21st Jul)
vs Northamptonshire - CC D2 (29th Jul)
vs Gloucestershire - CC D2 (4th Aug)
vs Glamorgan - CC D2 (9th Aug)
vs Surrey - CC D2 (16th Aug)
vs Northamptonshire - CC D2 (25th Aug)
vs Middlesex - CC D2 (7th Sep)
vs Sussex - CC D2 (13th Sep)

Jono

vs Middlesex - CC D2 (9th Apr)
vs Leeds UCCE - University Match (15th Apr)
vs Surrey - CC D2 (21st Apr)
vs Glamorgan - CC D2 (27st Apr)
vs Leicestershire - CC D2 (4th May)
vs Derbyshire - CC D2 (17th May)
vs Sussex - CC D2 (24th May)
vs Gloucestershire - CC D2 (29th May)
vs Leicestershire - CC D2 (28th Jun)
vs Derbyshire - CC D2 (21st Jul)
vs Northamptonshire - CC D2 (29th Jul)
vs Gloucestershire - CC D2 (4th Aug)
vs Glamorgan - CC D2 (9th Aug)
vs Surrey - CC D2 (16th Aug)
vs Northamptonshire - CC D2 (25th Aug)
vs Middlesex - CC D2 (7th Sep)
vs Sussex - CC D2 (13th Sep)

Challenge Trophy

| . P . | . W . | . L . | . T . | . NR . | . Pts . Brendon. |

12​

|

10​

|

2​

|

0​

|

0​

|

20​

Callum |

12​

|

4​

|

8​

|

0​

|

0​

|

8​

Jono |

12​

|

2​

|

10​

|

0​

|

0​

|

4​

Brendon

vs Sussex - CT group match (25th Apr)
vs Surrey - CT group match (3rd May)
vs Glamorgan - CT group match (9th May)
vs Lancashire - CT group match (16th May)
vs Somerset - CT group match (23rd May)
vs Sussex - CT group match (19th Jul)
vs Unicorns - CT group match (25th Jul)
vs Glamorgan - CT group match (22nd Aug)
vs Unicorns - CT group match (29th Aug)
vs Somerset - CT group match (30th Aug)
vs Surrey - CT group match (1st Sep)
vs Lancashire - CT group match (4th Sep)
vs Northamptonshire - CT semi-final (11th Sep)
vs Sussex - CT final (18th Sep)

Callum

vs Sussex - CT group match (25th Apr)
vs Surrey - CT group match (3rd May)
vs Glamorgan - CT group match (9th May)
vs Lancashire - CT group match (16th May)
vs Somerset - CT group match (23rd May)
vs Sussex - CT group match (19th Jul)
vs Unicorns - CT group match (25th Jul)
vs Glamorgan - CT group match (22nd Aug)
vs Unicorns - CT group match (29th Aug)
vs Somerset - CT group match (30th Aug)
vs Surrey - CT group match (1st Sep)
vs Lancashire - CT group match (4th Sep)

Jono

vs Sussex - CT group match (25th Apr)
vs Surrey - CT group match (3rd May)
vs Glamorgan - CT group match (9th May)
vs Lancashire - CT group match (16th May)
vs Somerset - CT group match (23rd May)
vs Sussex - CT group match (19th Jul)
vs Unicorns - CT group match (25th Jul)
vs Glamorgan - CT group match (22nd Aug)
vs Unicorns - CT group match (29th Aug)
vs Somerset - CT group match (30th Aug)
vs Surrey - CT group match (1st Sep)
vs Lancashire - CT group match (4th Sep)

Twenty Over Cup

| . P . | . W . | . L . | . T . | . NR . | . Pts . Jono |

16​

|

4​

|

12​

|

0​

|

0​

|

8​

Brendon. |

16​

|

3​

|

13​

|

0​

|

0​

|

6​

Callum |

16​

|

1​

|

15​

|

0​

|

0​

|

2​

Brendon

vs Yorkshire - T20 group match (4th Jun)
vs Durham - T20 group match (6th Jun)
vs Nottinghamshire - T20 group match (10th Jun)
vs Northamptonshire - T20 group match (11th Jun)
vs Nottinghamshire - T20 group match (13th Jun)
vs Warwickshire - T20 group match (18th Jun)
vs Derbyshire - T20 group match (21st Jun)
vs Yorkshire - T20 group match (22nd Jun)
vs Northamptonshire - T20 group match (25th Jun)
vs Derbyshire - T20 group match (27th Jun)
vs Lancashire - T20 group match (5th Jul)
vs Leicestershire - T20 group match (7th Jul)
vs Durham - T20 group match (9th Jul)
vs Leicestershire - T20 group match (11th Jul)
vs Warwickshire - T20 group match (16th Jul)
vs Lancashire - T20 group match (18th Jul)

Callum

vs Yorkshire - T20 group match (4th Jun)
vs Durham - T20 group match (6th Jun)
vs Nottinghamshire - T20 group match (10th Jun)
vs Northamptonshire - T20 group match (11th Jun)
vs Nottinghamshire - T20 group match (13th Jun)
vs Warwickshire - T20 group match (18th Jun)
vs Derbyshire - T20 group match (21st Jun)
vs Yorkshire - T20 group match (22nd Jun)
vs Northamptonshire - T20 group match (25th Jun)
vs Derbyshire - T20 group match (27th Jun)
vs Lancashire - T20 group match (5th Jul)
vs Leicestershire - T20 group match (7th Jul)
vs Durham - T20 group match (9th Jul)
vs Leicestershire - T20 group match (11th Jul)
vs Warwickshire - T20 group match (16th Jul)
vs Lancashire - T20 group match (18th Jul)

Jono

vs Yorkshire - T20 group match (4th Jun)
vs Durham - T20 group match (6th Jun)
vs Nottinghamshire - T20 group match (10th Jun)
vs Northamptonshire - T20 group match (11th Jun)
vs Nottinghamshire - T20 group match (13th Jun)
vs Warwickshire - T20 group match (18th Jun)
vs Derbyshire - T20 group match (21st Jun)
vs Yorkshire - T20 group match (22nd Jun)
vs Northamptonshire - T20 group match (25th Jun)
vs Derbyshire - T20 group match (27th Jun)
vs Lancashire - T20 group match (5th Jul)
vs Leicestershire - T20 group match (7th Jul)
vs Durham - T20 group match (9th Jul)
vs Leicestershire - T20 group match (11th Jul)
vs Warwickshire - T20 group match (16th Jul)
vs Lancashire - T20 group match (18th Jul)​

 

[Chewie]

oops lol

Did Solanki give away many extras for you?

 

[CG123]

oops lol

Did Solanki give away many extras for you?

17 byes and a dropped catch in the first innings, and 6 byes in the second innings.
Their "specialist" keeper gave away 12 byes all together.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Nice start for you callum an even contest there

 

[hedger_14]

9th April 2010
Worcestershire Vs Middlesex
County Championship - D2​

Teams:

Worcestershire:

1. Daryl Mitchell
2. Vikram Solanki*
3. Moeen Ali
4. Shakib Al Hasan
5. Ben Smith
6. Shaaiq Choudhry
7. Ben Cox (wk)
8. Imran Arif
9. Matthew Mason
10. Alan Richardson
11. Jack Shantry


Middlesex

1. Andrew Strauss
2. Scott Newman
3. Neil Dexter
4. Dawid Malan
5. Sam Robson
6. Ben Scott (wk)
7. Gareth Berg
8. Timothy Murtagh
9. Shaun Udal*
10. Iain O'Brien
11. Pedro Collins


I wouldn't say that the team is stronger at any point but probably weaker in the lower order with an inexperienced Choudry and the keeper, Ben Cox who isn't a great batsman. We will be depending on Vikram Solanki and Shakib Al Hasan with the bat to get us to a decent total and each bowler will have to do a good job. Middlesex definately look the stronger team but I still think we have a chance of winning this.


Toss:

Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bowl first


Middlesex - 372 all out

Andrew Strauss 66 (144)
Gareth Berg 64 (107)
Sam Robson 61 (163)

Shakib Al Hasan 5/74 (25.2)
Imran Arif 3/84 (29)


Worcestershire - 162 all out

Moeen Ali 28 (79)
Ben Cox 27 (72)

Pedro Colins 4/32 (13.1)
Timothy Murtagh 4/48 (17)


Worcestershire (Following On) - 256 all out

Mooen Ali 112* (331)
Shakib Al Hasan 64 (125)

Timothy Murtagh 6/83 (31)
Iain O'Brien 2/55 (25.1)
Pedro Collins 2/57 (29)


Middlesex - 50/1

Neil Dexter 28* (27)


Middlesex win by 9 wickets


MOTM:

Timothy Murtagh (4/48 and 6/83)


Points:

Middlesex - 22
Worcestershire - 2



Comments:

Pretty happy with our bowling effort, Al Hasan taking 5 wickets and 3 for Arif as well but I was very disappointed by our batting effort in both innings with the exception of Moeen Ali. In our 1st innings, nobody scored over 30, Ali top scoring with 27 and a nice knock from the keeper, Cox down the order who scored 26. 162 all out though was such a shocking effort and did not please me much at all. Vikram Solanki failed with scores of 8 and 11 who really needed to step up. Only 2 points, both from the bowling and not 1 batting point, which we probably needed to get. As long as the team bounces back quickly, I'll be happy. Moeen Ali was the stand out performer along with Shakib Al Hasan. He batted well in both innings, although the wickets fell in the first innings and 27 was in fact the highest score followed by a great century in the second innings. He will definately be keeping his spot for the time being.

 

[Chewie]

Worcestershire vs Middlesex
Count Championship – D2
9th April 2010


Playing XI’s

Worcestershire:
1. Daryl Mitchell
2. Vikram Solanki *
3. Moeen Ali
4. Alex Kervezee
5. Ben Smith
6. Shakib Al Hasan
7. Nicholas Cleese
8. Ben Cox †
9. Imran Arif
10. Matthew Mason
11. Alan Richardson

Middlesex:
1. Andrew Strauss
2. Scott Newman
3. Neil Dexter
4. Dawid Malan
5. Sam Robson
6. Ben Scott †
7. Gareth Berg
8. Tim Murtagh
9. Iain O'Brien
10. Pedro Collins
11. Steve Finn
​

I also decided to go with a lengthened batting lineup. I didn't want to risk giving away lots of byes however, so I cut back on a bowler rather than a keeper. New recruit Nick Cleese gets a shot, down at number 7. Because of the fewer numbers of bowlers, it is hoped that the part-timers (of which this team has a few) chips in with a number of overs. The Middlesex lineup is nearly exactly the same as the one Callum faced, however instead of Shaun Udal, they have played recently capped international Steve Finn, who will make this game even tougher for us.

I won the toss and elected to bat first. Both openers batted very well to last through to tea, Solanki reaching his century off 190 balls, before getting out to O'Brien shortly afterwards on 105. Mitchell also reached his century, a more sedate one from 256 balls, and he too also fell shortly afterwards on 104. We finished the first day in a good position at 320 for 4. The next day Ali also reached his century, a remarkable achievement for someone so young. His was a more aggressive one and was eventually out for 131 off 186 balls. The tail wagged to take us to 549 all out after the middle order had crumbled somewhat, Smith and Kervezee both getting out in single figures.

Bowling, we tasted early success with Richardson getting the danger-man Strauss out in his first over. They managed to reach the end of the day without further loss and were 42/1. Dexter and Newman staged a recovery the next day with their partnership reaching 175 before Arif managed to have Newman caught behind. Al Hasan and Cleese took a wicket apiece while Dexter stayed strong at the other end. The new ball ended his defense however, with Richardson trapping him LBW. No further inroads were made with the new ball however, as Middlesex ended the third day at 313/5. Wickets would need to be taken quickly on the final day if a result was going to eventuate. They did not come however as Scott and Berg managed to defy us for most of the first session before they both fell as a pair. Murtagh followed shortly after, and Middlesex still required 8 runs to avoid the follow on. However, despite Richardson getting Collins out, Middlesex managed to pass the follow on target as lunch drew upon us. They were eventually all out for 408.

I decided to see how quickly I could stretch our lead to 200 runs and declare - sometimes they decide to take a risk and bat aggressively in the hope of winning, in the process losing quick wickets. We eventually reached 71/3 and declared, leaving Middlesex 213 to win with a few overs and a session in which to chase.

Middlesex did not take the bait however, ending their innings tamely at 85/2, the part time spin of Solanki having accounted for the wickets.

Overall, while we were dominant for the most part of the match, our poor bowling let us down. If we had managed to enforce the follow on, the game would have been much more interesting, but it was still a decent result for our first outing. Moeen Ali was man of the match, and we took away 8 points, compared to their 6.

Next up for us is an easy game against Leeds UCCE. It should be a great opportunity to try out fringe players.