Story Brendon vs Callum vs Jono - A Worcestershire Battle

[hedger_14]

15th April 2010
Worcestershire vs Leeds UCCE
University Match​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Neil Pinner
2. Vikram Solanki* (wk)
3. Moeen Ali
4. Alex Kervezee
5. Ben Smith
6. Shaaiq Choudhry
7. David Wheeldon
8. Imran Arif
9. Chris Whelan
10. Alan Richardson
11. Jack Shantry


Leeds UCCE

1. Jonathan Mitchell
2. Jon Blundell
3. Alan Moon
4. William Whitehead
5. Jim Levy
6. John Jefferson
7. Norman March
8. Fred Supple
9. Anthony Stack (wk)
10. Ken Gordon
11. Ken Hunter


I tried playing a few of the reserve players in Neil Pinner and David Wheeldon and a few other fringe players such as Chris Whelan. I wasn't really looking for a result, though one would definately be expected but I just wanted to see the team show their ability. Vikram Solanki will also take the gloves for this match.


Toss:

Leeds UCCE won the toss and elected to bowl first


Worcestershire - 424 all out

Alex Kervezee - 157 (349)
Ben Smith - 66 (143)
Shaaiq Choudhry - 46 (79)

Ken Gordon 5/111 (47)
Jim Levy 3/155 (38)


Leeds UCCE - 298 all out

John Jefferson 70 (108)
Jim Levy 69 (103)

Alan Richardson 4/38 (13.1)
Alex Kervezee 2/32 (12)
David Wheeldon 2/96 (24)


Worcestershire - 180/3

Alex Kervezee 44* (72)
Ben Smith 40* (70)
Vikram Solanki 40 (102)

Ken Gordon 2/62 (15)


Match Drawn


MOTM:

Alex Kervezee (157, 44* and 2/32)



Comments:

A good performance from the team, I guess. We batted reasonably in the first innings, most of the players getting starts but it was Alex Kervezee who impressed. He made a wondeful 157 with Smith helping him with a half century. The bowling was the disappointment as we would have normally looked to bowl a University side out for less that 220. Unfortunately, Levy and Jefferson's partnership frustrated our bowlers. Richardson bowled well taking 4 wickets and Wheeldon bowled well with his spin, despite the many runs he conceded. Shantry was probably the most unimpressive of the bowlers not taking a single wicket in his 10 over's. Kervezee showed he could also bowl a bit, having taken 2 wickets. Our second innings, the batsman were asked to go and play without pressure and they did that. Pinner made 37 while Solanki also scored his first score past 30, with a 100 ball 40. Ali went for it but got out for 15 off 10 but Kervezee and Smith both batted well, finishing 44* and 40* respectively. Kervezee was the most impressive player of the match, and will most likely be playing in the next match.

 

[Chewie]

Kervezee looks good! A nice innings from him as well as wickets! In previous versions of ICC he was down as an all-rounder so I suppose it's not too much of a surprise to see him doing well with the ball.

 

[CG123]

Worcestershire vs Leeds UCCE
University Match
15th April 2010​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Daryl Mitchell*
2. Neil Pinner
3. Moeen Ali
4. Jack Manuel
5. Matthew Pardoe
6. David Wheeldon
7. James Cameron
8. Ben Cox?
9. Matthew Mason
10. Gareth Andrew
11. Chris Russell

I made seven changes to the side that played out a hard fought draw against Middlesex. These changes saw everyone rested who made a decent contribution in our first match of the season, hopefully giving some of my lesser know players a change to prove themselves at a decent level. Five of our players would be making their first class debuts, and two players would be playing in just their second first class match. Daryl Mitchell would lead us in the absence of our regular captain Vikram Solanki.

Leeds UCCE

1. S Sutherland
2. Jonathan Mitchell
3. Jon Blundell
4. Alan Moon
5. William Whitehead
6. Jim Levy
7. Thomas Siddall
8. John Jefferson
9. Fred Supple
10. Anthony Stack?
11. Ken Hunter

Never heard of any of them, and never will. One of them is such a random, that he doesn't even have a first name. (Actually he's the only one not in the team Jono versed, and I CBF checking ATM.)

BTW my playing XI is rated the exact same number of stars as theirs (two thirds of one, out of five), so it was going to be a tough assignment for us to pick up a win in just three days.

Toss:

Worcestershire won the toss, and chose to bat first.

Match:

Worcestershire - 387 for 9 declared

Jack Manuel 143
Neil Pinner 128
Moeen Ali 39
Matthew Pardoe 38

Jim Levy 3-112

Leeds UCCE - 364 all out

Jim Levy 90

David Wheeldon 3-60
Matthew Mason 3-69
Gareth Andrew 2-61
James Cameron 2-76 (off 15.2 overs!)

Worcestershire - 139 for 3

Daryl Mitchell 63*
Moeen Ali 49

Thomas Siddall 2-30

Result:

Match Drawn

MOTM:

Jack Manuel (143 runs of 270 balls)

Reaction:

It's always hard to read too much into these games, but thing you probably learn more about is who's no where near up to first class standard.

At one stage in our first innings we were cruising along, but only one of our lower six players could manage to get into double figures. Our stand in captain Daryl Mitchell, and our only full-time keeper Ben Cox were the major failures, both getting out for ducks.

It was not a very good effort from us at all. Only one of our bowlers (Gareth Andrew) managed to operate at under three runs an over, and three out of five them were operating at over 3.75 runs per over. Chris Russell is still wicket-less, after playing in both our opening matches.

In our second innings Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali both managed to find some much needed form. I promoted Ben Cox to four, but yet again he failed scoring only 11 runs. With no pressure on us what so ever, we managed to lose three top order wickets to an under par bowling attack, not a very good sign when it comes to our 2nd team players.

Overall it was a mixed bag, with both some positives and negatives. Jack Manuel was named MOTM for his 143, and may of booked himself a place for our next county championship match.

 

[Chewie]

Pinner and Manuel played well to get centuries, hopefully their good form will strengthen your batting

Some good bowling there as well, I guess Russell will be removed from the playing XI

 

[CG123]

I doubt I'll play Pinner, as Mitchell and Solanki will be opening.
Also his 2nd team average is only like 36 or something.

I think I've got down Manuel to play in my next match, and Russell will be gone.

Solanki will be keeping again most likely, as that Cox guy is total mud. (2nd team average of like 15)

****en Ben Smith can't play as he's out, so that may open up room for me to play a genuine AR at 7/8.

 

[Chewie]

Cos is pretty terrible, but Solanki gave away about 20 byes in the second innings

 

[Gaurav_7]

This seems fun especially as you three are up against each other to prove your mettle. Good Luck!

 

[CG123]

On a bowling pitch I'll probably play him, as I'll only need four bowlers.
But on batting pitches when i want to play five bowlers, I don't see him playing, as him plus four bowlers would be the worst tail in ICC.

 

[Dutchmen]

Solanki will be keeping again most likely, as that Cox guy is total mud. (2nd team average of like 15)

I don't think Solanki will be keeping. You should have picked Ben Scott as other keeper. Anyway You should be playing with 4 pacemen. Gook luck for next match.

 

[Imager36]

They couldn't have picked Ben Scott because he's a Middlesex player who was only on loan at Worcs earlier in the season.

 

[Chewie]

Yea we only have one full time keeper in our squad in Cox, and he's a big liability with the bat.

 

[CG123]

Worcestershire vs Surrey
County Championship - D2
21st April 2010​

Teams:

Worcestershire

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

We made two changes from our first county championship match of the season, they saw Jack Manuel come in for the injured Ben Smith, and Gareth Andrew come in for Chris Russell.

Surrey

1. Steve Davies?
2. Michael Brown
3. Usman Afzaal
4. Mark Ramprakash
5. Rory Hamilton-Brown*
6. Chris Schofield
7. Laurie Evans
8. Gareth Batty
9. Chris Tremlett
10. Iftikhar Anjum
11. Andre Nel

Surrey went into the match fielding seven players with previous international experience, making our assignment all the more tougher.

Toss:

The pitch was an absolute belter, so when Surrey won the toss they unsurprisingly chose to bat first.

Match:

Surrey - 520 all out

Michael Brown 135
Laurie Evans 116
Usman Afzaal 96

Matthew Mason 3-88
Alan Richardson 3-114
Shakib Al Hasan 2-131 (off 50 overs!)

Worcestershire - 282 all out

Moeen Ali 89
Alex Kervezee 50

Chris Tremlett 5-80
Gareth Batty 2-36

Worcestershire - 259 all out following on

Imran Arif 84 (Nightwatchman!)
Daryl Mitchell 54
Shaaiq Choudhry 45

Gareth Batty 3-31
Iftikhar Anjum 3-59
Chris Tremlett 3-74

Result:

Match Drawn

Points:

Surrey 8
Worcestershire 6

MOTM:

Michael Brown (135)

Reaction:

We managed to escape big time there. After the first two sessions when they were only one down, we were pretty much just playing for the draw. Our bowling attack again was absolutely rubbish, as we toiled in the field for pretty much two days.

Late on day two we lost both our openers cheaply, so I employed Imran Arif as our nightwatchman, he done his job playing out the last few overs of day two, but didn't stick around in the morning. Our innings was built two on fifties from Moeen Ali and Alex Kervezee, but outside them no one else managed to get past 30. Chris Tremlett done all the damage taking five for 80.

Following on we would have to bat for just over three sessions to save the match. Our innings started terribly as our skipper was dismissed with just three overs left in the day three for four runs, meaning Imran Arif would again come out to bat in the top four as our nightwatchman. In contrast to the first innings he flourished on the flat day four track, powering on to 84 with our other opener Daryl Mitchell in support. However they could not stop the drama that was about to unfold below them, as our middle order crumbled to pieces. Shakib was left clueless with the bat for our second match in a row, only managing to salvage one single run from his two innings. Shaaiq Choudhry and Jack Manuel kept the Surrey bowlers at bay in the final session with 45 and 35 respectively, as we were eventually dismissed with three overs left in the match. Despite our lead being only 20 odd runs, it was deemed there was not enough time to come back on, so the match was called a draw.

We were never in the match, and were hopelessly outplayed, so to come out of it with a draw and six points compared to their eight is a massive achievement. Some of our boys showed some fight, while other like Shakib fell apart, leaving me in tatters wondering who to select next.

 

[Chewie]

You were lucky to get a draw there! The Worcestershire bowlers are terrible so it's not surprising they managed to score that much. Good batting from Arif as well, I've never had a nightwatchman do that well for me.

btw, how do you get the wicket keeper symbol? lol

 

[CG123]

btw, how do you get the wicket keeper symbol? lol

I just copied it from cricinfo.

 

[hedger_14]

21st April 2010
Worcestershire Vs Surrey
County Championship - D2​

Teams:

Worcestershire

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


Surrey

1. Steve Davies (wk)
2. Michael Brown
3. Usman Afzaal
4. Mark Ramprakash
5. Rory Hamilton-Brown*
6. Chris Schofield
7. Laurie Evans
8. Stewart Walters
9. Chris Tremlett
10. Iftikhar Anjum
11. Andre Nel


Kervezee earnt himself a spot in the starting XI in place of Choudhry while Smith kept his spot. Shantry was dropped for Mason while Whelan kept his spot in the side although was likely to be dropped. Surrey were favourites in this game but we had every chance of upsetting them. We needed to play well to do so though.


Toss:

Surrey won the toss and elected to bat first


Surrey - 590 all out

Usman Afzaal 196 (318)
Steve Davies 103 (202)
Mark Ramprakash 95 (91)

Alex Kervezee 5/146 (20.5)
Matthew Mason 2/91 (28)
Shakib Al Hasan 2/96 (31)


Worcestershire - 193 all out

Ben Cox 66 (142)

Iftikhar Anjum 6/58 (23.3)
Chris Tremlett 4/38 (21)


Worcestershire (Following On) - 247 all out

Alex Kervezee 82 (166)
Shakib Al Hasan 60 (109)

Andre Nel 4/43 (27)
Chris Schofield 2/48 (19)
Chris Tremlett 2/71 (20)


Surrey won by an innings and 150 runs


Points:

Surrey 24
Worcestershire 1


MOTM:

Usman Afzaal (196)


Comments:

The team is a load of ████. They bowled crap. Couldn't take any wickets really, and it was Alex Kervezee who had to take the wickets. In our first innings, only Cox scored more than 25 with a nice half century but Solanki failed again as did everyone else. Following on, Solanki failed miserably again to make it only 90 runs in 6 innings this season, 67 from the university match. Kervezee played well for his 87 but only Al Hasan played well with him as he scored 50. The rest of the team failed and the result reflected on the performance. There will be a fair few changes to the side, it seemd for the next County Championship match.