Story Brendon vs Callum vs Jono - A Worcestershire Battle

[hedger_14]

25th April 2011
Worcestershire vs Sussex
Challenge Trophy - Group Match​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Stephen Moore
2. Vikram Solanki
3. Alex Kervezee*
4. Julian Stafford
5. Stuart Adler?
6. Shaaiq Choudhry
7. David Wheeldon
8. Calvin Flowers
9. Imran Arif
10. Jack Shantry
11. Boyd Rankin


Sussex

1. Christopher Nash
2. Joe Gatting
3. Ed Joyce
4. Luke Wright
5. Dan Wilkinson
6. Matt Machan
7. Kurt Carolyne?
8. Ragheb Aga
9. James Kirtley
10. Chad Keegan
11. Monty Panesar


Toss:

Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bowl first


Sussex - 179 all out

Matt Machan 64 (60)

Calvin Flowers 5/20 (7.1)
Imran Arif 2/60 (8)


Worcestershire - 180/4

Julian Stafford 59* (61)
Stephen Moore 51 (42)

Monty Panesar 1/17 (6)


Worcestershire won by 6 wickets with 20 balls remaining


MOTM:

Calvin Flowers (5/20)


Points:

Worcestershire 2
Sussex 0


Comments:

Sussex just tried too hard and it cost them. They tried to score too quickly and ended up being bowled out with still 6 overs to be bowled. Flowers brought over his FC form into the shorter format with another fiver. We got off to a good start, before Solanki got out for 19. Kervezee played really slowly but he didn't really need to score quickly with Moore going strongly at the other end. Moore scored 51 off 42 before getting out and Kervezee got out soon after for 21 coming off 45 deliveries. Adler then went for a duck but Stafford again continued his unbeaten run in One Day cricket with a 59* to surpass 300 OD runs, at an average of 101.33. Choudhry again helped in getting us across the line with 29*.

 

[Chewie]

25th April 2011
Worcestershire vs Essex
Challenge Trophy - Group Match​

Playing XI?s

Worcestershire

1. Niall O'Brien +
2. Daryl Mitchell
3. Vikram Solanki *
4. Moeen Ali
5. Anthony Aimson
6. Alex Kervezee
7. David Wheeldon
8. Imran Arif
9. Steven Finn
10. Chanaka Komasaru
11. Boyd Rankin


Essex

1. Alastair Cook
2. Jimmy Adams
3. Ryan ten Doeschate
4. Ravi Bopara
5. David Cooke
6. Mark Pettini
7. Billy Godleman
8. David Masters
9. Tony Palladino
10. Danish Kaneria
11. Maurice Chambers

Essex win by 49 runs
​

Despite doing better in FC, our OD form doesn't seem to have improved much. Cook was in imperious form, and he combined well with Bopara to provide much resistance to our bowling efforts. With Rankin and Finn both being smashed at the end, I turned to Solanki to bowl the 38th over and he managed to pick up the crucial wicket of Bopara, and only went for 5 runs. Because of this I gave him the ball for the last over, instead of Finn, and he also got Kaneria out. In the middle overs Komasaru was economical and also took 2 wickets, while Arif bowled well at the death to get Masters and Palladino out. The chase was disrupted by constant wickets, and only Aimson stood up to the bowlers, while the rest of the batting lineup fell around him. He looks to be a good talent in the matches he's played so far, and I may have to push him up the order to provide some solidity. It was hoped Arif could provide some fireworks with the bat to get us close, but he got a golden duck, bowled by Kaneria. We have much improving to go in this form of the game if we want to be competitive.
​

 

[CG123]

Worcestershire vs Middlesex
Challenge Trophy - group match
25th April 2011​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Jeet Raval
2. Vikram Solanki*
3. Alex Kervezee
4. Alan Darbon
5. Eric Matthews
6. Luke Wright
7. Jeff Ingram†
8. Mark Davies
9. Dewald Nel
10. Monty Panesar
11. Alan Richardson

Middlesex

1. Scott Newman
2. Sam Robson
3. Neil Dexter
4. Owais Shah
5. Dawid Malan
6. Gareth Berg
7. Ben Scott†
8. G... Johnston
9. Tim Murtagh
10. Iain O'Brien
11. Pedro Collins

Toss:

Worcestershire won the toss, and chose to bowl first.

Match:

Middlesex - 210 for 5 (40 overs)

Neil Dexter 64 (90)
Dawid Malan 49 (26)
Scott Newman 46 (74)

Dewald Nel 2-33 (8)
Mark Davies 2-47 (8)

Worcestershire - 212 for 2 (39.1 overs)

Vikram Solanki 92 (100)
Jeet Raval 64 (69)

Result:

Worcestershire win by 8 wickets, with 5 balls remaining

Points:

Worcestershire 2
Middlesex 0

MOTM:

Vikram Solanki (92 runs off 100 balls and 1 catch)

Reaction:

We were all over them for the first 30 odd overs of their innings, but a quick fire Malan innings helped them post a respective total. Davies and Richardson took a hammering at the death, going at six and eight runs per over respectively.

We were always in control of the run chase, needing like three an over for the final ten overs. I decided at this early stage of the season that I'd prefer to get Kervezee (33*) and Darbon (15*) into some form, instead of getting them to slog out in order to give our NRR a boost.

 

[CG123]

Worcestershire vs Lancashire
County Championship - D2
27th April 2011​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Jeet Raval
2. Vikram Solanki*
3. Alex Kervezee
4. Alan Darbon
5. Eric Matthews
6. Luke Wright
7. Jeff Ingram?
8. Imran Arif
9. Mark Davies
10. Dewald Nel
11. Monty Panesar

Lancashire

1. Paul Horton
2. Stephen Moore
3. A... Drinkell
4. Mark Chilton
5. Andrew Flintoff
6. Steven Croft
7. Tom Smith
8. Gareth Cross?
9. Glen Chapple*
10. Sajid Mahmood
11. Ed Rainsford

Toss:

Worcestershire won the toss, and chose to bat first.

Match:

Worcestershire - 371 all out

Alan Darbon 86
Alex Kervezee 62
Luke Wright 47
Vikram Solanki 46

Glen Chapple 4-64
Andrew Flintoff 4-103

Lancashire - 352 all out

Andrew Flintoff 86
A... Drinkell 84

Monty Panesar 4-66
Imran Arif 3-89
Mark Davies 2-63

Worcestershire - 226 for 5 declared

Eric Matthews 101*
Jeet Raval 68

Ed Rainsford 2-45

Lancashire - 246 for 3

Stephen Moore 102
Paul Horton 47

Monty Panesar 2-73

Result:

Lancashire win by 7 wickets

Points:

Lancashire 21
Worcestershire 5

MOTM:

Andrew Flintoff (4-103, 86, 1-48, 28* and 1 catch)

Reaction:

fling that ████, and fling off Andrew Flintoff!

My declaration sums up how pissed off I am, how the fling do they manage to chase down over four an over, and only lose three wickets?

In their first innings they should have been all out in the late 200s, but some BS last wicket partnership got them up to 350. I pretty much dominated the first three days and session one on day four, but then their batsmen produced some more BS, meaning they get over four times as many points as I do.

 

[hedger_14]

27th April 2011
Worcestershire vs Essex
County Championship - D2​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Stephen Moore
2. Vikram Solanki
3. Alex Kervezee*
4. Julian Stafford
5. Shaaiq Choudhry
6. Stuart Adler?
7. David Wheeldon
8. Calvin Flowers
9. Imran Arif
10. Jack Shantry
11. Boyd Rankin


Essex

1. Alastair Cook
2. Billy Godleman
3. Ryan ten Doeschate
4. Ravi Bopara
5. David Wiese
6. Mark Pettini
7. Paul Baldwin
8. James Foster?
9. Graham Napier
10. David Masters
11. Maurice Chambers


Toss:

Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bowl first


Essex - 497 all out

Ryan ten Doeschate 174 (204)
David Wiese 125 (189)

Calvin Flowers 5/166 (44)
Imran Arif 3/83 (25)
David Wheeldon 2/67 (15.2)


Worcestershire - 282 all out

Alex Kervezee 114 (260)
Stuart Adler 48 (86)

David Wiese 4/76 (27)
Graham Napier 3/59 (20)


Worcestershire - 398 all out following on

Alex Kervezee 172* (388)
David Wheeldon 85 (256)

Ryan ten Doeschate 4/72 (21)
Maurice Chambers 2/49 (19)


Essex - 17/0


Match Drawn


MOTM:

Alex Kervezee (114, 172* and 0/69)


Points:

Essex 11
Worcestershire 6


Comments:

Well we managed to take a draw there somehow. Bowling first, we couldn't take regular wickets as RTD and David Wiese scored centuries in their huge total of 497, although Flowers took 5 wickets. Moore went for a duck though, and Solanki and Stafford soon followed. Kervezee was getting himself set while Choudhry made a start but got out for 38. An 89 run partnership between Kervezee and Adler helped the cause before Adler got out for 48. Kervezee then put on partnerships of 23, 25 and 36 with Wheeldon, Flowers and Arif to score a century before he got out and only another 14 runs were put on before we were bowled out.

Forced to follow on, it was again the same result as the first innings as Moore and Stafford got out in single figures as did Choudhry although Solanki made a start but couldn't capitalize on it, out for 33. It was again Adler and Kervezee who had to get us back in it but Adler finally went for 36. Wheeldon came out to bat with the team in deep trouble but set to stay, played really defensively putting on a 223 run partnership with Kervezee, Wheeldon surviving 256 balls to score 85 while Kervezee was again brililant with the bat and although the tail didn't do much, he finished with 172* coming off 388 balls. He was the team's best batsman last season and is continuing that form, already equalling the amount of centuries he scored last season in only 4 games. Also the first time he's scored 2 centuries in a match. Hopefully he can continue his great form.

 

[Chewie]

27th April 2011
Worcestershire vs Somerset
County Championship -D2​

Playing XI’s

Worcestershire

1. Vikram Solanki
2. Daryl Mitchell
3. Moeen Ali
4. Anthony Aimson
5. Niall O'Brien
6. Alex Kervezee
7. Vic Kelly
8. Imran Arif
9. Steven Finn
10. Chanaka Komasaru
11. Boyd Rankin


Somerset

1. Gerald Deakin
2. Craig Kieswetter
3. Kevin Ripley
4. James Hildreth
5. Arul Suppiah
6. Nick Compton
7. Matthew Walker
8. Alfonso Thomas
9. Ben Phillips
10. Michael Munday
11. Charl Willoughby

Match Drawn
​

A great bowling performance in the first innings by Finn and Komasaru reduced Somerset to 140-6, before some lower order hitting from Thomas took them to 256. Finn was very effective, but the other pace bowlers weren't, being hit around quite a bit. In reply, Solanki continued the good form he had gained from the university match in making a half century, with O'Brien also scoring a half century at 5. It was disappointing however for Ali to retire injured, leaving us a player down early on. We looked like we were going to be bundled out for under 300 however, until a good partnership between Kelly and Arif took us just beyond 400. Arif, like last season, seems to be offering much more with the bat than with the ball, and it is rather handy to have him to fall back on down the order. In their second innings, Deakin and Kieswetter got Somerset off to a rapid start, smashing the fast bowlers around. Ripley joined in when Kieswetter got out, and they continued to defy us for more than a day. Eventually they declared, giving us just over 2 sessions to chase 340. I decided to go for it, with Solanki playing very aggressively at the top of the order. He wasn't supported by the rest of the lineup though and with the last pair at the wicket, it was rather tense as they survived a few overs before stumps.
​

 

[hedger_14]

2nd May 2011
Worcestershire vs Glamorgan
Challenge Trophy - Group Match​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Stephen Moore
2. Daryl Mitchell
3. Alex Kervezee*
4. Julian Stafford
5. Stuart Adler?
6. Shaaiq Choudhry
7. David Wheeldon
8. Calvin Flowers
9. Imran Arif
10. Jack Shantry
11. Boyd Rankin


Glamorgan

1. Mark Cosgrove
2. Gareth Rees
3. Jamie Dalrymple
4. Jim Allenby
5. Mike Powell
6. Tom Maynard
7. Will Bragg?
8. James Harris
9. Adam Shantry
10. David Harrison
11. Dean Cosker


Toss:

Worcestershire won the toss and elected to bat first (I can't lose the toss )


Worcestershire - 246/7

Alex Kervezee 59 (68)
Shaaiq Choudhry 53* (47)
Stuart Adler 49 (43)


Glamorgan - 231 all out

Will Bragg 47 (43)
Gareth Rees 33 (31)

Imran Arif 5/47 (8)
Jack Shantry 2/44 (5.1)
Calvin Flowers 2/47 (8)


Worcestershire won by 15 runs


MOTM:

Imran Arif (5/47 and 1*)


Points:

Worcestershire 2
Glamorgan 0


Comments:

Again we had to rely on Kervezee and Adler to get ourselves out of a spot of bother. Mitchell back in the side from injury made 33 while Moore made 18 off 20 in a good opening stand of 45 runs going at about a run a ball, but Stafford getting out for a golden duck had us at 3/59. Adler played a good innings, trying to keep the run rate up, but getting out for 49, coming off 43 balls. 4/136 meant we weren't in the worst position and Choudhry played his normal game as he and the skipper put on a 63 run partnership. Kervezee finally went for 59 but Wheeldon played a nice finishing innings at the end, 21 off 22 balls while Choudhry finished 53* as we made 246/7 from our 40 overs, a good innings in the end.

The first 5 overs of their innings brought 37 runs, but Shantry got the breakthrough, Cosgrove edging to Rankin at slip. Dalrymple had raced away to 13 off 4 balls, but Flowers got him with his next ball. The match was hangin in the balance as they started to get the RRR down to about 5 and a half per over and they started taking less risks. Mitchell turned the game back into our favour, taking 1/33 off his 8 overs. Arif then took 3 wickets in the space of 2 overs, including the huge wicket of Bragg to take his 5th wicket before the 10th wicket partnership was threatening, worth 28 runs but Shantry broke it before they could pass our total. Another good win and we are yet to lose this season.

 

[CG123]

Worcestershire vs Sussex
Challenge Trophy - group match
2nd May 2011​

Teams:

Worcestershire

1. Jeet Raval
2. Vikram Solanki*
3. Alex Kervezee
4. Alan Darbon
5. Eric Matthews
6. Luke Wright
7. Jeff Ingram?
8. Imran Arif
9. Mark Davies
10. Dewald Nel
11. Monty Panesar

Sussex

1. Chris Nash
2. Joe Gatting
3. Ed Joyce
4. Murray Goodwin
5. Dominic Telo
6. J... Lines
7. Robin Martin-Jenkins
8. Ragheb Aga
9. Chad Keegan
10. James Kirtley
11. Corey Collymore

Wtf, they actually didn't play a keeper.
The top six are all specialist batsmen, R M-J is an all-rounder, and the last four are all specialist bowlers.

Toss:

Sussex won the toss, and chose to bowl first.

Match:

Worcestershire - 233 for 5 (40 overs)

Jeet Raval 124* (110)

Sussex - 201 all out (36.3 overs)

Robin Martin-Jenkins 49 (51)

Dewald Nel 3-37 (7)
Luke Wright 3-45 (7.3)
Mark Davies 2-43 (7)

Result:

Worcestershire win by 32 runs

Points:

Worcestershire 2
Sussex 0

MOTM:

Jeet Raval (124* off 110 balls and 1 catch)

Reaction:

Wow, Jeet Raval, how the fearsome tweak did I sign you for only 26k!?

Apart from Raval it was actually a pretty poor batting effort, but the 20 byes they conceded because they weren't playing a keeper sure did help.

Bowling wise it was a mixed performance, everyone impressed in patches, but everyone also struggled when Martin-Jenkins took the attack to us with a middle - lower order cameo. In the end we had enough runs in the bank, and won pretty comfortably.

We're now two out of two in this 40 over format, so hopefully we'll be able to convert that form into the four day game.

 

[6ry4nj]

Wtf, they actually didn't play a keeper.
The top six are all specialist batsmen, R M-J is an all-rounder, and the last four are all specialist bowlers.

Are all their keepers injured?

In my trial of ICC10, I got up to late June with Worcestershire. From the 1st to the 17th of June (I think that was 6 T20 matches), both keepers (Solanki and Cox) were out injured. Daryl 'I Can Do Anything' Mitchell took over. And he didn't concede a single bye!

 

[Chewie]

2nd May 2011
Worcestershire vs Glamorgan
Challenge Trophy - Group Match​

Playing XI?s

Worcestershire

1. Niall O'Brien +
2. Daryl Mitchell
3. Vikram Solanki *
4. Vic Kelly
5. Alex Kervezee
6. Tony Stack
7. David Wheeldon
8. Imran Arif
9. Steven Finn
10. Chanaka Komasaru
11. Boyd Rankin


Glamorgan

1. Gareth Rees
2. Will Bragg
3. Jamie Dalrymple
4. Paul Bickerton
5. Jim Allenby
6. Harry Bannister
7. Tom Maynard
8. Shaaiq Choudhry
9. Adam Shantry
10. Huw Waters
11. David Harrison

Glamorgan win by 3 wickets
​

Annoyingly and rather interestingly it has to be said, Aimson has been selected for England. With Ali out injured for a couple of weeks, I had to bring a few of my second XI batsmen in, and our side was much weaker for it. Despite this however, I felt we had reached a very defensible total, only to be unable to bowl Glamorgan's tail out. Solanki and Kervezee put on a great partnership for the fourth wicket, which lasted throughout the middle overs and into the batting powerplay. Stack made a nice cameo near the end scoring 31 off 14, as we made our way to 248, a total I thought would prove to be too challenging for the weak Glamorgan lineup. They got off to a flier however, with Rees and Bragg smashing the pace bowlers all around the park. It wasn't until Komasaru came in that we were able to regain some control of the match, and they were reduced to 168-7. Maynard and Shantry had other plans however, and flayed the pace bowlers around having seen off the spinners, to reach the total with 16 balls remaining.

​

 

[6ry4nj]

Annoyingly and rather interestingly it has to be said, Aimson has been selected for England.

Hilditch had no trouble finding a new job then?

Where are Ireland and Richardson? Arif needs to be gone! (Just for a while) Unless he seriously has the stats to be number 6 bat that is... Finn and Rankin can also be spelled if they're underperforming. Just not all at once, of course...

 

[hedger_14]

Who's Vic Kelly?

 

[Chewie]

Hilditch had no trouble finding a new job then?

Where are Ireland and Richardson? Arif needs to be gone! (Just for a while) Unless he seriously has the stats to be number 6 bat that is... Finn and Rankin can also be spelled if they're underperforming. Just not all at once, of course...

Ireland is out of form and I thought about bringing Richardson in but decided against it. Arif is actually quite a good batsman for me at the moment, so I use him for that. And he took 3 wickets in the first OD match.

Who's Vic Kelly?

A regen I bought

 

[6ry4nj]

Ireland is out of form and I thought about bringing Richardson in but decided against it. Arif is actually quite a good batsman for me at the moment, so I use him for that.

Ok so Kelly out, Arif up to 6, Richardson/Ireland/Russell/ANYONE in at 8.

Yes, I see, it is kinda desperate. What's Mr. "I Can Do Anything" Mitchell's bowling form like?

 

[CG123]

Are all their keepers injured?

I assume so, I forgot to check, and I cbf opening the game back up now.

I think Prior plays for them, so he was probably away on international duty, and their back-up keeper was probably injured.