tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46297714170933989142024-11-01T07:11:10.787+00:00Writings on Cricket...Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-65422530872024894472019-02-18T20:59:00.001+00:002019-02-18T20:59:50.923+00:00

Let’s have a look at how good a free hit is to the batting side. Given that you know the bowler can’t dismiss you, how effectively do sides deal with the free runs that (theoretically) should ensue. Naturally my point of call for this was the 2018 Kia Super League, as it gives us a reasonable number of games to look at. The only no-ball that is not punished by a free hit is the bouncer

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-79943215733797318412017-03-26T15:59:00.000+01:002017-03-26T15:59:49.415+01:00

OK, now all this has been fairly poorly updated, so here's something to make up for all that, a top five games from the 2016 season. The 2016 season was a particularly good one for us Middlesex supporters with a first county championship since 1993 and I also spent the year trying to go to as much as possible, from championship cricket at Scarborough and the women's ODI at Taunton through to

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-2529732306649842692015-05-12T19:57:00.000+01:002015-05-12T19:57:06.757+01:00

So the third day of Middlesex vs Durham at Lord's turned out to be one of the craziest so far with 18 wickets falling and a finish on the fourth day a certainty.Durham resumed on 157-4 and batting looked easy as Middlesex toiled for the breakthrough. Jennings and Rushworth found runs easy to come by Rushworth even tonking Rayner for six. The 200 soon came up and it wasn't until the score reached

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-17940435230594721742015-05-12T19:55:00.002+01:002015-05-12T19:55:36.990+01:00

So after the women's match at Edmonton got rained off we move back to Middlesex vs Durham for day two and I get there just in time to see Harris edge behind, Franklin having already gone and Middlesex now six down.The first ball I get there for, Harris edges Hastings behind as Middlesex had now slipped to 341-6. It was down to Dexter and Simpson to further the cause, and Durham failed to blast

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-19678826764100585032015-05-12T19:54:00.003+01:002015-05-12T19:54:41.440+01:00

So, the first match of the women's championship (Royal London Women's One Day...) For Middlesex vs Berkshire at Edmonton gets rained off because the pitch is flooded as the covers have leaked. By covers I mean a couple of tarpaulins as the real covers had been vandalised a few months before, which begs the question as to why elite women's sport (one level below international) is being played at

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-16223332337286652882015-05-12T19:52:00.000+01:002015-05-12T19:52:36.066+01:00

At 10:30, a greenish pitch and very overcast conditions, the decision to bowl first might have been a smart one, however it proved not to be for Durham as Middlesex racked up 329-4 on the first day of their Championship match at Lord's.With Graham Onions out with a knee injury, the key breakthroughs would have to come from Chris Rushworth and John Hastings, but they struggled to apply much

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-26433449166266417022015-05-01T23:30:00.003+01:002015-05-01T23:30:45.087+01:00

Surrey moved slightly ahead of Essex on the first day of their championship match at The Oval, with the hosts being stuck in to bat and finishing the day 293-5. Surrey only lost one wicket in the first session as runs came slowly, but there were no real problems in the pitch with Jamie Porter snaring Zafar Ansari for 18. Rory Burns and Kumar Sangakkara looked pretty much at ease in cloudy

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-20039063076423860392015-04-13T21:49:00.000+01:002015-04-13T21:49:00.787+01:00

Middlesex began the Championship campaign by taking on Notts at Lord's, and it was a fairly even day as Notts finished 298-9 with Brendan Taylor making a Championship debut hundred and James Harris taking four wickets. Notts won the toss and batted, and Steve Mullaney and Taylor did well to last the opening burst from Murtagh and Finn who got some sharp movement on a good pitch. After that runs

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-89505634991260729922015-03-25T20:55:00.003+00:002015-03-25T20:55:59.823+00:00

So, the new season is almost upon us, and I went down to witness Essex and Middlesex have some batting practice on the 2nd day of their warm up at Chelmsford. March cricket is usually a) cold and b) full of batting collapses, today didn't really provide either of those. Due to Essex losing so many wickets the previous day, it was agreed Middlesex would start batting and would have 50 overs, with

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-68412360684342093872015-03-24T22:24:00.001+00:002015-03-24T22:24:27.339+00:00

Hi all. I know this has been somewhat abandoned over the last couple of years so I thought, what with the new season just about to start, it was time for a refresh and a spring clean which doubles as a fourth anniversary celebration. I'll try and keep this more reliably up to date, probably with some shorter reports and other random thoughts. I'll be tweeting as usual from @Wardog1990 and

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-21104104165375082772014-04-30T11:43:00.000+01:002014-06-08T11:50:24.059+01:00

The first day of Middlesex vs Yorkshire at Lord's began with Middlesex winning the toss and fielding, and got quick reward with Alex Lees caught behind off Murtagh in the 3rd over. Adam Lyth and Kane Williamson then added 50 for the 2nd wicket, before Lyth edged to Simpson off Finn for 34. Joe Root's first game of the season lasted all of 5 balls as he departed for a duck, trapped LBW by Finn.

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-48088650863890912792014-04-25T11:49:00.000+01:002014-05-25T11:49:50.916+01:00

The second day of Surrey vs Essex at the Oval began with the toss, after the first day had been washed out, Surrey winning the toss and fielding. Alastair Cook and Jaik Mickleburgh found the going reasonably easy to start with, prodding runs off a fairly strong attack. The "highlight" of the morning being Zafar Ansari giving himself a concussion. Cook played a drive through point, Ansari

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-52743148573145643442014-04-20T17:35:00.001+01:002014-04-20T17:35:12.852+01:00

The first day of the first home game of the season began in some surprising April sun as Middlesex took on Nottinghamshire at Lord's. Notts won the toss and batted, and after a couple of near edges, James Harris struck in the 10th over having Phil Jaques caught behind for 14, 16-1. Notts then struggled to get much above 2 an over as Murtagh, Harris and Finn bowled well to keep the pressure on,

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-16247734002287833432014-04-20T16:40:00.001+01:002014-04-20T16:42:37.183+01:00

The first day of the new season got underway at Hove with Sussex taking on Middlesex, with Sussex winning the toss and sticking Middlesex in, and after an hours delay we got underway. It only took 13 balls for a wicket to falls, Chris Rogers skewing the ball from Magoffin to Stef Piolet at gully to go for 4. Sam Robson and Dawid Malan then fought for 11 overs in seamy conditions, Malan dropped at

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-78508652074092943862013-10-27T19:00:00.000+00:002014-03-30T19:00:56.276+01:00

The final day of Middlesex vs Notts at Lord's was the last day of the season from my perspective and sure enough it rained, so (having already lost a day to rain) we were delayed until just after lunch before play would resume with Middlesex on 96-0 against Notts 430 first innings total. Chris Rogers and Sam Robson went on the attack early, as Notts struggled to bowl anything consistent, with

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-85063858515258940992013-10-03T18:23:00.000+01:002014-03-23T18:24:23.872+00:00

The Women's Ashes had just started it's T20 leg, with England up 6-4 on points, Chelmsford was the venue, and England won the toss and batted. Charlotte Edwards crashed 11 off the first over from Ellyse Perry before falling to Sarah Coyte next over for 17. Julie Hunter then snared Heather Knight for 13 as England posted 42-2 off the powerplay. Danni Wyatt and Sarah Taylor then added the bulk

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-55437016886834974772013-09-21T11:40:00.000+01:002014-03-09T11:41:35.833+00:00

The final (probably ever) 40 over game for Middlesex was against Leicestershire at Lord's on August bank holiday. Eoin Morgan was captaining Middlesex in his last game before going off on England duty, won the toss and fielded, and it began fairly evenly as an early pull for six from Greg Smith over the short square boundaries was tempered by Josh Cobb departing for six driving Finn to mid off.

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-10937843321862232012013-09-10T12:56:00.000+01:002014-03-02T12:56:57.940+00:00

The final day of Derbyshire vs Middlesex at Derby began with Middlesex 25-2 needing 272 more to win the game, which looked unlikely from the outset, but Adam Voges and Sam Robson began solidly as Derbyshire failed to bowl accurately, giving away some early easy runs as the 50 came up in the 19th over, but then the collapse started, as Robson was bowled by Groenewald for 29. Mark Footitt came in

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-74500994100165530602013-09-10T12:27:00.000+01:002014-03-02T12:27:41.599+00:00

The third day of Derbyshire vs Middlesex at Derby began with Middlesex in a bit of trouble at 197-6 with Ollie Rayner and John Simpson batting to avoid the follow on, and with 5 overs to go until the new ball, they'd have thought they'd be able to see off five overs from Madsen and Burgoyne, but that was not to be, as Simpson charged through for a single, only to be found short from the direct

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-75337220450841267032013-09-10T11:14:00.000+01:002014-03-02T11:38:45.250+00:00

The 2nd day of Derbyshire vs Middlesex began well for the visitors as Peter Burgoyne fell 5th ball of the day to Murtagh, and Matt Higginbottom was caught by Morgan off Harris next over as Derby slipped to 284-8. But Middlesex failed to close out the innings, as in the next 12 overs as Groenewald and Madsen added 66, Groenewald merrily swinging the seamers straight and through the leg side as he

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-74163642902652934492013-09-05T11:14:00.000+01:002014-02-02T11:15:02.143+00:00

The first day of Derbyshire vs Middlesex at Derby began with Middlesex winning the toss and fielded, and began with a hostile opening barrage from Murtagh and Roland-Jones but with no success, until Gareth Berg got Chesney Hughes to hole out to Roland-Jones for 16, carrying on his struggles this season, 37-1. The pace of the innings started to pick up once Wayne Madsen arrived, he carried on

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-2549040576262922972013-09-02T12:28:00.000+01:002014-01-26T12:28:33.059+00:00

The 2nd day of the England Lions vs Australia tour match at Northampton began with England declaring on 269-7, leaving Australia with a day to bat and (really) Hughes and Khawaja to push their cases for inclusion in the final test. Ed Cowan and Dave Warner opened the batting. James Harris and Keith Barker bowled with spirit, but didn't find a breakthrough in their opening spell with Warner

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-45370062158107254722013-09-02T12:00:00.000+01:002014-01-26T12:00:25.731+00:00

Thanks to Northants making it to finals day, an England Lions XI was selected to take on Australia in a 2 day game in Northampton. Early morning rain delayed the start for an hour. The Lions won the toss and elected to bat first, with Alex Lees and Luke Wells opening. Wells soon fell for 10, edging to Wade off James Faulkner for 10, 17-1. Moeen Ali then came along and the pair played nicely,

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-46779544502028107192013-09-01T20:44:00.000+01:002014-01-12T20:45:02.733+00:00

The fourth day of the fourth test of the Ashes began with England 202 runs ahead at 234-5 with Ian Bell  on 105 and joined by Tim Bresnan. England moved on to 250 before the new ball was taken and Ryan Harris found some late sharp movement to destroy Bell's middle stump for 113, and then took Matt Prior's off stump first ball to complete a well earn five wicket haul. This triggered Bresnan

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4629771417093398914.post-11794342161256229332013-09-01T11:54:00.000+01:002014-01-12T11:55:29.771+00:00

The third day of the Fourth Ashes test at Chester-le-Street began with Australia on 222-5 with Chris Rogers (with a hundred) and Brad Haddin batting though not for long, as Haddin was trapped in front in the first over of the morning to Graeme Swann for 13. Then another bonus before the new ball as Rogers gloved the ball from Swann where Matt Prior took a sharp catch and was given out on review

Samhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10677673656596292438noreply@blogger.com