2 minute readWarwickshire looked set for another thumping win on Saturday. That they ultimately only delivered a slightly awkward one was however rather less important than what Surrey’s Rory Burns had already done elsewhere against Middlesex. Still dangerously armed with a Chris Rushworth, Warwickshire were able to dismiss Essex for 126 and
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2 minute readThey say that elite sport involves making sacrifices. We’re wondering whether Warwickshire’s Sam Hain is coming to realise that he might have to sacrifice his highly awful haircut. Sam Hain had a great season last year. He then started this season very well before continuing it almost as well. At
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2 minute readWarwickshire have only won two of their four games, yet both those victories have been scary enough to take them equal top of the County Championship. Last month Warwickshire secured one of those innings victories where even the term ‘innings victory’ doesn’t really do justice to the margin. They took
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2 minute readSurrey have learned from Hampshire. If you want to advance your cause in the County Championship, play a match. It seems so simple, but you’d be surprised how many teams fail to take this obvious first step. Surrey and Warwickshire were early front-runners in the Championship, but got complacent, kicked
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2 minute readYou’ve got to keep your eye on Hampshire – they’re devious fiends. If you were to attempt to prosecute Hampshire for the crime of sly deviousness, Exhibit A in your case would be their continued use of a relentlessly accurate seam bowling attack, none of whom are likely to get
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2 minute readSurrey’s Ollie Pope has made 264 runs in four County Championships innings this year. Warwickshire’s Sam Hain has made 284 in two. It’s a reminder of how England’s selectors can sometimes influence the title race. Essex, Hampshire and (technically) Kent made the early running in the opening round of the
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3 minute readAt one point during last year’s visit to Chelmsford to play Essex, Lancashire were 7-6. All in all, across both innings, they managed just 204 runs. They won the match. James Anderson’s back for this year’s trip… Cricket being cricket, we fully expect this week’s Essex v Lancashire clash to
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2 minute readAnd why should they? The general vibe of the County Championship of late (and honestly quite a lot of the time, not just now) is that something needs to change. There need to be fewer teams, or at least fewer matches; they need to use a different ball; they need
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3 minute readThere is undeniably something wrong with James Anderson that he still wants to play this game as much as he so obviously does. Good on him. As 24-year-old Sam Curran turns his arm over in Mohali before tens of thousands of fans and a TV audience of millions – sweat
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3 minute readIt’s almost County Championship time. You’re dimly aware of that, but you’re a bit shaky on some of the finer detail. In fact you’re a bit shaky on some of the major detail. Let’s take a big step back and try and work out where we are. When does the
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