Posted by We’re going to stay on top of the County Championship this season. They’re not going to evade us by slipping matches in during Test matches or by pretending they’re in the middle of a long spell playing one of the shorter formats when they’re not. We’re staying focused.
With that in mind, we’ve checked the weather forecast for the first round of matches. There’s light rain forecast in Durham and Warwickshire, but it looks like Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire will get to play at least one day of a home fixture in beautiful cloudy weather.
In other news, some players have switched clubs and some others are injured. Never let it be said that we don’t know the County Championship INSIDE OUT.
Some bloke in the pub last night was saying King Cricket doesn’t know the County Championship INSIDE OUT. I stopped him.
Unshaven character with a wild look in his eye? That might have been us.
Just received a press release from the ECB and LV containing ten “stats and facts” about the County Championship.
They included the following gems:
– Somerset’s Nick Compton was the top run scorer in the 2012 LV= County Championship, notching up 1,191 runs at an average of 99.25 in his 18 innings.
Huw Waters batted 14 times in the LV= County Championship last season but was dismissed only twice – the best not out rate (86%) in the history of the competition (min. 10 inns).
– Defending champions Warwickshire have lost just once in their last seven home games against Derbyshire, however three of the last four have ended in a draw at Edgbaston.
– Yorkshire have not beaten Sussex at home since 1997 (L3, D4). Their only longer home winless run against a team is against Middlesex, who they last beat in 1985.
– Since joining Sussex, Monty Panesar has bowled more LV= County Championship maidens (520) than any other bowler (Alan Richardson is second with 469).
– Graham Onions was the leading wicket taker in 2012, claiming 64 scalps at an average of just 14.98. Included in this were three 10-wicket hauls, no one else managed more than one.
– Kent wicketkeeper Geraint Jones took more catches than any other player in the LV= County Championship last season, taking 52 over the campaign.
-Last season Worcestershire beat Lancashire away from home for the first time since 1994, losing five and drawing two of their encounters since then.
– Mark Davies had the best bowling economy rate (1.90) of any bowler to bowl more than 20 overs in the LV= County Championship last season.
– Nottinghamshire have won just one of their last five home games against Middlesex, with three of the last four at Trent Bridge ending drawn.
That should keep us all going until the rain clears up in July
We get sent millions of press releases. The trick is to delete them so that no-one else has to read them.
Sorry. I’ve got work to do and I don’t want to do it.
Although I entirely get that you were using the term “LV= County Championship” ironically, please stop it.
I ironically copied and pasted the press release
Not sure that would save you in a court of law.
Told ya Compo scored over 1000 CC runs, Sam. (See previous thread).
You looked it up. That’s cheating.
Which websites do you use to follow county matches/exciting gossip?
Mostly we just guess.
Margaret Thatcher died.
This will surely push coverage of the start of the County Championship off the front pages.
Typical.
I shall eat a whippy ice cream at the first available opportunity this season. Hopefully Thursday at Trent Bridge.
It’s the least I can do.
A joke explained…
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/dailydish/la-dd-thank-margaret-thatcher-soft-serve-ice-cream-20130408,0,1916859.story
I will confess I thought it was an obscure reference to Douglas Hurd’s spitting image hair
http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/17974/lot/94/
But that would have been too tangential for even th World’s Most Tangential Cricket Site.
Joke? What joke?
On the theme of the Iron Lady, this:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ireland/content/current/story/628861.html
My bugbear was her leading role in the milk snatching incident of the early 1970’s:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7932963/How-Margaret-Thatcher-became-known-as-Milk-Snatcher.html
Frankly, I hated that stuff – especially in the summer term when the little bottles of milk would develop a slightly sour film of cream on top through bad storage.
But still, even as a nine year old I knew that my entitlements were being eroded and thus felt short-changed by her.
Wouldn’t have wished her ill though. Just “homework to rule” or perhaps a classroom sit-in on a poor weather day with some ghastly compulsory sport (ie not cricket) in the offing.