First ball: Create waves
In the magnificent summer sun, two hours before the opening of Surrey’s T20 Blast season, the Oval is an action slot. Neat and, as usual, cold-blooded stewards are briefed; a new member of the catering staff walks through the parameters of the coffee machine; Large plates of food and drinks are wheeled around the concourse on pallets. There is a “circus has come to the city” atmosphere.
These workers will then be joined by 16,000 spectators, one of the largest single gatherings you can find anywhere in the country outside of football’s hegemony last week. And Blast attracted more spectators elsewhere (as always, all cricket needs is air). Even if the crowd weren’t seriously put up for sale, no one from Planet Zog would consider the event a success, nothing more than providing jobs and pleasure to thousands and thousands of people in the fragile heat of May evening.
So why invisibility in the media? Why so little marketing (except for those carried out by individual countries)? Why has the tiring hum of franchise cricket re-emerged on social media? When people say that county cricket is “unsuccessful,” they mean that county cricket is “not good enough for me” – they will never be satisfied.
Second ball: Narine Surrey is good in her debut
The match itself was the curator egg of a competition. With a hard-to-pick green pitch, Glamorgan was 67-2 in the first half and seemed to score about 150 goals, especially Sunil Narine 404’s experience in the previous T20 match. It is the first for Surrey. But Chris Cooke was a bit rushed with the first big hits of the night, and Sam broke his first boundaries for nine consecutive shots from Northeast Reece Topley.
Surrey escaped with Ollie Pope after a 174 goal, returning some of the runs his stupid goalkeeper ended up with in a series of fours and clever singles. Sam Curran, one of six of Surrey’s eight bowling options, hit the sweetest boundaries of the match, and the hosts were on their way to a win on the cards since the dismissal of Marnus Labuschange two hours ago.
No one told Michael Hogan. The 41-year-old Austrian pacer, who played his first T20 game since 2019, finished with a beautifully built five on Tuesday, picking up two goalkeepers in the previous race and missing a run. Suddenly, new goalkeeper Chris Jordan and Jamie Overton needed eight for the last time to bowling by Australian Test player Michael Neser. They made sure they hit the ball wisely and ran home with the ball as a precaution.
No one thought they spent their evenings in outdated sports, and many will return to prove their point.
Top three: Gleeson is not cheerful in an exciting tie
At Old Trafford, the old enemies closed their horns again in a trans-Pennine match that added another chapter to the 155-year history of the Roses.
Phil Salt’s 59th anchored the home side’s shot, and Yorkshire’s two-legged spinners Adil Rashid and Shadab Khan made Lancashire 183-7 defensive and impassable with 7.4 runs and more than 10 attacks. , points. Matt Parkinson seemed to beat Red White when he trapped Joe Root in the seventh half of the chase.
However, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Harry Brook reluctantly stepped on the field and made money by building a 115 stand. Thus, it was not surprising that the old enemies again fired the 20th shot.
13 of Richard Gleeson’s last three balls have been converted to 10 of Richard Gleeson’s last three balls. Border saw no balls (in height), two and LBW score levels, and hands trembled in a tie that would make Lancashire think they had won at least three times. But the T20 can still twist and turn for all Pot Noodleishness compared to the Test match banquet, and the nerves can split in front of a large, stale crowd.
Fourth ball: Should Benjamin follow Benjamin?
The Birmingham Bears (still a little bit, aren’t they?) Sit at the top of the Northern Group with a 100% record after three matches, surpassing 200 in the last two matches, with only Derbyshire struggling.
Not surprisingly, Paul Stirling (still only 31 years old) is over 200, but Chris Benjamin may be a less familiar name. He also has more than 200 with 111 runs and still needs to be kicked out.
A favorite of Kevin Petersen, a British man of South African descent, he sees his inventive fearlessness in a 23-year-old who became a star in the first season of the series “Hundred”.
Although the young man faces a dilemma: is he integrating short-form cricket, playing in franchise leagues around the world for big money, and perhaps internationally recognized in Britain’s T20 structure? Or is he trying to play the red ball, build a portfolio of innings for Warwickshire in the Championship, and line up for a mid-level slot like Harry Brook and Ollie Pope?
Brandon McCullum said he would look at white ball talent when reviewing test squads, but for a number of reasons Benjamin has a double choice. It is possible that the fans of England’s Test match will spend a lot of time longing after Adil Rashid’s bowling, as they are saddened by his loss of bowling.
Fifth ball: There are no stars in Middlesex, but they are bright
In the Southern Group, Middlesex continued their fine form in 2022, winning three of their three victories and placing them at the top of the table.
Captain Steve Eskinazi set the tone of the campaign in the first shot of the first match, appeared in the 12th game, but with a score of 156-3 on the scoreboard, his contribution was 87 37 goals. Many parties did not follow the 230 and did not do Gloucestershire.
It’s easy to get noticed by big points and big hits, but it’s the upset bowlers who win matches as much as the shots that cross the line. Toby Roland-Jones, in the form of his life, took seven goals in less than a ball run and delivered his full share of three wins. He received excellent support from inexperienced slow left-back Thilan Walallawita, who is also over seven years old.
It remains to be seen how much more cricket is left in Eoin Morgan’s closet for his district, but perhaps they can pass without the veteran’s contribution. Middlesex’s squad may lack the recognition it brings (and that highlights other teams in Blast), but confidence, leadership and choice can be counted on in a compact tournament, and Londoners have a lot of those qualities.
Sixth ball: Smeed hits a sweet spot
Somerset took second place in the group by showing a pyrotechnic blow in the match with Essex affected by the rain. The game was won by Rilee Roussouw and Will Smeed in nine ants, six of four and 12 of six in a combined 211 shots.
Roussouw has represented South Africa more than 50 times, but not in the last five years. While Smeed is 12 years younger than himself and still doesn’t care about a first-class game to debut in more than 50 formats, The Hundred is a reliable choice for the high summer.
Like Benjamin, mentioned above, he has to think about his choices and where his talent can take him. Doing so is another sign that cricket is being divided into two related but separate sports, such as the rugby union and the rugby league, where some players can apply their skills to both, but not at the same time. It’s a shame, but it’s something we have to live with.