The Cricketer reflects on the latest round of the 2023 LV= Insurance County Championship season by nominating a standout XI after the fifth week of fixtures...
It said plenty for how well Adam Lyth played on Sunday that at one stage there was a genuine half-chance of Yorkshire looking to chase down what had appeared a very nominal victory target of 492 against a Glamorgan side who'd done all the running at Headingley for three days.
So much so that Ottis Gibson sent out Jonny Bairstow at No.3 on the basis that 40 overs of the England man on a pitch clearly still with runs in it might drag Yorkshire close to a win that is still proving elusive on their return to Division Two.
Bairstow, as it was, nicked off without scoring, but Lyth continued along his merry way for 170 in 220 deliveries despite barely playing a shot in anger – he called it "one of [his] best knocks for the club". It was high-class from the former England opener, who would have been relieved in the end to see his side – 412 for 9 – escape with a draw.
As Lancashire ended one wicket short of what would have been a fabulous victory over Nottinghamshire on Sunday, Glen Chapple reserved special praise for George Balderson, who is developing a crucial role for himself in his county's red-ball unit.
He is opening the batting in the absence of injured captain Keaton Jennings, while still offering a useful seam option. At Trent Bridge, he ended with match figures of 6 for 88 in 26 overs, the most successful bowler in a Lancashire side that also included James Anderson, Tom Bailey, Will Williams and Colin de Grandhomme.
It was his 188-run stand for the second wicket in the third innings of the match, though, that set up this game for a Lancashire victory charge that fell just short. He made 91, with the impressive Josh Bohannon hitting 92 for his second half century of the match, to wipe away a first-innings deficit.
George Balderson had a fine week for Lancashire (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Cheteshwar Pujara's latest hundred stole some of the headlines at New Road, while Ollie Robinson's exploits and Steve Smith's debut meant that Sussex were providing plenty of material, but Azhar Ali's second-innings was the difference between a victory for Paul Farbrace's men and the frustration of a draw.
The former Pakistan captain remains a fine player, and he dogged it out with wickets falling around him to ensure Worcestershire batted for just about long enough to clinch a share of the spoils. He might not be quite as prolific as Pujara, but his stoic composure in situations like this – finishing unbeaten on 103 – could never be underestimated.
Northamptonshire have gone through their fair share of captains over the last couple of seasons, but Australian overseas batter Whiteman arrived with terrific credentials both as a leader and as a quality player outside the international setup. In these early throes of the summer, he has not disappointed.
Drafted in as a stand-in captain for the absent Luke Procter, Whiteman – who skippers Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield – batted through the final day at Taunton for an unbeaten 130 off 269 deliveries – a knock lasting almost seven hours – to guide his new side to a share of the spoils, having been faced with a 157-run deficit on first innings.
He found valuable support from Tom Taylor, who contributed a 100-ball fifty from No.9, but Northants were indebted to Whiteman, who had only passed 26 once in his three previous games.
Sam Whiteman saved the game for Northamptonshire (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
While many of the week's eyes were on Steve Smith making his Sussex debut at Worcester, his Australia middle-order colleague was churning out an effortless hundred at Headingley.
Having warmed himself up for this kind of form with a half century last week in a draw against Leicestershire, Labuschagne made a first-innings 65 at Headingley on Thursday when many had turned up to watch Jonny Bairstow bat, before turning things up a notch second time around.
Glamorgan declared their second innings on 352 for 4, with Labuschagne unbeaten on 170, having gone through the gears in ominous fashion, punching drives on the up through cover and later ramping Yorkshire's seamers over fine leg.
"He was almost ridiculous at times," said teammate Sam Northeast. "He came out after lunch and said that he wanted to put his foot down, and he did exactly that. He played some special shots. Unfortunately for England fans, he looks like he's in pretty good touch."
"I have wanted to bat like that all season," said Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who ended day two unbeaten on 95 in 71 balls, before bringing up a fabulous hundred the next morning.
"Some days you get off to quicker starts than others, but I like to think that if I face 40 balls I can score significantly, rather than scratch around for five runs. I am going to play some shots that will have people tearing their hair out and maybe suffer some awful dismissals."
He eventually fell for 130 in 102 deliveries, with three sixes on top of 18 fours in a belligerent knock, the kind that has become typical of Kohler-Cadmore in white-ball cricket. Having gone six innings without a fifty for Somerset beforehand since joining from Yorkshire, it was a timely century.
Ollie Robinson was on fire for Sussex (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Compared to this time last year, it has been a barren start to the season for Michael Burgess, who set off like a train in 2022 but had only made 69 runs in four innings ahead of this latest round of County Championship matches.
So, his 88 against Hampshire was timely and set up Warwickshire for a comprehensive win over James Vince's side, who batted poorly in both innings – Vince apart – but saw the game taken away from them through Warwickshire's engine room of Sam Hain (85), Ed Barnard (95) and Burgess, who ensured 250 for 5 eventually became a declaration on 410 for 8, once Burgess had fallen 12 short of a hundred.
He was then a busy man behind the stumps, playing a part in four of the Hampshire wickets to fall in a dramatic collapse that handed Warwickshire an innings victory.
Career-best figures for the England seamer, who did his best to overshadow the arrival of Steve Smith by picking up 14 wickets – seven in each innings – to dismantle Worcestershire's top order and show everyone else exactly how to bowl on a useful surface.
Robinson's haul was doubly handy, given he effectively came in for Nathan McAndrew, who is sitting out Smith's stint as a third overseas player but had starred previously with two five-wicket hauls of his own. Robinson, though, is different class. And while he couldn't force victory for Sussex in a rain-affected encounter, his performance – and durability – will have been music to England's ears.
In an extraordinary burst between the eighteenth and thirtieth overs, the Australian seamer caused carnage at Headingley to set Glamorgan in the ascendancy against Yorkshire. Hie seven-wicket haul began with Saud Shakeel when Yorkshire were 51 for 2 and ended with Jordan Thompson when Yorkshire were 102 for 9.
In between, he had found time for a fabulous hat-trick of Dawid Malan, George Hill and Dom Bess, with the latter two both bowled leaving balls that started wide of off-stump but swung prodigiously to trim the bails.
He will have been disappointed not to have dragged Glamorgan to victory, going wicketless on Sunday, but he is a handy seamer for Australia to have in the country should they call for reinforcements once the Ashes series begins.
Henry Brookes enjoyed a fine debut for Derbyshire (David Rogers/Getty Images)
Things haven't quite gone as the young fast bowler would have hoped in the last couple of years, with injury troubles stunting the growth of a 23-year-old with so much going for him.
He played nine County Championship matches for Warwickshire last summer as seamers went down injured around him, but he hadn't yet been involved at Edgbaston this season, with the arrivals of Rushworth, Hasan Ali and Ed Barnard, so a temporary move to Derby seemed like a wise option to get miles in the legs.
By lunchtime on day one on his Derbyshire debut, he had four wickets. By the time Leicestershire had been rolled for 122, Brookes had figures of 6 for 20 in 12 overs, finding enough swing to take the edge of Sol Budinger, Colin Ackermann, Wiaan Mulder and Rehan Ahmed.
He was less potent in the second innings, but it was reassuring nonetheless to see him get through 21 overs.
No one could begrudge Chris Rushworth his move to Division One after a shock departure from Durham, to whom he had been so loyal through his career, and his arrival at Warwickshire appears to have been a match made in heaven. "It was a big decision to move and come down here but I couldn't have picked a better club," he said.
Mark Robinson's side were lacking experienced seam options in an injury-ravaged 2022 but in Rushworth have recruited a genius in English conditions, who came close to being considered for Test cricket earlier in his career and has lost none of his skill.
His seven-wicket burst against Hampshire – he claimed the first six to fall – consigned the perennial contenders to a heavy defeat that left head coach Adi Birrell questioning his side's title credentials.
Honourable mentions: Ed Barnard, Josh Bohannon, Brett Hutton, James Rew, Gus Atkinson, Cheteshwar Pujara
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