Northants vs Surrey 5th-8th September

Absolutely fantastic from these two

Gutted for Amar, played brilliantly!

what a partnership. also gutted for Amar that he didnt get to 50

Seems like a spinners wicket,no sure why we didn’t pick Moriarty

Not gonna lie, a bit worried now

A most enjoyable day's play in unbelievably hot conditions. When our 9th wicket fell st about 12.15 Northants players had a spring in their step, with barely 250 to chase. Three hours later they were visibly wilting after Virdi and Atkinson both registered comfortable career-best scores.

After a couple of early strikes Northants closed the day in a respectable position, but from what I saw of their batting on the first two days we should wrap this up by early afternoon tomorrow, and by a fairly comfortable margin.

A thoroughly enjoyable day in incredibly hot weather. When Surrey's 9th wicket fell at 12.15 and the lead at barely 250 the Northants players had a spring in their steps. Three hours later, after Virdi and Atkinson had finished, they were visibly wilting.

They are making a reasonable fist of the mammoth chase, but from what I have seen of their batting depth we should wrap this up as a comfortable win by early afternoon tomorrow.

Couple of wickets early and we should nail this. Don't know about spinning, when you get a big last wicket partnership and everything is hitting the middle of the bat, not necessarily a good sign of things to come.

Jug avoidance from Virdi there.

Jackers wrote:A thoroughly enjoyable day in incredibly hot weather. When Surrey's 9th wicket fell at 12.15 and the lead at barely 250 the Northants players had a spring in their steps. Three hours later, after Virdi and Atkinson had finished, they were visibly wilting.

They are making a reasonable fist of the mammoth chase, but from what I have seen of their batting depth we should wrap this up as a comfortable win by early afternoon tomorrow.

Jackers, as you are there you have a better feel for the game than those watching on the stream. Just hope that last sentence doesnt come back to haunt us

Nothing about this first hour or so says 'comfortable win'

Also that Clark wicket is a bit of howler, pitching outside leg by a lot

Some poor bowling today from Virdi, never seen him bowl so poorly, not enough match practice I think. Steel also has bowled badly. Can’t believe he had such good figures in the One Day Trophy! Looking like another poor result in another poor season!

Well, I was toying with the idea of staying for Day 4 but when I made the decision not to, after day 2, it looked like the match could well be over by last night. So I am not there today.

My suggestion that Surrey would finish the job comfortably based on Northants' mediocre batting is beginning to look rather rash after a dreadful morning session. Of course the tropical weather is certainly in their favour, but the wicket has been a sporting one throughout and when you consider the number of Surrey wickets which clattered in yesterday's morning session in equally hot weather it is hard to argue that it has got easier on Day 4.

In truth, I had forgotten just how ineffective our bowling typically is. Virdi has clearly had an off-day, but I am more concerned at the decision to leave out Moriarty, who should surely have played ahead of one of the seamers or Cameron Steel, a bits-and-pieces cricketer who in red ball cricket is our equivalent of Moeen Ali.

Cameron Steel has had an eventful couple of months from looking like he might be out of a job, to getting picked up by Surrey and now being compared to a bloke with 5 test tons and 195 test wickets.

Steel really has served up some absolute shit

And people think we should be in Div1 next season!?

Can see why we didn’t take the new ball after 80 overs after a dreadfully bad over there by Topley. This is truly terrible performance,again.

Batting just seemed to get so much easier after we lost our 9th wicket yesterday. Mind you, there has been a lot of loose stuff from us today which has helped the scoreboard keep ticking along for them.

I see they've now decided to get two more and give us some hope...

Can’t see how Atkinson gets in the side instead of McKerr who looks a more dangerous bowler

How have we lost that?

Solanki must go.

I must admit I started to worry when Atkinson and Virdi made batting look so easy yesterday. The wicket suddenly seemed to go flat at that point. 8 no balls in their 2nd innings didn't help.

Alex! wrote:The pessimist in me says that whatever we put up as a total might not be easy to defend

seems that was right.

RB wrote:How have we lost that?

Solanki must go.

the knives are sharpening by the looks of it

Firstly, and most importantly, what a great game of cricket. If anyone is tempted to give an inch towards any further reduction in the county championship programme to accommodate more and more short-form stuff, just remember these last four days: the twists and turns, the ebbs and flows, the oddities (Virdi's batting and Alec's umpiring...) four days of nuanced cricket with ultimate drama which did not need to be manufactured or hyped.  

Having said all that, the game underlined so much that is wrong at Surrey. Our batting has quality (when Burns and Pope are available) but lacks depth (when they are not). Our bowling is the exact reverse. One of the things I like about the current format is that the first half of the season seems to be pretty good at sifting teams into the leagues into which they best fit for the second phase. Northamptonshire are the epitome of a middle-tier side. We are about their level: hence the evenly-matched game.

One of the key differences in this match - arguably the decisive factor - was the number of runs conceded through no-balls. Northants conceded 12, while we conceded 28. Basic stuff, which reflects poorly on the bowlers and the bowling coach.

The decision to give Cameron Steel the ball with two runs needed to win and two wickets required was a strange one, to say the least. If the batsmen had been "set" against the front-line bowlers, it would have been a reasonable last throw of the dice, but these were two tail-enders who had not been in long. For all that he wasn't at his best in the match, Topley was the one most likely to blast out the last two in quick succession.  

Little time to lick our wounds before we face Essex, a side who you would expect to pose an even stiffer test. At the risk of pre-empting the match thread, if Ben Foakes is playing for the seconds this week he needs to come in. Dan Moriarty must play too. Steel and one of the seamers should take a blow: I'd suggest either Atkinson or Rikki Clarke. I'd lean towards Rikki. He bowled ok in the match, especially in the first innings, but after 30 overs in increasingly intense heat he may welcome a week's rest before returning fresh for one last salvo against Glamorgan, leaving the stage to the applause he so richly deserves.