Another three rounds of county cricket have taken place since my last round up of the performances of Australian cricketers in Old Blighty.
Chris Rogers is again the standout performer, adding first innings runs to his earlier second innings successes.
Bucky’s season for Middlesex was conveniently supporting my view – admittedly from the limited sample size of his Test appearances – that he was more reliable in the second dig than the first.
Five matches in, he had scores of 4, 15, 1, 34 and 1 in the first innings, while his second innings had picked up a useful 430 runs at 215.
At Test level Rogers’ second innings batting average is eight runs higher than his first innings, with his last three centuries being notched second time around.
He blew my hypothesis out of the water by setting up Middlesex for their most recent win with 106 against Northamptonshire, the only time he was required to bat. He is now easily the top run scorer in Division One, and has been scoring his runs remarkably quickly, although that is only compared with a group of English batsmen.
Michael Klinger has continued an unhappy season for Gloucestershire, getting a few starts but still averaging on the wrong side of 20. Meanwhile, Phil Jaques obviously took the disappointment I expressed in my last wrap to heart, and top scored with a 65 and an unbeaten 150 for Nottinghamshire in a high-scoring draw against Somerset.
Aussies shining with the ball include Peter Siddle, who missed his last game after a destructive eight-wicket haul against Northamptonshire, where he dismissed three of their top four batsmen and their wicketkeeper in each innings.
Steve Magoffin is at third place on the Division One bowling table, with 22 wickets for Sussex at an average of 16.54 – well below anybody to have taken more than 10 wickets for the season.
Doug Bollinger has taken another five-for with Kent, taking his tally to 22 wickets in Division Two.
While not quite fitting my title of “Aussies in County Cricket”, in the T20 competition Dirk Nannes has started off well for Somerset, picking up five wickets in his first two games.
Marcus North smacked 90 off 47 balls fighting a losing cause for Derbyshire in his only match against Leicestershire, and Dan Christian has made a couple of useful contributions with the ball for Middlesex. Hampshire must be licking their lips watching Glenn Maxwell’s form with the bat in the IPL.
Also filed under “Not County Cricket”, it was good to see a couple of Aussies representing the Rest of the World against an MCC women’s team and doing their country proud. Australian Captain Meg Lanning scored a quick 59 off 55 and Ellyse Perry added the wicket of captain Charlotte Edwards to her 49 runs, to help the ROW beat the MCC convincingly.
As promised, a quick look at familiar English names in the County competition shows Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Alastair Cook and Ed Joyce all in good form, averaging 70 or thereabouts. Joe Root has missed a few games, while Michael Carberry is averaging just over 40.
Steve Finn is the leading wicket taker in either division with 29, while Monty Panesar has 20 at a tidy average of about 20. Jimmy Anderson started well with 18 at just under 17 but has missed the last couple of rounds.
With five one-dayers against Sri Lanka about to start, I wonder if this is England’s attempt at informed player management?
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
In just under three weeks, the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup will commence in Texas as the United States face off against Canada in…
After Rajasthan opener Yashasvi Jaiswal hit a boundary off the first ball, the Punjab player got revenge a few balls later - and ultimately…
"No cricketer that has ever lived hit the ball so often, so fast and with such a bewildering variety of strokes.” - HS Altham…
Featuring Aussie cricket star Usman Khawaja and taking inspiration from multiple horror films, Amazon Prime's promo for the 2024 T20 World Cup has certainly…
After a career that has spanned more than two decades, James Anderson leaves cricket as a legend of the game, up there with the…
Calvin Harrison mixed things up in his delivery stride starting behind the-non-striker, then going between the umpire and the stumps to deliver the ball…
