Cricket
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Stone vs Audley.
Audley won the toss in changeable conditions at Stone and elected to bat. The wicket looked hard and had a good covering of grass on it, so hopefully there will be assistance for the bowlers. Audley began positively with Doorbar striking 3 boundaries in the opening three overs. He scored a further 2 boundaries before
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The return of the draw!
The North Staffs and South Cheshire Cricket League has finally brought back win/lose/draw cricket to its lower leagues for the 2026 season.This is fantastic news in my opinion, it should have never been taken away. There is as much skill in batting for a draw as there is in any form of the game.The draw
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A week of difficult pitches.
The 4th round of the county championship fixtures has now concluded. The weather has been fantastic. The pitches, however, have not. All of the 1st division fixtures ended in very boring and obdurate draws; it’s almost absurd to think that Essex’s first innings total of 409 was the lowest score of a team batting first
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England watch week 4 – days 3 & 4.
Notts vs Warwickshire. Notts were bowled all out for 279 early on the third morning and were asked to follow on as Warwickshire pushed for a victory. Chris Woakes finished with figures of 3/44 off 16.1 overs. Haseeb Hameed finally found some form with the bat; he made his first century of the season, sharing
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England watch week 4 – days 1 & 2.
This week’s England watch begins at Trent Bridge, where Notts are taking on Warwickshire. Notts won the toss and elected to bowl first. They had the better of the morning session, reducing Warwickshire to 96/3 at lunch. Dan Mousley making 49 before being caught by Haseeb Hameed off the bowling of England’s Josh Tongue. England
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Checkley vs Leek.
First of all, I’d like to say congratulations to the ground staff, as the ground looked impeccable. Leek won the toss and elected to bat on a sun-kissed afternoon at Checkley. The wicket looked to have a tinge of green to it, so there could be some early movement for the seamers. Tom Moulton was
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The championship that keeps on giving. Part 2 – the batters.
Jamie Smith has made a remarkable start to the season after being dismissed for 9 in his first innings of the summer. He’s made scores of 132, 166 and 89 to put himself top of the batting charts this summer with 396 runs at an average of 99.Smith’s move up to number 3 for Surrey
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The championship that keeps on giving.
After three rounds, all played in April, we should be talking about green seamers and low scores. The championship has provided twists and turns, boring draws and thrilling finishes. We’ll start with the king, Sir James Anderson. Despite being 43 years young, he’s got 21 wickets at an average of 12 on some very slow
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England watch week 3 – days 3 & 4.
Somerset vs Hampshire. Somerset beat Hampshire by 2 wickets in a pulsating game at Southampton Nick Gubbins took his score to 83 before being caught by Overton off the bowling of Jack Leach. Jake Lehmann then made 50 before being bowled by Alfie Ogborne as Hampshire reached 265/4 at lunch on day 3. Hampshire wasted
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England watch week 3 – Days 1 & 2.
With only four matches in the championship this week, I’ll review them all. My roundup begins at Southampton. Hampshire won the toss and elected to bat against Somerset. They made their way to 112/4 at lunch with Tony Albert making 42. Once he was dismissed, Jake Lehmann played a lone hand with 76 to get