Michael Neser impresses with the ball and bat for Glamorgan. Photo: PA/Zac Goodwin
It looks like there's an injury scare day as we approach the Ashes. Jofra Archer (dropped out), Ollie Stone (dropped out of the first half), Brydon Kars (same), James Anderson (fingers crossed but should be ok), now Ollie Robinson (we'll see how the scan goes). And that's before we get to the mysterious Ben Stokes case.
You will notice that all of these names are English, although it was revealed overnight that Josh Hazlewood, who has been injured quite a lot over the past couple of years, left the Indian Premier League early due to pain in his side. The scan turned up nothing too alarming and he is in the Anderson category.
However, Australia seems to have the upper hand when it comes to bowlers' fitness as they head to England this week. Jay Richardson has been away for a long time, but Pat Cummins, Mitchell Stark and Scott Boland are resting at home while the above names work in the counties or in India.
This is at least in part due to the performances of Michael Neser and Sean Abbott, their next men, on the county track. Both men are having good seasons and again did a great job with bat and ball this weekend.
Michael Neser did a great job at the #LVCountyChamp this season
< br>123 at bat today helped Glamorgan out of their mammoth only 737! pic.twitter.com/IBG0Iz2HrV
— LV = Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) May 21, 2023
It seemed a little strange when neither Nesser nor Abbott, especially the former, made it into the original Australian squad. Not only because they are excellent cricketers, but also because of the composition of this team. While Marcus Harris and Matt Renshaw were selected as cover for the top order, only four front seamstresses were chosen for the three spots.
The balancing argument was that Nesser and Abbott played county cricket, so they would be on hand if Australia needed them. They have to train with the team at the camp in Beckenham ahead of the World Testing Championship final, and the named team has only competed in the first three out of six Tests on the tour, so there is room for maneuver.
In 2019, when Australia went undefeated to the Ashes in England for the first time since 2001, their strength was based on the depth of their fast bowling and judicious allocation of resources. Cummins alone played all five games: four for Hazlewood, three for Peter Siddle, two for James Pattinson and just one for Stark, while Neser was an unused traveling reserve. This time the depth may not be as good, but the best could be even better.
If Australia's depth is tested by a relentless schedule that includes six tests between June 7th and July 31st, then Neser and Abbott's efforts at the start of the season could be as big as Steve Smith and Marnus Labouchagne's much-discussed district changes.
Smith finished with 122 runs in three innings and was at the bottom of several, uh, lbw limit calls. Against Smith's Sussex this week, Neser has batted 123 to Labouchan's 138, which is Glamorgan's second highest total of all time, 737. Neser is averaging 51.8 at bat and 19 wickets with the ball this week at 25.6, including a truly amazing hat. trick against Yorkshire this month. Strong, durable and fast enough, Nesser may be Duke's dream and he could very well be part of the English plans
Abbott's top-notch bat-and-ball record is weaker than Nesser's and has yet to play a Test, but he's another county marvel. He is the perfect overseas player for this generation of Surrey who value all-round adaptability above all else. He rarely takes a new ball for them and rarely hits higher than No. 8, but he has a significant impact on just about every game he plays. Against Kent this week, it meant leading a lower order attack and taking a couple of key wickets in a five-man group attack. He is one of six Surrey batsmen with 14 or more wickets this season, and one of six Surrey batsmen with over 250 runs. no wonder if Nesser and even Abbott use their foothold in the county to help play a key role in the Ashes.
How are the English seamstresses doing?
James Anderson — injured. Should be back for 1st Ash Test
Stuart Broad — Fit
Ollie Robinson — questionable
Jofra Archer — out
Mark Wood — fit, on parental leave ( unlikely to meet with Ireland)
Chris Wookes — Fit
Ollie Stone — Out Before Third Ash Test
Matthew Potts — Fit
Jamie Overton — Out
Sam Curran — Fit
Sakib Mahmood — Fit
Craig Overton – Fit
Jofra Archer is out for the summer due to a recurrent stress fracture in his right elbow. Credit: Getty Images/Paul Ellis Discussion Topics
- At this point in his career, at the age of 38 and with nearly 34,000 career runs to his credit, Alastair Cook isn't doing too many things the first time. So it was a bit of a shame that he missed out on the top 100 first class at Trent Bridge for one run this weekend (his average of 25 is the lowest among major English stadiums). Who knows if this will be Cook's last season or if he'll add to his 73 top-notch hundreds, but he has the opportunity to play his first ton at the Ageas Bowl in a couple of months.
- So, goodbye, District Cricket, Steve Smith. Hopefully this won't be the last time we see him in our home game, Ashes summer or not. He left some kind words for his Sussex teammates, including young all-rounder James Coles, who had his first first-class result this weekend. Some feel that Smith's presence left the Sussex a little off-balance because it meant they couldn't pick another Aussie, Nathan McAndrew, who is a reliable source of wickets. Sussex drew all three of Smith's games, partly because of the rain.
- You can bet the northerners were glad they didn't have to play in Hampshire again this year. They made a total of 444 wounds against them in four opportunities and suffered two huge defeats. Looks like they're doomed to fail, and if Kent doesn't deal with their batting, they'll join them.
- On Friday we reported Arafat Bhuyan's instant impact on Kent vs Surrey. The 26-year-old was one of three players from the South Asian Cricket Academy to make their league debut this round, while the other, Jafer Chauhan, made his Twenty20 debut for Yorkshire at Edgbaston on Saturday. SACA is the work of Kabir Ali and Tom Brown, PhD, who are committed to ensuring that British Asians are as well represented in the professional game as they are at the county level. Last week was a step in the right direction.
Results of the week
Durham are flying high in the Second Division, where they look like the best team for some distance. They've been in several international spinners this year: Todd Murphy pulled out by Australia, Matt Koenemann suffered a stress fracture, then Matt Parkinson was on loan. But signing Ajaz Patel was a masterstroke: he took five wickets in every innings (and smashed a few comfortable low-order runs) as they were forced to take the slow path to victory at Bristol. Patel came up with a surprising move by reminding us all that a top-notch spin, especially the finger spin, still plays a role at the start of the season in England.
Match of the Week
Surrey's meeting with Kent ended in a big win for the champions by 10 wickets, but the game was better than the score would suggest. In the first opportunity, the lower ranks of both teams rescued those higher up. The first five sessions were frequent. But when Surrey lost their seventh wicket they were still nearly 70 behind, but as usual they kept closing in on Kent and ended up with an 84 lead. From there they never looked back, opening up a decent buffer to the top of the Championship. A few words about Nottinghamshire and Essex, who ended in a draw but were seriously hard-fought.
Quote of the Week
"Definitely 100 percent"
That was the answer Leicestershire skipper Lewis Hill when asked if the 271 his crew had installed in Worcestershire were sufficient. At the time, this seemed fair enough. It was the second evening, and 32 gates had already fallen. The Foxes led the first innings of 90 and asked the Pears to chase the highest score of the game with nearly 100 runs.
There was some variable bounce on the field. Alas, Hill was proven wrong: great shots from Adam Hawes and Gareth Roderick helped Worcestershire to an extraordinary three-wicket win. Something is happening at Leicester, on and off the pitch, but they need to get stronger.
Michael Carey, former Telegraph cricket correspondent, has died at the age of 87.
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