Surrey’s record-breaking 40 runs victory over Durham earlier this year shocked the cricket world. They racked an amazing victory lane score by calling an overall score of 820-9! This score makes it the very highest team total in 18 years. It stands as the fourth highest aggregate ever in the history of County Championship cricket. This contest definitely featured some magical individual performances. Surrey’s Dom Sibley stole the headlines with a remarkable 305 runs – the highest ever score by an individual against Durham.
Recent County Championship games have recently been set ablaze. Fifty-nine players have crunched a mind-boggling 59 tons in only the last two matches! Surrey’s game against Durham was epic, featuring no less than four separate scores of 200 or more. This remarkable presentation underscores the unrivaled batting talent on display in this year’s competition. Surrey and Northants scored four centuries in an innings, a feat never before accomplished in first-class cricket. This accomplishment draws attention to the increasing propensity for high-scoring games in the sport.
Teams are reorienting themselves to the new reality of what county cricket looks like. History suggests a first innings par score of 429.75, with 15 of the first innings totals pushing past the 450 run mark. Across all 62 matches, offenses average a remarkable 1194.66 runs scored per game. On average, 27.05 wickets per match are dismissed. This weekend saw 11 five-wicket hauls, with Northants’ Liam Guthrie achieving the best bowling figures of 7-94 against Middlesex.
Even with all the offensive fireworks, reactions to the contest haven’t all been positive. George Drissell of Surrey had a tough day at the office, conceding an unbelievable 247 runs in his 28 overs against Durham. The Kookaburra ball is now under the microscope. Its machine-stitched design, without the old-world craftsmanship of balls such as the Dukes, has led to a furious row between players and historians.
Corey Rocchiccioli, an Australian A off-spinner, raised alarm bells over the Kookaburra ball in English conditions.
“The match as a whole was not a great watch for spectators with the Kookaburra ball and I’m still not sure why we are using it, to be honest.” – Corey Rocchiccioli
He talked about when the Kookaburra should be used for what conditions.
“We don’t play Test cricket in England with a Kookaburra and if we are thinking about the next series in Australia playing with a Kookaburra, then the people who are going to play in that series probably need to be using a Kookaburra ball as well.” – Corey Rocchiccioli
The Kookaburra ball’s design is more conducive to the dry, hard pitches that Australia produces. Even its biggest proponent Darren Lehmann said it was a poor fit for English conditions, and with good reason.
“The Kookaburra ball is for Australian conditions on wickets that are harder and have got some carry.” – Darren Lehmann
He added that his previous experiences of using the Dukes ball in Australia had been positive.
“The Dukes ball, we’ve tried that before in an Ashes for example. A Dukes ball goes all over the shop in Australia and the game’s finished in two days.” – Darren Lehmann
As the conversation moves forward on how to make life better for bowlers and spectators more excited to watch, the players are still worried about playing their best. Last fortnight, England’s Ben Stokes opened up on the competitive edge pushing players to new heights this record-breaking campaign.
“One of the reasons we all play is to try to get better and find out how good we can be. This is a way of doing it.” – Ben Stokes
With the game changing at such a pace, teams are in a position where runs are easy to come by but worries about the suitability of equipment persist. This weekend’s match stats were more a testament to the domination of the batsman. They indicate what bowlers will be up against as they continue to adapt to the state of play.
Leave a Reply