Match Reports

Gloucestershire v Northamptonshire

Gloucestershire's first team cricket at the Brightside Ground in 2018 came to a soggy end as the final day of the Championship match with Northamptonshire was abandoned as a draw with only five overs play possible.

Overnight rain delayed the start until 11.40, and after Gloucestershire reached 6-0 in their second innings - still 42 runs behind overall - a further sharp shower forced the players off.

An early lunch was taken but more rain during the interval saw umpires Michael Burns and Paul Pollard call the captains out into the middle and the inevitable handshake followed between Chris Dent and Northants captain Alex Wakely.

It means Gloucestershire finish with three draws from their five Championship games at the Brightside Ground this year, having lost to Glamorgan in April and beaten Leicestershire in August. Their final Championship game against Derbyshire at Derby starts on Monday.

Watch head Richard Dawson's close of play thoughts here:

 

MATCH REACTION: Head coach Richard Dawson looks back at the drawn game with @NorthantsCCC after only 5 overs play was possible on the final day pic.twitter.com/9ZZCwps4Pz

— Gloucestershire CCC (@Gloscricket) 21 September 2018

Day 3

Morning rain and one problem area in the outfield prevented any play on the third day of the Championship match with Northamptonshire at the Brightside Ground.

It was a frustrating affair, as the rain had stopped shortly after the scheduled start at 10.30am, although by that stage the damage had been done as one of the wicket ends on the Kennington Avenue side of the square had become wet after strong winds lifted the covers.

Despite four inspections and the efforts of the ground staff to make the rest of the ground playable, umpires Paul Pollard and Michael Burns decided that one area was still a problem at 3.30pm and abandoned play in the hope that further remedial work could see a prompt start on the final day.

Gloucestershire will begin their second innings when play resumes 48 runs behind, having bowled out Northants for 173 in their first innings. So far only 109.1 overs have been bowled in the match, with more than five sessions lost to the weather.

 

Day 2

Fast bowler Craig Miles experienced all the emotions of a County Championship bowler on a truncated second day of the game with Northamptonshire at the Brightside Ground.

After an economical first spell, Miles returned just before lunch to become the third bowler on the day to take a wicket in their first over of a new stint. The 24 year old then conceded 33 runs in 5 overs as Richard Levi and Adam Rossington blasted a stand of 72 in only 53 balls before dismissing both to take his tally of first class wickets for the season to 50.

Miles finished with 3-52 and David Payne 3-29 as Gloucestershire dismissed Northants for 173, a lead of 48 on first innings.

49 overs were left on the day as Gloucestershire prepared to bat again, but gloomy light and subsequent rain delayed a resumption and ultimately forced the umpires to call off play for the day at 4.40pm.

Watch Craig Miles' thoughts on achieving 50 first class wickets for the season here:

 

CLOSE OF PLAY REACTION: Craig Miles reflects on his 50 first class wickets in 2018 and the match position against @NorthantsCCC who lead by 48 on first innings. pic.twitter.com/RYidyhd7Ri

— Gloucestershire CCC (@Gloscricket) September 19, 2018

Gloucestershire's bowlers began the second day looking to make early inroads into the Northants batting in order to restrict any potential advantage on first innings, but for almost an hour the overnight pair of Ben Curran and Rob Newton survived against a ball still moving around despite much brighter skies than 24 hours earlier.

The slips were much closer to the batsman than usual, but still early edges were dropping short so it was with some relief that after both batsmen had enjoyed moments of fortune Matt Taylor, having replaced David Payne, trapped Newton lbw for 8.

Payne's return saw Ricardo Vasconcelos also depart cheaply, comfortably caught in the gully by Ian Cockbain, and Craig Miles introduction from the Pavilion End accounted for Curran - brother of England's Sam and Tom - Miles Hammond taking the catch at third slip after the left hander had struck five fours in an innings of 30.

Benny Howell's removal of Alex Wakely, caught at the wicket by James Bracey, came with   Northants still 49 runs behind, but nine overs either side of lunch proved the difference between them having a first innings deficit and a useful advantage.

Wicket keeper Adam Rossington, batting at number seven, faced only eight balls before the interval but drove five of them for four, all off Howell. Re-fuelled at the interval, Richard Levi added three further boundaries off Miles before getting tucked up by the same bowler and seeing an attempted cut fly to Ben Charlesworth on the third man boundary.

The sixth wicket pair had added 72, and two overs later Miles spread Rossington's stumps to take his fiftieth first class wicket of the season. Rossington's innings of 43 was the highest of the match, but his depature checked Northants' possible lead as their lower order once again found batting an awkward exercise.

The last three wickets added only a further 12 runs, Ryan Higgins, Matt Taylor and David Payne sharing the wickets before Nathan Buck was last out in gloomy light. 

Umpires Michael Burns and Paul Pollard decided an early tea should be taken before Gloucestershire started their reply, and the weather closed in with rain preventing any further play but the game is still advanced enough to suggest enough time remains - despite an indifferent weather forecast - for a positive result.
 

 

Day 1

A challenging day to bat saw Gloucestershire struggle to build a total of any substance as a helpful Brightside Ground pitch favoured the fielding side on the opening day of the last home Championship match against Northamptonshire.

The visitors' two leading bowlers, Ben Sanderson and Brett Hutton, made the most of muggy overhead conditions to send back three of Gloucestershire's top order with only 32 runs on the board.

Skipper Chris Dent took nearly two hours over his innings of 15, batting longer than anyone else on a day of four interruptions for drizzle and bat light. 37 overs in all were lost, but from 68-8 the tail added 57 for the last two wickets chiefly through Craig Miles (23) and David Payne (23*) before Matt Taylor was last out. 

With a total of 125 to defend, Gloucestershire had two overs to bowl before stumps at the Northamptonshire openers, long enough for David Payne to remove Brett Hutton lbw for a duck. At the close they were 4-1.

 

Gloucestershire made one change to the team which won at Cardiff last week, with Ian Cockbain replacing Gareth Roderick and James Bracey taking the gloves.  Some early morning rain delayed play by 15 minutes and the moisture made it an easy decision for Northamptonshire captain Alex Wakely to put Gloucestershire into bat.

The first mini session lasted only 14 deliveries before the light deteriorated, but it was long enough for Brett Hutton to make the first breakthrough, as Miles Hammond got the faintest of touches through to 'keeper Rossington as he tried to work a ball onto the leg side.

It was the first of four catches for Rossington, who was in prime position to see the ball consistently move off the seam all day. The longest spell of play was from the resumption up until lunch, during which time Gloucestershire lost four further wickets, the first in the seventh over as Sanderson angled a ball across James Bracey (8) which also took the edge.

Both Sanderson and Hutton bowled with four slips, and it was the burly figure of Richard Levi, fielding at second slip, who comfortably held the chance offered by Benny Howell (11) before Nathan Buck, introduced at the Pavilion End, trapped Ian Cockbain on his crease for a duck to leave Gloucestershire 32-4.

Skipper Chris Dent had resisted - not always easily - at the other end, and his stand with Jack Taylor that added 22 runs was the biggest of the day until David Payne and Craig Miles joined forces later. 

Taylor took the score past 50 in the 22nd over as he worked Buck to square leg, and at the other end Ben Cotton initally lacked the threat of Hutton, bowling both sides of the wicket until his best delivery saw Taylor offer Levi another acceptable chance in the slips for 17.

Lunch was taken at 57-5, and the afternoon's play was a fragmented affair with only 17 overs possible in three different spells. The stop-start nature of the cricket kept the bowlers fresh and repeatedly broke the batsmen's concentration, Dent steering Hutton - from around the wicket - to Cotton at third slip having held Northants at bay for 113 minutes. 

The same line of attack by the former Nottinghamshire seamer saw Ben Charlesworth feather a big off cutter to Rossington, and his easiest catch came when Ryan Higgins (10) miscued an attempted pull and top edged it high into the air to give Hutton his fourth success of the day.   

Ninth wicket pair David Payne and Craig Miles were still together when the rain returned, and they negotiated 7.2 overs in two brief periods of play before more rain brought an early tea with their partnership, having added 23, worth more than anything put together previously by more recognised batsmen.

The players didn't return until 5.15 when some of the best light saw a further hour's cricket. Craig Miles became the top scorer with a cover drive off Nathan Buck and he'd made 23 when he was bowled by Buck in the fourth over of what was the day's sixth segment of play.

Miles and Payne had added 33, and Payne and Matt Taylor took Gloucestershire past two of the season's most meagre totals before Buck finished the innings with the aid of Cotton at third slip. In all, eight of the ten wickets had fallen to catches close to the wicket.

It left Northants two overs to see out until the close, but sending in Brett Hutton with Ben Curran proved a flawed experiment as David Payne produced the perfect inswinger to trap him lbw without scoring, leaving the visitors to resume on day two 121 runs behind with nine wickets in hand.