Hello All
There follows the first despatch of the season from your Northern correspondent.
I popped down to Grace Road on Friday to check out the competition from Leics and Northants. Apologies for the tardy posting but I've been stuck at my Dad's with his antiquarian communication facilities all weekend.
It was a fine day in Leicester and an unusually large crowd, which had the members chuntering about the lack of space in the car park. Northants won the toss and put Leicestershire in, which I suppose is the done thing on April 9th but was at odds with the clear skies overhead.
On debut, the journeyman opener Jefferson departed in his usual embarrassing fashion - chasing a ball no other cricketer in history could have reached. He then embarked upon a solemn walk round the ground with a supportive family member, during which I discovered that, despite pushing 6'6'' myself, not only am I dwarfed by Jefferson (6'10''), but also by his apparently septuagenarian father. They've certainly had their Weetabix in that family.
The timeless Nixon came and went, nicking off against the lively Jack Brooks, and this brought James Taylor to the crease. I'd been looking forward to seeing Taylor bat, and he didn't disappoint.
The first thing to say about him is that he really is a wee man. When he finds himself batting with Jefferson the twelfth man will need to bring out a stool for the mid-pitch glove-punch, or else the big fella's going to cop one in the knackers. Speaking of which, you don't often see a batsman get struck in the box only to suffer the indignity of an LBW appeal, but that's what happened to Tiny Taylor when he missed a pull.
Taylor latches on to anything remotely short and looks to thrash it with a great flourish through the off side - either cut square or up on his toes driving off the back foot. He couldn't find his timing for the first hour or so, but he kept going for his shots and when they came off it was great to watch. He's a very stylish player.
He immediately took the attack to Boje when the captain brought himself on, using his feet to the spinner. He had a life when the debutant batsman Vishal Tripathi shelled a sharp chance at short leg; the fielder was doubly regretting that missed chance an over or two later when Taylor turned one straight off the face into Tripathi's box, with a thud that was audible from the boundary, followed by a groan of pain that was even louder, and then a gale of laughter from everyone else in the ground.
After lunch Taylor lost Matthew Boyce, who had played an unmemorable knock, and was joined by Josh Cobb. Cobb looked a good partner; a tall, uncomplicated batsman who likes to get a big stride in and biff it over the top. They pushed the run rate along until Cobb had one expansive drive too many and was bowled (played on, I thought).
By this point, Taylor was in full control, widening his range of shots and manoeuvring the ball through leg side at will. He came out after tea and looked imperious, crashing the ball past the bowler, but then seemed to lose concentration and played a couple of iffy shots followed by a Cobb-esque drive which had the same result: stumps in a mess. He should have scored a hundred and the comparatively muted applause as he returned to the pavillion let him know we thought he'd thrown it away.
How should Sussex bowl at Taylor? Like, I suspect, a lot of the more successful Division 2 batsman, he'll be used to feeding off a fair amount of dross, and doesn't like to be tied down, so I would suggest patience will bring its reward. He seems to be playing away from his body a bit too.
When Taylor was dismissed the game was in the balance at 198/5, but the fielding side didn't have the quality or the freshness to take advantage, and Tom New and Wayne White had put on a century partnership almost without anyone noticing: 303/5 at the end of a good day's cricket. By the way, I had no idea White could bat; I thought he was a proper tailender at Debryshire. He got 89 in the end; has he done anything like that before?
What of Northants?
They began well with the new ball. Jack Brooks may look like Roger Federer with his longish hair and headband but he looks a half-decent bowler to me, with a fairly classical action. He's lively and aggressive. David Lucas, the experience left-armer, was a good foil with his steady, unspectacular approach, although he already looked like he'd bowled about 1000 overs this season from his general demeanour. I see he cleaned up the tail the next day.
Lee Daggett was first change and has the look of a League bowler. He trundles in and plugs away but won't scare anyone. Andrew Hall is mean and miserly and has bags of experience but the fact he's bowling second change probably tells you that he's not the star man in the attack.
Nicky Boje looked pretty innocuous when he came on and you certainly didn't get the impression that a left-arm spinner was going to take six for nowt the next day, as Claude Henderson did. I wonder if Boje feels under pressure with the ball this season, given that his presence has effectively forced two of Northants' bright young things - Monty and Graeme White - to leave the club.
Overall, Northants did pretty well up until tea - they were unlucky not to pick up a couple more wickets and Boje attacked with 3 or 4 slips in place for the seamers. However, as the day wore on they tired, and they lacked a proper strike bowler who could make something happen, although Brooks looks to have potential. I suspect that a lot of Division 2 attacks will be like this; they will find it tough to bowl sides out if the batsmen don't contribute to their own downfall. If Sussex have the necessary patience with the bat they will be rewarded as these limited bowlers tire.
It's a couple of days at Trent Bridge for me this week; not quite so relevant as it once was but I'll make sure I pass on anything of interest. And perhaps a bit more.
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