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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Tanya Aldred

Bob Willis Trophy: Ian Bell signs off with 90, Essex heading for final – as it happened

Ian Bell of Warwickshire crashes a drive through the off-side against Glamorgan during his final first-class innings.
Ian Bell of Warwickshire crashes a drive through the off-side against Glamorgan during his final first-class innings. Photograph: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans/REX/Shutterstock

Roundup: Bell signs off with 90, Essex all but into final

Cricket is too fickle to write fairytales very often but for most of a September afternoon it looked as if the romantics would get their way and Ian Bell would make a hundred in his final first-class innings.

But, 10 runs short and with a millisecond loss of concentration, he played on to Timm van der Gugten. Off came the helmet, the gloves, and he walked off a first-class cricket field for the last time to the applause of the coaching staff, the Warwickshire and Glamorgan teams, and thousands of shadow spectators willing him on from home.

Essex secured their place in the Bob Willis Trophy final at Lord’s, or so they thought, by beating Middlesex by nine wickets. However, it emerged that the ECB technical committee may rule the Covid-related abandoned match at Bristol incomplete, thus making net run rate the decider if group winners tie on points. They must now wait for certainty. Essex’s win had come with indecent haste. They whistled through the remaining Middlesex wickets and knocked off the 53 needed with a whistle and a song.

The Somerset v Worcestershire match continued to thrill as Tom Lammonby became the youngest Somerset batsman to carry his bat with a superb 107. Lewis Gregory then bowled both Worcestershire openers before bad light stopped play. Worcs need 187 for a chance of a place in the Lord’s final.

Lancashire built up a menacing lead over Derbyshire, who had in the morning failed by five runs to secure the bonus point seemingly required to give them a mathematical chance of making the final.

A beautiful century from Zak Crawley helped Kent to secure a seven-wicket win against Hampshire at Canterbury. Sussex suffered a terrible reversal of fortune at the Oval, finishing on 109 for nine against Surrey after their first-innings 415. They lead by 136.

Chris Rushworth took seven wickets for Durham as Nottinghamshire rattled up 422 to give themselves a good chance of winning a first‑class game for the first time since June 2018. Yorkshire closed in on victory against Leicestershire but were left to rue the first‑innings collapse that ruled them out of the final.

That’s it from the penultimate day of the Bob - Essex through, probably, subject to a meeting of the ECB technical committee. You didn’t think it would be simple, did you? Thanks for all the emails and BTL chat, see you tomorrow for one last hurrah.

Just popping back to post this....

OOOF, an inside edge, off Gregory, and Jake Libby totters back to the lovely Worcestershire pavilion. A second wicket for Gregory and not the best of starts for Worcestershire. What was unlikely half an hour ago seems almost impossible now. Time for me to round up, enjoy the last hour.

Updated

Not given Lancashire much love today, dream-wreckers as they are, but they’re batting like kings. Alex Davies has gone for a ruthless 86, Jennings has reached fifty for the first time this season, with a reverse-sweep, despite the cavalier curls. And Josh Bohannon, who is having a game to remember at Aigburth, smashes a six not long after walking out.

Come on now Worcestershire. If you don’t collapse in a heap I get to go to New Road tomorrow. Daryl Mitchell bowled by Lewis Gregory for a miserly 3.

From a great little interview between Ian Bell and Simon Mann during the tea-break

“I’ve got ambitions to do other things in cricket, I’m certainly looking into coaching. I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter and moving on.

“Through my injuries last year I got involved with the Young Lions and went away to the world cup with England’s Under-19s. That whole winter I really enjoyed it. It confirmed to me that’s the route I want to go down.

“I want to stay in the game and help other players. I want to get back into the nets and try and find ways to make other players better.”

Updated

As DI Gower (1975-1993) passed the baton to IR Bell (1999-2020), give or take a few years, so IR Bell hands it to ....

And secondly, why is it that on the fact file of cricinfo, education makes it alongside, teams, nicknames, age, batting and bowling style and relations? The legacy of the public school? Do other sports do this?

A Zak Crawley hundred! As Ian Bell retires, it brings some balance to the cricketing universe. Off just 94 balls, with a fielder-exhausting 17 fours. Kent nearly there.

d
Pure panache: Zak Crawley. Photograph: Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Five wickets for young Jack Carson in the high-scoring game at The Oval, his first five fer! Surrey all out 388.

The winner of Somerset v Worcestershire will join Essex at Lord’s on September 23. If it is a draw ... er... let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.

Tea-time scores

North Group:

Aigburth: Lancashire 219 and 126-0 lead Derbys 195 by 150 runs.

Trent Bridge: Notts 422 lead Durham 294 and 49-0 by 79 runs.

Headingley: Yorks 252 lead Leics 124 by 128 runs.

Central Group:

Sophia Gardens: Glam 203 trail Warwicks 186 and 227-4 (Ian Bell 90) by 210 runs.

New Road: Worcs 200 v Somerset 251 and 193. Worcestershire need 245 to win.

South Group:

The Oval: Surrey 388 trail Sussex 415 by 27 runs.

Chelmsford: Essex 236 and 53-1 BEAT Middx 138 and 150 by nine wickets.

Canterbury: Kent 170 and 139-1 v Hants 191 and 159. Kent need 42 runs to win.

Yorkshire have lost five for 15. Oh dear. Dreams of a Lord’s final gone, alas

Some statty thoughts:

Updated

Anyway, where were we? It’s going to be a nail-biter today/tomorrow at New Road. Somerset all out 193, Lammonby, wonderfully, carrying his bat for 107. Worcestershire need 244 to win and they’ve taken tea.

Ian Bell out for 90

Gloves off, helmet off, a last dignified raise of the bat and he disappears up the pavilion steps of Sophia Gardens and off a first-class cricket field for the very last time. Thanks for the memories IRB, the glorious sledgehammer.

Updated

Does Bell have a limp?

Just noticed that Jamie Overton has made fifty in his first innings for Surrey. Really happy for him, after a less than perfect performance with the ball. Surrey 368-6.

Enjoying the trees at Sophia Gardens. Just 13 need for a last, glorious, inevitable, hundred. If you’ve missed the link, tis here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sawo64SlyWg

Congratulations Tom Lammonby! A second first-class century in five matches to put Somerset in a plum pie position in the race for the last spot in the Bob Willis Trophy Final. And he’s just twenty years old.

Kent are cruising to a win against Hampshire, currently 97-1, 58 not out to Zak Crawley. They need just another 84 runs, though the Bob Willis final is now out of reach, with Essex the South Group winners.

Alex Davies is absolutely zipping along at Aigburth - nine fours in his 47 not out. Lancs 72-0. Meanwhile Tattersall, 65, and Thompson, 48, are making batting look easy at Headingley, the lead over Leicestershire already 100. Not bad after losing a day and a session to rain. At Sophia Gardens, Ye mighty Bell 76 not out.

Updated

Nottinghamshire are all out for 422. Durham, 129 runs behind, start their second innings. Currently 13-0. With one day to go, surely this will break the Notts non-winning streak - not a first-class win since June 2018. I’d be amazed in Durham can last till lunchtime tomorrow. Though it is a good pitch. Joe Clarke’s 133 is his highest score in a Notts shirt.

Perfection. Andy Bull on Ian Bell, before the final bell has tolled. As I type, 65 not out.

These are rather sweet, for Worcestershire fans everywhere.

Worcestershire bowl their first extra!

And an iconoclastic email arrives from Robert Wilson.

“I’ve never understood the slackjawed hush that descends upon every cricket fan upon seeing a well-executed cover drive. It’s a semi-religious epiphany. People blush and tremble. Meanwhile, I’m mystified. Because the cover drive is literally the only shot I can actually play. As a working-class Irish Catholic, supremely uncoached, I played in a state of barbarian grace. I’ve never managed a square cut (I once got four for a very thick edge no one noticed and my forward defensive looks like a squid trying to square dance. But thanks to some evolutionary quirk, I can cover drive until the cows come home (or get bored). Should I start a Youtube channel? You should see my leg-glance, it’s Jurassic.”

I’d say go for it on the You Tube channel front. The more obscure the better. I had an idea for one called Table-tennis with my dad. Everyone who came to the house, ie mostly the kids’ friends, had to play a 9 point game of table tennis with my husband. Unfortunately he wasn’t up for it. And no-one is allowed in the house anymore anyway.

I love this! Such enthusiasm for Ben Brown. Sixteen years old and your maiden first-class wicket is someone who has a century for England.

A quick return to cover drives in an email from Dave Langlois

“Surely Greg Chappell deserves a mention?”

That’s a good call. Here’s some Gideon Haigh stardust on him:

“He played his cover drive from full height. The bat came down straight. The weight surged through the ball. It looked imperious. It was imperious. He never hurried, never seemed to push too hard, never thrashed or slogged when a stroke would do - he just made up his own rules and followed them, without deviation”

And back in 2020, Somerset are 121 for seven with the fall of Lewis Gregory. The clock says it is soon time for Craig Overton to smote a few.

Tom Lammonby holding the Somerset innings together with pin tucks and tacks. Currently 62 not out, the next highest score is 14. Has there been another good side in recent history whose bowling is so much more dominant than their batting? Currently 110 for 6 - with not a single extra by Worcestershire - well bowled!

Would it be dangerous to talk of wondrous farewells? In Tests, Alastair Cook succeeded where Bradman and Jonathan Trott did not. But has there been a recent golden goodbye from a county player? Trescothick was denied it by injury and form, though he had that last moment fielding as a sub at Taunton last year, rotund but magnificent to the end.

For your delectation: Ian Bell 55 not out.

n
One more glorious four: Ian Bell. Photograph: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans/REX/Shutterstock

Welcome back, hope your lunch was lustrous. Summer salads already seem quite out of season. Sob.

It seems, after reading around, that Yorkshire do still have a chance of reaching that Lord’s final but... they need to score 400. How’s that going? Currently 173 for 5 - Tattersall and Thompson the men in possession.

Lunchtime scores

North Group:

Aigburth: Lancashire 219 lead Derbys 195 by 24 runs.

Trent Bridge: Notts 384-5 lead Durham 294 by 90 runs.

Headingley: Yorks 164-5 lead Leics 124 by 40 runs.

Central Group:

Sophia Gardens: Glam 203 trail Warwicks 186 and 129-2 (Ian Bell 46 not out) by 112 runs.

New Road: Worcs 200 trail Somerset 251 and 90-6 by 141 runs.

South Group:

The Oval: Surrey 259-6 trail Sussex 415 by 156 runs.

Chelmsford: Essex 236 and 53-1 BEAT Middx 138 and 150 by nine wickets.

Canterbury: Kent 170 and 8-1 need 173 runs to beat Hants 191 and 159.

Derbyshire out of the reckoning for the Bob. Essex are through to the final.

Oh no!!!!!! Five runs short of 200, Melton is bowled for 11. Derbyshire’s valiant efforts after a terrible seven overs yesterday afternoon are in vain. They are OUT of the Bob Willis Trophy final.

A quick nerve-soother from Charles Sheldrick on cover-drives:

“Normally my answer to any question about graceful batting would be Gower, but nobody I have ever seen matches Mark Waugh for the cover drive.”

“But if left field and unexpected is what you are after then Burnley’s favourite son must be in with a shout.... A beautiful thing, made even more wonderful because of it’s extreme rarity.....”

Essex 236 and 53-1 beat Middlesex 138 and 150 by nine wickets

With a single from Tom Westley, Esssex are done. They are confirmed at South Group winners with 90 points - their fourth win of the Bob. But will that be enough? Derbyshire now six short of that magic 200...


Updated

Jeepers! Derbyshire need 13 to get to the magic 200 with the last pair at the crease. No. 11 Dustin Melton has just hit a six....

Elsewhere:

All is not lost at Headingley, where Harry Brook’s 50 has boosted Yorkshire’s chances of bonus points. 126-5.

At Trent Bridge, the Notts batting line-line up - who ever doubted them - drives on. Duckett out at last for 150, Joe Clarke not out 112.

Ian Bell has zipped to 38 not out in 34 balls at Sophia Gardens in his final first-class innings, Hampshire have a tasty lead of 180 over Kent with one wicket left. Five wickets for Podmore, four for Stevens. Foakes and Jacks rebuild slowly at The Oval after last night’s horror show. 237-5.

Does anyone please have a handy list of the county streams today that I can paste ATL?

Quick round up from the big three:

Essex, 23-0, need 30 to beat Middlesex.

Somerset, 57-4, have inched the lead over Worcs to over 100.

Derbyshire, showing great resilience, 174-8 and crucially Hosein still there, 80 not out. From down and out at 61-7, it is a fantastic effort.

Enjoyed this left-field choice, and perfect description, from Gary Naylor.

In the light of Ian Bell’s last innings, I leave Harold Pinter’s poem here.

I saw Len Hutton in his prime.

Another time,

another time.

Ed Barnard! Destroyer of West Country dreams. Byrom lbw for 12. Tom Lammonby quietly watching the inevitability from the other end, 21 not out. Somerset now 42-4, the lead 93.

A smashing salute from Glamorgan.

“Good morning,” writes Geoff Wignall.

Hello Geoff!

On the subject of cover drives to rival Bell’s, I’ve three to suggest: Carl Hooper, Mark Waugh & Aravinda da Silva.Good luck picking the best of them.

Very wise Geoff. Here is Hooper snapping the late David Capel to the boundary in the Caribbean.

I spent so long looking at cover drives that Ian Bell is already in. Warwickshire 53 for 2. Such a shame that Bell can’t have his final day in the sun with appreciative spectators, like Jonathan Trott and Marcus Trescothick did last year.

Oh my, I’ve just realised today will be the occasion of Ian Bell’s last first-class innings. He is next in, with Warwickshire currently 47 for one. Whose cover drive would rival Bell’s? DI Gower? Moeen Ali? James Vince? Kumar Sangakkara? Damien Martyn? Babar Azam? Mithali Raj?

And at New Road George Bartlett goes for 2, after an hour of hard yakka. Somerset 28-3.

Middlesex are all out, Essex need 53 to win. While at lovely Aigburth, Derbyshire still seven down as they inch towards that magic 200. Hosein a stubbornly impressive 70 not out, 156-7, eighth wicket partnership of nearly 100.

A nice little first for Tom Scriven at Canterbury. Currently 62 not out, impressive resistance against the inevitability of Darren Stevens. Hampshire now 138-7, a lead of 159. Remember neither side has made 200 yet in this game.

Yorkshire not having the greatest start at their unlikely tilt at the final. Two early wickets this morning - Fraine and Loten, a couple of wickets for Klein. Though they are only chasing Leicestershire’s 124 in first innings.

Updated

And another one for Essex, a second for Sam Cook as Middlesex threaten to disappear before elevenses. 134-8, a lead of 26.

Essex are unstoppable, aren’t they? James Harris is bowled in the second over of the day. Middlesex now 123 for seven with a pitiful lead of 25. Meanwhile Somerset begin the expected top order wobble - Tom Abell caught off Joe Leach. 16-2 with a lead of 67. I don’t think Worcestershire will want to chase much more than 100.

Incidentally, did any CC-Live-ers just experience the Sussex earthquake?

Updated

Start of play scores

North Group:

Aigburth: Lancashire 219 lead Derbys 120-7 by 99 runs.

Trent Bridge: Notts 251-2 trail Durham 294 by 43 runs.

Headingley: Yorks 36-2 trail Leics 124 by 88 runs. Rain affected.

Central Group:

Sophia Gardens: Glam 203 lead Warwicks 186 by 17 runs.

New Road: Wors 200 trail Somerset 251 and 16-1 by 67 runs.

South Group:

The Oval: Surrey 171-4 trail Sussex 415 by 244 runs.

Chelmsford: Essex 236 trail Middx 138 and 123-6 by 25 runs.

Canterbury: Kent 170 trail Hants 191 and 108-5 by 129 runs.

Weather Watch

Sunshine at Leeds! Fine at Aigburth, New Road, Chelmsford, Canterbury, The Oval, Sophia Gardens and Trent Bridge. A full house on the penultimate day of the season - that calls for another coffee.

Bob Willis Trophy tie break rules

A reminder from yesterday. The two group winners with the most points go through to the five-day final at Lord’s starting on September 23. If there is a tie, the following tie breakers come into play in this order: most wins, fewest losses, the result between the sides in the group stage, most wickets taken, most runs scored.

Most wins (at start of final round)

Somerset, Essex (3)
Derbyshire, Worcestershire, Yorkshire, Kent, Middlesex, Hampshire (2)

Fewest losses (at start of final round)

Somerset, Worcestershire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Essex (0)
Kent, Middlesex, Hampshire (1)

Results between sides

Somerset v Worcs - currently being played

Kent v Hants - in play.

Essex v Middx - in play

Essex v Kent - Essex win

Middx v Hants: Hants win

Middx v Kent: draw

Essex v Hants: draw

Derbys v Yorks: draw

Most wickets (at start of final round)

Somerset: 78
Kent: 69
Worcestershire: 66
Middlesex: 67
Hampshire: 63
Essex: 60
Derbyshire: 55
Yorkshire: 52

Most runs (at start of final round)

Worcestershire: 2,156 runs
Middlesex: 1,882 runs
Somerset: 1,847 runs
Kent: 1,759 runs
Derbyshire: 1,679 runs
Essex: 1,611 runs
Yorkshire: 1,573 runs
Hampshire: 1,058

Preamble

Good morning from a soggy Manchester. Events mean I’m not at a game today, but will still try to jolly the ship CCLive along on this, the penultimate day of the first-class season for all but two teams. Please hop on for the ride.

Who will be the lucky two? Somerset? On top after a Worcester collapse of nightmarish proportions in the top of the table clash at New Road. Essex? Due to win today unless Middlesex pull an enthusiastic rabbit out of a hat. Derbyshire? Seems unlikely after yesterday’s horlicks of a half hour - but they batted well in the glooming at Aigburth yesterday. If they crawl to 200, win, and Worcestershire lose, we THINK they’re still in with a chance.

Here is a very happy Danny Lamb, whose 25th birthday went with a swing, even if it poured cold water on Derbyshire’s hopes of a trip to Lord’s.

Updated

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