All-round cricket saw Gloucestershire complete an excellent victory over Surrey at Bristol and propel themselves back into the promotion shake-up.
It was a professional job in the second innings by Glos, who remained patient with such a commanding lead, and chipped away at the wickets to complete a maximum points victory on the fourth afternoon.
There were plenty of excellent performances to take out of the game; runs for Hamish Marshall and Chris Taylor, and a return to runs for Alex Gidman after a lean spell; Anthony Ireland also took his opportunity and contributed well with the ball.
It was the way in which the Shire recognised an opportunity and brutally seized it to punish their opposition that was most impressive.
Surrey were crumbling against the swinging ball on day two, and Gidman regularly changed his bowlers to keep things fresh and ensure their was no let-up of the assault that began the dominance.
All the bowlers found a consistent length, first morning aside, and allowed their captain to confidently rotate and maintain pressure - credit must go to Stuart Barnes for preparing the best seam attack in the division.
The batting showed exactly what it is capable of. John Bracewell described how all his batsmen have shown glimpses of what they're capable of, but in this match they came right to the fore and played themselves back into form ahead of the crucial last two matches.
Official report: www.gloscricket.co.uk
How about that for a finely-judged declaration?
ReplyDeleteAn excellent victory, albeit over a Surrey team whose bowling and fielding was as bad as any I've seen in recent years. They must be grateful that there is no relegation from CC 2.
Unfortunately, Northants' next game is against...
Surrey!
Indeed, I'd go as far to say as Surrey minus Ramprakash are arguably the worst team in the division.
ReplyDeleteAnd the declaration was well-timed; gave them enough time with the ball on the third afternoon to make inroads to take into day four and this was executed wonderfully.