Post by longstop on Jun 16, 2019 15:04:32 GMT
After a rain interrupted game at Arundel last week, Sussex were due to head to Worcester to play on Monday. However, rather than waiting for the rain to stop, it is more of a case of waiting for the river to return to the confines of its banks before the drying out process can begin. The game has, therefore, been switched to Kidderminster and pushed back one day so that the wicket can be prepared. Some could argue that this may give Sussex and Worcestershire an advantage, but the April showers of June this year, seem to make it a lottery as to whether points are more or less likely to be accrued as a result of the delay.
Sussex go to Kidderminster in third place. At times this year the batting has functioned well and at times the bowling has functioned well, but too rarely in the same game when contesting County Championship matches. Worcestershire have had a mixed start with two wins, two defeats and one draw. The draw came after last week’s torrential rains as their match with Lancashire produced just over 200 runs for 13 wickets before play became impossible.
Their two defeats were at the hands of Middlesex and Lancashire and both were the result of poor batting performances, scoring 225 or less in their four innings in these two games. Their two wins came against Durham and Leicestershire. In the Leicestershire game, they won by an innings having scored 553 for 6 declared. In that game, Daryl Mitchell, Hamish Rutherford and Ben Cox all scored centuries, but in the Durham victory they scrambled home chasing a target of 81 with five wickets to spare.
No one in the Worcestershire side seems to be performing consistently and after starting the County Championship strongly with two wins, they have stumbled in their last three games. Sussex have performed well against Worcestershire in recent years, winning both games when they last met in the County Championship in 2017. In the last game at Worcester, Chris Nash and Luke Wells guided Sussex to a strong first innings total of 430. After Sussex had asked Worcestershire to follow on, Sussex bowled well again to leave 9 runs needed for victory in the fourth innings. Wickets were shared around in that game amongst Chris Jordan, David Wiese, Jofra Archer with Stiaan van Zyl, Stuart Whittingham and Danny Briggs chipping in.
With the table so close at this stage, a win for either side will help to push them a step closer to promotion. Can Sussex bat and bowl well enough or will the weather win again? We will see.
Sussex go to Kidderminster in third place. At times this year the batting has functioned well and at times the bowling has functioned well, but too rarely in the same game when contesting County Championship matches. Worcestershire have had a mixed start with two wins, two defeats and one draw. The draw came after last week’s torrential rains as their match with Lancashire produced just over 200 runs for 13 wickets before play became impossible.
Their two defeats were at the hands of Middlesex and Lancashire and both were the result of poor batting performances, scoring 225 or less in their four innings in these two games. Their two wins came against Durham and Leicestershire. In the Leicestershire game, they won by an innings having scored 553 for 6 declared. In that game, Daryl Mitchell, Hamish Rutherford and Ben Cox all scored centuries, but in the Durham victory they scrambled home chasing a target of 81 with five wickets to spare.
No one in the Worcestershire side seems to be performing consistently and after starting the County Championship strongly with two wins, they have stumbled in their last three games. Sussex have performed well against Worcestershire in recent years, winning both games when they last met in the County Championship in 2017. In the last game at Worcester, Chris Nash and Luke Wells guided Sussex to a strong first innings total of 430. After Sussex had asked Worcestershire to follow on, Sussex bowled well again to leave 9 runs needed for victory in the fourth innings. Wickets were shared around in that game amongst Chris Jordan, David Wiese, Jofra Archer with Stiaan van Zyl, Stuart Whittingham and Danny Briggs chipping in.
With the table so close at this stage, a win for either side will help to push them a step closer to promotion. Can Sussex bat and bowl well enough or will the weather win again? We will see.
