Post by longstop on May 4, 2021 12:04:13 GMT
After two tough games against Yorkshire and Lancashire, Sussex head to Northampton for their fifth game in the County Championship. Northamptonshire should prove easier opposition than Yorkshire and Lancashire, but it's worth remembering that Northants finished second in Division Two of the 2019 County Championship. Also, they took Yorkshire to the wire last week, losing by a solitary run in their pursuit of 220 in the fourth innings.
The format of this season's County Championship means that the top two in each group contest Division One, the third and fourth placed teams take part in Division Two and the bottom two play in Division Three. In Group 3, Yorkshire and Lancashire both look to be in a strong position with three wins from four games. Sussex, Northamptonshire and Glamorgan all have one win while Kent are anchored at the bottom of the table with no wins. With six more games to go in the group stages, this game against Northamptonshire might prove to be the difference between competing in Division Two and Division Three at the back end of the season.
There doesn't appear to be much difference in the form of Sussex and Northamptonshire so far this season. In Northamptonshire's first game, both Kent and Northants scored over 400 and a stalemate resulted. A heavy defeat to Lancashire was followed by a comfortable win over Glamorgan, albeit after Glamorgan declared setting a 350-odd target, before last week's nail-biter with Yorkshire.
In the batting department, Ricardo Vasconcelos has been their most prolific scorer with 485 runs to his name already; this included 185 not out against Glamorgan. Rob Keogh also scored a century in that game and averages a healthy 44 this season. Coincidentally, both Vasconcelos and Keogh scored centuries against Kent in the first game of the season. In the bowling department, Wayne Parnell shone in the Yorkshire game with a fifer in both innings. Gareth Berg and Ben Sanderson have picked 10 wickets apiece to date.
Sussex have a poor record recently against Northamptonshire in the red ball game. The last encounter in 2019 resulted in a hefty defeat for Sussex. Despite Ollie Robinson taking 10 match wickets, the Sussex batsmen could only muster just over 100 in each innings as Sussex lost by 393 runs. Can Sussex bounce back from two defeats in a row in games which the team fought hard? We are just going to have to wait and see, I guess.
Other games in our group this week:
Yorkshire v Kent at Leeds
Lancashire v Glamorgan at Old Trafford
The format of this season's County Championship means that the top two in each group contest Division One, the third and fourth placed teams take part in Division Two and the bottom two play in Division Three. In Group 3, Yorkshire and Lancashire both look to be in a strong position with three wins from four games. Sussex, Northamptonshire and Glamorgan all have one win while Kent are anchored at the bottom of the table with no wins. With six more games to go in the group stages, this game against Northamptonshire might prove to be the difference between competing in Division Two and Division Three at the back end of the season.
There doesn't appear to be much difference in the form of Sussex and Northamptonshire so far this season. In Northamptonshire's first game, both Kent and Northants scored over 400 and a stalemate resulted. A heavy defeat to Lancashire was followed by a comfortable win over Glamorgan, albeit after Glamorgan declared setting a 350-odd target, before last week's nail-biter with Yorkshire.
In the batting department, Ricardo Vasconcelos has been their most prolific scorer with 485 runs to his name already; this included 185 not out against Glamorgan. Rob Keogh also scored a century in that game and averages a healthy 44 this season. Coincidentally, both Vasconcelos and Keogh scored centuries against Kent in the first game of the season. In the bowling department, Wayne Parnell shone in the Yorkshire game with a fifer in both innings. Gareth Berg and Ben Sanderson have picked 10 wickets apiece to date.
Sussex have a poor record recently against Northamptonshire in the red ball game. The last encounter in 2019 resulted in a hefty defeat for Sussex. Despite Ollie Robinson taking 10 match wickets, the Sussex batsmen could only muster just over 100 in each innings as Sussex lost by 393 runs. Can Sussex bounce back from two defeats in a row in games which the team fought hard? We are just going to have to wait and see, I guess.
Other games in our group this week:
Yorkshire v Kent at Leeds
Lancashire v Glamorgan at Old Trafford
