County Championship 2014: 5 Talking Points from Round 6 of Fixtures
With the sixth round of fixtures in the County Championship finishing on Wednesday, teams are continuing to battle for early supremacy in England’s first-class leagues.
As ever, with so many teams involved in some fascinating encounters, there are plenty of storylines to come out of the county game.
Read on for five talking points from this week’s fixtures.
Eoin Morgan Finally Shines
He chose to miss this year’s Indian Premier League and instead focus on the County Championship with Middlesex to try and force his way back into the England reckoning, but things had not gone so well for Eoin Morgan in 2014.
In scoring 103 against Lancashire—just his 10th first-class hundred, two of which came in Test matches—Morgan has seemingly found his form just at the right time.
He will lead England in the upcoming Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka in place of the injured Stuart Broad, and he will also surely play a key role in the subsequent one-day international series.
However, this performance against the red ball—and his first County Championship century since 2009—will give him plenty to be optimistic about moving forward.
Has Chris Tremlett Found His Form Again?
After his disappointing showing in Australia during the winter, Surrey seamer Chris Tremlett has been something of an enigma so far in the 2014 season.
Down on pace and struggling for consistency, some at The Oval will have wondered if he could ever rediscover the form that made him so dangerous just four years ago.
Having claimed just two wickets before this game against Gloucestershire and just one in the first innings, his struggles looked set to continue.
However, perhaps he has turned a corner as he took 6-59 in 16 overs to stun the visitors and hustle them out for just 230 in their second innings.
Tremlett’s spell of 5-15 in just seven overs turned the game in Surrey’s favour, and he will want to destroy batting lineups on a regular basis from now on.
Graham Onions Injured Once Again
Dogged by injuries, Graham Onions will have been hopeful of forcing his way back into the England side this summer with so many places up for grabs.
However, playing for Durham against Sussex at Hove he could only bowl eight overs on the first day before being forced off the field with a back problem.
News later followed that he will need to see a specialist, and he will be hoping that it is not a recurrence of the problem that forced him to miss the entire 2010 season.
Luke Wright Shrugs off England Snub with 189 for Sussex
Sussex all-rounder Luke Wright had some struggles in the recent World Twenty20, but he will have been disappointed to hear he was left out of England’s squad for their upcoming limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.
If he was, he did not show it as he immediately set about flaying Durham’s beleaguered bowlers to all parts of Hove in the first innings of their County Championship match.
Wright was eventually dismissed for 189, his highest first-class score, and he combined with Ben Brown for a partnership of 335 for the sixth wicket.
His innings was one of the best in the County Championship this week and hopefully should ease the pain of missing out on the latest England squad somewhat.
Hampshire’s England Hopefuls Make Their Case Again
Two batsmen hoping to be included in future England Test squads are currently plying their trade with Hampshire and both looked in good touch at the Rose Bowl against Glamorgan.
On a difficult wicket, opener Michael Carberry battled to 66 while James Vince made 61 from the No. 4 position.
With both looking to put themselves in a good position to make the Test squad—with Carberry selected for the upcoming limited-overs series, too—they were timely reminders of their talents.