Worcestershire are now 12 points clear of Hampshire at the top of Division Two of the LV= County Championship after Saeed Ajmal inspired them to victory on the final day against Glamorgan and Hampshire had to make do with a draw against Surrey.
Ajmal built on an impressive opening spell from fast-bowler Charlie Morris (3-14) to help dismiss Glamorgan for 105 after they had been set 355 to win at New Road. He ended with figures of seven for 34 to give him match figures of 12 for 140. The Pakistani intimated during the game that he would like to return to New Road next season, leading Worcestershire skipper Daryl Mitchell to joke: “Sign him up, give him a three year deal, sign him up for as long as you can!”
“There is no-one else like him in the world,” he added. “We are very lucky to have him, not only on the field but the work he does with Moeen and some of the younger batters on playing spin as well. The influence he has in the dressing room, you can’t measure it so we’ll have him for as many years as we possibly can, simple as that.
“He loves his cricket first and foremost and he loves winning. He has been a real influence on everyone here and he’s a real winner when he gets on that field and wants to perform as well as he can.”
Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell wants to sign Saeed Ajmal forever.
The build-up to the game had been marred by the news that Academy Director and club stalwart Damian D’Oliveira had lost his long battle against cancer. Director of Cricket Steve Rhodes told PA: “At the start of the game we addressed the players and told them about Damian. There were a lot of sad faces and it almost became a mission to win this game for him. It was a great effort all-round. Even though Saeed Ajmal got plenty of wickets, he couldn’t do it on his own.”
Indeed he couldn’t and it was highly-promising 20 year-old batsman Tom Fell who set the tone with his second successive Championship century to lead the Pears to 352. He and fellow youngster Tom Kohler Cadmore (85) put on 168 for the fifth-wicket. A knock of 88 from Jacques Rudolph then couldn’t prevent Glamorgan from conceding a lead of 55, with debutant and former Shropshire skipper Richard Oliver and England’s latest Test centurion Moeen Ali setting up the victory with a stand of 123 at the start of the home side’s second innings.
Hampshire’s game against a rapidly improving Surrey began on Saturday at The Oval, with most of day one lost to rain. It then became a battle for bonus points. Jason Roy translated his red-hot NatWest T20 Blast form over into the Championship by smashing a run-a-ball 114, while there were half-centuries from Vikram Solanki, overseas player Tillakaratne Dilshan and skipper Gary Wilson before the hosts eventually declared at 474 for eight.
Hampshire then mustered 354 in reply as Jimmy Adams, Will Smith and Sean Ervine made half-centuries. The end result was that the hosts garnered 12 points from the contest compare to second-placed Hampshire’s nine.
Essex are in fifth, just a point behind Glamorgan, after a dominant display against Gloucestershire at Chelmsford. James Foster equalled the club record of 10 dismissals in a County Championship match for the second time in his career as he clung onto the chances created by his seam-bowlers David Masters and Reece Topley.
The veteran right-arm seamer and young left-arm seamer had the visitors in trouble early on as they slipped to 123 for eight before the last two wickets added 101 runs to earn them a batting bonus point. Essex, though, were soon in absolute control. Openers Tom Westley and Nick Browne put on 139, with Ravi Bopara and Jesse Ryder then hitting hundreds and adding 197 for the third-wicket.
Gloucestershire’s second innings was a battling affair as most of the middle-order made useful contributions without going onto three figures. Masters and Topley shared the first four wickets to fall, while Ryder then again proved effective with his medium-pace, taking three for 43, as they were all out for 325 to leave Essex needing to score only nine in the fourth innings.
DIVISION TWO STANDINGS
| Teams | Mat | Won | Lost | Tied | Draw | Aban | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Worcestershire | 10 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 160 |
| Hampshire | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 148 |
| Surrey | 11 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 132 |
| Glamorgan | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 112 |
| Essex | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 111 |
| Kent | 9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 93 |
| Gloucestershire | 10 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 91 |
| Derbyshire | 9 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 69 |
| Leicestershire | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 65 |
Daniel Grummitt
He worked for CricketWorld.com for almost three years, leading their county and domestic cricket coverage and contributing to a book about the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, before joining the hugely ambitious World Cricket Badger early in 2014.
The first Test that he remembers watching was on Channel 4 - back before the ECB marginalised potential future fans by selling the TV rights to Sky Sports - when England beat Pakistan by an innings and nine runs at Lord’s.
Besides a passion for domestic cricket, he also has an unexplainable interest in all things Zimbabwe cricket!
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