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- Jan 13, 2010
Article by Christopher Finch -
About as far removed from the glitz and glamour of the Indian Premier League as you can get, a hat-trick from captain Matthew Hoggard helped Leicestershire to a 170 run lead with five second innings wickets left over Glamorgan at the end of a crazy second day in their LV= County Championship Division Two clash.
The county scene is no longer the place to catch top international players at the peak of their careers, as a mixture of central contracts, the year-round international schedule and the IPL have put paid to that. Long gone are the days when the likes of Brian Lara at Warwickshire, Wasim Akram at Lancashire and Courtney Walsh at Gloucestershire would turn up to play against your local county, but the Championship remains the biggest prize in the English domestic calendar ? despite the allure of Twenty20.
However, both these sides have overseas stars with international experience. Glamorgan are captained by Alviro Petersen, the South African opener who scored a century on his test debut against India at Eden Gardens, while Leicestershire should have been represented by Australian Andrew McDonald. Unfortunately the all-rounder will be absent from Grace Road until the end of May, due to playing for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
Starting the day on 231-9, the Foxes could only add seven more runs to their overnight total, after Matthew Hoggard edged behind to give Graham Wagg his third wicket. That left Claude Henderson stranded at the other end on 80 not out.
Leicestershire were tight with the ball early on, starting with three maiden overs before Hoggard struck with his third career hat-trick. First to go was Gareth Rees, who was done by the bounce and nicked the ball to wicketkeeper Tom New, followed next by Will Bragg, who played across the line and was out lbw.
That wicket fell off the final ball of the 11th over, meaning the former England paceman had to wait to get his third wicket. But it did come from the first ball in the 13th over, as Mike Powell offered simple slip catching practice to Will Jefferson, who made no mistake. Hoggard?s hat-trick was the first for the Foxes since Javagal Srinath back in 2002, and left Glamorgan stumbling at 38-3.
In the midst of all this, Petersen survived a huge lbw appeal from Nadeem Malik at the other end, and he and Ben Wright survived until lunch at 68-3.
But Wright was dismissed first ball after the break, caught low at third slip by Greg Smith. Mark Wallace followed two overs later, clean bowled having left a straight one from Nathan Buck.
Petersen passed 50 as Henderson took the first of three wickets, tossing one up for Robert Croft to edge to Jefferson. Dean Cosker and Adam Shantry followed, leaving the Dragons in a perilous position at 112-9.
They needed last man Huw Waters to hang around with his captain, and that is exactly what he did. Petersen took advantage of occasional bad balls from Henderson, smashing two huge sixes off his fellow countryman over midwicket as the deficit was reduced to under 100.
England Lions seamer Buck was brought back in to the attack, and from his third ball finally got rid of Petersen, whose fantastic innings of 91 saved Glamorgan from an embarrassingly low total. A short ball was hooked straight down the throat of Henderson on the boundary, closing the innings on 146.
In their second innings though, Leicestershire?s top order collapsed. Wagg took the early wickets of Matthew Boyce for 0, who left a straight delivery and was bowled, and Jacques du Toit for one. James Taylor hung around for a while before getting a faint edge behind to Wallace off Shantry for 14, and two wickets in an over from Cosker left the Foxes innings in tatters at 43-5, seemingly in the blink of an eye.
Smith fell lbw for a first ball duck, and then New chased a wide one and slashed it to Wallace, also for 0.
The recovery was led by opener Jefferson, who finished the day on 48 not out alongside Jigar Naik. Both looked comfortable against the Welsh attack as the home side ended play on 78-5.
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About as far removed from the glitz and glamour of the Indian Premier League as you can get, a hat-trick from captain Matthew Hoggard helped Leicestershire to a 170 run lead with five second innings wickets left over Glamorgan at the end of a crazy second day in their LV= County Championship Division Two clash.
The county scene is no longer the place to catch top international players at the peak of their careers, as a mixture of central contracts, the year-round international schedule and the IPL have put paid to that. Long gone are the days when the likes of Brian Lara at Warwickshire, Wasim Akram at Lancashire and Courtney Walsh at Gloucestershire would turn up to play against your local county, but the Championship remains the biggest prize in the English domestic calendar ? despite the allure of Twenty20.
However, both these sides have overseas stars with international experience. Glamorgan are captained by Alviro Petersen, the South African opener who scored a century on his test debut against India at Eden Gardens, while Leicestershire should have been represented by Australian Andrew McDonald. Unfortunately the all-rounder will be absent from Grace Road until the end of May, due to playing for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.
Starting the day on 231-9, the Foxes could only add seven more runs to their overnight total, after Matthew Hoggard edged behind to give Graham Wagg his third wicket. That left Claude Henderson stranded at the other end on 80 not out.
Leicestershire were tight with the ball early on, starting with three maiden overs before Hoggard struck with his third career hat-trick. First to go was Gareth Rees, who was done by the bounce and nicked the ball to wicketkeeper Tom New, followed next by Will Bragg, who played across the line and was out lbw.
That wicket fell off the final ball of the 11th over, meaning the former England paceman had to wait to get his third wicket. But it did come from the first ball in the 13th over, as Mike Powell offered simple slip catching practice to Will Jefferson, who made no mistake. Hoggard?s hat-trick was the first for the Foxes since Javagal Srinath back in 2002, and left Glamorgan stumbling at 38-3.
In the midst of all this, Petersen survived a huge lbw appeal from Nadeem Malik at the other end, and he and Ben Wright survived until lunch at 68-3.
But Wright was dismissed first ball after the break, caught low at third slip by Greg Smith. Mark Wallace followed two overs later, clean bowled having left a straight one from Nathan Buck.
Petersen passed 50 as Henderson took the first of three wickets, tossing one up for Robert Croft to edge to Jefferson. Dean Cosker and Adam Shantry followed, leaving the Dragons in a perilous position at 112-9.
They needed last man Huw Waters to hang around with his captain, and that is exactly what he did. Petersen took advantage of occasional bad balls from Henderson, smashing two huge sixes off his fellow countryman over midwicket as the deficit was reduced to under 100.
England Lions seamer Buck was brought back in to the attack, and from his third ball finally got rid of Petersen, whose fantastic innings of 91 saved Glamorgan from an embarrassingly low total. A short ball was hooked straight down the throat of Henderson on the boundary, closing the innings on 146.
In their second innings though, Leicestershire?s top order collapsed. Wagg took the early wickets of Matthew Boyce for 0, who left a straight delivery and was bowled, and Jacques du Toit for one. James Taylor hung around for a while before getting a faint edge behind to Wallace off Shantry for 14, and two wickets in an over from Cosker left the Foxes innings in tatters at 43-5, seemingly in the blink of an eye.
Smith fell lbw for a first ball duck, and then New chased a wide one and slashed it to Wallace, also for 0.
The recovery was led by opener Jefferson, who finished the day on 48 not out alongside Jigar Naik. Both looked comfortable against the Welsh attack as the home side ended play on 78-5.
More...
