Waste-not, want-not goes the old saying.
Anyway, two of us ended up doing the front page coverage for Division 1 of the National League yesterday.
I'm damned if I'm throwing it away, so here you go.
NCL Div 1 - 15 June
Bell - man on a mission.
Essex v Warwickshire, Chelmsford
Ian Bell produced an exceptional all-round performance to dispose of Essex yesterday and in the process gave a little hope to those who feel that Warwickshire have sufficient quality to avoid the drop.
Essex won the toss and asked the visitors to bat on one of the hottest days of the summer so far. Nick Knight left the proceedings early, offering a catch to James Foster off the bowling of Aussie Scott Brant. Bell joined Jonathan Trott at the wicket and the pair proceeded to plunder the Essex attack in a partnership of 171 for the second wicket.
Trott himself was no slouch, scoring his 59 off 80 balls, but Bell was positively dynamic in comparison, taking just 95 balls over his century. The departure of Trott only sent him into overdrive, eventually falling on 125 from 109 deliveries having smashed 14 boundaries and three sixes in his whirlwind knock.
Trevor Penney and Graham Wagg continued the onslaught at the end, both sending the ball to all parts as Warwickshire closed on a superb 307-5.
Essex were never in the hunt from the moment William Jefferson was snared by Neil Carter and Waqar Younis accounted for James Foster in the following over to leave them on 27-2. The home side seemed to be suffering a Twenty20 hangover as they rattled along at seven runs per over but losing wickets at an equally alarming rate.
Enter Ian Bell again, this time armed with the ball. A brief spell accounted for Andy Flower, but the best was to come. Collins Obuya made a brief appearance with the ball only to disappear at ten-an-over as Graham Napier thrashed 52 in just 29 balls which included three sixes. Cometh the hour, cometh the man - and the man today was most definitely Ian Bell. His return signalled the end for Essex, dismissed for 182, as Bell cleaned up the last four wickets to finish with 5-41.
Warwickshire 307-5 (Bell 125, Trott 59, Napier 2-50)
beat
Essex 182 (Napier 52, Bell 5-41, Carter 2-19)
by 125 runs.
Kent v Gloucestershire, Beckenham
Gloucestershire won this affair at a canter as they endeavoured to keep pace with Surrey and Glamorgan at the sharp end of the table.
Kent got off to an appalling start, losing Ealham, Blewett and Smith with just 10 on the board. The fact that they were able to muster any target at all is thanks to a half-century from Andrew Symonds and a thoroughly assured unbeaten knock of 74 by wicket-keeper Geraint Jones. A few late lusty blows by James Tredwell and Matthew Dennington helped the home side on to 222-8 after 45 overs.
Gloucestershire in reply lost Phil Weston early, caught behind off the bowling of Alamgir Sheriyar, but all resemblance with the Kent innings ended there. Ian 'Freak' Harvey slammed a quickfire 22 and a busy partnership between Spearman and Jonty Rhodes kept the visitors well in touch with the asking rate.
The irrepressible Symonds removed both in the space of three overs, but Windows and Gidman steered Gloucestershire home with almost four overs to spare.
Gloucestershire 223-4 (Windows 58* Gidman 49*, Symonds 2-39)
beat
Kent 222-8 (Jones 74*, Symonds 56, Smith 2-31)
by 6 wickets.
Worcestershire v Leicestershire, Worcester
A captain's innings by England veteran Phil DeFreitas laid the foundations for Leicestershire's narrow squeak of a victory over Midlands rivals Worcestershire at New Road yesterday.
Worcestershire won the toss and decided to take first knock, a decision which seemed to be paying off handsomely as they cruised to 75-1 with Peters going along nicely, albeit at a less than express pace. From that point on, tight bowling, especially by Bradley Hodge and DeFreitas gradually wore the home side down as the wickets started to tumble. Peters went for 50, but only Ben Smith managed to contribute more than 30 as the innings spluttered to 193-7.
At 19-3, with Sehwag back in the pavilion and with Matthew Mason posing all sorts of problems, it was vital that Leicestershire found someone to back up skipper DeFreitas. In Darren Maddy, they found such a man. The pair added 123 for the fourth wicket and in the process seemingly grabbed the game by the throat.
They reckoned without the medium pace of David Leatherdale, who picked up four late wickets and in the process reduced Leicestershire to a precarious 172-8. With the game slipping away, Trevor Ward stepped up and dragged Leicestershire over the finishing line, ending the game in fine style by cracking Ben Smith's solitary delivery for six.
Leicestershire 198-8 (DeFreitas 68, Maddy 56, Leatherdale 4-41, Mason 3-26)
beat
Worcestershire 193-7 (Peters 50, Hodge 3-34, Masters 2-40)
by 2 wickets
