2006 English Cricket Season - June

June

Six Championship matches began on 31 May, stretching into the first week of June. Sussex continued their winning ways, beating Middlesex at Horsham to win their fifth match out of six, while Kent and Hampshire also recorded wins in Division One. Surrey went top of Division Two after beating Essex at Whitgift School, while Glamorgan lost to Somerset inside two days at Swansea and Leicestershire played out a draw with Northamptonshire. The week also saw Durham beat Oxford UCCE by four wickets in the final University match, which included four centuries and in which no team were all out in any of their innings.

On 2 June, England began their chase of a series win against Sri Lanka, but chasing 325 on a fourth-day pitch against Muttiah Muralitharan proved too much; Muralitharan claimed eight wickets in the second innings as Sri Lanka won by 134 runs, bringing his tally for the series to 24. On the same day, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire finished their match, which ended in a draw after three innings exceeding 190 (from Vikram Solanki, Steven Davies and Craig Spearman).

Meanwhile, eight matches were played in the C&G Trophy: Derbyshire started early, losing to Nottinghamshire on 2 June after being bowled out for 194, but most games were played on 4 June. Durham beat Yorkshire on the last ball, England bowler Steve Harmison getting an "inside edge...past wicket-keeper Gerard Brophy" for four to secure a two-wicket win. Australian opener Jimmy Maher hit 124 not out for Durham, who still remained two points adrift of Lancashire after the Lancastrians won by five wickets against Scotland in Edinburgh. Northamptonshire got their seventh loss of the season, falling to Leicestershire, while in the South Sussex lost their first game of the season, Justin Kemp hitting seven sixes for Kent at Tunbridge Wells in a six-wicket win, while Hampshire, Middlesex and Somerset all won games.

The next week included seven Championship matches, with leaders Sussex taking on third-placed Lancashire at Old Trafford. Lancashire, with a game in hand, were trailing by 30 points before this, but closed the gap to 14 after taking advantage of a first-innings lead of 99. Sajid Mahmood then took five of Sussex' ten wickets as they were bowled out for 166, and Lancashire took a nine-wicket win inside two days. However, due to Hampshire's 299-run win over Nottinghamshire, Lancashire remained third, but still with a game in hand over the two teams ahead. Warwickshire came back from a 151-run first innings deficit against Durham, with Trevor Frost and Heath Streak putting on 119 for the ninth wicket and then Frost adding a further 20 with Lee Daggett. Those stands upped the target to 159, and Daggett then took six for 30 as Durham were bowled out for 141. The final game in Division One saw Middlesex get out of the relegation zone temporarily, as they bowled Yorkshire out for 130 in the third innings of the game and then chased down the target with eight wickets in hand.

In Division Two, Glamorgan got their first win after their Australian overseas player Mark Cosgrove hit 233 against Derbyshire, and Worcestershire beat Somerset with Ben Smith making a double hundred. Another double hundred came at The Oval, where Surrey made 668 for seven declared and Ali Brown 215 in their innings victory against Leicestershire. The win secured a substantial lead over second-placed Essex, who were playing the touring Sri Lankans in a one-day game and got a six-wicket win after half-centuries from Mark Pettini and Ryan ten Doeschate.

11 June saw eight C&G Trophy matches, and in the South, Sussex rebounded from their losses to take a three-point lead with two games to go, while Kent and Middlesex secured wins to stay in the hunt for the first place which would give a place in the final. In the North, Lancashire beat Derbyshire to eliminate the latter from contention, and the Northern spot was now purely between Lancashire and Durham with two weeks remaining of the competition. Somerset also played cricket, a tour match with Sri Lanka, which they won by 51 runs after posting 332 for six and then bowling Sri Lanka out for 281, with Charl Willoughby taking six for 43.

England travelled to Ireland to play a one-off One Day International, where they beat their hosts by 38 runs after batting first and making 301 for seven, though they failed to bowl the Irish out in 50 overs. Two matches in Division One also started on that day, and were completed in three days, Kent beating Durham and Nottinghamshire escaping the relegation zone after beating Middlesex by an innings and 33 runs. Five matches started a day later, with Lancashire beating Warwickshire inside three days to take the Division One lead from Sussex, Somerset failing to defend 356 against Surrey at Bath with Ali Brown scoring 126 at faster than a run a ball, Worcestershire visiting Essex and scoring 650 for the second time in as many weeks to win by nine wickets, while Gloucestershire failed to convert their 750 runs into a victory over Derbyshire. The final match saw Glamorgan bowling Northamptonshire out for 178 and taking a first-innings lead, before a second-innings hundred from Usman Afzaal helped Northamptonshire total 400, setting Glamorgan 225 to win. Then, Matthew Nicholson took six wickets with the new ball, Monty Panesar three, and Glamorgan were bowled out for 56.

Meanwhile, England were back playing Sri Lanka, this time for a Twenty20 International. After bowling Sri Lanka out for 163, England required 12 off the last eight balls, with opener Marcus Trescothick just run out for 72, and England could not quite score quickly enough, ending on 161 for five. In the C&G Trophy, Sussex qualified for the final with a week to go when they chased 255 against Hampshire, in a match where Sussex captain Chris Adams claimed the hosts "were dead and buried" after 15 overs.

The One-day International series began on Saturday 17 June, and Sri Lanka batted first to win in both the first two matches: first defending 257 for nine after Upul Tharanga scored a career-best 120, then 319 for seven with Sanath Jayasuriya making a hundred.

On the weekend, five C&G Trophy matches were played: Middlesex went second in the South Division after a three-run win at Somerset, taking over from Hampshire, while Essex and Gloucestershire also recorded wins. In the North, Northamptonshire won their first match of the season after Derbyshire lost their way from two to win and two wickets in hand, while Nottinghamshire beat Warwickshire.

The last County Championship round before the Twenty20 Cup began on 20 June. In Division One, both Lancashire and Sussex scored 22-point victories after piling on more than 500 runs in their first innings. Their victims, Middlesex and Yorkshire respectively, made up the foot of the table. Hampshire retained third place at the summer break despite going down to Durham; they were bowled out for 104 in chase of 332 on the third day, with Callum Thorp taking five wickets to complete his 11-wicket-haul in the match. In the final match of the division, Kent drew Nottinghamshire, in a match where 19 wickets fell for 1206 runs. In Division Two, Worcestershire closed the gap to Surrey to 18 points after an innings victory over Nottinghamshire, while Essex passed Derbyshire in the table with an eight-wicket win at Derby. Surrey drew with Glamorgan, surrendering a 72-run first innings lead to lose two points, and Gloucestershire won at Leicester.

The weekend began with Sri Lanka securing an unassailable 3–0 lead in the ODI series, chasing down 262 after a hundred from Mahela Jayawardene, before the final round of the C&G Trophy on 25 June. In the North, Lancashire and Durham were neck-and-neck before the final round, with Lancashire heading the table on net run rate. And after chasing 250 at Warwickshire, they booked their place in the final, as Durham could not complete their part of the bargain; they failed to defend 274 after a hundred from Derbyshire's No. 5, Chris Taylor. The other matches in the North had Leicestershire, Worcestershire and Nottinghamshire as winners. In the South, Sussex bowled out Gloucestershire for 98 only to fall short by two runs in a match not affected by rain, Middlesex held on to second place after beating Kent, and Essex finished third after beating Surrey. There was also wins for Hampshire and Somerset.

The Twenty20 Cup began on 27 June with a full round of matches. In the North, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire recorded wins, Surrey won in the South along with Kent and Sussex after posting the highest score of the day with 218 for seven, including an opening stand of 148, before Tim Murtagh took three wickets and sent Middlesex to 13 for four, and in Midlands/Wales/West holders Somerset set a Twenty20 record total with 250 for three after Cameron White's unbeaten 116 and Justin Langer's 90, which saw them beat Gloucestershire by 117 runs. Warwickshire and Glamorgan also won.

On 28 June, Sri Lanka continued with their fourth successive ODI win, scoring 318 for seven with only Jamie Dalrymple conceding less than five an over, and bowling England out for 285 in the 49th over. Four Twenty20 matches were played in the evening: Essex and Surrey both bowled their opponents out for less than 110 in the South to achieve wins, Durham mustered 123 all out in a 52-run defeat at Nottinghamshire, and Glamorgan beat Warwickshire by six wickets after a 106-run stand between David Hemp and James Franklin. Four more games were played the following day, with three coming down to the last ball: Worcestershire needed three to win off three balls, but were limited by bowler Jon Lewis and Gloucestershire to a leg bye off the last ball, while Northants achieved a tie with Somerset after being 53 for five chasing 152 to win, and Lancashire hit the winning runs against Leicestershire on the final ball. In the final match, Hampshire totalled 225 for two, and won by 59 runs.

A full round of nine games was held on Friday 30 June, with Worcestershire getting bowled out for the lowest score of the competition this year, totalling 86 as Northamptonshire won their first game. In the other games in Midlands/Wales/West, Gloucestershire got their first win with a three-run win over Warwickshire, and Somerset were defeated by Glamorgan's last pair on the final ball. Surrey got their first loss of the year after Yasir Arafat of Sussex took four wickets in their five-wicket win, leaving Nottinghamshire (who beat Yorkshire by 21 runs) and Glamorgan as the only unbeaten teams in the competition. Leicestershire and Durham also won in the North.