2005 season | |
Ground(s) | The Parks |
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Oxford UCCE started their 2005 first-class season with a weak draw against a Gloucestershire side that opted to use the game as batting practice. Their second first-class game, against Derbyshire, Oxford UCCE did well in the first innings, dismissing their visitors cheaply and building up a large lead. However, they weren't able to dismiss them a second time, in a game which was reduced through rain. In the third match, they lost by ten wickets against Lancashire, after a poor showing in their second innings.
Match drawn
Oxford Universities Cricketing Centre of Excellence and Gloucestershire started their 2005 first-class season at the Parks in Oxford on 9 April. Gloucestershire won the toss and chose to bat. They made 305 for 9 declared off 89.2 overs, Phil Weston's 103 making him the first Gloucestershire centurion of the season. The declaration left 9 overs for Oxford to bat through until the end of the first day. They were 21 for 2 at the close.
On the second day, Oxford UCCE collapsed to 116 all out. Gloucestershire chose batting practice rather than to enforce the follow-on. At close they were 262 for 1, with Craig Spearman undefeated on 170. In the final over, which was the first one Stephen Moreton had bowled in first-class cricket, Spearman scored 6,6,6,6,4 and 6, with Spearman being dropped twice. The innings continued on the third and last day, and Gloucestershire closed on 490 for 4 declared from 101 overs. Spearman had made 216 before he retired out. There were few overs in the day left, but victory for Gloucestershire looked on the cards when they reduced Oxford UCCE to 24 for 6. Then a rearguard undefeated 64 from Knappett and 22 from Woods rescued some pride for Oxford UCCE and saw them through for the draw. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Match drawn
The first day at the Parks left Derbyshire at 225 for 8 at close. After recent rain in Oxford, and with a swinging ball in hand, the Oxford UCCE bowlers were commendably accurate. If 2 or 3 more catches had been taken, the scoreline would have looked even more impressive for the students.
On the second day, after Derbyshire moved to 246 all out, Luke Parker, a Warwickshire signing, scored 89 to help Oxford to 245 for 5, just one run behind Derbyshire. The third day saw Oxford UCCE consolidate their lead, and they were finally all out for 372, a lead of 126. The student bowlers were not up to the task of dismissing Derbyshire a second time in the 53 overs that remained. Indeed, they fared poorly, as Jonathan Moss scored 109 not out, with the game ending when the visitors declared on 226 for 2. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Lancashire won by 10 wickets A second-string Lancashire side gave away 300 runs to the Oxford students, Stephen Moreton making his first first-class fifty as he top-scored with 74. Gary Keedy took four for 46 for Lancashire. Lancashire replied quickly and well, though, making 420, Andrew Crook top scoring with 88. Oxford then crawled to stumps with 24 runs off 14 overs without losing a wicket. However, the third day wasn't nearly as pleasant for Oxford, as Keedy added six for 33 to get a ten-wicket haul in the match. The students were bowled out for 151, leaving a target of 32 which was chased down by Mark Chilton and Iain Sutcliffe, and the Lancastrians won by ten wickets. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Cambridge University won by five wickets Economical bowling and poor hitting saw Cambridge get a relatively easy target of 191 against an Oxford side including former England U-19 player Michael Munday. However, the match at Lord's was close right till the end, former Nottinghamshire bowler Tom Savill smacking 33 off 20 balls after having taken four for 28 with the ball. Munday, meanwhile, was inexplicably left to only bowl five overs — which went for 18 runs. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Oxford University won by an innings and 213 runs Oxford UCCE recorded a thumping victory over Cambridge UCCE in the annual Varsity match between the two universities. At Fenner's, the visitors Oxford won the toss, and made exceptionally good use of the wicket. After losing two early wickets, Indian Salil Oberoi and Birmingham lad Dan Fox entered the frame. The two batted unbeaten till stumps on day 1, leading Oxford to a nearly unassailable 436 for 2, as Oberoi closed on 222 not out — 16 short of the Nawab of Pataudi senior's record — and on the morning of day two, he broke it. With 247, he'd made the highest score ever in a Varsity game — and Fox's and Oberoi's partnership of 408 for the third wicket was an Oxford all-wicket record.
By the time captain and all-rounder Paul McMahon (a former Nottinghamshire player) declared, Oxford were 610 for 5, having two and a half days to bowl out their rivals. Cambridge quickly crumbled to 21 for 3, thanks to three wickets from Amit Suman, but the fourth-wicket partnership yielded 97 runs — as it turned out, 70% of Cambridge's final score for the innings. Captain McMahon's off-spin was responsible for five Cambridge wickets, as they went from 118 for 4 to 129 for 9, amid frequent rainshowers on the third day. Rain stayed away on the fourth day, however, and after taking the final wicket three balls into the day captain McMahon wisely used his spinners — i.e. himself and former England U-19 leg-spinner Michael Munday — to get through the overs quickly. Despite 75 from Anirudh Singh, Cambridge lasted for 106 overs, but were still all out for 268 — and were comprehensively beaten. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club in 2005 are playing their cricket in Division One of both the County Championship and totesport League. They started the Championship at 18–1 to win it, and as one of the teams most likely to be relegated from it. So they were—only their five draws prevented them from finishing bottom, and they were the only team to lose to bottom-placed Glamorgan. By the end of August, they were relegated, with three games to spare. In the National League, they were never better than sixth at any time during the season, and lost three games in succession to be ninth before the final round of matches. They won their last match, but were still relegated due to a worse net run rate than Lancashire. They were thus the first club to suffer double relegation since Leicestershire in 2003. Their Twenty20 and C&G Trophy campaigns ended almost as early as they could have done—Gloucestershire did get past the first round of the C&G Trophy, beating Berkshire, but were knocked out by Surrey.
Cambridge UCCE had a good start to their 2005 first-class season, setting Essex a target of 270 to win, after declaring in their second innings on 255 for 4. They took 6 wickets in defending the total, although they lost to the county in the end. They then narrowly lost to Warwickshire before beating Yorkshire in their last game of the season against a first-class county. They also played two matches as Cambridge University against Oxford University, winning the one-day game, but falling by an innings and 213 runs in their final first-class game of the season.
Essex County Cricket Club played their cricket during the 2005 season in Division Two of the County Championship and Division One of the Sunday League. They started the season 8–1 to win the Second Division Title, and were second in the Championship table at 9 May, but five matches without a win following that sent them down to fifth place at the Twenty20 break in June. They only intermittently broke into the top three after the Twenty20 break, and when they did their opponents behind them usually had a game in hand. They finished fifth, 15.5 points behind the promotion spot, and with 36 bowling points they picked up the fewest in the entire Division Two. In the National League, however, they only lost once in sixteen games – against Gloucestershire Gladiators in August – and won the League on 28 August with three games to play. In the C&G Trophy, they went out to Lancashire at the second round stage, while they finished fifth in the group stage of the Twenty20 Cup, two points off a guaranteed quarter-final spot.
Glamorgan County Cricket Club started their 2005 season as defending totesport League champions, but the 2005 season ended without a trophy – instead, they suffered relegation in the first class form. They played their first-class cricket in the First Division of the County Championship. They started the Championship season at 25–1 to win, and favourites to be relegated – which they eventually were, winning one of sixteen games in the Championship season to finish bottom – nearly 100 points behind the first team to avoid relegation. By the end of August, they had confirmed relegation with three games remaining. In the National League, they hovered around mid-table for most of the season, before a run of three unbeaten games at the end of August sent them out of the relegation zone, and they finished the season in fourth place. In the C&G Trophy, they were knocked out at the second round stage by eventual champions Hampshire, while the Twenty20 campaign saw them finish bottom of their group with two wins from eight matches.
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club in 2005 are playing their cricket in Division Two of the County Championship and Division One of the totesport League. They started the season at 12–1 to win the Division Two title. During the off season 9 players left.
Somerset County Cricket Club played in Division Two of both the County Championship and the Sunday League in 2005. Somerset started at 10–1 to finish Division Two County Champions. Batting seems strong with Smith, Jayasuriya, Blackwell and Trescothick. But the same cannot be said of the bowling, which will find it difficult to dismiss teams twice on the flat Taunton pitch.
The MCC University matches in 2005 are games played between the University Centre of Cricketing Excellence ("UCCEs") and first-class opposition. This is the first year the games are called "MCC" University matches, after the MCC announced a funding plan to support the development of student cricket.
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club played their cricket in 2005 in Division One of both the County Championship and the totesport League. They started the season at 7–1 to win the title, and with a new captain, New Zealand's Stephen Fleming.
Durham County Cricket Club started the 2005 season with odds of 20-1 to win the Second Division of the County Championship, and in one-day cricket they started the season in Division Two of the National League. However, they were promoted in both competitions - in the County Championship, they finished second after an initial run of four wins and eight matches without defeat. They only lost two of 16 Championship matches, securing promotion a week before the end of the tournament. In the National League, they were promoted with two weeks to spare, and won their last five matches - yet finished two points behind Sussex Sharks, who had a similar run. The cup competitions gave them lower final placings, however - in the C&G Trophy, they were knocked out in the first round by Derbyshire, and without internationals Mike Hussey and Paul Collingwood, who played in the NatWest Series, they lost five of eight matches in the group stages in the Twenty20 Cup to finish fifth in the North Division.
Leicestershire County Cricket Club in 2005 are playing their cricket in Division Two of the County Championship and of the totesport League. They started the season as 25-1 outsiders to take the Division Two Championship title. These odds looked reasonable as they plummeted to an innings defeat in their first match, picking up only one point against Durham. They then lost their first totesport match, also against Durham, by 9 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Lancashire County Cricket Club played cricket in Division Two of the County Championship and Division One of the totesport League in the 2005 English cricket season. After their shock relegation last season, they were 11–10 favourites to win the Second Division of the Championship, and they managed this with seven wins and a total of 212 points. They also survived in Division One of the National League, beating Worcestershire Royals on the last matchday to stay up. Lancashire also qualified for the final of the Twenty20 Cup, but lost by seven wickets to Somerset Sabres.
Worcestershire County Cricket Club in 2005 played their County Championship games in Division Two and their Totesport League games in Division One. Under their new captain, Vikram Solanki, they were tipped to go straight back up to the top flight of the County Championship and started the season 9–2 second favourites to end up as Division Two champions.
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 2005 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for one hundred and thirty-five years. They reached the semi-final in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy. In the County Championship, they finished ninth in the second division and in the National League, they finished sixth in the second division. They were eliminated at group level in the North section of the Twenty20 Cup.
Hampshire County Cricket Club played their cricket in Division One of both the County Championship and the National League in 2005. They started the season at 10–1 odds to win the Championship. With the first eleven including seven players who had represented their country at Test or ODIs at the end of the season, they nearly won the County Championship, beating eventual County Champions Nottinghamshire both home and away, and ended with the same win–loss record as Notts. However, with two bonus points less and half a point deducted due to a slow over rate against Sussex in July, they finished behind – something that had been apparent the week before the Championship ended. They did win the C&G Trophy, defeating three League Division Two sides and a minor county on the way to the title, in addition to Glamorgan from Division One, but their other limited-overs forays ended in relegation and elimination due to head-to-head results in the Twenty20 Cup.
Surrey County Cricket Club in 2005 are playing their cricket in the First Division of the County Championship and the Second Division of the totesport League. The 2004 season was a disappointment for Surrey under the captaincy of Jonathan Batty, who was replaced by Mark Butcher for 2005. However, Butcher was out for most of the season due to an injury to his left wrist, leaving Mark Ramprakash as interim captain – one of the few, maybe the only, man to captain both Surrey and their arch-rivals Middlesex.
Middlesex County Cricket Club in 2005 played their cricket in Division One of the County Championship and Division Two of the totesport League. They started the season at 9–1 to win the County Championship title.
Twenty20 cricket is played over 20 overs according to normal limited-over rules, the one exception being the rule for "timed out", where the time by which an incoming batsman must be at the crease ready to receive his first ball is reduced to 90 seconds after the outgoing batsman has been dismissed. This amendment to the rules helps speed up the game. Additionally, boundary ropes tend to be shorter in Twenty20 cricket than for normal limited over games.
The 2006 English cricket season was the 107th in which the County Championship had been an official competition. It included home international series for England against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. England came off a winter with more Test losses than wins, for the first time since 2002-03, but still attained their best series result in India since 1985. The One Day International series against Pakistan and India both ended in losses.