Year of the Hairy Greek?

Swarthy allrounder?
By Grockle
April 19 2003

106 off 84 balls with 4 sixes and 17 fours. Marcus T making his comeback? Ian Blackwell putting his name on an ECB shirt? Nah!! Richard Johnson asking whether he can come and play in Mr Flintoff's position!! Another save after another batting failure - but it must have been glorious!

v GLOUCESTERSHIRE CC2 @ Bristol 18 April 2003

DAY ONE

DAY TWO

DAY THREE

DAY FOUR

The return of the Hairy Greek...

Richard Johnson had a sow of a season last year and just started to come into his own as it came to a close.  Has he been fit we all know he would have been in South Africa and Australia in the winter because he is a class act with the ball....but with the bat?  He's hit some lusty scores at the end of one day games and in Championship thrashes but did anything prepare anyone for today's performance?

We went to Bristol with high hopes for a squad at almost full strength.  Caddick was not allowed to play because he is being rested for April.  Good luck to you Fletcher in May when a rusty Kiwi is your major weapon against the tourists....but you know best.   Bulbeck is injured. I have no idea how serious that is but he has not bowled a competitive ball yet and played no part in the friendly games.  Jones must be injured not to be named in the first squad of the season.  He looked good in the warm ups.  But Trescothick is back with something to prove.  McLean, Laraman and Bryant are all named in the starting line-up for the game today and Blackwell is allowed to play because they don't know what they've got yet and let's hope they don't find out too early in the season and whip him away before he's done something for us!

Gloucestershire have Smithy back, not something we got used to last season.  Jack is still behind the sticks - I love him as a wicket-keeper and hate him as a Glos. player - weird but still wonderful I suppose.  Jonty is here, not what he was but still something to see and the rest of the side may not be as well known but they also have something to prove and we are their first game - what better incentive?

Toss to the home side and in they go to bat.  Spearman and Weston opening, McLean and Johnson bowling.  Spearman become Nixon's first Somerset wicket for 8 and we are on the move at 16 for 1.  First change is Laraman (a surprise I have to admit this early in the campaign.  I thought he would have to earn his place but the selectors seem to have decided that he has) and his first victim is Weston with the score on 25.  Rhodes and Hancock put up more fight adding 67 before Rhodes goes to Johnson for 42 - 92 for 3.

Simon Francis had to learn a lot quickly last year and stuck to the task manfully although it was a baptism of fire.  He got the nod for the first four day game of the season and I know some people will have looked at the scorecard twice with his name on it.  Whether it is because of injury or because the selectors have decided that he has shown the most promise as seamer 4, who knows.  He ripped the heart out of Gloucestershire's middle order today with the wickets of Windows, Alleyne and Russell and finished with 20/7/65/3.  Injured or not, the guy is in the place and is going to take some winkling out.  With resistance from Sillence, the Bristolians pushed the score up to 203 before Johnson took Smith caught behind to finish the home side's innings.  Good first outing for the bowlers?  Even the captain got a wicket - and that may be more important than it seems, because it means he feels he can bowl - we missed his little spells in games last season.

Tighter bowling than we have been used to recently.  Everyone kept it to 4 or below an over.  Now the new batting line-up complete with England opener on a mission could consolidate a position and put us on the road to CC2 victory number 1.  OOOPS!   Some things may take longer to change.  Anyone heard this before?  Bowler lbw Lewis for 0 (0 for 1), Trescothick bowled Smith 0 (0 for 2).   We've had 6 minutes play by the way.  Burns bowled Lewis for 1 (8 for 3), Cox caught behind off Lewis for double figures!! (17 for 4).   Within the hour, James Bryant completes another wonderful performance by the Somerset top five by also being caught behind off Lewis for 19.   Less than 60 minutes at the crease and we are 36 for 5.  It isn't helped one bit when new allround hopeful Aarron Laraman gets a two ball duck and gives Lewis a five-fer and a third caught behind!  5 for 34 on day one of the season and we seem to be back where we were in the Championship despite hopes to the contrary.

Rob Turner comes in at 6 and we all put our hopes on Blackwell.   In comes Richard Johnson - strange move but he has played a kind of pinch hitting role before and it does stay hit when he puts bat to ball.  Has he been practising?  While Rob puts down the anchors and places 33 runs off his 99 balls, with 20 of those off 5 shots, Mr Johnson attacks everything with everything and 84 balls later, we've moved from 36 for 6 to 175 for the same number.  He has deposited 4 balls completely over the boundary and another 17 to the rope/boards before the fielder.   A maiden century of 106 not out off considerably less than a hundred balls and a pretty clear statement to the ECB that Flintoff may not be the only great white (well swarthy) allrounder hope of the summer.  If he can bat like this consistently and bowl the way he does - AND STAY FIT - then this could be the year of the Hairy Greek.   Brilliant performance and hopefully there is more to come.  Ian B is still in the pavilion for tomorrow and Nixon M and Simon F have both been known to give it the long handle.

So we're back in the game thanks to wonderful work by the bowling fraternity.  BUT the batting is worrying and these collapses in strong positions have to stop! Let's look to the second innings and hope that the men with the willow can consolidate on a probable lead they will be handed.  Haven't mentioned it, but let's all pray that if we get them on the ropes, the Bristol weather doesn't help them out of it again!!