Championship team of the week: Azad, Cook and Wright… but who joins them in the XI?

The Cricketer looks at the star performers from the latest round of County Championship fixtures

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Alastair Cook (Essex)

Cook’s week threatened to be overshadowed by the rumblings of discontent behind the scenes at Chelmsford. But he ensured the focus was on the field by compiling a daddy hundred of vintage Sir Alastair proportions, his 165 runs spanning 450 minutes at the crease in a match that eventually fizzled out in a draw. And he was even given the ball as the game reached its conclusion, though the law of diminishing returns did lend his Bob Willis impression the same energy as Toploader wheeling out Dancing in the Moonlight at the Havering Show.

Hassan Azad (Leicestershire)

The Running Foxes were able to stuff a young Sussex eleven by an innings, thanks to Azad’s superb 152. Azad has quietly become one of the finest red-ball batters on the county circuit, going relatively unheralded despite now averaging comfortably above 40 since his signing by Leicestershire. This was the kind of knock that makes fans and selectors alike take notice. A batter in control.

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Leicestershire's Hassan Azad

Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent)

Bell-Drummond’s first-class average of 32.22 is lower than you might expect of a player of his quality. And he certainly proved his class with 69 and an unbeaten 51 against Derbyshire, who had few answers as they fell to a 130-run defeat. The right-hander has worked hard to improve his attacking intent in white-ball cricket after going unselected in 2019’s Hundred draft, and it showed: both his knocks came at a rate of over 70.

Lewis Hill (Leicestershire)

If Azad’s knock was a patient and studious thing, then Lewis Hill’s 146 from just 167 deliveries was the fast and furious antidote. The Channing Tatum to Azad’s Jonah Hill, Leicestershire’s No.4 accelerated by striking 15 fours and two sixes, Sussex’s Joe Sarro the rather unfortunate victim. His 868 runs this season have come at an average of 48: like Azad, he has flown under the radar despite his sustained quality.

Eddie Byrom (Glamorgan)

Zimbabwe-born Byrom struggled for form in recent years at Somerset, resulting in his recent move to Cardiff. He made his name as an explosive T20 hitter, but it took 210 balls to make his 78, suggesting the left-hander has developed maturity and patience. His move to Glamorgan may well prove to reinvigorate his career.

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Sir Alastair Cook, still delivering the goods

Ben Brown (Sussex)

By some distance the senior player in Sussex’s extremely youthful Championship squad, Brown’s experience paid off as he accumulated 133 not out from No.3, in what resulted in an innings defeat for the Hove-based side. Brown could have been forgiven for being a little down in the dumps after he was stripped of the captaincy, but his performance proved his value to this Sussex side.

Tom Price (Gloucestershire)

The 21-year-old allrounder delivered with both bat and ball to help his side to a 10-wicket victory over Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens. After taking 3 for 44 in the first innings, he racked up 71 from No.9, as part of a Gloucestershire total of 419. Glamorgan never recovered from their first-innings deficit, and Price’s contributions in both disciplines were key to that.

Matty Potts (Durham)

Another all-round performance. The 22-year-old from Sunderland took 4 for 42 to help reduce Northamptonshire to 183 all out, before making 81 from No.10. A further four wickets followed in the second innings, giving Potts the impressive match figures of 8 for 110. The right-arm seamer certainly has a very bright future ahead of him.

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Ben Brown

Zafar Gohar (Gloucestershire)

Gloucestershire’s new overseas signing is making waves in just his third game for the Bristol side. The Pakistani spun Gloucestershire to victory, taking 6 for 43 to bowl out Glamorgan for just 124 in their second innings. Gohar claimed the wickets of Nick Selman and Kiran Carlson before mopping up the tail in clinical fashion, leaving openers Hammond and Dent with just 15 runs to knock off for victory. 

Chris Wright (Leicestershire)

6 for 94, an innings victory and earning your county cap in the matter of a few days is the dream for any bowler, but that’s what Chris Wright’s last week has looked like. A veteran of the county circuit, Wright accounted for opener Ben Orr before removing the entirety of Sussex’s batters from No.6 to No.10. A comprehensive performance in a comprehensive victory.

Liam Norwell (Warwickshire)

The seamer’s first innings 4 for 27 put the Bears in a commanding position against Yorkshire, with Adam Lyth among his key scalps. He then sent the dangerous Dawid Malan and Jordan Thompson back to the hutch in the White Roses’ second innings, taking 3 for 38 to help reduce them to a paltry 117 all out, some 106 behind Warwickshire’s combined totals. 

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