Cricket Miles gets festival off to a good start for Glo’sters
CRAIG Miles claimed four wickets as Gloucestershire bowled out Sussex for 286 on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship match at Cheltenham. An intriguing start to the annual festival at the College Ground saw fortunes sway after the visitors had won the toss. They looked well placed at 74 without loss and 210-4, but the home bowlers stuck to their task, led by Miles, who returned 4-68 from 18 overs. Nineteen-year-old off-spinner George Drissell took his maiden first-class wicket on the way to figures of 2-38 from ten overs. There were also two victims for Kieran Noema-Barnett, while half-centuries from Phil Salt (57), Harry Finch (76) and Ben Brown (59) boosted the Sussex total. By the close Gloucestershire had reduced the deficit by 42 without losing a wicket, skipper Chris Dent making 12 not out and Cheltenham-born Miles Hammond unbeaten on 27. Sussex had been given a brisk start by the aggressive Salt, who dominated the opening stand with Luke Wells, reaching a 45-ball fifty, with eight fours and a six. But when Wells, on 17, got a leading edge to Miles and was well caught by Graeme van Buuren at midwicket, running towards the fence, the SPECSAVERS COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO GLOUCESTERSHIRE v SUSSEX At Cheltenham SUSSEX First innings L W P Wells c van Buuren b Miles 17 P D Salt b Miles 57 H Z Finch c & b Taylor 76 L J Wright c Bracey b Miles 9 M G K Burgess lbw b Noema-Barnett 2 B C Brown c Higgins b Drissell 59 D Wiese lbw b Noema-Barnett 7 C J Jordan c Noema-Barnett b Drissell 0 J C Archer c Noema-Barnett b Miles 21 O E Robinson not out 27 D R Briggs lbw b Payne 7 Extras (b1, lb3) 4 Total (83 overs) 286 Fall of wickets: 1-74, 2-80, 3-90, 4-97, 5-210, 6-219, 7-220, 8-236, 9-271. Bowling: Payne 15-4-41-1; Taylor 16-463-1; Higgins 15-6-38-0; Miles 18-1-68-4; Noema-Barnett 9-0-34-2; Drissell 10-138-2. GLOUCESTERSHIRE First innings M A H Hammond not out C D J Dent not out Extras (nb2, lb1) Total (11 overs) no wkt Bowling: Archer 6-2-21-0; Robinson 5-0-20-0. 27 12 3 42 hosts fought back hard. Salt was yorked by Miles and the tall seamer notched a third victim as Luke Wright was snapped up by the diving James Bracey at midwicket for nine. When Michael Burgess fell lbw to Noema-Barnett for two in the 28th over Sussex had lost four wickets for 23 runs. They went in to lunch on 125-4 from 31 overs. Finch and Brown then put Sussex back on top by adding 113 either side of the interval before Brown, whose half-century had come off 79 balls, became a maiden first-class wicket for Drissell, a local product from Bedminster Cricket Club, when he lofted a catch to mid-off. David Weiss fell lbw to NoemaBarnett, shouldering arms, and at tea Sussex were 219-6, with Finch unbeaten on 65. Drissell, maintaining a tight line and length from the College Lawn End, had Chris Jordan caught at slip for a third-ball duck and it was 236-8 when Matt Taylor took a sharp catch one-handed off his own bowling to end Finch’s impressive knock, which occupied 142 balls and featured 13 fours. Jofra Archer and Ollie Robinson added 35 important runs before Archer played a poor shot to gift Miles his fourth wicket, courtesy of a straightforward Noema-Barnett slip catch. And a patchy Sussex team effort ended when David Payne had last man Danny Briggs lbw with the second new ball. which left Robinson unbeaten on 27. Gloucestershire’s Drissell said: “It’s a huge relief to have taken my maiden first-class wicket. When I saw the ball go up in the air and Ryan Higgins underneath it I had full trust in him and it was a great moment for me. “It’s an ambition fulfilled that I have had since my schooldays. My dad Simon was in the crowd and when I looked at him he was already on his mobile phone. “My Twitter account has gone mad with messages.”