Gloucestershire Metro Bank Cup at Cheltenham College Lost 0 pts Report

 

OUTLAWS LOSE OUT AFTER ANOTHER BRACEY SCHOOLING

After their most disappointing performance in the 2026 Metro Bank competition Notts lost to Gloucestershire by four wickets with five balls to spare in front of 2,062 at Cheltenham College today.

Gloucestershire were severely weakened without Jack Taylor, Miles Hammond, Will Williams and Graeme van Buuren and were well truly there for the taking. Gloucestershire gave a List A debut to 19-year-old off spinner Alfie Johnson who has appeared for Wiltshire in National Counties Cricket.

However Notts with Stone playing his first domestic List A game for eight years failed to take advantage. Standing at 266 for 4 in the 46th over they collapsed spectacularly losing 6 wickets for 13 in 17 balls. It meant Notts had got a below par total on the easy paced pitch. Hutton (10 0 30 3) and Stone (10 0 52 3) bowled well sharing the six wickets that Notts took. However, the support bowling lacked any bite or economy and the ground fielding was very ordinary to say the least. McCann oddly not given a bowl. The end result meaning Notts are going to The Oval needing to win without Tahir and probably Pennington and Stone whose Hundred teams play the following day. It means their Eleven will likely to include both Hatton-Lowe and the on-loan Sam Wood.

Gloucestershire won the toss and inserted Notts on another boiling day.

De Lange (College End) opened with a maiden. Ahmed was his opening partner. After bowling four overs for 19, de Lange was replaced by Rao. Price bowled the last over of the powerplay.  Notts 48 for 0 off 10 overs.

McCann (21)  was stumped by Bracey off Price, 51 for 1 in the 12th over. It must have been an extremely tight call, McCann seemingly convinced he never left his crease. Tahir (7) hit his second delivery from Price for a straight six. He only faced a further two balls, playing all round a Rao delivery and departing lbw, 59 for 2 in the 13th over. Rao bowled Martindale (38) via a yorker, 72 for 3 after 17 overs. The in-form Martindale had been batting with great fluency and timing the ball well – his dismissal a huge blow. Johnson came on for the 18th over. Notts 87 for 3 after 20 overs 

Middleton came on for the 21st over. Notts 100 came up in the 23rd over via a lofted four for Verreynne off Middleton, 10 off the 23rd over. De Lange returned for the 24th over. Notts standing at 120 for 3 off 25 overs. 

Price and Rao returned for the 28th and 29th overs respectively. Notts 146 for 3 off 30 overs.

An offside four by Verreynne off Rao brought up the Notts 150 in the 31st over - the first boundary off Rao in his 8th over. Later in the same over Hameed hit a four to fine leg to reach his 50 off 64 balls - 10 off the over.

Gloucestershire made a double bowling change bringing back Middleton and Ahmed.

Verreynne got to his 50 off 48 balls with a two off Ahmed (7-0-44-0) in the 37th over. Johnson (5-0-30-0) came back for the following over. Notts got to 200 after 39 overs via four byes off  Middleton. Notts 208 for 3 off 40 overs. Disappointing only 71 runs were scored off the third powerplay

Verreynne was dropped on 62 a sharp caught and bowled chance to Middleton in the 41st over. Price came back for the 42nd over.

Hameed (85 off 92 balls, 10x4) skied Middleton to Ahmed at mid-wicket; 223 for 4 in the 43rd over. The fourth wicket had added 151 in 25.2 overs.

James hit his first delivery for six over mid-wicket off Middleton (10 0 60 1); 10 off the 43rd over. Price conceded five singles in the 44th over. James hit the returning Rao for six over square leg. A four followed  through backward square leg to bring up the Notts 250 - 15 off the 45th over.

Verreynne hit a full toss from Price for six over wide long leg and next ball he smashed him for 6 over mid-wicket. But from this point Notts completely lost it collapsing in horrific style. Next ball Verreynne (85 off 81 balls, 6x4, 2x6) going for another big hit top edged Price (10 0 59 2) with keeper Bracey taking the catch running towards the legside - 15 off the 46th over.

Seecharan (3) was dropped on 1 by Ahmed off de Lange at square leg the batsmen ran a two. He was caught next ball at long on by Phillips off de Lange. The South African finished the over with two wickets in two balls. James (25) going for a legside heave was bowled. Next ball de Lange (7 1 37 3) coming  in on a very short run up removed Hutton leg before for a golden duck, 273 for 8 after 47 overs.

Ahmed went for five off the 48th over. Stone (4), going for a huge hit on the legside, was bowled by Rao. Two balls later, Farhan (3) was caught on the point ropes by Boorman off Rao (9.3 1 44 4). Notts 279 all out off 48.3 overs with Hayes 1 not out. A disappointing end to the innings meant an under-par total had been achieved against a severely weakened Gloucestershire bowling attack. The home side fielded with great enthusiasm and their ground fielding was outstanding. Sadly when Notts came out their ground fielding was  very much below par.

Hutton (College End) and Stone opened the bowling. In the third over, the ever-reliable Hutton had Bancroft (4) caught behind by Verreynne, 13 for 1. Stone's initial spell was indifferent going for 24 off 4 overs and he was replaced at the College Lawn End by Hayes for the 10th over. Gloucestershire 43 for 1 off 10 overs.

The Gloucestershire 50 was achieved in the 12th over via a six over square leg by Bracey off Hayes. James came on for the 13th over.

Farhan came on for the 16th over; Bracey reached his 50 off 52 balls with consecutive fours off James. Price then cover drove him to the ropes; 14 off the 16th over.

Gloucestershire reached 100 in the 19th over via a cover driven four for Bracey off James. Farhan Ahmed went for 16 off the 20th over - three fours for Bracey. Gloucestershire 119 for 1 off 20 overs.

Martindale came on for the 21st over and bowled four overs for 24 on the trot but never bowled again. Stone returned for over number 24. Gloucestershire 146 for 1 off 25 overs.

Bracey reached his 100 from 82 balls with successive fours off Stone in the 28th over. Later in the same over, Bracey (103 off 85 balls, 17x4, 1x6) was caught at cover by the juggling Hameed; 166 for 2. The second wicket partnership of 153 off 25 overs was dominated by Bracey who hit his second consecutive List A hundred against Notts and his third in four innings. His List A scores against Notts 104*, 16, 186 and 103 – 409 runs @136.33!

Hutton returned for the following over. Stone made it two wickets in three balls by removing Price (59 off 80 balls; 7x4) lbw; 171-3. Four balls later Stone yorked Eckland bowling him for a 6-ball duck; 172-4 in the 30^th over Notts now had some momentum. After Hutton conceded a single off the following over. Hameed had a dilemma both his main bowlers had now bowled eight overs but if Notts had pretensions of really winning Stone with his tail up had to stay on. However he elected to withdraw him and he returned  to bowling Farhan and James and all the new pressure that had built up dissipated as inexperienced pair Phillips and Boorman were allowed to put on 68 in 13 overs.

Farhan conceded nine in the 32^nd over, consecutive boundaries for Boorman. Gloucestershire reached 200 in the 37^th over with a Boorman boundary off James; 12 off the over. With Gloucestershire 222-4 off 39 overs needing a further 58 of 11 overs, Stone and Hutton belatedly returned with Notts desperate for wickets. Hutton grabbed two in consecutive deliveries off the last two balls of his allocation in the 43^rd over. First, he had Boorman (39 off 37 balls; 6x4 – a List A career high) caught and bowled low down and then had Ahmed lbw for a golden duck. Gloucestershire 240-6 needing 40 off 7 overs.

Farhan (10-0-67-0) and James returned but Phillips and Middleton calmly knocked off the target. James came back for over 47 and went for 9 including a six over square leg for Phillips. Seventeen now required off three overs. Hayes went for six and then James (10-0-67-0) went for 9 in the penultimate over. At 18:09, a lofted four for Phillips towards square leg off Hayes (5.1-0-37-0) saw Gloucestershire deservedly over the line with five balls remaining. Gloucestershire 282 for 6 off 49.1 overs with Phillips on a List A best 61 (off 61 balls, 5x4, 1x6) and Middleton on 9. A gilt-edged chance of gaining a win to qualify thrown away against a very inexperienced Gloucestershire Eleven.

Remarkably Notts remain second in the table on net run rate with all the results going for them in the latest round. They will head to Surrey with the likelihood of a heavily weakened line up needing a victory to qualify. Now is the time for somebody to make a name for himself! MAG

Olly Stone rolls up to complete a 14 strong squad at Cheltenham

Ben Martindale
Freddie McCann
Tayyab Tahir
Haseeb Hameed c
Kyle Verreynne x
Lyndon James
Sam Seecharan
Byron Hatton-Lowe
Farhan Ahmed
Brett Hutton
Olly Stone
James Hayes
Sam Wood
Tom Giles

Only Gloucestershire can't claim a third spot at least, and thence can't qualify for a knock-out place.

All counties can still fail to qualify also. Notts could snatch third with the 16 points that they have now, but that is unlikely so we need to garner a win away from home. First attempt is against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham College. Another "sold-out" venue, although some tickets readvertised their availability on the GCCC website yesterday.

As you know, the group winners will both qualify for a home semi-final. Both second placed sides with qualify for home quarter finals. The two third placed counties will travel to the second placed side from the other group.

In the semi-finals, Group A winners will play the winner of the Group B 2nd placed v Group B 3rd placed quarter-final. There will be no draw, there's no time for that!