The One-Day Cup’s allure: familiar faces, cheap seats and relaxed places

1. You can go to the ball

The appeal of the One-Day Cup – English cricket’s Cinderella competition – was captured in a very rare positive text message I received from a Lancashire fan: “Joe Moores and Rocky Flintoff are playing great innings aged 17 and 18.”

Their partnership of 72 in the last five overs against Leicestershire proved the difference as Lancashire won by 21 runs at Grace Road. Earlier, Keaton Jennings had scored his first century of a lacklustre season by his standards before handing over to another old stager, Tom Bailey, to lead the successful defence of 384.

Everyone in attendance knew that the star names were elsewhere, that even 18 isn’t that young in Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s world, and that the media is largely uninterested in what was once the Gillette Cup. But it still matters to fans. We delight in seeing the grizzled old faces alongside the smooth-skinned youngsters. We enjoy watching experienced pros use their wiles to find a bit of form as the kids try a bit too hard to impress. And we welcome the opportunity to visit grounds that are less corporate and more relaxed than the behemoths so many HQs have become.

Lancashire are playing Kent at Farington Cricket Ground near Preston this week. Tickets are available from £15 for adults, £12 for over-65s and £5 for under-18s. If more people knew, they might come along.

2. Go West(ley)!

Tom Westley made his Essex debut 19 years ago. On Sunday, he played for the 500th time and made a match-winning century as Derbyshire fell 10 runs short of their target at Chelmsford.

Matt Critchley, playing against his former club, kept Westley company in a stand of 72, the all-rounder now as much of a local favourite as his captain in his fifth season at Essex.

Westley and Critchley fall into another category of player you see in this competition: they are unlikely to be called upon by England and lack the explosive game that earns big paydays at The Hundred. Nevertheless, both are fine cricketers who can delight fans and neutrals wherever they play.

3. Hibernating Bears need to wake up 

Four teams lead the way in the nascent Group A table on eight points, with Nottinghamshire boasting the only 100% winning record.

That looked unlikely when two more players who have been out of the headlines made unexpected news with the bat. George Garton and Ethan Bamber have not played much first-team cricket for Warwickshire this season, through injury and loss of form, respectively. Though both firmly in the “bowlers who bat” category, they rescued Warwickshire’s innings, taking it from 121 for six to 282 all out, Garton hitting his maiden ton in any form of the game.

But Notts are the form team in the country and, once openers Ben Slater and Freddie McCann had raised three figures at about a run a ball, another half-century down the order would prove enough. Kyle Verreynne – last seen in Test cricket as part of the South Africa team that beat India 2-0 in November – provided that and Notts cruised home.

Warwickshire failed to get out of the group stage in the Blast so need to make something happen very soon.

4. On the Goldsworthy standard

With so many players unavailable, Somerset had to reach deep into their squad. Lewis Goldsworthy is an important cog in their T20 side and he’s in and out of the Championship XI when required. In the One-Day Cup, he is captain, all-rounder and, at 25, a senior pro – so what he does matters.

With their two opening fixtures at Taunton, getting off to a good start was critical. Goldsworthy delivered his full allocation against Gloucestershire, taking two for 50 as his team ran out comfortable winners. He also played his part in the win against Warwickshire, hitting a century.

At the top of English cricket, there is something of a vacuum where there should be credible captains. Leadership opportunities are few and far between but, so far, Goldsworthy is taking his.

Somerset beat Gloucestershire at the County Ground in Taunton. Photograph: Harry Trump/Getty Images

5. De Caires not careworn for once

Middlesex have flown out of the blocks in Group B, with a couple of huge wins contributing to their three-out-of-three start.

It was quite the day out for Josh de Caires at the Rose Bowl. Now 24, he has to start turning his promise into performances and cut out those matches where he finds a fielder on 20-something and bowls two four-balls in an over.

He had no such problems against Hampshire, where he made 75 as an opener (which is clearly where he should bat) and backed it up with six for 35, both career-best figures. De Caires has always had this kind of performance in him. He is classy at the crease and gives the ball as big a rip as any fingerspinner.

6. Singh on song for champions

Durham (who have handy all-rounder named Ben Stokes in their XI) and Worcestershire also have spotless records, albeit from two rather than three matches. Worcestershire’s wins were quite close in a competition that has yet to deliver many nailbiters.

The champions opened their defence with the kind of bumsqueakingly tight match that low-scoring affairs so often produce. Jake Libby asked Derbyshire to bat and the visitors made good progress, 84 for one in the 21st over. That’s when third change, Fateh Singh, a slow left-armer who has a happy knack of taking wickets, got among them and a solid start became 138 all out, six of those wickets his.

Derbyshire will have told themselves that, if they can be bowled out for a low score, they can do the same to their hosts. At 113 for seven, with 26 still needed and the crowd nervous, Derbyshire were favourites. But Gareth Roderick anchored the chase from No 3 and eventually found a partner in Beyers Swanepoel, who bashed a few boundaries and the game was done.