Interesting times on the Kiwi County Tour as the lads who will be involved in the BLACKCAPS tour to Africa have gapped the scene. You already know that the show will go on and it will be a fair bit easier to write about as I won't have to stay up with as many games, plus it will give me more time to celebrate the guys who will play out the whole season with their respective County teams ... to be honest I'm just looking forward to writing more and more about Jeetan Patel.

Northamptonshire vs Worcestershire

We'll wind the clock back a bit to early last week, when Matt Henry gave his Worcs homies the perfect leaving gift and capped off what was an excellent stint in County cricket for Henry. Worcestershire batted first and made 277, with Henry relegated to No.11 from where he scored 13 off 48 balls in a fairly strange innings from our swashbuckling tail-ender.

Henry took the new-ball though and picked up 3/52 off 17 overs, getting two caught-behinds in the process while his new-ball partner Joe Leach took 5-for. Northamptonshire were all out for 148 and Worcs had a healthy lead, before Henry once again got shafted with the bat - Worcs declared on 324/8 with only Henry left in the sheds, pricks.

Worcs obviously did so because they were in a great position and set Northants a target of 454 which was definitely a challenging chase. Challenging before they even went out to bat and even more challenging with Henry fired up, taking 5/36 as he led a strong bowling performance from Worcestershire, skittling Northamptonshire for 142 and sealing a big win.

Matt Henry: 13, 3/52 off 17, 5/36 off 14.

Somerset vs Middlesex

James Franklin skippered Middlesex to another win, beating Somerset by 2 wickets but Franklin didn't do a whole lot with bat or ball, he just stood and called shots. Somerset batted first and were all out for 236 with Franklin using himself as the fourth bowling option, going wicket-less (0/28) off 8 overs.

Middlesex then took a lead, all out for 381 with Franklin coming in at No.7 and having his stumps knocked over for 5. Franklin did manage to take a few catches as Somerset then hit 446 and set Middlesex a target of 302, with Franklin bowling 7 overs and going wicket-less once again (0/32).

Franklin crept up the order and came in at No.4 as Middlesex needed quick runs. While he didn't steer Middlesex to victory, every run is crucial in a run-chase and Franklin's 28 off 32 balls was one of a few solid scores that helped Middlesex chase that 302 down, scoring at 6.61rpo.

James Franklin: 0/28 off 8, 5, 0/32 off 7, 28.

Warwickshire vs Hampshire

There was no result in Birmingham as rain dictated terms between Warwickshire and Hampshire. We did however get Jeetan Patel taking a few wickets and continuing to impress on his hunt for another 50+ wicket season.

Hampshire batted first and hit 531, with Jeetz taking 3/160 off 48 overs. They may not look like the best figures, but Jeetz did bowl 48 overs which is 18 more overs than the next most-used bowler in the Warwickshire attack ... and Jeetz only went at 3.33rpo. Jeetz was left in the sheds as Warwickshire were left on 398/6 as rain ensured that only 2 innings would be played over three days

Jeetan Patel: 3/160 off 48.

Gloucestershire vs Essex

It was a winning round of County cricket for our Kiwi County Tour with Hamish Marshall and Kieran Noema-Barnett helping Gloucestershire get a 61-run win. The only bummer here is that this win came with some kiwi-on-kiwi crime as Matt Quinn was in the opposition, those bad vibes vanish however with Quinn playing an impressive role with the ball for Essex. That's the best case scenario when we've got kiwis playing against kiwis on the Tour.

Gloucestershire batted first and made 255, with Quinn picking up Marshall for 10 and Noema-Barnett for 4. Quinn was definitely the star of the show, taking 7/76 off 26 overs in a mammoth stint at the bowling crease and it's good to Quinn starting to shine with Essex after initially waiting for his opportunity.

Quinn was then out for 0, with Essex all out for 333. Noema-Barnett chipped in with 2/30 off 11 overs as he also continues to get better as the seasons goes on, especially with the ball.

Essex had a lead just over 100 runs and Quinn was back at it, beating up his fellow kiwis. Quinn took 4/87 off 24 overs, trapping Marshall lbw for 0 and he had Noema-Barnett caught for 10 as Gloucs were all out for 290. That left Essex with 213 to chase for victory and if Quinn had a few more partners, he would have definitely have helped lead them to victory. Quinn was left stranded on 5* as Essex were dismissed for 151, with Noema-Barnett only bowling the 1 over, for 1 run.

Hamish Marshall: 10, 0.

Kieran Noema-Barnett: 4, 2/30 off 11, 10, 0/1 off 1.

Matt Quinn: 7/76 off 26, 0, 4/87 off 24 overs.

Unfortunately, Quinny sucks at keepie uppie...