G&C 190
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 190
October 2018
Caption Competition
1. Nick Compton: If Joe Denly can get picked for to the England team is there any reason why I should not get a recall?
2. Stuart law: What do you mean Middlesex are a second division side? I thought they were in the first division.
3. Steve McClaren: When I was offered the Rangers job I thought it was the one in Glasgow.
4. Andy Gray: This new wave of anti-misogynistic attitudes seems to have passed me by.
Ron Atkinson: Me too.
5. Danny Cipriani: Fancy a beer sometime, Ben?
Ben Stokes: Will there be a punch up afterwards?
Danny Cipriani: Could be.
Ben Stokes: Count me in.
6. Chairman of Hampshire: Any idea how Brexit will affect the Kolpak regulations?
Chairman of Leicestershire: No, but we could be a bit short in the batting, and bowling departments.
Out & About with the Professor
In the end it all seemed very comfortable, although there were times during the season when comfort was decidedly absent. Having narrowly escaped (or so it seemed) relegation, Yorkshire finished up fourth in Division One. A couple of wins and a draw from the last three games of the season were enough to get well clear of the drop zone which, as still seems odd to me, envelops 25% of the teams in the Division.
The most celebrated win was, of course, against Lancashire. The defeat contributed to Lancashire’s relegation and the delight on the faces of the North-East Terrace Upper Stand’s faithful was there for all to see. In truth the North East Terrace Upper Stand occupants are not given to great displays of emotion…but they do make an exception when Lancs get relegated.
To be fair (and why should we be?) they didn’t get relegated by much, having an identical points tally to Notts and more batting and bowling points. Sadly, they had fewer wins…sadly.
From what I saw, Surrey were easily the best team this year, and 10 wins out of 14 is an exceptional performance.
And so, thoughts turn to next season. Yorkshire’s problem all along has been their batting and occasional contributions from Balance, Lyth, Kohler-Cadmore (in the Lancashire match) have not been enough to give any confidence in their survival in the Division. Added to that the disastrous recruitment of Cheteshwar Pujara (12 innings at an average of 14) who must rank as one of the worst Yorkshire overseas signings of all time…and there is some competition for that title. Jeet Raval’s 84 runs from 7 innings doesn’t look too special either. Several young players have come into the side but, with the exception of wicket-keeper Tattersall, have not really been convincing.
The bowling has, in general, done reasonably well, especially Code (when fit) and Brooks towards the end of the season. But Brooks is one of a mini-exodus from Headingley amid talk of problems with the coach and not enough money. Add to that the muddle about the captaincy, and all does not seem well. It appears that Root, Bairstow, Rashid and Willey have all been given central contracts of a sort – so not much help likely to come from there. Perhaps some of the young players will, like Coad, become established – but they don’t have a lot of time to do so. Perhaps Yorkshire will make some inspired overseas signings …perhaps.
Never mind. The new stand at the rugby ground end is coming on nicely and should be all ready for use next season. Members have been sent advertisements for the new facilities where a “fine dining experience” will be available. Not gone too well that on the North East Terrace: “what us needs is fine battin’ never mind fine bloody dining”.
So, that’s the end of Yorkshire cricket for another year, except for those off to Abu Dhabi next week for a T20 competition that, frankly, will only be of interest to very, very few people. Might be true of the County Championship soon…
Middlesex Matters
The GJM gets back to the proper stuff
Middlesex brought in Ollie Rayner for Rob White (with Stevie Eskinazi taking charge of the wicket keeping duties) and Steve Finn for Tim Murtagh (who is on international duty with Ireland) for the County Championship match versus Sussex which began at Lord's on August 29. There was no toss because Sussex obviously wanted to bowl first on the exceptionally bright green pitch (Mick Hunt's revenge?).
It was a damp morning, the start was delayed and it was expected, of course, that Middlesex would struggle in these conditions, but it was still very depressing to witness the steady flow of batsmen returning to the pavilion with single figure scores. Nick Gubbins deserves credit for a useful 29 at the top of the order and James Fuller made 17 at no 8, but Middx's hero was 20 year old Max Holden, batting at 6, who did brilliantly to master the moving ball and he finished unbeaten on 50 off 104 balls with six fours as the innings closed on an unsatisfactory 169. All of the four Sussex seamers enjoyed success with the best of them Chris Jordan (3 for 26) and Jofra Archer (3 for 34), both of them from Barbados.
When the visitors batted, they got off to a decent start as Phil Salt (32 off 35 balls with 6 fours) and Luke Wells (24) put on 45 for the first wicket, but that was as good as it got for Sussex as the Middlesex seamers enjoyed the conditions just as much as the visitors had done. Skipper and keeper Ben Brown also made 24, but no other batsman could manage more than 17. Jimmy Harris took 4 for 61, Ethan Bamber (a 19 year old seamer born in Westminster) and James Fuller both took 2 for 32 and Finn took 2 for 34. The innings lasted only 45.5 overs and the Sussex total of 171 gave them a narrow lead of 2.
The Middlesex second innings was a considerable improvement on the first innings, but this was mainly due to a fine third wicket stand of 87 between keeper Eskinazi and skipper Dawid Malan. Eskinazi departed for an excellent 60 off 114 balls with 10 fours, but Malan found another useful partner in Harris (26) and a very handy 60 were added for the sixth wicket before Malan fell for an admirable 70 off 176 balls with 5 fours. Rayner made a useful 17 not out at the end as the innings closed slightly disappointingly on 232 all out, setting Sussex 231 to win with a day and three quarters to get them in and the wicket apparently easing. The stars of the Sussex attack were the opening pair of Archer (5 for 69) and Ollie Robinson (4 for 59).
Several visiting batters got starts (Salt 20, Tom Haines 23, Harry Finch 20, Brown 31), but wickets were falling regularly, and it always looked as if Middlesex had a good chance of clinching the win. Sussex actually slumped to 128 for 9 before their best stand of the match developed between South African Kolpak allrounder David Wiese (37*) and ex-Hants slow left armer Danny Briggs (20) who has represented England in limited overs matches, the pair putting on a worrying 47 for the last wicket before the innings finally closed on 175 to give Middx the victory by 55 runs. Keeper Eskinazi claimed four good catches behind the stumps and the same four seamers again took all the wickets (Middlesex did not bowl a solitary over of spin in the match): Fuller 3 for 37, Bamber 3 for 50, Harris 2 for 43 and Finn 1 for 37. The innings lasted only 44.5 overs and the match was over before 4pm on day 3, having lasted barely two and a half days. It was slightly disappointing that the seamer friendly track meant a low scoring match from which Middlesex took only 19 points and Sussex 3. Despite winning 3 consecutive Championship matches, Middx have moved up only to fourth in division 2 and the main reason for this is their disastrous "haul" of bonus points: their 8 batting points is the lowest in the country (even Glamorgan have more!) and their overall total of 35 is also the lowest in the country and compares unfavourably with Surrey's 58 and Warwickshire's 55.
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Compared to the team that played against Gloucestershire at Bristol, Middlesex brought in Ollie Rayner for Paul Stirling, Martin Andersson for Jimmy Harris and Steve Finn for Tim Murtagh for the Championship match against Kent, which began at Lord’s on 10th September. The absence through injury of Harris and Murtagh, brought the number of injured Middlesex seamers up to four, Tom Helm and Toby Roland-Jones being the others. The toss was uncontested, of course, because Kent obviously wanted to bowl first on yet another bright green pitch.
Middlesex started badly with none of the top seven in the order managing to get beyond 17 and the home team slumped to 80 for 7. James Fuller, however, batting at 8, immediately looked more comfortable than any of his predecessors and a useful stand of 39 with Ollie Rayner (19) developed. The best stand of the innings though was an enjoyable last wicket partnership of 41 after Fuller was joined by number eleven Steve Finn. Finn batted attractively for 27 off 22 balls with 4 fours, but when he was out with the score on a meagre 161, the only home batsman who could be really happy with himself was Fuller who topscored with 37 not out off 45 balls with 5 fours. 42 year old Darren Stevens was the best of the visitors bowlers with 4 for 44, but Harry Podmore, mistakenly rejected by Middlesex without giving him a decent run in the first team, emphasised the blunder by taking 3 for 35 in 12 impressive overs.
If anything, the Kent innings started even more disastrously than the Middlesex innings had done (Kent were 53 for 6 compared to the home team's 73 for 6), but it was that man Stevens who started to turn things around and when he was joined by no 9 Grant Stewart, from Kalgoorlie WA, an excellent stand of 75 developed for the eighth wicket. Stevens eventually fell for an outstanding 64 off 73 balls with 10 fours, but Stewart managed to take the score from 157 to 192 all out without any runs at all coming from numbers 10 and 11, before he finally fell for a splendid 63 off 95 balls with 9 fours. Fuller was the best of the Middlesex seam attack with 4 for 49 and the other wickets went to Ethan Bamber (2 for 31), Andersson (2 for 52) and Finn (2 for 55), with Stevie Eskinazi picking up 3 catches behind the stumps.
The home team's second innings got off to a much better start with a stand of 59 for the first wicket between Sam Robson (36 off 61 balls with 5 fours) and Nick Gubbins (25 off 68 balls with 4 fours), skipper Dawid Malan contributed 32 off 26 balls with 6 fours and Eskinazi 22 off 52 balls with 3 fours. However, the innings slumped alarmingly from 101 for 2 to 114 for 6 before Fuller again tried to rescue the team from disaster with a praiseworthy 28 not out off 65 balls with 2 fours. The Middlesex total of 186 meant that Kent only needed 156 to win with well over 2 days to get them. Matt Henry, from Christchurch NZ, was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 40, but Podmore (3 for 35) and Stevens (3 for 46) again gave admirable support. The Kent second innings got off to a poor start (13 for 2), but Sean Dickson, from Jo'burg SA (32 off 45 balls with 4 fours), Heino Kuhn, from Mpumalanga SA (39 off 73 balls with 3 fours), Daniel Bell-Drummond (28 from 45 balls with 1 four) and skipper and keeper Sam Billings (31 not out off 54 balls with 4 fours) ensured that Kent won by 3 wickets well before lunch on day 3. Fuller was again the pick of the home bowlers with 3 for 53, while Bamber bowled 16 fine overs taking 2 for 34. Kent 19 points, Middlesex 3.
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Middlesex brought in keeper Rob White to replace Eoin Morgan (and to allow Stevie Eskinazi to relinquish the gloves and return to no 3 in the order), Jimmy Harris to replace Ollie Rayner (as spinners do not even get bowl in home games) and Tim Murtagh to return in the absence of the injured Steve Finn for the County Championship match versus Derbyshire which started at Lord's on 18th of September. There was no toss, of course, because all visiting sides want to bowl first on the famously bright green pitches on offer at Lord's. It has to be said, however, that this pitch was nowhere near as green as most that have been offered to Middlesex by the Lord's ground staff this season.
Sam Robson and Nick Gubbins made a useful start to the Middlesex innings before Gubbins fell with the score on 64 and Eskinazi looked in good form, making 35 out of a stand of 75 for the second wicket with Robson. The best partnership of the match, however came when Robson was joined by Max Holden and 132 were added for the fourth wicket before Robson departed for an excellent 134 (off 239 balls with 17 fours) comfortably his best effort of the season as he had previously averaged only 20 this year in the Championship with a top score of 72. Robson's dismissal signalled a rapid decline in the home team's fortunes as 6 wickets fell for the addition of only 59 runs. Holden was still there, however, and when last man Murtagh joined him a thoroughly entertaining stand of 66 developed for the tenth wicket with Murtagh contributing a quickfire 39 off 40 balls with 7 fours. Holden was left unbeaten on an exceptional 119 not out off 172 balls with 17 boundaries as the innings closed on 423 off 108.4 overs. The persevering Tony Palladino (formerly of Essex) was the pick of the visiting bowlers with 4 for 92 in 29 overs.
When Derbyshire batted, they soon slumped to 62 for 4, but ex-Middlesex opener Billy Godleman was still stubbornly holding his end up and now he was joined by the much more flamboyant Matt Critchley in a stand of 65 before skipper Godleman departed for a persevering 28 off 95 balls. Irish international Gary Wilson made a valuable 31 in a partnership of 60 with Critchley and AK Dal contributed 23 to a stand of 56 with Critchley before the latter finally fell for a splendid 105 off 135 balls with 14 fours. South African Test player Hardus Viljoen hit a handy 31 not out at the end as the visitors' innings closed on 295. The best of the Middlesex bowlers were Jimmy Harris (4 for 83) and Ethan Bamber (3 for 35).
Robson batted more flamboyantly in the second innings as Middlesex wanted to add some quick runs in order to facilitate a declaration. Gubbins shared another opening partnership 58, Robson eventually ran himself out for an entertaining 73 off 81 balls with 11 fours, but most of the other contributions were cameos with Martin Andersson's 23 not out the next best score after Robson's. The declaration came at 199 for 7, setting the visitors 328 to win in one complete day. Critchley claimed 4 for 60 with his leg-breaks.
Skipper Godleman set a fine example in the Derbyshire second innings, but wickets fell regularly at the other end. Wilson's 22 out of a stand of 50 for the sixth wicket was the next best effort, but in the end Godleman was left high and dry having carried his bat for 105 not out from 147 balls with 11 fours and a six, as Middlesex won by 117 runs. Murtagh returned the best bowling analysis with 4 for 55 and the promising Bamber again took 3 for 35. White performed efficiently behind the stumps and claimed three second innings catches. Eskinazi was awarded his county cap at lunch on day 1. Middlesex 24 points, Derbyshire 5.
This & That
Middlesex had an almost satisfactory September with some wins to secure a mid-table position. There have continued to be awful sessions including a failure to get runs yesterday at the Riverside. Who would have predicted at the beginning of the season a seam attack of Murtagh, Bamber, Harris and Fuller? There was an almost total lack of contribution by Gubbins in the second half of the season which has set back his England chances, at least for the time being.
In their T20 Blast match against Durham at Old Trafford Lancashire were 149 for 6 at the end of the 19th over requiring just 6 runs to win. Durham chose to entrust the final over to their slow left armer Liam Trevaskis (yes, him) and a wise decision it proved to be. He took wickets from his second, fourth and fifth deliveries without conceding a run and Lancashire managed only a single from the final delivery to lose by the relatively large margin of four runs.
In Middlesex’ Championship match at Bristol Paul Stirling batted at number seven in the first innings. In the second Middlesex were set an improbable 305 from what turned out to be 31 overs to win. However, Malan must have thought they were in with a chance and Stirling was promoted to open the innings. He clearly thought that things had to start frenetically and was run out off the first ball going for a fourth. This has to be some sort of weird record. His scoring rate of 300 would easily have been enough if it could have been maintained beyond the first ball.
The selections for the winter tour warrant comment. Denly was the press selection on the back of a good season with the bat and improbably with the ball in the T20 Blast. He is too old (32) to become a serious test cricketer and smacks of selectorial desperation. Rory Burns is yet another left hander and may well struggle against quality off spinners like the rest of them. Olly Stone seems to have leap frogged over other preferred quicks – Ball, Wood, Plunkett, Porter, Finn. Where will TR-J feature next season, if at all? What happened to Footitt the great left arm hope and scourge of second division batsmen?
So, Stuart Law has been appointed head coach at Middlesex. Will he get involved in signing up significant players? There is plenty of movement but none of it coming Middlesex’ way. Apparently, Rashid was likely to leave Yorkshire but has now signed an all three formats deal albeit for just one year. This may piss off Poysden who had signed with Yorkshire as an opportunity to be first choice leggy. Notts and Surrey, as usual, are the biggest snapper uppers. Jordan Clark and Liam Plunkett head to the Oval, Joe Clarke joins Ben Duckett at Trent Bridge. Warwicks must anticipate losing Ollie Stone to England and have snapped up two Gloucestershire seamers- Liam Norwell and Craig Miles. Chris Wright goes to Leicestershire, presumably for more match time. Alex Lees goes to Durham and Jack Brooks goes to Somerset.
Rob Key remains the most entertaining of the Sky commentators. In a general discussion about overseas players in County cricket he got to talking about Rahul Dravid’s time at Kent. He said that he taught them all how to bat and they taught him how to swear.
Nienow Matters
Alvin Nienow sent me this
I liked the bit about Moen in the last G and C following Moen's performance in the last Test. I was not too surprised when he was dropped in NZ after a terrible run of performances with bat and ball which would have dispirited anybody. But then he seemed to become England's forgotten man. He was barely mentioned in all the discussions when trying to find a well-balanced and effective team which could cope with the various problems associated with injuries, court cases and the total inability of the early order to get any runs (and in the case of Cook and especially Jennings, the inability to take slip catches); and the captain also appeared pretty reluctant to use Rashid. There can't have been many Test matches where a return to the team after such treatment has led to such a stunning performance with the ball and such a good batting performance in the first innings that they attempted to use him to protect the captain (who incidentally I don't think has clue on that art) by putting him at 3 in the second. He thoroughly deserved being named man-of-the-match!
Of course, this was not the only weird feature of selection during the Series. A young bowler (only 20 and only in his 2nd Test) gets 5 wickets, plays 2 innings which save the side from disaster and becomes man-of-the-match in the first Test. He is then dropped two Tests, later having done nothing wrong! He is then recalled, saves England with the bat again and finishes the game with a last wicket lbw; which incidentally would have been not out-as would the penultimate wicket- if India had any reviews left! It's all crazy!!
It was claimed to be a great series and I suppose it was because of the scores and we won!! But it seems to me that we couldn't bat or catch consistently and whilst the Indian catching and fast bowling was brilliant, their spinners didn't turn up and though Kohli is clearly a wonderful batsman, the batting overall was poor and it seems to me neither the batting or the bowling was helped by the very inconsistent team selection. Losing the toss every time didn't help India either!
WGCC Matters
The Prof updates us on another WGCC success
Welwyn won the League playoffs -third year in a row - having finished third in the League. This play-off business was invented by a chap at Radlett. They have always regarded themselves as something special and so, when they won the League three years' ago they were confident that the newly invented play offs would be easy. Not so, we beat them in the final (at their ground - another stitch-up). So we naturally declared that we had won the League. Some (very hasty) reflection determined that there were, in fact, now two League titles - and a cup we were all (quite literally) drinking from was not the right one. They had to find another.
Still, three out of three is good enough for us.
Champions Matters
The GJM goes south for his final outing of the summer
Rory Burns won the toss for Surrey and chose to bat first on a flat brownish looking track that everyone thought wood yield the usual Oval run feast at the start of the final County Championship match against Essex at the Oval, which started on September 24th. A huge shock was coming, however as Surrey (already County Champions) were shot out for a miserable 67 in 27 overs with only Burns (19) and Ollie Pope (26) managing more than 5. The damage was done by the visitors' pace trio of Jamie Porter (4 for 26), Sam Cook (4 for 27) and Matthew Quinn (2 for 10).
When Essex batted, a second wicket stand of 146 between Murali Vijay and Tom Westley emphasised the poverty of Surrey's effort before Vijay fell for a valuable 80 off 127 balls with 10 fours. Westley carried on to a top class 134 off 282 balls with 21 fours and when he finally departed, an excellent stand developed between keeper Adam Wheater and Simon Harmer from Pretoria. Unfortunately, Wheater had to retire hurt on 68 off 105 balls with 8 fours and a six, but Harmer carried on to a splendid 102 not out off 156 balls with 11 fours and 2 sixes and that brought the declaration on 477 for 8. Jade Dernbach was the pick of the home bowlers with 4 for 95.
Surrey made a much better start to their second innings: Burns and Stoneman put on 63 for the first wicket before the captain departed for 21, but then Jason Roy dominated a terrific stand of 181 for the second wicket with Stoneman before they both fell in quick succession, Roy for a brilliant 128 off 151 balls with 19 fours and 2 sixes and Stoneman for a valuable 86 off 167 balls with 12 fours and a six. Ollie Pope now took centre stage as 115 were added for the fourth wicket with keeper Ben Foakes. Another useful stand of 54 developed with 19 year old Will Jacks before Pope finally departed for a superb 114 off 120 balls with 19 fours and a six. Jacks and Ryan Patel then put on 61 for the sixth wicket, but Jacks became another of Matt Coles's 5 wickets for a very promising 53 off 87 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Patel and Rikki Clarke added another quick 53 for the seventh wicket, but then a clatter of wickets brought the innings to a close on 541, with Coles finishing with 5 for 123, one of four visiting bowlers to concede between 115 and 127 runs in the innings.
Essex needed 132 to win with plenty of time to get them, but 5 wickets fell for only 55 until skipper Ryan ten Doeschate took charge and the visitors edged closer to their target. Morne Morkel and Jade Dernbach were causing problems for the visitors, but Amar Virdi was expensive and it was surprising that Clarke was not invited to bowl. However, Clarke did play his part by hanging on to 3 excellent catches at slip to get rid of three of the top four. The visitors sank to 97 for 7, 111 for 8 and 124 for 9, but ten Doeschate was still there and despite being responsible for the untimely run out of Coles, he kept his cool and guided his team to 134 for 9 with an unbeaten 53 and victory for his team over the new County Champions by one wicket in a truly gripping encounter. Morkel (4 for 28) was the pick of the bowlers, with Dernbach picking up 2 for 24 and Virdi 2 for 73. Essex (22 points) beat Surrey (2 points) by one wicket.
It was one of the most memorable matches I have ever seen. Surrey were top of the table with 254 points, Somerset were second (208) and Essex were third on 187. Worcestershire were relegated in last place and Lancashire join them in division 2 because they had fewer wins than Nottinghamshire, who finished with the same number of points. It was free to get in on day four, so the small crowd was even more disappointing than it would otherwise have been. I suppose no one knew it was going to be free? I certainly did not.
Middlesex v Australians At Lord’s
Ian Harris(Ged) reports on a day out
There are only two places remaining on the planet where stewards and on the odd occasion even fellow patrons still refer to me as "young man": Lord's and the Wigmore Hall. Janie and I ended up going to both of those places on the same day, but sadly, no-one referred to me as "young man" in either place. Perhaps our mistake, in this regard, at Lord's, was to take the youngsters, Charlie and Chris (Lavender & Escamillo Escapillo), as our guests. These terms are comparative, after all. In other regards, however, this was not a mistake, because we all four had a most enjoyable day at Lord's.
Janie and I got to Lord's really early, to secure enough seats in Janie's favourite pavilion spot; the upper sun deck. And in order to achieve that, we both got up ridiculously early. Janie was on picnic duty for this one - never a quick and dirty process in the morning however much preparation can be done the day before.
Janie had sourced quite a lot of the food (and indeed other weekend food) at Finn's - which seemed most appropriate with Steve Finn skippering Middlesex for this match. So the picnic basically comprised some cheesy biscuit nibbles, ham rolls, sweet nibbles, beef rolls, carrots, tomatoes and grapes. A bottle of Vouvray and a bottle of Pinot Noir. Yummy.
Our little group got quite jolly and at one point there was a round of hat swapping, which left Chris looking a little unusual in Janie's big colourful floppy sun hat. I primed my camera for a photo, but Chris felt that, as I am a captain of industry, it would be best not to have a permanent record that showed me to have been in Chris's company...or something like that.
The occasion was, in part, timed to coincide with Chris's birthday. He mumbled about producing a birthday honours list, on the basis that, if the queen could have such lists, why couldn't he? Meanwhile Charlie occasionally went into schoolmarm mode in a vain attempt to restore decorum. She seems to quite like that role these days.
Also meanwhile, Middlesex bowled really well, we felt. At no point did Australia really get away and we kept revising our estimates of the potential Aussie score downwards. Nathan Sowter took an absolutely stunning catch to secure the first wicket and perhaps settle the nerves of some of the younger players such as Barber, off whose bowling that catch was taken.
The Middlesex batting looked a little weak on paper for this standard of opposition and so it proved on grass. It's a shame that one or two of the more senior batsmen didn't dig in a little more, which might have given the less-experienced players a bit less to do. Still, young Holden batted beautifully and the Middlesex players for sure did not embarrass themselves. They gave the Aussies a good workout and the crowd a good match to watch.
The weather smiled on us - the sun was out much of the time but not too hot - it was warm throughout the day, even when the sun went in. We sat and chatted in the members' lounge for a few minutes after stumps, to let the crowds subside then walked together to St John's Wood before going our separate ways.
Stokes Stuff
Here are some views on the Stokes situation. I have misplaced their origins
English cricket's biggest star, and those who run the game, will be breathing a huge sigh of relief. But while Ben Stokes' acquittal is arguably the biggest victory of his colourful and controversial career, this episode has still been damaging to the reputation of both the player, and - because of his status - the image of the game. And even though he has now been added to England's squad for the third Test against India, it is not the end of the saga.
The 27-year-old all-rounder must now wait for the outcome of a Cricket Disciplinary Commission (CDC) hearing - not likely to meet for several weeks - which had been put on hold until the criminal case was over. Although funded by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), it is officially independent of the governing body.
Although the doomsday scenario of his central contract being withdrawn by the ECB has subsided with Tuesday's not-guilty verdict, the panel may still hand Stokes and his England team-mate Alex Hales suspensions for their parts in the events of the early hours of 25 September last year. Hales, who is not involved in the Test series with India, was present with Stokes in Bristol but did not face criminal charges.
There will be considerable scrutiny on the decisions that are reached. This has played out at a time when the ECB is meant to be appealing to a new family audience and to sponsors, as it tries to justify its hugely contentious new 100-ball competition.
With a landmark summer looming next year, when England will host both a World Cup and the Ashes, the national selectors quickly moved to get the team's premier all-rounder back in the team as soon as possible after he missed the second Test against India.
His England team-mates are known to be supportive of him, and the ECB know it also has a duty of care to an employee to whom it pays an annual salary of around £750,000. Many observers believe that Stokes has already been punished sufficiently by missing last winter's Ashes series, and the loss of his £200,000-a-year sponsor New Balance, and that this should all be taken into account.
But the CDC and ECB must balance all that with the values and morals of the sport, and a need to show it is serious about respect and player misbehaviour. While the two cases are obviously very different, less than five months ago then-Australia captain Steve Smith and opener David Warner were banned for a year by Cricket Australia for their parts in the country's ball-tampering scandal. It will be interesting to see what punishments are handed down to Stokes and Hales if they are found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute.
Regardless of the jury's not-guilty verdict, the trial has cast a shadow over England's cricket team. With events over the past two weeks front-page news in the papers, and the lead story more than once on the national TV bulletins, there will be few people unaware of the horrendous mobile phone footage of England's biggest star embroiled in a late-night street brawl just hours after a match, and in the middle of a one-day series. Or the gruesome close-up video of Ryan Ali's bruised and swollen face following the punch-up. Or the images of Stokes appearing to flick something at a gay man outside a nightclub (he denied the prosecution's claim it was a cigarette butt and that he had mocked the pair). Or the police body-cam footage of his arrest. Or Stokes' admission that he drank heavily on the night in question.
There was a huge amount at stake here at Bristol Crown Court. A guilty verdict - and therefore a criminal record - could have affected Stokes' applications for visas to play the game in certain countries, and thrown his England career into turmoil. Certainly, the ECB would have been under huge pressure to throw the book at him.
Despite Stokes' acquittal, the prosecution's portrayal of him as a violent "bully" is the last thing the ECB wants for arguably the country's most important and high-profile cricketer. But there are questions for others too amid the fall-out: For the Crown Prosecution Service - who took four months to decide to charge Stokes. And even then, on the first day of the trial, remarkably tried to have two additional charges of actual bodily harm added to Stokes' indictment. It had 11 months to consider what to charge him with. Why was that decision not taken earlier? The judge rejected its application on the basis it was too late. For Stokes' advisers who appear to have failed to impress upon their prodigiously talented client the need to avoid trouble after previous controversies. And for the ECB for its handling of this affair.
This is a man, after all, who was sent home from an England Lions tour in 2013 to Australia for late-night drinking. Who was reprimanded for using "obscene, offensive or insulting" language during a Test match against the West Indies in August 2017. Who was warned by a judge in 2016 that he could face jail for another driving offence, after being caught speeding four times. Who last year had to apologise to Katie Price and her disabled son Harvey for a video that showed the England player imitating a TV clip of the youngster. A man who former ECB chairman Lord MacLaurin accused of "sticking two fingers up at management" over the Bristol incident.
For many, it seemed confusing that in the wake of the incident, Stokes was included in England's Ashes squad (and named vice-captain), but then left out of it, even though he had not been charged with anything. Then controversially reinstated for the subsequent series in New Zealand, once he had actually been charged.
To be fair to the ECB, Stokes had to be considered innocent until proven guilty, and the governing body may well have been advised that suspending him indefinitely could have prejudiced the trial and been a potential restraint of trade. As well as risking the player turning his back on England altogether.
But the clear sense emanating from Lord's at the time was that the ECB board was divided over what to do about the crisis, with some members deeply uneasy about Stokes representing his country while images of him knocking another man unconscious were all over social media. And it seemed even more mystifying when in November, those in charge of English cricket were unaware that Stokes had flown to Canterbury, New Zealand, to get in some match practice during his exile.
While the ECB has denied suggestions of a drinking culture within the England squad, there were clearly lessons to be learned. Chief executive Tom Harrison wrote to the players to remind them of their responsibilities after further controversies in Australia last winter - involving Jonny Bairstow and then Ben Duckett - gave the impression of a squad out of control. A curfew was introduced to the squad during that tour.
While there is clearly a limit to how much the governing body can do, some may be surprised that Stokes and Hales were not accompanied by a minder on that infamous night in Bristol, and privately the ECB admits there may have to be more changes in terms of how much it controls and monitors the players' movements.
The defence in this trial always insisted their client had been acting in self-defence, and Stokes will now feel vindicated. But some people may also consider him fortunate that the injuries sustained in the fight - by both the co-accused and himself - were not more serious.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 190
October 2018
Caption Competition
1. Nick Compton: If Joe Denly can get picked for to the England team is there any reason why I should not get a recall?
2. Stuart law: What do you mean Middlesex are a second division side? I thought they were in the first division.
3. Steve McClaren: When I was offered the Rangers job I thought it was the one in Glasgow.
4. Andy Gray: This new wave of anti-misogynistic attitudes seems to have passed me by.
Ron Atkinson: Me too.
5. Danny Cipriani: Fancy a beer sometime, Ben?
Ben Stokes: Will there be a punch up afterwards?
Danny Cipriani: Could be.
Ben Stokes: Count me in.
6. Chairman of Hampshire: Any idea how Brexit will affect the Kolpak regulations?
Chairman of Leicestershire: No, but we could be a bit short in the batting, and bowling departments.
Out & About with the Professor
In the end it all seemed very comfortable, although there were times during the season when comfort was decidedly absent. Having narrowly escaped (or so it seemed) relegation, Yorkshire finished up fourth in Division One. A couple of wins and a draw from the last three games of the season were enough to get well clear of the drop zone which, as still seems odd to me, envelops 25% of the teams in the Division.
The most celebrated win was, of course, against Lancashire. The defeat contributed to Lancashire’s relegation and the delight on the faces of the North-East Terrace Upper Stand’s faithful was there for all to see. In truth the North East Terrace Upper Stand occupants are not given to great displays of emotion…but they do make an exception when Lancs get relegated.
To be fair (and why should we be?) they didn’t get relegated by much, having an identical points tally to Notts and more batting and bowling points. Sadly, they had fewer wins…sadly.
From what I saw, Surrey were easily the best team this year, and 10 wins out of 14 is an exceptional performance.
And so, thoughts turn to next season. Yorkshire’s problem all along has been their batting and occasional contributions from Balance, Lyth, Kohler-Cadmore (in the Lancashire match) have not been enough to give any confidence in their survival in the Division. Added to that the disastrous recruitment of Cheteshwar Pujara (12 innings at an average of 14) who must rank as one of the worst Yorkshire overseas signings of all time…and there is some competition for that title. Jeet Raval’s 84 runs from 7 innings doesn’t look too special either. Several young players have come into the side but, with the exception of wicket-keeper Tattersall, have not really been convincing.
The bowling has, in general, done reasonably well, especially Code (when fit) and Brooks towards the end of the season. But Brooks is one of a mini-exodus from Headingley amid talk of problems with the coach and not enough money. Add to that the muddle about the captaincy, and all does not seem well. It appears that Root, Bairstow, Rashid and Willey have all been given central contracts of a sort – so not much help likely to come from there. Perhaps some of the young players will, like Coad, become established – but they don’t have a lot of time to do so. Perhaps Yorkshire will make some inspired overseas signings …perhaps.
Never mind. The new stand at the rugby ground end is coming on nicely and should be all ready for use next season. Members have been sent advertisements for the new facilities where a “fine dining experience” will be available. Not gone too well that on the North East Terrace: “what us needs is fine battin’ never mind fine bloody dining”.
So, that’s the end of Yorkshire cricket for another year, except for those off to Abu Dhabi next week for a T20 competition that, frankly, will only be of interest to very, very few people. Might be true of the County Championship soon…
Middlesex Matters
The GJM gets back to the proper stuff
Middlesex brought in Ollie Rayner for Rob White (with Stevie Eskinazi taking charge of the wicket keeping duties) and Steve Finn for Tim Murtagh (who is on international duty with Ireland) for the County Championship match versus Sussex which began at Lord's on August 29. There was no toss because Sussex obviously wanted to bowl first on the exceptionally bright green pitch (Mick Hunt's revenge?).
It was a damp morning, the start was delayed and it was expected, of course, that Middlesex would struggle in these conditions, but it was still very depressing to witness the steady flow of batsmen returning to the pavilion with single figure scores. Nick Gubbins deserves credit for a useful 29 at the top of the order and James Fuller made 17 at no 8, but Middx's hero was 20 year old Max Holden, batting at 6, who did brilliantly to master the moving ball and he finished unbeaten on 50 off 104 balls with six fours as the innings closed on an unsatisfactory 169. All of the four Sussex seamers enjoyed success with the best of them Chris Jordan (3 for 26) and Jofra Archer (3 for 34), both of them from Barbados.
When the visitors batted, they got off to a decent start as Phil Salt (32 off 35 balls with 6 fours) and Luke Wells (24) put on 45 for the first wicket, but that was as good as it got for Sussex as the Middlesex seamers enjoyed the conditions just as much as the visitors had done. Skipper and keeper Ben Brown also made 24, but no other batsman could manage more than 17. Jimmy Harris took 4 for 61, Ethan Bamber (a 19 year old seamer born in Westminster) and James Fuller both took 2 for 32 and Finn took 2 for 34. The innings lasted only 45.5 overs and the Sussex total of 171 gave them a narrow lead of 2.
The Middlesex second innings was a considerable improvement on the first innings, but this was mainly due to a fine third wicket stand of 87 between keeper Eskinazi and skipper Dawid Malan. Eskinazi departed for an excellent 60 off 114 balls with 10 fours, but Malan found another useful partner in Harris (26) and a very handy 60 were added for the sixth wicket before Malan fell for an admirable 70 off 176 balls with 5 fours. Rayner made a useful 17 not out at the end as the innings closed slightly disappointingly on 232 all out, setting Sussex 231 to win with a day and three quarters to get them in and the wicket apparently easing. The stars of the Sussex attack were the opening pair of Archer (5 for 69) and Ollie Robinson (4 for 59).
Several visiting batters got starts (Salt 20, Tom Haines 23, Harry Finch 20, Brown 31), but wickets were falling regularly, and it always looked as if Middlesex had a good chance of clinching the win. Sussex actually slumped to 128 for 9 before their best stand of the match developed between South African Kolpak allrounder David Wiese (37*) and ex-Hants slow left armer Danny Briggs (20) who has represented England in limited overs matches, the pair putting on a worrying 47 for the last wicket before the innings finally closed on 175 to give Middx the victory by 55 runs. Keeper Eskinazi claimed four good catches behind the stumps and the same four seamers again took all the wickets (Middlesex did not bowl a solitary over of spin in the match): Fuller 3 for 37, Bamber 3 for 50, Harris 2 for 43 and Finn 1 for 37. The innings lasted only 44.5 overs and the match was over before 4pm on day 3, having lasted barely two and a half days. It was slightly disappointing that the seamer friendly track meant a low scoring match from which Middlesex took only 19 points and Sussex 3. Despite winning 3 consecutive Championship matches, Middx have moved up only to fourth in division 2 and the main reason for this is their disastrous "haul" of bonus points: their 8 batting points is the lowest in the country (even Glamorgan have more!) and their overall total of 35 is also the lowest in the country and compares unfavourably with Surrey's 58 and Warwickshire's 55.
*********
Compared to the team that played against Gloucestershire at Bristol, Middlesex brought in Ollie Rayner for Paul Stirling, Martin Andersson for Jimmy Harris and Steve Finn for Tim Murtagh for the Championship match against Kent, which began at Lord’s on 10th September. The absence through injury of Harris and Murtagh, brought the number of injured Middlesex seamers up to four, Tom Helm and Toby Roland-Jones being the others. The toss was uncontested, of course, because Kent obviously wanted to bowl first on yet another bright green pitch.
Middlesex started badly with none of the top seven in the order managing to get beyond 17 and the home team slumped to 80 for 7. James Fuller, however, batting at 8, immediately looked more comfortable than any of his predecessors and a useful stand of 39 with Ollie Rayner (19) developed. The best stand of the innings though was an enjoyable last wicket partnership of 41 after Fuller was joined by number eleven Steve Finn. Finn batted attractively for 27 off 22 balls with 4 fours, but when he was out with the score on a meagre 161, the only home batsman who could be really happy with himself was Fuller who topscored with 37 not out off 45 balls with 5 fours. 42 year old Darren Stevens was the best of the visitors bowlers with 4 for 44, but Harry Podmore, mistakenly rejected by Middlesex without giving him a decent run in the first team, emphasised the blunder by taking 3 for 35 in 12 impressive overs.
If anything, the Kent innings started even more disastrously than the Middlesex innings had done (Kent were 53 for 6 compared to the home team's 73 for 6), but it was that man Stevens who started to turn things around and when he was joined by no 9 Grant Stewart, from Kalgoorlie WA, an excellent stand of 75 developed for the eighth wicket. Stevens eventually fell for an outstanding 64 off 73 balls with 10 fours, but Stewart managed to take the score from 157 to 192 all out without any runs at all coming from numbers 10 and 11, before he finally fell for a splendid 63 off 95 balls with 9 fours. Fuller was the best of the Middlesex seam attack with 4 for 49 and the other wickets went to Ethan Bamber (2 for 31), Andersson (2 for 52) and Finn (2 for 55), with Stevie Eskinazi picking up 3 catches behind the stumps.
The home team's second innings got off to a much better start with a stand of 59 for the first wicket between Sam Robson (36 off 61 balls with 5 fours) and Nick Gubbins (25 off 68 balls with 4 fours), skipper Dawid Malan contributed 32 off 26 balls with 6 fours and Eskinazi 22 off 52 balls with 3 fours. However, the innings slumped alarmingly from 101 for 2 to 114 for 6 before Fuller again tried to rescue the team from disaster with a praiseworthy 28 not out off 65 balls with 2 fours. The Middlesex total of 186 meant that Kent only needed 156 to win with well over 2 days to get them. Matt Henry, from Christchurch NZ, was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 40, but Podmore (3 for 35) and Stevens (3 for 46) again gave admirable support. The Kent second innings got off to a poor start (13 for 2), but Sean Dickson, from Jo'burg SA (32 off 45 balls with 4 fours), Heino Kuhn, from Mpumalanga SA (39 off 73 balls with 3 fours), Daniel Bell-Drummond (28 from 45 balls with 1 four) and skipper and keeper Sam Billings (31 not out off 54 balls with 4 fours) ensured that Kent won by 3 wickets well before lunch on day 3. Fuller was again the pick of the home bowlers with 3 for 53, while Bamber bowled 16 fine overs taking 2 for 34. Kent 19 points, Middlesex 3.
**********
Middlesex brought in keeper Rob White to replace Eoin Morgan (and to allow Stevie Eskinazi to relinquish the gloves and return to no 3 in the order), Jimmy Harris to replace Ollie Rayner (as spinners do not even get bowl in home games) and Tim Murtagh to return in the absence of the injured Steve Finn for the County Championship match versus Derbyshire which started at Lord's on 18th of September. There was no toss, of course, because all visiting sides want to bowl first on the famously bright green pitches on offer at Lord's. It has to be said, however, that this pitch was nowhere near as green as most that have been offered to Middlesex by the Lord's ground staff this season.
Sam Robson and Nick Gubbins made a useful start to the Middlesex innings before Gubbins fell with the score on 64 and Eskinazi looked in good form, making 35 out of a stand of 75 for the second wicket with Robson. The best partnership of the match, however came when Robson was joined by Max Holden and 132 were added for the fourth wicket before Robson departed for an excellent 134 (off 239 balls with 17 fours) comfortably his best effort of the season as he had previously averaged only 20 this year in the Championship with a top score of 72. Robson's dismissal signalled a rapid decline in the home team's fortunes as 6 wickets fell for the addition of only 59 runs. Holden was still there, however, and when last man Murtagh joined him a thoroughly entertaining stand of 66 developed for the tenth wicket with Murtagh contributing a quickfire 39 off 40 balls with 7 fours. Holden was left unbeaten on an exceptional 119 not out off 172 balls with 17 boundaries as the innings closed on 423 off 108.4 overs. The persevering Tony Palladino (formerly of Essex) was the pick of the visiting bowlers with 4 for 92 in 29 overs.
When Derbyshire batted, they soon slumped to 62 for 4, but ex-Middlesex opener Billy Godleman was still stubbornly holding his end up and now he was joined by the much more flamboyant Matt Critchley in a stand of 65 before skipper Godleman departed for a persevering 28 off 95 balls. Irish international Gary Wilson made a valuable 31 in a partnership of 60 with Critchley and AK Dal contributed 23 to a stand of 56 with Critchley before the latter finally fell for a splendid 105 off 135 balls with 14 fours. South African Test player Hardus Viljoen hit a handy 31 not out at the end as the visitors' innings closed on 295. The best of the Middlesex bowlers were Jimmy Harris (4 for 83) and Ethan Bamber (3 for 35).
Robson batted more flamboyantly in the second innings as Middlesex wanted to add some quick runs in order to facilitate a declaration. Gubbins shared another opening partnership 58, Robson eventually ran himself out for an entertaining 73 off 81 balls with 11 fours, but most of the other contributions were cameos with Martin Andersson's 23 not out the next best score after Robson's. The declaration came at 199 for 7, setting the visitors 328 to win in one complete day. Critchley claimed 4 for 60 with his leg-breaks.
Skipper Godleman set a fine example in the Derbyshire second innings, but wickets fell regularly at the other end. Wilson's 22 out of a stand of 50 for the sixth wicket was the next best effort, but in the end Godleman was left high and dry having carried his bat for 105 not out from 147 balls with 11 fours and a six, as Middlesex won by 117 runs. Murtagh returned the best bowling analysis with 4 for 55 and the promising Bamber again took 3 for 35. White performed efficiently behind the stumps and claimed three second innings catches. Eskinazi was awarded his county cap at lunch on day 1. Middlesex 24 points, Derbyshire 5.
This & That
Middlesex had an almost satisfactory September with some wins to secure a mid-table position. There have continued to be awful sessions including a failure to get runs yesterday at the Riverside. Who would have predicted at the beginning of the season a seam attack of Murtagh, Bamber, Harris and Fuller? There was an almost total lack of contribution by Gubbins in the second half of the season which has set back his England chances, at least for the time being.
In their T20 Blast match against Durham at Old Trafford Lancashire were 149 for 6 at the end of the 19th over requiring just 6 runs to win. Durham chose to entrust the final over to their slow left armer Liam Trevaskis (yes, him) and a wise decision it proved to be. He took wickets from his second, fourth and fifth deliveries without conceding a run and Lancashire managed only a single from the final delivery to lose by the relatively large margin of four runs.
In Middlesex’ Championship match at Bristol Paul Stirling batted at number seven in the first innings. In the second Middlesex were set an improbable 305 from what turned out to be 31 overs to win. However, Malan must have thought they were in with a chance and Stirling was promoted to open the innings. He clearly thought that things had to start frenetically and was run out off the first ball going for a fourth. This has to be some sort of weird record. His scoring rate of 300 would easily have been enough if it could have been maintained beyond the first ball.
The selections for the winter tour warrant comment. Denly was the press selection on the back of a good season with the bat and improbably with the ball in the T20 Blast. He is too old (32) to become a serious test cricketer and smacks of selectorial desperation. Rory Burns is yet another left hander and may well struggle against quality off spinners like the rest of them. Olly Stone seems to have leap frogged over other preferred quicks – Ball, Wood, Plunkett, Porter, Finn. Where will TR-J feature next season, if at all? What happened to Footitt the great left arm hope and scourge of second division batsmen?
So, Stuart Law has been appointed head coach at Middlesex. Will he get involved in signing up significant players? There is plenty of movement but none of it coming Middlesex’ way. Apparently, Rashid was likely to leave Yorkshire but has now signed an all three formats deal albeit for just one year. This may piss off Poysden who had signed with Yorkshire as an opportunity to be first choice leggy. Notts and Surrey, as usual, are the biggest snapper uppers. Jordan Clark and Liam Plunkett head to the Oval, Joe Clarke joins Ben Duckett at Trent Bridge. Warwicks must anticipate losing Ollie Stone to England and have snapped up two Gloucestershire seamers- Liam Norwell and Craig Miles. Chris Wright goes to Leicestershire, presumably for more match time. Alex Lees goes to Durham and Jack Brooks goes to Somerset.
Rob Key remains the most entertaining of the Sky commentators. In a general discussion about overseas players in County cricket he got to talking about Rahul Dravid’s time at Kent. He said that he taught them all how to bat and they taught him how to swear.
Nienow Matters
Alvin Nienow sent me this
I liked the bit about Moen in the last G and C following Moen's performance in the last Test. I was not too surprised when he was dropped in NZ after a terrible run of performances with bat and ball which would have dispirited anybody. But then he seemed to become England's forgotten man. He was barely mentioned in all the discussions when trying to find a well-balanced and effective team which could cope with the various problems associated with injuries, court cases and the total inability of the early order to get any runs (and in the case of Cook and especially Jennings, the inability to take slip catches); and the captain also appeared pretty reluctant to use Rashid. There can't have been many Test matches where a return to the team after such treatment has led to such a stunning performance with the ball and such a good batting performance in the first innings that they attempted to use him to protect the captain (who incidentally I don't think has clue on that art) by putting him at 3 in the second. He thoroughly deserved being named man-of-the-match!
Of course, this was not the only weird feature of selection during the Series. A young bowler (only 20 and only in his 2nd Test) gets 5 wickets, plays 2 innings which save the side from disaster and becomes man-of-the-match in the first Test. He is then dropped two Tests, later having done nothing wrong! He is then recalled, saves England with the bat again and finishes the game with a last wicket lbw; which incidentally would have been not out-as would the penultimate wicket- if India had any reviews left! It's all crazy!!
It was claimed to be a great series and I suppose it was because of the scores and we won!! But it seems to me that we couldn't bat or catch consistently and whilst the Indian catching and fast bowling was brilliant, their spinners didn't turn up and though Kohli is clearly a wonderful batsman, the batting overall was poor and it seems to me neither the batting or the bowling was helped by the very inconsistent team selection. Losing the toss every time didn't help India either!
WGCC Matters
The Prof updates us on another WGCC success
Welwyn won the League playoffs -third year in a row - having finished third in the League. This play-off business was invented by a chap at Radlett. They have always regarded themselves as something special and so, when they won the League three years' ago they were confident that the newly invented play offs would be easy. Not so, we beat them in the final (at their ground - another stitch-up). So we naturally declared that we had won the League. Some (very hasty) reflection determined that there were, in fact, now two League titles - and a cup we were all (quite literally) drinking from was not the right one. They had to find another.
Still, three out of three is good enough for us.
Champions Matters
The GJM goes south for his final outing of the summer
Rory Burns won the toss for Surrey and chose to bat first on a flat brownish looking track that everyone thought wood yield the usual Oval run feast at the start of the final County Championship match against Essex at the Oval, which started on September 24th. A huge shock was coming, however as Surrey (already County Champions) were shot out for a miserable 67 in 27 overs with only Burns (19) and Ollie Pope (26) managing more than 5. The damage was done by the visitors' pace trio of Jamie Porter (4 for 26), Sam Cook (4 for 27) and Matthew Quinn (2 for 10).
When Essex batted, a second wicket stand of 146 between Murali Vijay and Tom Westley emphasised the poverty of Surrey's effort before Vijay fell for a valuable 80 off 127 balls with 10 fours. Westley carried on to a top class 134 off 282 balls with 21 fours and when he finally departed, an excellent stand developed between keeper Adam Wheater and Simon Harmer from Pretoria. Unfortunately, Wheater had to retire hurt on 68 off 105 balls with 8 fours and a six, but Harmer carried on to a splendid 102 not out off 156 balls with 11 fours and 2 sixes and that brought the declaration on 477 for 8. Jade Dernbach was the pick of the home bowlers with 4 for 95.
Surrey made a much better start to their second innings: Burns and Stoneman put on 63 for the first wicket before the captain departed for 21, but then Jason Roy dominated a terrific stand of 181 for the second wicket with Stoneman before they both fell in quick succession, Roy for a brilliant 128 off 151 balls with 19 fours and 2 sixes and Stoneman for a valuable 86 off 167 balls with 12 fours and a six. Ollie Pope now took centre stage as 115 were added for the fourth wicket with keeper Ben Foakes. Another useful stand of 54 developed with 19 year old Will Jacks before Pope finally departed for a superb 114 off 120 balls with 19 fours and a six. Jacks and Ryan Patel then put on 61 for the sixth wicket, but Jacks became another of Matt Coles's 5 wickets for a very promising 53 off 87 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Patel and Rikki Clarke added another quick 53 for the seventh wicket, but then a clatter of wickets brought the innings to a close on 541, with Coles finishing with 5 for 123, one of four visiting bowlers to concede between 115 and 127 runs in the innings.
Essex needed 132 to win with plenty of time to get them, but 5 wickets fell for only 55 until skipper Ryan ten Doeschate took charge and the visitors edged closer to their target. Morne Morkel and Jade Dernbach were causing problems for the visitors, but Amar Virdi was expensive and it was surprising that Clarke was not invited to bowl. However, Clarke did play his part by hanging on to 3 excellent catches at slip to get rid of three of the top four. The visitors sank to 97 for 7, 111 for 8 and 124 for 9, but ten Doeschate was still there and despite being responsible for the untimely run out of Coles, he kept his cool and guided his team to 134 for 9 with an unbeaten 53 and victory for his team over the new County Champions by one wicket in a truly gripping encounter. Morkel (4 for 28) was the pick of the bowlers, with Dernbach picking up 2 for 24 and Virdi 2 for 73. Essex (22 points) beat Surrey (2 points) by one wicket.
It was one of the most memorable matches I have ever seen. Surrey were top of the table with 254 points, Somerset were second (208) and Essex were third on 187. Worcestershire were relegated in last place and Lancashire join them in division 2 because they had fewer wins than Nottinghamshire, who finished with the same number of points. It was free to get in on day four, so the small crowd was even more disappointing than it would otherwise have been. I suppose no one knew it was going to be free? I certainly did not.
Middlesex v Australians At Lord’s
Ian Harris(Ged) reports on a day out
There are only two places remaining on the planet where stewards and on the odd occasion even fellow patrons still refer to me as "young man": Lord's and the Wigmore Hall. Janie and I ended up going to both of those places on the same day, but sadly, no-one referred to me as "young man" in either place. Perhaps our mistake, in this regard, at Lord's, was to take the youngsters, Charlie and Chris (Lavender & Escamillo Escapillo), as our guests. These terms are comparative, after all. In other regards, however, this was not a mistake, because we all four had a most enjoyable day at Lord's.
Janie and I got to Lord's really early, to secure enough seats in Janie's favourite pavilion spot; the upper sun deck. And in order to achieve that, we both got up ridiculously early. Janie was on picnic duty for this one - never a quick and dirty process in the morning however much preparation can be done the day before.
Janie had sourced quite a lot of the food (and indeed other weekend food) at Finn's - which seemed most appropriate with Steve Finn skippering Middlesex for this match. So the picnic basically comprised some cheesy biscuit nibbles, ham rolls, sweet nibbles, beef rolls, carrots, tomatoes and grapes. A bottle of Vouvray and a bottle of Pinot Noir. Yummy.
Our little group got quite jolly and at one point there was a round of hat swapping, which left Chris looking a little unusual in Janie's big colourful floppy sun hat. I primed my camera for a photo, but Chris felt that, as I am a captain of industry, it would be best not to have a permanent record that showed me to have been in Chris's company...or something like that.
The occasion was, in part, timed to coincide with Chris's birthday. He mumbled about producing a birthday honours list, on the basis that, if the queen could have such lists, why couldn't he? Meanwhile Charlie occasionally went into schoolmarm mode in a vain attempt to restore decorum. She seems to quite like that role these days.
Also meanwhile, Middlesex bowled really well, we felt. At no point did Australia really get away and we kept revising our estimates of the potential Aussie score downwards. Nathan Sowter took an absolutely stunning catch to secure the first wicket and perhaps settle the nerves of some of the younger players such as Barber, off whose bowling that catch was taken.
The Middlesex batting looked a little weak on paper for this standard of opposition and so it proved on grass. It's a shame that one or two of the more senior batsmen didn't dig in a little more, which might have given the less-experienced players a bit less to do. Still, young Holden batted beautifully and the Middlesex players for sure did not embarrass themselves. They gave the Aussies a good workout and the crowd a good match to watch.
The weather smiled on us - the sun was out much of the time but not too hot - it was warm throughout the day, even when the sun went in. We sat and chatted in the members' lounge for a few minutes after stumps, to let the crowds subside then walked together to St John's Wood before going our separate ways.
Stokes Stuff
Here are some views on the Stokes situation. I have misplaced their origins
English cricket's biggest star, and those who run the game, will be breathing a huge sigh of relief. But while Ben Stokes' acquittal is arguably the biggest victory of his colourful and controversial career, this episode has still been damaging to the reputation of both the player, and - because of his status - the image of the game. And even though he has now been added to England's squad for the third Test against India, it is not the end of the saga.
The 27-year-old all-rounder must now wait for the outcome of a Cricket Disciplinary Commission (CDC) hearing - not likely to meet for several weeks - which had been put on hold until the criminal case was over. Although funded by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), it is officially independent of the governing body.
Although the doomsday scenario of his central contract being withdrawn by the ECB has subsided with Tuesday's not-guilty verdict, the panel may still hand Stokes and his England team-mate Alex Hales suspensions for their parts in the events of the early hours of 25 September last year. Hales, who is not involved in the Test series with India, was present with Stokes in Bristol but did not face criminal charges.
There will be considerable scrutiny on the decisions that are reached. This has played out at a time when the ECB is meant to be appealing to a new family audience and to sponsors, as it tries to justify its hugely contentious new 100-ball competition.
With a landmark summer looming next year, when England will host both a World Cup and the Ashes, the national selectors quickly moved to get the team's premier all-rounder back in the team as soon as possible after he missed the second Test against India.
His England team-mates are known to be supportive of him, and the ECB know it also has a duty of care to an employee to whom it pays an annual salary of around £750,000. Many observers believe that Stokes has already been punished sufficiently by missing last winter's Ashes series, and the loss of his £200,000-a-year sponsor New Balance, and that this should all be taken into account.
But the CDC and ECB must balance all that with the values and morals of the sport, and a need to show it is serious about respect and player misbehaviour. While the two cases are obviously very different, less than five months ago then-Australia captain Steve Smith and opener David Warner were banned for a year by Cricket Australia for their parts in the country's ball-tampering scandal. It will be interesting to see what punishments are handed down to Stokes and Hales if they are found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute.
Regardless of the jury's not-guilty verdict, the trial has cast a shadow over England's cricket team. With events over the past two weeks front-page news in the papers, and the lead story more than once on the national TV bulletins, there will be few people unaware of the horrendous mobile phone footage of England's biggest star embroiled in a late-night street brawl just hours after a match, and in the middle of a one-day series. Or the gruesome close-up video of Ryan Ali's bruised and swollen face following the punch-up. Or the images of Stokes appearing to flick something at a gay man outside a nightclub (he denied the prosecution's claim it was a cigarette butt and that he had mocked the pair). Or the police body-cam footage of his arrest. Or Stokes' admission that he drank heavily on the night in question.
There was a huge amount at stake here at Bristol Crown Court. A guilty verdict - and therefore a criminal record - could have affected Stokes' applications for visas to play the game in certain countries, and thrown his England career into turmoil. Certainly, the ECB would have been under huge pressure to throw the book at him.
Despite Stokes' acquittal, the prosecution's portrayal of him as a violent "bully" is the last thing the ECB wants for arguably the country's most important and high-profile cricketer. But there are questions for others too amid the fall-out: For the Crown Prosecution Service - who took four months to decide to charge Stokes. And even then, on the first day of the trial, remarkably tried to have two additional charges of actual bodily harm added to Stokes' indictment. It had 11 months to consider what to charge him with. Why was that decision not taken earlier? The judge rejected its application on the basis it was too late. For Stokes' advisers who appear to have failed to impress upon their prodigiously talented client the need to avoid trouble after previous controversies. And for the ECB for its handling of this affair.
This is a man, after all, who was sent home from an England Lions tour in 2013 to Australia for late-night drinking. Who was reprimanded for using "obscene, offensive or insulting" language during a Test match against the West Indies in August 2017. Who was warned by a judge in 2016 that he could face jail for another driving offence, after being caught speeding four times. Who last year had to apologise to Katie Price and her disabled son Harvey for a video that showed the England player imitating a TV clip of the youngster. A man who former ECB chairman Lord MacLaurin accused of "sticking two fingers up at management" over the Bristol incident.
For many, it seemed confusing that in the wake of the incident, Stokes was included in England's Ashes squad (and named vice-captain), but then left out of it, even though he had not been charged with anything. Then controversially reinstated for the subsequent series in New Zealand, once he had actually been charged.
To be fair to the ECB, Stokes had to be considered innocent until proven guilty, and the governing body may well have been advised that suspending him indefinitely could have prejudiced the trial and been a potential restraint of trade. As well as risking the player turning his back on England altogether.
But the clear sense emanating from Lord's at the time was that the ECB board was divided over what to do about the crisis, with some members deeply uneasy about Stokes representing his country while images of him knocking another man unconscious were all over social media. And it seemed even more mystifying when in November, those in charge of English cricket were unaware that Stokes had flown to Canterbury, New Zealand, to get in some match practice during his exile.
While the ECB has denied suggestions of a drinking culture within the England squad, there were clearly lessons to be learned. Chief executive Tom Harrison wrote to the players to remind them of their responsibilities after further controversies in Australia last winter - involving Jonny Bairstow and then Ben Duckett - gave the impression of a squad out of control. A curfew was introduced to the squad during that tour.
While there is clearly a limit to how much the governing body can do, some may be surprised that Stokes and Hales were not accompanied by a minder on that infamous night in Bristol, and privately the ECB admits there may have to be more changes in terms of how much it controls and monitors the players' movements.
The defence in this trial always insisted their client had been acting in self-defence, and Stokes will now feel vindicated. But some people may also consider him fortunate that the injuries sustained in the fight - by both the co-accused and himself - were not more serious.
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