G&C 202
GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 202
October 2019
Caption Competition
1. Jonathan Agnew: What considerations do you take into account when contemplating a declaration?
Joe Root: None. I’ve never had to do it.
2. Visitor: Why are those people singing Sweet Caroline?
Local expert: Because they come from Birmingham
Visitor: But now they are singing Hey Jude
Local expert: that’s because they are also in the Barmy Army
Visitor: What’s that got to do with cricket?
Local expert: Absolutely nothing.
3. Stuart Law: What are we going to do about the batting next year?
Gus Fraser: There’s only one thing for it, you’ll have to play yourself.
4. Man in the pub: What has the IAAF World Championships in Dohar got in common with the County Championship?
Barman: I don’t know. What has the IAAF World Championships in Dohar got in common with the County Championship?
Man in the pub: Nobody goes to watch either.
Out & About with the Professor
On September 16th, Championship cricket finally returned to Headingley. Prior to that there had only been one match at the Headquaters of the North since the 3rd June.
I read in a short valedictory statement, that England’s departing Head Coach took the view that “something” needs to be done about county cricket. Probably it was piercing insights like this that got him the job in the first place. I recall an article in Wisden about ten years’ ago written by Michael Atherton which concluded with the view that county cricket served no useful purpose. He may be (have been) right, but whatever purpose it serves, it seems odd to confine it to spring and autumn. This year was special, as we all know, but it seems something of a metaphor for the Championship to be marginalised in this way. The spring part of the season was decidedly chilly but autumn was blisteringly hot.
The close finish was exciting for, sadly, a very few.
The cricket in this penultimate match was bizarre. Kent were the visitors from the Deep South and were clearly suffering from the journey in the first hour when they got to 39-5. That brought together Darren Stevens (who seems to have been playing for a generation or two) and Sam Billings. I watched the play with an old friend, Peter, (all my friends are old), who is a life-long Kent supporter. Indeed when I first met Peter, many years ago, his boast was that the high point of his cricketing career was that he had dropped a catch in a first class match (subbing for Kent).
I learned that Stevens was being released by Kent at the end of the season which would be little loss as he hasn’t done much all year. He scored 237, his highest career score. From 39-5 Kent moved to 385-6 before Stevens was out having exhausted himself belting Yorkshire’s new international bowler (Patel - replacing the admirable Maharaj) to all parts. Patel had just got off the plane and so had perhaps more excuse that the Kent openers, but he had been acquired at considerable expense to play the last two Championship matches now that Maharaj had to be back on international duty in South Africa. The Yorkshire crowd was not impressed. Several of them suggested -quite loudly- that their long-hops were just as good as those of young Patel and available at a much more reasonable price.
Stevens didn’t mind. He just kept bashing the ball into the stands. At 100-0 off 10 our new New Zealander might have been wishing himself still on the plane - and many of the spectators certainly did. 482 is a very reasonable score on day one and it proved too much of a challenge to Yorkshire who have struggled to get runs all year. Patel performed little better in the second innings (1 for 112 from 20) and Kent won by a country mile.
The annoyance for the Yorkshire congregation was not just the money (although spending money seldom goes unnoticed in these parts) but also that Yorkshire has a couple of young spinners of whom there are high hopes. Jack Shutt and Sam Wisniewski are both thought of as future first team players and “names to remember” (might be easier with one rather than the other). Given that Yorkshire could not win, nor be relegated from, Division 1 it seemed that a better time to play one or other of the young spinners would be hard to find.
Stevens ducking a ball from Yorkshire’s Olivier on his way to 237.
Yorkshire’s season ended about as middle of the table as possible: 5th in the Blast, 5th in the Championship and 6th in the Royal London. So middling in the extreme. According to Gale that means that there is “a lot to build on”. But not, so it seems, the use of young spinners.
Back, perhaps, to Atherton’s criticism.
So the end of another season. Stunning World Cup, disappointing (although never-to-be-forgotten) Ashes, and county cricket just ticking along. What for next year? Well, Newlands sounds as good a place as any to see in the New Year - perhaps Anderson might even be fit by then – so that could be a plan.
In the meantime, I’m having to watch a succession of bicycles go past our front door in something called the World Championship. Apparently, it’s very exciting.
This & That
I often find the Quarter Finals of the T20 competition intriguing although it may be their sudden death nature that gives them extra bite. This year the first of these was held at Chester-le -street because there was inconveniently a test match being played at Old Trafford. Lancashire batted first and their 159 looked like being enough until Bopara joined ten Doeschate and they added 60 in five overs. Bopara scored 39 from 19 balls with 4 sixes and he went on to perform similar closing feats in both the semi-final and final.
The second quarter final was at Trent Bridge where Middlesex were put in and soon found themselves in the all too familiar position of 43 for 4 despite ABdeV’s presence. Morgan compiled 53 but 160 never looked like being enough. Nash and Hales (remember him?) made mincemeat of the Middlesex attack and won with four overs to spare without losing a wicket.
Sussex have had a good season and made a respectable 184 at Hove after being put in by Worcestershire. But this was nowhere near enough as Moeen plundered 121 not out from 60 balls with 11 sixes.
The final match was played at Bristol where Gloucestershire were restricted to just 135 by Derbyshire who then knocked them off with a comfortable three overs to spare.
In their penultimate Championship match at Old Trafford Middlesex slumped to 34 for 6 in their first innings and then to 55 for 5 in their second. The frailties of the Middlesex top order cannot only be the result of poor wickets, particularly at Lord’s. Stuart Law and good ‘ol Gus will have to do some serious thinking in the close season. Their philosophy of using home grown talent isn’t working and they need to find some top order runs from somewhere for next year. This season was the easy one for getting back into the first division with three promotees and the chance was blown. All too often this year the tail have had to scrape together runs to keep the side in the game. So much so that Harris, Roland-Jones, Murtagh and the other bowlers have begun to feel like all-rounders.
In Kent’s game at Leeds they found themselves in a Middlesex like 39 for 5 when Darren Stevens joined skipper Sam Billings. They added 346 before Stevens was out for 237 from 225 with 9 sixes. He then went on to open the bowling and soon had ex England men Lyth and Balance back in the hutch. Stevens has just been given a new contract at age 43.
In the triangular tournament in Dublin George Munsey opened the batting for Scotland against the Netherlands and made 127 not out from 56 balls in an innings that included 14 sixes. He added 200 for the first wicket with captain Kyle Coetzer. Scotland reached 252 for 3 which was more than enough to beat the Netherlands who reached 194 for 7 in reply.
If Jonny Bairstow was dropped as England’s wicket keeper for the winter series why was he not then selected as a batsman? Surely he could get in the top four and be able to bat there if he was relieved of his keeping duties? The selections of Sibley and Crawley bode badly for the generation of those looking for a recall- Vince, Habeeb, Malan, Ballance & Westley.
Middlesex Matters
The GJM pays his final visits to Lord’s for the season
Middlesex won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first in the County Championship match against Durham which began at Lord's on September 10th on a pitch that looked as if it would assist the seam bowlers. Middlesex brought in new signing Miguel Cummins, who has 14 Test caps for the West Indies, Max Holden and George Scott to replace Toby Roland-Jones, Nathan Sowter and Paul Stirling. Neither Middlesex nor Durham selected a recognised spin bowler.
Durham started well enough with ex-Yorkshire batsman Alex Lees (26) and ex-Middlesex second XI player the well-travelled Cameron Steel (29) putting on 56 for the first wicket. Australian Test batsman Peter Handscomb did even better with 54 off 72 balls with 9 fours, but wickets fell regularly at the other end and Durham could manage only 147 all out. Steve Finn was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 41 and Tim Murtagh picked up 3 for 32.
When Middlesex batted Sam Robson, Stevie Eskinazi and Dawid Malan all reached the low twenties, but from 43 for 1, wickets fell rapidly and only Cummins, batting at 9, made more than 14 and he finished with 22 not out as Middlesex slumped to a disappointing 143 all out. Ben Raine (5 for 26) was the pick of the bowlers and he was well backed up by Chris Rushworth (3 for46), both men from Sunderland.
Lees and Steel again put on 51 for the first wicket, but it was slightly surprising that easily the best batsman in the Durham second innings was the ex-Leicestershire and Sussex player Angus Robson (Sam's younger brother). Angus made an excellent 64 off 156 balls with 10 fours until he was the last man out, while the next best contributions came from the unrelated Steels Cameron and Scott, who both made 39 as Durham reached 191 all out. The best of the home bowlers were Jimmy Harris (3 for 43) and Finn (3 for 49).
Middlesex's target was 196 to win which would have been the highest score of the match, but many in the crowd felt that this was achievable. Sam Robson (65 off 115 balls with 12 fours) certainly batted well enough to make that achievement a reality, but he received depressingly poor support from his colleagues. The main reason for Middlesex's batting failures was Brydon Carse from Port Elizabeth, SA, who returned the magnificent figures of 6 for 26 as the home team slumped depressingly to 151 all out to lose by 44 runs. Not a solitary over of spin was bowled in the match. Middlesex are now eighth in division two and are 84 points behind the leaders Lancashire, whom Middlesex face at Old Trafford next week... I think I will give that one a miss. Middlesex might have to face the reality that the current squad is just not good enough and set about bringing in reinforcements for next season. Durham (19 points) beat Middlesex (3) by 44 runs. Tom Helm was awarded his county cap at lunch on day 1.
Middlesex brought in Tim Murtagh to replace Nathan Sowter for the final Championship match of the season against Derbyshire, which began at Lord's on Monday September 23 in bright sunshine, though the forecast for the match as a whole was poor and three of the four floodlights were on throughout the match. The toss was uncontested as the visitors obviously wanted to bowl first on a very green track and Middlesex did not select a spin bowler for the second consecutive match at Lords. Nick Gubbins departed early without scoring, but Sam Robson was in good form and Max Holden helped him to add 52 for the second wicket, but there are rumours that Max's score of 19 will not be enough to earn him a new contract as his batting average this season is only 13.65.
Skipper Dawid Malan then shared the best stand of the innings (90) with Robson before the latter fell for an excellent 93 off 163 balls with 13 fours. Malan went on to an admirable 72 off 141 balls with 9 fours, but it was all very disappointing after that as only Jimmy Harris (25*) and Toby Roland-Jones (23) were able to reach double figures and Middlesex slumped from 251 for 6 to a below par 260 all out. Luis Reece, who opens both the batting and the bowling these days, was the pick of the bowlers with 4-61 with his left arm seamers and Fynn Hudson-Prentice, about whom I know nothing except that he bowls right arm seamers, picked up the last three wickets for 65.
When the visitors batted, Reece and ex-Middlesex man Billy Godleman put on 49 for the first wicket and Leus du Ploy and Alex Hughes 48 for the fourth. Du Ploy was then joined by keeper Harvey Hosein in an impressive stand of 99 for the fifth wicket before Hosein became Ethan Bamber's third victim for a fine 57 off 95 balls with 6 fours. Du Ploy progressed steadily towards his century and when he deservedly reached that target (off 175 balls with 15 fours) shortly after tea on day 4, the captains shook hands on the draw with Derbys on 304 for 7. Bamber finished with career best figures of 5 for 93. The match had been plagued by rain and bad light ever since the first afternoon and at no stage did the result look like being anything other than a draw. The total number of overs bowled in the match was 166, which is well under two days' play. Middlesex 9 points, Derbyshire 11 and the visitors (145 points in seventh place) finished one place above Middlesex (133 points in eighth) in the Second Division.
Morgan Matters
Our final in-season peep into the Great Man’s diary
Paul Stirling has committed himself to Ireland and so will leave Middlesex (where he would have become an overseas player). He played only a handful of Championship games this season but managed 138 v Glamorgan.
I hear that C Overton has leap-frogged over Woakes and Curran into the Test team for the OT Test. He has always looked useful to me, but it seems strange that he has suddenly become a better player than the likes of Woakes and Curran, who have been in the squad for quite some time. Is it because he is a bit quicker?
Middlesex have signed WI "paceman" Miguel Cummins for the rest of the CC season (3 matches). He has 14 Test caps for WI. Have they mixed him up with Pat Cummins?
There are knighthoods for G Boycott (which is getting a lot of stick because of his conviction for domestic assault: I tend to agree, those things can be overlooked in selection matters, say, but surely not for knighthoods?) and A Strauss.
D Sibley has passed 1,000 Championship runs for the season: is he the first? The G does not say.
The England team for Test 5 looks a bit odd (Roy and Overton are dropped): Burns, Denly, Root, Stokes, Bairstow, Buttler, Curran, Woakes, Archer, Broad, Leach. Three specialist batsmen, five allrounders and three specialist bowlers! Though I suppose Stokes becomes a specialist batter if he is not going to bowl? Maybe Buttler too, but he batted 7 and 8 at OT!
Oval: Oz chose to field in the Test and had a pretty good day (M Marsh 4-45) as England managed only 271-6 (Burns 47, Root 57), but Buttler batted better than he has done for England for a while and finished on 64*. He needs to get plenty more tomorrow with only Leach and Broad (has he voluntarily turned himself into a no 11? This seems very odd for someone who has a Test 169 to his name, not to mention a record 8th wkt partnership of 332 with J Trott) for company.
Rob Smyth in the G wants B Foakes installed as no 1 wicket-keeper for England (he is not the only one to mention this) as he is the best keeper in the country and has a Test average of 41.5, higher than any of his rivals. He also wants a change of captain.
OT: astonishing events in Manchester: Mx recovered from 34-6 to reach 337 a/o mainly due to Simmo's 167*, but he got support from Harris (32), TSRJ (32) and Sowter (52). Middlesex's 337 was a world record for any side who had lost their first six wickets for less than 40. La 14-1.
K Abbott 9-40 and 8-46 giving match figures of 17 for 86, the best ever bowling figures for Hampshire and the best in first class cricket since J Laker's 19 for 90 in 1956.
Headingley: Yorkshire 117 a/o (D Stevens 5-20) Kent won by a trifling 433, this was Kent's biggest ever win by runs, Yorkshire's heaviest ever defeat in terms of runs and the fourth heaviest defeat in CC history while D Stevens became the second oldest player to score 200 and take 5 wkts in an innings after WG Grace.
Millwall 1 Rs 2. Nahki Wells got both goals and now has 6 this season. Rs are 4th and are only 1 point behind the top 2 Leeds and Swansea.
The final round of Championship matches started today with decent weather to start with, but rain and bad light affected all the games eventually. At Lord's we had sun for half of the day then the light deteriorated and I departed when they went off for the second time, though there had not actually been any rain. There was no more play after my departure. Day 2 was badly disrupted all over the country: only 8.4 overs were possible at Lord's.
Every match ended in a draw. However, the draw at Taunton was significant as it gave Essex the title by 11 points over Somerset despite J Leach's 5-37 and Somerset forfeiting their second innings. Notts were relegated by a (record?) margin of 64 points. In div 2 Lancashire, Northants and Gloucs were promoted with Glamorgan 15 points adrift. Leicestershire were wooden spoonists 18 points adrift of Worcestershire and 26 behind Middlesex in 8th.
Autumnal Reflections
Nick Howson’s article reflects the latest concerns about the first-class game
Essex have won their eighth County Championship, a second in three years. They have become the first club to do the Division One-T20 Blast double. Somerset are second for a sixth time. Their desperate wait for a first title goes on. Simon Harmer's stunning season gets a fitting finale. Marcus Trescothick's retirement is tinged with another domestic disappointment.
At least, alongside some late drama, these should be the central narratives. We should be celebrating success, bemoaning misfortune, heralding performance and lamenting departing heroes. Instead, the climax to English cricket's greatest ever summer is full of regret, blighting by absurdity and consumed by nonsense.
Following the thrilling climax to the World Cup, a memorable Ashes series and an epic finale to the Blast, this was the County Championships' big moment. A red-ball season which began on April 8 was set for an almighty and fitting finale in keeping with the rest of the international and domestic summer.
But the weather has had other ideas. Substantial bands of rain which left large swathes of the outfield unplayable meant this game developed into little more than tick box exercise.
Many of the spells of play that did occur - we went 44 hours and 17 minutes at one stage without a ball - felt irrelevant and worthless set against the inevitability of the final outcome. Somerset's late charge only worked to emphasise what a thrilling contest this should have been. Such a glorious summer deserved better.
To totally blame the inclement conditions, however, is to ignore the salient point. Essex have won nine matches, losing fewer than any other. They have the leading wicket-taker in Divisions One or Two.
Three of the top 14 run-scorers in the top flight can call Chelmsford their home. Meanwhile, no Somerset batsman has averaged 32. And with two games to go, their destiny was in their own hands. The final result might be unedifying but there is nothing unreasonable about it.
Fifteen entire days out of 36 from the final round of Championship matches were lost to a combination of rain, wet outfields and bad light. And why should we expect anything else when the longest ever English cricket season is extended into the last full week of September?
Of course, the unpredictability of the English summer means it can rain at any time - we lost 23 perfectly placed Blast matches to rain - but staging a match closer to Christmas than the summer equinox is only going to one way. It is a disgrace.
It is hard to feel a sense of disappointment after a summer in which cricket had seemingly made so much progress. One million children were engaged in the World Cup. The free-to-air broadcast of the final between England and New Zealand lured more than eight million viewers. Nearly 1.5 million fans watched live county cricket this season. The Blast enjoyed record-breaking ticket sales.
Yet, behind the numbers, the sport remains in an existential crisis. The accommodation of county cricket's cash cow, the T20 Blast, has seen the red-ball format go from an afterthought to an utter irrelevance and moved to the fringes of the campaign. Indeed, in many ways, it is now an inconvenience. And despite the obvious decline of the England Test team solutions are not being sought.
And don't be fooled into thinking this is the fault of the World Cup. At least initially, there is little sign that anything is about to change. If anything, things are about to get worse. In 2020, the ECB will be accommodating a fourth competition, The Hundred. Such is the faith the governing body have in the 100-ball format it will even relegate the Blast into second place on the list of priorities.
What we already know about the calendar suggests this exhaustive and chaotic summer will be repeated. The final of 50-over tournament, which will become a development showcase, will be played at Trent Bridge on September 21, with at least one round of Championship games likely to follow.
Meanwhile, integrity will be sapped from Division One, which will swell to 10 sides next year, and an asterisk attached to every future winner. Each side will continue to play 14 fixtures, ending the round-robin home and away format. You could end up winning the title without having to play the reigning champions twice while taking full advantage against the teams will reduced resources. England director of cricket Ashely Giles has even suggested some matches could be played with reduced points.
Most metrics regarding ticket-sales, remarkable online streaming figures and TV viewing numbers suggest there remains plenty of interest in cricket. Attendances across the sport next year are likely to remain excellent. The initial allocation for an eighth straight T20 Finals Day at Edgbaston has already sold out, for example.
But the authorities are testing the patience and faith of their public, a fate they do not deserve. They appear happy to undermine most of their competitions, even at the expense of the national team. It is a baffling strategy which defies logic.
By the time Essex lifted the golden County Championship title the autumnal sun had long dipped behind the clouds, never to be seen again. It was a fitting analogy for the season. For so long shining brightly, it stunk slowly into the abyss. It is scheduled to re-appear in six months time, but who knows if it will possess the same twinkling quality.
Revier Matters
Jim Revier sent me this
I saw that a guy called Jack Blatherwick was making his debut for Notts in the current game with Warwickshire. I looked him up in Playfair as I had never heard of him. He's RHB RMF if you are curious.
It was his full name however that caught my attention. It is Jack Morgan Blatherwick. I find it touching that the great man's reputation is still such that parents are naming their children after him.
Ged Matters
Ian Harris (Ged) writes
The four London-based counties (Essex, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey) have formed a charity, the London Cricket Trust. Our mission: to put cricket back into London’s parks and commons. I am the Middlesex Trustee for the charity.We opened seven facilities last season and are opening 12 this season. Next season we’ve planned to do another 30 or so. The ECB is providing dosh, equipment and lots of know-how.
AB de Villiers is a great supporter of this sort of thing and he very kindly agreed to front our media launch this year. So on the day he flew in from South Africa, AB de Villiers opened a non-turf pitch facility in Deptford Park. Deptford Park is in Lewisham, a London borough with lots of young folk who might love cricket but with very few facilities.
I was asked to give a short “Trustees’ speech” while Leisha Hawkins from the ECB was asked to speak on behalf of the ECB. Less than 48 hours after England won the Cricket World Cup, the timing of this launch was immaculate. I met AB de Villiers. He’s a really nice chap. AB got to play with the children as wicket-keeper.
Last year, when AB wasn’t there, I got to play as wicket-keeper with predictably hilarious results. AB’s results weren’t that much less hilarious than mine, frankly.
Still, despite me being dropped from the playing team this year, still I had a wonderful time. I get such a huge buzz out of seeing these facilities go in and watching young people enjoying using them. Just imagine how I might have turned out if I’d had proper non-turf pitches to play with back then, rather than the vagaries of Tooting Bec Common in the 1970s.
BBC London News gave our charity three minutes on the early evening news – that’s not bad. No doubt there’ll be subsequent press too; there were plenty of press hounds there. AB’s Instagram account had over 200,000 likes within a few hours of him posting about the event. I find it hard to get my head around numbers like that. Huge numbers.
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 202
October 2019
Caption Competition
1. Jonathan Agnew: What considerations do you take into account when contemplating a declaration?
Joe Root: None. I’ve never had to do it.
2. Visitor: Why are those people singing Sweet Caroline?
Local expert: Because they come from Birmingham
Visitor: But now they are singing Hey Jude
Local expert: that’s because they are also in the Barmy Army
Visitor: What’s that got to do with cricket?
Local expert: Absolutely nothing.
3. Stuart Law: What are we going to do about the batting next year?
Gus Fraser: There’s only one thing for it, you’ll have to play yourself.
4. Man in the pub: What has the IAAF World Championships in Dohar got in common with the County Championship?
Barman: I don’t know. What has the IAAF World Championships in Dohar got in common with the County Championship?
Man in the pub: Nobody goes to watch either.
Out & About with the Professor
On September 16th, Championship cricket finally returned to Headingley. Prior to that there had only been one match at the Headquaters of the North since the 3rd June.
I read in a short valedictory statement, that England’s departing Head Coach took the view that “something” needs to be done about county cricket. Probably it was piercing insights like this that got him the job in the first place. I recall an article in Wisden about ten years’ ago written by Michael Atherton which concluded with the view that county cricket served no useful purpose. He may be (have been) right, but whatever purpose it serves, it seems odd to confine it to spring and autumn. This year was special, as we all know, but it seems something of a metaphor for the Championship to be marginalised in this way. The spring part of the season was decidedly chilly but autumn was blisteringly hot.
The close finish was exciting for, sadly, a very few.
The cricket in this penultimate match was bizarre. Kent were the visitors from the Deep South and were clearly suffering from the journey in the first hour when they got to 39-5. That brought together Darren Stevens (who seems to have been playing for a generation or two) and Sam Billings. I watched the play with an old friend, Peter, (all my friends are old), who is a life-long Kent supporter. Indeed when I first met Peter, many years ago, his boast was that the high point of his cricketing career was that he had dropped a catch in a first class match (subbing for Kent).
I learned that Stevens was being released by Kent at the end of the season which would be little loss as he hasn’t done much all year. He scored 237, his highest career score. From 39-5 Kent moved to 385-6 before Stevens was out having exhausted himself belting Yorkshire’s new international bowler (Patel - replacing the admirable Maharaj) to all parts. Patel had just got off the plane and so had perhaps more excuse that the Kent openers, but he had been acquired at considerable expense to play the last two Championship matches now that Maharaj had to be back on international duty in South Africa. The Yorkshire crowd was not impressed. Several of them suggested -quite loudly- that their long-hops were just as good as those of young Patel and available at a much more reasonable price.
Stevens didn’t mind. He just kept bashing the ball into the stands. At 100-0 off 10 our new New Zealander might have been wishing himself still on the plane - and many of the spectators certainly did. 482 is a very reasonable score on day one and it proved too much of a challenge to Yorkshire who have struggled to get runs all year. Patel performed little better in the second innings (1 for 112 from 20) and Kent won by a country mile.
The annoyance for the Yorkshire congregation was not just the money (although spending money seldom goes unnoticed in these parts) but also that Yorkshire has a couple of young spinners of whom there are high hopes. Jack Shutt and Sam Wisniewski are both thought of as future first team players and “names to remember” (might be easier with one rather than the other). Given that Yorkshire could not win, nor be relegated from, Division 1 it seemed that a better time to play one or other of the young spinners would be hard to find.
Stevens ducking a ball from Yorkshire’s Olivier on his way to 237.
Yorkshire’s season ended about as middle of the table as possible: 5th in the Blast, 5th in the Championship and 6th in the Royal London. So middling in the extreme. According to Gale that means that there is “a lot to build on”. But not, so it seems, the use of young spinners.
Back, perhaps, to Atherton’s criticism.
So the end of another season. Stunning World Cup, disappointing (although never-to-be-forgotten) Ashes, and county cricket just ticking along. What for next year? Well, Newlands sounds as good a place as any to see in the New Year - perhaps Anderson might even be fit by then – so that could be a plan.
In the meantime, I’m having to watch a succession of bicycles go past our front door in something called the World Championship. Apparently, it’s very exciting.
This & That
I often find the Quarter Finals of the T20 competition intriguing although it may be their sudden death nature that gives them extra bite. This year the first of these was held at Chester-le -street because there was inconveniently a test match being played at Old Trafford. Lancashire batted first and their 159 looked like being enough until Bopara joined ten Doeschate and they added 60 in five overs. Bopara scored 39 from 19 balls with 4 sixes and he went on to perform similar closing feats in both the semi-final and final.
The second quarter final was at Trent Bridge where Middlesex were put in and soon found themselves in the all too familiar position of 43 for 4 despite ABdeV’s presence. Morgan compiled 53 but 160 never looked like being enough. Nash and Hales (remember him?) made mincemeat of the Middlesex attack and won with four overs to spare without losing a wicket.
Sussex have had a good season and made a respectable 184 at Hove after being put in by Worcestershire. But this was nowhere near enough as Moeen plundered 121 not out from 60 balls with 11 sixes.
The final match was played at Bristol where Gloucestershire were restricted to just 135 by Derbyshire who then knocked them off with a comfortable three overs to spare.
In their penultimate Championship match at Old Trafford Middlesex slumped to 34 for 6 in their first innings and then to 55 for 5 in their second. The frailties of the Middlesex top order cannot only be the result of poor wickets, particularly at Lord’s. Stuart Law and good ‘ol Gus will have to do some serious thinking in the close season. Their philosophy of using home grown talent isn’t working and they need to find some top order runs from somewhere for next year. This season was the easy one for getting back into the first division with three promotees and the chance was blown. All too often this year the tail have had to scrape together runs to keep the side in the game. So much so that Harris, Roland-Jones, Murtagh and the other bowlers have begun to feel like all-rounders.
In Kent’s game at Leeds they found themselves in a Middlesex like 39 for 5 when Darren Stevens joined skipper Sam Billings. They added 346 before Stevens was out for 237 from 225 with 9 sixes. He then went on to open the bowling and soon had ex England men Lyth and Balance back in the hutch. Stevens has just been given a new contract at age 43.
In the triangular tournament in Dublin George Munsey opened the batting for Scotland against the Netherlands and made 127 not out from 56 balls in an innings that included 14 sixes. He added 200 for the first wicket with captain Kyle Coetzer. Scotland reached 252 for 3 which was more than enough to beat the Netherlands who reached 194 for 7 in reply.
If Jonny Bairstow was dropped as England’s wicket keeper for the winter series why was he not then selected as a batsman? Surely he could get in the top four and be able to bat there if he was relieved of his keeping duties? The selections of Sibley and Crawley bode badly for the generation of those looking for a recall- Vince, Habeeb, Malan, Ballance & Westley.
Middlesex Matters
The GJM pays his final visits to Lord’s for the season
Middlesex won the toss and invited the visitors to bat first in the County Championship match against Durham which began at Lord's on September 10th on a pitch that looked as if it would assist the seam bowlers. Middlesex brought in new signing Miguel Cummins, who has 14 Test caps for the West Indies, Max Holden and George Scott to replace Toby Roland-Jones, Nathan Sowter and Paul Stirling. Neither Middlesex nor Durham selected a recognised spin bowler.
Durham started well enough with ex-Yorkshire batsman Alex Lees (26) and ex-Middlesex second XI player the well-travelled Cameron Steel (29) putting on 56 for the first wicket. Australian Test batsman Peter Handscomb did even better with 54 off 72 balls with 9 fours, but wickets fell regularly at the other end and Durham could manage only 147 all out. Steve Finn was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 41 and Tim Murtagh picked up 3 for 32.
When Middlesex batted Sam Robson, Stevie Eskinazi and Dawid Malan all reached the low twenties, but from 43 for 1, wickets fell rapidly and only Cummins, batting at 9, made more than 14 and he finished with 22 not out as Middlesex slumped to a disappointing 143 all out. Ben Raine (5 for 26) was the pick of the bowlers and he was well backed up by Chris Rushworth (3 for46), both men from Sunderland.
Lees and Steel again put on 51 for the first wicket, but it was slightly surprising that easily the best batsman in the Durham second innings was the ex-Leicestershire and Sussex player Angus Robson (Sam's younger brother). Angus made an excellent 64 off 156 balls with 10 fours until he was the last man out, while the next best contributions came from the unrelated Steels Cameron and Scott, who both made 39 as Durham reached 191 all out. The best of the home bowlers were Jimmy Harris (3 for 43) and Finn (3 for 49).
Middlesex's target was 196 to win which would have been the highest score of the match, but many in the crowd felt that this was achievable. Sam Robson (65 off 115 balls with 12 fours) certainly batted well enough to make that achievement a reality, but he received depressingly poor support from his colleagues. The main reason for Middlesex's batting failures was Brydon Carse from Port Elizabeth, SA, who returned the magnificent figures of 6 for 26 as the home team slumped depressingly to 151 all out to lose by 44 runs. Not a solitary over of spin was bowled in the match. Middlesex are now eighth in division two and are 84 points behind the leaders Lancashire, whom Middlesex face at Old Trafford next week... I think I will give that one a miss. Middlesex might have to face the reality that the current squad is just not good enough and set about bringing in reinforcements for next season. Durham (19 points) beat Middlesex (3) by 44 runs. Tom Helm was awarded his county cap at lunch on day 1.
Middlesex brought in Tim Murtagh to replace Nathan Sowter for the final Championship match of the season against Derbyshire, which began at Lord's on Monday September 23 in bright sunshine, though the forecast for the match as a whole was poor and three of the four floodlights were on throughout the match. The toss was uncontested as the visitors obviously wanted to bowl first on a very green track and Middlesex did not select a spin bowler for the second consecutive match at Lords. Nick Gubbins departed early without scoring, but Sam Robson was in good form and Max Holden helped him to add 52 for the second wicket, but there are rumours that Max's score of 19 will not be enough to earn him a new contract as his batting average this season is only 13.65.
Skipper Dawid Malan then shared the best stand of the innings (90) with Robson before the latter fell for an excellent 93 off 163 balls with 13 fours. Malan went on to an admirable 72 off 141 balls with 9 fours, but it was all very disappointing after that as only Jimmy Harris (25*) and Toby Roland-Jones (23) were able to reach double figures and Middlesex slumped from 251 for 6 to a below par 260 all out. Luis Reece, who opens both the batting and the bowling these days, was the pick of the bowlers with 4-61 with his left arm seamers and Fynn Hudson-Prentice, about whom I know nothing except that he bowls right arm seamers, picked up the last three wickets for 65.
When the visitors batted, Reece and ex-Middlesex man Billy Godleman put on 49 for the first wicket and Leus du Ploy and Alex Hughes 48 for the fourth. Du Ploy was then joined by keeper Harvey Hosein in an impressive stand of 99 for the fifth wicket before Hosein became Ethan Bamber's third victim for a fine 57 off 95 balls with 6 fours. Du Ploy progressed steadily towards his century and when he deservedly reached that target (off 175 balls with 15 fours) shortly after tea on day 4, the captains shook hands on the draw with Derbys on 304 for 7. Bamber finished with career best figures of 5 for 93. The match had been plagued by rain and bad light ever since the first afternoon and at no stage did the result look like being anything other than a draw. The total number of overs bowled in the match was 166, which is well under two days' play. Middlesex 9 points, Derbyshire 11 and the visitors (145 points in seventh place) finished one place above Middlesex (133 points in eighth) in the Second Division.
Morgan Matters
Our final in-season peep into the Great Man’s diary
Paul Stirling has committed himself to Ireland and so will leave Middlesex (where he would have become an overseas player). He played only a handful of Championship games this season but managed 138 v Glamorgan.
I hear that C Overton has leap-frogged over Woakes and Curran into the Test team for the OT Test. He has always looked useful to me, but it seems strange that he has suddenly become a better player than the likes of Woakes and Curran, who have been in the squad for quite some time. Is it because he is a bit quicker?
Middlesex have signed WI "paceman" Miguel Cummins for the rest of the CC season (3 matches). He has 14 Test caps for WI. Have they mixed him up with Pat Cummins?
There are knighthoods for G Boycott (which is getting a lot of stick because of his conviction for domestic assault: I tend to agree, those things can be overlooked in selection matters, say, but surely not for knighthoods?) and A Strauss.
D Sibley has passed 1,000 Championship runs for the season: is he the first? The G does not say.
The England team for Test 5 looks a bit odd (Roy and Overton are dropped): Burns, Denly, Root, Stokes, Bairstow, Buttler, Curran, Woakes, Archer, Broad, Leach. Three specialist batsmen, five allrounders and three specialist bowlers! Though I suppose Stokes becomes a specialist batter if he is not going to bowl? Maybe Buttler too, but he batted 7 and 8 at OT!
Oval: Oz chose to field in the Test and had a pretty good day (M Marsh 4-45) as England managed only 271-6 (Burns 47, Root 57), but Buttler batted better than he has done for England for a while and finished on 64*. He needs to get plenty more tomorrow with only Leach and Broad (has he voluntarily turned himself into a no 11? This seems very odd for someone who has a Test 169 to his name, not to mention a record 8th wkt partnership of 332 with J Trott) for company.
Rob Smyth in the G wants B Foakes installed as no 1 wicket-keeper for England (he is not the only one to mention this) as he is the best keeper in the country and has a Test average of 41.5, higher than any of his rivals. He also wants a change of captain.
OT: astonishing events in Manchester: Mx recovered from 34-6 to reach 337 a/o mainly due to Simmo's 167*, but he got support from Harris (32), TSRJ (32) and Sowter (52). Middlesex's 337 was a world record for any side who had lost their first six wickets for less than 40. La 14-1.
K Abbott 9-40 and 8-46 giving match figures of 17 for 86, the best ever bowling figures for Hampshire and the best in first class cricket since J Laker's 19 for 90 in 1956.
Headingley: Yorkshire 117 a/o (D Stevens 5-20) Kent won by a trifling 433, this was Kent's biggest ever win by runs, Yorkshire's heaviest ever defeat in terms of runs and the fourth heaviest defeat in CC history while D Stevens became the second oldest player to score 200 and take 5 wkts in an innings after WG Grace.
Millwall 1 Rs 2. Nahki Wells got both goals and now has 6 this season. Rs are 4th and are only 1 point behind the top 2 Leeds and Swansea.
The final round of Championship matches started today with decent weather to start with, but rain and bad light affected all the games eventually. At Lord's we had sun for half of the day then the light deteriorated and I departed when they went off for the second time, though there had not actually been any rain. There was no more play after my departure. Day 2 was badly disrupted all over the country: only 8.4 overs were possible at Lord's.
Every match ended in a draw. However, the draw at Taunton was significant as it gave Essex the title by 11 points over Somerset despite J Leach's 5-37 and Somerset forfeiting their second innings. Notts were relegated by a (record?) margin of 64 points. In div 2 Lancashire, Northants and Gloucs were promoted with Glamorgan 15 points adrift. Leicestershire were wooden spoonists 18 points adrift of Worcestershire and 26 behind Middlesex in 8th.
Autumnal Reflections
Nick Howson’s article reflects the latest concerns about the first-class game
Essex have won their eighth County Championship, a second in three years. They have become the first club to do the Division One-T20 Blast double. Somerset are second for a sixth time. Their desperate wait for a first title goes on. Simon Harmer's stunning season gets a fitting finale. Marcus Trescothick's retirement is tinged with another domestic disappointment.
At least, alongside some late drama, these should be the central narratives. We should be celebrating success, bemoaning misfortune, heralding performance and lamenting departing heroes. Instead, the climax to English cricket's greatest ever summer is full of regret, blighting by absurdity and consumed by nonsense.
Following the thrilling climax to the World Cup, a memorable Ashes series and an epic finale to the Blast, this was the County Championships' big moment. A red-ball season which began on April 8 was set for an almighty and fitting finale in keeping with the rest of the international and domestic summer.
But the weather has had other ideas. Substantial bands of rain which left large swathes of the outfield unplayable meant this game developed into little more than tick box exercise.
Many of the spells of play that did occur - we went 44 hours and 17 minutes at one stage without a ball - felt irrelevant and worthless set against the inevitability of the final outcome. Somerset's late charge only worked to emphasise what a thrilling contest this should have been. Such a glorious summer deserved better.
To totally blame the inclement conditions, however, is to ignore the salient point. Essex have won nine matches, losing fewer than any other. They have the leading wicket-taker in Divisions One or Two.
Three of the top 14 run-scorers in the top flight can call Chelmsford their home. Meanwhile, no Somerset batsman has averaged 32. And with two games to go, their destiny was in their own hands. The final result might be unedifying but there is nothing unreasonable about it.
Fifteen entire days out of 36 from the final round of Championship matches were lost to a combination of rain, wet outfields and bad light. And why should we expect anything else when the longest ever English cricket season is extended into the last full week of September?
Of course, the unpredictability of the English summer means it can rain at any time - we lost 23 perfectly placed Blast matches to rain - but staging a match closer to Christmas than the summer equinox is only going to one way. It is a disgrace.
It is hard to feel a sense of disappointment after a summer in which cricket had seemingly made so much progress. One million children were engaged in the World Cup. The free-to-air broadcast of the final between England and New Zealand lured more than eight million viewers. Nearly 1.5 million fans watched live county cricket this season. The Blast enjoyed record-breaking ticket sales.
Yet, behind the numbers, the sport remains in an existential crisis. The accommodation of county cricket's cash cow, the T20 Blast, has seen the red-ball format go from an afterthought to an utter irrelevance and moved to the fringes of the campaign. Indeed, in many ways, it is now an inconvenience. And despite the obvious decline of the England Test team solutions are not being sought.
And don't be fooled into thinking this is the fault of the World Cup. At least initially, there is little sign that anything is about to change. If anything, things are about to get worse. In 2020, the ECB will be accommodating a fourth competition, The Hundred. Such is the faith the governing body have in the 100-ball format it will even relegate the Blast into second place on the list of priorities.
What we already know about the calendar suggests this exhaustive and chaotic summer will be repeated. The final of 50-over tournament, which will become a development showcase, will be played at Trent Bridge on September 21, with at least one round of Championship games likely to follow.
Meanwhile, integrity will be sapped from Division One, which will swell to 10 sides next year, and an asterisk attached to every future winner. Each side will continue to play 14 fixtures, ending the round-robin home and away format. You could end up winning the title without having to play the reigning champions twice while taking full advantage against the teams will reduced resources. England director of cricket Ashely Giles has even suggested some matches could be played with reduced points.
Most metrics regarding ticket-sales, remarkable online streaming figures and TV viewing numbers suggest there remains plenty of interest in cricket. Attendances across the sport next year are likely to remain excellent. The initial allocation for an eighth straight T20 Finals Day at Edgbaston has already sold out, for example.
But the authorities are testing the patience and faith of their public, a fate they do not deserve. They appear happy to undermine most of their competitions, even at the expense of the national team. It is a baffling strategy which defies logic.
By the time Essex lifted the golden County Championship title the autumnal sun had long dipped behind the clouds, never to be seen again. It was a fitting analogy for the season. For so long shining brightly, it stunk slowly into the abyss. It is scheduled to re-appear in six months time, but who knows if it will possess the same twinkling quality.
Revier Matters
Jim Revier sent me this
I saw that a guy called Jack Blatherwick was making his debut for Notts in the current game with Warwickshire. I looked him up in Playfair as I had never heard of him. He's RHB RMF if you are curious.
It was his full name however that caught my attention. It is Jack Morgan Blatherwick. I find it touching that the great man's reputation is still such that parents are naming their children after him.
Ged Matters
Ian Harris (Ged) writes
The four London-based counties (Essex, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey) have formed a charity, the London Cricket Trust. Our mission: to put cricket back into London’s parks and commons. I am the Middlesex Trustee for the charity.We opened seven facilities last season and are opening 12 this season. Next season we’ve planned to do another 30 or so. The ECB is providing dosh, equipment and lots of know-how.
AB de Villiers is a great supporter of this sort of thing and he very kindly agreed to front our media launch this year. So on the day he flew in from South Africa, AB de Villiers opened a non-turf pitch facility in Deptford Park. Deptford Park is in Lewisham, a London borough with lots of young folk who might love cricket but with very few facilities.
I was asked to give a short “Trustees’ speech” while Leisha Hawkins from the ECB was asked to speak on behalf of the ECB. Less than 48 hours after England won the Cricket World Cup, the timing of this launch was immaculate. I met AB de Villiers. He’s a really nice chap. AB got to play with the children as wicket-keeper.
Last year, when AB wasn’t there, I got to play as wicket-keeper with predictably hilarious results. AB’s results weren’t that much less hilarious than mine, frankly.
Still, despite me being dropped from the playing team this year, still I had a wonderful time. I get such a huge buzz out of seeing these facilities go in and watching young people enjoying using them. Just imagine how I might have turned out if I’d had proper non-turf pitches to play with back then, rather than the vagaries of Tooting Bec Common in the 1970s.
BBC London News gave our charity three minutes on the early evening news – that’s not bad. No doubt there’ll be subsequent press too; there were plenty of press hounds there. AB’s Instagram account had over 200,000 likes within a few hours of him posting about the event. I find it hard to get my head around numbers like that. Huge numbers.
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