During April and Yesterday the 1st May 2011 I have sat in sunshine for the greater part of nine days watching cricket, for the most part in warmth with the consequence that April has become one of the hottest since records commenced several hundred years ago. I have neglected everything from my biographical and project work to household chores. The good weather has been a bonus.
After the near win against Hampshire in the first championship game and the great win at Yorkshire where I attended the crucial third day, Durham experienced a disaster against Sussex, unexpected triumph against Warwickshire, all in Division one of the County Championship. There has also have been two games in the 40 over competition at the Emirates International Stadium, one won and one lost yesterday.
It was another glorious warm sunny day on Wednesday two weeks ago and I made the right decision not to have the swim but organise myself properly for the first day of the Durham home cricket season. The day was not without mishap as the container used for the milk did not keep upright when I transferred from the small cool bag and with a loose top nearly all the milk spilt into the shoulder bag and on to me. It was not an auspicious start after I had gained a good parking place close to the ground. I was however able to get my ideal seat at the top of the stand to one side of behind the wicket with no seats in front of me so there was a good stretch of the legs.
I enjoyed both apple turnovers and three good cups of coffee before venturing to take a look at the vantage point of the new completed addition to the main stand. It is not clear if the top section above the first floor offices is open and odd while the terracing for seats outside the office windows has been completed, the seats have not been installed. An examination of the front of the building confirmed that the work has not been completed with a cable dangling in on corner of an external canopy and other indications of a job not finished
There is a sombre note in the Member’s Handbook, comments of the club chairman and that the club is working to find the funds to progress the ground development. Members will be advised of any progress during the season. In his note the Coach explained he decision not to add to the squad over the winter, a decision with which I concurred as it was evident that the squad, despite the disappointments of last season has the right mixture to compete at the highest level as the results of Richardson, Stokes and Borthwick indicate. With no immediate room for Luke Evans he went to Northants where he played in a couple of Championship games on loan last season. He did not feature in the impressive innings defeat of Surrey.
I knew beforehand that Graham Onions would not be playing in the game, from an email which explained that he was being rested as part of his rehabilitation, no doubt under instructions from the ECB who pay his wages and Durham’s compensation. Liam Plunket whose batting innings was the key for Durham success against Yorkshire and who I thought bowled well in the second innings has an injury along with Steve Harmison who has a cracked forearm which sees him miss the rest of April and at least four games. The late year acquisition, the West Indian background Ruel Brathwaite who played for Loughborough and Cambridge university teams gained his first opportunity to play for the first team. As for the opposition they are in transition with the retirement of Robin Martin Jenkins and James Kirtly and with Yassar Arafat moving to Surrey and Collymore to Middlesex.
The important new face who joined the Sussex club in 2010 is Monty Panesar out of favour with the national selectors but a great favourite with the crowd everywhere including Durham. Luke Wright is now part of the national squad but they still have Joyce, Yardy (injured) Nash and Goodwin. New faces are Anyon from 2010 and Warwickshire, Luke Wells 2010 and Amjam Khan from Kent.
Durham won the toss the elected to bat which seemed to be an excellent decision until Di Venuto who had scored 30 of the opening 44 runs and has shown good form was out leg before wicket to Anyon. There was then a good stand over 100 runs involving Gordon Muchall who is also in form with a spirited 74 before being caught by Joyce off Naved at 173 when a 400 plus total seemed certain. Former Captain Will Smith was painstaking and slowly gained a half century which was greeted with prolonged applause by the Durham crowd which by then must have approaching 1000, enjoyed sun and the cricket. However after lunch Smith seemed to freeze on his 50 and wicket fell at regular intervals with only Borthwick offering resistance hitting Panesar for four fours in succession. The team failed to get three bonus points all out at 291 which left a dozen overs for Sussex to face.
Ed Joyce was caught behind off Claydon when the total was six but Nash and Wells held out taking the total to 30. Claydon was the better bowler. There were good innings from Nash 65 and Hodd 67 but at no time did the team look like reaching the first batting bonus point at 200, Thorpe again to the fore on the second morning when after Bash when to Brathwaite for his first wicket Thorp had Gatting and Brown out in successive deliveries and Sussex were 108 for 5.
With a lead of 98 runs the game looked set to be Durham’s. It is difficult to explain the second innings batting by Durham with Benkenstein in particular playing a very bad stroke just when he had reach 50 and similarly Blackwell. Every run was a struggle and the team were out for 210 a leads of only 308 which I thought with over a day and half to play was between 50 and 100 runs light. This proved to be the situation and an excellent stand between Wells (103) and Brown 61 saw the total rise from 149 5 to 277 for 5. The game appeared won easily by then but Brathwaite had a purple patch taking 5 for 56 and in the end the Sussex only won by two wickets so with 2 for 42 in the first innings Brathwaite finished the match with 7 for 98. Durham had lost the opportunity to take an early season lead in the Championship and the immediate high hopes were dashed and uncertainty over what kind of season was in store. With just Easter Monday free (the first one day 40 over innings game was on the Sunday) I hoped there would be a better performance for the back to back home game against Warwickshire.
Tuesday 26 April 2011 was overcast and cold from a north easterly wind more like normal conditions for cricket this time of the year. Once upon a time the football ended at the commencement of May and the cricket commenced and then ended in early September coinciding with the start of the football season which now being in mid august with the cricket extentding into mid September. There was one Test Touring side with five matches played and then three one day 50 over games. Now with the season extended there are two touring sides, up to seven Test matches, up to seven one day games and a couple 20 20’s. It is all about money making and there is nothing wrong with this as it keeps the Counties able to play the four day game, the players well paid and the International quad exceptionally well paid but the fans lose out.
The game against Warwickshire did not begin well with Durham losing the toss and Warwickshire commencing to build what seemed to be a likely giant total. Porterfield was one of several players whose catching chances were not taken by Durham and he went on to make 87. Troughton, the grandson of Dr Who Patrick made 76 and shortly after tea I decided to go home. Onions played and bowled well as did Thorpe and Brathwaite. The spin bowling of Ian Blackwell was exceptional and the Warwickshire batsmen treated him with justified respect, to an extent that the team were behind the run rate to gain maximum batting points. However by the time I arrived home and switched on the radio commentary the situation commenced to change and from 327 for 4 with Clark and Ambrose and Troughton out to Brathwaite at 328 and 341 followed by Best to Onions at 346. With Miller also going to Brathwaite at 349 the prospects was of Warwickshire failing to get the fourth batting bonus point. In fact Bowlers Woakes with an unbeaten 70 and Boyd Rankin 28 added 80 valuable runs which seemed to take hopes of a win from Durham although the fifth bonus point was not achieved within the permitted number overs. The innings closed at 429
I delayed my visit arriving at midday and Di Venuto and Smith took their time to reach a century partnership and then 150 runs before former captain Will Smith was caught at 66 rubs. Gordon Muchall who has been in good form went for 7 and new young man Stokes for 5 after his brilliant performances. Di Venuto having reached 113 was also quickly out after being injured and needing a runner and was followed also immediately by night watchman Graham Onions for a duck and Durham were 232 for 5. It was then that Ian Blackwell joined captain Benkenstein and batted out to close of play.
They only put on a few runs in the first half hour pf play the following morning but they then put Warwickshire’s bowling tot he sword in what would in other circumstances have been a match winning display with a part ship of 150 runs before Benkenstein was removed for 75 after Blackwell looked as if he would bat the innings out reaching his century after Richardson had gone quickly also with the total 383, and who with the help of Borthwick saw the 5th batting bonus point and the score go past that of Warwickshire. I would have liked another 50 or more runs but it was not to be and the innings ended at 465 just 36 runs ahead and Blackwell run out, his own fault, at 125.
A draw now seemed inevitable and although opener Chopra went for 8 to Thorpe at 19, Westwood and Porterfield, although playing defensively with no attempt to score runs except from hit me balls, I nearly went home in the growing evening cold as the sun left the ground. Many other Durham supporters did so and missed the excitement as Borthwick had Porterfield, Yousef and Westwood out within two overs and Warwickshire faced the nightmare of being 50 for 4.
The following morning a much better crowd than originally anticipated arrived in the expectation of the unexpected! My hope was that Durham would be able get Warwickshire all out in their second innings for less than 200 in 50 overs leaving Durham to get less that 175 with a similar amount of time to hand. At one point it looked as if the game would over without a break for lunch as wickets fells at 67, 67 and 69. The last three wickets put on 68 runs with Ambrose making 51 but this still left Durham with only 102 runs to win the game in some 50 overs. Smith opened the innings as before but with Borthwick the hero so far having taken 4 wickets for 25 and Graham Onions 4 for 28 both having been punished in the first innings (Onions 2 for 106 and Borthwick 1 for 46). When Smith went for 9 we sensed that Warwickshire would make a great fight for it but Borthwick with Muchall battle exceptionally well and with no need to take risk gradually moved the score to 83 before Muchall went with 30. Stokes joined Borthwick and the two young men saw Durham win shortly after tea. It was good to see that after the strong batting performance of county championship winning Di Venuto, captains Smith and Benkenstein and man of his first season Blackwell, it was returning back to form by the injured Onions and the Youngster Borthwick who saw the win home. Promising Stokes and Richardson did not have good game, however. I had stayed in on the Friday to watch the Royal wedding switching between channels on the TV but with computer radio commentary keeping me up to date with the cricket supported by the score and scorecard updated every two minutes.
The outcome of other matches played meant that Durham had moved back at the top of the division in second place with two wins, a draw and 62 points, one less than Nottinghamshire who have played one game having won all their games so far. Notts are home to Yorks this week with Durham resting and a draw would be brilliant and a Yorkshire win also acceptable. Yorkshire know that a defeat will significantly dent their hopes of championship success this season
Sandwiched between the two championship games was the best single day’s cricket of the season so far, the first 40 over league and cup competition of the season against the weakest team of the 18 division one and two teams added to which are .Scotland and the Netherlands, together with the Unicorns, a made up team for the competition. Scotland won only two of their twelve games last season, losing all the others. Durham was not that better so the first game was going to be a season trend setter for both teams.
Scotland started badly losing wickets at 1, 5 and 16, all to Graham Onions and I wondered how long the game would last. There was a rally until 80 when three wickets fell and again there were thoughts of an easy and early win. However Mommsen with 73 not out steadied the tale so that with Has getting 30 the team finished with a respectable 215 for 7 hitting 37 runs over the last two overs. We knew there was going t be a good game on our hands when Mustard back from injury went for 1 and then Benkenstein was out to the catch of the season so far and Durham had to work hard for the runs. It was Gordon Muchall who rescued Durham from embarrassment with 95 not out and the expendable Gareth Breese with 24 saw the game won with ten balls to play. That was a good start and an enjoyable afternoon and early evening in warm sunshine but the next game would be tougher as second division Northants had commenced with a good win beating neighbours Leicestershire by 7 wickets and with ten of their forty overs to spare.
It was there with hope more than expectation that I arrived at the Emirates ground on Sunday taking with me a cold drink and a pastry, I early returned home shortly after play commenced as Mustard was out again for a duck before a run was on the board and Coetzer also for a duck with the total 3. When Stokes went for 15 after a promising start with the total 24, Gordon Muchall and Benkenstein once more came to the rescue but scored slowly taking the total to a more respectable 121 before Benkenstein went for a truly remarkable catch at the boundary, no disgrace there. The remaining team members tried to get more runs at a quicker pace but with a total of only 172 in 39.1 overs my experience indicated that this was game we were going lose, and we did. There was some hope when Loye went with the total 4 and O’Brien at 14 but Wakley not out 78 and opener Peters 55 quickly mastered everything that Durham could throw at them with 8 of the 11 man Durham team taking their turn at the bowling. Rushworth with 2 for 15 was the best and I do not understand why he was only given 6 overs. Claydon 2 for 27 also bowled less than the available 8 overs as Northants completed their win by five wickets and 9 balls to go. The clue is that the attempt was made to prevent the win by tight bowling rather than take more wickets at a run cost. It could be argued by taking the game into the 39th over was to the captain’s credit. It makes a win against Leicestershire at their ground to day, essential. They have only won 1 of their three games so will be desperate for their second win. Northants is now topping the table with 2 out of 2 with Surrey 1 out of 1 at a faster run rate Hampshire also 1 out 1 followed by Warwickshire and Durham win one win out of two and with Durham a .05 run rate with Warwickshire. 08. A win at a good run rate is therefore essential. Only the top team in each division goes through to the semi final round with the fourth team having the best run rate of the runner ups. This means a team can win the overwhelming majority of their games but still lose out to a team winning fewer game sin their division but having a better run rate. I would have preferred to see the top twp in each division, plus two others with the best run rates going through to a quarterfinal and then semi final stage as was the position in the previous 50 over inning competition. It is also questionable policy to expect new 50 over international players emerge by only playing 40 over innings games.
This part of the season was not over for Durham who played Leicestershire this afternoon. Durham were asked to bat after winning the toss and although Coetzer again failed and Mustard was run out with only 59 on the board, Stokes hit hard and fast for his 52 to go out third at 112 and hen with Benkenstein 4 and Muchall 32 the position did not look good at 127 for 5. It was then Blackwell Breeze took control and powered their way to 271 when Breeze went for 44 and Blackwell soon after two short of a century. The innings ended at 285 which left the home side having to score at a rate over 7 an over. Blackwell had hit 5 sixes and 7 fours in his match winning innings. While after Leicestershire also lost an early wicket they worked hard to put on 100 before the next loss to Blackwell. After that they were always several runs per over behind the Durham scoring rate. Blackwell ended the day with 3 for 49 to take the man of the match award had their been one while you can never know what he will do Stokes too 3 wickets for 6 runs in 2.2 overs at the end of he game with the home side all out for 216 with 16 balls left to play. The importance of this win away from home cannot be underestimated, especially as the run rate improved in major way but still just below that of Surrey and Northants who are above Durham and with a game in hand.
Over the ten days of home games of which I attended eight I took with me an already made up salad, either prawn or chicken and bacon with pasta from Asda at £1.50 a time, plus two Danish at 74p and a carton of cut melon slices at £1 although I managed to make do with only one pastry and brought back home the melon on several occasions. I took a thermos filled cuppa soup and another of coffee. On one day I used a Membership voucher for a free cup of coffee at the Austin’s Bistro. I only had one single cone ice cream. I did manage three walks into the adjacent park along the river bank and over to the benches opposite bowling greens among bedding plants but mostly made a circuit around the grounds during the lunch or tea intervals. As expected the cost of petrol and parking exceeded that of the average cost per day portion of the Membership.
On balance the season has started well, better than I expected. But still not back to winning things consistency.
After the near win against Hampshire in the first championship game and the great win at Yorkshire where I attended the crucial third day, Durham experienced a disaster against Sussex, unexpected triumph against Warwickshire, all in Division one of the County Championship. There has also have been two games in the 40 over competition at the Emirates International Stadium, one won and one lost yesterday.
It was another glorious warm sunny day on Wednesday two weeks ago and I made the right decision not to have the swim but organise myself properly for the first day of the Durham home cricket season. The day was not without mishap as the container used for the milk did not keep upright when I transferred from the small cool bag and with a loose top nearly all the milk spilt into the shoulder bag and on to me. It was not an auspicious start after I had gained a good parking place close to the ground. I was however able to get my ideal seat at the top of the stand to one side of behind the wicket with no seats in front of me so there was a good stretch of the legs.
I enjoyed both apple turnovers and three good cups of coffee before venturing to take a look at the vantage point of the new completed addition to the main stand. It is not clear if the top section above the first floor offices is open and odd while the terracing for seats outside the office windows has been completed, the seats have not been installed. An examination of the front of the building confirmed that the work has not been completed with a cable dangling in on corner of an external canopy and other indications of a job not finished
There is a sombre note in the Member’s Handbook, comments of the club chairman and that the club is working to find the funds to progress the ground development. Members will be advised of any progress during the season. In his note the Coach explained he decision not to add to the squad over the winter, a decision with which I concurred as it was evident that the squad, despite the disappointments of last season has the right mixture to compete at the highest level as the results of Richardson, Stokes and Borthwick indicate. With no immediate room for Luke Evans he went to Northants where he played in a couple of Championship games on loan last season. He did not feature in the impressive innings defeat of Surrey.
I knew beforehand that Graham Onions would not be playing in the game, from an email which explained that he was being rested as part of his rehabilitation, no doubt under instructions from the ECB who pay his wages and Durham’s compensation. Liam Plunket whose batting innings was the key for Durham success against Yorkshire and who I thought bowled well in the second innings has an injury along with Steve Harmison who has a cracked forearm which sees him miss the rest of April and at least four games. The late year acquisition, the West Indian background Ruel Brathwaite who played for Loughborough and Cambridge university teams gained his first opportunity to play for the first team. As for the opposition they are in transition with the retirement of Robin Martin Jenkins and James Kirtly and with Yassar Arafat moving to Surrey and Collymore to Middlesex.
The important new face who joined the Sussex club in 2010 is Monty Panesar out of favour with the national selectors but a great favourite with the crowd everywhere including Durham. Luke Wright is now part of the national squad but they still have Joyce, Yardy (injured) Nash and Goodwin. New faces are Anyon from 2010 and Warwickshire, Luke Wells 2010 and Amjam Khan from Kent.
Durham won the toss the elected to bat which seemed to be an excellent decision until Di Venuto who had scored 30 of the opening 44 runs and has shown good form was out leg before wicket to Anyon. There was then a good stand over 100 runs involving Gordon Muchall who is also in form with a spirited 74 before being caught by Joyce off Naved at 173 when a 400 plus total seemed certain. Former Captain Will Smith was painstaking and slowly gained a half century which was greeted with prolonged applause by the Durham crowd which by then must have approaching 1000, enjoyed sun and the cricket. However after lunch Smith seemed to freeze on his 50 and wicket fell at regular intervals with only Borthwick offering resistance hitting Panesar for four fours in succession. The team failed to get three bonus points all out at 291 which left a dozen overs for Sussex to face.
Ed Joyce was caught behind off Claydon when the total was six but Nash and Wells held out taking the total to 30. Claydon was the better bowler. There were good innings from Nash 65 and Hodd 67 but at no time did the team look like reaching the first batting bonus point at 200, Thorpe again to the fore on the second morning when after Bash when to Brathwaite for his first wicket Thorp had Gatting and Brown out in successive deliveries and Sussex were 108 for 5.
With a lead of 98 runs the game looked set to be Durham’s. It is difficult to explain the second innings batting by Durham with Benkenstein in particular playing a very bad stroke just when he had reach 50 and similarly Blackwell. Every run was a struggle and the team were out for 210 a leads of only 308 which I thought with over a day and half to play was between 50 and 100 runs light. This proved to be the situation and an excellent stand between Wells (103) and Brown 61 saw the total rise from 149 5 to 277 for 5. The game appeared won easily by then but Brathwaite had a purple patch taking 5 for 56 and in the end the Sussex only won by two wickets so with 2 for 42 in the first innings Brathwaite finished the match with 7 for 98. Durham had lost the opportunity to take an early season lead in the Championship and the immediate high hopes were dashed and uncertainty over what kind of season was in store. With just Easter Monday free (the first one day 40 over innings game was on the Sunday) I hoped there would be a better performance for the back to back home game against Warwickshire.
Tuesday 26 April 2011 was overcast and cold from a north easterly wind more like normal conditions for cricket this time of the year. Once upon a time the football ended at the commencement of May and the cricket commenced and then ended in early September coinciding with the start of the football season which now being in mid august with the cricket extentding into mid September. There was one Test Touring side with five matches played and then three one day 50 over games. Now with the season extended there are two touring sides, up to seven Test matches, up to seven one day games and a couple 20 20’s. It is all about money making and there is nothing wrong with this as it keeps the Counties able to play the four day game, the players well paid and the International quad exceptionally well paid but the fans lose out.
The game against Warwickshire did not begin well with Durham losing the toss and Warwickshire commencing to build what seemed to be a likely giant total. Porterfield was one of several players whose catching chances were not taken by Durham and he went on to make 87. Troughton, the grandson of Dr Who Patrick made 76 and shortly after tea I decided to go home. Onions played and bowled well as did Thorpe and Brathwaite. The spin bowling of Ian Blackwell was exceptional and the Warwickshire batsmen treated him with justified respect, to an extent that the team were behind the run rate to gain maximum batting points. However by the time I arrived home and switched on the radio commentary the situation commenced to change and from 327 for 4 with Clark and Ambrose and Troughton out to Brathwaite at 328 and 341 followed by Best to Onions at 346. With Miller also going to Brathwaite at 349 the prospects was of Warwickshire failing to get the fourth batting bonus point. In fact Bowlers Woakes with an unbeaten 70 and Boyd Rankin 28 added 80 valuable runs which seemed to take hopes of a win from Durham although the fifth bonus point was not achieved within the permitted number overs. The innings closed at 429
I delayed my visit arriving at midday and Di Venuto and Smith took their time to reach a century partnership and then 150 runs before former captain Will Smith was caught at 66 rubs. Gordon Muchall who has been in good form went for 7 and new young man Stokes for 5 after his brilliant performances. Di Venuto having reached 113 was also quickly out after being injured and needing a runner and was followed also immediately by night watchman Graham Onions for a duck and Durham were 232 for 5. It was then that Ian Blackwell joined captain Benkenstein and batted out to close of play.
They only put on a few runs in the first half hour pf play the following morning but they then put Warwickshire’s bowling tot he sword in what would in other circumstances have been a match winning display with a part ship of 150 runs before Benkenstein was removed for 75 after Blackwell looked as if he would bat the innings out reaching his century after Richardson had gone quickly also with the total 383, and who with the help of Borthwick saw the 5th batting bonus point and the score go past that of Warwickshire. I would have liked another 50 or more runs but it was not to be and the innings ended at 465 just 36 runs ahead and Blackwell run out, his own fault, at 125.
A draw now seemed inevitable and although opener Chopra went for 8 to Thorpe at 19, Westwood and Porterfield, although playing defensively with no attempt to score runs except from hit me balls, I nearly went home in the growing evening cold as the sun left the ground. Many other Durham supporters did so and missed the excitement as Borthwick had Porterfield, Yousef and Westwood out within two overs and Warwickshire faced the nightmare of being 50 for 4.
The following morning a much better crowd than originally anticipated arrived in the expectation of the unexpected! My hope was that Durham would be able get Warwickshire all out in their second innings for less than 200 in 50 overs leaving Durham to get less that 175 with a similar amount of time to hand. At one point it looked as if the game would over without a break for lunch as wickets fells at 67, 67 and 69. The last three wickets put on 68 runs with Ambrose making 51 but this still left Durham with only 102 runs to win the game in some 50 overs. Smith opened the innings as before but with Borthwick the hero so far having taken 4 wickets for 25 and Graham Onions 4 for 28 both having been punished in the first innings (Onions 2 for 106 and Borthwick 1 for 46). When Smith went for 9 we sensed that Warwickshire would make a great fight for it but Borthwick with Muchall battle exceptionally well and with no need to take risk gradually moved the score to 83 before Muchall went with 30. Stokes joined Borthwick and the two young men saw Durham win shortly after tea. It was good to see that after the strong batting performance of county championship winning Di Venuto, captains Smith and Benkenstein and man of his first season Blackwell, it was returning back to form by the injured Onions and the Youngster Borthwick who saw the win home. Promising Stokes and Richardson did not have good game, however. I had stayed in on the Friday to watch the Royal wedding switching between channels on the TV but with computer radio commentary keeping me up to date with the cricket supported by the score and scorecard updated every two minutes.
The outcome of other matches played meant that Durham had moved back at the top of the division in second place with two wins, a draw and 62 points, one less than Nottinghamshire who have played one game having won all their games so far. Notts are home to Yorks this week with Durham resting and a draw would be brilliant and a Yorkshire win also acceptable. Yorkshire know that a defeat will significantly dent their hopes of championship success this season
Sandwiched between the two championship games was the best single day’s cricket of the season so far, the first 40 over league and cup competition of the season against the weakest team of the 18 division one and two teams added to which are .Scotland and the Netherlands, together with the Unicorns, a made up team for the competition. Scotland won only two of their twelve games last season, losing all the others. Durham was not that better so the first game was going to be a season trend setter for both teams.
Scotland started badly losing wickets at 1, 5 and 16, all to Graham Onions and I wondered how long the game would last. There was a rally until 80 when three wickets fell and again there were thoughts of an easy and early win. However Mommsen with 73 not out steadied the tale so that with Has getting 30 the team finished with a respectable 215 for 7 hitting 37 runs over the last two overs. We knew there was going t be a good game on our hands when Mustard back from injury went for 1 and then Benkenstein was out to the catch of the season so far and Durham had to work hard for the runs. It was Gordon Muchall who rescued Durham from embarrassment with 95 not out and the expendable Gareth Breese with 24 saw the game won with ten balls to play. That was a good start and an enjoyable afternoon and early evening in warm sunshine but the next game would be tougher as second division Northants had commenced with a good win beating neighbours Leicestershire by 7 wickets and with ten of their forty overs to spare.
It was there with hope more than expectation that I arrived at the Emirates ground on Sunday taking with me a cold drink and a pastry, I early returned home shortly after play commenced as Mustard was out again for a duck before a run was on the board and Coetzer also for a duck with the total 3. When Stokes went for 15 after a promising start with the total 24, Gordon Muchall and Benkenstein once more came to the rescue but scored slowly taking the total to a more respectable 121 before Benkenstein went for a truly remarkable catch at the boundary, no disgrace there. The remaining team members tried to get more runs at a quicker pace but with a total of only 172 in 39.1 overs my experience indicated that this was game we were going lose, and we did. There was some hope when Loye went with the total 4 and O’Brien at 14 but Wakley not out 78 and opener Peters 55 quickly mastered everything that Durham could throw at them with 8 of the 11 man Durham team taking their turn at the bowling. Rushworth with 2 for 15 was the best and I do not understand why he was only given 6 overs. Claydon 2 for 27 also bowled less than the available 8 overs as Northants completed their win by five wickets and 9 balls to go. The clue is that the attempt was made to prevent the win by tight bowling rather than take more wickets at a run cost. It could be argued by taking the game into the 39th over was to the captain’s credit. It makes a win against Leicestershire at their ground to day, essential. They have only won 1 of their three games so will be desperate for their second win. Northants is now topping the table with 2 out of 2 with Surrey 1 out of 1 at a faster run rate Hampshire also 1 out 1 followed by Warwickshire and Durham win one win out of two and with Durham a .05 run rate with Warwickshire. 08. A win at a good run rate is therefore essential. Only the top team in each division goes through to the semi final round with the fourth team having the best run rate of the runner ups. This means a team can win the overwhelming majority of their games but still lose out to a team winning fewer game sin their division but having a better run rate. I would have preferred to see the top twp in each division, plus two others with the best run rates going through to a quarterfinal and then semi final stage as was the position in the previous 50 over inning competition. It is also questionable policy to expect new 50 over international players emerge by only playing 40 over innings games.
This part of the season was not over for Durham who played Leicestershire this afternoon. Durham were asked to bat after winning the toss and although Coetzer again failed and Mustard was run out with only 59 on the board, Stokes hit hard and fast for his 52 to go out third at 112 and hen with Benkenstein 4 and Muchall 32 the position did not look good at 127 for 5. It was then Blackwell Breeze took control and powered their way to 271 when Breeze went for 44 and Blackwell soon after two short of a century. The innings ended at 285 which left the home side having to score at a rate over 7 an over. Blackwell had hit 5 sixes and 7 fours in his match winning innings. While after Leicestershire also lost an early wicket they worked hard to put on 100 before the next loss to Blackwell. After that they were always several runs per over behind the Durham scoring rate. Blackwell ended the day with 3 for 49 to take the man of the match award had their been one while you can never know what he will do Stokes too 3 wickets for 6 runs in 2.2 overs at the end of he game with the home side all out for 216 with 16 balls left to play. The importance of this win away from home cannot be underestimated, especially as the run rate improved in major way but still just below that of Surrey and Northants who are above Durham and with a game in hand.
Over the ten days of home games of which I attended eight I took with me an already made up salad, either prawn or chicken and bacon with pasta from Asda at £1.50 a time, plus two Danish at 74p and a carton of cut melon slices at £1 although I managed to make do with only one pastry and brought back home the melon on several occasions. I took a thermos filled cuppa soup and another of coffee. On one day I used a Membership voucher for a free cup of coffee at the Austin’s Bistro. I only had one single cone ice cream. I did manage three walks into the adjacent park along the river bank and over to the benches opposite bowling greens among bedding plants but mostly made a circuit around the grounds during the lunch or tea intervals. As expected the cost of petrol and parking exceeded that of the average cost per day portion of the Membership.
On balance the season has started well, better than I expected. But still not back to winning things consistency.
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