Wednesday 22 April, Notts v Yorkshire.
Despite being a keen fan of cricket, I'd never before been to a county game. Living as I do now, down the road from Trent Bridge, it would be a missed opportunity to not go and see Nottinghamshire. With their next home county championship game not till May 17th (deep into my exam time) it was an easy enough decision to see the 4th day of this match. Some background- This was the second championship fixture for Notts, after a draw at Middlesex in the season opener last week. There was considerable anger from Yorkshire at England taking many of their key players on their tour of the West Indies, which left them feeling robbed after four of them only carried the drinks. (Rashid, Lyth, Plunkett, Bairstow; Gary Ballance and Joe Root, however, played the Test match.) On the first day of the match on Sunday 19th, Alex Hales hit a double ton, James Taylor scored 59, Hales got out on the 2nd morning for 236, leaving Notts with a total of 428. Yorkshire then batted well- Alex Lees 100, Pujara 57. On the third day Jack Leaning scored a maiden first class century (116) as they got 441, a lead of 13. Notts ended the third day 74/3, Taylor batting with nightwatchman Gidman.
Former England bowler Tim Bresnan opened proceedings with Jack Brooks. Bresnan was kept on for a long spell, kept runs down and was very accurate. During this spell, you caught a little glimpse as to why he was a regular member of the squad in England's very successful period under Strauss and Andy Flower. Brooks at the other end, however, was erratic. Yorks skipper Andrew Gale took him off and first change Steven Patterson was quicker and got the first wicket of the day when Gidman edged to slip for 13. He had looked uncertain from the start. Patel came to the crease and it was great watching two of the funniest physical players in English cricket bat together, and bat well. Taylor, of the short stature (5"4) and Patel, someone who could be described as on the heavier side. Both have England Test caps, while Patel's time has probably been and gone, Taylor is someone who I think has been very unlucky in the years following his debut in 2012.
His championship form has been thoroughly excellent since then but often inferior players technique wise have been given a Test top six spot ahead of him, like Jonny Bairstow, and England have grown into a habit of putting all-rounders in the top six fairly recently. While both Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali have big parts to play in the future, given our batting woes in the Ashes whitewash and the less than wonderful performances in the 2014 summer, I hope it won't be long before Taylor gets an extended run in the team.
But I digress, back to the match. Taylor's defence was great and he can scored all round the wicket, and looked in superb touch, hitting a great straight drive for 4 off a rare poor delivery from Bresnan. Patel, known for his powerful hitting, also looked good. Both made decent progress as the Yorkshire attack was pretty blunt when Bresnan wasn't bowling. Gale looked to William Rhodes, a part time bowler, but he got plenty of bounce off the pitch and was sending it down fast. I thought he was the pick of the bowlers all day, out performing those with far more impressive records. He bowled short of a length regularly and Taylor gave his wicket away after all his hard work with a hook to fine leg for 35. A little bit of part time spin from Jack Leaning to give the pace battery a rest led to the shot of the morning from Patel, a beautiful cover drive. The young medium fast bowler Matthew Fisher, just 17, ended the session with some very average deliveries to the new batsman Riki Wessels.
Lunch came and went and I obviously need to work on my cricket journalism as I missed the first couple of overs but thankfully just missed one run and not a huge shift in the match. Meanwhile, Brooks and Patterson opened, but the story was all about Patel, who really upped the pace, reaching his 50 off 75 balls with 7 4s. It featured a wonderful cut off Patterson for a boundary. Wessels, not to be outdone, then late cut Bresnan for 4 twice in four balls meaning that Bresnan was very expensive in his first few overs after lunch, and with the run rate going up, it was still possible a declaration could be taken and Notts could try and see if Yorkshire could be bowled out going for a win. However, this attacking style led to wickets, with a run out shout when Patel went for a quick single to mid on very unlucky not to be given, and then after Rhodes was brought back, he once more made the breakthrough. The first ball of his spell was smacked through cover point for 4 from Patel, but from very next ball the one-time England man was caught behind driving for a brilliant 76 off 114 balls, with 11 4s. A much needed wicket, to just about keep the game alive for Yorkshire.
Gale shuffled his bowling around again to try and unsettle the new batsman at the crease, Notts captain Chris Read. He was very defensive and uncertain at the start, edging just over first slip for four. At the other end, Wessels slog swept Leaning for a maximum over long on and was going extremely well, having no trouble against the spinner, but then stupidly went for a huge shot to a decent ball and edged behind to leave him 43 off 71 and again the game was given a chance. The score at this point was 245-7, if Yorkshire could clean up they would fancy their chances.
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. The South African Vernon Philander then came out, a proper international star. He almost got out first ball, though, but his edge fell short of first slip after a very good arm ball from Leaning. Yorks then took the new ball in an attempt to get the last 3 wickets quickly, but it just handed the initiative to Notts, with the new cherry flying off the bat to the boundary a heck of a lot. Brooks and Bresnan bowled the first 5 overs of it economically, then off the 86th over Bresnan went for 12, thanks to three consecutive boundaries off Read. I thought Read should've declared at that point with a 257 lead and 35 overs left to try and engineer a result but he didnt and the run making continued. Leaning then took over but went for 9. the runs were flowing, just fu*king declare please... Gale looked to Lees for even more part time spin, as tea arrived.
With the game drifting away thanks to Read and Philanders' commendable batsmanship, I began to think of possible reasons for not declaring- perhaps that a team with a batting line up like Yorkshire were never going to be bowled out in 30odd overs, or more likely, because Read thought a ton was for the taking. It certainly seemed that way, as he got his 50 off 80 balls, before really opening up, lifting a straight drive for a 6, then a pull for four off Leaning who I was amazed was still bowling. The pitch was clearly conducive to spin but he proved throughout his 14 overs on the day he's nowhere near good enough. Of course, it could be argued Gale realised it was a lost cause and was saving his top bowlers... it seemed so and Read and Philander were happy with that. Read reverse swept him for four, much to the amusement of the crowd. We had the bizarre sight of Yorkshire putting five men on the boundary despite the opposition being seven down. Soon enough the 100 partnership came up for the 8th wicket off 147 balls, and the very next ball after the announcement Philander hit poor old Leaning into the Radcliffe Road End to move onto 37. The fast bowler had shared a lot of the strike in the late overs, meaning that when the two teams shook hands for a draw Read was left on 83 not out. Notts closed on 354/7, and it was a draw.
At the start of the day any cricket fan could have predicted that outcome, but nonetheless it was a thoroughly enjoyable day as a spectator. I didn't come away with any great feelings about either team, but rather the game itself. There is something idyllic about English county cricket in the early summer, it's a different world completely to the screaming celebrity endorsed razzmatazz of the IPL, for instance. And yet, the little things that make county cricket wonderful were all in evidence- the presence of the members, always turning up in rain or shine, the lovely murmur round the ground after another great strike by their skipper Read, and the odd hilarious comment, like the one from the elderly man sitting behind me who remarked that the England Test team was full of "Back-door bandits" and "toff wankers". The Ashes it ain't, but county championship cricket definitely still has a place.
