Tuesday, 16 June 2009

1740 A cricket match in retrospect

Just as the political week as has been uniquely volatile Durham’s cricket match against Lancashire has been extraordinary. The weather, the players and the course of the game all contributed to a memorable three days which I was able to enjoy alongside preparations for my next trip.

When I opened the curtains, metaphorically, speaking, as I had not drawn those in the workroom the night before or opened those in the bedroom, there was a cloudless blue sky above the hill, although it felt chilly. I had become anxious about attending the cricket and prepare for my trip, although I have become nervous about leaving the security of my home and going away on my own, although in this instance I will be having contact with family at various times. At least I am venturing away more during this seventieth year and consider that I manage well once I am on the road, train, or coach.

On Thursday, now a week ago, I accomplished the planned tasks for the morning to arrive at the ground and park within a few minutes of the commencement. Finding that the wicket was even closer to the Member’s Pavilion I made my way around to the opposite corner and found a good seat and then only discovered that I was within feet of a Sky Camera team. It was soon evident why they were in attendance. Freddie Flintoff, England’s most well known all round player and match winner since Ian Botham in the 1980’s and who had been injured having a knee operation was playing his first competitive game, in preparation for the Australia Ashes tour after the 20 20 competition is completed. I found this irritating because both Graham Onions, who had been selected for the Tests against the West Indies and Steve Harmison who is a centrally contracted with the national cricket board have improved in their accuracy and wicket taking and as bowlers should have as good a chance as Freddie of being selected along with the class act of English born Saj Mahmood for Lancashire.

Having won the toss Lancashire put Durham into bat, concerned at the reputed liveliness of the wicket and the recent reputation of Graham Onions and Steve Harmison. Lancashire did not open with Flintoff but their opening pair, especially Mahmood did find that the pitch did more than live up to their expectation, even anticipation. There was a variable speed reaction as well as swing into or away from the batsman denting on which players were left and right handed and this meant that sometimes the ball bounced up more sharply than expected, especially from the over six foot bowlers, or it was not only flat but stayed low so that in these circumstances there was risk to skying into the air a rising ball or giving a nick to the wicket keeper or one of the fielders in the slips, standing back in quarter circle alongside the wicket keeper.

Few in the crowd including the Sky front man with his camera understood this until the captains and players explained what was happening as the match progressed over the three days which it lasted. On that morning the fireworks commenced with the second ball of the first spell by Mr Flintoff who came on to bowl around midday.

Durham had made a slow but good start until then. And the loss of the wicket looked to be a hiccup as the total reached 84 when first Smith who had played within his shell was out followed instantly by Stoneman who had scored 45, and Durham appeared to be in trouble. There then followed a series of mini stands as the wicket appeared to play up and Lancashire shared wicket taking between their bowlers with Muchall going at 117, Blackwell at 143 for 20, Blenkenstein for 166 and Thorp at 172 for 4, I thought Saj Mahmood was their better bowler although while he ended 2 for 62 it was Flintoff who attracted the attention with 4 wickets for 47 from 15.5 overs.

The day ended early for me as it had not been for a comfortable day watching cricket in the open air. Alas the problem was that while the sky was clear on the hill, there was evidence of changeable cloud once on the flat was reached as I left town and approached the start of the AIM towards Washington and Chester Le Street. The first shower was limited but I hastened to the Member’s lounge after lunch when I took a seat close to where a former colleague was sitting, discovered as he returned from his lunch taken inside the lounge.

Out on the second and back row of the Member’s undercover balcony first two Executive looking men with Durham ties. and then a young man in his twenties sat in the row in front of me and asked if Flintoff had yet bowled so were relayed what had happened in the morning. They were rewarded by a short spell of another four overs where he had not looked as comfortable in his first.

There was a second interruption for rain and the when the third offered and the skies looked dreadful I made my way to the car and drove home to watch England play South Africa in the next round of the 20 20 competition. Alas his interest was short lived as we lost two quick wickets and it was evident what was going to happen. True to form we lost the game in those disastrous opening moments. We had lost two of the opening games and I blamed Durham’s Collingwood.

The previous evening I had watched a competent and professional English Team whack Andora six nil with three goals in each half. Andora a poor team, even more poor than on previous encounters when we had struggled to score through an energetic packed defence. The sixty thousand crowd enjoyed the event, despite a strike on the Underground which caused travel chaos with Wembley forced to offer a return of the ticket money for those who would find the problem getting from Wembley to the main line and regional station for connections home difficult to impossible, especially with children going to school in the following morning. I have been to Andorra, one year camping on the south coast of France before moving on to sites on either side of the Spanish Border. The Mistral had arrived sweeping in sand dust into every area of the tent. The decision had been taken to pack overnight stuff and head off to Andorra where in the warm sunshine, and a hotel bed was taken for the evening without pre-booking. The tiny kingdom had a population of over 50000 when I visited but today has grown to 80000 similar to South Shields but here the similarities vanish as the citizen are wealthy from tourism and from the operations as tax heaven The weather is such that the population is renowned having the best average death age in the world, believe it or not it is 85 years.

The Andorrans, in addition to providing a football team of part timers to compete in World and European competitions where they always lose, have now produced their first Opera singer to compete in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Each evening this week five male and female singers have competed to win an award on the night and then five singers were selected for the final on Sunday. Tonight a twenty-one year old Italian tenor Giordano won and went through to the final as the favourite to win the competition which surprisingly no Italian tenor has won before. He has the most beautiful tender and expressive voice I have ever heard. He does not yet speak English but when he said his ambition is to become one of the great Italian singers those of us hearing him thought, but you already are. He has not yet developed the power and strength of someone such as Pavarotti but it was evident he will. My only concern that as with other famous tenors tenor including Mario Lanza and Pavarotti he has developed his upper body to such an extent that his future health must be of concern. He is the youngest competitor so that the others in the final have had time for their voices to mature. It was evident from the response of the audience and the orchestra that they also recognised being at the birth of a new international superstar who will one day perform the great roles in New York, London and Rome as the other great Opera House of the world. Giordano Luca, remember that name.

At the end of the first day Durham had reached just over 200 for eight wickets and with Mustard and Claydon putting on another mi stand of some 30 runs

The following morning given the chill and watery weather of the previous day and the need to make further preparations for the trip I decided to stay home and considered going to the match according to the commentary on the internet. I decided to take up the offer of a mini cooked breakfast in the town centre

The previous day I had received four vouchers for breakfasts which I thought were from the town centre McDonalds which has distributed similar vouchers in the past, usually for any time available after 10.30 so were used for lunch. These were for use before 10.30 and an early waking after a good sleep and a bright sky once more, I went off into town noting there was no cooling wind. It was good to be out and I enjoyed the walk down the hill only to realise as I arrived that the vouchers were for the Kentucky Fried Chicken. I had planned to take the week’s household refuse and the environmental recycle box of papers, cans and glass on my way to the match, but now decided to combine this with the planned breakfast treat. I had a brisk walk back up the hill which served me well and then set off without preparing any food or drink to take with me.

The chosen treat at the KFC was a mini breakfast comprising scrambled egg, a small sausage sliced in two, two small pieces of bacon, a hash brown, baked beans and a cheesy bread with a coffee for £1.89. I eat this at leisure, visited the Council refuse site and then made my way to the Riverside where the only problem was that the car park machine nearest the vehicle was not working.

It was evident that the good weather and batting performance on a difficult wicket had attracted a larger crowd, one of the best for a championship match so far, including more visitors from Lancashire who were making a weekend of it. In fact there had been more play the previous evening as Blackwell made something of a stand with Mitch Claydon. He was out before close but the total had been taken to over 200 and reached 244 before the last two wickets fells in two overs to Freddie Flintoff making his total a respectable four for forty seven from 15.5 overs. Phil Mustard had reached 51 and then tried to hook a bouncer giving an easy catch to the outfield. Not knowing about the uneven performance of the wicket I thought he had played a poor shot in circumstances where he could have gained another batting bonus point with six more runs.

What then happened made Durham’s Day and created disappointment for Lancashire and the visiting fans. Onions had Horton caught behind for 0 after 4 byes had been scored. The player stayed behind even after the umpire signalled suggesting that he thought he had not touched the ball. This also happened with one of the other openers who had admittedly moved forward towards the ball which always makes it difficult to give a leg before wicket decision to the bowler. Graham Onions had the first three wickets at 4, 34 and 37. Meanwhile Steve Harmison and bowled in a very controlled fashion with four maidens in the opening spell and several overs where only one or two runs were scored against him. It was twelve thirty when I decided I need to follow up breakfast with a cup of tea and having acquired this and settled at table to drink I was rewarded with the second and third Onions wicket and Harmison also got one before lunch with Lancs 48 for 4.

Immediately after lunch Flintoff who had looked as if he was settling was cleaned bowled by Harmison for 3 and Lancashire were 56 for 5. They then had a mini stand so feeling hungry I went up stairs once more and bought a chicken sandwich with sweet pepper and mayonnaise which cost as much as a hot meal elsewhere £3.95 and was tempted by a bottle of Peroni and £2.50. Ouch. However I was rewarded by two further wickets with Mitch Claydon getting Sutton for 21 and then the next ball dismissing the Lancs’ captain for a quack quack.. There was a further mini mini stand before the last wickets fell and they were all out for 116 giving Durham a lead of 128. Had we got those extra runs the morning Lancs could be on their way out again to bat. Tea was taken and I had to leave to commenced preparations for my trip. I missed the high drama which followed. Both Onions and Harmison as had Flintoff took 4 wickets in the respective first innings.

Flintoff had again opening the bowling with Di Venuto for 0 at 0, Mahmood then got Stoneman for 2 when the total was 2. 2 for 2. Captain Will Smith went of 1 so 3 for 3. Blenkenstein went when the total was ten. Then was then the first of two crucial rallies with Muchall getting 18 so they total became 40 for 5, and with Mustard going cheaply for 7 nit had became and worryingly 57 for six before Ian Blackwell, the last recognised batsman arrive at the crease and together with bowler Graham Thorp doubled the total so that the day ended at 122 for six and therefore Durham were 250 ahead which on this wicket was probably unattainable.

On Saturday I was well organised on what promised to be a hot day and I was on my way to the Kentucky Fried Chicken for a breakfast of a filled Ciabatta with sausage and cheese for free, paying only for the coffee at under £1.20. I found myself a seat at the back at the end of an aisle looking towards the end of the wicket from the close to the media and education centre building. Durham did not survive the morning for as long or as well as I had hoped.

Despite the breakfast around 9.30 come 11.30 I was eating two of the prepared rolls and then went to the flask for some coffee. Clumsily I dropped in such a fashion that the inside smashed and pierced the outer shell dripping coffee in increasing quantity. I hastily moved it onto the nearby gravel and then placed in a waste bin. I had a supply of paper towels in the bag which were used to mop the spilt coffee around my seat. I then went to the lounge for a coffee and engaged in conversation with a visitor from Lancashire who appeared eager to chat about our respective clubs, So I did this while the remaining Durham wickets fell with Blackwell reaching 75 and Thorp 24. The total was 145 which meant that Lancs had get 274 to win, surely impossible. Mahmood had taken six wickets.
I should not have had any doubts as Steve Harmison produced a world class performance taking the first four wickets leaving Lancs 63 for four and then Onion got in on the act getting rid of Flintoff, caught behind off his first ball and they were 64 for 5. There was resistance and in those looking back brief moments there was tension in the crowd remembering the way Yorkshire, Somerset and Sussex had thwarted. Lancs eventually capitulated to 144 and Durham had won by over 100 runs and would head the championship table as a consequence, however briefly. Steve had taken 5 wickets in total for 46 and match figures of nine for 74, his best match results for many a year, given the quality of the batsmen he had dismissed. Mahmood had taken 8 for 92 which was exceptional. Similarly Onions for Durham had taken 7 for 68 which together with his performance in the previous match should again alert the Test selectors who were present.

Durham, with two wins and three draws now have 72 points with Lancs who have played a similar number of games with 58 a lead of 14 points. However Notts who are second and have a game in hand were only 6 points behind won, so did Sussex and Somerset beat Yorks which is like Newcastle losing to Sunderland supporters. These were important first wins of the season for Sussex and Somerset who had lost 1 and drawn three as they were in danger of being fixed at lower end of he table with newly added Worcestershire who were having a dreadful start having lost 4 and only drawn one of their games to date. Given that there are 13 more matches to play no one can predict the outcome although Notts with 3 wins from 5 should be there fighting to win the championship and so should Durham. It was a good start for what was in effect a holiday week and I made my way to Sunderland before returning home, to fill the car with petrol and to buy a new Thermos flask. There was to be a bright flash of lightening, a vicious clap of Thunder and a short intense spell of torrential rain before the day ended, however.

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