1798 Durham's 3 and 4

According to Durham over 3000 people attended the third day of the match between the county and Nottingham at Riverside on Friday of last week. As it was a weekday there were no school age children until the later afternoon but there were significantly more younger people and those of working age present, especially after lunch and towards the evening session. Unable to predict the attendance I had risen early and decided to repeat the pattern of the previous morning, a prepared salad using the remaining gammon. I had purchased the 1.5 kilo size for £6 instead of the usual £4 for half the weight and had obtained Sunday lunch and second main meal with hot gravy plus three salads and a couple of late evening snacks. Excellent value but only to repeated occasionally. With salad there was grapes and a cinnamon whirl.

I had then bought the breakfast platter with coffee at the KFC for £2.79 and arrived at the ground before the 9am opening, staying in the car and reading more of the impossible Dream by Tom Moffat. I had been interested to read that in 1989 Matt Roseberry the Durham business man had initiated enquiries about creating a first class side based on the development of the Sunderland cricket ground at Ashbrook for a commercial undertaking rather than as a development of the existing Durham Minor County side and after the original initiative had failed in the mid1980’s.

Matt is a remarkable individual in his own right having started life as a trainee pitman who became a well known figure in business construction, entertainment and sporting industry in the North East acquiring a host of facilities from public houses, working men‘s clubs, leisure facilities, and building houses and recreational centres, and becoming one of the Directors of Durham Cricket club where one of his son became captain for a time after a career as opening batsman with Middlesex for 10 years, returning to that county after his short spell at Durham. What caught my eye is that Matt approached South Tyneside Council when I was there about support for the Ashbrooke project having a meeting with the then head of Culture and Leisure Tom Graham and deputy leader of the Council Sep Robinson, the seventh son of a seventh son. According to the Roseberry Notes he met the deputy leader S Robertson and the error is surprising given the role of the Robinson brothers in Durham Politics. The note describes the meeting as not being fruitful, as being with the leader of the Council which Sep was not and giving his name as Robertson.

As expected the Northern Echo was full of praise for the previous two days of cricket with Tom Wellock who produced the excellent account of the sudden rise to success “Summer’s with Durham.” In anticipation of winning the club were reported to have contacted the ECB and the Championship sponsors about having a celebration and representation of the trophy at the end of the game on Saturday, although this not mean the original intention of a formal presentation during or at the end of the last one day International between Australia and England at the Riverside this coming Sunday which I have planned to watch on TV. Some Durham players had indicated they were unhappy about being required to return tot eh ground for a celebration on that day as it would be between the important games at the Rosebowl and Worcester which they intend to try and win and make the gaining of the second championship an emphatic and memorable one, standing out in the umber of matches won, being unbeaten and total points gained. Whereas last year there was an element of luck although they did win more games than anyone else. The front page headline in the Echo was Tons of Glory and in addition to pointing out the reaching of the highest first innings score and four centuries, Tom added the information that Patel had scored his 50th century in first class cricket and that Benkenstein had now made fifteen centuries for Durham one more than Morris and Paul Collingwood.

I have commented that Paul has made little contribution to Durham’s championship victories but this should not discount his immense contribution to the development of the club in the hard years of regular defeats in the championship. And his contribution tot eh England team has been immense although like Harmison he has had his ups and downs. And where I suspect some southerners have had mixed feelings about the rise of their northern counterparts.

Nottinghamshire commenced the day 65 for two wickets and Durham needed to get four more wickets before the 121st over was bowled that is in the 96 overs that were left from the 120. For the first dozen overs it began to look as if the task would not be an easy one as young opening batsman Hales who had risen into the first team this season from the academy scored without difficulty eventually being out, bowled by Plunket for 62 as the fifth wicket before lunch. Before him Patel has also gone to Plunket when the total was 129 for a creditable 44 and Shafayat the makeshift wicket keeper had departed cheaply leg before wicket to Plunket with the total 133. The prospect of the game ending in three days loomed as Nottingham appeared to be collapsing as quickly as they had on their home ground.

It was then that injured captain wicket keeper Chris Read was joined by Ali Brown and put together a stand of close on 100 runs taken the score to 247 before the vital sixth wicket fell during the afternoon. There was a brief celebration in part out of respect for Nottinghamshire, doomed to no more than second place for the third year in succession but mainly because the task in had was to win the match as well as the championship.


Mark Davies had Ali caught behind and this heralded a mini collapse with Read going to Plunket and Fletcher to Davies making the total to 270 for 8. There was then a further stand between Ealham and Pattinson who added one hundred runs taking the score to 383. Shrek bravely took the field with a runner and it was evident he was in no state to play and therefore Pattison hit out and was caught behind to give Plunket his sixth wicket for 86 runs with Mark taking the other four for 87. Durham had maintained an attacking field, as in fairness had Nottinghamshire with the consequence that any well timed and well placed shot reached the boundary given the number of fielders surrounding the batsman for edges or saving the single run forcing the batsman to try big hits and get out that way. Durham had been significantly more successful at avoiding this trap whereas five of the Notts batsman did not although the team reached a total of 384, a good score on most days but still resulting in having to follow on with four sessions of the match remaining. Yorkshire had survived a similar situation earlier in the season on a similar wicket. As with the first innings Durham were able to take two wickets before the close, Plunket catching Newman off the bowling of Claydon when the total had reached 21 and Wagh going to Davies with the total 48. The evening closed with the total 48 and Nottinghamshire needing another 200 runs to make Durham bat again.

As on the three previous evenings by the time I returned home and made a meal, caught up with the general news and relaxed I was sleepy, sometimes sleeping and dragging myself to bed. There was no inclination to stay up watching TV or trying although I play a lot of games on the computer which required limited concentration and skill.

Saturday was a very different day for me. I decided against a cooked breakfast and went instead to the supermarket for a sandwich deal, Three different halves, a bottle of water and packet of crisps for £2 plus melon slices and a cinnamon whirl with some remaining grapes. I went for coffee immediately on arrival and was disappointed not to find copies of the Northern Echo. This was explained later in the day when two young women were at a stall selling copies for of the Saturday edition for 4 pence plus two pieces of flapjacks or sweets. I opted for the former.

I believe there were fewer people over the day than on Friday but the composition was significantly different. There were far more families than I can recollect seeing at the ground, often with very young children and during the afternoon I noted the large number enjoying the sunshine and sitting behind the stands eating hamburgers and sausage rolls or using the dodgem cars at £2.50 a ride. There were several hundred people milling about while the game continued and even more during the two intervals. I also failed to see many faces encountered during the playing season as I suspect many established members decided not to attend given the open house and that the championship had been secured. From previous experience Saturdays are not well attended days as the mornings are usually given over to shopping or activities with the family and one husband admitted he had difficulty in getting to the match for this reason, while another expressed sadness that his boss had been unwilling to give him a day’s leave for the Friday. In the afternoon there were home games at Sunderland and the Boro and I had spoken with one grand father and son who were taking the grandsons to the Boro and could stay only for the morning session. For many cricket clubs the weekend was the last competitive matches of the season so given these factors I thought the crowd was excellent and exceptionally well behaved, a concern which some Members had expressed concern.

The day started exceptionally well with two wickets falling quickly and at 64 for four a lunchtime end was a possibility. Young Hales was determined this would not be so and he ended the day top scorer with another fifty, caught off the bowling of Blackwell for 78 as the sixth wicket at 163. The end came quickly after that with Plunket getting Read and Ali Brown and Harmison getting Fletcher and the last wicket of Ealham to close the match with an eighth win for the season shortly after tea time. It was then time for celebration

I had decided against sitting in the sun for the fourth day and went to the opposite end of the ground behind the bowler and where at first it was chilly in the shade and I had to wear my top coat as well as inner jacket. Liam Plunket‘s parents and other family members came and sat on the first row a little distance away and during the lunch interval Liam came to greet them while the family played on the grass. I took several photos at a distance hoping some would be of sufficient quality to send to him as a memento of the day.

With two wickets to go I moved to a seat close the aisle which the players use to get to the dressing room and where I expected the presentation to take place. Only one request was made for supporters not to enter the playing area and everyone obeyed without exception and without stewards having to defend the area, which to my mind was the great success of the venture. It demonstrated that if you treat people with respect in general they respond accordingly. There was great joy among the players and backroom staff who called for their children and partners to join them in the celebrations. The players were also photographed against the crowd, myself included, for a post photo and future video and then photo posters were handed out the team with space for autographs as the spectators were invited to meet the players on the field. I decided it was time to go home and had little difficult in leaving the car park and reaching the motorway.

Among the playing staff attending was England’s Paul Collingwood who was rested by England for the fourth one day international, and which England lost making the final game at the riverside less attractive, except perhaps as a means of avoiding a whitewash.

I returned home to watch the regional news and for once the praise was justified as well as the point that without major injuries or changes this is a team which could continue to dominate the championship over the next two to three years.

I decided not to open a bottle of sparking Chardonnay which I planned to enjoy on Sunday with a quartet of small lamb chops. I was high without the need for additional stimulants.