Durham lose at Nottingham 2011 but reach Clydesdale Semi final while go from triumEngland ph to triumph

The main purpose of my visit to Nottingham was to watch Durham Cricket Club take an important step in winning their third County Championship in four years and their fourth trophy in five years thus making it a golden half decade, something which I did not anticipate experiencing in my life time. However having lost away to Somerset and again at home in the rain affected game against Hampshire I was not optimistic as in both instances it was the batting that had failed and which had been Durham’s great strength this season.

I always enjoy my visits to Trent Bridge because it is possible to have a good seat and view behind the bowler’s arm. After 50 years of watching cricket I learned why if one is not playing, the best view is from above the bowlers arm, especially as at Trent Bridge anyone buying a ticket to the championship games can sit immediately over the wicket and have one of the best views in the country, usually taken by the media at one end of every ground. The only disadvantage is that a substantial number of Nottinghamshire Members like to enjoy the experience so you have sit with other supporters on either side unless you arrive early and gain an aisle seat which I did on the two days of what proved a three day match.

When I normally watch a game I have great difficulty in seeing the ball especially if I watch side on and even behind the wicket I have problems. However looking over the wicket at height it becomes possible to see the movement of the ball, the swing or the turn in such a manner that I have not witnessed before. It was a revelation.

Notts won the toss and elected to bat on an overcast day which quickly changed to hot sunshine by the time play commenced and I had left hat in the car and sun cream at home. I investigated if there was in suitable in the club shop but those available were for smaller heads and expensive so I missed around 30 mins of the morning session going back to the car which I had managed to park in a side road only a few minutes from the Co Op and ticket office. I then decided to try another 7 day, all hours, local store on the road leading to the coop for sun cream and was horrified at having to pay 6.99 for a factor 15 sprays. I checked the price after leaving the store and then return to my seat in stand which was now full on both sides of the stadium at this level leaving large areas of emptiness.

The star of the day was Alex Hales with 115. He is the young man who in a 20 20 game, three, may even be four seasons ago he took a catch going backwards and stood on the rope which should have registered as 6. Half of Durham supporters could see the error which he failed to admit. It was a good innings in a season which has brought him to the attention of the England A side and then the England 20 20 team playing later this evening. At 202 for six and 239 for nine I had hoped for a lower total which could have made all the difference. Durham alas had a disastrous start losing 3 wickets for 25 runs and visions of 400 runs plus and an innings win vanished.

Everyone, that is the weather forecasters, the ground staff and Nottingham spectators all were convinced that the rain would arrives early and remain heavy for the greater part of the day and as I had an engagement late afternoon I decided it was not worth planning to go to cricket and made arrangement to spend the day elsewhere arriving for an early lunch. It was therefore just before 11 when I set off with darkened skies and spots of heavy rain so yes I said to myself the result looked destined to be a draw as the weather for Thursday was also not forecast as good for cricket. I had a great time but blame myself for not being at the game and therefore perhaps contributing to the mounting disaster as alas for Durham a full day’s cricket was possible.
One day and former Championship winning Benkenstein with the dependable Blackwell scored 101 between them putting on a stand of 90 but the last five wickets went for 30 with the last 3 going for a couple run. This gave the opponents what proved to be an invaluable lead of 75 runs. When Hales went for 0 and Turner for 17 things looked up for an interesting third day and at 159 for 7 the feeling was Durham had the upper hand. However Adam played a brilliant innings, I was told the following day making 53 so the home side made 235 setting Durham to get 300 runs two days, a very gettable target by any standards.

Alas Smith went for 9 and De Venuto for 20 so the third day task quickly became daunting. Then after Claydon, the overnight watchman was out at 35, Stoneman with the help of Benkenstein commenced a great innings which changed the mood of the surrounding Notts supporters who believed the game was Durham’s at the luncheon. I know from experience, especially of late that nothing is certain until the weight challenged lady sings.

I had made the most of the visit enjoying a coffee on the first morning in the Radcliffe Road stand restaurant and Bar, enjoying my spicy chicken wings for lunch but the great treat came later at tea when I scooped a giant portion of cream to go with my scone and strawberry jam and cup of tea and then had an enjoyable chat with a lady who was one of the Durham supporters on the coach trip I presumed than perhaps a mum of a player. She was upset that a second team had been sent without Onions, Stokes or Borthwick all away on England call up for the game in Dublin Ireland on the Thursday. I also kept an eye on the Test match to see if Tendulkar would get his 100 100‘s, a consolation for three poor Test performances but he was out just before and this paved the way for England to win the fourth Match and reaffirm their position as the number one team in the world.
On the third morning, arriving early, the ancient Members pavilion was visited for much needed bacon bap, as I had eaten what I had bought for breakfast the previous evening. Alas I to wait until 10 past 10 but and enjoyed even more although coffee was already unremembered. This reminds that I now need coffee and some cereal. The bacon is banned until Christmas

For lunch there was my second carton of chicken wings brought for the trip but I settled for a cold drink in the afternoon as the weather had been hot. When the wickets started to fall I knew a loss was in sight and spent the last session after tea prancing about on the concourse at the back of the middle tier hoping for a miracle. Only young Wood playing in his first game made a creditable 45 not out after 6 in the first innings. He bowled 2 for 57 in the first innings and 3 for 72 in the second 5 for 129 in the match which is a reasonable return and indicated that the former Academy player has a good future.

With the other results going badly Durham slipped to third in the table with 188 points having played 14 and impetus with Lancashire on 198, Warwickshire 195 and Somerset 177 all with an extra game to play over Durham. It was therefore time to turn attention to the 40 40 competition to be played on the Bank holiday Monday..

It was almost certain that Durham would qualify even if they lost their away game at the Oval because of the faster run rate. The match was shown live on Sky on what was a chilly and overcast day in the North East. Durham winning the toss and choosing to bat found the champion side Colonel Mustard, as he is always known on the circuit, had a fabulous knock with 13 fours and 1 six for his 66 from 31 balls and set up what proved to be a total which was too much even for Surrey who on the high scoring wicket have achieved some fine innings this season.
After the departure of the Colonel it was Paul Collingwood who has recently agreed a three year contract to stay with Durham who made an excellent considered 96 four short of a century with Benkenstein 48 so that Durham were able to amass 325 for 9 in their 40 overs the second highest total of the season in this format of the game. Surrey therefore needed to score these runs at a rate of over 8. For a period of time when Maynard was joined by Spriegel and they added just under 100 for the 5 wicket when it looked as if they still had a chance although behind in the required rate. However Claydon and Thorp with three wickets each did damage although Graham Onions bowled well for his 7 overs taking 1 for 33 to keep the over rate over 20 runs below that required from which Surrey failed to recover.

The disappointment of the day was the draw which sees Durham going to Somerset for the semi final on Sunday rather than back to Surrey who now have Sussex as their visitors. Both games will be televised with Sussex members able to go to the match free. Sussex has a fine record over recent year’s competitions after having not so good years in the Championship after winning 3 in four. They won the original pro forty competition- Sunday competition which was in two leagues until last year with Sussex winning three times back in 1982 and then in 2008 and 2009 with gaining promotion twice while Durham has only gaining promotion as leaders in 2007. Somerset back in 1978 and Surrey 1996 have won the first division. In the 50 over competition Sussex have won five and been runners up 4, Somerset have won 3 and been runners up 4, Surrey has only won once as had Durham but Surrey has also been runner up 3 times. Warwickshire beat Somerset in first of the new format competition held last year. Sussex, Surrey and Somerset have all won one of the 20 20 cup competitions which have been held since 2003. Somerset was the runners up last year and has been the bridesmaid in about 4 competitions in the last couple of years have reached finals day including this year.

This brings me nicely to this year’s Final day at Edgbaston and what a day it proved to be. The first semi final between underdogs Leicestershire and a strong Lancashire team ended in a tie Leicestershire considered themselves to be about a dozen runs short in the rain affected first innings which closed for 132 for 6 after 18 overs. Razzaq set the place alight with a splendid 3 sixes and two fours for 36 not out at the end. Lancashire was set 80 to win under Duckworth Lewis rules in 11 overs after further rain delays. Moore the Lancashire opener set of well making 42 with 7 fours and 1 six and with only losing their first wicket after scoring half the runs required. However some fine Lancashire work in the field and Cobb getting 2 wickets for six runs both teams ended with the same DL score after Cross got the six required off the last ball and the match went into was is described as the golden over.

Each side bowls 1 over to see how many runs they can score on the basis that if two wickets fall the innings ends so if the first and second batsmen are out in the first two balls the side has no score and the other side has only to score I run to win.

Lancashire batted first scoring a six but failed to score on the last two balls leaving the Foxes to get 15. They had reached 11 after four balls and Jefferson smashed a six to take the underdogs into the final. The romance of the contest was that 39 year old former England wicket keeper Paul Nixon was potentially playing in his last match before retiring. By qualifying for the final his team automatically became part of the world 20 20 club series which is held in India.

Amazingly there was also a Golden Over at the end of the 20 20 semi final between Hampshire and Somerset last year’s finalists, As with the first semi final there were several rain interruptions, Hampshire the visitors and champions the year before were asked to bat first and made 138 in 15.5 overs made with three rain delays, the highlight being a glorious career best innings by Shahid Alfredi of 80 which included 5 sixes and 6 fours. Somerset were given 10 overs to score 95 runs. Again the two team faced a single over decider and. Somerset made 16 and Hampshire who lost a wicket early on could only total 5. The two men who were crucial to the win was young England star of the future Josh Butler who hit 32 from 16 balls to bring Somerset close to winning after Marcus Trescothick was out for 28. Josh Butler partnered Kieswetter in the golden over. It was their bowler Alfonso Thomas who went for 1. 19 in his 3.5 overs who bowled the over with 1 wicket for 5 runs.

However it was the underdogs Leicestershire who were triumph in another final which swung between the two teams. Hampshire decided to field after winning the toss and the decision appeared to be a good one restricting the Foxes to 145 in the full 20 overs, as the rain cleared away by the start of the Final. Suppiah and Pollard were excellent taking 2 wickers each for 27 and 24 runs in their four overs but the star Bowler was Henderson who only gave away 11 from his four overs. However the Foxes were not downhearted arguing that the wicket had become more difficult as the day progressed and they thoughts they could defend the total. They were proved right because of some remarkable fielding including a sensational catch by Paul Nixon and four catches in the deep, always difficult under the lights by the substitute from the bowling of young Cobb who also had the presence to turn round after stopping a ball from his bowling and running out the backing up batsman who was well out of his crease. This brought ecstasy to the team finishing last at present in the second division championship and to Paul Nixon who will delay taking up his coaching appointment with the county until after the tournament in India.

This was not the last 20 20 game of the domestic season as earlier this evening England played India at Old Trafford. India blitzed away as England under Broad could not resist sticking to their plan of bowling short before a packed ground where the majority appeared to be supporting India and making the kind of noise experienced on the sub continent. I watched without sound listening to the closing overs of Durham at Sussex as well as keeping and eye on the games played by the three others with the game in hand. It was Rahane with 8 fours in an innings 61 supported by Dravid and Raina who appeared to be taking the game away from England as the run rate reached over 8 and approached 9. However some excellent bowling by Dernbach 4 for 22 from 3.4 overs at the end with Bopara taking 1 for 4 of his only over dismissing Dravid early on who ensured an unexpected England victory restricting the visitors to 165 in 19,4 over.

A nervous Pietersen before his resting from the 1 day game against India to be played on Saturday at Durham made 34 before being stumped but it was Morgan who appeared to take the game away with 49 before a contested catch who reduced to run rate to less than 8 Young Hales was out second ball which pleased me! The match became in balance when England needing 13 runs from 12 could only get 3 with the loss of a wicket at a time when Bopara and Patel had played themselves in. The first ball of one of the Kumar’s was declared a wide, a dubious decision, and this unsettled the bowler who gave another wide and then three fours which meant the required total was passed with 3 balls to go and the Brits celebrated while the Indian supporters tried to hide their understandable disappointment. The difference being the ability to bold tight at the end.
There are two more 20 20 game before the official end of International in the UK when England Play the West Indies at e Oval in late September as he season is extended.

The 50 over game in Dublin was rain affected but Trott made an excellent 69 with Owen Morgan 59 Debutants Taylor 1 and Durham’s Ben Stokes 3 failed to cover themselves in glory but Borthwick did get a promising 15. Another youngster Woakes was also promising with 19 as the total was pushed to 201 in 43 over on a difficult pitch for batting. There was more rain and Ireland restricted to 137 were 11 runs short at 117 for 8. Borthwick was only give one over from which he was hit for 13. Dernbach from Surrey had a promising 3 for 30 and proving himself to be the up and rapidly coming new fast bowler of the season.

Going back further to the fourth Test England declared on a massive 591 runs for 6 with Bell making a massive 235 and Pietersen 175 in a stand which took the total from 97 for 2 to 447 before the third wicket and for a time it looked as if there were to be two players reach double centuries in the same game. Pietersen his 27 fours and Bell 23 plus two sixes.

It was going to be tough for India and touch it was with only Dravid 146 not out one of the few players to carry their bat throughout Test Innings the only player to distinguish himself. Late in the order Mishra made 43 and the last four wickets made over 150 runs after India were 95 for 5.

The question therefore was could England win by an inning in another ain affected game and could Tendulkar get his 100 100’s reminding once more that Don Bradman only needed 6 runs to end his Test Career with an average of 100 at the Oval Test in I was there in 1948 only to be bowled by Eric Hollis in the second ball faced. Tendulkar made 91 with partner Mishra 84, a partnership of just under 150 for the fourth wicket at 262. After that wickets timbered again at 262,268,269, 69 275 and 283 with Swann 6 for 106, The lads done well!

Meanwhile there is a ray of light perhaps two emerged today regarding Durham’s now outside chance of winning the championship. Before reporting what happened I have a lot of catching up to do.

Durham Lose 20 20 quarter final and Wimbledon returns to League Football

I try and cheer myself on a miserable Monday morning cold and wet with The Entertainer Chris Barber and his band Down home Rag; Baby won’t you please come home, The Entertainer, New St Louis blues, Ory’s Creole trombone; Bourbon Street Parade; High Society/When the Saints; Stevedore stomp; The Sheik of Araby; Georgia Cakewalk Li’l Liza Jane; Burgundy street blues, On the Sunny side of the Street; when the saints go marching in featuring Pat Halcox Monty Sunshine Lonnie Donegan Micky Ashman Ron Bowden and Ottile Paterson also Eddie Smith Dick Smithy Graham Burbage, Edmond Hall, Hank Duncan, Hayes Alvis Joe Marshall and, Ian Wheeler

I have recovered just about from Durham‘s bad defeat at the Rosebowl on Sunday evenings in 20 20 quarter final. The first game on Saturday evening was great with both teams scoring over 200 runs. Kent appeared unbeatable as Mahmood scored 91 and Van Jaarsveld 63 not out reached 203 for 3 setting a rate of 10 runs an over for Leicestershire with Paul Nixon celebrating his 40th birthday and last home appearance before retiring capped a home side performance as the team stood up at the plate and kept the score within reachable distance with McDonald 53, young and diminutive Taylor England hopeful scoring a quick 21 and Nixon himself just missing out on the making the winning strike with a creditable 31 off 17 balls. In this high scoring and entertaining game Kent scored 6 sixes 21 fours while Leicestershire 7 sixes and 23 fours reaching 206 with 4 balls left. At the end of the game Nixon was chaired off by the delighted crowd which had packed the small home side ground and he rose to the occasion showing his unbridled joy and joining in the fun. It was the first of the midlands/north clubs to win.
It was inevitable that Sunday would prove an anti climax as Somerset came from behind to beat Notts at an almost full Trent Bridge. Hales never to be forgiven for standing on the rope and claiming catch out made 78 to give the home side a chance with a score of 169 scoring 3 sixes and six fours, When Trescothick was out for 3 runs it seemed as if it was going to Notts day but Kieswetter 49, Pollard 47 of 25 with 4 sixes and 2 fours and Buttler saw the away team reach their second finals day in two years.

The less said about the Durham performance the better after losing the toss and Paul Collingwood staying home with a continuing bad back, Durham started well as Afridi was run out on the first ball by Borthwick who caught hold of a high pitching ball and through down the stumps and when Vince was caught of a high level shot from Onions with the total 26 and then another magnificent run out saw Adams go with the total 24 but then a bad over from young Borthwick. Who went 4 for 34 in the end and Benkenstein and Breese also unable to control the scoring rate to less than 5 an over, It was Blackwell who go the ball to spin missing the stumps to the side and just over several times but who also yielded runs going from two overs for 7 to 4 for 26 which meant that the home side reached what everyone said was going to be an impossible target of 154. I hoped they would make a better fist of it but were all out for 99 in the 19th over shattering hopes and dreams. The draw for finals day takes place this evening after the floodlit game between Sussex and Lancashire but it be that three of the most successful I day sides of recent year will again make the finals day another memorable occasion alas without the presence of Durham

I enjoyed Durham’s home championship game against Nottingham at the riverside last week although a draw always appeared the likely result as rain throughout the third day was forecast and proved accurate. Durham won the toss and decided to bat with Di Venuto scoring and excellent 132 but was later injured and did not bat in the second innings. It is understood he has a badly bruised finger. Captain Mustard made an excellent 88 runs not out as the home side reached a total of 351 runs and four batting points. Collingwood was out to Adams for 0 and Stokes making only 6. He still has pins in his broken finger which remains strapped and makes it difficult for him to hold the bat and he will not bowl for the rest of the season a double blow.

Although for Notts Voges 80 and Chris Read 133 runs not out the rest of the team failed to add more so that at 261 Durham had a useful lead rather than a commanding one given the extraordinary start where Notts lost four wickets with the total 21 and both Onions and Thorp on hat tricks.

Because of the interruption for the rain Durham decided to declare at 181 for 3 on the fourth day setting Notts total of 250 with 60 overs which seemed a risk taking challenge. At 37 for 2 the risk appeared to being paying off but the wicket offered little and Notts were not in the mood to lose the three points for the draw and the matched ended with a handshake 172 for 5 with only 6 overs to go. In form Voges scored another match save 68 runs not out.

Durham still lead the championship with 183 point from 12, Lancashire have six points less, Somerset now in third are 12 behind while Warwickshire who have played a game less are on 168. Notts look comfortable next with 134 and out of the relegation battle between Yorkshire and Worcestershire who are 17 points behind Yorks but with two games in hand.

The Championship and League football season also was underway this weekend and I was delighted to see that the first game of Wimbledon back in the League was being televised, As a school boy and young man my local club was Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park three stations away from Wallington or a couple of bus rides both via Croydon. In the opposite direction, a little further away was the other South Greater London club of Wimbledon Plough Lane via Sutton and Kingston, Whereas Selhurst Park was a natural Amphitheatre easily adapted to become a First division club with a capacity of 25000 Palace rivals were always Brighton and Hover Albion on the South Coast and Millwall and not Wimbledon.

I was not surprising therefore that when Wimbledon had to leave its Plough Lane site it ground shared with Crystal Palace for twelve years until 2002. The Club then moved to Milton Keynes as the MK Dons with the majority of supporters deciding to form their own club from scratch finding their own ground which they purchased and getting promotion five times in 9 years in order to enter the league this year. I have abiding memories of visiting the Plough Lane Ground when I went to purchase a ticket for a home game and was invited into the office where a seat ticket was taken out of the safe. This entitled not only a seat in the main and only stand but to the club where it was possible to possible to eat and drink at reasonable prices and watch the TV including re run of the match at the end. The second was to get a Cup final ticket in 1988 when they beat Liverpool 1.0 in the FA cup. Whereas Crystal Palace never made the Premiership, Wimbledon did. Unfortunately they lost their opening game 2.3 at home as did West Ham ion their return to the Championship. Meanwhile Brighton who like Wimbledon faced years of seeking permanent home and who now have a new stadium won their first game.

England demolish India second Test, Durham narrow win over Sri Lanka A

Instead of the recent full week round up of other activities I am dividing the past seven days into segments for no better reason than finishing volumes which I use for these writings.

The first event to be covered in this short piece is the completion of 10000 lengths swimming 15 metres give or take a few as sometimes I lose count as I become engaged in a train of thought. The total has been completed with 52 weeks and 211 visits so the average is over 47 lengths per visits and 710 metres. For the next session the proposed rate will be a minimum of 3 visits a week at an average of 500 meters.

The aim is undertake other forms of exercise with weight reduction in mind and the base weight will be measured and recorded on Wednesday morning. The amount of walking at the cricket has become abysmal with less one perambulation of the inner ground per visit and it is months since doing any circuit of the parkland.

However the cricket has been good. Last week I watched two consecutives days at the Riverside as Durham played the Sri Lanka A team. I watched from the Member’s balcony with three contemporaries from the depths of Durham County.

The visitors won the toss and elected to bat and were quickly in trouble at 36 for 4 and 126 for 8. An excellent 50 not out from Eranga meant that a first innings total of 203 was achieved. Three Durham bowlers did the dame with Rushworth 2 for 15 from 9, Borthwick 2 for 17 from 6.4 and Brathwaite 3 for 35 from 11. Two academy players recently graduated to the second eleven were Wood 2 for 64 from 10 and Raine o for 7 from 4. Poor Plunket continues to have a bad season with the ball with 1 for 58 from 10. Yet without Plunket the game would have been lost.

The Durham Innings was extraordinary following on from what happened at Somerset although it was composed of second team players. Stoneman injured at the start of season and losing his first team spot as a consequence took the score with Borthwick to 111 when he was out for 56 and then Borthwick continued with Gordon Muchall to 211 when he was out for 101. Muchall carried his bat for the rest of the innings for 71 while everyone else got themselves out with only Breese holding on for a time with 38. No one else reached double figures and after their promising start Durham was all out for 303, an invaluable 100 runs to the good.

The Sri Lankians made a better start with their first four openers getting 30 to 40 runs and other getting forties and double figures. They ended their second innings at 319 setting Durham a challenging 200 plus total. Plunket was the best bowler with 3 for 70. I did not attend the third day and the decision appeared a wise one when Durham commenced to collapse Borthwick out for 0 at 1 Stoneman and Muchall going at 30 and 33 Breese and Stokes also going quickly for the total to be 104 for 7. It was then that Plunket batted with young Wood to add the 100 runs required although with Wood going at 218 for 48 the outcome was by no means certain. Rushworth then got the four runs required for the win with heroic Liam not out for 65, It was a great with but a distraction from the main menu over the next six weeks as Durham fight to gain not one, not two but three trophies to add to the Championships and 50 over one day title during the past four years with only last year trophyless.

To achieve this sporting miracle Durham needed to win the 40 over game against Warwickshire on a cloudy and stormy Emirate’s on Sunday where I settled myself behind the bowling arm at the far end of the ground with a flask of coffee, two iced sticky cinnamon buns and two salami olive rolls.
Warwickshire won the toss and opened the batting and scored at a steady five runs an over which they gradually increased to 6 closing the innings at 240 runs precisely with clobbering Breese at the end who finished 0 for 60 from 8 overs, Claydon 3 for 34 was the only successful bowler but despite the good total I retained a sense the Durham were in a competitive and confident mood given that so much was at stake.

In this competition only each of the section winners gets through to the semi finals with the third best placed from any of the three mini leagues able to make the fourth position. At present it is Durham aiming to get the fourth spot after the fruitless visit of Surrey which was rained off so the two points were divided. Had Durham they would now be two points ahead of Surrey who has two games in hand making the game at the Oval likely to be the decider.

However I am ahead of myself as yesterday it was Mustard and Di Venuto who started at a fine rate of 7 runs an over getting to 110 before the first wicket, that of Di Venuto for 53. Stokes and Collingwood stayed around sufficient for Mustard to dramatically improve his performance in this competition todate with an unbeaten 129 from 116, The game was won in the 37 over which was my prediction having gone to the car at the 35 to get a good get away before the rush.

It looked to me the best crowd of the season so far compared to the less than 250 present for the free entry game against Sri Lanka. The result of the game yesterday is that Durham has 13 points from the 9 games played with three to go, two of these at home making a total of 17 points before the game against Surrey. If Surrey wins their next 4 they will have 21 so evening if Durham wins the final game at the Oval their total will be 19. Sussex and Middlesex are fighting out for the first position in the first mini league each with 4 games to go but Sussex having the edge with 2 more points at 14 The two teams meet each other on the last Sunday at Lords and my instincts is that Middx could gain the first position here as Sussex have to go to Headingly who are desperate to have one or two good results in what has become a miserable season. If so can see Sussex finishing with 18 points making the Durham win on the last day essential. In the third league Somerset have stormed ahead with 12 points from 7 and therefore with five games left should have no problem qualifying Nottingham and Essex with 11 points from 9, that is two points less than Durham and Lancs 9 points from 8 and are in with chance should Durham Middlesex Sussex falter. There is a tendency that teams who start the 40 over game at the commencement of the season find it difficult to sustain the effort given the commitment to the 20 20 mid season and then the return to the Championship and vice versa.

Tomorrow Durham play Nottingham in the County Champion and must win against the present County Champions to keep ahead in the championship as Lancashire are playing Warwickshire from today so which ever team wins will go ahead in the table at least for a day or both if they draw and each gain bonus points. A draw will be the favoured result from Durham’s viewpoint with few bonus points awarded. In a rain and light disturbed game at Liverpool Warwickshire won the toss after driving themselves from Durham after the game ended last night. They did not bowl well at first again but Carter with 6 for 30 prevented the home side from gaining one batting bonus point. At the close Lancs were 30 for 1 with |Chopra losing his wicket just before the close of play. Unless there is lots of more rain there will be a win but whose remains speculation.

Then next weekend it is 20 20 quarterfinals with Durham playing their game at the Rosebowl on Sunday afternoon. So it is a great week of cricket ahead, the first of several.

Meanwhile the second Test against India has taken an amazing turn in favour of England. In the first game at Lords it was out of form Kevin Pietersen who lit up the first Innings of England after they had been put into bat with a magnificent not out double century of 202 Trott had supported him with 70 for 100 partnership and had Bell with another 100 partnership with a third partnership after Morgan was out without scoring Prior contributed 71 so that England were able to declare on 474 for 8 giving them opportunity to bowl at India before the second day close.

For India it was Dravid rather than Tendulkar looking for his 100th test century that became the mainstay of the innings after a slow start with Mukund getting 49 after Gambir was out for 15. Dravid and Tendulkar looked as if they would rescue the innings. It was also out of form place under threat local young man Broad who had excellent bowling figures of 4 for 37. Dravid was not out for 103 and the innings closed at 285 nearly 200 runs behind the England total.

Then it was England’s turn to perform badly as the top order came and went in quick succession 62 for 5 and 107 for 6. After that it was Prior 103 not out and Broad 74 not out who led England to a substantial leads of 450 runs declaring at 269 for 6. With Raina 58 and Laxman 56 India could only get 261 of the runs required to give England a 196 run victory. It was Anderson 5 for 65 who got his name on the Lord’s board for those getting 5 wickets in a Test for the third occasion. Broad finished 7 for 94 plus 74 average for his batting.

So this brings to the present Second Test which if England win and do not lose either of the remaining tests will make the number one in the world for the Test match series. India won the toss and invited England to bat and with Cook out at 7 and Trott 23 and then horror of horrors another four wickets fell from 73 to 88 and two more at 117 and 124 therefore England were in trouble 8 124. And who came to the rescue Broad with 64 and Swann with 28 so England managed 221 but not a great total and the initiative with India?

With Mukund out for 0 it looked as if it was going to be a low scoring game. Dravid then got his second century of the series and Laxman 64 and at 250 for four I must confess that I decided to return to the computer to undertake some writing and was amazed then to find they were all out for 288 and Broad had a hat trick only the 14th Englishman to do this and the first at Trent Bridge in a Test Match. I have since watched the feat several times. Broad takes 6 for 46. This morning I read a splendid article in the Times about the difference between childhood sense of a miracle and that of the adult in terms of the great experiences of life and their rarity and included are the sporting of which perhaps once or twice in a lifetime one is lucky to experience direct and the writer added to the small list of the half a dozen or so that of Chris Broad before his home crown in Nottingham.

The implications of the event only became fully apparent as England commenced to bat again and after Cook and Strauss were out and Ian Bell was joined by a cautious Pietersen with the inscrutable Yorkshire man Boycott proclaiming that if England could manage a lead of 200 he felt this would be sufficient for a second win in succession but he had his doubts, as other expressed their concern. Pietersen made 63 and then Morgan 70 and Prior 73 but it was Bell with 159 who sealed the fate of the visitors, after which Bresnan 90 and Broad 44 joined the party so that the home side made a remarkable 546 giving India a manageable total to win over one full day and two full sessions.

Of course we now know they did not have a hope as the England trio of Anderson, Broad and Bresnan showed no mercy. The wickets fell at 6,13,31,31,77,55,55, 107,129,153,158, with Broad 2 for 30 8 for 76 in the match and Bresnan 5 for 48 making 6 for 96 as the two bowling stars and England achieved a crushing Victory by 319 runs and over a day to spare. There was one incident yesterday with the last ball before tea, Bell’s partner hit a shot which appeared to cross the boundary so Bell walked off to tea without bothering to return to the crease. As it was not a four and the bails were removed he was out, regarded by the crowd as unsporting behaviour. Over the Indian team withdrew its appeal and therefore Bell returned to make another 20 odd runs which in the event did not matter either way. Bell admitted he made a mistake. In the interests of goodwill over the rest of the tour the Indians made the right call.

It was Jenson Button’s turn to win the Hungarian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton 4th but they remain 5th and 3rd in the Championship title race with Vettel who was second still over 80 points ahead of team mate Mark Webber. However it is good that Vettel is not winning every race, only most of them!

Warrington after their defeat to Wigan in quarter final of the Rugby League Challenge cup took it out on Bradford but Wigan also won keeping ahead on points in the table

I watched an interesting programme on the construction of the Olympic Park at Stratford as there is now less than one year to go as was celebrated during last week with special event in Trafalgar Square. Tom Daley did the first dive in the spectacular designed Olympic Pool after the failure in the World Championship due in part to his reaction to the death of his father earlier in the year. Rebekah Adlington won her first World Championship Gold to add to her two Olympic Medals. Liam Tancock also won the 50m freestyle and Keri Anne Payne the Butterfly with Silvers for Ellen Gandy in the 200 Hannah Miley 400 and Rebecca for the 400 free so the team finished 4th in the table three less than in 2009 when they came third and perhaps this is a guide to what will happen at the Olympics.

It was also the British Athletics championships this weekend where the results were also a forerunner of the World Championships later this month. It is time for Athletics to shape up but confidence is less than in relation to swimming or cycling where also the competition has been making inroads. I am told that we have been concentrating on improving performances across the range of sports so that while the third place overall achieved in China may not be repeated it is possible that we shall come close.

Durham make 20 20 quarter finals 2011

I watched Durham lose an important Cricket game on Television and then went to the Riverside and experienced the best of their 20 over performances when it mattered for the past two years. I listened to the Internet relays for the game against Yorkshire at Scarborough having decided against attending and was gripped by the fight that Worcester made to pip Durham for the fourth place in the Northern league to qualify for a quarter final place, albeit as the visitors away from home. As previously mentioned the home game against Yorkshire was rained off without a ball being bowled. I made the good decision not to set off although some 6000 tickets were sold for what was to have been the best home crowd of the season.

I had considered going by the club arranged coach for the Scarborough game as although I visited the ground before the recent refurbishment I have not been to see a first class contest there and it is getting on for a decade since visiting the seaside resort. Yorkshire won in the final over but my impression from the radio commentary was that Yorkshire was in the driving seat. Durham were invited to bat first made 144 runs after a disastrous start 39 for 4 with only Miller back from South Africa making 54 supported by man of the seasons Benkenstein with 33. I felt the total was not enough although with Yorkshire 86 for 5 my mood changed. The problem was Claydon who went for 48 in 3.3 overs. Collingwood 2 for 15 in 4 and Benkenstein 2 for 14 in four created the opportunity which other bowlers failed to take.

On Monday evening the game at Birmingham was televised by Sky and again the toss was loss and Durham were asked to bat and again the opening order collapsed to 44 for 4. Benkenstein again came to the rescue 50 not out this time with Breese 31 not out after Collingwood had gone for 24. When Plunket got opener Chopra at 16 there was hope but Carter, Maddy and Troughton all made runs and although Claydon made up for the Yorks debacle with just 6 runs from his two overs Collingwood went for 24 runs off his 2. It was young Borthwick who brought hope with 3 for 19 from 3 at the end. The game became exciting as Warwickshire needed 1 run to tie and two to win off the last ball after 2 wickets had fallen to Borthwick in the last over. Sadly Woakes had the stroke and hit the ball for 4.

With the weather fine but overcast I made my way apprehensively to the ground on Thursday evening setting off with the intention of arriving an hour beforehand to ensure a good seat on the balcony with a view of the electronic scoreboard. There was heavy rush hour traffic leaving Shields and then on reaching where the Shields Spur joined the main motorway from Newcastle there was very slow to stationery traffic.

I had the idea of taking the A 195 which leads off from the service area and then running parallel with the motorway until reaching a the major junction off the motorway about a mile later where four other roads led from the large roundabout. Unfortunately a lot of other drivers had the same idea and unbeknown to me the accident was on the motorway above the roundabout so traffic was coming off with right of way which made joining in from the road I was on difficult to impossible. The sub was very warm and I was grateful for the cold drink I had planned to take into the ground. I arrived and parked only a few minutes before the game commenced but managed to finds a seat on the balcony in a good location.

I must confess that I was not happy with the Durham batting after they elected to go first 25 for 2 and 87 for 6 again it was Benkenstein who had impact in the final overs making 31 not out while Miller made a quick 30. Mustard 20 and Breese 18 help to make a total which provided a challenge 144 but I was far from confident that this would be enough. I did not anticipate was to become a brilliant bowling and fielding performance which skittled the visitors out for the lowest ever total in the history of he competition 47 and with the last six wickets falling for a mere 8 runs. It was Miller who dived forward in great anticipation to scoop up an edge before it reached the ground and then Benkenstein held a rocket at close range which most fielded would have just got out of the way. It was one of he great catches at the ground. But more history was to come. In one over Collingwood took four wickets, including a hat trick with the second and third balls clean bowling the arrivals at the crease. I cannot recall such passionate excitement from a Durham crowd. Paul finished with five wickets for six runs and Claydon was full rehabilitated with 3 wickets for three runs of 3.5 overs taking the last two wickets in his final over.

We all had then to wait for what happened as Nottinghamshire played Worcestershire at Trent Bridge the following evening under floodlighting. Lancashire was certain of a home tie in the quarterfinal round while but would head the table if they won while Worcestershire had to win to take the fourth place from Durham. Notts batted and made 167 runs which was not as awesome total on this ground as it would have been at the Emirates. Voges made 55 and several others made starts but could not sustain their innings. Worcestershire did not start well losing 4 wickets for 36 runs but they recovered well with opener Ali putting on a good stand with Mitchell 41 and 45 respectively. However when they were out the innings quickly folded and although the game continued until the 20th over they were 26 runs short when the last wicket fell and Durham had been given a quarter final tie at Hampshire over the first weekend in August with all the games likely to be shown on Sky over three days with two on the Saturday evening, one on the Sunday afternoon and one on the Monday evening. While Durham has not performed well in 20 20 games away from home and Hampshire facing relegation will be desperate to give their supporters a place at finals weekend in Birmingham. I have hope still. Durham are playing Hampshire at the Rosebowl in a 40 over innings game on Tuesday evening which is also being televised so that should give a good guide to the quarter final

To day Sunday 17th July Durham played Surrey in the first of 40 over games in this second part of the season. Because it was being shown on TV and I wanted to watch the News, write and have a good lunch I had decided to watch the game from the comfort of my downstairs work room. It was a wise decision as rain prevented any play. There was an excellent interview with Graham Onions expressing his joy at being able to bowl again and his recognition that there were now a number of other bowlers competing for a position in the national side. There was an even more extensive and interesting conversation with the coaches for Durham and Surrey which included the admission that winning the championship three times in four years was the main focus although getting to a 20 20 was exciting for everyone including the players as well as for the man in the suit. Both men were at ease before the camera and talked fluently and engaged contributing on such subjects as the nature of the game now when they played three decades before, the challenge of switching between different formats over a short period, and the problem of having players on national duty and of their fitting in to the dressing room on the rare appearances when they were temporarily allowed to return.

There is also time to mention the excellent 28 to 16 win Warrington achieved over Huddersfield last Friday and shown on Sky while today they had another excellent win 54 24 away at Harlequins. They are still second in the table to Wigan despite having won one more game they lost more games in the early part of the season when Wigan were able to draw. However with 35 and 34 points respectively they have opened a gap of five points over St Helens all playing 22 games todate.

Durham beat Lancashire at Liverpool to head the County Championships 2011

It is 7.10 an on 30th June 2011 and I am home, having decided when the match ended yesterday afternoon wanted to return rather than spend the night at Widnes and returning in the morning spending the day reacquainting myself with Liverpool before doing so.

On Tuesday morning the expectation among another full house of perhaps 1500 plus packing in the Liverpool ground was that the game would be over by tea time. In the event it lasted until 3 pm the following afternoon. Lancashire had been invited to bat after Durham won the important toss of the coin and Callum Thorp was primarily responsible for sending the majority of the Lancashire batsmen back to the pavilion for 8 or less runs with figures of 12.2 overs, 5 maidens 6 wickets for 20 runs, with Brown going at 7 for 5, Chilton at 11 for 3, Croft for 2 when the total was 37, Cross for 8 with the total 76, Hogg for 1, clean bowled when the total was 84 with Khan who had come in before hand for 0 when the total was 83. For the whole of his bowling performance he threatened a wicket. His quoted best championship performance is 7 for 88 so this should replace that in terms of ratio and for the match the figure is 8 for 73 again his best match figures todate with his first innings tally proving match winning in the event. In my judgement he has been Durham’s most consistent bowler this season whose performance must surely bring him to the attention of the selectors. He has bowled more overs than anyone else in the championship

I also thought Graham Onions commenced to demonstrate something of his former threat with prolonged bowing wicket to wicket with swing in hot humid conditions. The level of greenness of the wicket providing for a fiery bounce which he like Thorpe was able to exploit. His first innings tally 2 for 10 runs was from 10 overs with four maidens which added to his second innings 4 for 74 from 15.2 gives him a match analysis of 6 for 6 for 93 for his 25.2 overs. It was the bowlers who did the damage with Benkenstein 1 for 6 and Steve H taking the other wicket in the more expensive more expensive 7 for 37. Lancashire. Steve continues to attract attention more for his tendency to bowl wides which the keeper cannot save thus giving away 5 runs a time, something he accomplished twice in his first over and once further so that all in all he saved Lancashire from what would have been one of their lowest ever totals.

Lancashire are known for their excellent bowling and variable batting so having been dismissed for 84 we all awaited to see what the best batting side this season could make of the conditions and in truth the response was no much better with Smith going when the total was 1, Di Venutu at 8, Collingwood at 38, Muchall who had looked the most secure at 52, Blackwell soon after at 53 and Captain Mustard at 61 and we appeared to be in the same mire as Lancashire. It was the championship winning and now one day Captain Benkenstein who has already scored more first class runs that anyone else at the club who showed the way and his two batting performance also made him a contender for man of the match, notably his first innings of 83 not out made all the difference to the result of the match. Durham had been bowled out for 186, 102 runs more than their opponents. Young Proctor 3 for 29 and stalwart Hog 2 for 34 impressed. They gained no batting points hence the way the wicket had been prepared.

With bad light resulting in only one over on Monday evening I speculated how the wicket would play on the second day when the weather changed with a chilling wind to mellow the constant sunshine. Lancashire appeared confident at the increase and with openers being able to put on 58 runs for the first wicket and 112 for the second. However after that wickets fell consistently every 20 runs or so with only 62 from Horton and Proctor 52 achieving a total to pose a challenge to Durham winning the game.

I had prepared better for the second day stopping at the corner shop for a can of Pepsi which I drank early and a bottle of water which I poured immediately into a flask to keep it cold which it did. As with the first day I had added olives to the prepared salami sandwiches plus a Danish type pastry. I brought the binoculars to have a look at what the ball was doing, or was not. I also got the same seat overlooking the bowlers to the right of wicket at the other end. The ground appeared to fill sooner than on the first day although as with the previous day I did have a free seat to one side for the morning

As with the previous day I was able to engage in conversations with my neighbours and had prepared well with my knowledge of the Durham players and backgrounds and that the side contained four captains including two who had won championships and a third who had won the 20 20 World Cup.

I had mixed feelings about the sudden departure of the last three Lancashire batsmen and this meant Durham would have to play the last overs of the day after having spent a tiring day in the field. My concern was well justified as first Di Venuto who is having a lean time of late was out for 7 with the total 11 and Gordon Muchall having his best season with the club was out for 8 with the total 23. Graham Onions who had looked safe at one end for hour while Benkenstein amassed his first innings runs was out in quick time and result of the match was suddenly in doubt with Durham 28 for 3 at the close of play.

The Lancashire Club announced that entry for the third and final day, unless the weather intervened, would be free. The club was hoping for a dramatic day given they had already won the first three of the five championship games being played at the Liverpool ground. Because the weather forecast suggested showers I had packed a small brolly and decided to sit at the side rather than the previous position. Smith and Collingwood were put under great pressure which they weathered with Collingwood going for the runs, The two men run quickly between the wickets and were taking two where others would normally take the one and in a couple of instances three when the most likely addition would be two. The outcome could have been different if Collingwood had not been dropped by Paul Horton when he was 21 as he went on to make 45 and was dismissed by an excellent catch to a fierce stroke shortly after returning to the crease after a delay for rain. Smith who had looked less confident went for 30 legs before wicket looking most unhappy with the decision of the umpire and Durham were 101 for 5 with 80 runs still to get. Benkenstein who had look comfortable from his arrival at the crease went onto make 60 again not out with Blackwell 26 to see the match won by 5 wickets.

The Lancashire spectators remained until the end hoping for a miracle although most appreciated they would lose and in doing so the chance of their first championship for 70 years has taken a blow. However the championship is still being contested by six of the 9 clubs with Hampshire looking doomed not having won any of their 7 games and who along with Sussex have played three less than Durham and therefore have potentially 72 points to add to their present totals to provide a better picture of the present position.. The most vulnerable is Yorkshire who have played 9 and with only one win look set for relegation than Worcestershire with two wins and game to play to potentially add o the gap of 5 points above Yorks. Although Durham look good with 169 points in total with Lancashire 145 an Warwickshire 115 Sussex having played three games less for their 72 points could add another 72 and then beat Durham on their visit to Hove to overtake in the table. Durham entertain Warwickshire and Worcestershire along with the championship winners of last season Nottingham. They visit Somerset with their placid pitch and an in form Trescothick as well a making a visit to Nottingham which I am attending in later August. The outcome this season is far from beings settled, and it will be exceptional if the batsmen and bowlers can sustain their first half season form continuously. I have been looking bat the players averages and the Most valuable player statistics provided by the professional cricketers association and which still shows Ben Stokes as an outstanding all round performance prior to his major injury which is keeping him out of the action for at last six weeks. The issue is then who will he keep out if he is to return, given that Collingwood is Collingwood and returning form in the county championships. In the one day games especially the 20 20 I can see Breese making way for Stokes. Perhaps Borthwick will be the one to make way.

On Monday and Tuesday I decided to make do with the food brought with me so had a starter with soup, a can of beans, some grapes and a Danish pastry. The mistake on Tuesday was not to get some cold water from the store and I was too tired when I realised it was getting human once more even with the window open.

Yesterday I remained unsure of what I would do until the game ended with victory at 3pm. I was tempted to go onto Widnes and watch the Tennis with Andy Murray playing his last 8 game later afternoon but equally the thought of being home early evening became too tempting. In the event it was just before 8 pm I returned. There were two three reasons why the journey took so long. I missed the correct turn from the Aigburth Road to get on to A3080 and reach the M62 from its commencement. Instead I went along a road though industrial Merseyside before joining the M62 as in fact it becomes the M60 Manchester ring motorway rather like the M25 in London. It took the best part of an hour to travel the same distance it had taken 30 minutes on the day of arrival. Secondly there was a patch of slow to stopping traffic over the Pennines which was caused by traffic volume. The third reason was that I became tired and decided to stop and try and sleep on reaching Wetherby. I did sleep a little with a stop over half an hour having stopped earlier at Hartshead for a comfort break and an ice cream sitting in glorious evening sunshine. I could have listened to Murray’s game but instead having got the CD player to work I enjoyed 90 minutes of Operatic Arias from the 3 CD collection.

When I arrived back I could not find the key to the connecting door between the Kitchen/Day room and the rest of the property. I did not panic this time confident that it was somewhere in the luggage and after having a cooling Pepsi systematically emptied the luggage. In case the key had been lost I gathered in one bag all that would be required. This took the greater part of an hour leaving the case last. The over should rucksack was given special attention as the summer jacket. I then replaced unused food tins and put the remaining packets of Danish pastries in the bread bin. The two cool bags were cleared and cleaned as was the Leisure club bad which I had used to take to the match.

I slowly unpacked the case fearing the worst so there was great relief when the key was found in the pair of trousers and thus it was not necessary to prepare and eat the evening meal before going round the lane and entering the front of the house to try and find the spare key which had been cut when the key was previously lost!. I enjoyed half a dozen spice chicken wings with some prawns in various kinds of coatings together with coated mushrooms. As anticipated the second part of the IJT order had arrived and will be collected in the morning. The camera did not work so I will have to get my expensive one repaired but it is not a priority. I will decide about second part Olympic tickets after getting myself organised again over the next few days. Viva Lancashire and Liverpool.

Rain washed weekend in June 2011 brings two great wins for Murray and Button

After losing to bottom of the table Derby on Friday in the cricket 20 20 competition, Durham looked for revenge yesterday. It was sunny when I sent off but there was strong evidence of the rain sweeping up and across from the West. I therefore headed for an end of row seat on the Balcony of the Member’s Lounge, had outer coat and inner jacket and a full size umbrella. I was not wrong as the rain commenced midway during the Derby Innings and although Durham‘s bowlers kept going it was evident that the surface water was building up to make bowling and fielding dangerous. I was not surprised when at the interval the wicket was first covered and then the outfield. No other game in the country had started so every match ended in a 1 point each no result tie.

I had to have a large strong coffee to keep going having purchased pastries at Lidl’s who have opened a fresh bakery. I had gone for four packs of the breakfast cereal. Enjoying the second pastry now with my second cup of coffee of the day.

The unexpected sporting event of the weekend was a win for Jenson Button in the Canadian Brand Prix in what many consider the drive of his life in a rain affected event which led to the safety car being used four times and a long delay which meant that all 70 laps of the shortened race from 75 were fitted in with less than a minute to spare. It was only on the last lap that leader from the start, Vettel, made a mistake although there are those who will argue that Button would have taken him in any event use slip stream and the latest technology as he had been lapping as the fastest car in the conditions. He had survived several unexpected pit stops which saw him in last position at least once, after his team mate had attempted to overtake on the inside and they had collided leading to the retirement of Lewis Hamilton who some claim is attempting more and more dangerous manoeuvres to get back on equal terms with Vettel who has stormed into a 60 point lead ahead of Button in the championship.

On Friday I watched what many regard as the most convincing win by Andy Murray in a major round of an important competition when he defeated Andy Roddick in a semi final match at the pre Wimbledon Grass competition at the Queens Club in Hammersmith, West London, a private club recently sold to its Members by the Lawn Tennis Association for £35 million. Fortunately in terms of being able to watch the final live, play was washed out on Sunday and played to day just before 1 pm. The opponent was Jo-Wilfred Tsonga from France known as someone who throws himself fearlessly around the court and with a powerful serve but presently only 20th in the world compared to Murray 4th

First blood went to Tsonga as he broke the Murray serve in game six to go on to win the first set 6.3. The second set went with service to 6.6 but wining the tie break game gave Murray the momentum. He takes the sixth game to go 4.2 up in the third and then in the 8th game and 40 love ahead he does a trick shot through his advancing legs with an angle volley across the net. The crowd erupt, the commentators speculate whether this will wind up his opponent and from this the match ends with each winning their service games. This is the first time a British man has won the champion twice since 1925. Murray was delighted but realistic about the significance. The media will now whip up expectation for Wimbledon.

The Rugby League championship went against expectation with the two leading clubs Warrington and Huddersfield losing, the latter to bottom of table Wakefield. Wigan and St Helens also drew so everyone stayed in the same positions at the top.

And now to the cricket as I should record the scores with Derby 183 for 3 at home with opener Guptill 60 and Madsen not out 53. Breese was the only Durham bowler with good figures of 2 for 27 from his four overs. Durham although they put on 88 for the first wicket did not score quick enough and at the end needed 70 runs from 30 balls. They put up a good fight which omens well for subsequent games reaching 178 for 5. Gordon Muchall did well with 62 and new man Miller was 26 at the close not out Durham losing by 5 runs. Yesterday Guptill continued when he left off and scored 44 and Madsen 54. The team reached 169 runs for 5 at the 20 overs and Collingwood 2 for 24 from 3 was the best with Onions 1 for 18 also doing well. Rushworth was hit for 4 fours in his first over and 17 runs from the 6 balls. Then it rained and rained.

Olympis tickets 2012, Durham back at the top and a shock win for England

Alas there is going to no me and family at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. For the past ten days I have checked the credit card account on line for an amount of up to £1000 to be deducted. I had made application for the maximum possible number of events in this first trance of applications but applying for the lowest price tickets available. Three days ago the amount appeared under transactions pending which if confirmed revealed that I had only been successful in one pair of £16 tickets or two single tickets for this amount. This could mean a visit to the Olympic stadium complex or to Wembley for the football or to the tennis at Wimbledon or two of the three venues.

I suppose that on the bright side I have managed to get tickets as 250000 applicants have not successful I gaining a single ticket but they will be given first opportunity to apply for tickets for events where there are seats available. After this any remaining seats will be made available to those like me who did not get all their first preferences and only then to the general public. One has to take account that a substantial number of the tickets for the events go for allocation to the countries participating and to the families of the participating athletes. There are also those which form part of hospitality packages as well as kept for dignitaries. As with last night’s European Cup final at Wembley it was possible to officially secure a good seat for £4000 and there was market for seats at several times their face value.

Yesterday and today 1^st and 2^nd of June the papers were full the story of the application situation with some of the 250000 who were unsuccessful in all aspects of their applications complaining about the disappointment while officials emphasised they would get priority for the second ballot for the remaining tickets.

I have heard of two accounts of those who have been successful with one individual applying for £30000 worth of tickets and getting 11000 while one radio broadcaster applied for £3000 and gained 600 but one suspects that in both these instances tickets for more than the minimum prices were applied for. As I shall recount when writing about the Take That concert in Sunderland, the world of concert and sporting event tickets is not for the feint hearted or impecunious.

The extraordinary Sporting achievement of the past week has been the victory by England over Sri Lanka in the significantly rain affected First Test Match at Cardiff. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat commencing in the afternoon because of the weather, if I remember accurately, and putting on 93 for the first wicket with the openers getting 66 and 50, and with the middle order contributing 58 and 111 they reach a good total of 400 towards the end of the third day such had been the amount of play stoppages because of the conditions. A draw appeared inevitable unless the national side collapsed. With Strauss out for 20 at 46, Andersen who had been injured and unable to bowl for part of the innings came in as the night watchman and was quickly out the following morning with total 46.2. It was then Jonathan Trott and Alistair Cook came together and added 251 runs before Cook was caught for 133 from 274 balls. Kevin Petersen came in and departed quickly for 3 and I am not alone in questioning his right to a place in the team if he fails in the next two Tests.

Ian Bell another like Cook whose place has been in question not only continued where Cook had left off but commenced to score more freely so that at the close of play early in the following afternoon after another lost morning because of the rain, he had scored 103 runs out of 159 and England declared 496 for 5, Trott having departed earlier for a magnificent 203 from 409 balls. With some 50 overs left in the day and a lead of only 96 a draw still seemed the only outcome. It was an excellent decision to allow Bell the opportunity to reach his 100 runs as doing so only reduced the chance of getting the visitors out by a few overs. What followed is unique in the history of Tests played in England

In only the second over Tremlett had one of the openers caught by Captain Strauss at first slip. In his following over with the score at 10 Tremlett dismissed the opposing captain who questioned the judgement of the umpire that he had been caught of his glove, The review confirmed the appeal and decision had been justified. The tourists scored slowly until tea time when the extraordinary collapse occurred with wickets falling at 33 36 43 43 43 52 and then after a brief rally at 82 and 82. Tremlett getting four of the first six batsmen for only 40 runs in ten overs while Graham Swann had even better figures with 4 wickets for 16 runs off 7. Broad also joined in the party with 2 for 21 from 7.4 overs thus the opponents were dismissed for 82 using only three main bowlers and the fourth sidelined. No one anticipated this would happen and everyone was happily shocked that it had.

Manchester United in contrast were well beaten in the game 3.1 by the super team Barcelona who have become precision ball players with exquisite passing and a lethal ability to score goals as well as prevent goals defensively. Last night there was a ray of hope when Rooney equalised after Barcelona had opening their account midway during the first half. In the second half Manchester United were out classed and the score could well have been greater. It merits noting that while many Spanish footballers play in the Premier League no British player presently performs in any of the major Spanish sides. Having said that even in Spain while it is possible to win games against Barcelona they have a rare mixture of brilliant individualists who play according to a crafted and tested system which is superior to everyone else.

Warrington Rugby League team also displayed moments of brilliance which suggests they could walk away with the Championship although in terms of wins and points there are three other team competing for the top honours. Warrington has recently overwhelmed lesser teams in the division accumulating a massive match point’s total, 150 more than their nearest rivals. However Huddersfield has the same number of League points while Wigan with two gamed in hand could join them if they win their game tomorrow. St Helens are fourth just 2 match points behind.

There is a similar situation emerging in division one of the County Cricket Championships with Durham having an excellent win against Warwickshire at Edgbaston on Friday in a rain affected game which prevented all but a handful of overs being bowled on the Thursday. Warwickshire have been deducted 8 championship points, half those awarded for a win, because of the fiery nature of the pitch which resulted in two of the opposition players being injured. The consequence was that the pitch was treated in such a way as to make it flat, that is to say that the fast bowlers were unable to get the ball to bounce high with any speed and more importantly in played true with balls either shooting low or higher than would normally be anticipated.

Fortunately Durham won the toss and chose to bat and there was the spectacle of three Durham batsmen again having major innings. The most satisfying was former captain Will Smith with 179, his first century for two years and the indefatigable former captain Benkenstein making 129 and present Championship captain “Colonel” Mustard one short if his century. Durham ended their innings 602 for 6 and set about Warwickshire in such a manner that by the end of the second they had lost 9 wickets with just 180 runs on the board. Young Stokes with 4 for 48 caused the most damage but Thorp with 3 for 35 and Steve Harmison 2 for 41 shared the honours. Stoke getting Miller out with one of the few balls bowled during the day. Late on Durham were able to bowl another few balls and had Warwickshire reeling with the overnight score 23 for 3.

With a weather uninterrupted day forecast for the Friday victory seemed certain but the lower order batsmen put up a great fight especially with a stand of over 100 runs for the eight wicket but as the end of the match approached and an unexpected draw seemed likely Durham were able to take the last wickets and won the game by an innings and 103 runs. Stokes took 3 more wickets finishing the match 7 wickets for 137 runs and Thorp 5 for 105. Harmison who strained his back after taking 1 for 18 was the only downside.

Durham was then second to Lancashire who they played at the Riverside Emirates Durham International over the previous four days from Sunday May 29^th. Lancs have a game in hand so a win could make both Durham and Lancs the potential champions. Warwickshire who had commenced to have hopes are now third having playing the same number of games and 23 points behind Durham, similar Somerset. Notts who have played a game less having lost twice recently so even if they win their game in hand as Somerset and Sussex they will remain a score of points behind Durham. The teams will begin playing the 20 20 competitions games over the next six weeks. Hampshire and Worcestershire look the doomed championship teams with only 33 and 28 points compared to 118 and115 for the top two. Yorks with 57 are struggling.

The club has invited members to apply for tickets for the England Australia One day game next year on July 7^th just before the Olympic Games commences and more speculative the England Australian ashes games in July of the following year but without the dates yet determined. I have applied for tickets for the one day game next July but not the Test Match where the day/ match can prove a major disappointment disrupted by rain and a boring draw the best outcome. This appears to be the situation with the first Test against Sri Lanka at Cardiff.

There has been no further reference 20 20 finals days, to the ground completion other than money available for the hotel or to the court case involving the builders of three quarters completed stand. I will leave reports on the Test Match and Durham’s game against Lancashire as well as the first 20 20 on Thursday to late in the week late in the week.

I had intended to completed this piece and leave Durham’s game against Lancs until after completing a piece on the Game of Thrones and the Take That concert but past four days have proved hectic, exhilarating and full that I will make this a writing only about sport, Take that and then on other TV and the Game of Thrones. Or the latter two vice versa!

Durham have beaten Lancs by an innings and 125 runs with yet another grand collapse by the opponents. There was a cold blustery wind on the first day which I attended in full, sitting in the Member’s balcony at one end. There was a good contingent of Lancs supporters on the balcony, including one man wearing a hat made of Red Roses. He explained that the reason home matches are being played in Liverpool for this season is not a dispute with ground developers but the decision that to turn the pitch around, but give they have been winning their games at Merseyside the inclination is to stay which in one sense would be more rational than the present situation given that Old Trafford is now a long way from the County Council boundary and is like Durham County being located in Newcastle rather than Durham.

Durham won the toss and for the second time this season asked the visitors to bat, a decision which did not please members given that the earlier decision did not go well and the game had to be saved as a draw and a similar decision the previous season led to the match being lost.

This occasion the decision appeared to have been a good one when two of the three openers were out with the score 9, one to Thorp and the other to Onions. Horton the other opener did exceptionally well but was eventually out to Ben Stoke who bowled him when six short of his century. With the third wicket going at 186 and the fourth at 148 whether the decision to put Lancs in to bat was in the balance. At 225 for seven it looked to have been a good one. The new batsmen appeared to be struggling against the spin of Borthwick who had taken a wicket bowling 4 overs for only 6 runs and Blackwell who had then taken two wickets. However the decision was made to take the new Ball and Proctor 45 and Chapple 46 held out adding 90 runs before Chapple went with the total 312. The remaining two wickets went cheaply and the innings closed at 313.

Durham needed to bat for the greater part of two days given and given that no play was not immediately possible on the second morning a draw looked the most likely result, This also seemed the position when Smith and Muchall were both out with the total 90 and then 94 after Di Venuto had gone for only 6 runs. It was then that Ben Stokes and former captain Benkenstein came together and added 331 runs, a record partnership. Ben obtain his second century of the season and his third overall making 185 before being bowled and with a total over 650 first class runs this season, an average of 65 plus taking a good number of wickets, he has attracted the eye of the selectors once more. Sadly he has broken a finger and damaged ligaments which will keep him out of the side for up to eight weeks. Benkenstein who has also been in the runs made 137 and Mustard 61 also in the runs helped the innings to close at 586, the third time in succession the team had achieved a large first innings score. Given that Lancs has won their previous five games a capitulation was not expected but Graham Onions and Thorpe achieved early success at 19, 30 and 69 before the fourth day of play ended. The following morning Chilton and Keedy batted defensively to a tight Durham attack which yielded few runs but the two were unable to keep up the rear guard action for the rest of the day and shortly after lunch they both went with the total only 94 after which there was no further resistance with the remaining five wickets falling at 106 109 116 139 and 148.

Ian Blackwell taking 7 wickets for 91 runs in the game with Claydon 4 for 82 and Onions 4 for 111. Young Borthwick had a match figure of 5 overs 3 maidens 1 wicket for 6 runs and continues to show great promise.

With getting maximum points for the last three games Durham are now 17 points ahead of Lancs which means that Lancs have to win their extra game to regain the leading position. The big surprise is that 2010 Champions Notts lost to struggling Worcester who won their first Division one game for many years.

Barcelona, Warrington and Durham are super teams

Alas there is going to no me and family at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. For the past ten days I have checked the credit card account on line for an amount of up to £1000 to be deducted. I had made application for the maximum possible number of events in this first trance of applications but applying for the lowest price tickets available. Three days ago the amount appeared under transactions pending which if confirmed revealed that I had only been successful in one pair of £16 tickets or two single tickets for this amount. This could mean a visit to the Olympic stadium complex or to Wembley for the football or to the tennis at Wimbledon or two of the three venues.

I suppose that on the bright side I have managed to get tickets as 250000 applicants have not successful I gaining a single ticket but they will be given first opportunity to apply for tickets for events where there are seats available. After this any remaining seats will be made available to those like me who did not get all their first preferences and only then to the general public. One has to take account that a substantial number of the tickets for the events go for allocation to the countries participating and to the families of the participating athletes. There are also those which form part of hospitality packages as well as kept for dignitaries. As with last night’s European Cup final at Wembley it was possible to officially secure a good seat for £4000 and there was market for seats at several times their face value.

Manchester United were well beaten in the game 3.1 by the super team Barcelona who have become precision ball players with exquisite passing and a lethal ability to score goals as well as prevent goals defensively. Last night there was a ray of hope when Rooney equalised after Barcelona had opening their account midway during the first half. In the second half Manchester United were out classed and the score could well have been greater. It merits noting that while many Spanish footballers play in the Premier League no British player presently performs in any of the major Spanish sides. Having said that even in Spain while it is possible to win games against Barcelona they have a rare mixture of brilliant individualists who play according to a crafted and tested system which is superior to everyone else.

Warrington Rugby League team also displayed moments of brilliance which suggests they could walk away with the Championship although in terms of wins and points there are three other team competing for the top honours. Warrington has recently overwhelmed lesser teams in the division accumulating a massive match point’s total, 150 more than their nearest rivals. However Huddersfield has the same number of League points while Wigan with two gamed in hand could join them if they win their game tomorrow. St Helens are fourth just 2 match points behind.

There is a similar situation emerging in division one of the County Cricket Championships with Durham having an excellent win against Warwickshire at Edgbaston on Friday in a rain affected game which prevented all but a handful of overs being bowled on the Thursday. Warwickshire have been deducted 8 championship points, half those awarded for a win, because of the fiery nature of the pitch which resulted in two of the opposition players being injured. The consequence was that the pitch was treated in such a way as to make it flat, that is to say that the fast bowlers were unable to get the ball to bounce high with any speed and more importantly in played true with balls either shooting low or higher than would normally be anticipated.

Fortunately Durham won the toss and chose to bat and there was the spectacle of three Durham batsmen again having major innings. The most satisfying was former captain Will Smith with 179, his first century for two years and the indefatigable former captain Benkenstein making 129 and present Championship captain “Colonel” Mustard one short if his century. Durham ended their innings 602 for 6 and set about Warwickshire in such a manner that by the end of the second they had lost 9 wickets with just 180 runs on the board. Young Stokes with 4 for 48 caused the most damage but Thorp with 3 for 35 and Steve Harmison 2 for 41 shared the honours. Stoke getting Miller out with one of the few balls bowled during the day. Late on Durham were able to bowl another few balls and had Warwickshire reeling with the overnight score 23 for 3.

With a weather uninterrupted day forecast for the Friday victory seemed certain but the lower order batsmen put up a great fight especially with a stand of over 100 runs for the eight wicket but as the end of the match approached and an unexpected draw seemed likely Durham were able to take the last wickets and won the game by an innings and 103 runs. Stokes took 3 more wickets finishing the match 7 wickets for 137 runs and Thorp 5 for 105. Harmison who strained his back after taking 1 for 18 was the only downside.

Durham is now second to Lancashire who they play at the Riverside Emirates Durham International to day Sunday 29^th. Lancs have a game in hand so a win could make Durham and Lancs the potential champions. Warwickshire who had commenced to have hopes are now third having played the same number of games and 23 points behind Durham, similar Somerset. Notts who have played a game less having lost twice recently so even if they win their game in hand as Somerset and Sussex they will remain a score of points behind Durham. The teams will begin playing the 20 20 competitions games over the next six weeks. Hampshire and Worcestershire look the doomed teams with only 33 and 28 points compared to 118 and115 for the top two. Yorks with 57 are struggling.

The club has invited members to apply for tickets for the England Australia One day game next year on July 7^th just before the Olympic Games commences and more speculative the England Australian ashes games in July of the following year but without the dates yet determined. I have applied for tickets for the one day game next July but not the Test Match where the day/ match can prove a major disappointment disrupted by rain and a boring draw the best outcome. This appears to be the situation with the first Test against Sri Lanka at Cardiff.

There has been no further reference 20 20 finals days, to the ground completion other than money available for the hotel or to the court case involving the builders of three quarters completed stand. I will leave reports on the Test Match and Durham’s game against Lancashire as well as the first 20 20 on Thursday to late in the week late in the week.