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.