v Durham LV Championship at Chester le Street

Starting day 4 with 178 required and not very much batting to come, it was always going to be an uphill task against the Durham battery of quickish seam bowlers. It was vitally important for Wessels and Franklin to stay at the crease for a long period. The first worrying sight of the day was seeing James Franklin’s left arm in an ice pack of almost titanic proportions at the breakfast table.

On a bright but overcast day with very high cloud cover there was a very sparse crowd when the game began. Traffic mayhem had been caused from 5:15 pm onwards the previous day by the collapse of a gas main under the busy A167, one of the main routes into Chester-le-Street and there were still knock-on traffic tailbacks during the morning rush hour, hampering the process of getting to the ground for a lot of people. The road was still closed in both directions and there were jams elsewhere.

Quoting from the Northern Echo, “as a result, traffic on feeder roads has built up in all directions in the Chester-le-Street area. Durham Police said it understood the relevant agencies were looking into the problem, but added that there was no estimated time for the road re-opening. The traffic problems were heightened by the return of the school run this week, following the summer holiday, while cricket fans were warned to expect delays getting to the Emirates ground, at the Riverside, Chester-le-Street, for the final day of Durham’s County Championship cricket match, against Nottinghamshire”.

So, the players left their hotel early enough and the game was able to start on time, with Rushmore opening from the Finchale end and Hastings from the direction of the haunted castle (at least hunted in the view of Shane Warne and friends). After 35 minutes Hastings was replaced by Coughlin and Chase took over from Rushmore. Most of Durham’s bowling changes during the entire match had involved changing both ends simultaneously. Unfortunately, after a chanceless and well disciplined 90, full of classic text book shots, Wessels took it upon himself to try an aerial hook off the bowling of Chase and hit the ball straight to Muchall on the square leg boundary. Notts were now 220 for 5, with a further 155 still needed. Eight runs later disaster struck when Franklin, who had looked subdued but confident, managed to get his pads in the way of a straight one from Coughlin which kept low and was adjudged LBW by umpire Jeff Evans for 39, leaving Notts on 228 for 6. Read was the only hope of salvation and it was largely a questions of how many of the long list of tail enders could stay with him.

Read looked in good form but the dream became a nightmare at the other end when Shahzad waved his bat at a rising ball from Chase and was caught behind. Fletcher was the next man in and the mid wicket discussion between him and Read looked like an obedience instruction to the elephant from the lion tamer. Whatever was said we shall never know but it had a negative effect and Fletcher was out first ball, LBW to the new Durham hero, Peter Chase. The Notts chase had now been totally eclipsed by another Chase they had never seen before this match. Just to add to the travelling circus effect, Peter Hartley (perhaps not the world’s favourite umpire) raised his finger and his frown before the Durham fielders had even managed to voice their appeal.

Borthwick, whose bowling in this innings had been in very short spells with long periods in between, was introduced into the attack but the field placings suggested that he had been given a sympathy bowl by his captain and that he was not turning his leg breaks. Collingwood soon turned back to his all seam attack but Read was batting progressively and Ball kept him company for the next 10 overs, contributing 20 to a stand of 44 before the fall of the 9^th wicket when we was caught by Muchall off Chase with the score at 285. All hope had now realistically evaporated as Keedy, with hardly any serious batting under his belt for the past 2 years, strolled out before an expectant and enthusiastic home crowd who were on the brink of celebration. They were made to hold on to their seats for another 10 overs as Keedy managed to stay there, facing 43 deliveries. He was left stranded on 15 not out when Read had a swing at a middle stump yorker from the ever impressive Hastings and was bowled. Nottinghamshire were all out for 320, a commendable score in the 4^th innings at this venue which has only been beaten twice since Durham entered the first class arena in 1992.

SUMMARY, AND WHERE DID IT ALL GO WRONG ?       

Hales and Gurney were both sorely missed, playing in a meaningless ODI against India. Do we really have to put up with key players being away playing bing-bong cricket when county championships are being decided?  The top order did not perform, Mullaney and Taylor contributing a mere 20 runs in 4 innings between them. We all know they can do better but with the first 3 wickets producing an average across both innings of 17 runs per partnership it is easy to see where things went adrift; compare this with 50 without loss from the first 10 overs of the Durham second innings.

As well as being out-batted, Notts were out-bowled. The 4 pronged Durham seam attack impressed throughout, even during periods when they were not taking wickets, whereas the Notts version looked medium paced by comparison and slightly jaded. Every player has an off day once in a while, and sadly it was Fletcher’s turn, although one should not be too critical as he has brought a lot to the wellbeing to the team during the season.

We perhaps had the better of the 2 wicket keepers on display, but one would expect that when comparing the world class credentials of Read to the Durham second choice option. However, the captaincy race was won by Paul Collingwood, who marshalled his troops well, made effective bowling changes and played one of the finest innings I have ever seen at county level. He scored a fantastic century, well balanced and expertly executed.

THE POSITIVES (by courtesy and Andrew Strauss)

1.      The return to something like good form by Michael Lumb, who improved considerably as his second innings progressed and was unfortunate enough to be out to the best catch of the match.

2.      The spin bowling department, where Notts were by a distance much better than the hosts. Full marks to Mick Newell for his inspired selection of Gary Keedy. Can we have him next year?

3.      The batting of Riki Wessels, with a total of 127 in the match.

However, this one will always be remembered as Chase’s match and he was still surrounded by cameras, notebooks and microphones long after the game had finished.

The Strictly Come Dancing prize was shared equally between Gordon Muchall with a fair impression of someone with Saint Vitus Dance syndrome at 3rd slip, jumping up and down and appealing for LBW decisions when the ball kept hitting the middle of the bat, and James Taylor for performing a wandering slow foxtrot, shuffling across the line of his stumps in both innings. The former may be curable in time, but I am sure James will be looking at where he went awry with the footwork of the latter and making amends in the very near future.

If you have read this far, thank you for your patience. We have tried to make the “Goulder-Coombes” method more user friendly and amusing than “Duckworth-Lewis” is ever likely to be and I am now happy to hand the gauntlet back to Michael for the rest of the season. AC

Collingwood Century on third day adds height to Notts' mountain

Given that Durham is not widely accepted as the centre of night life activity, several Nottinghamians, players included, opted for an early night in order to take care of the business in hand at the start of today. In bright sunshine with a clear blue sky, Nottinghamshire started with Jake Ball from the Lumley Castle end and Gary the Fizz at the Finchale end. When the overnight score (196 for 7) reached 204, Ball produced a beauty to find the edge of Coughlin’s bat and Read obliged with a diving, tumbling catch in front of first slip, leaving Durham with a lead of 270 and very little batting to come, although Collingwood was still there on 43. He soon raised his 50 from 126 deliveries including 6 fours.

A 50 partnership with Rushworth followed, with the big fellow looking anything but a tail ender. Jake Ball seemed to have gone up a gear since yesterday, but Fletcher came into the attack and looked rather laboured as he and Ball took the new cherry. Notts were getting nowhere and Read quite clearly was not prepared to risk a repeat of the headless chicken saga from the previous day and Shahzad was not used. Collingwood and Rushworth pushed the score along gently, playing straight and not taking any risks. With almost 6 sessions still to go in the match, both sides had much to play for and needed to win for different reasons.

In the light of Keedy’s success the previous day, we had been crying out for the 2 left arm spinners to be bowling in tandem. We eventually got this in mid morning. However, the new ball was taken half an hour before the scheduled lunch break. We had Fletcher and Ball bowling a trundling medium pace as Collingwood and Rushworth scored runs almost at will. The big fellow scored successive fours off Fletcher but at 12:55 he was bowled by Ball, having contributed a valuable 45 to a partnership of 84.

With 9 wickets down and the score at 293 (a lead of 358) the umpires agreed to extend the scheduled lunch interval by 30 minutes, to be taken at 1:30.  Collingwood was on 80 and it was obvious that his new partner, Peter Chase, was not exactly Don Bradman, so keeping him away from the strike was paramount. With singles being declined and some careful farming of the bowling Collingwood reach his 100 after taking Chase for 2 risky twos off Shahzad (at last introduced into the attack, presumably to make a game of it) and being assisted by some inadequate Nottinghamshire fielding. The Durham skipper then jokingly tried to reverse sweep a ball from Shahzad and lost his off stump. The innings closed on 309 from 92.4 overs, leaving Notts a challenging target of 375 to win-------it should have been much less but unusual field placing, slow throwing in the returns and some mediocre bowling had made the task much harder.

Collingwood’s century was a fine one indeed from a fine and popular cricketer. He came to the wicket with his team in a mess, played through the difficult overs and kept his head. He was fully in control and seemed to have a clear plan in mind, which he executed with superb leadership and exemplary playing of every ball. It was among the best centuries I have ever seen.

The Notts run chase began with Rushworth bowling from the Lumley Castle end and Hastings from the Finchale end. In the 7^th over Mullaney was LBW to Rushworth with the score on 22. The total progressed to 45, at which point Taylor was LBW shuffling across the line to a ball from Coughlin for 6, the second time he has been trapped in front in this match for low scores. At the other end, Lumb had looked uncomfortably out of touch but stuck it out bravely and was on 25 not out, with 20 of those coming from ground level snicks through the slips when there was no third man.

Patel played a poor shot and was caught and bowled by Hastings for 11, having looked the best Notts batsman on view up to that point. He later confirmed his disappointment. Borthwick was brought on for the 25^th over, and with Lumb still struggling tea was taken at 3:55, at which juncture the score was 83 for 3, with Lumb on 39 and Wessels on 11. After the resumption and with the scoreboard showing 121 by the 38^th over, Lumb was dismissed by an excellent catch in the gully by Callum MacLeod off the bowling of Chase. This was a pity as he was suddenly beginning to find his elusive touch before this happened and looking much more self assured. With 4 wickets down and still a mountain to climb, Franklin joined Wessels. The wicket seemed to be flattening out, the shine had gone from the ball and both batsmen were beginning to play some fine shots with confidence. They took the score to a promising 197 for 4 by the close, with Wessels on 77 and Franklin 26. Most Durham supporters in the crowd took the view that Notts would win from this platform, but much will depend upon how long Wessels, Franklin and Read can occupy the crease tomorrow and score the remaining 178 required. AC

Keedy's Afternoon on Day 2

After the excellent performance of the Durham pace quartet late on day one, they started day 2 in pole position with Notts on the ropes at 66 for 4. The hosts opened on a dull and overcast morning with Rushworth from the Lumley Castle end and Hastings from the Finchale end. There were significantly less people in the ground than on day one, perhaps because this was a work day and people had other things to do. Franklin and Wessels were always going to be saddled with an uphill task to dig Notts out of a possible huge deficit and runs were going to be hard to come by on a surface with variable bounce.

The piles of Manuka Honey being spooned onto his breakfast cereals by James Franklin did not seem to be taking effect and it was Wessels who set the tone with 3 fours before edging Rushworth to gully at 101 for 5 for a hard earned 37. However, despite the conditions, the visitors added 40 in the first 45 minutes which was commendable under the circumstances. The Durham stand-in wicket-keeper Michael Richardson seemed to be handling his task very capably but as they did not employ a spinner it was impossible to determine how good he really was but he approached his task with confidence. He is the son of the former South African test keeper and ICC chief executive Dave Richardson.

After 50 minutes toil at the Lumley Castle end, Rushworth was replaced by the 20 year old Dubliner Peter Chase, who has a lumbering approach but very strong shoulders and bowls at a brisk pace. This was his debut match at this level and Durham seem to have unearthed yet another in their long line of quick bowler discoveries. His rushed insertion into the Durham line-up meant that he had not had time to obtain a shirt with his name on the back. Hastings was replaced by Coughlin at the other end and well though they bowled, Notts managed to achieve their first objective, with Franklin and Read guiding them past the follow on target which the previous evening had seemed possibly in doubt.

Collingwood joined in the attack and soon had Franklin caught at slip by Scott Borthwick for a hard grafted 24, which now left Notts at 135 for 6. Their prospects looked as gloomy as the skies, and shortly afterwards Chris Read was caught on the hook by Coughlin at deep backward square leg off the bowling of the returning Hastings, having made 21, at 139 for 7. Lunch was taken at 144 for 7 but the Notts contingent in the crowd was less than optimistic.

The afternoon began with a snick by Fletcher (now the Notts number nine after Keedy had been included in the side to replace a batsman) through the third man area off Collingwood which brought up the 150. The Bulwell metronome was shortly to be caught, Borthwick’s safe hands in the slips pocketing another victim for the persevering and ageless Collingwood. Then Jake Ball had a lazy swing at an innocuous delivery outside the off stump and was caught at the wicket to give Collingwood his third victim. Ball had made 12 useful runs to help Notts to 170 for 9, at which point the assistant physiotherapist Gary Keedy joined Shahzad. Collingwood, never one to impart fearsome pace, had 4 slips in place for Keedy. A short cameo followed when Mark Stoneman made a complete mess off a poorly timed hook by Shahzad off the bowling of Hastings. He completely misjudged the pace and height of the ball, which should have been a four or a catch, but turned out to be neither as the hapless Stoneman tipped it neatly over his own head to the boundary for a six. Shahzad’s joy was short lived. He clearly had no faith in Keedy to either stay around or score runs and he needlessly lofted the ball to the deep cover boundary where a competent catch was taken to give the lively Hastings his 4^th wicket. The Cricinfo scorecard notes this as a caught and bowled, which was not the case, but it was it left to Notts to do some thinking as their innings closed on 188, with no batting points and a deficit of 65.

The Durham second innings raced off to a faultless start, with openers Stoneman and Jennings taking the score to 50 off the first 10 overs from the combined but innocuous attack of Fletcher, Shahzad and Ball. However, the 40 year old “fiz” came on for the 11^th over and immediately had Stoneman caught by Read. Jennings followed Stoneman to the pavilion by the same method shortly afterwards to put the brakes on the hosts at 60 for 2. Macleod was then bowled by Franklin for 3.

What followed then was one of the craziest run out scenes ever enacted. Fletcher had left the field for one over to change his boots and on came one of the Notts 12^th men, the blond haired Luke Wood (the other Notts player on milk crate duty was Ben Hutton). Wood fielded the ball only once, when Richardson straight drove Franklin for what looked likely to be a four. Luke Wood sprinted to the boundary and stopped the ball, throwing it in like a missile to the bowler, who was quick to read the situation. Richardson, possibly assuming that his glorious shot would reach the fence, had sauntered down the track and stopped two thirds of the way towards the bowler’s end. Borthwick meanwhile had not left his crease at the non-striker’s end. Richardson tried to get back but Franklin smartly threw the ball to Read who made no mistake when whipping off the bails to provide Notts with a wicket out of nothing but the star of the piece was undoubtedly Luke Wood, who left the field on noticing the re-arrival of Fletcher, complete with boots in hand. The hapless Borthwick was then clean bowled to give Keedy, at this stage, figures of 3 for 12 from 5 overs with tea being taken at 83 for 5. Since the 10 over mark at 50 for 0, the game had changed somewhat. The Durham lead was only 148 but the pendulum was soon to swing again.

Despite Keedy’s success, there was an inexplicable reluctance by the captain to give Samit Patel a bowl. Durham kept their heads down and the next wicket to fall was that of Muchall, who had helped himself to a valuable 36 from some very ordinary bowling before being castled by Jake Ball at 136 for 6, the lead now being 201. Collingwood was still there on a painstaking 15 as Hastings made his way out into the battle, only to return rather quickly when Keedy struck again, having him LBW.

With a mere 7 overs to go, the tiring Keedy was at long last replaced by Patel. This was long overdue and many Notts supports felt that we should have left arm spinners at both ends, but this was not to be as the captain, in his wisdom, thought that the erratic Shahzad was a better bet at the Lumley Castle end. The scoreboard soon told its own story, with Shahzad having been carted around the park for 46 from 6 very poor overs, and the latecomer into the fray, Patel, bowled 3 tidy overs for 9 runs.

A lot of time was wasted when the ball had to be changed and a lengthy debate involving bowlers, captains, umpires and anyone else within earshot took place. Almost immediately afterwards the players left the arena in fading light, depriving Notts of 2 overs which may well have brought another wicket. The close of play score was 196 for 7, perhaps 30 or 40 more than it should have been had Notts retained the initiative they had held before Shahzad added to the entertainment. The lead is 261, and having met Geoff Cook, the Durham Director of Cricket after the game, he felt that 300 would be an achievable score to chase for a win on day 3. We shall wait and see but early inroads into the Durham tail are a must, especially as Notts have lost out seriously on batting bonus points in this game. AC

Last Ball swings Day One to Durham

Fielding a depleted team at The Riverside Notts ended the first day of this fixture on the back foot, after a Durham fight back.

On a slow pitch with uneven bounce Durham won the toss and elected to bat. Jake Ball returned for his first championship game since Taunton in early May. James Franklin made his championship debut and for once the DoC dipped into his Academy, but instead of one of the youngsters given a chance it was 40-year old physio Gary Keedy that made his Notts bow; it was thought the wicket would turn later in this game. Andre Adams rumoured to be Hampshire bound next season was still injured and with Siddle gone and Gurney on the England subs bench, the bowling attack looked decidedly mediocre. Durham meanwhile had a raft of omissions without the injured Mustard and Onions along with Mark Wood, Arshad and Harrison and England man Ben Stokes.

After an unspectacular start in the early morning sun, Shahzad bowling from the Finchale End bowled Jennings (11) who offered no shot, 28 for one. In his next over Borthwick (5) played a poor shot as he guided the ball low to point. 34 for two. Fletcher and Shahzad were replaced by Ball and Franklin who both lacked real threat. Stoneman dominated the scoring and with Richardson looking solid the third wicket partnership raised 62 in 15 overs. With lunch approaching it was Mull o’clock once again and with his second ball from the Lumley End Stoneman played on to Mullaney for a 77-ball 55 with 11 fours.

Fletcher replaced Mullaney and had Calum McLeod well caught at slip by Mullaney for 18, 122 for four. Shahzad was offering at least one four ball an over; a luxury Notts could not afford on a pitch which is likely to offer a low scoring game. Ball was also having a trouble with his line but he did bowl Durham skipper Collingwood who played on for 22, 164 for five. Keedy bowled an economical and tidy spell from the Finchale End, his 12 overs costing 22 runs. Patel replaced him and Richardson could not resist a charge down the pitch but he missed the ball and he departed to Patel’s second ball stumped Read. His 73 was the top score of the day and he hit 13 fours mostly off Shahzad and Ball. James Franklin as ever could not be really trusted with the ball and bowled 5-0-22-0 during the innings. What a strange signing he has been.

Durham lost their seventh wicket in the next over as Hastings edged the returning Number One (who had switched ends) to Read behind the stumps for a single, 203 for seven. Muchall ever a thorn in Notts’ side put on useful late order runs. After tea Notts swept away the tail Coughlin edged Fletcher to Patel at slip for 13. Rushworth hit Patel for two fours but he got his revenge as he was adjudged leg before. Irish youngster Peter Chase making his first-class debut saw Durham to a second batting point with leg byes off Patel much to crowd’s great enjoyment. Ball picked up the final wicket when bowling Chase and with Muchall 37 not out, Durham had made a competitive 253. Patel finished with two for 20, and Fletcher had been his reliable self with 17-3-51-2. Shahzad and Ball picked up five wickets between them but had proved a tad too expensive.

Notts got off to poor start when Hastings bowling from the Finchale End, got Mullaney edging into keeper’s Richardson gloves for a duck. Worst followed as next ball the Taylor shuffle saw him depart leg before once again for a golden duck. A mixed day for him having been given a Twenty/20 call up for next Sunday. Luckily he will be available for the semi but so will Ben Stokes who was dropped by England pyjama squad. Lumb and Patel added 34 in the third wicket before the struggling left hander went leg before to Rushworth for 18. Patel got to 26 before on the very last ball of the day, he edged Coughlin to Borthwick at second slip, Notts 66 for four, shades of Northampton day one once again. Without Hales and against stronger opposition Notts left well on the ropes. With Yorkshire well placed in the Roses Match, the pressure is very much on the Green and Gold to turn things around on Day 2. MAG