Second XI v Middlesex 2s Trophy Comp at Radlett

Hat trick for Fletcher seals win

Middlesex 2^nd XI v Nottinghamshire 2^nd XI at Radlett Cricket Club, Hertfordshire, 27 August 2013

A match report from Alan Coombes, our friend and guest contributor.

Despite the importance of being in a semi final, there was not much by way of pre match publicity. A few days ago I spoke to some Notts committee members who were unaware that the fixture was taking place and there was no pre match publicity on the usually reliable Notts web site. Even more surprising was the lack of anything on the Middlesex website, and even as I write, some 1½ hours after the finish they describe it as a fixture “to be confirmed”.  At least the Notts website at this point had some brief details of the result.

Notts batted first, there being no announcement as to who won the toss. Sam Kelsall and Matt Cross opened the batting for Notts and raced along to 66 before the fall of the first wicket. The Middlesex seamers had been taken off and Patel, the left arm spinning prodigy who has played a few limited over games for the Middlesex first team, was brought into the attack. In his first over he had Cross lbw low on the front pad. Cross felt that it was outside the line but the umpire had a different view. The originally selected number 3 had turned up injured, much to the disappointment of the team manager and coach Paul Johnson, who felt that his team was slightly unbalanced as a result, so Luke Fletcher was promoted to number 3 and was caught behind off the first ball he received, with Patel now on a hat trick. Sam Wood then joined Kelsall for the major partnership of the innings and both looked to be in resplendent form, Wood making 66 and Kelsall batting for most of the innings to finish with a brilliant 113. Some late hitting by Paul Franks with 32 not out from the last few overs took the final score to 252 for 3.

The Middlesex openers Stirling and Rossington, both with a degree of first team experience, set off in pursuit of the 253 required to win at a rather rapid rate. Both of them survived edges when facing Jake Ball and Luke Fletcher which went for unintended boundaries but were well ahead of the required run rate until Rossington was caught behind by Matt Cross off the bowling of Jake Ball for 34 when the score was 58. The hosts reached 78 off the first 10 overs. The scoring rate was reduced when Graham White and Sam Wood were introduced into the attack, and Stirling was bowled by White for 34. The left handed Gubbins, in partnership with Adam London (another player with some first team experience) kept the score moving along. Gubbins was caught at deep mid wicket by Brett Hutton off the bowling of Wood and London was caught in the deep, also off Wood.  The home side needed 94 off the last 10 overs, and the introduction of Adam Tillcock saw Balbirnie and Davey effectively sweeping to deep square leg with regularity, taking the score to 205 before Balbirnie was bowled by Ball for 43. The hosts still required 56 from the last 5 overs with 5 wickets in hand, and this became 43 with 4 overs remaining.  Middlesex were still in with an outside chance, but Luke Fletcher had other ideas, clean bowling Wilkin, Higgins and Helm with fast and straight deliveries, each of which saw a stump cart-wheeling out of the ground for a spectacular hat trick. 219 for 6 had suddenly become 219 for 9 and the last pair were eventually saddled with the onerous task of making 32 from the last over. Sandhu was dismissed by Ball and after a brave effort Davey was left stranded by his rapidly departing partners.

Your guest correspondent asked Luke Fletcher if he had kept the hat-trick ball, but he said that the umpires had it. He persuaded David Millns to let him have it, and as I was about to take a photograph of Luke with the ball, he autographed it and presented it to me as a souvenir. What a splendid chap, and what a superb souvenir of a most enjoyable day in the English summer sunshine watching God’s own county secure a place in the final-----my first visit to a 2^nd XI game in decades and it won’t be the last. There were around 200 spectators, of which an estimated 199 were either from Middlesex or locals from Radlett. For the first time I can ever remember I was the sole Notts member at an away fixture.

I am sure all Notts supporters will join me in congratulating Paul Johnson and the team on a job well done, and wishing them well in the final (date to be arranged but keep an eye out for the big event-----it could be a long time before it happens again !)

Alan Coombes is a semi retired manager in the healthcare sector who has supported the county since being taken to Trent Bridge as an 8 year old in 1952, and we are grateful for his presence at this game even though the Radlett ground is only 3 miles from his home in St Albans.