Winter Well

posted by john Winn

It was with mixed feelings yesterday morning that I made the journey for the second time this week to The Riverside. Even though we had known the day before that the title was beyond them I still wanted Durham to beat Worcestershire and thus gain their eighth victory of the championship campaign. Worcester, now safe from relegation at the start of play needed 359 to win with eight wickets in hand. To justify the 130 mile round trip, however, one doesn't want victory to come too soon , especially on such a lovely September day.
For the first hour Cameron and Ali made steady progress against the bowling of Onions and Thorpe but a change of attack precipitated another Worcestershire collapse, not quite as spectacular as Tuesday's but in relatively short time 128 for 2 became 213 all out. The initial strikes came from Claydon who removed Ali and Kervezee and the introduction of the spinners Blackwell and Borthwick meant that there were 8 down by lunch. Roach went first ball after the interval and although Richard Jones prolonged the inevitable with some bucolic blows off Blackwell by one 1:30 the Riverside season was over, Durham were top of the 'live table', albeit briefly, and 'winter well' was a phrase on many lips. Even the public address in thanking us for our support wished the decent crowd 'a comfortable winter': the kind of thing you might say to a hedgehog.
My friend Peter Sixsmith kindly gave me a lift to Durham station and a York train drew in as I reached the platform. This meant that I was home in time to see the last couple of hours of the battle for the championship on Sky TV. Sky tends to be a bit like Marmite, not many sit on the fence about it but would the BBC ever have had the means or the will to cover the last four days at Taunton and Southampton? I was a bit surprised that Sky put nearly all its eggs in The Rosebowl so that there were only two cameras at Taunton and Paul Allot had to describe Lancshire's triumph from the commentary box at The Rosebowl where he was one of a Sky team of least five, but perhaps I am being rather mean in making that criticism.
In my posting earlier in the week I expressed my concern at Warwickshire's 'cautious tactics' especially in not scoring more quickly on the second day.How they must regret this now. Like Tony I would like to add my congratulations to Lancashire, not least because the birthplaces of seven of the team have such a familiar Lancashire ring. Even followers from east of Todmorden might will take some pleasure from the fact that the eleven that completed the job yesterday included only two born outside the UK and not one designated as an 'overseas' player.
What of Durham? A poor August cost them the championship but 2011 marks their fourth top three finish in five years, by some way the most consistent team in the country. Four of the automatic choices of the current eleven are over 35, however, and Headingley does not have the monopoly on autumn rumours. Will Durham crowds see Steve Harmison in action again? He played only six championship matches this year but his strike rate was better than that of Onions, Claydon and Thorpe. Mark Davies is expected to announce his retirement, a very promising career blighted by numerous injuries,and there are rumours that Collingwood may be the next captain. Enough fodder to chew on there as the evenings draw in.
One last thought.In 1934 when Lancashire last won the title outright, 'Wisden' cost five shillings(25 pence), this year the cover price was £45. If Lancashire wait until 2088 for their next championship and the price of Wisden continues to rise at the same rate then the cricketers' almanac will then cost £8100.Watch this space.