At a village event on Friday evening conversation turned to the likely outcome of the Durham and Yorkshire matches due to reach their conclusion on Saturday. Earlier in the day I had considered a trip to Derby for the fourth day's play but by tea time I could see nothing other than a draw and not even an interesting one at that and had scrapped the idea. I was a bit surprised therefore when one of my fellow revellers suggested that I might be foregoing an exciting day's cricket with Durham having a quick thrash to collect another batting point and a modest lead then putting Derbyshire in with hopes of bowling them out. I remained unconvinced for Durham's progress on Friday afternoon had been slow enough to suggest that they were happy with a draw and that Paul Collingwood believed that the outcome at Hove would be the same thus, give or take a point or two, maintaining their advantage over Yorkshire.
As far as the Sussex and Yorkshire match was considered I again found myself rather at odds with the general view that this was destined for a draw. My feeling was that with Sussex only 14 ahead and with two wickets down Yorkshire's bowlers might make inroads into a line up which at Chester le Street the previous week had shown little stomach for a battle and that a Yorkshire victory was a possibility. What I had not realised was that the Yorkshire bowlers would not be Sidebottom, Plunkett, Patterson and Brooks but Gale, Lyth, Jaques and Ballance. Gale, perhaps remembering a sunny morning at Scarborough a little over a year ago when as part of a deal struck with Gloucestershire he and Lyth had sent down ten overs of rubbish to set up a run chase which brought victory, had approached Ed Joyce and done a similar deal. Most readers will be aware that the return of rain to the south coast scuppered the White Rose/Martlets pact and that the captains shook hands about four o'clock.
If this doesn't show why it is just as well I have not been seduced by the charms of Bet 365, Bet Fred or even Bet Lynch then events at Derby will show once and for all why I am not a betting man. The morning's cricket seemed to justify my decision not to travel to Derby, when in 19 overs Durham added 68 runs and gathered a third batting point before being all out with a lead of 27. Onions (60 championship wickets) and Rushworth (48) then set about a Derbyshire batting line up which has stiffened up in the second half of the season and reduced it to ruins before Arshad picked up the last two wickets to leave The Peakites in the bottom two with just one to play. And if I were a betting man.....
The week ahead may decide the destination of the championship with Durham needing to match Yorkshire's result to just about settle things before the last round of matches begins on Tuesday week. With both teams at home awkward choices have to be made about which days to go where and to make life a little more complicated the Warwickshire/Surrey match is on my list of 'must see' matches this season. My outline plan is Riverside on Tuesday, Edgabston on Wednesday and then let the state of play dictate where I might be on Thursday and Friday.
After a blank week I did get some cricket yesterday when I called in at Lightmire Lane to see Ouseburn beat Goldsborough by 139 runs but by tea time twitter had informed us that Spofforth had dismissed Darley for 56 and as they duly went on to win by nine wickets they preserved their one point lead at the head of the table to take their first Nidderdale title. Ouseburn arguably lost the title by one run for had their match against Alne last week ended in victory rather than a tie that would have been enough to give them their second title in three years. If ifs and buts......
The photograph is of Crakehall CC winners of the Northallerton League:date uncertain but probably late nineteenth early twentieth century. This season they have finished ninth in the fifth division of the Nidderdale League.
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