Worth the trip

posted by John Winn

When I left The Riverside at 5:30 on Tuesday my parting words to our Hartlepool correspondent were 'see you on Saturday' in the expectation that Notts would lose enough wickets before the close to make a third trip in three days to the North East unjustifiable. In the event Wessels and Franklin went beyond survival to take Notts to a position where the local press (The Journal and The Echo) were divided in their opinions of the outcome of the match. Too close to call was my cop out and by the time I went to bed on Tuesday night it was pretty certain that I would be on the train from Northallerton to Durham the following morning.

And so nobody was surprised when I took my seat ready to see if Notts could get the 178 they needed to win with Durham needing six wickets before that target was reached. 'Two wickets in the first half hour' was deemed the minimum requirement by two Wearsiders sitting behind me 'otherwise we can all go home'. Despite  no wickets falling in the first forty minutes they were still there when Wessels, second highest scorer in the championship this season, pulled a long hop from debutant Chase into as safe a pair of hands as you could wish to see shaping up to receive the cherry, those of Gordon Muchall and the luck of the Irish had done the trick.

Enter the ever combative Reed and while he and Franklin were there the game was still even Steven. With Hastings and an unwell Rushworth having been withdrawn from the attack it was Coughlin who accepted an invitation to the party when he persuaded Jeff Evans to send the New Zealander on his way. I'm not sure if Franklin has previously played at The Riverside but he needed some help from the crowd as to the whereabouts of the dressing rooms.

Six down and soon to be eight when Dublin born Chase had Shahzad and Fletcher in successive balls but Ball had scored runs in the first innings without looking remotely like a batsman and to show it was no fluke he repeated the trick yesterday and with skipper Reed, and nobody doubted he would be hard to shift, added 44 before the Muchall Chase combination did the trick again and spin bowling coach, physiotherapist, Notts debutant and number eleven, Keedy came to join his skipper. The eminently sensible rule delaying lunch by up to half an hour when the last pair are at the crease was applied for the second successive day, and it was not until there were just four balls left before Brown Windsor time
that Hastings bowled Reed to give Durham a win by 54 runs and 21 very welcome points.

 

 

Twenty year old Peter 'Chevy' Chase faces the world's press after his five for sixty four yesterday.

It has been hard over the three days to see this game in isolation from events at Old Trafford and in the end of course, by beating Lancs, Yorkshire have eased Durham's position while Durham's victory has put Yorkshire in the box seat before their trip to Trent Bridge next week. At times on the first two days it almost seemed as though Durham were playing Lancashire and when the relegation rivals had completed their first innings it crossed my mind to point in the direction of Manchester while singing five three, five three. Those looking for an excuse never to speak to me again will be sad to hear I didn't.

 

 

The hand roller at The Riverside manufactured by Seymours of Derby: enthusiasts will recognise this as the Ogle model.