A hole too deep even for Durham

posted by John Winn

As I watched Rashid bowl the last over to Muchall at The Riverside on Tuesday evening I decided that should a wicket fall then I would not make the journey north today. A loud appeal for lbw was turned down by umpire Baldwin and so this morning saw me arrive bright and early in Chester le Street for despite warnings of buckled rails and speed limits Virgin East Coast, Go North East and my feet combined seamlessly  to get me to The Riverside for the third day running.

There was just the faintest hope that Durham, who have won six games this season often from seemingly impossible positions, might rack up their first draw of the season. 'Teatime at least' seemed to be the mantra and with Stoneman having batted so well yesterday for his second hundred of the season and Muchall having played some good knocks since his surprising recall to the side a month ago there was modest optimism among 'my very knowledgeable friends'. Further hope was on offer from a Durham member who told her husband that they must leave at three o'clock if they were to avoid driving home in a thunderstorm.

There were no great alarms for Durham until the introduction of Patterson who with his first ball produced a 'bail trimmer' to remove Muchall and Stoneman and Pringle lasted another nine overs until the former was on the receiving end of a long thought over lbw decision and 31 balls later it was all over. Only Pringle could be chastised, caught at long leg when trying to bat out the day is never likely to be excused but it was no more foolish a shot than the one played by Borthwick just before tea yesterday. Hastings, Harrison and Rushworth, all of whom have made good contributions with the bat before today, were swept aside and before 12:30 we were on our way. One of us wishing perhaps that the umpire had raised his finger at 6:10 yesterday evening.

This comprehensive defeat for the home team, their first at The Riverside for almost a year sees them replaced by Yorkshire at the top of the championship.  That defeat  last July was to Warwickshire where Yorkshire go next week and then The Bears visit County Durham on Sunday week. An interesting fortnight ahead.