Sunday 6th May provided perfect weather for another trip up the A1 to Chester le Street to see Durham with their backs to the wall against Leicester on day three of their championship match.
It was all somewhat low key, but none the worse for that. A thinly spread crowd meant you could enjoy peace and quiet with no noisy neighbours, at least until mid-afternoon when a wedding party appeared in the seats in front of the Colin Milburn suite. This meant a move out of earshot which was easily done.
Leicestershire had batted first and made 440, with four scores in the seventies from Carberry, Horton, Cosgrove and Dexter. The three Englishmen amongst this group have all made considerable contributions to their former county teams and hopefully can help put some new life into Leicester.
Durham had struggled on day two which ended with them 142-7 with Graham Clark on 50 not out. To add to their woes South African Test opener Aiden Markram got yet another duck, after his pair against Kent, so was still looking for his first run for Durham. To add insult to injury he was dismissed by former Durham man Ben Raine.
Carberry leads out the Leicestershire side at the Riverside.
The morning did not start well as Gavin Griffiths, formerly with Lancashire, who had clean bowled three batsman last night, did it again to get rid of Clark for 64. Durham all out 184 and Leicester immediately enforced the follow on. It was almost the Kent game all over again with Durham facing another defeat on the third day. News began to filter through of Yorkshire's amazing win at Chelmsford, after being bowled out for 50 in the first innings. Truly remarkable but nobody at Chester le Street had any hope at this stage of a similar revival here.
First event to bring the crowd to life was Markram's long awaited first run for Durham which brought a great cheer all round the ground. Markram was soon hitting the ball sweetly along the ground to the boundary and showed the class which has made him so successful in Test cricket. His partner, Steel, was content to play second fiddle but stuck around stubbornly. Both batsmen made light of the Indian Test bowler Aaron and Ben Raine, neither of whom could repeat their first innings success.
The runs began to pile up at a steady rate and Markram was only troubled occasionally by the left arm spin of Parkinson, who was unlucky not to have him caught at deep mid off and also caused several other mis-hits. When the South African's century was imminent, Parkinson suddenly had him lbw for 94. The batsman's distress at missing the landmark was evident in his walk from the wicket, but he had played his part in an opening partnership of 152.
Will Smith joined Steel and in the evening sunshine these two took the score to 233-1 only 23 runs short of the Leicester total. This had been a real backs to the wall day for Durham and to watch their recovery, although never spectacular, was a great pleasure on a really delightful day all round. Completed with an excellent lunch in the Long Room, where you can sit in comfort watching the cricket as you eat, which is something you are unable to do at Headingley. You can eat but you can't see the cricket!
Of course on the following day when we were back at Harrogate, as John Winn has already described, Durham pulled off an absolutely amazing victory. Full marks especially to James Weighell, not only for his match winning bowling performance but also for his most valuable 38 runs towards the end of the Durham second innings. Let us hope they have turned the corner and look for better times ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment