1312 spectators were at Scarborough yesterday for what proved to be forty minutes play. The four from the Lower Ure Valley who had journeyed on the other three days were not amongst them for there had come a point on Tuesday afternoon, round about the fall of Yorkshire's fourth wicket, when discretion overtook valour and one by one we announced we would not be gracing the A64 on Wednesday morning. By the time I reached home on Tuesday evening two more wickets had fallen which erased any lingering doubts that the wrong decision might have been taken.
Yesterday was not wasted however for first thing I took the opportunity to catch up on a few domestic duties and from 11:00 onwards I was always within earshot of the excellent coverage of the games in the championship which lasted longer than the test match and Yorkshire v Worcestershire. First commentary was on Somerset v Essex, a game which a year ago I think the latter might have won, but once wickets were pitched at The Oval attention switched to Surrey v Lancs. Late in the afternoon I connected to the streaming service from SE11 which was perfectly in sync with the commentary.
The news that Somerset had overcome Essex ratcheted up the tension at The Oval and while Onions and Bailey were at the crease I made Lancs slight favourites but Surrey had kept the best to last and Morkel and the new ball did the trick. Seven more runs and Lancashire would have a further sixteen points in today's table, sixteen points that would have lifted them above Yorkshire who would then have had only Worcestershire below them.
With the nights drawing in and even the mention of frost in tonight's forecast it is tempting to think the cricket season is drawing to a close but with most teams still having five games to play there is more than a third of the campaign to go. Starting next Wednesday when all 18 counties are in action there is barely time to draw your breath before the last round starts in a little under five weeks time. Yorkshire go back to Headingley next week and with Scarborough having not been the happiest of hunting grounds recently, five defeats in six, a return to LS6 might bring a change of fortune. Coad is expected to return but with Plunkett seemingly having sent his kitbag ahead of him to Surrey and Patterson possibly not being fit for the rest of the season all is not rosy in the garden.
The Lower Ure Valley four reconvened last night in our local in the knowledge that despite Yorkshire's plight only Surrey and Somerset can consider themselves exempt from relegation, Notts who are third are 25 points clear of Yorkshire but have played a game more and the two sides will meet at Trent Bridge in two weeks. The weather of course may play a part, yesterday for the third time this season there were no draws in any of the round's matches but with the weeks of sunshine that graced May, June and July behind us the draw may come back into fashion in which case those who have points on the board will hold the trumps.
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