Having had more birthdays than most people, I continued my usual plan of a short cricketing holiday. This time based in Durham City, a favourite place for us, enjoying a comfortable riverside hotel complete with a family of swans nesting nearby with six signets only two weeks old. The initial cricket venue was also at the Riverside only a few miles downstream at Chester-le-Street, where we caught up with John Winn to watch Durham play Gloucestershire.
As John has already commented it was deja vu all over again, after our visit to Worcester last week where Durham were 14-3 early on and here we were again at 17-4. A sad state of affairs indeed which although not the cause of the problem, the rule allowing visiting teams to insert the home side looks even more ridiculous as time goes on. Why can't we have the traditional toss of a coin which worked so well for so many years.
The saddest part for us was the continuing failure of former Yorkshire player Alex Lees at this level, after some considerable success in the recent one day format. The only plus points really were the form of Jack Burnham with 43 and Ben Raine, a very useful all round cricketer, with 42. The feeling of further disaster was evident with an all out total of 158 suggesting already another defeat.
For once Chris Rushworth did not make an early breakthrough but the Durham pace bowling quartet of Rushworth, Raine, Carse and Salisbury all stuck to their task well and Gloucestershire found run scoring just as hard as Durham. Former Loughborough University man Bracey, who has been in the runs recently, made what proved to be the visitors' top score of 35.
Like John we headed back into Yorkshire the next day to the pleasant Richmondshire CC ground in historic Richmond, complete with ancient castle and large cobbled market square. Durham seconds as is their wont were playing a home match on foreign soil entertaining Nottinghamshire seconds well into North Yorkshire. Nice relaxed atmosphere here although the continuing flow of information from the Riverside was rather depressing as Durham began to collapse again.
As ever with second team county games a variety of unknown players appear and the excellent counties second eleven annual is an essential guide to identifying them. Solomon Budinger was not an overseas player but from Essex and reached Notts via Sussex. J.T. Schadendorf was not in the book but we were able to ascertain he is from Zimbabwe, with a German name. On the other hand Kamau Sadiki Leverock is fairly straightforward, coming from Bermuda and the nephew of the very large man who played for the island side.
By tea time and Notts seconds all out for 221 we were beginning to get itchy feet as the the news from Riverside suggested the game might be finished in two days. So back up the A1 to Chester le Street to catch the last few wickets of the Durham second innings, which was even worse than the first - all out for 132. Josh Shaw justified his loan place with 3-31 but all four major bowlers had good figures.
Gloucester had the chance to knock off the required runs, just 117, and could have claimed the extra half hour if required, but they began the task in rather pedestrian fashion, especially against the accurate Rushworth. It soon became obvious, after a series of maiden overs, that they would take the game into a third day. So it was back to Riverside next morning for the last rites with Hammond and nightwatchman Shaw at the crease and 53 more runs wanted. They did lose Shaw, Hammond and Bracey in the hour and ten minutes play, before Gloucester emerged easy winners by six wickets.
Fortunately another game was scheduled just up the road at Chester-le-Street cricket club, Ropery Lane, where Durham over fifties took on Cheshire starting conveniently at 1 p.m. Time for a nice cooling drink, on yet another hot day, in the well appointed lounge before some very keen cricket got underway. Durham managed to contain a strong looking Cheshire side to 200-8 in their 45 overs.
We took our leave then and learned later that Durham earned an excellent victory by 7 wickets after defeat by Yorkshire last week.
Our final match of the day was at the Durham University Racecourse ground, yet another attractive venue where the home womens' side were taking on Leeds/Bradford MCCU women. Good cricket here too despite a strong wind blowing down the Wear Valley. Durham had made 251 and the visitors fell just short, by four runs in fact, when the game finished around seven o'clock.
To complete our fourth day's cricket this week we called back at Richmond on the way home on Thursday and saw an eventful part of day three of Durham and Notts seconds game. Notts were very much in the ascendancy in their second innings, despite trailing by 85 on first innings. Left hander Liam Patterson-White, a native of Sunderland in county Durham would you believe, was very much the star of the show, hitting the ball to all parts in a splendid innings of 149, with twenty two fours and two sixes.
Notts declared just before lunch on 428-7 which set Durham to chase 344 to win. Potts emerged as the only Durham bowler with reasonable figures of 5-88, but the rest of them took a bit of a pounding. Durham gave it their best shot with fifties from Jones, Bell and Poynter but ended 56 runs short as the game ended in a draw. Full marks one again to Patterson-White who bowls slow left arm and took four wickets in each Durham innings.
1 comment:
Tony, Been reading the posts on this blog for a few years. Really enjoy reading about your travels throughout England and also putting a picture to the names of the many cricket Grounds I see on the fixture lists.
Kind regards John
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