Against all the odds

  posted by John Winn

As I type, just after one o'clock, the final of the Royal London one day cup has begun on a Thursday at Trent Bridge, just two days after one of the semi finals and four days after one of the quarter finals. On Tuesday I spent a most enjoyable day at Riverside with my long standing friend Alan Pinkney watching said semi final. During the day, as our confidence grew that Durham would defeat Surrey and qualify for the final, we reminisced back to the days when apart from test matches the final of the one day competition was the highlight of the season. The first final was played at Lord's on Saturday September 7th 1963 before a full house, the season's county championship was done and dusted and nearly two weeks had elapsed since the fifth and final test against West Indies at The Oval. Supporters of Sussex and Worcestershire, the two finalists, had had eight weeks to get used to the idea that their favourites had reached the final, eight weeks in which they could obtain tickets, make travel plans and generally prepare for what they hoped would be a grand day out. 

In contrast I found out at 5:45 on Tuesday that Durham would be playing Glamorgan at Trent Bridge today, a lovely ground, but not 'the home of cricket' and in a city that is not on a direct rail route from the north east nor I suspect from South Wales. There are still three test matches to be played, the county championship resumes in 11 days and first class cricket will be played in October when leaves on the pitch may take over from leaves on the line as an excuse for inactivity. To be fair we have been heading this way for some time but the introduction of a fourth competition, the hundred, has pushed fifty over cricket, which in 2019 when England were crowned world champions provided us with an outstanding final, to the bargain basement of the cricket season. 

I have made no secret of my of my opposition to the hundred, I have not watched it on tv, nor listened to radio commentary and read very little about it. Speaking to neighbours and extended family who are not 'cricket people' it appears to have reached its target audience but given its exposure on free to air television and the hysterical publicity accompanying it, so it should. What has annoyed more than I had anticipated is the hypocrisy of commentators who in the main owe their fame to playing first class cricket but who are clearly on a three line whip which prohibits any criticism of the new competition. 

 

Despite the lack of publicity, above is the i newspapers 'report' on Durham's win over Surrey, the RL cup has provided some excellent entertainment. I have been at four matches all of which were well attended. Two were washed out at the halfway point when nicely poised and the other two, Yorkshire v Northants and Durham v Surrey went nearly the full distance and were most enjoyable. The loss of players to the hundred, test matches and covid has meant weakened sides but has given many young players the chance to shine. Tuesday's game at The Riverside illustrated this last point with Surrey claiming to be twelve short, which seems a bit odd when you can only field eleven but tbf there were only about five of their players that I could have told you much about. Durham have been less affected than most especially in the batting department and the replacements for Potts and Carse have done themselves and Durham proud. 

Given that the final is underway there seems little point in saying much about a semi final match but it was no surprise that Stoneman would get runs on his return to the north-east, that Rushworth would take early wickets and that a quip from this blogger telling Moriarty to keep clear of waterfalls would fall on stony ground. What was more surprising and which has rather been overlooked was the excellent contribution of Durham's spinners, Borthwick and Trevaskis, who clipped the Prince of Wales' feathers when it looked as if they might total over 300. Any idea that Stoneman's century might clear the way for a permanent return to the Riverside were squashed when yesterday it was announced that he had signed for Middlesex. Had he stayed at Surrey then he would have returned to County Durham on August 30 when for the first time since 2016 the two sides will meet in championship cricket. The last encounter, in September of that year was a thrilling encounter which Durham won by 21 runs. The win secured Durham's twelfth season of Division One cricket, or so we thought for just two weeks later they were punished for their financial woes and relegated to the second division where they have remained since. 

Posted 1 hour ago by John Winn