posted by John Winn
In a recent edition of Cricketer magazine under the headline "The best seats in world cricket' not surprisingly there appeared a picture of the new Compton and Edrich stands at Lord's, ' new luxury premium seating' and at a cost of £52 million you would expect the breathtaking views the development offers. Yesterday and for the princely sum of £14 (£20 for younger brethren), I enjoyed this view from the Radcliffe Road stand at Trent Bridge, good enough for me and the many Yorkshire and Notts' supporters who enjoyed the view.
I was part of a group of four who had journeyed from the Lower Ure Valley and an early start saw us installed in our seats by 9:45am. Much of our conversation on the journey centred round the announcement that, in the absence of skipper Patterson, a stand-in Yorkshire captain would be announced at the toss. My suggestion that this might mean that Lyth, desperately short of runs since first class cricket resumed three weeks ago, might be dropped, received underwhelming support but when it was Coad who was given the honour of calling heads or tails nobody was able to say 'I told you so'.
In the event Coad called correctly and did what I think what most county captains would have done, namely invited Notts to bat on a well grassed strip. By the time we arrived home at 7:00pm we felt that especially given Coad's choice it had ben Notts' day and they would consider their 292 for 9 was a fair return. Given this morning's events it must seem like an abundance of riches. But I get ahead of myself.
Rewinding to yesterday's play there was a time when Notts were close to trouble, at 173 for 6 for example, but with Lyth dropping two catches which a few weeks ago he would have safely pouched they rallied to get close to a third batting point, a point the significance of which I was not aware until watching the live stream this morning when the dismissal of Evison with the score at 296 effectively strangled any hopes Notts had of winning the championship.
Notts' response to this disappointment was to bowl Yorkshire out for 73, Thompson top scorer with just sixteen, and enforce the follow on. As I type Yorkshire are making a better fist of things and the neutral's attention is likely to have strayed to Edgbaston or Aigburth especially the latter where the fall of wickets in just over four sessions has been even more dramatic than at Trent Bridge.
With no plans to see anymore first class cricket this season and all league cricket having finished last Saturday only the Arthington Festival offers me any further chance of watching the summer game in 2021. Arthington players and supporters will be cocker a hoop for both their teams have been promoted in the Nidderdale League. In Division 2 Arthington are champions and will play in Division 1 next year while the second XI have won Division 7 and are are promoted to division 6. The Festival begins on Saturday when Burton Salmon provide the opposition with wickets pitched at 12 noon. On Sunday when the start is an hour later the Druids visit the attractive Wharfedale ground.
Just in case the excellent Trent Bridge scoreboard got it wrong.
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