May 24, 2024
Today saw a fixture between the top two sides in Division Two of the cricket four-day County Championship in England, and I arranged to meet up with a former work colleague to watch some cricket at Lord’s.
Sussex led the Division 2 table with 96 points, with unbeaten Middlesex 7 points behind on 89 points, 10 clear of third placed Leicestershire.
Middlesex Season So Far
Middlesex are seen as one of the traditional giants of English domestic cricket with 14 county championships and they were the dominant force in the land in the 1980s and 1990s under Mike Brearley and Mike Gatting. However, they suffered the embarrassment of relegation from Division One last year and would be expecting to make an immediate return to the top division.
Any idea that Middlesex would find the season a walk in the park were shattered in the opening match at home to Glamorgan as the Welsh side racked up 620 for 3 declared. Middlesex did respond with 651 all out, with allrounder Ryan Higgins plundering 221 as the game fizzled out to a dull draw.
The Middlesex bowling again suffered at Northampton, who compiled 552-6 declared but the Middlesex batsmen again showed their mettle by replying with 553 for 2 as Nathan Fernades made 103, Max Holden amassed 211 not out and former Derbyshire captain Leus du Plooy was unbeaten on 196. Du Plooy was born in South Africa but has played international cricket for Hungary !
The visit of Yorkshire, another of the big names in English cricket, to Lord’s brought a change of fortune as Middlesex won a low scoring encounter by 6 wickets, but a trip to Gloucestershire saw Middlesex bowled out cheaply on day one, but second innings centuries for Holden and du Plooy saw them safely to a draw.
Another high scoring draw at Leicestershire followed next as du Plooy again made three figures, his third century of the season, and ex-England International Sam Robson ( 7 Tests ) made 162, but in their last outing Middlesex achieved their second victory of the season, against Glamorgan in Cardiff, chasing down 213 to win by 2 wickets thanks to 63 from Mark Stoneman ( 11 Tests ) to add to his 129 in the first innings.
Looking at the statistics after 6 games, the Middlesex batsmen had scored 9 centuries and 9 scores of 50+ between them, but no bowler had taken a 5 wicket haul.
Higgins led the run chart with 531 runs at an average of 88.50 followed by du Plooy with 528 at 66.00 and Holden with 497 at 62.12. Stoneman had scored 380 runs at 42.22.
With the ball, medium pacer Ethan Bamber had the most wickets with 16 at an average of 35.18 whilst fellow new ball partner Tom Helm had 15 wickets at 37.00. Higgins fine season also included 14 wickets at 29.85. Captain and former England bowler Toby Roland-Jones had taken only 11 wickets at 45.63 and their three spinners had taken just 8 wickets between.
Sussex Season So Far
Sussex won their first county championship in 2003, and repeated this in 2006 & 2007, with Murray Goodwin, Mushtaq Ahmed, Chris Adams, Matt Prior, Michael Yardy and James Kirtley among the key contributors. However, Sussex have been languishing in the second division since relegation at the end of 2015.
Sussex have made no secret of their ambitions to be playing in Division One again, but they missed out on promotion last season as only three wins and 10 draws left them in third place. They were penalised 12 points for receiving four fixed penalties during the season although this ultimately made no difference to the final table.
At times Sussex seemed to put themselves under too much pressure to force victories so that their discipline and sportsmanship were seriously lacking at times, and the behaviour in a narrow win over Leicestershire was embarrassing, and four players missed the subsequent match due to bans being imposed by either the ECB or the club.
Ex-England wicket-keeper John Simpson ( 3 ODIs ) was recruited from Middlesex to become the new captain and provide better leadership, and all-rounder Danny Lamb joined from Lancashire. Neither were greeted with much enthusiasm by Sussex supporters on social media, but both have made important contributions early in the season.
Sussex opened their campaign with a draw in Northampton where a century from Tom Haines and a wagging tail gave them a first innings lead of just over 100, but they were unable to force a win on the final day. A trip to Leicester saw Sussex build a first innings lead of over 350 as Haines scored his second century of the season and John Simpson ( 205* ) and Danny Lamb ( 134 ) put on 255 for the 7th wicket, but rain washed out the final day to deny Sussex the chance of forcing a win.
Sussex didn’t have to wait long for their first victory of the season, as Cheteshwar Pujura held his nerve to guide his side to a 4 wicket home win over Gloucestershire as they struggled to chase 144.
Pujura was also in good form at Derbyshire, making 113, and West Indian fast bowler Jayden Seales, who featured in these diaries earlier in the year for Trinidad & Tobago, took 5-29 to seal an innings victory.
Fragile batting then saw Sussex slump to a disappointing 9 wicket defeat to Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens, but Sussex bounced back to beat Yorkshire by 21 runs in a low scoring thriller. The batting from Sussex was again suspect but an 89 from Tom Alsop gave their bowlers something to defend. Adam Lyth looked to be steering Yorkshire to victory, as they required just 182 and reached 158 for 6. However, in a dramatic finish England’s Ollie Robinson ( 20 Tests ) took three wickets and then Fynn Hudson-Prentice hit the stumps with a smart piece of fielding for a run-out to see Sussex snatch the win.
The Sussex batting statistics compare unfavourably to those of Middlesex, with only 5 centuries although there had been 15 scores of over 50, and the averages were nowhere near as impressive.
Haines was the leading run scorer with 380 at 42.22, closely followed by Pujura with 372 at 53.14. Five batsman had scored more than 275 runs, James Coles ( 348 at 43.50 ), Alsop ( 332 at 36.88 ), Simpson ( 326 at 40.75 ), Lamb ( 320 at 40.00 ) and Hudson-Prentice ( 279 at 31.00 )
On the other hand, the bowling figures for Sussex were much superior to those for Middlesex and there had been three 5 wicket hauls ( two for Seales and one for Hudson-Prentice ). Seales was the leading wicket taker in the division with 23 wickets at an average of 21.86 and five other bowlers were in double figures for wickets. Robinson had 15 at 24.46, Jack Carson, Lamb and Hudson-Prentice all had 12 each ( at 29.00, 32.83 and 33.25 respectively ) and Coles had 10 at 24.90. The two Sussex spinners had taken 22 wickets in their 6 games.
Previous Visit To Lord’s
My only previous visit to Lord’s was in July 2009 to see Sussex vs Hampshire in the Final of the Friends Provident Trophy, the 50 over knockout competition. I paid £52 for a ticket in the Upper Grand Stand, which had an excellent view from the side of the pitch, and there was a bar only a few steps away !
Despite a battling 92 not out from captain Michael Yardy, after losing four early wickets Sussex were only able to score 219 for 9 in their 50 overs, which Hampshire knocked off with nearly 10 overs to spare to win by 6 wickets.
The Sussex side that day also included internationals Ed Joyce, Luke Wright, Matt Prior, Murray Goodwin, Dwayne Smith, Yasir Arafat and James Kirtley. Hampshire’s side featured Jimmy Adams, Michael Carberry, Sean Ervine, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Chris Tremlett, Imran Tahir, and man-of-the match Dominic Cork, who took 4 for 41.
Watching Sussex
The first time I watched Sussex play was in July 1973, when my father took me to Hove to see the touring West Indies side play a three-day match. As an Essex fan he wanted to see Keith Boyce bowling for the Windies, and was happy when early on Boyce dismissed Geoff Greenidge, a white West Indian who opened the batting for Sussex. Former England International Roger Prideaux came in at number three and proceeded to cart Boyce around the ground as Sussex raced to 83 for 1. However, Bernard Julien had Prideaux caught behind for 43 and Sussex collapsed to 205 all out, with Julien taking 5 wickets.
At least I got to see John Snow bowl, and he dismissed Deryck Murray with the new ball, although Lawrence Rowe and Rohan Kanhai then put on a partnership to leave the Windies in a strong position at the close of play. The game was rain affected and ended in a draw.
My next visit to Hove was in June 1974 to watch a 40 over John Player League match against Hampshire. Gordon Greenidge scored a century, but four wickets for Tony Greig and two for Snow kept Hampshire to 190 for 9. At tea the Sussex supporters around us were confident of winning, but most of them knew little about young Antiguan fast bowler Andy Roberts. Even off the reduced run up enforced in the JPL he was seriously quick, and far too good for Sussex, who crumbled to 92 all out as Roberts took 5 for 13. My main memory of the innings was John Barclay coming out to bat in very cold conditions and dark clouds above, wearing just a short-sleeved shirt, to which a wag nearby observed “he doesn’t expect to bat for long !”
Working in London in the 1980s I got into the habit of taking a day off work once a year and driving down to Hove to watch one a day of country cricket. The last time I did this was in September 1990 when Middlesex were the visitors, knowing that a win for them would secure the championship. Sussex were no match for an attack of Angus Fraser, Norman Cowans, Simon Hughes and John Emburey, and when Neil Williams sustained an injury, Mike Gatting bowled 18 economical overs and took two wickets. Even Desmond Haynes bowled a maiden as Sussex were skittled out for less than 200. I left early as Haynes and Mike Roseberry were flaying the pop-gun Sussex attack to all parts. Middlesex went on to win by an innings to become the 1990 champions.
Watching Middlesex
As well as the match at Hove in 1990, I have seen Middlesex play on one other occasion, when they played Essex at Uxbridge in July 1994. I was able to park in the company office car park and walk to the Uxbridge Cricket ground, to see Mark Ramprakesh and Mike Gatting tear apart an Essex attack spear-headed by Australian Mike Kasprowicz ( 38 Tests ), and also including England spinners John Childs ( 2 Tests ) and Peter Such ( 11 Tests ), to both reach three figures, and Haynes and Roseberry both got 50s. Such was Essex’s plight, Graham Gooch had to turn his arm over !
Matchday Information
Tickets for the day’s play were £20 for adults, £10 for over 65s and £5 for under 16s but a Lord’s’ account was required in order to be able to purchase the tickets. Tickets are automatically sent to the Lord’s App, but it was possible to then get the tickets sent to an email address to be printed-off at home.
My off-peak return train ticket to Marylebone on Chiltern Railways cost £32.50 and the walk to Lord’s took around 20 minutes but only 15 minutes on the way back via a shorter route !
Ground regulations limited the amount of alcohol allowed to be brought into the ground to one bottle of wine or champagne, or two 500 ml bottles/can of beer or cider. As I was going out in the evening I didn’t bring any drink with me.
The weather was I arrived was overcast and 16 degrees, and a dry day was forecasted. However, with bad weather forecasted on Sunday and Monday, the two sides might struggle to force a result.
Morning Session
Middlesex won the toss and elected to field. Their XI included seamer Henry Brookes and spinners Luke Hollman and Nathan Fernandes. Strangely, the scorecard handed out free inside the ground showed Toby Roland Jones in the line-up but he must have been replaced at the last minute by Brookes. As a result, du Plooy was their captain for the match.
When I arrived at Lord’s, Sussex had raced to 56 for 0 off ten overs with Haines on 32 and Clark on 24. I met my colleague in the Warner Stand and we had a good view of the action close to behind the bowler’s arm and next to the Member’s Pavilion. The outfield looked in fantastic condition.
Middlesex vs Sussex is apparently a traditional bank holiday weekend fixture, which may have accounted for the very healthy crowd in attendance. The Member’s Pavilion was very crowded, and I was informed that it had not been that full all season. Furthermore, they all seemed to be watching the match, although perhaps later in the day after a few drinks a number would be fast asleep !
Higgins was bowling around the wicket from the Pavilion end with three slips but Clark immediately slapped a wide ball to the point boundary. Play was then held up for several minutes as Middlesex tried to get the ball changed, and I couldn’t figure out if they had been successful.
In the next over Haines drove Bamber through the covers for four and then steered a leg side ball to deep square leg for two more. A very short bouncer to end the over was then easily avoided.
Higgins produced a play and miss from Haines but in the next over Haines was surprisingly bowled by Bamber to be dismissed for 40 off just 37 balls. 66 for 1 off 13.1 overs.
Alsop came in first wicket down to be the third left hander in the top three and played his third ball off his legs for a single to get off the mark. There was then a loud LBW appeal against Clark, but the ball appeared to be too high and not out was the decision.
In Higgins’ next over Alsop edged but the difficult chance was spilled at slip by du Plooy. After 16 overs the scored had moved to 71 for 1.
Higgins had another LBW appeal against Clark but this one looked to going down the leg-side and again the umpire kept his finger in his pocket. Alsop then produced a nice drive down the ground off Bamber but a good piece of fielding limited it to three runs.
Higgins srtuck the pad of Clark again but this also looked to be going well down the leg side. After 19 overs the scored had progressed to 79 for 1, with Clark on 30 and Alsop on 7. Higgins had figures of 7-0-20-0 and Bamber 7-1-41-1
Sussex took a quick single, but a poor throw to the wicketkeeper avoided any danger, and more sloppy fielding followed with another poor throw towards the keeper leading to an overthrow.
Clark then tried to attack but a wild swing outside off-stump presented a regulation catch behind the wicket for Davies and gave Higgins his first wicket. Clark was out for 32 off 62 balls. 80 for 2 off 20.4 overs.
Pujara was next in and played and missed at his first ball, although a no-ball was signalled, which in the Country Championship counts for two runs. Pujara then showed good judgement to leave a ball outside off-stump which appeared to narrowly miss the stumps, perhaps indicating the Indian test batsman knows where his off-stump is !
In the next over, Pujara pushed nicely off Bamber for two to get off the mark, and after 23 overs it was 87 for 2.
Brookes was introduced for the first time, and forced Pujara into another play and miss, but the next ball was calmly pushed off his legs for a single.
Helm returned to replace Higgins at the Pavilion end, bowling very wide of off-stump to Pujara, but the one straight ball found an inside edge and the batsmen ran a single. Pujara’s scratchy start continued by nearly playing on to Brookes but then squeezed the ball through the slips for two. After being bogged down, Alsop then decided to play tip and run for a quick single to move to 11 runs off 40 balls.
On the stroke of lunch, Middlesex made another breakthrough when Brookes found the edge of Alsop’s bat and Higgins took a fabulous diving catch at second slip, grabbing the ball left-handed an inch off the ground, almost as if the ball was behind him, and lunch was taken at the fall of the wicket. Honours were just about even after the first session. Alsop was out for 11 off 45 balls. 92 for 3 of 27.5 overs
Surprisingly the crowd were allowed onto the hallowed turf during the lunch interval, although a ring of stewards were on hand to prevent anyone walking on the square. I was told this was the first time this had been allowed this season !
Wondering around the ground during the interval I was able to observe that a pint of Carlsburg was £7.50, Hobgoblin IPA was £7.25, Wainwright ale was £7.00, with Cider £7.50 and Guinness £8.00. Wines were £7.75 for a medium glass, Pimms and Lemonade was £12, and soft drinks ranged from £2.50 to £3.50 for a bottle of water. An expresso was £3 whereas latte, cappuccino and flat whites were £3.90.
Food wise, a hot dog or chicken sub was £9, a bacon bagel was £7, a salmon bagel £8, with chips being £5.
Afternoon Session
With the temperatures getting warmer, Brookes completed his unfinished over to start the second session, and Coles clipped his second ball off his legs for a boundary.
Higgins opened the bowling from the Pavilion and although Pujara played two nice cover drives they went straight to the fielders, and the only runs from the over was from another no-ball to bring up the 100.
After Coles pushed a single into the covers, Pujara played a nice back foot drive off Brookes for a boundary, after which Higgins tried to test the middle of the wicket with little impact, apart from recording a maiden over.
Coles managed to squeeze a full ball from Brookes towards the square leg boundary and poor fielding from Bamber resulted in four runs as he made contact with the boundary rope as he stopped the ball. However, there was little he could do to stop the next ball Coles played off his legs for four more. At the end of the over the score had progressed to 116 for 3 off 32 overs.
Higgins was milked for two singles before Coles played a streaky drive through the vacant gully region for three. Coles then slapped a Brookes long-hop through point for three more, and Pujara played a controlled edge past slip for four.
After 36 overs it was now 131 for 3 with both Pujara and Coles on 20 not out. Higgins’ figures were now 13-2-31-1 and Brookes 7-0-35-1
Bamber returned at the Nursery end and bowled a maiden, and Helm replaced Higgins at the Pavilion end only to see Coles guide him first ball for four down to third man. Coles followed that up with a waft outside off-stump but then imperiously despatched a half-volley past point for four more and finished the over with a steer down to third man for another boundary to take 12 from the over.
The score was now 145 for 3 after 39 overs, with Coles on 33 and Pujara on 21.
Brookes then beat the edge of Pujara, and although the Indian appeared to withdraw his bat, it looked to be after the ball had gone past him. Unfazed he then stroked the next ball through the covers for three.
When Helm over-pitched, Pujara drove him straight down the ground. Brookes’ slow-motion dive could have been better, but another boundary was added to the total as Sussex reached 150 for 3. More sloppy fielding followed as Davies failed to gather a ball left by Pujara and a bye was run.
At the other end Pujara played a lovely leg glance off Bamber for another four and then produced a classy back foot drink for another boundary. He looked to now have got his eye in ! The score had moved to 164 for 3 off 42 overs, with Pujara now on 38 and Coles 33. Bamber’s figures were now 12-2-59-1
Out of the blue, Bamber found the edge and Coles was caught behind by Davies, making a diving one hand catch to his right. Coles had to go for 33 off 39 balls to make 164 for 4.
Ex-Middlesex wicket-keeper John Simpson received a good reception from the home crowd, and the fourth left hander in the Sussex top 6 received a friendly full-toss first ball to drive for a single to get off the mark and keep the strike. The scoreboard initially gave four to Simpson, but quickly corrected their error !
Helm continued with a 6-3 field and Simpson was watchfully letting most balls pass through to the wicket-keeper.
Bamber was still bustling in only for Pujara to score two more past the vacant gully area but with all of the Middlesex seamers appearing to be much of a muchness it would have been interesting to have had the speed gun to see how fast each of them was bowling.
There was still no sign of a Middlesex spinner as Helm continued to bowl wide of Simpson’s off-stump but with two fielders behind square on the leg side boundary. Simpson continued to leave most balls but did work a single to long leg. A bouncer to Pujara landing in Helm’s half of the wicket and sailed harmlessly over the head of Pujara, and a wide was awarded.
With Bamber also bowling well outside of Simpson’s off-stump it seemed Middlesex had a cunning plan against their former team-mate, but whatever it was it wasn’t working. Simpson did play and miss at one ball and there was a half-hearted appeal for a caught behind but nothing was given, and it was a maiden over
Although the runs were mostly drying up, there was still some loose balls for boundaries. A long-hop from Helm was despatched to the third man boundary by Pujara then Simpson played a lovely cut behind point for four off Bamber. It was now 178 for 4 off 50 overs.
Brookes replaced Helm at the Pavilion end and Pujura swivelled to pull a short ball to the leg side boundary, then easily clipped off his legs for a single. Simpson then punched a loose ball through the covers for 4 more as Brookes appeared to be bowling significantly slower than his first spell. The 9 runs from the over made Brookes’ figures to 8-0-44-1 as Sussex progressed to 187 for 4 from 51 overs.
Higgins was summoned to bowl from the Nursery end in an attempted to break the partnership, bowling with a 5-4 field, but Pujara took a single to reach 50, which was greeted with warm applause by the crowd. Higgins again attempted to get the ball changed, but after the Umpires conferred, the ball was thrown back to Higgins.
With tea approaching, the game was going through a quite spell, with the only boundary being a cover drive by Simpson off Brookes. Simpson played and missed at Brookes, but wicket-keeper Davies failed to take cleanly anyway.
By the time I needed to leave to catch my train back home, Sussex had moved to 199 for 4 off 57 overs, with Pujara still unbeaten on 53 and Simpson not out 16.
Postscript
By the close of play, which came early due to bad light, Sussex had gone through the post tea session without losing a wicket, having taken the score to 295 for 4 off 30 overs. Pujara was closing in on a century on 91 not out and Simpson was 71 not out.
Middlesex had finally given their slow bowlers a twirl, with Hollman bowling 9 overs and Fernandes 3 overs. Bamber had 2 for 82 off 20 overs, but the pick of a steady but mostly unthreatening attack had been Ryan Higgins with 1 for 41 off 20 overs.
Sussex will feel that they had much the better of day one.
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXqU8LXhvZk
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