A Chance to Find Form

Top Ton

By Ged
June 24 2006

Ged Ladd reports on Day 3 of the Lancky match, which proved to be a better day of cricket than he expected. He reports on the positives and negatives of both sides and describes an amazing catch - taken by the author. The nightmare, the dream, the nightmare
-------------------------------------------------------

I woke up in a sweat - I'd been having a terrible nightmare. In the dream, it was late June and I'd just witnessed Middlesex lose again, gaining only one point from a match. Sixth time out of eight. Relegation loomed. Disoriented, I looked at my clock and realised that it was 5.30 a.m. and still dark outside. How does that happen in June? Reorienting myself, I realised that it was in fact mid April and the season hadn't yet started.

I'd had a nightmare, that was all. A bird started tweeting outside my window. As the sweaty nightmare quickly became a hollow memory, I felt calm and excited for the new season. What a lot to look forward to. And Middlesex should be right up there this season with all the superb players we have.

Suddenly, I heard an alarm in the distance. Was that a burglar alarm or a fire alarm. Honestly, at this time of the morning, some people want to sleep. It got louder. Soon I realised, it wasn't a fire alarm or a burglar alarm, it was my alarm clock. I had woken up. Disoriented again, the light streamed through my window even though it was only 5.00 a.m. It's the 23rd of June and indeed our 6th loss out of 8 matches looms. I might have dreamt the nightmare and dreamt that it was just a dream, but the nightmare is reality.

Only one consolation - I've booked a day's leave and after knocking off a few early-morning hours of work I'll be off to Lord's for the day and the weather looks set for a lovely day. But how much cricket might I get?

Well, I did get a full day of cricket and certainly our boys did decent job of the second innings, more or less batting the equivalent of a whole day second dig. Shame they couldn't do that in the first innings. But this sort of rearguard is at least a chance to find form and I thinks several players took that chance well.



Ged's gets to the cricket
--------------------------------

I arrived 45 minutes after the start (always happens when you try to knock off some work before the game) to find Smith and night watchman Peploe still at the crease. Indeed, you could have turned up 20 minutes before lunch and still seen those two at the crease.

Peploe heaved one to mid on, tempted by the "lesser" bowler Hodge and hoping to get to his 50 in one shot. Good captaincy and immature play in equal measure.

And then the wheels might easily have come off there and then. Cork came back for a short explosive spell before lunch and both Smith and Shah contrived to get theselves out before lunch but failed to do so. One uppish heave into no man's land, the simplest of drops at mid-on (I'd probably have caught it - really - see later in this report!). Then an LBW shout against Shah by Cork which sounded like the Hallelulah Chorus sung solo in a key of C major. Not out said the umpire.

We could easily have been 4 down at lunch after all that but we were only 2 down and the only wicket to fall before lunch was the nightwatchman.


Perambulate and self-immolate
----------------------------------------

A perambulate at lunch - how can you feel anything other than upbeat when you are at Lord's? Could we save this match? Not if we bat like the last 20 minutes but yes, if we bat like the first couple of hours.

Well, after lunch, it looked steady for a few minutes but soon it was more like the 20 minutes before lunch. Smith's heave to mid-on was less explicable than Peploe's, but you cannot really complain too much when a man makes such a decent score.

Shah was caught at bat pad having miss-hit a sweep. A moment of commendation for Sutcliffe fielding there - he had taken a fearsome blow off Smith earlier which sounded awful off his collar and several players clearly feared the worst for him - the physio was halted in his tracks just before the gate. But for the Shah catch the man stayed down and stayed still, which takes some bravery at the best of times, and would not have taken that sharpy any other way in my view.

In critical mode, I'd have to say that some of the wickets that fell after lunch were self-inflicted as players tried to play positively before they were set and while trying to save a game. I agree that players need to play their natural game, but I also believe that really good player's subtly adapt their natural game to the circumstances in 1st class cricket.

I single out Morgan as the worst offender, whose failed premeditated reverse sweep was utterly the wrong choice of shot in the circumstances, even if it came off. He probably doesn't need me to tell him this and I simply hope he learns to convert his considerable talent into 1st class brilliance sooner rather than later. Middlesex needs him to do that. I was also disappointed at a personal level as I hoped to get a proper look at him early in his 1st class career.


Stability at 6 down
-------------------------

Step forward Styris and Nash to steady the ship. When they came together at 6 down it looked like I might be home early and I suspect that the Lancashire management were phoning round the various loved ones instructing them to "put the hot pot on". They didn't count on Styris and Nash. Superb partnership. Styris finding his form again, which could come in very handy as the season goes on. Nash would not be upset to read here that I cannot describe his innings as fluent. It was an old-fashioned back to the wall Nash innings gritting out a difficult situation. It reminded me a little of the best Nash innings I can recall, against a Murali-inspired Kent attack at Lord's two or three years ago. But on this occasion, with Styris fluent, Nash could afford to really just grit it out and so he did.

During this long partnership, one of Styris's fours - a beauty through extra cover, bobbled over the rope and Ged caught it seated in the Mound stand. First time that has ever happened to me - not in terms of being nearest to the ball when it comes over the rope but actually catchable (and caught) where I sit!! A small, silly but memorable thing. It was such a lovely shot above everything else. Styris into the 90s.



It was Cork and the new ball wot done it
-----------------------------------------------------

8 overs into the new ball hope still sprung eternal, but with the 9th over with that Ball Cork removed Nash. Caught sub (at slip) bowled Cork became the fashionable way to get out for a while. Louw was caught low, and soon even Scotty Styris was gone. The big issue was whether we'd survive long enough to make the taking of the extra half-hour impractical. Which we did. Just. The Lancy boys came out with a tiny target to knock off and 2 overs to face . Would have been 10 overs with the last half hour. But they weren't that desperate for a night off in London or a late hot pot in Lancs, so that was that.


Summary
------------

On the critical side for Middlesex second innings, too many players got out playing poor percentage shots while trying to save a match. Positive play in the circumstances, no problem, but it's those poor percentage shots that killed our slim chance. As for the Lanckys, they look a keen outfit. Newby and Smith are clearly not yet the finished article but for their age look like very good propects to me. Cork is a phenomenon - he was a shadow of his former self last time we saw him at Lord's but this time seemed back to his bouncy and aggressive best. Keedy is a good spinner who is unlucky never to have had an England chance.

On the whole, though, a good effort from our boys. Smith and Styris batted with great authority and fluency. Goes without saying that such an effort in the first innings would have turned this almost-certain 1 pointer into a 10 pointer for us. On such timing and performances does relegation or survival lie; at the moment we seem to be going the relegation route. But there's half a season to go and we are more likely to scrape a survival from that than to win this particular match on Day 4.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Contact SportNetwork.net

Run your own site

Advertise on SportNetwork.net

Complain

SportNetwork.net is part of the Durham Associates Group of companies