Yorkshire vs Northamptonshire - till conclusion
Day 2, last session
Lee changes his line from leg to off, with succes as he bowls Peters and leaves Northants on 67/1
But
at stumps they reach
111/1 Jacobs 34* Klusener 24*
Day 3
White tricks Klusener into an lbw for 34, 144/2
From now on it gets tough on our bowlers. They run out of steam fast and we have to rotate them more often as the runs pile up.
At
lunch Northamptonshire sits comfortably on
242/2, Jacobs 2 runs short of a century and Afzaal one run away from a half-century.
Gough ends this lethal partnership, Afzaal lbw for 64, 266/3
White ensures that Sales' visit to the pitch is a short one, bowled for 2, 273/4
And then the runs start flying around our ears again.
Northants go into tea 375/4.
At last we get rid of Jacobs who racked up 158, c Lee b White, 390/5
Conditions seem to favor the slower bowlers more, and as the pitch appears to get worn out we send in the (part-time) spinners.
Graeme Hick pulls a trick out of his sleeve to confuse O'Brien who lobs the ball to Solanki for 11, 444/6
Another victim to spin is Crook, b Eskandarian and that's a big fish as Crook amassed a disturbing 105 448/7
Reed is run out shortly after for a duck, 448/8 and we hope to wrap it up fast.
Tough rearguard action assures Northants to end the day on
495/8 at which point they declare. With one day remaining and not many runs difference we're bound for another draw. Jeez I wished these county matches would be played in the 5 day format...
Anyway we take up our bats on the morning of
Day 4 to get a bunch of runs on the board.
Pyrah goes for 33,
Lunchtime score 97/1
I join Yannim (Eskandarian) who is batting with ease this day.
Once again I fail to get a half-century as the balls skids into the wicket keepers gloves, 45
At teatime we're 196/3
No luck for Graeme Hick in the county championship, he's bowled for 2.
213/4
Solanki 58* and Eskandarian 143* take us to
stumps with
320/4
Our batting can stand up to strong opposition but we're failing in the bowling department. Our main bowlers need a rest, but with this hectic schedule
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From the plate to the pitch
Baseball and cricket, both sports with a common ancestry but an entirely different approach and appeal.
While we Americans eagerly look forward to spend an evening at a Yankees or Cardinals game our British counterparts happily take 4 days out to watch the exploits of their favorite county team.
But the noble game also features a fast paced action-packed variant called twenty-twenty which may appeal to the American expats.
And there may be as well another reason.
Yorkshire -pronounced Yorksher- county, a team struggling to make ends meet last year has been staying afloat thanks to the financial input of software company TexTech. American involvement didn't end there cuz in their ranks is a US cricketeer.
Houston based Yannim Eskandarian -son of Armenian immigrants- attempted the risky transition from baseball to cricket, and passed with flying colors. He frequently scores important runs for his team.
ESPN will be featuring him and his team in a 30 minute special on cricket this coming sunday.
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