PlanetCricket
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- Joined
- Jan 13, 2010
On Friday, I went to see day 2 of the County Championship match between Sussex and Surrey. I can’t fit the LVCC in often to my schedule with school and such, and during the holidays, I try and take a rest day at some point. Below lie the words which I wrote on a piece of paper (read: receipt) that I took to the ground with me (read: found in my wallet whilst paying for the train). We’ll look at how the day shows county cricket in its good and bad lights at the end of the day, and at just how large my receipt was.
11:00 ? Good start. Nel bowled by Rana for 1, first ball of the day.
11:01 ? Better start. RIA (Iftikhar Anjum) LBW to Rana for 0, second ball of the day.
11:15 ? Innings over. Schofield LBW to RMJ (Martin-Jenkins) for 46.
11:27 ? Nel maiden to start (I shouldn?t have noted this, they became plentiful)
11:35 ? Never comfortable when Nel?s bowling. Nash LBW for 1. █1/1.
12:00 ? 3/1. 2 runs in 25 minutes.
12:01 ? 2 more. Gatting to 4, Yardy still on 0.
12:16 ? First 4 of the day, beautiful pull.
12:40 ? 11 off an RIA over. Nel out of attack.
12:50 ? Gatting c.Someone b.RIA for 15. Stupid shot.
1:02 ? Lunch, 29/2 off 23 overs. Boring. Take away the over that went for 11 and that?s under 1 an over.
Murray Goodwin attempts a shot. For once.
1:45 ? First over for Nel after lunch. 13 off it. Nel swears loudly, provoking horrified reactions from the crowd.
2:51 ? Scoring rate better after lunch, over 2 rpo for innings.
3:05 ? 100 up, what were they doing before lunch?
3:11 ? Goodwin to 50.
3:20 ? Going nicely, 100 partnership.
3:41 ? Goodwin gone for 74 over before tea. 143/3
3:42 ? It wasn?t the last over before tea because of a slow over rate.
3:50 ? Yardy to 50 off 157 balls.
4:25 ? After tea; Wright lays into RIA.
4:45 ? Yardy LBW to Schofield for 68. 191/4, 24 overs left.
4:50 ? Wright brings up 200 with a 4.
5:10 ? Wright to 50 in 58 balls.
5:25 ? Wright mistimes pull to Schofield off RIA, out for 63.
5:35 ? Getting very cold now; █will write infrequently. Plus I’m running out of receipt.
6:10 ? Hodd bowled Dernbach for 7.
6:20 ? Thornely bowled Dernbach for 32.
So, how does this have anything to do with the championship as a whole? Well, it shows how boring the championship can sometimes become, in the period leading up to lunch from the start of the sussex innings, 29 runs were scored in 23 overs, 18 in 22 if you ignore the highest scoring over. The problem was that the bowlers generally failed to trouble the batsmen. Nel and Iftikhar Anjum are international quality bowlers, and the amount of times they allowed Yardy especially to leave was pretty poor, even if they were bowling a good line and length. You can see why people get disillusioned by the championship.
It also shows how good the championship can be. 2 wickets in the first two balls of the day, and the excitement in the crowd was such that the man sitting next to me (6 or 7 seats away, but the crowd was sparse in my favourite part of the ground, almost square of the wicket) was so excited he had to ring (presumably his wife) to tell her the good news. Other good moments were enjoyed when Luke Wright came in and started lashing the ball around the ground and when Yardy hit a towering 6 after a long period without boundaries.
The County Championship forms the backbone of modern English cricket, and even if T20 takes over (personally I find it good, but think they’re killing it, however, that’s another story) there will always be a place for the county championship in the English schedule, even if, as it has been suggested, it is split into three conferences. Personally, I don’t like regional conferences in anything, so if divisions 1, 2 and 3 are in force next season, I would welcome that change.
At least the clubs are thriving. Sussex can even afford to demolish the old Gilligan stand and provide the business members with better hospitality. Who says the ordinary man in the street doesn’t get anything out of the county championship!
The new hospitality area at Hove, taken on my phone.
More...
11:00 ? Good start. Nel bowled by Rana for 1, first ball of the day.
11:01 ? Better start. RIA (Iftikhar Anjum) LBW to Rana for 0, second ball of the day.
11:15 ? Innings over. Schofield LBW to RMJ (Martin-Jenkins) for 46.
11:27 ? Nel maiden to start (I shouldn?t have noted this, they became plentiful)
11:35 ? Never comfortable when Nel?s bowling. Nash LBW for 1. █1/1.
12:00 ? 3/1. 2 runs in 25 minutes.
12:01 ? 2 more. Gatting to 4, Yardy still on 0.
12:16 ? First 4 of the day, beautiful pull.
12:40 ? 11 off an RIA over. Nel out of attack.
12:50 ? Gatting c.Someone b.RIA for 15. Stupid shot.
1:02 ? Lunch, 29/2 off 23 overs. Boring. Take away the over that went for 11 and that?s under 1 an over.
Murray Goodwin attempts a shot. For once.1:45 ? First over for Nel after lunch. 13 off it. Nel swears loudly, provoking horrified reactions from the crowd.
2:51 ? Scoring rate better after lunch, over 2 rpo for innings.
3:05 ? 100 up, what were they doing before lunch?
3:11 ? Goodwin to 50.
3:20 ? Going nicely, 100 partnership.
3:41 ? Goodwin gone for 74 over before tea. 143/3
3:42 ? It wasn?t the last over before tea because of a slow over rate.
3:50 ? Yardy to 50 off 157 balls.
4:25 ? After tea; Wright lays into RIA.
4:45 ? Yardy LBW to Schofield for 68. 191/4, 24 overs left.
4:50 ? Wright brings up 200 with a 4.
5:10 ? Wright to 50 in 58 balls.
5:25 ? Wright mistimes pull to Schofield off RIA, out for 63.
5:35 ? Getting very cold now; █will write infrequently. Plus I’m running out of receipt.
6:10 ? Hodd bowled Dernbach for 7.
6:20 ? Thornely bowled Dernbach for 32.
So, how does this have anything to do with the championship as a whole? Well, it shows how boring the championship can sometimes become, in the period leading up to lunch from the start of the sussex innings, 29 runs were scored in 23 overs, 18 in 22 if you ignore the highest scoring over. The problem was that the bowlers generally failed to trouble the batsmen. Nel and Iftikhar Anjum are international quality bowlers, and the amount of times they allowed Yardy especially to leave was pretty poor, even if they were bowling a good line and length. You can see why people get disillusioned by the championship.
It also shows how good the championship can be. 2 wickets in the first two balls of the day, and the excitement in the crowd was such that the man sitting next to me (6 or 7 seats away, but the crowd was sparse in my favourite part of the ground, almost square of the wicket) was so excited he had to ring (presumably his wife) to tell her the good news. Other good moments were enjoyed when Luke Wright came in and started lashing the ball around the ground and when Yardy hit a towering 6 after a long period without boundaries.
The County Championship forms the backbone of modern English cricket, and even if T20 takes over (personally I find it good, but think they’re killing it, however, that’s another story) there will always be a place for the county championship in the English schedule, even if, as it has been suggested, it is split into three conferences. Personally, I don’t like regional conferences in anything, so if divisions 1, 2 and 3 are in force next season, I would welcome that change.
At least the clubs are thriving. Sussex can even afford to demolish the old Gilligan stand and provide the business members with better hospitality. Who says the ordinary man in the street doesn’t get anything out of the county championship!
The new hospitality area at Hove, taken on my phone.More...
