Story Three Lions on the Shirt? - Match Day: Northamptonshire fight back!!!

[age of the fall]

Nice update as always my friend. Mushy well on his way to a 5-for, lets hope Glamorgan can keep up the scoring. Do your team A favor and never talk about them doing well when they're in the middle

P.S- With shots like that, England selection might be a bit off

 

[saladguy]

Haha you idiot! And then you jinx your team mate! Nah unlucky there lets hope Glamorgan can turn this around (as if).

 

[treva]

Tom Baker sucks!

Glamorgan look set for another below par score...

 

[Highlander999]

GLAMORGAN CHEATED!!! :​

"Oy Crofty!!! Lose some weight and go for those singles when your in to bat."

"How about I come over there and kick your ass, Tom?"

"Ok, I'll have a nice nap before you reach me "

There is nothing more fun than annoying Crofty or "Tubs" as we are beginning to call him, due to his weight. It is his job to be laughed at by us, as the most senior member of the squad, plus it gives us a good time. I wasn't surprised when a helmet came whistling past due to Crofty's right arm.

"Hey lads. Crofty is getting some bowling practice in. Let's all bowl at him."

We then proceeded to throw nearly every single item that could be lifted up, at Crofty, so that after a minute he looked like a tumble dryer full of cricket equipment had exploded all over him He was not best impressed as Cooky ran up, took a photo and announced that it was going on the club website Everyone soon settled down though to watch the final session of the day. Tom started off brilliantly with a fantastic drive off Saqlain which went for 4. It was a good agressive shot and it showed that he was not going to lie down and accept defeat.

However, then it happened....The most stupidest and controversial over in cricket I have ever seen in cricket.

Saqlain was back on and was bowling to Tom. A shortish delivery, Tom got back and kept it out nicely with a straight back. Jokingly, Murtagh appealed at gully and all the Surrey boys started laughing. What wasn't funny was when the umpire slowly raised his finger. The whole ground went silent as everyone just looked at him in stunned amazement.

"He has got to be joking around"

"He must be!"

"Crap guys, he isn't."

Out in the middle Tom was just standing there, looking gob-smacked at the umpire. Ramprakash went over to the umpire and started trying to talk to him, but the umpire shook him off. He signalled to Tom to leave the field. There was nothing he could do. The skip was furious and went running off to the third umpire. It was total rubbish and already people were saying was this a possible bribe? Mistakes happen, but nothing as clear as this. Tom's whole body was outside leg-stump so an LBW was impossible.

There was nothing we could do and the skip returned from the third umpire looking furious. Crofty was now being called on to support Mark at the crease. As he walked past the umpire, he said a few choice words and you could hardly blame him. The ground was in stunned silence. No one could believe what had just happened. Saqlain just had a confused look on his face as he got ready to bowl to Crofty. It was miles outside and he just kicked it away. I looked away and heard the skip curse:

"He is dead!!! :"

The umpire had raised his finger and given Crofty out. No one had even appealed to my knowledge.

Shaun suddenly yelled

"DAVE.....NO!!!!"

The skip was running out towards the exit saying that he was "gonna get" the umpire. Bugger, this was not good. Myself and Shaun set off after him. He was almost on the pitch and shot past a bemused Crofty. The Surrey players saw what was happening, but didn't react. Dave was nearing the umpire who hadn't even noticed what was going on. Thankfully Shaun caught up with him and was able to slow him down and I was able to help drag him away two seconds later.

"I'm gonna f****** kill him!!!! The cheating scum-bag. I am gonna kick the s*** out of him."

"Dave he isn't worth it. Just leave him. Report him to the third umpire and let the proper guys deal with it. Beating him up will only get you banned."

"I don't care, I wanna kick his teeth down his throat.

Myself and Shaun dragged David off the pitch and into the changing room where we were able to calm him down. He had totally lost it, and I was shocked at the way he had reacted. To be honest though, I had no idea what had just gone on, but I knew it was one of the mot controversial moments ever in county cricket.

Myself and Shaun spent the next five minutes with David as he slowly regained control. Eventually we were all able to head back upstairs. On the balcony everyone was in uproar. The coach was phoning people on his mobile, the players were all shouting and even the Surrey coach had turned up and was saying he wanted an investigation. Out in the middle though, Mark set about the business of getting runs. Some Glamorgan fans had started up a very rude song about the umpire which got a cheer from everyone. Everytime Mark hit a boundary they started singing again.

After back to back sixes from Mark, he brought up his half-century :happy Everyone gave a loud cheer for this, it was our token of resistance and it had been a splendid knock in the circumstances. Mark hadn't let the situation affect him and had really coped well with the pressure. A really good knock.

Dizzy had been out there and was giving useful support to Mark and had quickly notched up 17 runs. He eventually perished to an inswinging yorker by Ormond which up-rooted all three stumps which was quite an achievment. Dizzy had done a good job though, and his little partnership with Mark had got us some useful runs. Cooky, though was not able to cope with the spin and guile of Saqlain and edged to Benning at slip, to leave us all out for 263. It was not a bad score as we had been effectively playing with only 8 wickets as two had been cheated off us. Still Saqlain Mushtaq had bowled absolutely amazingly, showing why he is such a big asset to Surrey and why he plays in the ICL.

As everyone came back towards the pavillion, I went over to shake Mark's hand and then congratulated Saqlain on his 6 wickets.

"Thanks but I am not happy I got six wickets in such a way. I would much rather have 4 and have earned them instead of six through poor umpiring."

What could I say? The man is a true gent of the game. Mark was being high-fived by all the team and even Benning and Murtagh came over and congratulated him on a fine knock.

I then realised that I had scored the second highest amount of runs for Glamorgan in that innings That really did put a spring in my step. I should have made more but I had to remember that I had been completely beaten by an international standard spinner with a decade of experience. It certainly did make me feel better. Mark had been the main man of the innings though. His 50* had svaed Glamorgan and given the bowlers something to work with. Myself, Shaun and Jamie had also played useful knocks, but one of us should hve gone on to make a bigger score which was slightly disappointing.

Out of the Surrey bowlers, Saqlain Mushtaq had been the star man. With six wickets to his name and an economy rate of just over 3 an over, he had done a superb performance. His figures had also taken a bit of a pouding from a fired up Mark, so they should have been even better. The Surrey pace bowlers had also done a pretty good job with all three of them keeping it pretty tight and giving good support to Saqlain. The match was poised for a great finale.

I went over once again to speak to Mark. he had just finished chatting to a local reporter about his innings. Mark coudn't believe what had happened out there with the umpire and said that even the Surrey players had been complaining. It really was one of those incidents you had to see, to believe.

There was a bit of time left in the day yet and the umpire (the square-leg umpire I hasten to add) turned up and said there would be a few overs of play available still. This was exactly what we needed as we might be able to get an early breakthrough in this strong Surrey batting line-up. I had noticed that it was beginning to get very overcast and looked like it might rain. Hopefully it would hold off, just long enough. What a day of cricket!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

263 all out thats a poor total by Glamorgan....You all need to bowl really well now....Great update as usual..Saqlain was brillliant so may be spinners may be important..

 

[saladguy]

That shows how crap EA's AI is!

 

[jb the badsign]

fantastic bowling by saqqy (even considering the obviously compromised umpiring)...

although if saqqy had turned the ball square for some reason (hit the rough =P?) the second decision ("crofty's" wicket) may have been a.o.k. given that he hardly offered a shot...

 

[Amiya]

Does the umpire had talked to Steve Bucknor ? I am really sad to see Tom and Glamorgan had been cheated by The rubbish umpire. Go Tom... We are with you... Lol

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Nice one Saqlain .

 

[treva]

Depending on how much it turned, the second one could easily be out. He's not exactly far forward and it aint far away from the off stump. Good to see Glamorgan suffer! The ump will recieve my bribe in a few days time

 

[tonka998]

Is it Darrell Hair umpiring??! *cough* corrupt! *cough* - decent innings though a decent knock from yourself Tom - KUTGW!

 

[Pakistani Army]

Damn umpire! : Should have reviewed the descions

263 is not a good score. You guys are going to have to bowl really well.

 

[jb the badsign]

^ well perhaps they shaped to do better than that initially but given their recent batting performances it's good to see a) the openers make at least a start & b) the middle order finally contributing decent, solid, regular numbers... if the middle order players can post solid scores on the regular all it takes is one long knock to start putting up the serious totals...

regardless of the ultimate outcome there are good signs for the future here =D

not to mention that your plethora of spinners should be encouraged by saqqy's efforts early on the hard track...

keep up the good work- i'm reading =)

 

[mattfb]

Wow, that was a great read I was hooked in the moment. Great to see you still going strong with this Tom. Unlucky about getting cheated on though.

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Brilliant bowling by Saqlain! Really didn't give you much runs. Nice batting by you and Wallace. You guys really need to bowl well now!