Seaxe Man's Arrival and Preamble

Arrived 10.30ish. Usual drops of rain: mixture of murk and blue sky. Will we ever get back to back dry days in England ever again?

Play back: yesterday's play was slow and the ball which dismissed Nixon which turned, popped and bounced offered some hope. As it turned out, it was a false dawn but apart from a 35 minute shower: the day was unusually sunny in our current climate.

Seaxe Man's 1st Session

Overnight 184 for 3. Ackerman/Allenby resumed in front of a sparse crowd. Richo opened from PE and Ackerman took first strike. 1st over a maiden. Kartik resumed at NE to Allenby. Removal of one of these two would bring in their less experienced batters: however as the day wore on: that proved to be a pious hope.

After two overs Shaggy took over from Richo at PE to resume the all spin attack. An edge from TSO just went wide of gully: the few false shots played throughout the day continued to elude the field. 200 was posted in the 82nd over. New ball taken in the 83rd. Murts/Richo. This worked straight away as Richo removed Allenby lbw for 10. (203 for 4). This was a brilliant over by Richo who beat the new batter Taylor consistently without reward.

An edge from Ackers off Murts just fell short of the slips. In his next over Richo produced another pearler which kept low. Taylor lbw 3. (209 for 5). Richo on fire. Ackerman finally reached 50 containing 2 fours in the 90th over. A powerful ondrive by Cobb brilliantly fielded by Malan prevented a run. Another snick by Ackers off Murts kept low and passed through the slip cordon. He followed that up with a square drive for 4, taking him to 65. (over 200 runs in two knocks against The Middle)

He (Ackers) again snicked Richo wide of Scott on the legside. No luck for Richo who bowled an excellent new ball spell and deserved more than two wickets. Further bowling changes were made up to lunch with no result. Lunch 259 for 3. Not a bad session for The Middle: 2 wickets for 75 runs. Leics showed little urgency and worryingly, the wickets was looking dead and slow.
 

Seaxe Man's Second Session

The welcome arrival of the sun greeted the afternoon session. The spinners were in tandem once again: with Cobb edging TSO past slip. Kartik gave way to Finn and Cobb played the ball periously close to Joyce at short-leg. A soporific spell by the Leics batters playing maidens had the crowd becoming restive. Some barracking ensued from the Lower Grandstand. This stirred the batters to score a couple of fours by way of a riposte.

Rain then intervened and there was a break until 2.55. After the break, Ackerman reached not the most entertaining hundred, followed by the oppo's 300 in 117th over shortly after. They (Leics) were going at less than 3 an over, so full batting points was not on the menu. Overhauling our score and obtaining a large lead was though: and hope to put The Middle under pressure.

Hylton Ackerman - we'd sooner show you Josh Cobb But We Couldn't Find a Photo

The 100 partnership was achieved in 203 balls between Ackers/Cobb. Malan eventually spelled TSO. Leics 336 for 5 at 130 overs. After Cobb reached his maiden 50 with a four past mid off (Malan). Tea arrived: Leics 349 for 5. 90 runs for no wickets in the session.

Seaxe Man's Third Session

Murts opened the session from NE with Kartik switched to the Pavilion End. Scott's exaggerated appeal for lbw raised a few laughs: but suspect this was frustration at the unresponsive nature of the wicket. Cobb then finished on his backside, avoiding a Dial M bouncer.

Otherwise, the batters were untroubled. A short ball was pulled for 6 by Cobb. Malan was introduced with maybe a hope of buying a wicket, at which point Ackerman reached his 150 ( 266balls, 14 fours, 388mins). The Leics 400 was reached in 876 balls. A massive 6 by Cobb off Malan brought him to 90 and in touch of his maiden ton (note: his second first class match)( plus he is the son of the former Leics player Russell Cobb).

Finn then left the field with a hand injury which the physio initially had tried to put right onfield. Cobb on 97 almost nudged a catch to short midwicket from Malan who then had a strong lbw appeal turned down. Cobb finally reached his his maiden ton with a single to midwicket and then hit a four over Finn at long off. Close 475 for 5. Ackerman 190no Cobb 120no. Session runs 126 for no wickets.

Epilogue; the current stand for the 6th Leics wicket of 266 has already broken the 1946 record against Middlesex. A further 19 runs are required to pass Phil Simmons/P.A.Nixon's all time record of 284 set against Durham in 1996. This I suspect may be the most interesting feature of the fourth day's play for a match which seems to be headed nowhere but for a draw.