This is the biggest bore

By Big Harvey
May 12 2012

Thanks to Big Harvey for his report enlivening what turned out to be a dull day of cricket thanks to Notts caution. But there is time to meet old friends, see Andy Strauss back into form and  leave with encouraging vibes about Middlesex in the 1st Division.

I left the house at 6.45am. It transpired that by doing so I avoided my daughter waking up, and consequent nappy changing duties by no more than 5 minutes! Result!!! Would I get to see a result today, I wondered?

 My train journey was uneventful, and I took my place in the top tier at the Radcliffe Road End, surely one of the finest views in cricket. Sitting just a few seats away was a Notts fan named Rowley, who I knew from past England tours. I didn't recognise him at first, but he made himself known and I went over and joined him.

 Notts resumed on 22/3, and after just one delivery it was 22/4 as Finny pinned Wessels LBW. It was so plumb that the umpire's finger was up almost before the ball hit the pad!

 During Finny's next over, Lumb was dropped at second slip by Ollie. It was a sharp chance, but had he held onto it, it really would have been game on. With the score on 29/4, there was a big appeal for a caught behind against Mullaney, once again off Finny. The whole team was up for it, but the finger stayed down.

 Sadly that was to be it as far as excitement went in the morning session. It remained a good batting pitch, so the batsmen looked comfortable most of the time. However they weren't so comfortable that they were able to up the scoring rate very much against some disciplined Middlesex bowling, especially from Finny and Ollie.

Disciplined bowling from HiFi

 The 50 partnership was passed, and with the score on 92/4, Joe Denly came into the attack. Declaration bowling? Probably not, since as Rowley pointed out, we were a little behind on the over rate. How could we be behind on the over rate with a spinner on at one end for almost the entire innings? Whatever the case, there was evidence of some turn for him, just as there was for Ollie at the other end.

 Mullaney's 50 came with a push to the off-side off Denly. Lumb's 50, along with the possibly match-saving 100 partnership came with a cover drive to the boundary off the same bowler. One more run was added before lunch, giving Notts a lead of 247. Such a total would be a big ask, although not an impossible one, and there was to be no sporting lunchtime declaration.

 Lunch 124/4 (a lead of 247).

 Mullaney signalled his intentions on the resumption, creaming Finny's first ball through the covers for 4. Notts were still unable to accelerate to the degree necessary to put pressure on Middlesex though, and Ollie had Lumb (55) caught by Finny at long leg, which was a well-deserved reward for some accurate bowling. 132/5.

 Read (5) was bowled by Finny. 142/6, a lead of 265.

 Franks came to the crease, and a last we had some short-lived fireworks with Ollie being tonked for 6 into the Bridgeford Stand, and Mullaney smashing the next ball off Finny over the top of the same stand, and clean out of the ground! According to Rowley he did the same thing in the first innings.

 As I said though, it was a very short-lived display as Mullaney (73) was pouched by The Ice Man on the cover point boundary off Ollie, prompting what always looked like a rather negative declaration. 174/7, leaving Middlesex with an impossible target of 298 off 51 overs.

 Broad opened the bowling with Gurney. Robbo looked short on confidence, but Straussy looked in absolutely cracking form.

 He survived an LBW shout off Gurney, which looked to me as if it would have missed another set of stumps, and was dropped by Read off Broad in front of 1^st slip when on 26. Other than that he was  largely untroubled.

 Tea came with Middlesex on 48/0 and looking safe. Most of the crowd had already drifted away before the resumption, and hands were shaken at 5pm with the score having progressed to 87/0. Straussy scored an encouraging 43, Robbo a confidence building 39 at a slightly higher strike rate than Straussy, despite a rather scratchy start.

 All in all a pretty dull day from a spectators' point of view, but another encouraging one from a Middlesex perspective. Finny and Ollie both extracted noticeably more from the pitch than their opposite numbers Broad and Swann could manage. Meanwhile although Chris Read took some criticism over what was a negative declaration, given the ease with which Straussy and eventually Robbo played the Notts bowling, he will feel his decision was vindicated.

 Despite the dullness of the day's play it was good to be back at Trent Bridge. It's a fine example of how a ground can develop with modern facilities while still feeling like a cricket ground rather than a “stadium.” Sadly I can't make the Test there this year, so I was glad of this opportunity to renew my acquaintance with this wonderful ground and its friendly supporters.