A Day in Sun. If Only

By Big Harvey
April 10 2014

Big Harv reports after rain delays day 2, train delays on day 3 and our batting going completely off the rails for final day.

I arrived late for the start of play yesterday after a traumatic train journey from Bristol in which I made the mistake of trying to go via London in the rush hour. My train into London was 10 minutes late after being caught up in congestion on the approach to Reading, and I was greeted by chaos at Paddington, with the main part of the Underground station closed due to overcrowding. I therefore headed for the Hammersmith and City Line platforms, which were also very crowded, but I managed to squeeze onto the second train that arrived, changing onto the Circle Line to Victoria at Edgware Road. Victoria Station turned out to be no better, with not one but two failed trains in the Balham area causing havoc.

I took the opportunity to grab a coffee at the Café Nero Express kiosk. I needed something to wash down my morning meds. Normally coffee is not a good thing to use to wash down meds because sensitive drugs could be affected by heat, but in my experience this is rarely a problem with Café Nero's coffee. Perhaps the cardboard insulating ring they put around their cups is there to preserve what few minute traces of warmth there might be if you're lucky enough!

My train finally got away 30 minutes late, but after crawling and finally grinding to a halt on the approach to Clapham Junction, ths became almost an hour. Apparently this was a result of congestion caused by late running services and yet another failed train, this time at Clapham Junction itself. 45 minutes of play had been missed by the time I made it to the ground.

This is a Day 4 report though, and there were no such issues when it came to getting to the ground this morning. I was given a lift by my friend and Sussex member Woody, who put me up overnight again, fed me his legendary home made curries and authentic tandoori chicken along with lashings of home brewed ale, followed this morning by a breakfast of scrambled eggs and delicious home-smoked salmon. No, this morning there was to be nothing traumatic - at least until play got under way!

Middlesex resumed on 57/1 with Rogers on 27 and Malan on 21. Both had played well as the light faded yesterday evening and with the weather cloudless, bright, fresh, and perfect for batting, Middlesex fans were optimistic that this was a game that could be saved.

The day started well enough. The accurate Magoffin bowling from the Sea End was handled very well. Lewis at the other end took longer for his radar to warm up, and conceded a couple of leg side boundaries, one as byes, the other to a leg glance from Chris Rogers, the like of which the man reputed to be the original pioneer of the shot, K.S. Ranjitsinhji must have exhibited on this very ground on countless occasions in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Malan played glorious cover drives to the boundary off both bowlers. Both batsmen looked to be handling things with relative ease. The pitch, although still offering pace, was not showing any sign of demons and the bounce remained true. My Sussex supporting friend even suggested it might be “turning into a road.” In such glorious weather for watching cricket I wouldn't have minded if that was the case, but road or no road, Anyon's introduction at the Sea End brought Sussex the breakthrough they wanted in the form of the wicket of Chris Rogers (41), caught behind by Ben Brown. 89/2.

Dexter came to the crease and looked confident, on-driving Anyon for 4, and hinting that he would carry on the job Rogers had started so well. However Lewis at the other end had been quietly finding his line and length. Dexter (5) edged him straight to Joyce at 3^rd slip, and all of a sudden things were looking a whole lot less comfortable. 96/3.

 They were very quickly looking downright uncomfortable when Morgan (2) was given out caught behind off Anyon. I didn't hear any noise, and not one of the Sussex members around me claimed to have done. Morgan didn't look happy, but it was 99/4.

Malan (36), who had looked in such graceful command when partnering his captain but now seemed shell-shocked was next to fall, snapped up by Yardy at 2^nd slip off Lewis. 103/5.

Rossington (4) joined the procession in the next over, trapped LBW by Anyon with no further runs added. 103/6, and incredibly, despite seemingly ideal weather conditions for batting and a pitch that still contained no demons the game now looked odds-on to be over before Lunch!

Magoffin replaced Lewis at the Cromwell Road End and was in no mood to offer Middlesex any respite or give the spectators the pleasant few hours watching cricket in the sun they must have been expecting when they arrived this morning. His first victim of the morning was Simpson (5), snapped up by Yardy at 2^nd slip, and TRJ (0) followed first ball, completely beaten for pace, middle and off stumps sent into orbit. 113/8.

Another wicket more scribbling

Harris (10) was Magoffin's next victim, off-stump sent cartwheeling with zero foot movement from the batsman. 122/9 and Middlesex had lost 8 wickets for just 33 runs!

Denied an afternoon in the sun

Finn came in and played a cameo of tail-ender strokes, including a 6 high over the mid wicket off Magoffin. He should have been taken on the Third Man boundary by Lewis off Anyon, but the fielder withdrew at the last second, dazzled by the sun, and the ball made it over the boundary first bounce for 4. It mattered not for Sussex though, as Finn's and Middlesex's lease was comprehensively terminated in Magoffin's next over, the stumps once again being demolished. He'd made 26, Murtagh was the not out batsman on 6, and Middlesex's humiliation was complete. 154 all out and defeat by an innings and 127 runs. It was a bad toss for Middlesex to lose for sure, but defeats of that magnitude cannot be explained by the toss.

Sussex fans are predicting a good season for their team and after that performance, who's to argue? There is a slight question mark over their spin options if the summer turns out to be dry, but members tell me the coaching staff are confident that experienced journeyman Ashar Zaidi who they discovered playing in the Lancashire League has what it takes.

Middlesex on the other hand have a lot of bouncing back to do, and we will have to play much better in order for this season to be anywhere near successful. Let's not jump to too many conclusions from one defeat against what looked to be a very useful side though.

The gloomy mood of Middlesex fans was at least slightly lifted by news of the even more spectacular collapse in the Second Division match at The Gasworks. I did briefly consider heading there to watch (and loudly cheer on) the end of Glamorgan's run chase on the way home, but opted to be back home in time to read my daughter her bedtime story instead.