Handshakes all round

By Big Harvey
September 27 2014

Big Harvey describes a nervy journey to ground, followed by more nerves in ground in our battle for survival.  Fortunately we have happy ending

Lancashire v Middlesex Day 4 2014

After yesterday's nerve-shredding spectacle, I made my way to my chosen accommodation, rather hurriedly booked a couple of hours before setting out. It was a little way out from the centre, but I had checked that it could be easily reached by public transport.

I caught the tram to Piccadilly, a train from there, and emerged into an area of grim, litter-strewn streets. Now I'm well used to grittiness – my own neighbourhood is not exactly posh – but after a few minutes of walking through these surroundings I was starting to feel distinctly ill at ease.

On finding and checking in to my guest house I was sent down to the basement to find my room. Not an omen, I hoped!

It was ill-ventilated and permeated by an intense aroma of damp and poverty, but after a long day at the cricket, preceded by a 12 hour night shift and a lengthy train journey, I didn't feel like trying to make alternative arrangements. In any case, for £27 per night I wasn't expecting The Ritz.

To get to the game, rather than walk to the nearest station and run the risk (as I saw it) of losing my belongings, I jumped on a Piccadilly-bound bus. It was full downstairs, so I made for the top deck. The view from there was quite an eye-opener as we passed scores of vacant plots where factories must once have stood. They would not have been pretty, I'm sure, but they would have offered the people here a chance to earn a living. Now, like the area's inhabitants, the bare plots lay abandoned and apparently forgotten. The only new buildings seemed to consist of Aldi, Lidl, and other chain shops of the type capable of making profits from people on low income, but offering little or nothing in the way of good jobs. Far from enjoying the economic recovery I keep hearing about, here is an area yet to recover from the early 1980s, let alone anything else.

There were also rubbish dumps by the side of the road. Not scrap yards, actual rubbish dumps! Now rubbish has to be dumped somewhere of course, but densely populated urban areas don't strike me as being the ideal kinds of places to do this.

Fresh from my mini modern day “Road to Wigan Pier” type experience, I arrived at the ground in time to sample the decidedly disappointing catering in the Members' area at Old Trafford. The hot breakfast food options consisted of a bacon roll or going hungry, so I opted for the former.

Play began under gloomy skies with Middlesex on 202/4, a lead of 114. Morgan was on 41, Dex on 4. Last night's early close meant 8 overs still had to be bowled before the new ball became available, almost certainly a blessing for Middlesex.

Chapple opened the bowling with Kerrigan, and Dex - who had taken no fewer than 50 deliveries to get off the mark yesterday - nudged a single off his first of the morning. Bailey replaced Chapple after a couple of overs, and a short ball from him tucked Morgan up, resulting in a half-played hook, which sent the ball high into the air, but thankfully it landed safely in the vacant square leg area.

With the score having progressed to 213/4, and a heavy drizzle falling, Junaid took the new ball, and struck in his 2nd over, trapping Morgan LBW with one that looked to have skidded through low.

Simpson only had to face one ball before the umpires called the teams off for rain. This was quite a surprise, and a blow to Lancashire's hopes. Rain had been forecast for an hour or so before the start of play, but play itself – once started – was not supposed to be interrupted. Interrupted it was though, an early Lunch was taken, and by the time play resumed at 12.40, 14 overs had been lost.

Middlesex still had a great deal of work left to do however, especially when Dex – who had been leaving the ball well all morning inside edged one from Junaid onto his stumps. 222/6 and Lancs were really scenting blood.

TRJ came out positively though. His batting has really come on this season, and his positive approach – resulting in 3 boundaries off a single Junaid over – took some of the wind out of Lancashire's sails. Things were just starting to look good for Middlesex when with the score on 257, Simmo edged one through to Buttler behind the stumps. However, despite getting both gloves on it, the hapless keeper, diving to his left, couldn't hang on.

We barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief though before Simmo did fall, pulling Kerrigan straight to Proctor at mid wicket. 258/7, and still plenty of time left for Lancashire to get the runs if the last three fell cheaply. Buttler's drop had only cost 1 run.

On 267 there was a huge appeal against TRJ from the whole Lancashire team from an innocuous looking delivery from Kerrigan that TRJ left outside off-stump. None of the spectators in the stand I was sitting in at the time could offer any clue what it was about, and neither could any of the members I spoke to afterwards who were watching behind the bowler's arm. The umpires were unimpressed, too.

Kerrigan was getting some turn, one delivery pitching on the stumps and being taken at slip. With the line he was bowling though, the Middlesex batsmen were able to leave him for much of the time. Chapple replaced him and made an immediate breakthrough, with the massive wicket of TRJ, LBW for 34. 277/8, and still time for Lancashire to do it! TRJ left the field to generous applause from the very sporting Lancashire faithful, and deservedly so.

Harris and Murts were able to see things through to Tea though, and with the score on 292/8, a lead of 204, a target of that size, even if the last 2 wickets fell immediately was always going to be a big ask for Lancashire. The sky by now was cloudless though, and if a team was going to chase fast runs, these were the conditions to do it.

Those wickets didn't fall immediately though, and in fact, as it turned out, didn't fall at all! The 300 (lead of 212) came up with just 33 overs potentially left for Lancashire to bowl, and by the time the 50 partnership was brought up (off 137 balls faced) and the score on 329/8, the job was done for Middlesex.

Hands were shaken on and off the pitch at 4.21 with the score on 341/8, with Harris on 41 and Murts 29. A heroic stand which had started with Lancashire still being in with a real chance.

It was in the end a slightly anticlimactic finish to a memorable and palpatation-inducing game that had everyone watching it on the edge of their seats for 4 days. It was played and watched in a superb spirit, and even when they seemed to be in the ascendency there was no nastiness whatsoever from the Lancashire fans, who are among the nicest and friendliest on the circuit. I hope we can meet again in Division 1 the season after next. It really seems a shame that either of these sides has to go down, but I suppose someone has to play Surrey...