Middlesex CCC
Championees. Ollie Ollie Ollie. That Winning Feeling
We know what we are
By Assortment of those following our Champions moment
October 15 2016
We hear from many different viewpoints of emotions building up to that defining moment of Middlesex CCC becoming County Cricket Champions 2016.
We start off with a Somerset perspective. How painful that last day must have been for you and many Grockles. Thank you Mike TA1 for sharing.
MIKE TA1
From a Somerset supporters point of view the last day of the cricket season was a disappointment.
The day started as a three horse race by mid-afternoon it turned into only a two horse race.
I watched the last days cricket in the Stragglers Coffee Bar in the new pavilion at Taunton with like-minded Somerset supporters. The day started with Yorkshire batting slowly, then that agreement between the two team, the joke bowling I could just about understand but the other agreement that Yorkshire would still go for it even when they stood no chance of winning, that agreement practically ruled Somerset out of the race.
With sixty two needed off five overs by Yorkshire and eight wickets down and the batsman swinging the bat at every ball there was only going to one result a Middlesex win.
Middlesex deserved to win the championship more than Yorkshire did so well done to Middlesex.
From Taunton out of their hands.
We spent the best part of the four days with some Yorkshire fans, who were fair minded and gracious in defeat. Respect to you guys.
YORKIE DEAN
Now let me just start this by saying well done on being County Champions 2016. Mr Bairstow being refused to play was unfair
HOBO
I'm struggling to remember much about it, I blame it on that 7.4% cider
HAWKE
The two most impressive aspects of Middlesex's title win are their victory despite having what appeared to be an uninteresting pitch which does not seem conducive to positive results and the splendid support from a relatively small but keen and vociferous band of fans by the Tavern. Real county diehards! It was great to see them appreciated by the team when they brought the trophy over to them.
Middlesex put themselves in contention despite a slow start to the season by a remarkable bowling performance on the last afternoon at Scarborough and an equally impressive run chase against the odds at Taunton. Then it was sealed on what became a last crazy afternoon. Well done!
Then there are those Middlesex die-hards for reasons out of their control who couldn’t attend, but were equally nervous as those in the ground from their remote position
SUSSEX SEAXE
'I had been at Lord's on days 1-3 but foolishly, Mrs Seaxe had long before booked theatre tickets at Chichester for the Friday night! Thus it was that, having watched for most of the day, the car radio was tuned into the game as we headed west.
Conversation was limited as we travelled, ears glued to the radio and my apologies to people on the A 27 for a swerving car and a driver (and passenger) punching the air in deep joy at various intervals.1976 is still the last time I saw victory completed - maybe next year!'
DINGY BAGS
I was actually out of Internet range as the final stages unfolded. The last I knew was that Yorkshire were making a stand and that it looked unlikely. Beefy had been texting but these had stopped, so I feared the worst. I got back to my car and suddenly had an Internet connection but I did not believe what me eyes were telling me. I always knew I would not be able to get to the end of the game - or any bit of it. Why not a Saturday finish as the Yorkshire game did last year? But I had always planned to join the celebration if the things worked out. Got to the Tavern about 8.00 and enjoyed one of the best evenings of my life. It might sound silly but to drink from the CC trophy itself was awesome.
I am still on a high: it keeps hitting me all over again.
Champagne moment
WAY OUT WEST
Not only did I bottle coming to the ground I couldn’t bare to watch the TV and had a load of dried washing in my hands when the cricinfo moment of truth was revealed.
There were many who were privileged to be there. Let's hear their ecstasy
BEEFY
That moment, for a few seconds I just stood looking. Then my emotions took over and I cried my eyes out. Kev came to me, we hugged and both cried. Murts came to us with trophy and I had to touch/hold it. Hugging Ollie as he came to us. I was standing on the seat so not to miss any of the lap of honour. Shaking others by the hand, kissing people. The cry of MIDDLE,MIDDLE, MIDDLE went on for ever as we headed to the Tavern still kissing and hugging!
FOZZIE
Frustratingly, I’d not seen any cricket since June, but I had to get to the final day. And what a day! Tension turned into expectation as wickets started tumbling, and when Toby took the final wicket there was such a huge outburst of relief and emotion – people leaping, shrieking, cheering, hugging, punching the air, with long-time supporters in tears of disbelief. It was lovely, too, when Ollie and Murts ran over to join our celebrations. I just felt so privileged and fortunate to be part of such a historic day. As Alex Ferguson nearly said – cricket, bloody hell!
FREE ENTRY TO LORDS
My emotions after the match was finished and the title was won were, a few emotional minutes whilst still in the Allen Stand (23 years is a very long time,) followed by a bit of a panic to get in to the Lords Tavern - as in not wanting to queue - and then I recall just a huge feeling of relief.... that we'd won it at home, at Lords, on the very last day, against the 'benchmark' side, and that we could all look forward to a good old knees up in de pub!
POSH MARGARET
Had my Yorkshire friend Richard staying (remember I'm from Yorks). He'd already told me that they would come to an agreement to get a result. He saw no harm in it as apparently it happened all the time in the 'old days'. I had never experienced it before and when Yorks began declaration bowling I hated it. I couldn't watch and really began to want Somerset to win. Never thought I would feel like this but was persuaded to stay. So glad I did and the end came so quickly I think we were in shock. Amazed to see two Middlesex Marks in tears. As friends from other counties said we deserved to win it!!!
ROGERS AND OUT
It's midday on Friday 23 September. I'm sitting in my office in Reading with a quandary. Several people including myself and my boss have taken redundancy packages and are soon leaving the company. Tonight is my guv'nor's leaving do. Do I attend that or head for Lord’s?
My 'phone rings. An old mate who introduced me to the joys of following Middlesex over thirty years ago is exhorting me to get to NW8 pronto. Decision made - apologies to boss and off to Lord's. Don't often make the right choice in situations like this, but this time, the bullseye well and truly hit.
240 needed off 40. Sounds generous. Quick start by the Tykes but they lose wickets trying to keep up with the rate and Eski's catch seems a pivotal moment as is the redoubtable Bresnan's departure later on. The end is a blur, with Finny and TR-J flattening the tail, whilst I'm hugging anyone in sight whilst taking care not to knock over anybody's beer.
The aftermath in the Tavern was something that will linger in the memory for many years. It was a pleasure to celebrate with our loyal fans and our terrific players, especially Ollie and Captain Franco. Abu Dhabi in March 2017 anyone?
ONE TIME PINKY
I arrived at Lord's on the Friday morning in a philosophical mood - we were probably third favourites but I was sure we'd give it our all to win, and if not, I would celebrate the team for even getting us so close. As the day wore on, the likely direction of the trophy must have changed at least ten times, with Somerset, us, and then Yorkshire all holding the upper hand. Sat on the top tier of the Pavilion, I don't remember being so tense for every single ball - something that only changed when Toby took the ninth wicket and I realised we were actually going to do it. The atmosphere in the ground on the final day was electric, and the roar (even in the Pav) on that last wicket was like nothing I can remember. What a day, what a season, and what a team. Here's to a few more days like it in the not too far away future.
HARRINGAY RACER
About fifteen years ago a friend of mine fainted as the conclusive penalty was scored/missed (I forget which but it meant we'd won) in a cup final. When Toby plucked out Sidebottom's leg stump I jumped out of my seat with a yell of triumph, both hands punching the air, before feeling very light-headed and realising I needed to sit down. I've never felt anything like it at any sporting event in my life and I suddenly understood my friend's reaction that day.
GED
When that last wicket fell, my single emotion was untrammelled joy. I also got a great deal of pleasure seeing the excitement and delight in the faces of my fellow fans; not only on the day of victory but at the events that followed, culminating in the forum/party. Writing this paragraph nearly three weeks later, my glee has not warn off; I’m hoping it will sustain me through the winter. I feel immensely proud of our club; not simply for winning the County Championship, but by doing so while remaining such a delightful, friendly, genuine and members-oriented club.
PRIMROSE HILLBILLY
"I'd thought we were good enough to win the Championship since turning over Yorkshire last season. That was the first of our sequence of winning from needing snookers. It would also be the 40th year since Brear’s win in ’76, and 40 years of friendship with my best mate.
We just needed consistency, and resolution. Early season draws ok, as same for everyone else. Duffing up Hampshire no more than expected, as they were poor. Then I went out for a major night out with us needing something ridiculous – 124 off 10 or some such, against Somerset, came home, made sure we'd saved the match, and ............the joy, the happiness, and Simmo’s glorious cavorting. Still brings tears to my eyes.
So, we’re locked in, we have to go for it, and believe. Durham 70 – O, Ollie’s ball, 207 all out, we win by plenty. Marvellous.
Yorks. First Day – not good. Second day, not as bad, but they’re ahead. Somerset going like a train –Ok, if they win, and can’t be us, couldn’t happen to nicer blokes, but .............
I just never gave up believing we would do it.
Being gripped by that compulsion to get to HQ as fast as I could 3rd day; that horrid tension as the game within the game played out. Transferring to sit among kindred spirits after lunch helped. Telling others we needed to bat to put Yorkshire back under pressure again, and set them whatever in 15 overs and turn the screw back on them, then game on ..... Yeah, I still believed
We are 2 – 2. Ok, it’s only a game. Life may go on afterwards. Kev switches from red wine to cider, doesn’t help his pessimism. He suggests hijacking the Sky helicopter, down to Taunton to dig up the road and write “George Davis is NOT innocent” on it.
Mala and Gubbo bat so calmly. The filth is served and hammered. Game on. Kev thinks we still won’t do it. Beefy with me, quietly determined.
Eskie makes a great-skied catch over his left shoulder, Yorkie run rate creeps up. Toby steams in, the best sight in the world. “Fast and Straight, Tobes”
“Oh, God! We’ve done it! Oh, thank God, what a relief to know I was right to trust those wonderful blokes". Hug everybody. What a relief. Want to cry, but can’t for joy.
No hangover the next day. Why? "
BARMY KEV
That last day I didn’t expect us to win. I recall the day before cheering when Yorkie reached 350 and saying to Beefy this could be our savior. He thought I was mad.
When the joke bowling happened while most were complaining I was pleased because the game that looked dead , soon winning the Championship might be on. I thought Yorkshire would reach target but we have a 40 % chance. When 7 overs left 4 wickets needed, I couldn’t see it happening, and with run rate over 10 an over the title was at Taunton. What followed was too quick to take in. I had no idea TRJ scored a hat trick. We are Champions! I was hugging everybody in my vicinity including Hobo and Yorkie Dean who took it well. Then there was the Beefy hug, both of us in tears of joy. I had a moment to myself head in hands thinking of my late father Martin Ziants who introduced me to Middlesex CCC. I left that zone and I saw the players running in the direction of the Lower Tav. I just run towards them and will never forget Ollie embracing me.
The MCC restricting numbers in Tavern could not curtail our enjoyment. While in queue Beefy bought a bottle of champagne that went down very well, while waiting. It was raucous in the Tavern , but shame more couldn’t be there.
Saturday I had the “Sweetest Hangover.” Even now I look back and still on a high of that special day. In sporting terms it does not get much better.
I'm over here Ollie
And finally we hear from a player The Complete Package
OLLIE RAYNER
That winning feeling!
What a season, since we gained promotion in 2011, the club has been going from strength to strength, this year has capped off something that I feel we have been on the verge of achieving for the last 5 years I've been at the club.
The emotions that I felt during that last week were emotions I'd felt before but not all at once and as intense! Why couldn't we just have beaten Lancs the week before, why did it rain at Warwickshire, how have Somerset got away with their pitch!! But looking back, you couldn't have written the script any better if you tried, to win in the last hour of the last day of the season at Lord’s in front of all you nutters who'd trekked around the country wind, rain or shine with a hat trick no less was the most amazing end to a hard grafted, gruelling season of championship cricket I've ever and may ever be a part of!
The celebrations after in the Tav was one for the record books also!
That winning championship feeling
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:11:15:11:03:20 by BarmierKev.
For everyone to take their time to relive that final hour or so is imense.
Makes great reading....well done everyone.
And,to get our Ollie to add his views is a coup that even the press hadn't got đ
Leaving the best to last..OLLIE,OLLIE đđđ
What a top man.
Long may he prosper, and errrr..... Rayner over us.
The conclusion of the match went very quickly, which is why I would love to see footage of it in real time. It would be nice if a DVD of the match or the season as a whole is released. I would like to see the final day in full, which I would like to think wouldnât be impossible considering Middlesex sold a ball-by-ball DVD of the semi-final and final when we won the Twenty20 Cup in 2008.
At the start of the 36th over, Yorkshire needed 62 off 30 with two wickets remaining with Andrew Hodd on strike, but when he was out to the first ball of the over, I was very confident we would win one way or another, as I anticipated Jack Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom would try to get the runs due to the fact that was the only way they could win the title, while I also anticipated they would create wicket-taking opportunities in their pursuit of runs. Indeed, when Hodd was out, my exact words to Lower Mound were âtheyâve got to go for itâ. Of course, Sidebottom only lasted one ball! When that happened, I jumped up and down and applauded. Lower Mound then decided we should go to the front of the Mound stand in anticipation of a better view, although it didnât greatly enhance my experience, and I donât think the stewards were too pleased that we were blocking the disabled area. At least it enabled me to shake Nick Comptonâs hand. It was not until I arrived home that I realised Toby Roland-Jones had taken a hat-trick.
Had Middlesex not won the title, then I would have preferred Somerset to have won compared to Yorkshire due to the Middlesex and Somerset having several players in common and both being on Sportnetwork, and this gave me extra motivation to hope that in the event that it looked like we couldnât win, then we could at least hold up Yorkshire by trying to deny them victory and/or bonus points. Therefore, I was hoping Yorkshire would fail to achieve seven bonus points, as that would have made it official that either Middlesex or Somerset would be champions. Considering we were five wickets down after 92.1 overs and seven down after 104 overs, while Yorkshire were 53-4 and then 334-9, they shouldnât have got anywhere near seven bonus points!
Of course, a strong argument has been made that it worked to our advantage that Yorkshire kept themselves in the match. However, I still feel that we could have by way of normal cricket as opposed to through Yorkshire staying in the match. In other words, had we bowled Yorkshire out cheaply in their first innings, then we would have been in a commanding position in the match and could have won by reinforcing that position against a side whose spirits would have been very low due to the fact they could no longer win the title.
I know that plenty of outsiders are bitter about us winning the title due to the fact Yorkshire couldnât select their best XI, while the agreement between James Franklin and Andrew Gale meant that Somersetâs chances of winning suddenly dropped. However, I donât feel particularly guilty, as we entered the match unbeaten and having spent about two months at or near the top of the table, so it is not like we played 15 matches of indifferent cricket but ended up winning the title due to everything falling into place in the final match. If anything, a Somerset win would have been a bit undeserved, as they didnât enter the title race until late, and they got away with preparing the type of pitches for which I am sure other counties have been penalised. As it happens, I like seeing spinners prosper, and I prefer matches where lots of wickets fall compared to high-scoring matches, although rules are rules. Also, I was jealous that Somerset got to play their home matches on result pitches, unlike us!
OK, back home, lying on bed, radio on. Behind the rate, good, as they'll carry on going for it; Tim Bresnan had said as much the previous evening. And with Willey gone they had no real sloggers. Bresnan goes, extreme tension takes over, which tends to increase the frequency of calls of nature (*)! Somehow I managed not to miss a wicket as it went from "we might do this" to "we've done it"! in a matter of minutes! Punching the air and so on. No alcohol though (not well) and back to normality on the nature call front. And a big smile which still hasn't worn off, except when watching the England football team.
Then all the paradoxes of the game started occurring to me. How what we wanted to happen (Compo holding his catches, 349 all out please) could have been fatal. How Yorkshire batting on and then having us 2-2 forced us to bat in a way that required an agreement which in effect we could control. Would there have been any agreement if Somerset's match had been in the balance mid-afternoon, day 4? Would Bairstow and Rashid have contributed more than Hood and Rafiq?
If we hadn't won, who would I have preferred? Yorkshire, to be honest, because of the pitch issues which Sir Ollie hints at, but by the end I really don't think I would have minded either way.
And finally, I thought of Tim Bresnan. What a performance, and he ended up on the "not winning" side - I'm not sure the word "losing" is really appropriate in the situation that arose.
Adelaide
(*) The Rugby World Cup final extra time was the worst, with no breaks in play. Older viewers may remember a drunken Peter Cook (is that a tautology) claiming he had missed all nine goals when Spurs tonked Bristol Rovers years back for a similar reason! I had some Bristol colleagues who arrived when Spurs were already three up. I told them they were unlucky - the ninth goal was definitely offside.
The party atmosphere in the Tavern was something else,watching sky sports news and cheering the wickets over and over.
Heading in,we found Janet,Margaret,Johnny Newman,Tony and Paul,the evening was just priceless.
Singing,dancing and then it happened....in came the team to constant cheers.
At one point,going to leave to head home,then 'sod it' staying put!
Having the trophy handed to us to hold,cuddle,kiss and then Dingy said to me...Got any champagne left?....it was poured into the trophy and drank from the chalice.
We gave trophy back (reluctantly!) and there was a bit of champers left in it,Ollie got soaked in it...sorry bud,was my fault..lol
Whole can forget the song of..'Have you ever seen (insert name) drink a pint?' And down it went rather rapidly.
Sitting here remembering that fantastic night and still smiling.
The joy,the pure utter joy.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:10:16:12:07:56 by BeefyRoberts.
A great day, in fact as were all four, to live long in the memory.
The two final balls from TRJ certainly will.
Day 4 at Scarbados was not to be sniffed at either, as TRJ and Murts took the Tykes bowling to task in 14 overs.
Leading to an innings victory. Very important in the final equation.
The Hole in the Wall was an interesting evening as well.
I don't think I've enjoyed cobbling an article together more than this one
Barmy Kev
I'm only here for the tele
As we got to the "Have you ever seen (insert name) down a pint?" part of the evening (Marvellous!!!) we have, I am afraid, a stewards' enquiry that I will be hosting later this month at The Globe, or somewhere prepared to serve us in Marylebone.
As we stand, in response to the question "Have you ever seen Ravi down a pint?", I am afraid the answer is "Still No". He took about 9 seconds (Winning time : Gubbo in about 3.5) to get two thirds down his glass, and couldn't finish the course.
I can only suggest further training in the right environment.
A video proving (or not) our players can sing!
And some pictures showing that the Cup was truly shared around that day (though not with champagne)
Well done all,I'm sure Ollie will give us a report of the afternoon (hint,hint!)
"Christ, another foreigner. You'll be saying you want to play for England next. When you appeal do you say " - Vas is das?"? Some of my wife's relatives are also German. Do you know the Saxe - Coburg Gotha's, by any chance?
JW,can you do the honours please?
Still looks wonderful, particularly Simmo's Taunton dance of utter jubilation.
There are some still @#$%& and moaning out there. Well, we beat them away, and we did Somerset away too, so ........go figure. What would you have done in similar circumstances - welll, get yourself in those similar circumstances first, and then we'll sees.
You know who you are, and by the way, "We Know What We Are, we know what we are ...........
I still think Hobbo and Dean fronted up utterly brilliantly on that final day. Wonderful blokes. It cannot have been easy for them sitting with us, but they did and were great.
Sadly,with my pc in the rubbish bin,I can't do the link.
Could someone put the link up please?
Quote:BeefyRoberts
On the Middlesex twitter feed today,is a great article/interview on TRJ.
Sadly,with my pc in the rubbish bin,I can't do the link.
Could someone put the link up please?
Just picked it up, retweetwed by Kevin Hand, Beefy - duly posted.
