Century Malan

By Haringay Racer
May 21 2017

Haringay Racer reports on a good for us with the familar over rate problem but not effecting us.   This is the most detail you will read anywhere on day 2's play. 

Arriving home on Friday evening after a horribly delayed journey thanks to a fire alert that shut down the Piccadilly Line I was greeted by a message from Kev pleading for my service as a substitute match reporter. With my resistance, still low due to the travel problems I agreed, so you’re stuck with my thoughts. 

The original reporter pulled out because of what he (or is it she? Kev was scrupulously fair in preserving anonymity) considered the weather forecast too dodgy to justify a longish journey. At the time the Met Office was suggesting a clear run to around mid-afternoon followed by showers for the rest of the day. Reasonable for someone travelling from Southgate, less so if travelling from further afield so I fully understand the reasons. A check of the forecast on Saturday morning suggested that the showers might arrive earlier but there still seemed to be a good chance of a reasonable amount of play. Or of one of those days where another shower arrives just as play is due to resume and we spend the entire day doing nothing.

The day started badly when I arrived at Lord’s and realised I’d taken the binoculars out of my bag to try to identify a small bird flitting around the trees outside my window. By the time I’d fetched them the bird had moved on so I was none the wiser and by the time I’d finished making sandwiches I’d forgotten the binoculars were no longer in the bag.

Surrey resumed at a promising 265 for 5, with Sangakkara on 113 and Sam Curran yet to get off the mark. It goes without saying (but I’ll say it anyway) that Middlesex needed early wickets while Surrey would be looking to build a huge total. If the early wickets could be taken before the new ball became available in eight overs’ time that would be even better.

The game began with a strong breeze that would hopefully ensure that any showers that hit Lord’s would move on quickly. Finn and Franklin opened and in Finn’s first over Curran had to dive to avoid a possible run out, the throw narrowly missing the wicket. Then from the final ball of Franklin’s first over Sangakkara played a cut and was brilliantly caught by a diving Rayner, one-handed just above the ground at gully having added just a single to his score. Just the start Middlesex wanted and things got even better in Franklin’s next over. First Tom Curran narrowly avoided being run out, then next ball Sam edged to second slip where the catch was taken by (who else?) Ollie Rayner giving Franklin his fourth wicket. And to think several MTWD regulars wanted to drop Franklin.

Both overnight batsmen out with the new ball still 4 overs away. Surely the tail would make a nuisance of itself as always seems to happen when we look to be on top? But no. Roland-Jones and Helm took the new ball immediately. At the start of Rojo’s second over there was a delay while Tom Curran demand the removal of spectators from the front row of the pavilion (where they’d been quite happily sitting with no problems up to that point). It didn’t do him any good, though, as in the same over he could only fend a lifter straight to Ollie who took his fourth catch (two blinders, two routine at least by his standards) of the innings.

While all this was going on some nasty-looking clouds were passing behind the Grandstand. It looked as if someone was going to get a soaking; fortunately we only caught a few spots which were not enough to interrupt proceedings. Gareth Batty hit a few lusty blows before a skier over mid-on was excellently held by Finn, over his shoulder, running towards the boundary. Meaker followed shortly afterwards caught (again brilliantly) by Eskinazi diving at backward point off, both wickets falling to Helm and giving him figures that more closely resembled what he deserved. I can’t help feeling that the last two catches were wasted on tail-enders.

Surrey were all out for 313, the final five wickets falling for 51 runs in around 75 minutes. That left a tricky 35 minutes for Compton and Gubbins to negotiate before lunch. The innings began with a classic for aficionados of the Lord’s scoreboard. Tom Curran opened the bowling, Nick Compton was denied a boundary off the first ball by an excellent piece of fielding but ran two. The scoreboard only gave him one and put Gubbins on strike for the next two balls. It then decided that the bowler was in fact Footitt so for a brief period until order was restored it was showing a left-arm bowler bowling to a left-handed batsman when even a cursory glance at the middle would have shown that both were right-handers. Sam Curran took the new ball at the other end and between them the brothers caused the batsmen a few problems but they survived to lunch, which was taken a couple of minutes early due to a shower that was sharp enough to delay the resumption by fifteen minutes.

First ball after the resumption saw Gubbins given lbw to Sam Curran for 17 (20 for 1). Gubbins looked astonished at the decision and I also thought the ball looked to be going well down the leg side – several appeals before lunch looked a lot closer to me but were given not out. Shower clouds were building up again and there was a very brief shower that stopped before the umpires had time to make a decision to go off. However another shower led to a break of around 8 minutes, then another shower soon after the resumption saw the players start to leave the field but turn round as it stopped before the hover cover had even reached the middle.

Mark Footitt had replaced Sam Curran. I’d forgotten just how slingy his action is -think Mitchell Johnson. When he gets it right he is very quick and he soon beat Compton for pace just catching the outside edge to give wicketkeeper Foakes a simple catch. That was 50 for two and another wicket could put Surrey in a very good position. Eskinazi and Malan had other ideas, however, and steadily built the score (although Eskinazi had a life when dropped by Borthwick, diving at second slip, the sort of catch we’re used to seeing Ollie take but far from easy) and there were one or two false shots and plays-and-misses. The hundred came up in the 30^th over, Eskinazi reached 50 soon afterwards and tea was reached at 129 for 2 with 45 overs still to be bowled (the extra 8 overs in respect of yesterday’s interruptions meaning tea was fixed at 3:55, rather than being fixed in terms of overs). Eskinazi was on 56, Malan on 34.

The pair continued in the same vein after tea bringing the 150 up in the 39^th over before Eskinazi was dismissed by Footitt for 67 in a carbon copy of Compton’s wicket, a fast ball angled across him and taking the edge. By now Surrey’s over rate had fallen to minus 3, despite several overs from Batty  - so it’s not just us.

Voges came and went quickly for 9, slashing a widish ball from Meaker head high to Borthwick at second slip who made no mistake this time, and Simpson could have been out several times before being given lbw to Footitt for 11 (although as with Gubbins he looked far less out than on previous appeals that were turned down by umpire Burns). 204 for 5 and Surrey very much in the hunt. A bit of light relief during this period came when a pigeon landed on the pitch just as Batty reached his delivery stride. Batty only just avoided receiving umpire Peter Hartley’s outstretched arm in his midriff.

That brought in Franklin who got off the mark with a cut past gully for four and proceeded to advance to 38 almost wholly in boundaries in the manner I have previously described as ‘typically languid’. Indeed, I was just remarking on this and saying how even Franklin’s sixes are things of grace rather than brutality when he launched Borthwick for two of the most brutal sixes over cow corner you could wish to see off successive balls. He followed that up with a four that bounced twice, all three shots clearing the longest boundary on the ground in the same five yards or so. The first six took Franklin to 44 in stand of 54, the second (for the mathematically challenged) brought up his 50. Borthwick then dropped Malan at point – another fierce shot, but one he would expect to hold having got both hands to it – to complete possibly the worst five minutes he’s had on a cricket field for some time.

Malan reached his hundred with three boundaries in quick succession off Batty and Middlesex closed on 296 for 5, just 17 behind, with Malan on 103 and Franklin on 63. And to think several MTWD regulars wanted to drop Franklin. Oh, and by the close the over rate was on -4, so it really isn’t just us.