Middlesex CCC
Goodbye Dolly
Eski ton
By Barmy Kev
August 4 2021
Kev reports on a entertaining day of cricket that was a Middlesex victory against the odds , when even being there was even more against the odds.
RLC Middlesex v Worcestershire 1st august 2021
Build up
This was a game I planned to attend when the fixtures came out. But during the week build up I was put off by a personal emergency, the poor weather forecast and us bottom without a win from 3 playing away to a team who are top having won all 3. According to my phone chances of rain Tuesday was 40%, then 60% Wednesday then 0 % Saturday. My emergency moved in the same positive direction. So the day before my dose of optimism increased and for £10 decided to book a ticket online knowing I will be having a very long day out at Worcester.
I am travelling with Rogers and Out on the 9.38 from Paddington the earliest train due to arrive at Worcester midday. On the journey up we found out start delayed to 12.15, a 41 overs game and we are batting first. Good news on two accounts we may make the start and Middlesex have more of a chance of batting through the overs.
We are at Worcester station midday, the Shrub Hill one. Stuck there for 15 minutes and then it was announced all change due to engine failure. No cabs around so we endured a longer walk then expected. We predicted we would be 3 down on arrival We only missed 6 overs with us 0 wickets down. We joined the Middlesex faithful moaning we did not make the most of our power play, lack of strike for Eski and why wasn`t Robbo opening.
Middlesex innings
Here are some more features of our innings I would like to share that may have not have been captured by those watching on Ceefax.
- The most productive scoring shot was the `ramp` over the keeper’s head. A deep backstop would have been the only position to save the boundary.
- Despite holding his bat for close to the entire innings Eski had about 40% of the strike. This included a strange moment when Captain Handscomb was caught in the deep he stopped Eski from crossing. Davies pinched the strike for 16 successive balls thereafter
- The first extra Worcester conceded was after 39 overs, which was warmly greeted by the Middlesex faithful.
- Every decent shot, Eski`s century other landmarks were warmly greeted by a fair minded Worcester crowd
- With a 280 score likely with 2 overs to go. We got 16 off the 40th and 23 off the 41st. We scored a handy 105 off the last 10. I felt at the time these unexpected extra runs could be crucial.
And the reply
- The first ball was an extra. We conceded 21 overall, which compared to their`s 1 could have been costly.
- Throughout we were ahead of D&L but we were on the verge of being behind, when in that over the second wicket of Fell was out. My proposed headline was they Fell apart-except they didn`t
- Danger man was Brett D`Oliveria know as Dolly. More puns. If he caught the ball would it be a dolly catch? He varied his bowling, which was a Dolly mixture. But the best when he was out, we sang Goodbye Dolly.
- Robbo was our 6th `bowler` that was needed with Andersson being more than a tad expensive. We somehow got away with some of his pie bowling
- Throughout the Worcestershire innings the comparative scores were virtually mirrored. We were ahead on wickets lost. The only major difference was the last three overs.
- We were becoming increasingly rowdy towards the end. I apologised to some quieter Worcestershire fans who replied we are not as bad as the Birmingham Bears. At the end of the game some Worcestershire fans congratulated us and offered a handshake
Summation
As indicated what a great place to watch cricket with a friendly, sporting atmosphere. My only complaint was the extremely slow service for food and drink. Overriding this, I was happy just to be at proper cricket amongst friends, something I will never again take for granted. The Middlesex win given many disappointments this season was the icing on the cake.
We left the ground hearing the Middlesex team chanting Middle Middle Middle.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2021:08:11:19:01:04 by BarmierKev.
About an hour after the close, I saw Ethan Bamber, James Harris and AN Other (honestly, I don't recognise half the team any more!
) walking in a southerly direction along Friar Street in the direction of the cinema, the cathedral or somewhere else entirely. Given they were playing in Manchester on Tuesday, were they staying overnight in Worcester? 