11 bowlers

By Rogers and Out
June 30 2022

Rogers And Out reports on his 4 days at Trent Bridge

A doughty rearguard action on the final day at Trent Bridge by opening batters Sam Robson and Mark Stoneman enabled Middlesex to secure a hard earned draw against a strong Nottinghamshire side.

A green looking pitch proved deceptive as runs were easy to come by, and the home team’s decision to bat first looked a good one.

I had arrived on day one after an hour’s play via a National Express coach from Victoria (never again) and the Murts/TR-J opening combo was economical. However, Notts took a liking to the bowling of Tom Helm and Martin Andersson and the runs flowed freely, with a score of 127/2 registered by lunch.

Hameed registered his second century against us this season after lunch before being bowled by Luke Hollman for 101. One of the few high spots of the day for us earlier had been a brilliant reflex slip catch by Sam off the bowling of Luke to dispose of Clarke.Toby bowled really well without luck and Notts closed the day on a formidable looking 378/4.

Day two saw young Lyndon James make a fine 155 in a total of  551/8 declared. Luke Hollman took 4/122 but in truth, our bowling was below par with the notable exception of Toby, whose economy exceeded everyone else.

We were under the cosh early on in our reply losing three wickets for 37, but Rocky was looking good, making a half century. Sadly he struggled in one particular over against young spinner Liam Patterson-White who bowled him for 67.

Day three saw us commence on 106/4 and we soon lost night watchman Tom Helm to a fine James Pattinson delivery. The follow on target of 402 was looking distant but an excellent partnership between Max Holden and John Simpson gave us renewed hope. Max fared well against some hostile short bowling from Pattinson and was looking set for three figures. He was adjudged to be caught by Mullaney off Slater for 86, which looked a very harsh decision indeed.

Simmo ploughed on before being dismissed just before tea for a very good 92. Luke Hollman, with a half century and Martin Andersson contributed valuable runs but we were all out for 376 and our hosts imposed the follow on. Robbo and Rocky, however, negotiated the closing overs and we reached 63/0 at stumps.

Beefy and I retired to some local hostelries (the best of which was the Trent Navigation) to ruminate on our chances of saving the game. We concurred that big innings were required from our openers and they certainly delivered.

The report of 4th days play on Cricinfo suggested that the attending schoolchildren would have been bored by the cricket. I recall Ron Saunders, former manager of the likes of Aston Villa and ManchesterCity, suggesting that if it was entertainment you wanted, perhaps you were better off going to the local park. It was attritional stuff, but exactly what we needed. The bad ball was put away and we reached lunch without loss.

Robbo notched a fine century after the interval but was dismissed by part time bowler Ben Duckett,which was his first wicket for Notts. Notts took the new ball snd employed Duckett and Clarke to the surprise of everyone present. Eventually all eleven players bowled including ‘keeperTom Moores as the game meandered towards the inevitable draw. Mark Stoneman registered the fourth century of the match with an unbeaten 109 from 296 balls. As a couple of Notts fans told me after day one that he always scores well at Trent Bridge, and so it proved.

After two days very much on the back foot, we battled away on days three and four to gain a precious draw which keeps us in second place in the table. An added bonus was Sussex’s surprising win against Derby.