Archive 26-30
26. 632 not enough for Northants
Northamptonshire v Essex : May 2002
When your opponents, Northants, score 632 in their first innings, probably the last thing on your mind is victory. Even on the final morning when Essex had reached 114-4 they were still needing 177 and time was against them.
But cricketing history was soon to be made as no team had ever scored more than Northants’ 632 in an innings before 2002 and gone on to lose. The record had stood at 614 by New South Wales since 1925.
Left 291 to win in 52 overs, it was soon apparent that Essex were up for the chase as openers Jefferson and Darren Robinson put on 82 in the first 12 overs.
The dramatic final day however belonged to Flower; he and Jon Dakin came together at 114 for four and refused to entertain the thought of batting out a draw. Dakin plundered 57 from 60 balls, cracking a six and five fours. The pair had put on 111 in only 18 overs. Flower scored a run-a-ball 92 on a wearing pitch. His reverse sweeping was so devastating against Brown that he didn’t know what to try next, conceding 102 to match his 130 in the first innings. Eventually Stephenson rounded off an excellent all-round contribution with 25 from 22 balls and Essex had won with 13 balls to spare.
It was a complete reversal of the opening day when Northants were in control, finishing the day on 451-5. Seven batsmen passed 50, a county record. Flower also starred in Essex’s first innings and Irani cheekily declared 135 behind. His enterprise paid off handsomely. Despite the rainclouds looming overhead and 44 minutes being lost to rain, Essex kept up the chase to the end. Scotland’s John Blain was playing for Northants but was only allowed 3 overs as Essex hit out; he averaged 61.5 for his 14 wickets for the season.
Northamptonshire v Essex
31 May – 3 June 2002 Essex won by 4 wickets
Northamptonshire 1st innings
MEK Hussey b Sharif 140
AS Rollins lbw b Irani 89
MB Loye b Irani 0
RJ Warren lbw b Stephenson 87
JW Cook lbw b Ilott 90
AL Penberthy c Flower b Stephenson 50
TMB Bailey b Sharif 64
RSG Anderson b Sharif 51
JAR Blain not out 17
DM Cousins lbw b Sharif 4
JF Brown lbw b Stephenson 12
Extras (lb 6, w 6, nb 16) 28
Total (all out, 146.2 overs) 632
Irani 19 6 61 2
Ilott 27 3 100 1
Dakin 23 4 108 0
Stephenson 25.2 4 116 3
Middlebrook 32 4 143 0
Sharif 20 0 98 4
1-68, 2-138, 3-206, 4-303, 5-401, 1-185, 2-191, 3-275, 4-417, 5-436, 6-507, 7-596, 8-601, 9-607
Essex 1st innings
DDJ Robinson c Warren b Anderson 68
WI Jefferson c sub b Penberthy 22
JD Middlebrook b Brown 67
A Habib lbw b Blain 93
A Flower not out 103
RC Irani st Bailey b Brown 54
RS Bopara c Rollins b Brown 2
JM Dakin c Hussey b Blain 1
JP Stephenson not out 37
Extras (b 9, lb 7, w 4, nb 30) 50
Total (7 wkts dec, 150.5 overs) 497
ZK Sharif, MC Ilott dnb
Cousins 30 6 100 0
Blain 28 4 127 2
Anderson 29 8 82 1
Penberthy 10.5 5 31 1
Brown 51 11 130 3
Cook 2 0 11 0
1-68, 2-138, 3-206, 4-303, 5-401, 6-413, 7-414
Northamptonshire 2nd innings
AS Rollins c Jefferson b Dakin 1
MEK Hussey c Stephenson b Ilott 41
MB Loye c Habib b Middlebrook 17
RJ Warren c Robinson b Dakin 6
JW Cookc Flower b Dakin 9
AL Penberthy b Stephenson 23
TMB Bailey lbw b Stephenson 15
RSG Anderson b Stephenson 31
JAR Blain lbw b Middlebrook 2
DM Cousins c Ilott b Stephenson 1
JF Brown not out 2
Extras (lb 1, w 2, nb 4) 7
Total (all out, 44.2 overs) 155
Ilott 13 4 28 1
Dakin 18 6 75 3
Middlebrook 6 1 26 2
Stephenson 7.2 2 25 4
1-5, 2-43, 3-62, 4-76, 5-76, 6-93, 7-140, 8-145, 9-150
Essex 2nd innings (target: 291 runs)
DDJ Robinson st Bailey b Brown 31
WI Jefferson run out 41
A Flower not out 92
RC Irani c Loye b Penberthy 7
A Habib lbw b Brown 5
JM Dakin run out 57
JD Middlebrook c Hussey b Cousins 8
JP Stephenson not out 25
Extras (b 4, lb 3, w 14, nb 4) 25
Total (6 wkts, 49.5 overs) 291
Cousins 11 0 67 1
Blain 3 1 20 0
Anderson 7 0 46 0
Penberthy 12 0 49 1
Brown 16.5 2 102 2
1-85, 2-89, 3-104, 4-114, 5-225, 6-245
27. Alistair Brown’s 268 : 867 runs in a day
Surrey v Glamorgan June 2002
A combination of a sunny day, a well-prepared pitch and a boundary of sixty yards on one side all helped to produce a feast of runs – 867 in just under 100 overs. 438 was the highest score in any one-day cricket, but Glamorgan got with 10 runs of winning. The overall match aggregate surpassed by 113 runs the previous record for the number scored in a one-day game -754 by India against India B at Madras in 2000-01. A phenomenal piece of cultured hitting by Ally Brown, whose 268 is comfortably the highest individual score, was no proof against defeat.
Opening the batting yesterday, Ally Brown was out off the first ball of the fiftieth over, his 160th. The great majority of his 30 fours and 12 sixes were either pulled over the short boundary on the gas holder side, many of them into the road beside the Cricketers Inn, or driven on the up through extra cover with stunning power. He had butterflies before going out to bat yesterday, which he took to be a good sign. He remembered how he had got a first ball duck against Scotland at Raeburn Place a few weeks earlier.
The Oval is a suitable place to break records. It was here that England scored the highest Test score, 903 for seven; that Surrey and Lancashire made 1,650 runs for 19 wickets in the County Championship in 1990 and that Worcestershire and Surrey each scored more than 350 in a NatWest semi-final in 1994. Twenty-eight sixes were scored today.
So who would have thought at tea that there was the slightest chance of Glamorgan reaching their target? Obviously Robert Croft the acting captain did. He decided to open and proceeded to hit the first 5 balls of the innings from Martin Bicknell for 4. Ally Brown admitted he was a worried man at this point:- “I was very nervous when Martin Bicknell’s first five balls of the innings were hit so easily for four, but I didn’t think they could keep it up. I never thought they would get anywhere near as close as that.” Robert Croft didn’t slog but simply kept his head still while playing orthodox attacking strokes to almost every ball bowled.
At least Adam Hollioake changed his bowling all the time. With two run-outs, the first from a direct hit, and five wickets as reward for his famously cunning changes of pace, he was mainly responsible for denying Glamorgan what would have been the most famous one-day victory of all. Croft scored 119 from only 69 balls. David Hemp also scored a century so that Glamorgan had started the last ten overs needing 103, with five wickets still in hand. But then David Hemp was out and the task seemed too great. Darren Thomas didn’t think so; he must have wanted to make amends for his figures of 9-0-108-0, and he put bat to ball, scoring 71 in 41 balls; however he got stranded at the non-striker’s end with two balls to go and Dean Cosker, the No 11, swung and missed.
Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, 2002, 4th Round
Surrey v Glamorgan
The AMP Oval, London
Surrey won by 9 runs
Surrey
IJ Ward b Croft 97
AD Brown b Kasprowicz 268
MR Ramprakash c & b SD Thomas 26
R Clarke c Wallace b SD Thomas 5
AJ Hollioake c IJ Thomas b SD Thomas 4
AJ Stewart not out 2
JN Batty not out 6
Extras (lb 8, w 20, nb 2) 30
Total (5 wickets, 50 overs) 438
MP Bicknell, Saqlain Mushtaq, J Ormond, ESH Giddins dnb
Kasprowicz 10 0 53 1
Davies 8 0 88 0
SD Thomas 9 0 108 3
Croft 8 0 62 1
Dale 8 0 68 0
Cosker 7 0 51 0
1-286, 2-354, 3-376, 4-424, 5-431
Glamorgan (target: 439 runs from 50 overs)
RDB Croft c Ward b Hollioake 119
IJ Thomas run out 23
DL Hemp c Ormond b Bicknell 102
MP Maynard c Ramprakash b Giddins 21
A Dale c Clarke b Hollioake 49
MJ Powell c Giddins b Hollioake 0
SD Thomas not out 71
MA Wallace c Ramprakash b Bicknell 5
MS Kasprowicz run out 25
AP Davies c Ormond b Hollioake 1
DA Cosker b Hollioake 0
Extras (lb 7, w 6) 13
Total (all out, 49.5 overs) 429
Bicknell 10 0 84 2
Giddins 8 0 77 1
Ormond 9 0 72 0
Saqlain Mushtaq 10 0 82 0
Hollioake 8.5 0 77 5
Clarke 4 0 30 0
1-113, 2-162, 3-197, 4-295, 5-295, 6-336, 7-352, 8-417, 9-421
Surrey innings
AD Brown 100 in 98 mins off 80 balls, 10×4, 4×6
AD Brown 200 in 164 mins off 134 balls, 20×4, 10×6
AD Brown 268 runs from 160 balls in 199 minutes, 30×4 and 12×6
Glamorgan innings
RDB Croft 100 in 59 mins off 56 balls, 15×4, 3×6
DL Hemp 100 in 117 mins off 85 balls, 10×4, 3×6
28. 77 off one over leaves the scorers baffled
Canterbury v Wellington February 1990
The most expensive over ever was at Christchurch, New Zealand. Trying to encourage Canterbury to go after a stiff target, and so lose wickets, Wellington batsman Robert Vance bowled a 22-ball over, mainly full tosses delivered from several yards down the pitch, which went for 77 runs.
The incident took place on the final day of Wellington’s Shell Trophy match against Canterbury at Christchurch. It was Wellington’s last game of the season and they needed to win to ensure that they secured the title. On the final morning they declared their second innings, leaving Canterbury to chase 291 in what turned out to be 59 overs.
Canterbury lost early wickets and put the shutters up very early. Although Canterbury had looked like losing when they slumped to 108-8, Lee Germon and Roger Ford had stopped the rot and a draw seemed likely.
When the penultimate over started Canterbury were eight wickets down, Germon, their wicketkeeper and a useful bat, was still in and on strike. Wellington’s coach, John Morrison and Erve McSweeney, Wellington’s captain-wicketkeeper, hatched a plan and Bert Vance, the New Zealand batsman who nearing the end of his career and so had no bowling figures of any note to worry about, agreed to help them.
The idea was to feed Canterbury enough runs so that they would get close enough to the target and then perhaps risk their last two wickets in an attempt to win. They began the over on 196 for 8 with Germon 75 not out. Canterbury needed 95 to win in 12 balls.
Vance proceeded to bowl a succession of no balls, and of his first 17 deliveries only one – the second – was legitimate. Full toss after full toss was lobbed down from two or three yards down the track – “Bert overdid it somewhat,” recalled Morrison – and each one was cracked to the boundary past disinterested fielders. Germon brought up his hundred off the sixth ball, and in all he took 70 off the over, including eight sixes and five fours. Ford faced two balls and scored five.
The real problems, however, were in the scorebox where the bewildered scorers and scoreboard operators lost track of what was happening and at one point resorted to consulting with spectators to try to resolve the chaos. Even the umpire was left bewildered, only allowing five legitimate deliveries before calling an end to the over.
The situation had not been resolved when Ewan Gray bowled the final over. Neither side knew the score but Canterbury had moved to within 18 of victory, and another 17 from Germon off the first five balls levelled the scores. But with the scoreboard rendered inactive as the scorers still battled to make sense of Vance’s over, Ford blocked the last delivery of the match. Only when the players returned to their changing-rooms did the position become clear.
The arguments continued long after the match. “There was all sorts of debate discussing this outrageous situation,” recalled Morrison. “Howls of protest and the like, but in the end we were not docked any points and through a couple of other very fortuitous results we won the championship. As you can imagine I copped a fair bit of flack, but winning the championship took most of the sting out of that.” The scorecard however shows that Wellington were docked 4 points for a slow over-rate.
Morrison explained: “I decided that the tactic, while being innovative, was definitely a once only! But it’s now a noted game and lives on whereas if the conventional tactics had been used the game would have faded completely and anonymously into the past.”
Much like Steve O’Shaughnessy’s 35-minute hundred in 1983, Vance’s over is consigned to being a footnote in the record books, although the 182-run ninth-wicket stand remains a Canterbury record.
The over went as follows –
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Canterbury v Wellington
Lancaster Park, Christchurch on 18-20 February 1990 (3-day match)
Match drawn
Wellington 1st innings 202 all out
Canterbury 1st inning s 221-7 declared
Wellington 2nd innings 309-6 declared
Canterbury 2nd innings (target 291)
DJ Boyle c Edgar b Millmow 0
A Nathu c McSweeney b O’Rourke 12
PG Kennedy st McSweeney b Gray 33
RT Latham lbw b Pick 14
PE McEwan c McSweeney b Millmow 24
CZ Harris st McSweeney b Gray 0
MW Priest c Gray b Millmow 12
LK Germon not out 160
RG Petrie c Larsen b Pick 2
RM Ford not out 14
Extras (5 b, 4 lb, 10 nb) 19
Total (8 wickets) 290
1-0, 2-17, 3-45, 4-86, 5-90, 6-90, 7-102, 8-108
Millmow 13 0 59 3
Pick 16 3 48 2
Larsen 5 1 12 0
O’Rourke 11 1 48 1
Gray 13 5 37 2
Vance 1 0 77 0
29. Holy Cross 3rd XI V SMRH 4th XI
The Meadows
8 June 2002
SMRH 4th XI won by 2 wickets.
90 over match.
Points SMRH 25 : Holy Cross 4.
Nothing too remarkable about the scorecard here in a closely fought match with our neighbours SMRH who had a strong side in 2002 with gifted stalwarts like Ernie Wilkins and Robin MacQueen.
Scoring runs wasn’t easy at the Meadows, especially since the quality of the bowling was strong on both sides. SMRH bowled 22 maiden overs. Holy Cross got off to a bad start, losing 5 quick wickets. The recovery was led by skipper Keith, but all the tailenders were contributing, especially Ken at No 11. However the game became heated towards the end of Holy Cross’innings when Ken claimed that he was verbally abused by Matt Coyle; I think it concerned some appeal or other – Ken can tell us! Now Matt should not have been playing. He had travelled to Stirling to play for SMRH’s 1st XI, but the match was rained off and SMRH 4th XI were one short; so he raced back and played for the 4ths which seemed a tad ungentlemanly, especially since he took 5 wickets.
Perhaps in 2002 the rules did not specifically forbid this, and Robin, SMRH’s captain, didn’t bring him on straight away.
88 wasn’t appalling at the Meadows, and Keith and Richard made them work hard for their runs. A mini collapse put us in the driving seat until Alf Bissett steadied the ship with Robin.
One result of the game was that Paul decided to join ESCA’s committee and for 16 years either led or worked on the Comps Committee.
Holy Cross 3rd XI
P Bailey b Wilkins 0
R Ellis b Coyle 10
G Blacklock c ? b Wilkins 0
M Din c ? b Wilkins 0
J Brown b Coyle 6
C Mackay c ? b Coyle 0
K Geddes c ? b Keith 32
E Granville b MacQueen 15
D Craig c ? b Coyle 6
A Matthews b Coyle 6
K Lawrie not out 9
Extras (2b, 2w) 4
Total (47 overs) 88
E Wilkins 13 9 5 3
R MacQuenn 12 5 14 1
M Coyle 11 7 15 5
A Bissett 7 1 26 0
A Keith 2 0 14 0
M MacColl 2 0 12 0
SMRH 4th XI
M MacColl c Blacklock b Ellis 24
A Keith b Geddes 0
L Reilly c ? b Ellis 1
R MacQueen run out 31
D Scott b Geddes 6
I Banks c ? b Ellis 0
J Foster c ? b Geddes 0
D Lowe b Geddes 0
A Bissett not out 15
M Coyle not out 2
E Wilkins dnb
Extras (5b, 1lb, 4w) 10
Total (8 wkts / 38.1 overs) 89-8
K Geddes 13 2 20 4
R Ellis 13 1 29 3
G Blacklock 6.1 1 13 0
E Granville 3 1 11 0
M Din 3 0 10 0
30. Richard Ollis, Substitute Hero.
Somerset v Nottinghamshire September 1984
On the last day of the season in 1984, Richard Ollis of Somerset won the County Championship, not for own club, but as substitute for Essex! The previous day Essex had won their final game against Lancashire in two days. Now they were waiting to see what would happen at Taunton where Somerset were playing Nottinghamshire who were Essex’s rivals for the championship. If Somerset were beaten, the title would be heading to Trent Bridge. So how could Richard Ollis influence the outcome if he wasn’t playing?
Richard Ollis was a promising batsman and had so nearly scored his maiden century the previous year, but he ran out of time on 99* against Gloucestershire. For much of 1984 he was consigned to the 2nd XI but scores of 73 and 64 in late August saw him promoted for a few games but he was left out of the final match against Kent and was doing 12th man duties. Richard said: “I was often 12th man that season and never minded getting on the pitch because it meant you didn’t have to run the baths, make the drinks and help with the lunches. When Viv Richards and Joel Garner were in the side, you tended to get on quite often.”
So in this match Richard was fielding in the deep as Nottinghamshire tried to score 297 in 60 overs. If Notts won, the championship was theirs; if not, it belonged to Essex. Notts were very fortunate that Botham was the skipper. Botham appreciated that Clive Rice had declared 52 runs short of Somerset’s 1st innings total and returned the favour; some captains would have killed the game. Botham said to Rice , “I’ll give you a chance, I’ll set you a target and our spinners will bowl all the way through.” So after taking the shine off the ball, Botham allowed the spinners to bowl all but 8 of the 60 overs.
Notts accepted the challenge and most batsmen chipped in with useful scores. Hadlee holed out on the boundary. It was a bit controversial because the guy who caught it fell through the advertising boards and in those days that was still out. Even so there was quite a rumpus over the decision as it was such a tight game. A key wicket was that of Clive Rice caught on the boundary by substitute Ollis on 98. In trying to get his century he lifted it to Ollis at long-on near a group of Notts supporters; Ollis was a goalkeeper as well as a fine fielder and he held on to the ball.
79 were needed off 10 overs; Four of Notts’ batsmen were stumped as they hit out bravely but they lost 3 wickets at about 260 leaving them 260-8, 37 behind their target with just over 3 overs left. Enter Mike Bore ; he was not a gifted batsman, never made a single 50 and had an average of 8.24, so it was a tall order. Meanwhile at Chelmsford, the Essex players, having finished a day earlier, were all tuned into the radio commentary, pints in hand. No-one was allowed to move. Mike Bore was seeing the ball well and had scored 17 when the final over was due with 14 needed; Botham stuck with the young spinner Booth.
First ball 4; second ball 4; third ball 2 – another 4 would clinch the title and Bore would be the toast of Nottingham! But Bore blocked the 4th ball and the non-striker Andy Pick came down the track to say “What did you do that for?” Bore replied: “It wasn’t in the right place.”
The next delivery was in the right place. Bore hit it cleanly towards the stands where Ollis was waiting on the boundary. Notts Captain Rice thought that if Ollis missed it, the ball would go for 6 and Notts would win. Bore himself thought: “That’s it – we’ve won!” But the bat landed ten feet within the boundary and Ollis made no mistake and won the championship for Essex. Rice contemplated how a whole season had come to been decided by a one-ball-hit; all their hard work had gone for nothing. The whole team was stunned.
Bore had been only 10 runs short of his best ever score. He is also remembered for an all-run six off his bowling against Surrey in a Sunday League match in 1974. Robin Jackman cut Mike Bore to the long third man boundary where the fielder gave up the chase, thinking it was a certain four. It stopped short of the boundary however and a relay throw was aimed at Intikhab Alam’s end as he tried to complete a third run. The ball skidded past wicketkeeper David Bairstow and shot through mid on, allowing Jackman to call for another two runs. The mid-on fielder hurled the ball to Bairstow in another wild attempt to run out Intikhab, the throw again beat him, as Bore looked on in despair. Though Intikhab had run well past the keeper, he managed to turn and complete a sixth run. Jackman was dismissed shortly afterwards and collapsed to his knees in mock exhaustion on his way back to the dressing room, much to the delight of the large crowd.
Another incident which is well remembered, especially by Boycott was at Middlesborough in 1972, Yorkshire had to lend Gloucestershire a fielder, and Bore was the man. Boycott was batting and was on 68 when he hooked Procter and was caught – by substitute Bore at long leg. Instead of staying on the boundary, Bore ran in to the middle with a great grin on his face to join the celebrating Gloucestershire fielders. When he got back to the dressing room, he found that Boycott had thrown his bag into the opposition’s room!
As for Richard Ollis, he played on for one more year, mainly in the 2nd XI. He made his top score of 170* on August 16th and got back into the first team for a couple of games in which Viv Richards scored tons and Richard Ollis next to nothing. He promptly retired for good.
September 8th -11th 1984 – Somerset won by 3 runs
Somerset 1st innings
NA Felton c French b Hadlee 0
PM Roebuck c French b Hadlee 44
NFM Popplewell c French b Hadlee 19
MD Crowe c French b Cooper 57
JW Lloyds c French b Hemmings 94
IT Botham c French b Cooper 0
VJ Marks c Hadlee b Cooper 22
JG Wyatt c Randall b Hadlee 5
GV Palmer b Cooper 19
T Gard b Hemmings 0
SC Booth not out 0
Extras (b 4, lb 6, w 1, nb 3) 14
Total (all out, 94.5 overs) 274
Hadlee 23 8 59 4
Pick 15 3 46 0
Rice 10 1 29 0
Cooper 22.5 9 57 4
Hemmings 20 5 63 2
Bore 4 1 6 0
1-4, 2-36, 3-104, 4-162, 5-168,6-210, 7-222, 8-262, 9-270.
Nottinghamshire 1st innings
BC Broad not out 88
RT Robinson lbw b Crowe 4
DW Randall run out 64
CEB Rice lbw b Palmer 17
P Johnson st Gard b Booth 16
RJ Hadlee c Roebuck b Marks 10
BN French c Lloyds b Marks 10
EE Hemmings c & b Booth 5
Extras (lb 7, w 1) 8
Total (7 wkts dec 65.3 overs) 222
KE Cooper, MK Bore, RA Pick dnb
Botham 10 2 42 0
Crowe 12 1 34 1
Marks 22 4 64 2
Palmer 10 3 39 1
Booth 10.3 1 30 2
Lloyds 1 0 5 0
1-6, 2-117, 3-147, 4-182, 5-193, 6-215, 7-222
Somerset 2nd innings
NA Felton lbw b Hemmings 15
PM Roebuck s French b Hemmings 78
NFM Popplewell c & b Hemmings 9
MD Crowe c Cooper b Hemmings 45
JW Lloyds not out 63
JG Wyatt st French b Bore 18
VJ Marks not out 8
Extras (b 4, lb 4) 8
Total (5 wickets dec, 76 overs)244
IT Botham, GV Palmer, T Gard, SC Booth dnb
Hadlee 5 1 13 0
Pick 5 2 12 0
Cooper 5 3 3 0
Hemmings 35 6 123 4
Bore 26 3 85 1
1-39, 2-49, 3-123, 4-182, 5-231
Nottinghamshire 2nd innings (target: 297 runs)
BC Broad st Gard b Marks 45
RT Robinson b Booth 21
DW Randall c & b Marks 14
CEB Rice c sub (Ollis) b Marks 98
P Johnson st Gard b Marks 21
RJ Hadlee c Lloyds b Booth 28
BN French c Palmer b Marks 24
KE Cooper st Gard b Marks 0
EE Hemmings st Gard b Booth 1
MK Bore c sub (Ollis) b Booth 27
RA Pick not out 4
Extras (b 1, lb 9) 10
Total (all out, 59.5 overs) 293
Botham 6 1 18 0
Crowe 2 0 16 0
Marks 27 0 111 6
Booth 24.5 2 138 4
1-70, 2-70, 3-92, 4-136, 5-199,6-258, 7-259, 8-260, 9-278.