Middx celebrate promotion as Derbys are punished
By Ananova
September 13 2002
Phil Tufnell took five Derbyshire wickets as Middlesex secured promotion to the First Division of the County Championship with a 73-run win. And, to complete a miserable day for the home side, the England and Wales Cricket Board inspectors docked Derbyshire eight points for a "poor" pitch.
| The damage had been done the previous day when 23 wickets fell as the ball bounced and seamed all over the place for bowlers of both sides. An England and Wales Cricket Board pitch panel was convened after Thursday's play to assess the state of the wicket. An ECB statement read: "After interviewing the umpires, captains and coaches of both teams and the groundsman, the panel decided that the pitch had offered undue uneven bounce and undue assistance to seam bowlers throughout the first two days and therefore the pitch should be rated as 'poor'. "As a consequence, an automatic deduction of eight Championship points has been imposed on Derbyshire." Ironically, the wicket was far better behaved on Friday but Derbyshire's batsmen failed in a dogged attempt to reach an unlikely victory target of 306. They were eventually bowled out for 232 and, fittingly, it was Ashley Noffke who took the final wicket as Mohammad Ali cut him straight to Ben Hutton at point. Noffke, who bowled superbly to take eight wickets in Derbyshire's first innings, finished with match figures of 12 for 108. And, while the pitch undoubtedly helped him along the way, his effort and enthusiasm brought him rewards against a Derbyshire batting order that made a far better fist of things second time around.
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