Compo Fertilises Green Shoots of Recovery (Day 3)
Awesome
By Seaxe Man
July 29 2006
Seaxe Man reports in his inimitable style on a great turnaround day for Middlesex. On this day, the match changed from being a one-sided romp for Durham into a superbly poised contest. Seaxe Man tells us how that happened from his vantage point in the Upper Edrich.
Middlesex battlecruiser getting back on an even keel
-------------------------------------------------------
In today's Telegraph it was reported:
'one of Division 1's ailing battle -cruisers (Middlesex) looked ready to capsize again when bad light stopped play on Thurs night'.
I am happy to report that after today's exhilerating play - we are on a slightly more even keel in this match and for the most part showed commendable fight.
Young Nick
-------------
Nick Compton. His innings of 190 was one of the best innings by a Middlesex
batsman that I have had the privilge to watch - full of classy shots all
round the wicket. In the end, having batted all day, he was out to a tired
shot off the last ball of the day and received a great and well deserved
ovation from supporters and the Durham team.
I arrived on time and initially the sky was cloudy but this soon cleared to
return to a hot and sticky day. I hoped that we would not have the bad light
saga endured on Wed night - where Durham were invited to stroll off at 6.15.
Players and spectators assumed that was the end of play for the day. Wrong.
Play was restarted for 3 balls. This was a surprise to Johan who was doing
his whale impression in the bath when he was told he was required to field
again. But no matter.
1st session
-----------
Shah opened the session with a four off the first ball which hopefully set
the scene for the day. The 50 came up in the 13th over. Compo 16 Ace 25. Ace
brought up his own 50 with a glorious straight drive to the Pavilion fence.
Shah's 50 included a number of delightful cuts and pulls. Compton was
playing a more passive role in this stand. The 100 was posted in the 30th
over but shortly before lunch the entertaining stand of 91 ended at 101 when
Ace was caught behind. We lunched at 133-2 Compton 41 - Joyce 17. So not a
bad morning's work.
2nd session
------------
Breese opened the bowling from the Pavilion end but was immediately replaced
by Otis Gibson. Two wickets then fell disappointly quickly, when firstly Ed
Joyce(17) tamely pulled to midwicket and JD, after being dropped in the
slips for 0 was then taken in the slips for 8. These wickets fell at 138 and
157. There followed the meat of the afternoon's entertainment, as Compton
and Styris embarked on an enterprising stand which contained many excellent
shots by both players all around the wicket. 200 came up in the 57th over
with a hit over mid off by the Walrus to the Moundstand boundary.
The arrears of 231 were finally cleared at 3.35pm.Compton by now had reached the
nervous nineties. He reached a superb 100 with a glide through the slip
area. Styris was scoring as he does, at a fast pace, piercing the offside
field on a number of occasions to the Moundstand boundary. He reached his 50
at 3.55. 300 came up in the 74th over and we went to tea at a highly
satisfactory 307 - 4. 76 ahead.
3rd session
-----------
After tea, the Compton/Styris stand ended at 318 (Styris 84) for what
appeared to be a lbw appeal but was susbsequently given as caught at the
wicket. Eion Morgan then joined Compton in another enterprising stand of
104 before he was dismissed lbw for an excellent 38. During this stand
Compton had a life on 184 when he was dropped by Otis Gibson at fine leg.
There then followed the only sour note of the day - when an alleged Middlesex
supporter complained about a cry of 'come on Nashie' as he came to the
wicket. This encouragement coming from a young supporter. The complainer
reckoned that ' he did not like my attitude sir' when I chided him. But let
us move on.
As described - Compton was finally dismissed caught in the slips for 190 and
we closed at 435 for 7 an overnight lead of 204.
Summary
----------
Once again in the first innings, the opposition outplayed us in all three
disciplines. Two exceptions were Compton and Keegan. Durham's out cricket
was very good and they bowled a tight line. However they were assisted, as were Sussex at Southgate, by our poor shot selection.
In the second innings, for the most part, we have showed more gumption and a lot of the credit for that has to be shared by Compton/Shah/Skipper Styris and Eion Morgan. If Nash and the tail can hang around for awhile on Saturday and get the lead up to around 250, it could be an interesting day. With Yorks picking up only one point and Notts struggling - the old battle-cruiser has not sunk yet. Could Saturday be a turning point?