Runs Flow, Fox Sleeps
Long day in the field
By Seaxe Man
May 19 2010
Seaxeman gives a detailed report on Day two from the Oval. A day dominated by the ball is described carefully and we also find out about the fox. As we might not have ar eporter for Day three we have broken up the report, read now about the morning and afternoon sessions, after tea to follow tomorrow.
Overnight scenario
Surrey 286 for 4 MRR 125 no next batter to come in. Turned out to be Spriegel. The weather started with blue skies but then clouded over to about teatime, the cloud then cleared for the 3rd session to go in tandem with the batting.
The first two sessions continued as yesterday. Slow with dot balls by the bucketful. Things perked up when the 3rd sesh started and The Middle scored at 4 an over. The previous five sessions had the look of a 0-0 draw in footie parlance.
Abbreviations. MRR = Mark Ravin Ramprakash. PE = Pavilion End VE = Vauxhall End
1st sesh
Spriegel joined MRR at the wicket. First over by Murst. Maiden. Finn from PE, Spriegel took a single off the last ball. Off driven 4 by MRR, who then edged the next ball but it did not carry. Great stop by Pedro at mid off saves 4. Spriegel denied. MRR beaten by Finn, a fairly rare occurrence for any bowler on a very flat track which looks run laden. The Middle's bowlers despite the unresponsive pitch were bowling well. Ball still newish. A cut by MRR, was intercepted by Newman at 3rd man. 2 taken.
300 finally came up at 11.32. 14 runs in half an hour. Replicated Surrey batting in day 1 against the new ball. Cautious was the word. MRR suddenly enlivened proceedings with a lofted drive over mid on. Cloud now building up but reasonably high. Udal replaced Finn at PE and by and large remained there for the next two sessions. 11.34. Spriegel first prodded a single then at the other end he edged 3, cut off by Pedro. 11.50 Bergie unlucky yesterday came on for Murts at VE. Spriegel survived an lbw shout 2nd ball. Quiet over. Bergie then got a deserved wicket when Spriegel who never assayed permanence, edged behind for 12. 321 for 5.
Enter Batty. Bergie cut MRR in half. No edge. Superb over. 12 'o' clock. 36 runs in the hour, so not exactly riveting fare. Batty took a boundary and MRR straight drove, and the ball was touched onto the stumps. Batty survived but saved 4. Next ball cut by MRR for 4 to bring up his 150. This was touch quicker than the move from 99 to 100. Savage slog by MRR over mid off wasn’t too far short of a DFL maximum.
His 150 contained one 6, plus 18 4's. Pedro took over from Berg at VE. MRR nicks. No beneficial outcome. Hoik for 4 by Batty, last ball of a Shaggy over. MRR off drives Pedro, struck boundary board force with force. Painful stop by Newman at point. A full length dive by Straussey prevented runs. The 350 came up at 12.25. No further points could now accrue.
3 pts to Surrey and 1 to The Middle. Seemed harsh on the play. Pedro cut off a slapped crossed batted shot by MRR at fine leg. A wicket goes. Batty caught at the wicket off Pedro for 13. Time 12.33. Good over by Pedro. Wilson joined MRR. Pedro next over, switched to around the wicket to Wilson. This enabled him to get off the mark with two. Wilson another edge and nearly caught and bowled in an Udal over. An edged 3rd man 4, by Wilson off Pedro. Wilson middled a short delivery from Udal outside off stump to the 3rd man boundary. There followed a maiden to Pedro. Wilson offered no shots.
He then edged Udal, but Dawid was unable to pick up. Great stop in the gully restricted Wilson to 2, off one of his more positive shots. A fair pre-lunch spell by Collins. Udal continued his marathon spell, stoically blocked by Wilson.
Surrey 374 for 6 at Lunch. Wilson 15no, MRR 173no. 88 runs added in the sesh for two wickets. One difficult chance not taken. This session slightly in The Middle's favour on a very flat track with the oppo. not pressing. The indications are, that the remaining 4 Surrey wickets are going to have to be winkled out.
2nd sesh
Finn from VE to MRR. Udal continued from PE. Finn gets one to bounce at Wilson, a rare occurrence. Wilson was hogging the strike due to singles taken from the 6th ball of the over(s). Accident or design? Classic sweep to fine leg by MRR brought a single. Wilson thumped Shaggy for 4 from a straight drive. Further LBW shout rejected by Umpire Bodenham. It will be interesting to see if he is consistent when we bat. Berg from PE. 2pm. Score 386 for 6. Some singles and an odd two taken in this period. This was ended when Finn was driven by Wilson for 4. There was no particular shortage of dot balls. Wilson put Berg through square leg to raise the 400.
Time 2.10pm. A one handed MRR (left) loft for 4 off Bergie raised his score to 184. Murts to replace Finn at VE. Finn then left the field. Punters wondered. Sore shins? Nudge off legs by Wilson, 4 to fine leg. After a great stop by Pedro, MRR short arm pull through mid wicket for three. Practically nothing is beating the bat. Wilson crashed TM straight for 4 taking his score to 46. He then slapped TM over mid wicket to reach his 50. Suddenly the batters moved up a gear. A veritable runfest ensued, 4's flowing like wine.. A legside tuck off Bergie by Wilson being the latest. He followed this with a short arm jab for 4, same bowler.
Malan spelled Murts at VE. Conceded a single first ball. Field spread as you would imagine. Udal after a short break, returned at PE. Finn back on field. Bat beaten at 2.41. First since lunch. The fox who was the star of the show yesterday, appeared from the pavilion, presumably after a late lunch. He relieved himself on the outfield before disappearing for the day.
Wilson was finally removed st Simpson bowled Malan for 62. Not the most scintillating of innings but one he no doubt enjoyed. 443 for 7. Time 2.45. Good over from Malan. LBW shout Malan. Turned down. Spin continued from both ends as The Middle endeavoured to winkle out the last three. The MRR double ton was going to be the next milestone. On 198. Nel was now partnering MRR.
Finally MRR square cut Dawid for 4 to bring up his 200. This arrived more quickly than his move to 100 from 99 on Monday. Nel as ever went for the long handle. Get’s caught off top edge from Udal for 3. 458 for 8. Time 3pm. Tremlett came out for a Little and Large partnership. Rest of Udal over was blocked. Malan was blocked by Tremlett, but took single from last ball. Under orders? Countermanded that by taking a single from Shaggy's first ball. A full length dive by Strauss, limits Tremlett to a single. Legside ball from Malan glanced for 4 by MRR. Square cut off Udal. Result 4. Repeated against Malan. Tremlett suddenly opened his capacious shoulders to plant Shaggy in the second tier of the Pavilion, but blocked next ball.
Mark Ravin Ramprakash finally went for 223 caught off a slog off Malan, which had height but not sufficient length, taken expertly by Dexter in the deep. 488 for 9. Dernbach joined Tremlett. 490aas Tremlett lofted Shaggy to wide long on, caught expertly by Berg for 14. Shaggy a fivefer.
Tea. 116 runs added in session for 4 wickets. The Middle had earned every one of them through sheer perseverance.
3rd seshThis was to be of 24 overs duration. 4 leg byes came off over 1 from PE and faced by Strauss, Nel the bowler. Newman faced. There was a concerted appeal for a catch behind 1st ball. Turned down. He middled the 3rd, got something on 4th, took a run off the last ball and nicked the strike.
During this session the batting tempo was higher than in the oppo's knock and The Middle dealt in boundaries as their run currency. SN stroked a 4, casually let go the 2nd ball. Field 3 slips, gully, inner ring, two out. Strauss a 4 through square leg. Follow on target 341.
A fair smattering of punters around the ground, though a higher proportion were in the pavilon. Short pitched bowling from Nel. A maiden, not the best, as the ball could not be reached by the batsman. Tremlett maiden. A nice square cut for 4 by Scott N, followed by another through mid off. Bowler Nel.
Lots of noise from the Surrey field. a 3 through mid wicket for Scott N. Dernbach spelled Tremlett after 3 overs at VE. A powerful off drive by Newman was cut off for a 2. Cut for 4 Newman. Pull for 4 by Strauss. Bowler Nel. a 2 followed through mid off. Middle 38 for 0 off 9. Newman 22. Strauss 10.
A sumptuous off driven 4 by Newman. Dernbach the bowler. Strauss 2 through mid wicket, short arm pull by Newman for 4,followed by a guided 4. 50 up. Time 4.37. Overs 12. Batty takes over from Dernnbach at VE. Strauss off drove for 4, plus a straight drive for 4 off Nel. He was replaced by Dernbach whose last ball beat the bat. One of the few.
Quiet period followed broken by Strauss pulling for 4. A lofted drive for 6 over midwicket and a single brought up Newman's 50. You could tell he had batted here before. Newman hoofed another 4 off Dernbach, then off drove another. 99 for 0. 23 overs. Time 5.20.
A Strauss single brings up the 100 in the 24th. Lovely placement for four by Strauss through mid wicket. Spriegel on at PE. Shout for lbw. Sumptuous on driven 4 by Strauss. Sumptuous yet again, 4. A brilliant swept four by Newman. Next ball over the top for Strauss and 4. His 50. 86 balls and 9 4's. Things went a tad quiet after that in the last few overs.
Close Middle 148 for 0 Strauss 54no Newman 79no.
Summation
First two sessions had proceeded much as the day before, slow, presumably to squeeze up the available time. The wicket looks a typical Oval belter on which careful batting will lead to a big score. Having the benefit of knowing what happened the following day, that of course did not happen, being bowled out for 324. About 200 below par assisted by a lot of careless shot selection.
Bergie still stubbornly placed at number 7 in the order, was left stranded with the tail on 45no. Suspect had he batted at 6. He would have got 70 odd, and we would have collected a 4th batting point, minimum.
On another subject. The Surrey members are being allowed to vote on the ECB proposals for a revamped CC. The Surrey club have advised their members, that they (Surrey) support no change to the 16 match championship. This is something most Middlesex members would also support.
Further as stake holders, changes of this nature should be put to the wider membership. The 2009 accounts show that Middlesex collected circa £750,000 in subs. A nice bit of change for which we are entitled to have a say in matters which affect the membership..
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010:05:22:12:03:19 by Ged.
trebor9
I'll report on day 3 which will have a different slant.
Barmy Kev
I'm only here for the tele