End of year review part 4

By Jeremy Horne
December 9 2002

So, the most important month of the year, September. Would we be able to hang out the distance this year or would it be a case of deja vu? In our final review of the year, we look at the ‘sex’s nervy end to a long, hard, season.

I arrived back from my holiday in the Algarve with my head high after hearing of our triumph in Worcester. However, I was brought right back down to earth when I saw our one day score. It was the same old story. After having Hampshire reeling at 6-3 we let them off the hook and allowed our bowling to get torn apart by Will Kendall, who recorded a brisk ton. The batting side of things was slightly better. Ben Hutton put an end to his duck riot and posted a half century, whilst he was well supported by 40’s from Shah, Joyce and Dalrymple. The stage was set for a late innings onslaught with some aggressive players still waiting to bat. However, not for the first time, the lower order failed to push the rate up high enough to force a win. This was a constant problem for the ‘sex over the season which must be dealt with if we want to compete at the highest level in one-day cricket. The fact that Weekes and Compton were batting in the lower order also seemed strange. We can’t afford to keep talented players that low down when chasing a large target and continually failing to achieve it.

Anyway, one-day cricket had become unimportant. Our aim was the county championship and we had a crunch trip to Essex which, if won, would surely secure division 1 status and put us a step closer to that coveted title. We weren’t helped by the news that Strauss had been ruled out for the remainder of the season after breaking his Jaw. Shah was to be the captain. Essex also looked to be without their leader as Mr. Whippy received his first test call in 3 years. Then, on the morning of the match, England released Whippy and he quickly raced up to Chelmsford to captain his county. Meanwhile, we lost what seemed to be a crucial toss and against the odds were put into bat. Given that all but one of our wins had come when we were batting first, the decision from stand in captain Adrian Grayson seemed strange. By lunch it also looked as if it would be costly as we had scored over 100 for the loss of just one wicket. Hutton was also looking very positive and we were in line for a big score. Then the damage was done. We never got going after the break and Hutton was dismissed in the 80’s having looked good for a hundred at Lunch. Owais Shah made the only notable middle order contribution, scoring 47 and a score of 295 was disappointing. We needed to bowl well and Simon Cook gave us the perfect start taking the first four wickets for 91. At 214-8 we looked set for a useful 1st innings lead, but Graham Napier and James Middlebrook put on 52 for the 9th wicket and Essex reached 278. Our second innings was in a word disastrous. Essex got the ball where they needed to and the result was that we were uprooted out for just 93. Essex needed only 111 to win and after Cook took three more early wickets, the hosts never looked back and secured a simple 6-wicket victory. Middlesex were in deep trouble. They only had one more chance to ensure promotion and prove to themselves and the fans that they weren’t a team that just bottled it.

So, off to Derby we went. Another good batting position slipped away, just like it did at Essex and we were bowled out for a similar score, with Paul Weekes and new captain Sven Koenig scoring 50’s. Sven had been made skipper following Shah’s call up to the squad for the ICC trophy squad as a replacement for Michael Vaughan. The batting was very depleted, but a collapse still couldn’t be excused. However our collapse was nothing like that experienced by Derbyshire. They looked good at lunch, but an inspired Ashley Noffke then tore apart the batting list to take 8-24 and Give as a huge first innings lead. Indeed, we could have finished it off in quicker fashion had the follow on been enforced, but Sven chose not to. By now the wicket was becoming a joke and it looked like Essex revisited as we lost regular early wickets in the second innings. Then, resistance came in a surprising form- David Alleyne. He made a career best 49 not out and Derby were set over 300 to win. Andrew Gait then bagged a pair as Derby lost a wicket without a run on the board. Could anyone bat on this pitch? Unfortunately the Answer was yes and Michael Di Venuto, together with Chris Bassano put on a century stand and our hopes were fading. That was until another collapse began. Both set men went and effectively so did Derby’s hopes. There was some late resistance as Luke Sutton and Jason Kerr provided a few blows, but in the end it was all in vain. The long hard season was over and we had achieved our ultimate goal- promotion.

There was just one small matter left- Two NUL games and both were lost despite some rolling back of the years at Shenley when Ben Hutton and Nick Compton shared in a century stand. Their grandads would have been proud.

All in all it was a successful championship season, but another year of poor one-day displays. Can we turn this around? Do we have the ability to perform in the top flight against the likes of Sorry, Kent and Leicestershire? Only time will tell. Roll on 2003!