Bobbly hat day as Middlesex bob along to another to victory

London Leprechaun swaps the warmth of NZ for the cold of Wormsley to report on the friendly match with the Unicorns. In between weather reports we hear about a solid batting performance, and another win, with some mildly worrying medical reports as well.

When it was warm sunshine in East London this morning I thought I was overdressed for my visit to Wormsley. By the time I got there I was distinctly underlayered, something I realised the minute I opened the car door.  Wormsley describes itself as "Quintessentially English", and if a bitter wind straight from Siberia is anything to go by it is right!

However it is also a very pretty ground and on a bright summer day would be a grand day to watch and play cricket. Today a gloom that would brighten up a mid winter day, that wind, and the occasional threat of a bit of rain made me wonder why anyone had bothered to come.  Having said that is was still a very pleasant afternoon and a good workout for Middlesex against some decent opposition – a scattering of ex county players making it a match not to be taken lightly.

Not wanting to break the habit I had developed in NZ of missing the start of play I arrived about half an hour or so late, thanks to the A406 (you can always rely on that road to hold you up) and the very long drive way from the first gate of the Estate. 

Figaro that one out?

Middlesex were batting and I arrived in time to see Middlesex at a very healthy six or so an over. In the space of the next five minutes I saw Chris Rogers get to a speedy 50, hit a Dilshan scoop for six, play a sumptuous straight drive for six and then get himself out.  Now remind me why he does not play T20 cricket.  Everyone else came in, scored freely, looked in pretty good nick and then got out forcing the run rate.  No great conclusions to draw from that but it was nice to see Neil Dexter looking assured and fun to see both our wicketkeepers batting together.
I saw Adam Rossington bat for the first time and was impressed by his timing – his four two scoring shots produced boundaries to fine leg and mid off from shots that did not look hard hit.  His running with Neil Dexter especially was good – not that he scored many run runs if you get my drift  – 45 from 26 balls with 8 boundaries made for a healthy scoring rate.  A middle order of Stirling, Rossington and Morgan could make some bowling attacks shiver in the one day game this year.

Actually I was generally impressed by our running between wickets – whether to keep warm or not, lots of singles became twos, and threes.  Paul Stirling only hit one four and one six in his innings, yet still went at a run a ball. 

Paul Stirling's one and only six

And right at the end there was a delightful cameo from Ollie Raynor – if you can call one over a cameo. Come the last few overs we were speculating on whether we could get to 300. Come the last over we were 274. By the end we were 303. It went something like this. (Sorry if the detail is not quite right, a scoreboard with a thatched roof does not quite carry the detail of Lords.)  A first ball wide; followed by a Simmo 6, than a single. Than Ollie went: four to fine leg, six over mid wicket, four through the slip area and a final six somewhere near the car park at roughly extra cover.  And lo and behold it was 303. Good fun and a nice way to finish.

Thatched Pavillion

Interval wandering unearthed a fair number of Middlesex supporters – mainly people who lived in the area, but a few who had come to see this ground.  It really is very pretty – sheep in the far fields, deer at one end, a thatched pavilion with its matching thatched roof, and sloping banks in tribute to Arundel. Now if only there had been some sunshine!

Ideal setting, if only there was some sun

When the Unicorns batted it grew steadily colder, even when there was almost two minutes of sunshine. Almost all Middlesex fielders were wearing bobble hats, except Paul Stirling who persisted in a sun hat – maybe this was warm by Irish standards!

Ashes to Ashes

Tom Lancefield, an ex Surrey player played well and got after TRY and James Harris, neither of whom looked especially threatening.  Some decent hitting got the Unicorns going at 7ish an over, but once he and his opening partner were dismissed – the latter by a good catch from Adam Rossington who can obviously field well the scoring rate dropped down enough to make sure there was no chance of a Unicorns win.  The match as a contest faded away and though the Unicorns kept going and batted decently they lost wickets regularly. Middlesex bowlers were OK rather than overthreatening but it was getting so dark and gloomy that even holding a ball must have been difficult by the time I gave up with about twelve overs left. I wanted to drive home with my fingers still functioning.  I did think of watching the end of the game from the car, but suddenly a six hit and then a four landed the ball a bit too near me and the watching pheasants so I decided to call it quits.

Only two slight concerns: James Harris did not look comfortable with his hamstring while he was fielding – stretching it all the time. But he did bowl a second spell, so fingers crossed.  And Jo Denly did something to his shoulder during a difficult stop and went off.  But given the number of 2^nd XI batsmen in form that may be less of a concern.

So a nice way to spend Sunday afternoon, and a question for musing on the way home: why would a reclusive American billionaire build this rural so English cricket ground in the middle of a deer park and sheep farm, and then hide it away from the public most of the time.  Who knows, but he did create a nice place to watch cricket and I would rather play the real match with the Unicorns there rather than Southend!  And whenever it is played we need to take the match seriously. They won’t be a side that lies down.

And we have a 100% record so far!