Gut Morgan

Lower Mound gives us a detailed report of our final YB40 match and our last limited over game of the season. Even though it was a meaningless match lots of interest covered here.

Am I the only one to be sorry to see the end of the 40-over format to be replaced by the 50-over version from next season? With the 1:45pm starts, it is possible to go to quite a few away matches, which would not be possible with the 50-over format, which will no doubt start at about 11:00am. Also, the 1:45pm starts give you more time to do things in the morning prior to attending a home match than an 11:00am start would afford. 

For today's match against Leicestershire, with Neil Dexter and Gareth Berg not playing, Captain Morgan won the toss and put in the Foxes to bat on what looked like a good pitch for batting. Jonathan was fearful that this would mean that the latter part of Middlesex's would reply would be played in poor light, although as it transpired, light would not be a factor. 

Overs 1-10: 

Josh Cobb and Greg Smith opened the batting for the Foxes, while Steven Finn opened the bowling for the Middle, with just two runs coming off the first over. James Harris bowled the 2nd over, and just four runs were scored off the over, when Smith hit a four towards the Tavern stand. The next boundary did not come until the final ball of the 4th over, so just 16 runs were scored in that time. Hi-Fi had conceded just five from his first two overs, but Smith then managed to hit a big six into the tpper tier of the Mound stand. 

Ollie Wilkin on List A debut

With the score on 30, the Foxes lost their 1st wicket, as Cobb was caught at mid-off by Moggs off Finn for 6, bringing to the crease ex-Middlesex 2nd XI wicket-keeper Ned Eckersley, who was schooled in and has played club cricket for Ealing. Around this time, Gareth Berg popped into the Mound stand to chat with Dawid Malan, and although lots of children were subjecting Malan to autograph requests, not one recognised Berg! At the end of the Powerplay, the Foxes were 35-1, Smith on 22 and Eckersley on 0. For the 9th over, List A debutant Oli Wilkin replaced Harris, and Eckersley smashed him to the Mound stand for 4. 

45-1, overs 11-20: 

Toby Roland-Jones replaced Finn, and Eckersley hit his first ball for 4 towards the Warner stand in an over that eventually yielded 8. In the 16th over, Smith hit TRJ for his second six to reach 49, and next ball reached his 50 off 61 balls. In the same over, some sloppy fielding by Paul Stirling brought the 50 partnership up with the score on 80. 

In the 18th over, Ravi Patel came on at the Nursery End in place of Wilkin and took the big wicket of Smith, who was caught at long off by Harris for a well-made 56 with the score on 91. At the halfway stage, Eckersley had 26 and Matthew Boyce had 1. 

93-2, overs 21-30: 

Wilkin replaced TRJ from the Pavilion End. The 100 came up with a wide in the same over. After 25 overs, the score was 125-2. Boyce hit Patel for his first six into the Mound stand, as the 26th over yielded 10 runs. TRJ replaced Wilkin in the 27th over, Boyce once again hit Patel for a six into the Mound stand into the 28th over, which was followed by a four to bring the 150 up. Eckersley brought his 50 up in the 29th over with the score on 158. The runs were starting to flow, with regular ease to all parts of the ground. Stirlo replaced the expensive Patel, and Eckersley reverse swept him for four. Eckersley had 60 and Boyce had 38. 

171-2, overs 31-40: 

At this stage, the Foxes called for their 2nd Powerplay, so Finn replaced TRJ and Harris replaced Stirlo. With the score on 186, Eckersley was caught by TRJ off Harris for a suburb 73. Ex-Sussex and Unicorns batsman Michael Thornely came in next. 

The 200 came up in the 35th over together with Boyce's 50 with a single off Finn. In the last ball of the over, Thornely hit a six which landed a few rows behind where Jonathan and I were sitting in the Mound stand. 

In the 37th over and with 12 minutes to the cut-off time, Wilkin bowled two wides and then has Boyce caught by Joe Denly for 53, followed off the final ball with Thornely edging behind to John Simpson for 19. In the next over, TRJ has Rob Taylor caught by Wilkin for 5 with the score on 226. With 2 minutes to go, Patel comes on for the 39th over with the score on 233. The new batsman, Ben Raine, hits a six towards the Warner stand, but is our next ball caught by Moggs. Despite our efforts, we were unable to start the final over by cut-off time, so six runs were added to the Foxes' score. The final over started by Harris having Shiv Thakor caught by Finn by 10, although as he and Tom Wells had crossed, Wells was on strike, and the remainder of the over went four, four, six four, no-ball and six, as the Foxes ended on an imposing 274-8. 

Middlesex reply, overs 1-10: 

During the interval, it became apparent that Mr Perambulator had been replaced as announcer by the man who does our outground matches. Stirlo and Malan opened the innings, with Stirlo hitting 8 off the 1st over off Nathan Buck from the Pavilion End. The 2nd over started with Taylor bowling a wide, but the first legitimate delivery saw Malan edging to Eckersley for a first ball duck. 

Joe Denly gets his first runs with a classy drive to the Tavern stand for 4. Stirlo races to 12 with a 2 and then a single off Taylor, but is bowled for 15 when he played and missed the first ball of Buck's 3rd over. Moggs comes in to a big round of applause, and is being watched by national selector Geoff Miller. In the 7th over, Denly hits Buck for 4 down the ground, which is followed by four byes and then a four to the Mound stand, and the over was worth 13. Raine comes on from the Nursery End, and Denly is at it again with another four to the Tavern stand. The 9th over was bowled by slow left-armer James Sykes, and the 50 came up off the 52nd ball, with Denly on 25 and Moggs on 3. 

60-2, overs 11-20: 

The 50 partnership was brought up in the 13th over, coming off 52 balls, with the contributions being 28 for Denly, 18 for Moggs and 6 extras. In the next over, Moggs hit a six off Raine onto the clock tower. However, in the following over with the score on 94, Denly was caught by Sykes off his own bowling for a well played 36, bringing Adam Voges to the crease. The 100 comes up with a single for Moggs in the 17th over, which is followed shortly after with Voges playing a glorious drive off Taylor for his first boundary. Cobb comes on for the 19th over, but probably wished he hadn't as Moggs smashed him for a four followed by a six, as the over yielded 13. Moggs' 50 came up in style with a towering six into the Tavern stand, where I notice a certain Barmy Kev cheering. 

132-2, overs 21-30: 

In the 22nd over, the 50 partnership comes up as Moggs hits Taylor for a six into the Mound stand followed by a 4. At this stage, Moggs was on 73 amd on his way to a 100! He smashes Raine for four to the Compton then Thakor for four to Edrich stand, but then mishits a drive and is caught by Smith at long on for 90 off 63, which included 8 fours and 4 sixes, bringing Simmo to the crease with exactly 100 required off 87 balls. With the score on 197, Voges played his final shot for the Middle when he was caught by Smith off Thakor for 37, bringing Wilkin to the crease. 

198-5, overs 31-40: 

The 200 comes up in the 31st over, to leave Middlesex needing 74 off 58 at 8.1 an over. Simmo gets his first 4 down to the Tavern stand, with Wilkin following suit six balls later. The 34th over yields 11, after Simmo hits the first two balls for four. With 42 runs needed, the Powerplay is taken after 35 overs, and the over includes Simmo smashing a four towards the Compton stand followed by a two and a single. 

Off the following over, Simmo hits Buck for four towards the Grand stand, and Wilkin bisects two fielders to bring the 250 up with a four towards the Mound stand. At this stage, thanks to Simmo's large charge, the Middle are on course for a win. With the score on 257, Wilkin is out for 20, caught by Raine off Buck. James Harris comes in with just 18 runs needed! Simmo is on 42 when he smashes Taylor for a six into the Tavern stand and another single to reach 49. After two dot balls, Harris runs a single, then Simmo does likewise to bring up his 50, leaving 8 required off the final two overs. And it took just two balls to seal a four-wicket win, as Simmo hit both of the first two balls of the 39th over to the boundary to finish with 58 not out off 39 balls, with 8 fours and 1 six. 

It was a wonderful day, with 549 runs and most importantly, a Middlesex win.