Four Goodness Sake Yorkshire are A Lyth and Kicking

Rogers and Out takes us through the next stage of following Middlesex away, well beyond the call of duty. We initially hear about a bad Korea move for his sake followed by his understanding of the previous day score and a misunderstanding of our opening partnership. Read on for our double header of a win and loss with some indicators for the season ahead. Thank you  Rogers and Out for sharing with MTWD. 

After a nice Chinese meal washed down with excessive amounts of the Korean version of sake, I woke a little bleary eyed this morning and took a taxi once more to the Zayed cricket arena for the day's proceedings.

This time, I took the precaution of booking a cab to pick me up after the Yorkshire game to avoid any stressful situations later in the day. After chatting to Don Shelley, I discovered that we'd had 12 runs added to our total against MCCU the previous day due to their slow over rate. With the spectating areas being behind the scoreboard, I was wondering how we'd reached such a high total and now I knew the reason !

Our first opponents today were MCC Young Cricketers, who donned a most colourful strip of blue, red and yellow. Captain Malan won the toss and we opted to bat first. We made three changes to the team that beat MCCU. Dawid Malan, George Scott and Tom Helm came in for Dexter, Higgins and Roland-Jones. Due to the effects of the night before's sake, I somehow had convinced myself that Nick Compton was opening with Sam Robson, rather than AC. This was not helped by the player in question wearing a number nine (Steve Finn) shirt. The obvious giveaway was that one is left handed and the other right. Anyhow, Robbo clipped the first ball away for four and Mala/Compo played a fine selection of shots on both sides of the wicket. We were cruising along until the last ball of the fifth over, when Sam lofted MacQueen to Hose on the long on boundary and we were 38/1. Simmo was next in (wearing a Chris Rogers shirt) and got off the mark with a single. Mala then went into overdrive with 14 runs off the next three deliveries. Simmo, however, was not so fluent and he holed out to mid wicket at the start of the eighth over, Valand taking the catch off the bowling of Hicks. Nick Gubbins came in next but there was no stopping the captain as he regularly hit the ball over the ropes with us reaching 87/2 at the halfway stage. The young cricketers were now employing spin and this curtailed our scoring rate, although AC did hit a maximum in the twelfth over. Gubbo was pushing it around at the rate of around a run a ball as well, when Mala's fine innings came to end when he was taken in the deep by Hicks off Abid. His 65 runs had come from just 39 balls and we were 108/3 after 13.1overs. Keeper Steve Eskinazi was next man in but Gubbo was the next dismissal when he was most disappointed to be out LBW to MacQueen for 22. Ollie could not repeat his heroics of the day before and was out for seven to the bowling of Abid, as was Esky soon after for just three. George Scott had entered the fray and he acquitted himself very well with a fighting unbeaten 23 from 15 balls, ably supported by Harry Podmore who was nine not out. We closed on 152/6. When Murts bowled a first over maiden, one suspected that the youngsters might struggle to reach that target. However, Tom Helm was hit for four on a couple of occasions in his first over and YC battled on gamely. They had reached 47 without further loss when Ravi Patel had Graham caught by Robbo. Although Harris worked hard for his 33, the Young Cricketers lost wickets at regular intervals, and struggled to score off our bowling. Harry Podmore had the best figures with 3/21. Ravi chipped in with 2/19 and Ollie and Dial M were economical with 0/22 and 0/14 respectively. Tom Helm returned 1/23 from three overs and George Scott took 1/2 from his solitary over. Our opponents closed on 101/7 leaving us victorious by 51 runs.

There was now a gap of an hour and three quarters until the Yorkshire game. It was very hot indeed and my main objective was to keep out of the sun and maybe find some refreshments in the interim period. I had a wander around the complex but could find nothing, so ended up reading my book in the shade of the Nursery ground pavilion. Half a dozen or so Yorkshire supporters turned up, including the parents of Richard Pyrah. Don Shelley showed me the team line ups. We had replaced Murtagh and Eskinazi with Compton and Dexter, with Simmo regaining the gloves. Yorkshire's line up included Lees, Lyth, Bairstow, Rashid and Pyrah, so it looked a daunting prospect with an inexperienced pace attack, Dex notwithstanding. Once again, we had a new captain for this match. It was the returning Nick Compton (it was actually him not Mala this time, even though he had a 'Helm 14' shirt on - as did Tom himself). We batted first, with Compo and AC opening. Sam Robson dropped down to number three. Our start was actually quite good with Mala hoisting a six over mid wicket in the first over and Compo hitting consecutive fours in the third over, although the second was a fortunate edge. However, we lost our first wicket in odd circumstances in the next over. Malan skied an Ashraf delivery to Pyrah in the covers. It looked a certain catch, but looking up into the bright sun, he contrived to fumble it, but had the presence of mind to run out Mala as both batsmen contrived to find themselves at the same end. Robbo and Compo kept the scoreboard ticking along nicely with a couple of boundaries apiece, the best being a leg glance by Compton. Compo was looking quite assured but he then lost his wicket in the eighth over when he got a leading edge to a Patterson ball and the Yorkshire pace man took a simple return catch. The captain had made 31 and we were 57/2. A fine piece of fielding by Pyrah at backward point nearly saw Robbo run out in the tenth over, but Yorkshire didn't have to wait long for their next wicket, with Patterson trapping the out-of-sorts Dexter leg before for four. We reached the halfway stage at 70/3, but the wily pairing of Rashid and Lyth slowed the rate right down. Robbo tried to force the pace but was well caught by Pyrah at long on off Lyth for 26 and our chances of making a decent total looked remote. Simmo came and went without troubling the scorers, Nick Gubbins battled away for 18 and Ollie was dismissed by another fine catch in the deep by Pyrah. It was left to George Scott and Harry Podmore to make some late runs, but our final score of 129/7 looked well below par. Adam Lyth and Andrew Hodd opened the batting for Yorkshire with Ollie bowling the first over for us. He only conceded a couple of runs but our youthful pace bowlers were then clouted around the ground by the powerful Yorkshiremen. Tom Helm gave Lyth a bit too much width and was square cut several times for four. Hodd too joined the fray with a big straight six off Podmore. This game was only heading one way, although Dex did stem the tide by bowling Hodd, who was the architect of his own downfall with his attempted reverse sweep. Oddly enough, Lees, Bairstow and Rhodes all departed relatively cheaply, but the excellent Lyth carried his bat with 54 as the county champions cruised to victory with nineteen balls to spare. Dex ended up with two wickets and Ollie and Tom one apiece. Harry Podmore was expensive but I believe he was injured. What was incongruous was the fact that Ravi Patel was not employed until around the eleventh or twelfth over. I found this rather odd, given the paucity of our attack. Our fielding got more ragged as the game went on. I overheard one Yorkshire fan call us a 'shambles' but that was rather unkind.

As there was an early finish, a longer wait for my taxi beckoned. However my fellow spectator Aziz took me to a cafe which I'd managed to miss earlier and treated me to tea and samosas before my return to the hotel. Overall, I enjoyed my trip. The plus side for Middlesex is the form of Compton and Malan, with Sam Robson looking as though he could contribute this season in limited over cricket. George Scott looks a good prospect too. On the down side, Dex and Simmo looked a little rusty with the bat and I worry that our young pace bowlers may end up as cannon fodder if employed without experienced bowling colleagues in the one day game if we're not careful. Off to the airport now and trips to Hull and Chelmsford all in the next seven days. What could be better ?