Sussex given the bird by record breakers

Fozzie descibes the latest adventure in Middlesex roller coaster one day season.  We get dramatic team changes, weather forecasts, travel delays, and bitd sightings; all along with a fabulous batting display and a nervy ending on a train platform. Following Middlesex is never dull!

Off to Sussex-by-the-sea for the latest must-win game, this time for our hosts even more than us.  It was warm and sunny when I arrived in Hove, but by the time the toss was held the sky was grey and overcast, and it was no surprise when we were invited to bat first.  The big surprise was in the team selection, not so much Dex for Robbo (good move) as Balbirnie for the skipper (good grief! A reasonable decision, but totally unexpected).

Compo and AC opened, and initially it seemed like a carry-on from the Hampshire game.  After four overs the score was just 2, by virtue of an edged single and a wide, and bat had hardly been laid on ball.  Facing a prospective score of 25 after 50 overs, the outlook looked grim.  AC got things moving with three boundaries to different areas of the ground off consecutive balls – all beautiful shots and typical Malan – but then Robinson trapped Compo, and it was 18-1.

Enter Nick Gubbins. I think many of us would own up to feeling that Gubbo is not an obvious pick for our white ball XI.  His half-century against Kent was a pleasant surprise, and batting at number 6 he had seemed liberated; but now he was back at number 3, in difficult conditions and with our backs against the wall.  The situation did not look promising.

So what happened over the next couple of hours was a complete surprise and a total joy.  After a quiet start, Gubbo simply took command of the bowling, and AC followed.  Time and time again Gubbo launched into his now trademark energetic pulls and drives over midwicket and mid-on, while AC was all elegance and timing.  The 100 partnership, and then the 200 partnership, seemed inevitable.  The two progressed through the 90s together, Gubbo first to his century with his fifth 6 (badly dropped by a spectator), while AC reached his in the following over.  By contrast, he had not as yet scored a single 6, and had barely lifted the ball of the ground, but that now changed as the pair went for broke.  They had put on an extraordinary 268 when AC, going for his fourth boundary in a Yardy over, was bowled, exercising a most unMalan-like shot. Gubbo went in the next over, failing for once to clear the boundary, and suddenly there was a twinge of doubt: surely, with nine overs still remaining, the innings wasn’t going to lose momentum and peter out?  Simmo provided the perfect answer to that, with a savage 50 off just 25 balls. 367 was a fantastic final score. A surely unbeatable score was my initial reaction, but then I considered the strong Sussex batting line-up – stronger than ours on paper – and wondered.

Sussex had looked increasingly despondent in the field, and not always totally committed, but there was no sign of that in their batting. The first ball of the innings was cover-driven by Nash for 4, which was a pretty good statement of intent.  But that was all we got for the time being, as the drizzle got heavier and the players went off.  We took shelter under the awning of the bar and took the opportunity to sample the local Hammertops ales, while the home supporters calculated the over rate (“4 runs a ball is 24 runs an over – we should have this won in 15 overs!”). Back out for another 3 overs, then heavier drizzle still led to another delay, before the target was revised to 309 off 40 overs. 

By now it was a lovely, clear evening, though the seagulls’ persistent and noisy raids over the burger vans made us feel uncomfortably like extras in The Birds.

The Sussex openers had hit their stride with 39 off 3 overs when Dex came on, and after starting with a wide and a 4 he had Nash top-edging and well caught by a diving Harry.  A few overs later he struck again to dismiss Machin, who was replaced by George Bailey. An expensive Malan over saw Sussex edge ahead on Duckworth-Lewis, and things were looking worrying until Dex splendidly caught Wright on the boundary, toppling forward to avoid falling over the ropes. A toilet trip soon accounted for Ed Joyce, and my concerns over 17 taken off a Harry over and an inexplicable dropped catch by Skippy off his own bowling were assuaged when the reliable Dex bowled the oddly-named Craig Cachopa.  With 82 needed off 9 overs I headed off to Hove station to catch my train home in confident mood.

As it happened, my train was 15 minutes late, and on the platform a clutch of Middle supporters huddled together over Cricinfo updates and texts from Barmy Kev (at times rather cryptic: “’no more beer’? Kev doesn’t drink beer, does he? Oh, he must mean that Will Beer’s out…”).  43 needed off 3 overs, 31 off 2, then 17 off the last over.  Surely safe!  But wait - 9 off 3 balls, then 6 off the final ball…..then cheers of relief as confirmation finally came that we had held on.

Of course, many of you will have seen this denouement that I only experienced by proxy.  I had a delayed journey back, finally getting home at 01.00 after much reflection on the maddening inconsistency of this Middlesex team.  But it was all worth it to have been there.

Positives

• Brilliant and ruthless batting by Gubbins and Malan, all the more enjoyable because of their contrasting styles.
• The players promised a response to Saturday’s performance, and they delivered.
• We won!

Negatives

• I didn’t see us win.
• Seagulls
• Who knows which Middlesex will turn up at Essex?