Canterbury Tales of Woe

Rogers and Out reports on 3 days from Canterbury our last game of the season

With our red ball renaissance led by captain Tim Murtagh, I was delighted to have the opportunity to watch three days of our Third division shoot out with Kent at the St Lawrence ground.

Whilst the current County Championship format is not to everyone’s taste, I have enjoyed our recent recovery in form with our young side thriving under the stewardship of Murts.

Day One 

Out and back in a day for me today on the high-speed train from St Pancras.

Arrived to find that Kent had won the toss and inserted us. Robbo had been dismissed just before my arrival, and Eski was dispatched by Stevens before lunch.  

84/2 seemed a reasonable total for us at lunch, and with Mark Stoneman and Robbie White looking in good nick, I hoped we could build a competitive score.

Alas, the evergreen Stevens forced Stoneman to play on for 59, and 121/2 quickly became 147 all out, with five scores of zero on our card.

Only Robbie White showed any resilience with a gutsy unbeaten 29, but that man Stevens with four wickets and an excellent diving catch to get rid of Toby stole the show.

Our bowlers now had to once again deliver to keep us in the match and our captain was quickly adding to his wicket haul. 

Jordan Cox had been Kent’s hero in the T20 final against Somerset with a fine batting performance and brilliant fielding but Tim bowled him for just two.

He also dismissed Bell-Drummond and Ethan had earlier gained the wicket of Crawley.

Martin Andersson came into the attack and I felt that he was bowling too short to Leaning. However, he proved me wrong as he pitched one up to demolish his stumps after some short stuff.

Kent closed on 82/4 and we made our way back to Canterbury West via the Unicorn.

Day Three

 I was unable to attend day two and was disappointed to miss Mark Stoneman’s excellent century. Having gained a first innings lead of nine, we had increased that to 307 and looked to be in a strong position coming into the third day.

By the time I arrived, we had been dismissed for 363, setting Kent 373 to win. 

I sat in the lower tier of the Knott-Underwood stand and was saddened to hear that the Frank Woolley stand is to be demolished, as it has been deemed unsafe.

Jordan Cox again fell cheaply and we seemed to have a strong grip on the game when Zak Crawley fell for 47, leaving our hosts on 103/4.

It took a superb partnership between wicket keeper Ollie Robinson and Tawanda Muyeye to turn the game on its head. 

Muyeye, who caught the eye with some athletic fielding at the recent 50 over game at Radlett, eclipsed his best first class score and Robinson notched a very fine century.

Just when the game seemed to be running away from us, Murts took the new ball for the last over of the day and took the edge of Robinson’s bat with the very last ball. Simmo gleefully pouched the catch and it was game on for day four.

Kent needing 98 runs and us five wickets.

Several of us ruminated on the day’s play at the Foundry where I had the pleasure of consuming green hopped beer which is apparently only available at this time of year.

Not so good was having to get a take away from McDonald’s as other eateries were closed after our departure from the Foundry.

Day Four 

I had stayed at the same hotel as the team but they had departed for the ground by the time I went to breakfast.

 Another walk down the Old Dover Road took me to the ground in a quietly confident mood.

Stevens and Muyeye resumed Kent’s innings, with the young man from Harare looking for his maiden first class century.

He reached 89 when disaster struck. He went for a risky single, was sent back by Stevens and was superbly run out by TR-J. The poor chap was distraught as he left the field but it had been a crucial innings.

Murts was denied his 900th first class wicket when Sam Robson spilled a chance at slip. However he soon made amends when taking a similar chance off Toby.

310/7 with 63 needed and Grant Stewart and Marcus O’Riordan at the crease.

I knew of Stewart’s prowess with the bat after his century in the pink ball debacle a few years ago, which was derided at the time by our departing coach Richard Scott.

Once again, Stewart was our nemesis with a fine innings, with some lusty blows, and he was well supported by O’Riordan, who struck the ball sweetly too.

Although Martin dismissed O’Riordan with 15 runs for Kent to get, the writing was on the wall and despite a couple of wobbles, Milnes and Stewart got them over the line by 2 wickets.

It had been a very enjoyable game. Disappointing to lose, but Kent deserve credit for chasing down such a total. The pitch did get easier for batting as the game went on but that should not diminish their achievement.

We battled hard but it was not to be. Another tough experience but I feel that several of our young lads in our starting eleven in this match will become Middlesex stalwarts for years to come.