Once again an inability to kill off the opposition tail has left us staring defeat in the face, this time at the hands of Lancashire. The equation is simple, to be honest. We need to bat out the whole of tomorrow and well into the fourth day to stand any chance of the result not being a loss. Having had Lancashire 144-5, in reply to our paltry 160, we let them run riot as the tail wagged and wagged until they were all out for 398. Thankfully we didn't lose a wicket before close. In Adams, Carberry, Hughes and McKenzie we posess the best top four in the country, in my view. Reputations are one thing, actually doing the hard work is another and two of those will need very big scores to turn this situation around. On the bowling front Wood was a bloody miracle. On debut in the Championship he did his utmost for the team, and with fine success, picking up three middle order wickets, including the sloth Chilton. Sadly he wasn't exactly backed up by the others, McKenzie chipping in with two lower order wickets to prevent yet more damage.
Overall it was a pretty terrible day, meaning that we MUST win at least one of our two remaining games. Warwickshire look on course to beat Kent, so it may be that Kent will be scrapping for their very survival next week. It may be worth drafting Griff in to the team for the Kent match. Tomlinson has been incredibly accurate but he just isn't picking up the wickets of late. This has been our downfall on numerous occasions this year and Griff is a wicket taker at the end of the day. The other question will be who comes in for Macca? It will most likely be Benham, who like last season will have to come into the side with an extremely vital role to play in the middle order. Why we keep doing this to ourselves each season, leaving it to the last to try and get out of relegation danger, I don't quite know. If I did I guess I wouldn't be here now.
Showing posts with label Wood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wood. Show all posts
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Monday, 9 August 2010
The revival continues
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| Old times: Lumb and Adams |
It's been far to long since Michael Lumb and Jimmy Adams combined in a one day match at the top of the order to decide the outcome of the game. I can think of the final Pro40 match of last season against Notts, but the time they truly came to town was during the run up to, and including the FPT Final last spring and summer. Durham have officially played Lumb back into form - Lumb has played 3 innings against Durham in 6 days and has returned scores of 64, 75 and 158, which is fantastic news for both Lumb and Hampshire as it hopefully solves the number 3 position in the Championship again, plus we have the second one day opener back scoring runs. Tasked with chasing down a total of 206 for victory, Adams and Lumb put on a fine display of power hitting, strike rotation and solid defense on a wicket that didn't offer stacks for the bowler but certainly wasn't a road either. When Adams failed to clear mid-on off of the bowling of Benkenstein, the required runs were only 56 as the opening pair had put on 150. Adams played extremely well, scoring 86 at better than a run a ball including two maximums and six 4s. Unlike last year it was Adams that came out the aggressive one, finding the shorter legside boundary early on whilst Lumb looked shaky early doors. It was perhaps clear that the two had not batted together properly in a long time as a couple of mix ups could have run out either of the two at points in the innings. As it was though, both men survived and nullified the pace attack, Plunkett in particular coming in for some harsh treatment. A six over cow corner by Lumb was celebrated with a fly-over from a Lancaster bomber, and soon the spinners were on but not even that stopped the pair. An outside edge whilst dancing down the track that went for 4 showed that finally Lumb had a bit of luck on his side.
Vince replaced Adams and took four or five balls to find the middle of the bat, but he got off the mark with a shimmy down the wicket and a whip of the bat to send a Breese ball past a diving mid on and to the boundary. He then fell as he cut Benkenstein to Breese at point who juggled the ball but held on. Lumb was the next to go, again dancing down the wicket but missing what looked like a Blackwell quicker ball and was cleaned up. McKenzie then fell to Benkenstein too, with an inside edge onto off-stump. Despite losing effectively 4-43, an assuring arm was provided by Carberry appearing at 5 in the order, and with a solid Dan Christian, in for Slug at 6, the pair put any nerves to bed and finished off the game, Carberry cutting through a packed off-side field to end the game. To be honest the game could have been over quicker but for excellent outfield work on the longer eastern boundary by young Stokes in particular. In all truthfulness though, restricting Durham to 205-8 was quite an achievement. Captain Mustard opened with di Venuto, and much to everyone's suprise it was di Venuto who was the aggressor, ruthlessly cutting and pulling Cork for 4 from the pavilion end. Cork's first two overs went for 23 but from the other end a little miracle was unfolding, as Wood bowled with pace but above all accuracy, cramping the Colonel up for space and restricting di Venuto to the odd single. When Wood removed Mustard's offstump in his third over, his figures read 1-5, a slight improvement of Cork and Christian's combined figures from the other end of 3 overs for 34. di Venuto continued to make merry but was then outdone by Simon Jones, making his first 40 over start for Hampshire, as substitute Benham took a great low catch inside the ring on the on side.
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| di Venuto - the top order aggressor |
At 55-2 Durham had lost both openers but the assured Benkenstein was at the crease with Ben Harmison. However Christian, Jones and Briggs turned the screws, making runs extremely hard to come by as the run rate collapsed. Jones bowled particularly well, and his pace looked up on his 20/20 performances, and his accuracy was better too. Christian bowled accurately, recovering from his nightmare first over, whilst Briggs held his nerve as the batting pair tested the water concerning going after the young spinner. There must have been 2 or 3 possible chances in one of Briggs' overs as both batsmen decided to go aerial but to not much effect, Cork getting a fingertip to one ball but not holding on. It was Briggs who got the breakthrough when Harmison tried to mow one over cow corner but picked out the boundary rider Christian for a frustrated 30 off 53. Muchall was next man in but did not look comfortable either, especially against Jones, and struggled to get any sort of innings going. Adams put him out of his misery though, Benkenstein calling a single that really wasn't on and a direct hit from Adams settled the matter. A slight groan filled the ground though as coming out at number 6 was Blackwell, not the player you want to see come in with 11 overs to spare. However Blackwell looked short of match fitness, as he laboured both his shots and his running. You wonder if Benkenstein did it on purpose, as he again called for a single that wasn't available, and Christian and Bates combined to send Blackwell trudging back to the dressing room. Benkenstein fell soon after as panic set in amongst Durham, realising that 200 was going to be close to their score. Cork had brought himself back on to repair his figures, but Benkenstein targeted the short boundary only to be cut off by a diving Lumb a few metres in from the ropes ending a boundary-less 33 from 57 balls. Breese very nearly lost his wicket straight away, gloving to Bates but Cork had overstepped, much to his protestations. Together Breese and Stokes started scoring quickly, finding the boundary in the powerplay before Wood was brought back on to bowl out his overs. Standing up to the stumps, Bates held onto a faint edge off Breese, who walked immediately to give Wood his second wicket. Plunkett lasted two balls as he top edged Christian to Briggs at fine leg. Claydon let his intentions be known as he warmed up at the crease by swishing his bat in a cow corner arc. It worked to an extent as he found the boundary twice, the second off the last ball of the innings as Durham ended on 205-8. Stokes unbeaten at the other end on 31 but he'd be frustrated as hewas unable to accelerate the innings as much as he would have wanted to.
Monday, 19 July 2010
A brilliant performance
I like to think that I offer praise in plentiful amounts but equally I have to admit I can be very niggly about things even in a win. However, given the situation we found ourselves in at 2:30 this afternoon, I have to say that today's match was one of the most enjoyable and pleasing in a long time. By our own design we found ourselves in effectively a round of 16 - lose and we were out (as it was in the Surrey game we certainly would have been out), win and a quarter-final spot was ours. The most obvious thing first up was that the boundaries had been moved in some way, shorter than I've ever seen them at The Rose Bowl, but still a veritable plain in comparison to some of the IPL pitches. Moans from some "experienced" members of the crowd and of course the Sky commentators when I caught up with the highlights later were to be expected, however the boundaries were larger than the minimum and both sides had to bat and field on it so I can't really see the problem. Yes they were short but not everything hit in the air went for six!
So Yardy won the toss and put Hampshire in on an apparently glued track. Corky gave quite a long team talk (after a quick ciggie at the dressing room door, very naughty) before Adams and suprisingly Razzaq walked to the middle. Prior gave us all a taste of what was to come by letting the first ball of the innings from Rayner through for 2 wides. Razzaq found the middle to stroke the ball to the cover boundary but Rayner responded by stroking Razzaq's outside edge and Prior actually took a catch. 7-1. Nash came on for more spin from the other end as Adams and Vince looked to find their feet. It didn't take Adams long as he punched a six down the ground early on in his innings. Vince played all round an Arafat straight one and suddenly Hampshire were 2 down for 20 odd. McKenzie came in at 4 wearing shades, as if he wasn't smooth enough already. His shot selection was pretty smooth too, as consecutive 4s got him on his way. Adams struck some more boundaries in brutal, yet calculated fashion until a circus act on the square leg boundary by Luke Wright had Jimmy returning to the dugout for a good 30. Carberry finally came in at 5 with a bit of rebuilding to do to be honest, as he and McKenzie began their partnership circumspectly. However both ramped it up, Carberry with one of his trademark flicks for six, whist McKenzie got a hold of Yardy's bowling to pepper the off side. Further quick scoring followed from Carberry until he was brilliantly run-out by Prior. The base was set, though, as Slug walked to the crease and it certainly didn't take him long to find his range! His stay was relatively short but very, very sweet as the boundaries flowed. When Ervine was run-out with the team score on 175 in the penultimate over, his own contribution consisted of 32 runs, 12 balls face, 2 fours and 3 sixes. None of the boundaries or maximums were lucky either - all 5 were crisp, nicely timed and above all destructive. DC came to the crease, with McKenzie having reached his 50 in that penultimate over. Yardy entrusted the last over with Wright, but McKenzie immediately suggested that that may have been a bad move on Sussex's part, carting the first 3 balls to the boundary, 2 fours and a six. No boundaries came off the last three balls but the damage was well and truely done, 195-5 and momentum moving into the second innings.
One thing I have been critical about (in my last blog at least), was the fact that we have been unable to pick up early wickets, instead letting the opposition build a base. This appeared to be the case today as Slug was given the first over and Wright responded by hitting two boundaries. More boundaries followed next over and Sussex were 21-0 after 2. Bates, helmetless, then stood up to Wood in an effort to put more pressure on Wright. Sure enough it worked as Wright moved to the leg side only to edge the ball into Bates' waiting hands. Reflexes seemed to take over as the bails were off before Bates realised he had taken his first 20/20 catch. Goodwin came to the crease to join Prior who looked relatively sedate, and nothing like his 400 odd tournament runs suggested. Razzaq was trusted with the ball, and an attempted slower ball fooled everyone except the batsman, who let it trickle past, and the umpire who quickly signalled wide. However another attempted slower ball pitching almost halfway down the pitch did for Prior as he pulled the ball awkwardly infront of square, only for McKenzie to leap like a stunted salmon and pouch the catch. Briggs came into the attack and tasted instant success, of sorts. Goodwin blocked a Briggs delivery straight to a diving McKenzie. Yardy was 9/10s of the way down thepitch before Goodwin sent him back. A flick of the ball from McKenzie to Briggs saw Briggs remove the bails but Yardy was already on his way to the dressing room, but not before having a heated exchange with Goodwin. As funny as it was it can't be good for Sussex having their two most senior players having an onfield argument.
With 3 wickets down now Hampshire had the wind in their sails, the bit between their teeth. Briggs' over was tidy, the next over tidy too, before Briggs bamboozled Goodwin, hopping in lazily then turning one enough to clip the top of off stump. This served to bring Dwayne Smith in to join Chris Nash, and it felt like the Sussex lineup would never end! Smith pushed and nudged for an over or two before launching an astonishing and possibly game turning counter-attack. With the rate required up arond 13 and a half an over, Smith came after Briggs like the tiger let loose on Sigfried and Roy. Smith raped and pillaged the over, adding 24 runs to his and Sussex's totals and suddenly the Sharks were momentarily in the game again. Cork answered boldly by bringing himself on and the move paid dividends. A low full toss was thumped by Smith down the ground, but Carberry was there at long off, 2 inches inside the boundary to hold the catch. Gatting was the new man in and he quickly hit a six too, all the time Nash was at the other end rotating the strike and finding the boundary on occasion. However he didn't last long as Vince took a well judged catch at long on, moving to his right. Sussex were listing now but they still held a glimmer of hope as long as Nash was there, and after all Arafat was no bunny. That all changed though with Cork's last over. Nash called Arafat through for a two that was not on and Arafat knew it. The trow from the deep was accurate from Carberry but it was to Cork at the bowler's end where Nash was in. However Cork had noticed Arafat's indecisive running and relaid the ball to Bates who ran Arafat out comfortably. A single by new man Rayner was follwed by another full toss by Cork, and again it was another wicket as Slug held a well judged catch to send Nash back and the game was done. Keegan kept Sussex alive by name only in managing to find the boundary a couple of times. He then however also found the eager hands of Adams on the leg side boundary, Adams tumbling and laughing at the fact that he pulled off a catch probably without seeing the ball due to the sun. DC was given the penultimate over and like true tailenders Rayner and Kirtley could not score off of it, the final ball demolishing Rayner's stumps and Sussex were all out for 150, giving Hampshire victory by 45 runs.
The roar of victory by the crowd was then topped by the roar following the news of Hampshire's progression into the Q-F. Do we really deserve to be there? My first instinct is no, however the fact that we are there must surely mean we deserve to be there, if that makes sense? Anyway a trip to Edgbaston awaits and I think we have a chance. As Corky mentioned in the post match interview we did pretty well there last time we played there, and if we can negate Trott and Bell then we stand a fantastic chance. The carrot of Finals Day at The Rose Bowl should be all the motivation Hampshire need. McKenzie was rightfully man-of-the-match, though I'm not sure if it was given for the 67* and catch, or for the fact that he wore sunglasses whilst batting. I would have awarded it for either to be honest. Bates received plenty of attention, and rightly so as it turned out he had driven down from Loughborough that morning before turning in an exceptional performance behind the stumps. Hampshire post-Pothas is looking oh so much better.
So Yardy won the toss and put Hampshire in on an apparently glued track. Corky gave quite a long team talk (after a quick ciggie at the dressing room door, very naughty) before Adams and suprisingly Razzaq walked to the middle. Prior gave us all a taste of what was to come by letting the first ball of the innings from Rayner through for 2 wides. Razzaq found the middle to stroke the ball to the cover boundary but Rayner responded by stroking Razzaq's outside edge and Prior actually took a catch. 7-1. Nash came on for more spin from the other end as Adams and Vince looked to find their feet. It didn't take Adams long as he punched a six down the ground early on in his innings. Vince played all round an Arafat straight one and suddenly Hampshire were 2 down for 20 odd. McKenzie came in at 4 wearing shades, as if he wasn't smooth enough already. His shot selection was pretty smooth too, as consecutive 4s got him on his way. Adams struck some more boundaries in brutal, yet calculated fashion until a circus act on the square leg boundary by Luke Wright had Jimmy returning to the dugout for a good 30. Carberry finally came in at 5 with a bit of rebuilding to do to be honest, as he and McKenzie began their partnership circumspectly. However both ramped it up, Carberry with one of his trademark flicks for six, whist McKenzie got a hold of Yardy's bowling to pepper the off side. Further quick scoring followed from Carberry until he was brilliantly run-out by Prior. The base was set, though, as Slug walked to the crease and it certainly didn't take him long to find his range! His stay was relatively short but very, very sweet as the boundaries flowed. When Ervine was run-out with the team score on 175 in the penultimate over, his own contribution consisted of 32 runs, 12 balls face, 2 fours and 3 sixes. None of the boundaries or maximums were lucky either - all 5 were crisp, nicely timed and above all destructive. DC came to the crease, with McKenzie having reached his 50 in that penultimate over. Yardy entrusted the last over with Wright, but McKenzie immediately suggested that that may have been a bad move on Sussex's part, carting the first 3 balls to the boundary, 2 fours and a six. No boundaries came off the last three balls but the damage was well and truely done, 195-5 and momentum moving into the second innings.
One thing I have been critical about (in my last blog at least), was the fact that we have been unable to pick up early wickets, instead letting the opposition build a base. This appeared to be the case today as Slug was given the first over and Wright responded by hitting two boundaries. More boundaries followed next over and Sussex were 21-0 after 2. Bates, helmetless, then stood up to Wood in an effort to put more pressure on Wright. Sure enough it worked as Wright moved to the leg side only to edge the ball into Bates' waiting hands. Reflexes seemed to take over as the bails were off before Bates realised he had taken his first 20/20 catch. Goodwin came to the crease to join Prior who looked relatively sedate, and nothing like his 400 odd tournament runs suggested. Razzaq was trusted with the ball, and an attempted slower ball fooled everyone except the batsman, who let it trickle past, and the umpire who quickly signalled wide. However another attempted slower ball pitching almost halfway down the pitch did for Prior as he pulled the ball awkwardly infront of square, only for McKenzie to leap like a stunted salmon and pouch the catch. Briggs came into the attack and tasted instant success, of sorts. Goodwin blocked a Briggs delivery straight to a diving McKenzie. Yardy was 9/10s of the way down thepitch before Goodwin sent him back. A flick of the ball from McKenzie to Briggs saw Briggs remove the bails but Yardy was already on his way to the dressing room, but not before having a heated exchange with Goodwin. As funny as it was it can't be good for Sussex having their two most senior players having an onfield argument.
With 3 wickets down now Hampshire had the wind in their sails, the bit between their teeth. Briggs' over was tidy, the next over tidy too, before Briggs bamboozled Goodwin, hopping in lazily then turning one enough to clip the top of off stump. This served to bring Dwayne Smith in to join Chris Nash, and it felt like the Sussex lineup would never end! Smith pushed and nudged for an over or two before launching an astonishing and possibly game turning counter-attack. With the rate required up arond 13 and a half an over, Smith came after Briggs like the tiger let loose on Sigfried and Roy. Smith raped and pillaged the over, adding 24 runs to his and Sussex's totals and suddenly the Sharks were momentarily in the game again. Cork answered boldly by bringing himself on and the move paid dividends. A low full toss was thumped by Smith down the ground, but Carberry was there at long off, 2 inches inside the boundary to hold the catch. Gatting was the new man in and he quickly hit a six too, all the time Nash was at the other end rotating the strike and finding the boundary on occasion. However he didn't last long as Vince took a well judged catch at long on, moving to his right. Sussex were listing now but they still held a glimmer of hope as long as Nash was there, and after all Arafat was no bunny. That all changed though with Cork's last over. Nash called Arafat through for a two that was not on and Arafat knew it. The trow from the deep was accurate from Carberry but it was to Cork at the bowler's end where Nash was in. However Cork had noticed Arafat's indecisive running and relaid the ball to Bates who ran Arafat out comfortably. A single by new man Rayner was follwed by another full toss by Cork, and again it was another wicket as Slug held a well judged catch to send Nash back and the game was done. Keegan kept Sussex alive by name only in managing to find the boundary a couple of times. He then however also found the eager hands of Adams on the leg side boundary, Adams tumbling and laughing at the fact that he pulled off a catch probably without seeing the ball due to the sun. DC was given the penultimate over and like true tailenders Rayner and Kirtley could not score off of it, the final ball demolishing Rayner's stumps and Sussex were all out for 150, giving Hampshire victory by 45 runs.
The roar of victory by the crowd was then topped by the roar following the news of Hampshire's progression into the Q-F. Do we really deserve to be there? My first instinct is no, however the fact that we are there must surely mean we deserve to be there, if that makes sense? Anyway a trip to Edgbaston awaits and I think we have a chance. As Corky mentioned in the post match interview we did pretty well there last time we played there, and if we can negate Trott and Bell then we stand a fantastic chance. The carrot of Finals Day at The Rose Bowl should be all the motivation Hampshire need. McKenzie was rightfully man-of-the-match, though I'm not sure if it was given for the 67* and catch, or for the fact that he wore sunglasses whilst batting. I would have awarded it for either to be honest. Bates received plenty of attention, and rightly so as it turned out he had driven down from Loughborough that morning before turning in an exceptional performance behind the stumps. Hampshire post-Pothas is looking oh so much better.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Ey, 'twent belly oop
So last night was the first time in a long time Simon Jones got a run out in a county first XI game (the last time was against Hampshire where he nearly got a hattrick - first wicket was Adams, who was clearly just having an off day, then Lamb, which nills any credibility of the hattrick attempt ;) ), and he was a bit undercooked first up. Mind you who wouldn't be after sitting out for two years? All credit to him, after the Davies assault made his figures Ervine-esque (oh, I can't say that now!) he came back well, cleaning up Batty then effecting a run-out off his own bowling. 1-53 is more of a reflection on his first two overs than his last two, though the initial battering was basically the difference between Hampshire and Surrey on the night. Slug continued his fine form with the ball, picking up 3 wickets to take his 20/20 tally to 11, streets ahead of Wood in second with 8 wickets. Probably the worst part was that Cork and Wood both went for lots of runs without getting any wickets. However the good to come out of that is that surely they can not perform as badly as an opening pair again? I guess it was just one of those days for them. Allowing Surrey to get to 200 was a bad showing, but I'm pleased with how positively our batsmen played. Lumb got into double figures, though Slug sadly failed with the bat. Adams piled up some more runs, taking his season total to 278, 142 more than anyone else in the team (McKenzie is on 136). Vince furthered his claim for a permanent spot in the XI by striking at nearly 2 a ball, whilst McKenzie showed he has more than two gears by blasting a 50 that was actually quick enough to be a good effort given the total. Alas it wasn't enough and we finished 11 runs short.
As I said some good can come out of this game, and I'm nowhere near as suicidal as I was after the Somerset match. Ervine must be on drugs or something, how can he bowl so brilliantly?? Adams is still amongst the runs, Vince can become the aggressor at the top that we have been lacking since Lumb lost form. McKenzie earned his salt, Cork and Wood will bowl much better, Dawson can only improve on his batting average of 0.5, whilst Briggs still appears to be a handful with that wide delivery stance that sends the ball from a tree to the batsman. A real disappointment is Nic Pothas, who appears to have lost 'it', though I have my suspicions that Slug and Adams have found 'it' and split it between them. It may be worth our while giving Bates a run in the team - he is the future after all, and with Pothas struggling with various things, age one of them, perhaps it is time to say enough's enough. Oh, and 3 days have now elapsed on Christian's injury time out :D
As I said some good can come out of this game, and I'm nowhere near as suicidal as I was after the Somerset match. Ervine must be on drugs or something, how can he bowl so brilliantly?? Adams is still amongst the runs, Vince can become the aggressor at the top that we have been lacking since Lumb lost form. McKenzie earned his salt, Cork and Wood will bowl much better, Dawson can only improve on his batting average of 0.5, whilst Briggs still appears to be a handful with that wide delivery stance that sends the ball from a tree to the batsman. A real disappointment is Nic Pothas, who appears to have lost 'it', though I have my suspicions that Slug and Adams have found 'it' and split it between them. It may be worth our while giving Bates a run in the team - he is the future after all, and with Pothas struggling with various things, age one of them, perhaps it is time to say enough's enough. Oh, and 3 days have now elapsed on Christian's injury time out :D
Monday, 21 June 2010
A right old mix
So, where to start? On Friday night a right thumping was handed out to the Royals by those idiots at Hove. Bloody Murray Goodwin. Next day Hampshire travelled to Bristol to play Gloucestershire infront of the Sky cameras (only them - there was no crowd). Gloucs won the toss and chose to bat. Pitch looked decent, nice warm sunny day and we skittled 'em for 68 (!!!). A combination of good bowling, good field work and diabolical shot selection made Gloucestershire's batting look as commanding as a giraffe on ice (bbc's new celebrity contestant show). There were two double wicket maidens, one for the mightily impressive Wood and one for Slug, who was made to look like Courtney Walsh on a minefield (ITV's new risque Saturday night show). Slug finished with figures of 4-1-12-4, as even Danny Briggs got in on the act and Dawson bowled 2 full overs for 4. In reply Hampshire seemed to have learnt the lessons of the Kent and Somerset game by chasing down the total in 7.3 overs, the fastest ever non-weather affected chase. Lumb and Adams played ok, Adams showing there was nothing in the pitch by driving 3 balls for four through the covers. Fired up Steve Kirby got rid of both openers in an over and bless him he had his moment, though not even he knew that Gloucs would get anything from the game. James Vince and Slug came to the crease and in his first 20/20 game Vince scored 26 runs, 24 of them in 4s. Slug ended up 15* from 7 balls, whilst McKenzie danced down the track to his second ball and creamed Banerjee over long-off for a one bounce 4. Gidman tried to look interested on Gloucs' behalf by moaning to the Umpires about the scoreboard, but the game was over, done and dusted, Slug man of the match and an early dinner for Hampshire.
Not all good came out of the game though. Dan Christian bowled two balls, including a perfect yorker, then hobbled off clutching his calf. He's out for two weeks and Hampshire's overseas troubles continue. On a happier note, Simon Jones is reportedly fit to play the Tuesday game against Surrey. Bloody hell.
Not all good came out of the game though. Dan Christian bowled two balls, including a perfect yorker, then hobbled off clutching his calf. He's out for two weeks and Hampshire's overseas troubles continue. On a happier note, Simon Jones is reportedly fit to play the Tuesday game against Surrey. Bloody hell.
Monday, 14 June 2010
Hail to the King
A rather apt comment was made over the microphone during the post match interview as the Hampshire fans and that bloke in a Surrey shirt made their way to the exits.
Ex Hampshire physio bench regular, Tremlett, started off with hostile bowling, before getting into his grove and sending down juicy back-of-a-length balls that were greeted with plenty of hooking (mainly for six). The number of boundaries was only matched by the number of extras as no-balls became the delivery of choice for Tremlett, Nel and Dernbach. The (once?) great Symonds served up plenty of crap for Slug and Jimmy to hammer away especially on the short side. Jimmy moved to 50 then onwards at a rate of knots, finding the gaps all over the place. He moved from 91 to 97 in one delivery, then some fantastic running between the wickets got Adams to 99*, one over left. A four off the first ball of the last over, then a single got Slug his 50 and Adams on strike. Next ball Dernbach bowls a full toss that Adams swings to long-on and is caught, but it's a no-ball! Adams gets in before the catch is made so moves onto 100, his first 20/20 century and only his second limited overs century in his career. The full toss was infact Dernbach's second above waste height so is removed from the attack and the last 3 balls are bowled by Symonds. Yum, says Slug and Symo finishes with the unenviable figures of 2.3-0-37-0. A standing ovation rightfully accompanies Jimmy off the field.
Having bought a few cold ones and navigated to decent seats on the shorter boundary, Surrey are ready to start, opening with RH-B sauce and that chap on £150,000 a year, Davies. They started ok (read as keeping with the rate) before a brilliant slower ball from Wood makes the sauce man send a simple return catch. As a bit of comedy is always needed now and again, Surrey were the providers by sending Gareth Batty to the crease at number 3. Lumb cut short the japes with a direct hit that sent Nora back having faced only one ball for a massive 0. Sadly this brought Ramprakash to the crease who actually is pretty good and can bat. Davies isn't too bad either but he was no match for my favourite Aborigine Dan Christian, who got Davies to spoon the ball to Pietersen. Slug got tapped by the new pair at the crease, as Ramps and Symo again took advantage of the short boundary to pepper the poor crowd further. Cork though was up to the challenge in terms of his captaincy by bringing on young Wood to break the partnership, and it worked. Christian again took a wonder catch at square leg to dismiss Symo but Ramps was still striking those boundaries. My nerves were not relieved by the fact that joining Ramps at the crease was Younis Khan, though an unconventional technique was used to break the partnership before it could get going. Carbs had the nouse to field the ball with his privates and spent the next 5 minutes crumpled in a heap on the floor. Those nasty umpires didn't stop the innings clock so we eventually got penalised 6 runs, but it was worth it - once Carbs was no longer bent over double, play resumed and the first ball bowled (by wonder kid Christian) resulted in Adams taking the decisive diving catch off of a Ramps pull. Game over effectively.
The short boundary meant that fours still turned up, but Cork put stamped out the game by cleaning up Younis then having Spriegel caught same over, again a fantastic catch by Danny boy. Jimmy couldn't stay out of the match and ran out Nel, with Schofield being caught off Wood again by Christian. The penalty runs and a couple of boundaries meant that Surrey got some respectability but the game truely belonged to Jimmy Adams. A perfect response to Friday, and yet another fine performance by the king of the Rose Bowl. Just hope England don't get a hold of Adams...
There were a few things we had to put rightYou can bloody well say that again. After a performance that left me devoid of the ability to manipulate my vocal chords for two days, I was expecting rather than hoping for, a decent showing yesterday. Sunny sunny skies, a nice warm atmosphere and plenty in the crowd, if Hampshire didn't pull their fingers out then I may have gone through with my threat to Wes (though obviously not directly aimed at my favourite Ossi) and punched somebody nearby in the kidneys. Thankfully everybody who attended the match are still able to filter their urine without trouble, as the mighty Jimmy Adams smote a wonderful, slogless century as he carried his bat through the innings. The total of 201-2 proved too much for the Surrey Lions (hahaha) who finished on 191-9. Actually the match was more comfortable than the scoreline suggests. Lumby and Adams finally did what they did so well last season and played their shots rather than friggin leaving balls - if it's wide of off-stump just cut at it rather than leave it. Anyway Lumb got past the first and the second over, AND got into double figures as he recorded his first boundary of this season's 20/20. He fell for 18 but it got us into a decent position first up. He was replaced at the crease by the self-styled golden one, KP. I half-heartedly joked to a kind Aussie next to me that he would get out hitting to mid-off. I was halfway there as a Schofield legbreak got snaffled up on the long-off boundary as Pietersen returned to the dugout for 15. Slug joined Jimmy at the crease and it wasn't long before the pair hit their straps, and people in the East stands.
Ex Hampshire physio bench regular, Tremlett, started off with hostile bowling, before getting into his grove and sending down juicy back-of-a-length balls that were greeted with plenty of hooking (mainly for six). The number of boundaries was only matched by the number of extras as no-balls became the delivery of choice for Tremlett, Nel and Dernbach. The (once?) great Symonds served up plenty of crap for Slug and Jimmy to hammer away especially on the short side. Jimmy moved to 50 then onwards at a rate of knots, finding the gaps all over the place. He moved from 91 to 97 in one delivery, then some fantastic running between the wickets got Adams to 99*, one over left. A four off the first ball of the last over, then a single got Slug his 50 and Adams on strike. Next ball Dernbach bowls a full toss that Adams swings to long-on and is caught, but it's a no-ball! Adams gets in before the catch is made so moves onto 100, his first 20/20 century and only his second limited overs century in his career. The full toss was infact Dernbach's second above waste height so is removed from the attack and the last 3 balls are bowled by Symonds. Yum, says Slug and Symo finishes with the unenviable figures of 2.3-0-37-0. A standing ovation rightfully accompanies Jimmy off the field.
Having bought a few cold ones and navigated to decent seats on the shorter boundary, Surrey are ready to start, opening with RH-B sauce and that chap on £150,000 a year, Davies. They started ok (read as keeping with the rate) before a brilliant slower ball from Wood makes the sauce man send a simple return catch. As a bit of comedy is always needed now and again, Surrey were the providers by sending Gareth Batty to the crease at number 3. Lumb cut short the japes with a direct hit that sent Nora back having faced only one ball for a massive 0. Sadly this brought Ramprakash to the crease who actually is pretty good and can bat. Davies isn't too bad either but he was no match for my favourite Aborigine Dan Christian, who got Davies to spoon the ball to Pietersen. Slug got tapped by the new pair at the crease, as Ramps and Symo again took advantage of the short boundary to pepper the poor crowd further. Cork though was up to the challenge in terms of his captaincy by bringing on young Wood to break the partnership, and it worked. Christian again took a wonder catch at square leg to dismiss Symo but Ramps was still striking those boundaries. My nerves were not relieved by the fact that joining Ramps at the crease was Younis Khan, though an unconventional technique was used to break the partnership before it could get going. Carbs had the nouse to field the ball with his privates and spent the next 5 minutes crumpled in a heap on the floor. Those nasty umpires didn't stop the innings clock so we eventually got penalised 6 runs, but it was worth it - once Carbs was no longer bent over double, play resumed and the first ball bowled (by wonder kid Christian) resulted in Adams taking the decisive diving catch off of a Ramps pull. Game over effectively.
The short boundary meant that fours still turned up, but Cork put stamped out the game by cleaning up Younis then having Spriegel caught same over, again a fantastic catch by Danny boy. Jimmy couldn't stay out of the match and ran out Nel, with Schofield being caught off Wood again by Christian. The penalty runs and a couple of boundaries meant that Surrey got some respectability but the game truely belonged to Jimmy Adams. A perfect response to Friday, and yet another fine performance by the king of the Rose Bowl. Just hope England don't get a hold of Adams...
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