Dung, Ice and Jolly Rogers
4-18
By Dingy Bags
April 20 2011
Dingy Bags describes a day that starts with a nasty smell, but ended up as another breath of fresh air for Middlesex.
Brilliant! Marvellous! Wonderful!
Middlesex
continued their fine start to the season and took a real grip on the
game at sunny Derby. The ground itself continues to be developed along
excellent lines and really is quite a smart venue these days. Well done
to a club that many reformists see as high on the hitlist for
amalgamation. However, the horses might be long gone from the Racecourse
Ground but there was still a distinct smell of manure at the Racecourse
End.
Or perhaps it was the smell of the home batting...
We were, predictably, unchanged, although Toby R-J was on twelfth man duties, summoned from Crosby (which was a mild surprise). Sutton won the toss and batted on a wicket that had a hit of green but under clear blue skies. Murts opened at the City End and Colly from the Dung End – and they were on the button from the start. There was clearly some swing – they kept a full length to three, even four slips and the Derby batsmen looked as uncomfortable as we had made it for the Essex lot (who have had a rather better day today, I see).
Madsen,
fresh from a ton in the last game, soon popped the easiest of catches
to point off bat and pad and Scott Newman took the kind of catch
Boycott’s mum used her pinny for. But the defining period of the innings
concerned the fit again Iceman who, replacing Colly (so Finn was our fourth
seamer today), took four wickets in no time at all, two in his second
over: a fine effort from the agile Rayner at second slip to get rid of
Durston and a more straightforward one from the same man to see the back
of the muscular Hughes.
We caught well today (I am not certain but Bergie could have had a Michelle cos I think Mala dropped a stinger from Sutton off a top edge) but Dex and Mala also held slip chances in this spell. I have not often seen the skipper fielding behind the bat. So lunch at 79-5 from 30, after a couple of overs from Rayner. (I see what Big Harv means about his crooked-looking arm.)
close to a Michelle
There
was no let up in the intensity after lunch, despite the fact that the
ball was clearly not moving or lifting anything like as much as first
thing. I was chatting to Peter the ice-cream man, resplendent in MCC
tie, when Colly had Redfern caught again in the slips and Murts then
bowled Sutton. There was a bit of tail resistance but nothing like the
kind of thing that has dogged us in the past as Clare repeated Madsen’s
dismissal, Finn had Groenewald caught brilliantly by Simmo and Rayner
proved what an excellent cricketer he is by an athletic caught and
bowled. I’d like to see him here permanently.
Never
judge a track until both sides have batted, and all that, but this was
not a 154 wicket and there were no clouds at all unlike last week when
they were sitting about ten feet above the stands. Groener and Palladino
(who spent years never getting a game with Essex) started and tested
our openers; there was a bit of swing and occasional lift. The runs came
slowly to start with but, just as we started to accelerate, Scottie
looped one to mid-on off what might have been a leading edge.
Surprisingly, Groener, the successful bowler only bowled six overs in his opening spell perhaps because, as later became apparent, Derby have FIVE seamers in this match and Sutton felt they all had to have a go! Rogers started to time it really well as the evening session wore on, despite being hit on the hand (he had fielded mainly at long leg!!) by Clare and requiring treatment. It was great to see him get his first 50 for us and I hope those of you going tomorrow see him convert. I heard one muttered “Judas” but we can do better on that theme! Dan H had a rather more torrid time of it (he was stuck on 5 for ages) but when Groener came back at the other end he hit him for two fours in the over and scored a bit more steadily after that, though with a bit of luck. Perhaps he is feeling the weight of Robbo’s runs from Crosby or of Jeff Coleman’s sponsorship money.
Sutton
seemed to injure himself taking an awkward one and was later replaced
by Tom Poyton who, I think, has played against us before.
The
day ended with Hughes bowling slow left arm somethings from an amble of
two paces (the first two balls were long hops and Rogers nearly got out
off both!) and Smith switching to off breaks after some earlier seam
up.
Great to see Bergie back and let’s hope he stays fit.
Great to see Dan H tough it out like that.
Great to see Rogers in the runs so early.
I like the intensity in the field; I like the catching.
Perhaps even Gus is smiling tonight but then again...
Best wishes to the member of the coaching staff STILL troubled by some horrible bug.
Great day – now let’s keep our foot on their throat.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:04:25:01:25:00 by BarmierKev.
As I said on the other thread. After the first day we are well on top.
However, there is still a long way to go in this game .Good luck to all our boys on Day Two and let us hope we can continue the good work.
Nice to read of a hint of green to the pitch and that the bowlers were able to extract some life.
I am also a strong supporter of Rayner and hope that a deal can be struck.
A good start for the Middle.
We are playing with a strong intensity. The fielding looks very good which is a sign of a team that is sharp and importantly very fit.
I like the look of our bowling attack and there seems to be a geniune competition for places which will be important as the season progresses.
A Very good day for the iceman..... What a star!!! However all our bowlers played their part as well as some fine catches too!! I looked at the youtube match highlights too... seems rayner couldn't help but catch that ball!
Well done lads... keep it up!!!
Kimmy