Riverside old boy keen to provide the jolt that helps keep his final county, the three-times champions, in the public consciousnessDurham issued a statement of gratitude on Tuesday afternoon for a landslide of support from the wider cricketing family following their relegation to Division Two in exchange for a £3.8m bailout, describing the response over the previous 24 hours as “beyond comprehension”.The news that the County Championship’s most northerly club will, for reasons beyond their on-field performance, start the 2017 season at the bottom of the pile with a 48‑point deficit certainly shocked all who heard it on Monday. Football, the north-east’s first love, is well used to such scenarios. But cricket? The summer sport has never before witnessed such a...
Middlesex’s title win was so exciting because it really mattered and that must not be diminished by another T20 competitionSuddenly county cricket is sexy. The melodrama of the last round of matches was agony for the committed, fascinating for the neutral and it even captured a fresh audience, which will please everyone at the England and Wales Cricket Board since they keep stressing this goal (rather than their eagerness to generate some more quick cash). Taken in isolation the Middlesex-Yorkshire match at Lord’s was often a turgid affair on a dull surface. Yet it was mesmerising as the visitors eked out the last few runs to take them to 350; before Nick Gubbins rose to the occasion as impressively as...
Matthew Maynard’s men at Taunton had plenty to be proud of despite watching Middlesex deny the county what would have been a first Championship titleAt least the bar sales were good at Taunton. There was a determination to enjoy the sunshine and the cider (well, there must have been a few drinking cider). All three bars at the ground were full and there was cause to turn to drink. The televisions were on for the masochists. Related: Middlesex pip Yorkshire and Somerset to title after thrilling finale at Lord’s Related: Ryan Sidebottom chuntering away signals good health for county cricket | Barney Ronay Continue reading...
The unspectacular Yorkshire bowler digging in to keep his side in the hunt for the County Championship title was a self-contained moment of pure theatreSexual Chocolate. Shirley Temple, Sideshow Bob. Stringfellow. Ryan Sidebottom seems to be one of those people who just attracts nicknames, the kind of man who looks like he gets clapped on the shoulder a lot, bear-hugged by acquaintances, bantered at by passing stag-dos when he appears on a crowded railway station, head bobbing above the heads, unmistakably that guy. Related: County cricket: three-way title race goes to the final day – live! Related: Ian Bell’s Warwickshire need seven Lancashire wickets to stay in Division One Continue reading...
The 38-year-old has earned his place on the tour of Bangladesh by continuing to toil on the county circuit and while he is a short-term fix, like Fred Titmus and John Emburey, he is unlikely to see it that way himself“The day I stop wanting to be No1,” Gareth Batty once said, “is the day I retire.” That was 12 years ago, and even he wasn’t sure whether his ambition would last this long. Back then he was still burning about the fact that he was the man bowling to Brian Lara when he broke Matthew Hayden’s world record for the best Test score in Antigua earlier that same year. “Maybe in 10 to 15 years’ time, certainly when I’m...