365 Sporting Days

Having been at the debacle that was Day 4 of the Lords Ashes I returned 4 days later for a more light hearted evening of T20 Blast.  A local derby if there is such a thing in cricket between Middlesex and Surrey.

As a Surrey member I was naturally hoping to see an away win.  With time to spare I travelled to Baker Street and had a late lunch/early dinner at ASK – a healthy salad no less, ah but followed by lemon tart – maybe not so healthy!

Lords is a short walk from Baker Street and taking that option tends to avoid the big crowds this game attracts, a real benefit when you leave the game after a lot of beer’s been flowing.

Neither team had fared too well in the competition, Middlesex had 3 wins from their 12 games and Surrey 5, they however had a chance of qualifying if they beat Middlesex and won their final  game, depending on other results.  So pride at stake for the home team and the possibility of progression for the visitors.

I had a great seat in the front row of the Upper Compton Stand, it would’ve been even better if my memory card hadn’t decided to go wrong and only allow me to take 130 photos rather than the usual 1000 plus!

Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat, my previous visit to Lords for a T20 saw Middlesex score a good total of 205 against Kent.  Amazingly Kent were all out for 90 – so one of the 3 wins came against the team now sitting at the top of the table!

Nick Gubbins and Dawid Malan opened the batting, Middlesex hearts must have sunk when Gubbins was bowled by Jade Dernbach having faced only 5 balls – he had a single 6 to his name.

This would be the only one of 2 wickets where the ball found the stumps – I was very glad I had my camera trained on the wicket at the right time!

Having been to a few T20 games such as the Middlesex v Kent game and seen collapses, cutting the evening short, I really hoped this poor start wouldn’t set the mould for the first innings.

John Simpson was next to the crease and he seemed to be the man facing for a good while; Malan at the other end was dismissed with the score on 80, an addition of 73 runs, yet he’d faced only 19 balls for his 23 runs.  A tall man, which I’m beginning to think is an unusual trait for an opener, he hit some good shots for his runs, but was caught by Dernbach from the bowling of Zafar Ansari.

Captain Eoin Morgan joined Simpson at the crease; Simpson had been working away scoring 53 runs from 40 balls includin seven 4’s and a single 6.  Ansari turned catcher this time, Sam Curran being the bowler.

It’s worth noting here that Sam Curran is only 17 years old – a bright prospect for the future, he’s joined his brother Tom in the Surrey squad this season.

James Franklin came in to partner Morgan and the 2 of them put their heads down with a partnership of 77. Morgan fell just short of his half century on 48 and yes he was caught – Tom Curran taking the ball from the bowling of Azhar Mahmood.

Franklin fell to Mahmood a mere 6 runs later – caught by Rory Burns he’d scored 41 from 21 balls.  The score had reached a healthy 180 – Neil Dexter with 1 and Ollie Rayner with 4 gave Surrey 185 to chase.

By amazing coincidence in a full crowd I was sat a few rows in front of my Broncos friend Richard, we’d said hello by phone before the innings started.  During the break I moved up to where he and his friends were sitting.

Surreally we went en masse to the Media Centre!  Courtesy of a friend of Richard’s – it was pretty amazing to be inside the iconic ‘structure’.  The view was superb, it’s as if the glass is magnified, it’s a place I have to aspire to be in from a writing perspective, there was plenty of room – I may just try next season!

I went back to my seat to get the few photos my camera allowed; I had the company of Pete – a fellow rugby fan – with his team being Quins.  We had a good chat during the evening, it’s one of the things I love the most about going to sport on my own, I always meet lovely people!

The Surrey innings had started while I was in the media centre – and goodness we saw another Lords collapse!

Jason Roy who’d scored a century at The Oval to seal a good win for Surrey in the same competition against Somerset faced only 4 balls, before he was caught by Mitchell McClenaghan from the bowling of Steven Finn – as an aside – will we see Finn in an England shirt again this summer??

Roy’s fellow opener Steve Davies was joined by Kumar Sangakarra who was to be the top scorer for Surrey.  Davies followed Roy back into the pavilion when he was caught by Gubbins with McClenaghan being the bowler this time.

Ben Foakes lasted only 5 balls before the catching fest continued – Malan taking the catch – Finn bowling the ball.  Things were going well for Middlesex!  Rory Burns was next to go – caught by Morgan, McClenaghan taking another scalp.  Surrey were on 33 for 4!

It looked like the evening my be a short one, it was hard to imagine Surrey would last for 20 overs!  Rather than list the scorecard, which doesn’t make good reading for Surrey fans I’ll add that Sangakarra made 32 before his wicket fell.  Surrey did manage to stay at the wicket for the full 20 overs but only made 117 runs!

Steve Finn took 3 wickets for 17 runs and Neil Dexter 3 for 12 – a very good day at the office for them!

In spite of the result the evening was a good one – Middlesex hit eighteen 4’s and six 6’s in their innings and there were some great catches taken.  All in all an entertaining evening at the Home of Cricket.

One piece of info

• Cost of ticket      £25.00 A small price to pay for an evening at such a wonderful ground!