Is the table a true reflection of the cricket played over the season? Sour grapes?
It was an agonizing watch. Northants had wrapped up an innings and nearly 200 run victory within 3 days against local rivals, Leicestershire, a day earlier. However, the squad had to wait until the climax of the Derbyshire Vs Essex match before discovering whether next season we would be playing 1st or 2nd Division cricket. The equation was Essex being set a target of 5.5 runs-per-over in 70 overs. Essex succeeded, and thus took the second and final promotion spot by one point.
I have never been in a situation of watching another game shape the outcome of your own season and it’s quite unbearable at times. Being physically involved in a must-win match holds a huge element of control for you. And, in the end, it is what you are paid to do. Having to watch (luckily, or unluckily, whichever way you view it, the crucial match was being televised, even though it took quite a technical-minded individual to locate the match through the red-button on Sky Sports 37) two other teams decide your fate, means that all control is out of your hands.
Without the TV coverage we would have had to revert to good old Ceefax, when you never quite know how often it is being updated and thus almost don’t believe what it is telling you. This worry is pretty irrational when you consider that whether you find out the true score instantly or an hour later, it doesn’t change the result, and you are definitely still helpless in trying to affect the result should you discover the current score quicker. It is this theory that makes the option of just hitting the golf course and not worrying about the score relatively attractive. This is the theory I adopted during the final days’ play of the 2005 Ashes. It worked then. Maybe I should re-visit that school of thought next time I find myself in that situation. Text messages from good mate and Derbyshire captain, Chris Rogers, the previous evening only served to confuse matters further as I tried to decipher what were jokes and what were “fair dinkum”.
We should have had our fate in our own hands by the last match, however. We missed opportunities to bowl Surrey out and chase a low total on the final day, and we were also unable to avoid defeat against Essex the previous week. All this was in the last month and does not even include the defeat at home against a weakened Gloucestershire side and the numerous batting points dropped throughout the rest of the season.
One thing that is apparent at the end of the whole episode is that we are very adamant that we were the 2nd best team in the County Championship Division 2. We feel that we won more games in the right manner, i.e. bowling sides out twice. We also achieved this by all members of the bowling department contributing, not relying on one star performer. Not wanting to take anything away from Essex, but they finished above us by doing what they do best, and that is chasing targets within a day. Effectively one-day cricket.
The Derbyshire game was not the only occasion when Essex have been set a target on the last day by, virtue of declaration. When a side unsuccessfully sets you a target on a final day, one or both of two things have occurred. Firstly, they have not been bowled out twice. A 4-day game, or a 5-day test match are set out over a number of days in order to allow enough time for teams to take 20 wickets. Failure to do this should result in a draw. Secondly, in order for a target to be set, often ‘free runs’ will be given to the batting team to allow them to contrive a run-chase with the possibility of 3 results still. This allows the team who have perhaps been outplayed for 3 days, to take victory. This was the case at Derbyshire last week. If a game needs to be set-up after 3 days of uninterrupted play then the pitch is too docile. (A discussion that requires a whole separate blog!)
The not-so-old and not totally inaccurate adage that bowlers win 4-day cricket, and batsmen win 1-day cricket, becomes lost as soon as games are set-up and the magical evolution that should occur throughout a 4-day game is completely disregarded on the final day.
One problem in England is the weather. If games were not ‘set-up’ on the final day, then there would be far too many draws. One can argue though, that the reason the County Championship has a bonus structure like it does, is so that the better team will still score higher even if the game is drawn, therefore the problem caused by the weather is slightly mitigated.
This might well sound like sour grapes from a bowler who has missed out on 1st Division cricket next season, not to mention a hefty bonus! Regardless, it is a strong debate across the board methinks!
