June 2009 Archives

Warwickshire 27 for 0 (8 overs). Westwood 16, Frost 10.

Westwood, on 13, was dropped by Shafayat at square-leg, a very difficult chance to his right, off Pattinson.

Almost no spectators here. To be fair, not much incentive is there?

Rikki Clarke and Andrew Miller have had a brief and gentle bowling stint on the grass outside the boundary rope by the Wyatt Stand. Miller is pencilled in to play in the friendly at Durham UCCE starting on Thursday.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

Lots of cloud at Edgbaston but not too menacing. Play will start on time though, of course, it's hard to see where this match is going to go.

Nottinghamshire won the toss and will bowl.

Warwickshire have left out Botha. Barker makes his championship debut.

The team: Westwood, Frost, Bell, Trott, Troughton, Ambrose, Carter, Woakes, Patel, Barker, Anyon

The experts to whom the finalists pitched their presentations in tonight's programme were hailed as "the cream of the chocolate industry".

Not true. Warwickshire scorer David Wainwright, whose long and glittering career with Cadbury's almost single-handedly made the company the successful giant that it is today, was nowhere to be seen.

Pouring down at Edgbaston. The noon inspection a formality, surely.

That 10 for 49 by Hollies against Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston in 1946, by the way. As if an all-ten isn't a terrific feat in it's own right, Hollies remains one of only two bowlers ever to achieve it in first-class cricket without the involvement of a fielder.

And, as the other, by John Wisden at Lord's in 1850, was for North v South, Hollies is unique as the only player to do it in county cricket.

Nottinghamshire advanced comfortably to 47 without loss then Hollies changed ends and became unplayable, bowling seven chaps and dismissing three lbw.

In the next game, against Leicestershire at Barwell, he took 12 wickets and he ended the season with 175 (more than the rest of the Bears bowlers put together) at 15.16 apiece.

His batting sounds a bit ropey though. In 40 innings he scored 58 runs with a highest score of five not out and an average of 3.05. He'd never cut it in Twenty20.

Remarkably, the umps evidently think there is a glimmer of hope of some cricket at Edgbaston today. Rather than a 10am call-off like yesterday they have decreed that the players will take an early lunch at 12 o'clock and then a further decision will be made.

The outfield is not the lake that it was this time yesterday but it would still be an amazing effort by the groundstaff - and require a seriously strong and sustained drying wind - to get the ground playable today.

Many congratulations to Holland on their fine achievement at Lord's - a fitting way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their six-wicket win over Denmark in a two-day friendly in Amsterdam in July 1959.

Denmark 85 all out (Maas 5 for 18)
Holland 109 all out
Denmark 103 all out (70.3 overs)
Holland 83 for 4.

Gallois, opening the batting, steered the ship safely home with a steady 20 not out.

I wonder why cricket, given the length of time it has been around, has been taken up seriously by so few nations.

Why, for example, have Poland never bothered?

When Warwickshire played Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston on June 6, 2003, Collins Obuya, on his debut, took his first championship wicket, that of Kevin Pietersen caught and bowled for 221. On May 30, 1975, Alvin Kallicharran (116), Rohan Kanhai (92 not out) and Bill Bourne (51) powered the Bears to a victory target of 371 in 250 minutes against a Notts side which had benefited from 27 leg-byes in the match. On July 24, 1946, Eric Hollies reaped 20.4-4-49-10 in Nottinghamshire's first innings (although the visitors still went on to the match by seven wickets). But there will be no Bears heroics today because the ground is covered in water and umpires George Sharp and Peter Willey have already called off play for the day.

Warwickshire squad: Westwood, Frost, Bell, Trott, Troughton, Ambrose, Botha, Patel, Barker, Carter, Woakes, Anyon.

Every now and then a prosaic old day throws up a moment of unexpected beauty.

When I popped out on an errand at lunchtime, as I drove round a corner I saw an elderly lady in great distress on the pavement. She was ever so slight and frail and clearly distraught, shambling up and down as best she could on her walking frame. She was calling out "Flossie, Flossie" and looked devastated. Her voice was tearful and hoarse; hauntingly desperate.

On the way back two minutes later I thought I'd see if I could help (of course the poor lady might have been unhinged - still tormented, perhaps, by the tragic death of her sister Flossie in 1956) but if a pet had gone astray I was ready to get stuck in. She was in a terrible state.

No need. When I got back round the corner, there she was, crouched over her frame, beaming from ear to ear as a young man made copious fuss of a spaniel which he had evidently reunited with its owner. The old lady looked as happy as she had looked sad moments earlier, the dog was wagging it's tail for England and the chap, who had a laptop case so probably worked in a nearby office, was smiling broadly, evidently delighted to have helped. Wonderful.

Westwood batted beautifully. Also intelligent little knocks from Ambrose and Botha and rarely does an innings of three not out merit much praise but if Barker had got out and Warwickshire been 118 for 7 in very poor light it would have been tough for the tail.

Barker and Piolet bowled groovily. Wonder if either has played himself into the championship team.

Puzzled by the top-order's approach today. The target was modest but Troughton went huge at his first ball while Trott seemed desperate to get the game over in time for "60-minute makeover" at 8pm on Living 2. I know he's been admonished in the past for scoring slowly but perhaps he erred a bit the other way tonight.

An indication that the crowd was on the small side (5,000) was that when those Canada Geese flew over the ground you could hear their wings.

So a top-two place (to reach the quarter-finals) or a top-three place (to qualify for the First Division of the P20) ((if the ECB is barmy enough to persevere with the idea)) (((which of course they are))) is still within the Bears' reach.

It helps that they have played Northamptonshire twice and should help that when the group resumes they start with Gloucestershire and Glamorgan, it's weakest members.

Ah well - after twelve one-dayers on the trot from Edinburgh to London and Cardiff to Canterbury, it's back to the dear old champo for a bit now. Busy times.

Damn. Forgot to vote.

Warwickshire 93 for 5. Light fading. Five Canada Geese have just soared across the ground honking melodically in the direction of Pershore Road.

Light fading. Bears challenge fading. Why did the top order go at a relatively modest target so aggressively?