Mike Selvey's report
Middlesex are gathering in front of the pavilion, where they’ll be presented with the trophy. Yorkshire are walking around the ground, thanking their fans. Time for me to shut down, pack up, and slink off in search of a pint of cider. So long everyone, sorry for the typos, and thanks so much for making the Guardian’s live blog such a great place to follow the county game this season.
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Well, if nothing else, I’m glad for my colleague and friend Mike Selvey, who is busy writing his final report for the Guardian even as I type this. It’s a fitting way for him to finish, given how much of his career he spent playing here for the Middle Saxons, as he likes to call them. It’s their first championship title since 1993. As for Somerset, well, as Andrew Benton says “there’s always next year”. They’ve been saying that for 125 years now.
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Middlesex win the 2016 county championship
After beating Yorkshire by 61 runs with 28 balls to spare, Toby-Roland Jones finishing the innings with a hat-trick spread across two overs.
WICKET! Sidebottom 0 b Roland-Jones … Middlesex are champions
It’s all over. Toby Roland-Jones has just won Middlesex the county championship.
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Ryan Sidebottom walks out, last man in.
WICKET! Hodd 17 b Roland-Jones
Hodd is bowled.
I think my heart just broke.
WICKET! Patterson 2 b Finn
Finn has yorked Patterson.
35th over: Yorkshire 178-7 (Hodd 17, Patterson 2) need 240
Middlesex have got seven men out now when Hodd is on strike. In other news, Hampshire have been relegated. Hold on...
“I’m a Somerset fan,” writes Pete Salmon, “and I’ve just realised Middlesex are going to win aren’t they. That’s what’s going to happen, isn’t it. ISN’T IT?!”
WICKET! Rafiq 4 c Simpson b Roland-Jones
Rafiq slices a top edge high into the air, and Simpson takes the catch over behind first slip.
34th over: Yorkshire 173-6 (Hodd 14, Rafiq 4) need 240
“So what are the odds that I get to talking cricket with the guy running the cars concession at the Autumn Fair in Ekenäs, Finland (yes, that Ekenäs, home to Ekenäs CC of OBO and the OBOccasionals matchup glory) yesterday?” asks Sara Torvalds. “OK, reasonable, I suppose, as he was of Indian descent. He tried to turn the conversation to NZ in India, but I had to confess I’d had no time for that series, what with the County Championship going down to the wire. That surprised and delighted him no end, though. He was particularly surprised to find me rooting for Somerset, so I had to confess my love for Marcus Trescothick (one day I will see him play live!), but what are the odds the guy himself lives in Somerset (when he’s not out and about letting kids ride the bumper cars)!? Surely those odds are enough to secure the necessary draw at Lord’s, right? Right?!”
33rd over: Yorkshire 172-6 (Hodd 14, Rafiq 3) need 240
All of a sudden, things feel a little different. Forget about the runs needed, for a moment, the more pertinent point is that Middlesex need four wickets to win the championship. “Nothing for Yorkshire to lose now,” points out John Leavey, “3rd if they lose, 3rd if they draw. Unless they hate the southerners more than the south-westerners!” Hodd cuts the ball just past slip.
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WICKET! Gale 22 b Roland-Jones
Gale is bowled, off the bottom-edge I think, as he swings a pull shot across the line.
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32nd over: Yorkshire 160-5 (Gale 22, Hodd 5) need 240
I’m told that the Somerset players are on the outfield at Taunton, trying to kill the final few minutes before they find out whether or not they’ve won the title. They can’t bear to watch. “Do you think there is a point at which Yorkshire will decide they can’t win and settle for a draw just to stop Middlesex from winning?” asks Vinny Raghavan. My guess is that they’re committed to it, now, one way or another.
31st over: Yorkshire 157-5 (Gale 22, Hodd 2) need 240
Hodd swings and misses. Then gets a single to mid-wicket. There are now just nine overs to go, Yorkshire still need another 84 runs, Middlesex another five wickets. Cross your fingers, Somerset really could be about to win the county championship for the first time in their history.
WICKET! Bresnan 55 LBW b Roland-Jones
Bresnan goes!
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30th over: Yorkshire 149-4 (Bresnan 55, Gale 20) need 240
Bresnan batters another four. Word reaches Lord’s from the Rose Bowl. Here’s Paul Weaver: “The Hampshire supporters are drifting away and Lancashire must be well into their survival celebrations by now. Durham lost their second wicket when Stoneman gloved one from Dawson to Tom Alsop at short leg and just now Graham Clark was stumped as he went down the wicket to Crane. But Durham are 259 for three and need just 37 off 11 with Ben Stokes the new man.”
29th over: Yorkshire 147-4 (Bresnan 50, Gale 19) need 240
Gale got hold of that one, a shortish ball from Finn, which he pulled to mid-wicket for four. Yorkshire now need 99 to win, from 70 balls. Four more, off Gale’s thigh pad. Ali has just reminded me that Gale and Bresnan are brothers-in-law, making this a family affair. Bresnan brings up his fifty, what a match he’s having.
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28th over: Yorkshire 136-4 (Bresnan 49, Gale 14) need 240
Gale has a yahoo at Roland-Jones’ second delivery, and doesn’t get near it. He connects with a crisp cut for a single later in the over though, and we now have 12 overs to go.
27th over: Yorkshire 133-4 (Bresnan 46, Gale 12) need 240
“I take it back,” Ali adds, as Gale steps to leg and hammers a glorious four through cover. This impromptu OBO party has just become a little more official, because we’ve had an email in from Gary Naylor: “There are some people who will never feel the way we feel now.” Personally, I’m feeling hot and confused, squinting at my lap top while I sweat in the press box. But I don’t suppose that’s what you have in mind.
26th over: Yorkshire 127-4 (Bresnan 46, Gale 7) need 240
Roland-Jones is back into the attack. Gale is in horrendous form at the minute, points out my mucker Ali Martin, and is only averaging 20 for the season. Bresnan, on the other hand, is batting as well as ever, and has just smeared four to cow corner. If you’re finding all this excitement inspiring, the OBO’s own team are looking for recruits for their upcoming tour: “The OBOccasionals team are one player short for our trip to the island of Vis in Croatia next weekend, and this is a final, not at all desperate plea for someone to join us. We have two games, on Friday and Sunday, and it should be a glorious weekend. If there is anyone out there interested, email Joe.neate@gmail.com!”
25th over: Yorkshire 119-4 (Bresnan 39, Gale 6) need 240
A great over from Finn, around the wicket to Gale ending in a an edge that flies between the slip and the keeper. The slip got his fingertips to it, but it flew on for four.
24th over: Yorkshire 113-4 (Bresnan 38, Gale 1) need 240
A four! A six! And a cry of “Was that a drop?” from the back of the press box. Someone is here is paying attention, at any rate. Most people have their heads buried in their laptops, and are working away on their reports. After some debate we decide that it wasn’t, and that the ball fell just short of Compton’s grasp. Rayner runs his hands through his hair.
23rd over: Yorkshire 101-4 (Bresnan 27, Gale 0) need 240
Gale is the new man in. Bresnan cloths a lofted drive down the ground for two runs to bring up Yorkshire’s 100. Then has a wild swing at a slower ball, which he misses altogether. I only saw the very last part of Ballance’s dismissal, by the way, which is why the details are so scanty. It can tell you it was a steepler, but not much more.
WICKET! Ballance 30 c Robson b Finn
Ballance is out, caught.
23rd over: Yorkshire 96-3 (Ballance 30, Bresnan 24) need 240 to win
The fifty partnership is up and... over.
22nd over: Yorkshire 96-3 (Ballance 28, Bresnan 24) need 240 to win
Four off Rayner’s latest over. And here’s Paul Weaver, with an update from the Rose Bowl: “ A cry went out from the Arlott Atrium: “Hampshire, you’re rubbish, just like the umpires.” It summed up the frustration in these parts. There have been a number of miscues from the Durham batsmen but they have survived and are now 208 for one and making their victory chase look easy. Stoneman is enjoying his Durham leaving party, having struck 14 fours in an unbeaten hundred. Durham need just 88 off 16. It looks grim for Hampshire.”
21st over: Yorkshire 92-3 (Ballance 27, Bresnan 21) need 240 to win
Finn comes around the wicket to Ballance, switches back over it when a single puts Bresnan on strike. Another single means Yorkshire need exactly 150 to win. Make that 148, as Bresnan clobbers two runs out to cover, Middlesex reeling the ball in just short of the rope and returning it with a relay throw. Having thought about it for a minute, I’ve decided I’m not conflicted after all. I do want Somerset to win. I’m just trying to find a way to make myself feel better about the fact that they’re not going to.
20th over: Yorkshire 87-3 (Ballance 24, Bresnan 19) need 240 to win
Ballance drops to one knee and carts Rayner for six over mid-wicket way. I’ll admit I’m a little conflicted, since much as I’d love Somerset to win, I’d always imagined I’d be there at Taunton to see them do it.
19th over: Yorkshire 77-3 (Ballance 17, Bresnan 16) need 240 to win
Bresnan throws a pull at a short ball from Finn, cuffs it short mid-wicket. Ballance cuts a single to third man. This wouldn’t be OBO without an email or two, so here’s Josh Robinson: “Being sat at a desk desperately trying to finish an article (it’s like my student OBOing days all over again) rather than (as I had planned) having been at Taunton this week, or indeed Lord’s today, I very much sympathize with your missing out on the cheese and wine. But what better way to share the nailbiting finish to the season than by OBOing it. All you need is Smyth there now. Having been carping away BTL about how overly generous the target was to Yorks, I’m now eating my words. Not only that, but I’m predicting that this is going to end in a draw, such that you’ll have OBOd your beloved Somerset’s first championship win. As I say: where would you rather be?”
18th over: Yorkshire 74-3 (Ballance 15 Bresnan 15) need 240 to win
That said, Wilson did seem unusually keen to chat about shipping tonnage production levels in Sunderland during WW2, so maybe I am better off up here after all. Rayner continues, four off the over.
17th over: Yorkshire 70-3 (Ballance 13, Bresnan 13) need 240 to win
And here’s Steve Finn, hurtling in from the Nursery End. His first ball is a beauty, and almost has Bresnan LBW. He’s spared by a thin inside edge. Later in the over, Bresnan wallops a six over square leg, with a flick off his pads. I know that the Guardian’s own Jon Wilson is way down to my left in the sunny grandstands with a nice bottle of red wine, some cheese, bread, and a jar of pickled onions. I could be there, I should be there, if I’d only kept my mouth shut.
16th over: Yorkshire 63-3 (Ballance 13, Bresnan 6) need 240 to win
Ollie Rayner is on, for the first time this innings. Ballance drives his first ball through the covers for four.
We've gone to OBO …
I suspected there would come a point, sometime today when I regretted telling my editors that I’d come along to Lord’s with my laptop. And that moment has arrived. Because they’ve asked me to take over the blog and turn it into an over-by-over. It’s been about four years since I’ve last done one of these. But hey ho, let’s see how we go. Yorkshire are 59 for three, Gary Ballance nine, Tim Bresnan six, they need 240, and there are 25 overs left to play.
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Oof! The third Yorkshire wicket has just fallen at Lord’s, with David Willey picking out Steve Eskinazi running around from mid-on to give Murtagh his second. The big left-hander had been pushed up the order to give it some tap but 11 from 21 was not that. Yorkshire are 48 for three from 12.4 overs ... chasing 240 in 40. This declaration is looking smarter by the minute/wicket. Yorkshire going too hard too early?
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It’s swelteringly hot at Lord’s, where both the Compton and Edrich stands are jam-packed with county cricket fans, most of them debating the merits of Middlesex’s declaration. Consensus is that 240 from 40 overs was probably a touch too generous to Yorkshire. It came at the end of an excruciating, and at times utterly surreal little passage of play, in which Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth and Alex Lees delivered a few overs of particularly ugly declaration bowling. Lees still managed to take two wickets. When he took the first of them – Dawid Malan, for 116, out slapping a full toss straight to square leg – his celebrations consisted of an apologetic shrug to his team-mates. It was Lees’ first wicket in professional cricket. Given the way the game is headed – Yorkshire are 38 for one as I type this, and Lees is 19 not out – it may not be the most memorable thing that happens to him today. Anyway. Middlesex’s captain James Franklin was so determined to get the declaration spot on that he and Steve Eskinazi refused to hit a fair few of the pies Lees and Lyth were serving them. So we were treated to the strange spectacle of batsmen cautiously blocking rank bowling. Thankfully, that’s all over now, though I guess it may be a while before Somerset and their supporters forgive, or forget, this strange episode.
Oh, another wicket, Lees out for 20, and Yorkshire 39 for two. Gary Ballance joins the pinch-hitter David Willey in the middle.
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A little pic for you, of the one man and his proverbial we’re so often told turn up to watch county cricket …
At the moment Hampshire, who have to win here, look like they’re going down; they have bowled 51 of their 78 overs and taken just one wicket. But there could be a lot of cricket to come. Durham have fallen behind the rate but having lost just one wicket will be tempted to launch an effort after tea. Mason Crane, the talented young Hampshire leg-spinner, is doing his best to keep both sides in the match, alternating four-balls with wicket-taking deliveries. Stoneman, playing his last innings for Durham before joining Surrey (as is Borthwick) was almost caught at deep mid-off by James Vince off Crane when he had made 67, having almost fallen to the same combo a little earlier. At tea, Durham have scored 149 for one. That means they have to make 147 more off 27 overs. It might become a terrible anti-climax but I think Durham will have a go after they’ve had a cuppa. I’m keeping half an eye on Lord’s too. All that pre-declaration bowling reminded me of one of the worst aspects of three-day cricket, and those contrived finishes on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. But both Yorkshire and Middlesex deserve this title, and I hope one of them gets it.
Right, after 30 minutes of pies being served up by Yorkshire at Lord’s (in which Alex Lees claimed the first two wickets of his first-class career), Middlesex have declared on 359 for six. It means Yorkshire will need 240 runs in 40 overs for a hat-trick of titles, Middlesex 10 wickets for their first since 1993. Seems very generous from the home side if you ask me but anyway, this game, with apologies to Somerset, is now (mercifully) on.
Middlesex declare on 359-6!
Yorkshire need 240 in 40 overs to win the match and the title.
And so one of the three teams that came into this final round is safe, with Warwickshire completing a crushing 237-run win over Lancashire to guarantee their Division One status and leave the Red Rose now praying for Durham to knock off the runs at Hampshire, or at least grind out a draw. Hampshire win and they are safe, at the expense of Lancs. Weaver has a tense finale on his hands …
Like many others this week, Barney Ronay’s attention is focused on this thrilling County Championship finale – and particularly the role played by Ryan Sidebottom. Here’s an extract from his column:
It has been quite a week for Sidebottom, who has been playing in Yorkshire’s final match of the season at Lord’s , and who on Thursday was involved in a brilliantly minimal, self-contained moment of pure theatre, an hour where on the face of it very little seemed to happen, but which under conditions of full immersion was as gripping as anything you’re likely to come across anywhere.
Even better this was a great moment in the County Championship, a competition that seems to spend most of its time these days being told off by its grandchildren for letting the roof leak and the windows rot and generally squandering the family pile before nodding vaguely and heading off out in the Jag for a sherry and a snooze.
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Hampshire have broken through in the 27th over. A ripper from Crane caught Jennings right back on his stumps and lbw, and it was 75 for one. It’s now 79 for one, so with 50 overs remaining Durham need another 217 and Hampshire need nine wickets. Lancashire, it seems are simply relying on Hampshire not pulling it off.
It’s lunch here at the Ageas Bowl and Hampshire are still looking for their first wicket. Durham have scored 41 without loss after 15 overs, so they’re not exactly powering along. But the batsmen are looking solid. Durham need 255 from 63 overs to send Hampshire into a tailspin and into the second division. Both slow left-armer Dawson and leg-spinner Crane are spinning the ball the wrong way – from their point of view – to the two left-handers. But they will be encouraged by the fact that they have turned the ball more than Ryan Pringle in this match, and Pringle’s seven in Hampshire’s second innings meant he took 10 in the match.
This was not just a good morning for Middlesex and perhaps Somerset, but for county cricket. The crowd were able to spill on to the outfield during the lunch interval having witnessed a vibrant morning’s batting from Nick Gubbins and Dawid Malan. The pair had come together the previous evening with Middlesex in trouble at 2-2 and proceeded to add 198 for the third wicket, 117 of them in the first session today. Both drove with particular fluency and Gubbins seemed destined for his second hundred of the game when five minutes before the interval he chipped a gentle return catch to Akeem Rafiq from the leading edge of his bat, for 93. Milan though is still there, and will stew for a while with his score on 99. At 201 for 3, the Middlesex lead is now 81, still not enough to start thinking about the end game. There are 64 overs left.
Hampshire are desperate for the 10 wickets that will spell first division survival but Durham have made a good start to their chase. They have scored 25 without loss from their opening seven overs, with both Keaton Jennings and the more aggressive Mark Stoneman looking good against Berg and Brad Wheal. But Hampshire are now turning to spin, with Liam Dawson. Here is where the game will be won or lost. Remember – despite their early season batting frailties – it has been Hampshire’s inability to take 20 wickets in a match which has really cost them dear this year.
Find myself stationed at Lord’s today but see the match I left at Edgbaston is continuing to head one way, Warwickshire’s way. Lancashire are now 57 for five in their pursuit of 347 … and nightwatchman Simon Kerrigan is still in. Now, the Lancashire Twitter feed is pretty decent when the Red Rose are bowling, with highlights of wickets posted swiftly. When they are batting, however, nowt. Not a sausage. But Haseeb Hameed c Clarke (second slip) b Wright 27 and Steven Croft c Hain (short leg) b Clarke 1 is what I can tell you.
Ever read The Laughing Policeman by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo? I once picked up a second hand copy at a railway station, to read on a long commute. The cover promised that the final chapter contained the most mindbending twist. I raced through it, alive with expectation, waiting, waiting all the while for the big reveal. Only to find that someone had torn out the very final few pages. Apparently it only happens in the penultimate paragraph. I still don’t know what it is. Anyway. I’m hoping today won’t play out the same way. I’m sure there’s something extraordinary in store at Lord’s. In the meantime, I’ve been reading more of Mike’s early works. His very first piece for The Guardian was actually a tourist’s guide to India, which contains a fine anecdote about Ken Barrington’s bath plug and a group of rowdy fans propelling oranges into the middle of Eden Gardens with a catapult made out of a car tyre. It ends with the following piece of wisdom: “It was Keith Fletcher who introduced me to the pleasures of drinking Scotch whisky by insisting I drank a tumblerful last thing at night, in an effort, he said, to kill any stomach bugs. My advice to this year’s tourists is: stock up well on the duty-frees, because while it may not be the elixir of life it might quell any rumbles on the sub-continent. And even if it doesn’t, it is one hell of a pleasant way to prove someone wrong.”
Welcome to the Ageas Bowl where Hampshire have just declared at 245 for nine. That has set Durham 296 to win from a minimum of 78 overs. Hampshire resumed this morning on 176 for seven, with a lead of 226, with Lewis McManus and Mason Crane the overnight batsmen. It appears that there was an agreement between the teams, because Hampshire batted for exactly an hour. With only one run added, Crane drove Ryan Pringle to Scott Borthwick at mid-on, but the talented McManus went on to make 67 from 90 balls, with 10 fours, before he was caught behind. But then Gareth Berg – who must have felt flattered to have been protected by a nightwatchman the previous evening, hit a quick 36 as if to prove that he was a respectable batsman after all. It’s been an entertaining morning in the brilliant autumn sunshine.
It’s a glorious morning at Lord’s, as if somebody up there knew this was Mike Selvey’s last day covering cricket for the Guardian and fixed the weather for the occasion. Middlesex are 119 for two as I type this, but if Selve’s taught me anything in the 10 years I’ve been working with him, apart from the locations of his favourite spots for sundowners, it’s that you’ve got to know when to watch. And I suspect this day’s play isn’t quite going to catch light till a little later in the afternoon. In the meantime, I’ve been having a rummage around in the archives. And I’ve found, alongside a report from April 23, 1985, a short report on the day’s play at Fenner’s, between Cambridge University v Essex, written, of course, by one Mike Selvey. It was his very first match report for the paper.
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The County Championship has come down to the wire and will be won on the very final day. It is a three-horse race, with Somerset hoping to win their first title in 141 years and Middlesex and Yorkshire facing each other at Lord’s as they do battle to claim the trophy.
Somerset are now top of the table with 226 points having beaten Nottinghamshire in three days, however they will rue the fact they missed out on a fifth batting point in their first innings which would have made Yorkshire’s task harder. The players will gather at Taunton on Friday to watch proceedings at Lord’s.
Middlesex, who have banked five points in the match so far, are second with 218 and Yorkshire, who have claimed seven, are third with 211. There are three possible scenarios from the match: a result (which is worth 16 further points to the winning side), a draw (which is worth five further points to each side) or a tie (which is worth eight further points to each side).
A draw would not be enough for either side at Lord’s, so they must both go for the win in order for the victorious side to clinch the 16 points on offer to overtake Somerset.
A tie would put Middlesex level with Somerset on points although, under tie-breaker rules, Somerset would still then win the Championship as they would have won more games this season (six) than Middlesex (five).
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Hello. The live blog will get under way shortly. Here’s Mike Selvey’s report from day three at Lord’s, as Yorkshire kept their title chances alive. Win today, and the title is theirs. Lose, and they hand it to opponents Middlesex. Draw, and Somerset, who beat Nottinghamshire yesterday, will win their first ever County Championship.
It was the equinox and the autumnal shadows were already stretching out across the Lord’s turf when the Yorkshire team took the field and began their charge towards what they hoped on the final day of the season would be the County Championship title for the third year in a row.
A colossal innings of immense character from Tim Bresnan and lower‑order defiance first from Azeem Rafiq and then the old warhorse Ryan Sidebottom, took Yorkshire to the fourth batting point they needed to ensure they remained in the race and then, with what proved to be a 56-run last-wicket partnership, beyond to a lead of 120.
This provided a tricky situation for Middlesex. With the points, potentially, still to win the title themselves, they were scarcely in a position to do so, the more so when Sidebottom removed Sam Robson in his first over and Jack Brooks castled Nick Compton in his second. This being so, it became incumbent on Middlesex to do all they could to ensure Yorkshire do not win (it is in the genes of the Middle Saxon) and by the close they had reached 81 for two from 38 overs, still 39 adrift, with Nick Gubbins on 38 and Dawid Malan 37.
There does, though, remain an outside possibility that Middlesex could bat long enough to set Yorkshire a Twenty20-type run‑rate knowing they would have to go for it. They would be holding their breath in Taunton at that. A fiver will get entry to Lord’s for the last day, which has got to be worth it.
