As the 19-year-old Haseeb Hameed chiseled out his second Championship hundred, a magnificent display of stony-faced stoicism, this match descended into a deep slumber. Surely, on a pitch as comatose as this, it would be a draw. And so it turned out to be, but not without some fretful jolts as Nottinghamshire’s spunky bowling attack kept charging in and shaking the drowse.
Hameed’s efforts leave Lancashire second, ahead of Warwickshire – also on 117 points – by virtue of an extra win; they may no longer top the table, but this felt like a seismic result.
Hameed has what are now called “old-fashioned virtues”. The Nottinghamshire coach and England selector Mick Newell summed this up neatly when he said: “He was terrific. If Test cricket survives and thrives, then here’s a boy who was born to open the batting in it. I just hope the game lasts long enough for him to play it. He’s made for it. He is a throwback, and he’s played very well against a high-quality attack in a pressure situation.”
Hameed’s sweater hangs loose off his slight frame and his arms are languid and graceful, his legs springy. His greatest strength is his knowledge of the locality of his off-stump. He variously leaves on line and length, and does it often, while his defence sees his nose lowered to the floor; as a result of these foundations, 221 of his 284 balls were dots. Here, he patted to point, and waited – and waited more – for the bad ball. He brought up his century – and pushed Lancashire into the lead – in the over before lunch with a straight drive then late cut off Imran Tahir, two aesthetically immaculate strokes.
That first session had been a profitable one for Lancashire, despite some excellent bowling. Just Tom Smith fell, as Harry Gurney got one to pop up and Steven Mullaney took a low catch at second slip. Luke Procter had watched the openers long enough to know the drill, and joined Hameed for a dose of frill-less knuckling down.
With the new ball taken immediately after lunch, it was Stuart Broad – at Trent Bridge, why of course? – who woke up the game. First, Procter was lbw, then – after flicking through midwicket beautifully – Alviro Petersen’s judgment deserted him as he left one that clattered into his middle and off stumps halfway up. It had nipped back, but not much, and Broad tailed away in typically effervescent celebration, team-mates in tow.
A few overs later the tight line of Brett Hutton, who bowls with a grunt more at home in SW19 than NW8, saw Hameed feather behind on 122. Twenty four hours after wandering out to save the game, Hameed had been tiring. In Hutton’s next over, Liam Livingstone slapped to mid-on; Lancashire had lost four for 24, and were only 35 ahead.
Fortunately, the 10 overs Hameed had spent with his captain, Steven Croft, were enough to pass the dead-batting baton. Two more wickets would fall – Karl Brown, straight after tea, caught brilliantly by Brendan Taylor, diving one-handed low to his left at short leg, off Tahir, while Gurney forced Jordan Clark to play on as the game wound down.
Croft, though, navigated Lancashire – with not a memorable stroke played – to 106 ahead, and Mullaney, whose struggling team were satisfied enough with their 13 points, offered a handshake with 11 overs remaining and five fielders helmeted around the bat. They could not have given more in their pursuit of a win.
