The Two Sides Of County Cricket

 

 

Ashes 2013

 

Triumph and tragedy in the county game

 

September 20^th

 

 

[18:00 CEST] Michael Clarke’s increasing back problems may actually prove to be a major boost for Australia. He looks set to miss the tour of India. Rather than being seen as a problem, this may actually be a benefit as, rather than criss-crossing India and throwing his body around in a merciless series of T20 and ODI matches, he will get some rest and play some Sheffield Shield games, if fit. It also distances the squad for India a little more from the likely Ashes team so, were results to go badly in India, there would be a reduced sense that the side has lost momentum. It would help a little to promote the feeling that the Test and ODI squads are just a bit separate and that the Ashes campaign will not be sacrificed on the altar of ODI success.

Today was the last chance for the players in the county game to influence those places in the Ashes squad that are not set in stone. With the Championship decided yesterday, today Yorkshire had the chance to settle the Runners-Up spot. There was something appropriate in the way that Middlesex seemed at one point to be cruising to what was expected to be a really tough target, before collapsing in a heap and falling well short. It was a microcosm of a Middlesex season that started so well. 79 points in the first 5 games with 3 wins and no defeats; 103 points in the next 11 games, with 3 wins and 5 defeats. A look at the Middlesex middle order tells you everything that you need to know: Dexter, average 32.2; Simpson 30.9; Denly 26.1; Berg 23.9; Malan 21.5 and just 96 First Class runs from Morgan. How much longer will Middlesex have patience with Berg, Malan and Morgan? Can a side like Middlesex afford to hang onto a player who plays just a handful of limited overs games per season and maybe one First Class match and is no longer a first choice even on the rare occasions when available for First Class games?

At the bottom of the table, Surrey’s brave bid to take their interest in proceedings into the last round of matches failed. For a good part of the day it looked as if they could just spring a surprise, but Warwickshire’s fifth wicket partnership took the game away from them. After a season where little has gone right, Middlesex’s collapse has given them an unexpected chance to claim third place and win some useful prize money. As Warwickshire were still not safe from relegation before this game, it would be a quite remarkable turnaround. To finish third, Warwickshire must beat Derbyshire and better the result that Sussex obtain against Durham by at least 3 points.

Derbyshire need a small miracle. Even if they win, they depend on the result of the game between the two sides above them: Somerset and Nottinghamshire. Ten points for Nottinghamshire – that’s a draw having scored 300 in the first innings – and nine for Somerset, will see Derbyshire go down whatever happens and potentially become only the third side to be relegated with four wins. The temptation to arrange for both sides to make 300+ and play out a safe draw will be immense. Derbyshire were awful for the first two thirds of the season, but have impressed people with their spirit in making a real bid for survival and in just how much they have improved with a small budget and playing staff.

In contrast, Surrey have made few friends this summer. Surrey have gone from the overwhelmingly young side that was promoted from Division 2 in 2011 to a side that has been a figure of fun. Surrey supporters have not understood it, mainly because they have struggled to distinguish between signing a 38 year old Rickie Ponting and signing a 38 year old Gary Keedy. One was a very fine county player who is at the very end of his career and who was never good enough to play at a higher level. The other was one of the greats of the last twenty-five years. The justification for fielding as many as six players over 35 has been to give a ballast of experience. They have tried to buy success by signing a mixture of brilliant international names and journeymen in the twilight of their careers when they have so much local talent that is going to waste. English cricket is littered with former Surrey players who have been discarded as journeymen and suddenly come good elsewhere (just look how Chris Jordan has gone from “not good enough” to being a good shout for the Ashes squad by moving from The Oval). The talent of bowlers such as Stuart Meaker, who was close to a Test debut in India last winter and Jade Dernbach is being wasted: the former has hardly made an impact this season and the latter has been dropped. An attack that can boast Tremlett, Meaker, Dernbach, Linley and Batty should be causing devastation in Division 1 – on potential it is surely the best – but Surrey are unable to bowl sides out. No Surrey batsman has managed 1000 runs – the best has been 37 year old Solanki, signed from Worcestershire. Only five have managed 500 runs.

All the over-35s have been signed from outside – not one has come through the Surrey system and stayed with the club. One of the unkinder nicknames that Surrey has picked up has been the “geriatrics”; sadly the appellation has often looked well merited. They are now faced with a quite major re-building job in Division 2, without having given the young guns the longer run in the side that would benefit them next year. My guess is that Surrey will need a 4-5 year project to bring on and consolidate young talent in Division 2. English cricket needs a strong Surrey side in the same way that it needs a strong Yorkshire. Gus Fraser took a Middlesex team riven with divisions and wasting away and, over several painful years in Division 2, molded them into a powerful team without resorting to expensive signings. Surrey need something similar to be done. And they need the sort of guiding hand for the young guns that was absent previously, to mature them. There's talent a-plenty there, they just need to harness it properly.