OK, now all this has been fairly poorly updated, so here's something to make up for all that, a top five games from the 2016 season. The 2016 season was a particularly good one for us Middlesex supporters with a first county championship since 1993 and I also spent the year trying to go to as much as possible, from championship cricket at Scarborough and the women's ODI at Taunton through to Womens T20 at Beckenham and KSL Finals day at Chelmsford, here are my (totally biased) highlights.
A few notes before I list stuff - this is based off what I saw with my own eyes, if we win the Championship the day after I've been there, it doesn't count as a great game solely for that reason, also this is a list of fun and interesting games to me, with no real bearing on sense or neutrality. This means that Gubbins' 200 > Bresnan's 140 for example as Middlesex are superior to Yorkshire in my totally made up system.
Since the 2017 season starts in the UK this week, let's get on with the list
5 - KSL Finals day
I quite like witnessing history, so new cricket history is particularly good. The first finals day of the Women's Super League (sponsored by Kia so KSL...) took place this year at Chelmsford. Not only was it the first franchise based tournament in the UK, it was the first major headline grabbing women's domestic cricket tournament in the country.
The finals day included a semi final eliminator between the 2nd and 3rd teams where the winner then played the 1st placed team for the trophy. The Western Storm chased down the total set by Loughborough Lightning with relative ease. Ellyse Perry was the only Lightning player to fire, and the combined power of the Storm brought then victory.
The final against the Southern Vipers followed the semi, with the Storm batting first and making 130, with the Vipers gunning down the target to take the inaugural title.
4 - Taunton
Another women's cricket game on the list, I hadn't been to a women's international for a couple of years, so a trip to Taunton was a must for the final ODI between England and Pakistan.
England batted first on a sunny day and then went for it. Despite the early loss of Lauren Winfield, Tammy Beaumont and Georgia Elwiss made Pakistan pay for an appalling performance in the field as several dropped catches and flopped misfields but England in record threatening mood.
Having slammed a record 378-5 the previous week, this was a more measured fours and two approach, but Beaumont batted through the innings to make a humongous 168 not out. Elwiss (77) and Nat Sciver (48 off 22) launched England to 366-4.
It was pretty clear from the outset that Pakistan were playing to improve their net run rate, and being 3 down in eight overs it wasn't going to be any closer than that. Sidra Nawaz made 47, but Laura Marsh (3-29) worked through the middle order before Katherine Brunt bowled out each of the last four to finish with 5-30 as England sealed an emphatic win by 202 runs.
Personally in was good to see Alex Hartley's international debut, even through she went wicketless as it meant I'd now seen her play for three teams (Middlesex, Academy and England and later in the summer add the Surrey Stars to that).
3 - Essex One Day Cup
Having only gone to two one day cup games in the season, both of them were crackers, Essex made the trip to Middlesex and put the hosts in on what was an old pitch,
Middlesex started solidly enough with Sam Robson making 41 before a quick collapse to Dan Lawrence's spin (3-35) nabbed 3 wickets in 11 balls. This brought skipper James Franklin to the crease and he revived the innings with a handy 50 with partnership with Simpson and Higgins dragged Middlesex past 200 to an eventual 219-8 which looked too few even given the difficulty of batting.
Essex started well, with Nic Browne and Tom Westley not fussing around to raise the 50 stand before Middlesex slowly dried up the runs after the powerplay, Browne still looked steady to lead them home, but was bowled by Franklin for 79, even then 94 in 20 overs should've been easy. The middle order however, got horribly stuck as Roland-Jones (4-40) struck when the panicked batsmen were forced into bad shots giving some easy wickets. It came down to 11 needed from the final over with two wickets left, Franklin then dismissed the dangerous Ashar Zaidi first ball and held on to finish with 3-25 from 9 overs (later revealing he had a broken finger) as Middlesex pulled off a heist by four runs.
This game kept alive Middlesex's slim chances of making the knockouts and was a win they really had no business in making with 20 overs to go.
2 - Tie at Chelmsford
The other one-day cup game I went to, Essex vs Somerset on a damp day in June, Essex won the toss and fielded, but the match was reduced to 47 overs per side before play began because rain... So we get 3 overs, then more rain and another long delay with Somerset 12-1, and finally get clear skies and actual play with 29 overs per side. With a damp outfield timing the ball was a bit of a problem, with runs only really coming once you got in. This showed heavily as Adam Hose (77) and Jim Allenby (62) added 141 out of Somerset's eventual 179-8. They played the Essex bowlers with relative ease as 200 looked on with four overs to go, but the late slog by the middle order and canny bowling (and fielding) from Ravi Bopara (3-49) brought about 6-24 in the final four overs.
Thanks to DLS, Essex were set 177 to win from 29 overs, and they suffered their own horrible collapse and crashed to 36-5 against Groenewald and Gregory. Zaidi and Bopara doubled the score but both fell caught to Jamie Overton to leave Essex needing 94 from 69 balls with three wickets left.
James Foster was the only Essex batsman to look comfortable as perhaps Somerset took their foot off the gas a touch and dumped Jamie Overton for consecutive sixes to bring up the 100. He lost Napier and Masters to Gregory leaving him with only Matt Quinn for company showed skill in retaining the stroke as he faced all but one ball of the last four overs. A fifty came from 34 balls, but 24 were needed from 8 with rain falling again, when a boundary was followed by a wide and a pull into the gap at fine leg saw them bring in three more to set up a final over with 16 required.
Gregory beat Foster first ball, but keeper Barrow snatched at the ball and it ran clear of him for four byes. The next ball was short and Foster edged fine of Barrow away for four more, 8 off four. Foster nailed the thirs ball of the over to the square leg fielder and rejects the single. The fourth followed a similar pattern, perfectly timed but straight to the fielder on the square leg fence, dot ball. The rain really pouring down now, but we fight on and Gregory bowls a length ball, which Foster sends high and way over midwicket into the marquee beyond the boundary, an extraordinary hit in the circumstances to leave us with one ball, two runs. Field in for the final ball, Gregory bowls short and slow outside off, Foster waits, swings, and misses, but charges off for the single, the throw from Barrow misses the stumps as Quinn dives and makes it in! They'd stolen the tie out of nothing and a 37 run partnership for the last wicket that left Foster 75 not out and cursing that he couldn't quite have seen Essex over the line.
1 - Scarborough
An away trip into the far north as the two best teams in the country took on each other in what was seen as a potential title decider. Yorkshire won the toss and batted, only for Adam Lyth to mess up a leave and edge Murtagh to Simpson from the first ball of the game. Yorkshire recovered fairly well throughout the rest of the day, with Garry Ballance making a 202 ball hundred and a pair of 63s from Lees and Bresnan left them 291-5 with Murtagh grabbing two more wickets.
Day two and runs and wickets came about more quickly as Yorkshire slipped to 371-9 before some hitting from Patterson and Brooks meant they finished at lunch on 406, Ballance 132. Yorkshire then put Middlesex under pressure, but couldn't take many wickets, Gubbins and Robson adding 87 before both fell quickly only for Bailey and Eskinazi saw them to 130-2 at close.
Day three and Middlesex set about the Yorkshire total as the attack toiled away without much success with Eskinazi and Bailey completed 50s and took the total past 200. Bailey eventually fell to Will Rhodes and Simpson soon after but Franklin joined Eskinazi in grinding through the afternoon, taking 47 balls to get into double figures and Eskinazi reaching his 2nd hundred in 2 weeks in the next over. Runs then flowed off Bresnan and Rafiq as Middlesex went along easily at 4 an over to get to 400 and into the lead in the 126th over, Eskinazi passing 150. Trying to up the rate in the closing overs of the day meant Middlesex lost 4-26 in 33 balls as Esknazi went for 157 and Franklin for 99 to give Jack Brooks a deserved 5-for. Roland-Jones and Murtagh saw Middlesex to the close 470-8 a lead of 64.
The final day looked like the game would end a dull draw as the pitch hadn't had too many demons nor proved conducive to quick scoring, but funny things happen sometimes which make any dull play worthwhile. Middlesex started fairly normally for the first 3 overs and Roland-Jones hooked Brooks straight to Patterson on the fine leg fence, but the catch went down and ball rolled over the fence for 4, that drop proved to cost 98 runs in seven overs as the next ball went for four and Murtsgh carted a couple of boundaries off Bresnan in the next over. Roland Jones took advantage of the short boundary on the sea side of the ground to hit Brooks for six just over the fielder. Maybe spin would do the trick? Roland-Jones stuck Rafiq into the back row of seats towards Peasholme Park, Murtagh then hit the last two balls of the over towards midwicket for a couple more huge sixes. Roland-Jones took Brooks for 2 more sixes over midwicket and one straight down the ground. Roland-Jones had 79 off 51 and Murtagh 47 off 38 when Lyth removed Murtagh and Finn with consecutive balls to finish off Middlesex for 577, 107 runs in 10 overs that morning and a handy lead of 171.
Yorkshire saw off Finn and Murtagh's opening spell, but Lyth edged Roland-Jones's first ball to Frankliin at 3rd slip. Roland-Jones then blasted through Williamson, caught behind a couple of overs later to keep things interesting. Rayner was finding some turn and used his height to get some uneven bounce as Lees pulled out a sweep into the body of short leg, with the ball rebounding back towards the diving Simpson. Finn celebrated by bouncing out Ballance for a tortuous 3, Yorkshire now 63-4. Bresnan was the only batsman to find batting easy, Gale giving Rayner another wicket and having figures of 2-5 from 13 overs at one point. Into the final session and Rhodes and Bresnan could still save the game, but Finn and Murtagh shifted them in quick succession and it was a matter of time until the end. Hodd and Patterson were both caught by Rayner at 2nd slip, and when Jack Brooks fished one from Murtagh to Robson at first slip, Yorkshire had crashed to 167 all out and suffered their first Championship innings defeat at Scarborough. Nine of the wickets ended up caght between keeper and third slip as Middlesex went top of table on the way to eventually winning the title.
