Middlesex 358 for 7 (Malan 74, Gubbins 60, Voges 50) v Durham
Scorecard
Ben Stokes returned for Durham after his World T20 final mauling © Getty Images
Ben Stokes was back in action and this time he had the final word. Three weeks have passed since Stokes suffered Carlos Brathwaite’s last-over assault in the World Twenty20 final. Three weeks since the bang, bang, bang, bang from Brathwaite’s bat clattered around Eden Gardens, raged around his head and forced him to his haunches, eyes welling in despair, as the trophy was torn from England’s grasp at the last.
Last balls do not always have to be like that. This time, as bright sunshine cast shadows across the sharpest of spring days, the day finished with an lbw appeal and the dismissal of James Harris. Stokes had 2 for 66 in 21.3 satisfying, blue-collar overs and Durham had held Middlesex at 358 for 7 thanks to four wickets in a productive post-tea session.
If anybody could psychologically withstand Brathwaite’s assault it was Stokes, Paul Collingwood, Durham’s captain had suggested. Collingwood was in a shaken England dressing room that night as part of the coaching staff. “He’s such a tough character and you know he will bounce back strongly,” he said. Nobody should doubt it.
Little more than a week after that final, Stokes was back at Emirates Riverside to watch Durham’s opening Championship match of the season, his support for his home county impressively evident. Far from wanting to get away from cricket, he was already anticipating getting back into the fray.
From the outset, the unity shown by the England cricketing public has been remarkable, the desire for a blame game almost non-existent, the newspaper that blared the headline “Ben Chokes” spectacularly misjudging the public mood. England had dared and almost pulled it off and the fact that Stokes, one of the most combative elements in the side, had suffered such a fearsome knockout blow was somehow an appropriately glorious death, if death there had to be.
In the Station Hotel in Hove that evening, even before the final six fell from the night sky, drinks were immediately downed, chairs pushed back from tables and spectators departed looking almost as shellshocked as England. “It’s the hope that kills you,” somebody remarked. The scene must have been replicated in other bars throughout the country. There had been cries of frustration, but outrage there was none. To attract such support at a time of failure says much about the honesty of endeavour communicated by the most valued of our sporting heroes.
Now Stokes was back. He missed the pre-match warm-up and was reported, slightly disturbingly, to have a touch of man flu, but he clanked reliably down the steps into the Chester-le-Street chill, observed supportively by Durham supporters wrapped in winter coats and woolly hats as protection against hostile temperatures of 7C. For the tenth over he had the ball in his hands once more.
His exploratory first over could not have been further divorced from events in Kolkata if the ECB medical team had insisted on stage-managing an over of spiritual support. Stood before him was Sam Robson, the Middlesex opener, England ambitions sharpened by a record runs haul in his previous Championship match at Lord’s. Robson does not go aerial, certainly not on the first morning of a Championship match; well, not at all really. He is a skilful player, perhaps with a big future ahead, but he was not the sort to revive memories of Brathwaite’s domineering presence. If he asks Stokes to swap shirts, it will be several sizes too big.
Six times Stokes ran in, six times he pounded a reliable area, and six times Robson concentrated on survival. His forward pushes ranged from intense to exceptionally intense. He gave the impression that protecting his stumps from Stokes’ missiles was an act of colossal human endeavour. Bang, bang, bang had been replaced by block, block, block. As each delivery travelled only a few metres along the ground, the clamour of Kolkata gave way to the gentler rhythms of a county season still in its infancy.
An lbw appeal midway through the over went unanswered, but at least it allowed Stokes to bellow with optimism again. Only against the last ball of the over was Robson’s defensive push confident and relaxed. Stokes was back in action, the stains in his memory already washing out, the battle joined once more.
This particular battle has been a good one. Middlesex looked dominant throughout the day, but Durham found ways to hang in there. This will not be an easy season, especially with Mark Wood likely to miss most of it after a second ankle operation and John Hastings, their staunch Australian, another absentee because of injury. Collingwood had said on the eve of the match: “You think ‘Are we going to struggle?’ but someone always seems to put their hand up with big performances.”
Stokes’ first contribution was the wicket of Adam Voges shortly after tea, a good slip catch by Scott Borthwick after Voges fenced at one that bounced a bit. The previous over, Dawid Malan’s untroubled 74 had ended wastefully with static footwork and a flirt at a wide one from Chris Rushworth, Middlesex’s commanding position at 267 for 3 suddenly relinquished by the loss of two wickets on the same score.
One bowler who has a chance to fill the gap is 20-year-old South African Brydon Carse, a slender quick bowler with a fast arm action and an appetite for an attacking length. It was Carse who bowled Robson, defeating him on the drive after conceding successive fours with his previous two deliveries, but he disappeared at seven an over.
The different nature of this season’s pitches suggests the offspin of Ryan Pringle will need to fulfil a more important controlling role and he did that ably until treating Voges to a succession of leg-side long hops, perhaps by then accidentally mistaking a trailing icicle for his spinning finger. Nick Compton was his only wicket, dragging on a pull. Compton cannot afford too many of those if he is to deflect pretenders to his England batting place.
David Hopps is a general editor at ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo