Match destined for a draw despite efforts of Warwickshire seamer
Durham 173 for 5 (Bedingham 37*, Miles 4-42) trail Warwickshire 237 (Yates 102, Raine 3-51, Stokes 3-55) by 64 runs
It’s probably wise, given the unpredictable charm of our great game, not to make too many assumptions ahead of the final day of any match. But it does seem safe to suspect this encounter between Warwickshire and Durham will not be remembered as a classic.
But the world moves on. And this solution, though imperfect, was probably the least bad option. Without the revenue guaranteed by international cricket, the domestic game would be unsustainable. So these sacrifices must be made. You hope, though, that the symbiotic nature of the relationship is appreciated. County cricket needs England, for sure. But England needs county cricket, too. You hope that’s never forgotten.
As it was, in conditions which rarely rose above grim, Durham’s batters took their team to the brink of a first batting bonus point. Sounds pretty inconsequential, doesn’t it? But it was tough, attritional cricket. And with the points gained for a draw having increased to eight this season, there was some purpose to it. In a match which has now lost a day-and-a-half to the weather (there were 49 overs lost on Tuesday to add to the entire first day), little more can be achieved.
Eventually Potts played-on off the inside edge – a victim, perhaps, of that low bounce – before Bancroft was caught on the back leg by one which was angled into him. Scott Borthwick also fell victim to some low bounce, another inside-edge hitting the stumps, before Sean Dickson played across a straight one.
Perhaps Warwickshire were a little unfortunate from that point. The ball was changed in the second over of the Durham innings (on Monday night) after it became lodged under a temporary structure designed for match announcers at limited-overs games. As a result, they had to settle for one that was about 10 overs old. Later in the Durham innings, with the ball soft and the movement having all but disappeared, it might have shown. David Bedingham took full advantage with another impressive contribution, though Rob Yates, at gully, put down a tough chance offered off his outside edge when he had 19. Liam Norwell was the unfortunate bowler.
“Tomorrow is still a huge day for us in the context of our season,” a remarkably upbeat James Franklin, the Durham first-team coach, said afterwards. “If we can have a good batting morning, that will provide is with a big opportunity to go into next week with a whole lot to play for.”
On one hand, it reflects well on the depth of England’s white-ball batting. On the other, it is a crushing disappointment for an unassuming 25-year-old who has tried to let his bat do his talking. He could be forgiven if, only for a day or two, he spent some time reflecting on what more he could have done. The answer is very little. Hain is desperately unfortunate.
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo