LV= County Championship Division Two, Kia Oval (close, day three), Derbyshire 313: C Hughes 96; T Curran 5-71, Ansari 4-61, Surrey 560: Ansari 106, Burns 92; Durston 6-113, Derbyshire trail by 247 runs.
To The Oval! …late on Thursday afternoon for the final session of the day with Surrey.
It was the first day back at school. I had expected to be in desperate need of some BOOZE. I ended up taking up my place at the top tier of the Pavilion and watching South London pass me by as I supped on some Surrey tea.
Ahh - that’s better.
Sadly I missed a fine century from #AnsariWatch. I was too bloody busy back in the day job taking 100 photos of lovely kids, multiplied by four.
Surrey Skipper Gareth Batty was also thinking about the numbers. I sat down with my hot cuppa, just in time to see a slog to the boundary and a six for the Captain.
WELL BATTED, etc.
The South London sun had somehow melted during the early September haze. What was clear however was the BRIGHTNESS of the Derbyshire whites.
Blimey - someone up in the East Midlands has a Daz Ultra fixation. It made the slight off-white brown of Surrey look like a painter and decorator’s pair of overalls.
Batty and sidekick Tom Curran soon put their foot down at the crease. A 200+ plus lead over the visitors for the first innings appeared on the scoreboard.
Poor old Ben Slater took one right in the balls for the team, fielding at point and with what looked like no protection.
OUCH.
That bloody hurt.
All of this was being played out under increasingly bruised Transpontine skies. The clouds coming in from North London were dirty big buggers.
It soon became a cat and mouse game for Captain Batty at the crease with the question of: To declare, or not to declare?… occupying everyone’s mind.
Derbyshire were keen to take time out of the game, not wanting to pad up for the final few overs underneath the Oval gloom.
The laid back approach to fielding from Derbyshire even led to Billy Godleman allowing a ball to trickle past him on the boundary for another four. The cricketing shades were then removed by Bill, as if to say blame it on the light, and not the time wasting.
Ta for coming, fella.
But it was the light metre wielding umpires that finally made the call.
The players went off with Surrey on 560. I very much doubt that the ‘rrey will be strolling out to bat whilst I am sitting in the school assembly tomorrow morning.
The game situation is simple: Surrey have three sessions to bowl out Derbyshire. If they achieve this then the ‘rrey will be promoted.
I’ve got another photo heavy school day tomorrow. It would be half decent if Surrey could delay the probable promotion celebrations until I arrive at The Oval to capture it all on camera.
C’mon the ‘rrey!
