It was the eyes which drew me in. Sparkling blue eyes. Backed up by a familiar smile. Yet as we exchanged pleasantries over the buffet oteounter at a hotel, I knew I hadn’t met this person before. I recognised her. No doubt about that. She’d been in my house many times over the years, not least just two weeks earlier. But who was she? And then the penny dropped. “The Decoy Bride!”
Durham headed to Trent Bridge in late April looking to put the bitter disappointments of Warwickshire and Yorkshire behind them. Although the defeat in Birmingham was incredibly one-sided, there was a feeling Yorkshire got away with a fluky one in Chester-le-Street. But it would be months before they could get a crack at revenge.
Trent Bridge had been a decent hunting ground for Durham – and Mark Wood who was making his annual appearance there. The hosts batted first and made 320. But 149 of those runs came from batsmen after they were dropped. Catches win matches! Ed Cowan made 40 after being dropped on four. Steven Mullaney was put down on six and went on to score 80. Stuart Broad made 46 after being shelled on seven. And after that there was James Taylor with 97.
Will Smith opened the batting against his former side, which meant he spent the first two and a half days on the field. His 153 came in eight and a half hours and included 393 balls. Durham had been 148-5 and in a spot of bother either side of lunch on day two, but Smith and Paul Collingwood added 115 for the sixth wicket. The visitors eventually ended up with a lead of 151 thanks to a career-best of 58* from Mark Wood too.
It’s funny the people you bump into when travelling around the country. I was sitting in the breakfast room of Nottingham’s Crowne Plaza hotel on the morning of day three when a lady smiled and said hello. I recognised her, but then couldn’t remember where from. I knew I had only seen her a week or so earlier but where? It certainly wasn’t cricket related.
We exchanged pleasantries while waiting for our eggs and then it hit me. She was an actress and I had recently seen her in a film called The Decoy Bride. It features, among others Neil Tennant of Dr Who fame. The lady in question was Maureen Beattie, who has also been a regular in shows like Taggart, The Bill and Casualty. But why was she in Nottingham?
The Theatre Royal is next to the hotel and that week Noises Off was the star attraction. Maureen was in it alongside Neil Pearson of Drop the Dead Donkey and Bridget Jones. Although I think his best work was as a TV reporter in the football comedy Bostock’s Cup. It’s a film about a lower league side winning the FA Cup in the 1970s, who also happened to play in red and white. It’s on YouTube if you want to watch it.
Maureen asked if I would like to see the play and suggested she could organise a ticket. But on hearing the phrase “comedy farce” I was slightly put off. Musicals generally have the same affect on me too. So I declined. I was also worried the day’s play would prevent me getting there on time.
During day three I told the listeners about the chance meeting and it was clear from the mass response on email and Twitter I must go to the theatre that night. So I did. It was very funny and worth the £25 I ended up paying.
But crucially it wouldn’t be the only farce I witnessed that night. A few hours later, with sirens blaring and roads closed, we were all in the street. Me, the players and the cast of the show. The fire alarms had gone off and the fire engines were circling the hotel. Initially we were allowed back to our rooms only for the alarms to start again an hour or so later. By the time I got downstairs the second time there was smoke everywhere.
The blaze broke out in the leisure club and caused quite a lot of damage. It also meant going into day four at Trent Bridge most of us hadn’t had any sleep. We were moved to a nearby hotel for a few hours but had to return to the Crowne Plaza to get our belongings. I was met by a reporter from BBC Radio Nottingham and ended up doing a piece into their breakfast show about the drama.
It didn’t seem to matter about the disturbed night, in terms of the game because going into day four Notts were struggling on 145-5 and still six behind. A few quick wickets and it could be over just after lunch. I would be home by teatime and able to catch up with my sleep.
Michael Lumb and Graeme Swann had other ideas. Lumb made 123 and Swann 57. The 10th wicket stand involving Swann and Ajmal Shahzad added 75 and really put the spanner in the works. Would Durham actually have time to chase down their total?
They were eventually set 183 to win in 24 overs and having promoted Phil Mustard to open the batting, set about it with intention. Both Mustard and his partner Mark Stoneman broke the record for the fastest fifties in championship cricket for Durham. Stoneman made 69 and Mustard 72.
Durham were 50-0 after four overs, helped by a short boundary on one side and some exceptional batting. 10 years earlier before the advent of T20 such an innings wouldn’t have been possible. By the time Mustard was out with the score on 177-4 Durham were nearly there. They won by six wickets with 14 balls to go. By the time we drove away from the ground it was well after 7pm.
BUSMAN’S HOLIDAY
2013 was the first time Durham won 10 games in a championship season. They also created a new club record of five consecutive wins, breaking the four set in 2012 when they staged their late recovery to avoid relegation.
And while many BBC commentators travel with the team they cover, this was the year I made my only journey on the team bus. I prefer to travel to matches on my own. It’s quicker and I try to keep a bit of distance when away from home. I am sure the last thing most players want to have to put up with at the end of a day’s play is me. Or any reporter for that matter. I would like to think I have their trust but everybody needs their space.
However, in 2013 my back was in a right state and I was waiting to have a disc out. The thought of travelling across London on The Underground with heavy bags and broadcast kit didn’t appeal. I asked Geoff Cook if it was possible to go on the team bus as a one off and he said it was.
We set off from Chester-le-Street about 7am. I got up about 5am to make sure I was there on time and had enough breakfast to see me through the first few hours of the journey. We left on time and a few minutes later stopped for breakfast at Bradbury Services. We weren’t even out of County Durham!
Durham were in London to play a YB40 game and a championship match against Surrey. This was back in the days when the sensible doubling up of such fixtures happened. During the one day game, which was abandoned after the hosts were bowled out for 216, Ben Stokes injured his back and went off to hospital for a scan.
Gareth Breese had also suffered a side issue so had decided to return to the North East for treatment. Although Stokes could bat in the championship game he wouldn’t be able to bowl. So Durham drafted in 19-year-old spinner Ryan Buckley. He’d not been to London before. When he got out of his taxi he discovered he was at the wrong hotel. By time he got to the right one there was supposedly no room at the inn so he slept on the floor in Bowling Coach Alan Walker’s room.
The next day on his debut he took a five for at The Oval, including 4-4 in 3.2 overs. Surrey lost 6-16 in nine overs after tea and were all out for 237. Mark Stoneman made 77 in Durham’s first innings reply of 286 and when Surrey were bowled out again the visitors needed 181 to win. Scott Borthwick did the damage this time with career-best figures of 6-70.
He would also play a key role in the run chase. Elevated up to number three he put on 100 runs for the second wicket with Mark Stoneman. Scott made 42 and Mark 67. Both would join Surrey three years later. Durham reached their target with 25 overs to go and with five wickets in hand. Although this had been a game in which the Surrey spinners were expected to dominate, it was the Durham spinners who did.
On the team bus heading to London I had noticed a real tension. It was nervous to say the least. Geoff Cook particularly seemed completely wrapped up in what was going on. The key thing was Durham hadn’t won at The Oval before. As the players got on the bus at the end of the match it was if a pressure valve had been opened. There were celebrations and smiles.
Paul Collingwood asked me how many points Durham would need to stay up. It was clear the pre-season write-off by the bookies and so many members of the press had made an impression on the players. But from a distance I could see incredible self-belief. And in the longer scheme of things they had only lost two of their last 12 games.
I said: “I think you should start thinking about how many points you will need to win the title.” There was silence. It turned out to be 245.5!
Coach Geoff Cook suffered a cardiac arrest while out running a few weeks later. He was discovered by another jogger near Durham’s Riverside Stadium. His help saved Geoff’s life. He remained in hospital for a number of days and when he eventually returned to the club Jon Lewis had stepped up from the second team to help with first team duties, along with former bowler Neil Killeen.
THE BATTLE OF PEASHOLM PARK
They call it “the smallest manned navy in the world!” For eighty years, three times a week, the battleships of Peasholm Park recreate scenes from famous naval encounters. But just a cannon ball flight away some greater battles have been fought at North Marine Road, one of the finest places in English cricket.
I first covered a game in Scarborough in the summer of 2005. By then I had got to know Dave Callaghan from BBC Radio Leeds really well. He was great company and I can’t think of anyone who didn’t like him. Despite his Manchester upbringing, in cricket he was Mr Yorkshire. Along with a few others, like his great pal Dickie Bird.
To me Scarborough was basically Dave. Or Dave was Scarborough. Either way they brought out the best in each other. In 2005 I travelled the 96 miles to Scarbados from The Roker Riviera to see if Durham could keep their promotion hopes alive. It was Mike Hussey’s last match as skipper, and it was late summer. A typical British summer.
The first morning was chilly and I grabbed my coat from the back of the car only to realise it would not fit over my arms. How had it shrunk like that? I discovered to my horror it was my wife’s coat so before play began I had to race to a department store to buy a suitable replacement. And it came in handy because it was a particularly wet and cold week.
One afternoon play was called off early so I wandered down to the sea front in search of prawns and cockles. I will never forget the site of a rather large lady, covered from head to toe in wet sand, walking up the middle of the high street. She was in a black swimming costume and carrying an inflatable bed. Her kids, also covered from head to toe in wet sand, were following her, shivering.
They looked thoroughly miserable. But I can only imagine the look on the face of the person who was running their B&B when they knocked on the door was worse. You can’t beat the British summertime.
The match in 2005 ended in a weather affected draw but Durham did enough to go up with Lancashire and Yorkshire. After surviving the drop by half a point the following year, in a dramatic finale in Leeds, they never looked back until they were relegated over financial issues in 2016.
The highlight of that week in 2005 was hearing Gary Pratt run Ricky Ponting out at Trent Bridge. The Australian was furious. Gary got a ride on an open-top bus and now runs Peter Lorimer Sports in Bishop Auckland.
Despite having a great one-day average Gary told me later he felt his career was hamstrung by that famous moment and he was always labelled a great fielder after that. He wasn’t with Durham much longer and has played Minor Counties with Cumberland in recent years.
The trip to Scarborough in 2013 was an altogether different kettle of fish. Durham had suffered a bit of a dip in form in mid-summer. A defeat at Lords’ in the championship didn’t help matters. A few days later they went out of the T20 in a quarter final at Northants, while defeat on an appalling wicket in Derby brought an end to their one-day hopes. Derbyshire were docked two points the following year but Durham weren’t in their group so that did them no favours whatsoever.
Chester-le-Street hosted its only Ashes test around this period too. It was a major success. But when I was told by a Durham director there wouldn’t be another I have to say I was totally surprised to hear it. It would be three more years before the financial avalanche would start to dislodge.
So, Durham arrived in Scarborough fourth. They were 25.5 points behind leaders Yorkshire. But it had the feel of a title decider, even with a few games to go. The visitors went into it after returning to winning ways with a comprehensive victory against Surrey in Chester-le-Street. The margin was an innings and 144 runs. A confidence booster.
But they had been chasing their rivals for the majority of the season after that Joe Root-inspired defeat in April.
On day one in Scarborough Durham were 5-2 after three overs as Ryan Sidebottom removed Keaton Jennings third ball and Scott Borthwick second ball. Both went LBW for ducks in Sidebottom’s second over. But they fought back and eventually made 573 – their highest score against Yorkshire.
It included a career-best 122 from Mark Stoneman – who eventually became Ryan Sidebottom’s 600th first class victim. Ben Stokes also chipped in with 127 and there was a first century for Michael Richardson, who reached 102 with his last partner Chris Rushworth at the other end.
Yorkshire were forced to follow on as they were bowled out for 274 to leave them 299 behind. And after losing a quick wicket it looked like Durham would take an innings victory, but Kane Williamson and Phil Jaques then put on 264 for the second wicket, with Jaques making 152 and Williamson 97.
Ben Stokes took one end for himself and just kept pounding in over after over. Paul Collingwood told him to take a rest but he refused. “I certainly wasn’t going to take the ball off him when he was in that mood!” he said. He took 3-108 in 38.2 overs. Chris Rushworth and Scott Borthwick took three apiece too.
The tide changes the wicket in Scarborough. When it comes in conditions become harder for the batsmen. When it’s out they are easier. Local knowledge had it the two Yorkshire batsmen benefited from the coastal conditions on the Friday afternoon. But the final morning saw things swing back in Durham’s favour as the tide returned.
With them gone the last six wickets only mustered a further 116 runs and Durham chased down their target of 121 with seven wickets in hand and 9.2 overs of the game left. It was Yorkshire’s second defeat in just 31 games!
Dave Callaghan sadly died just before the season was due to get going two years ago. The commentary boxes in Scarborough are named Cally One and Cally Two.
Durham closed the gap to five points and would go on to win the title because they also had a game in hand against Sussex which they won by 285 runs in two and a half days the following week. After seeing off Derbyshire the week after that they got their hands on the trophy following a win over Notts.
The Derbyshire collapse on the final day in Derby was another stunner. It had rained on and off most of the week. There was plenty of running water in our commentary box. It was coming in through a hole in the roof which was patched up with tarpaulin mid game. The box was condemned at the end of that season. They now have a lovely media centre, but it used to be a joke the old box at Derby was good preparation for difficult trips abroad.
Durham were still in their first innings of the game on the final morning in Derby. They ended up with a slight lead of 27 runs in mist and drizzle.
But Derbyshire were then dismissed for 63 as Graham Onions took 5-23 on a seamer and Chris Rushworth 3-31. With word reaching us Yorkshire and Sussex were trying to contrive a run chase in a weather-affected match in Hove, Durham duly chased down their target of 37 in no time. The win summed up the season though. That fight to the end attitude.
It also took most by surprise. A national sports channel sent a TV cameraman from Northampton but it was all over by the time he got there. Yorkshire had to settle for a draw and Durham moved into the box seat.
They bowled Notts out in their final home game for just 78 and wrapped up an eight-wicket win in three days to seal the title. It capped off an incredible year, which had one bizarre twist, a Phil Mustard wicket in the final game at Hove. The victim? England’s Luke Wright.
Durham ended the season with a club-record 10 wins and 245.5 points. Yorkshire were second with seven wins and 221 points. It was truly an incredible year.