Vic Marks' day three report
Stumps: 98th over: Essex 271-6 (Porter 5, Wheater 0)
Porter jumps off the ground to prod Gregory back down the pitch, and that drops the curtain on the day. One dominated by Cook’s quite brilliant 172 - just England’s highest run-scorer chillaxing with style on a September afternoon. Thanks to dirkgently BTL who pointed out that only Worcestershire have made a higher score against Somerset all year. Essex finish 30 runs short of Somerset’s total with four wickets in hand. A very handy new-ball comeback by Overton and Gregory. Play starts tomorrow at 10.30am. Thanks for all the emails and BTL comments, I’m off to warm up - have a lovely evening!
96th over: Essex 267-6 (Porter 1, Wheater 0) Two overs left. We’ve had a bet how many wickets are going to fall in them - the votes: 1, 2 and 3. The ground almost entirely in shadow now, the players rubbing their hands to keep warm, woolly jumpers pulled on, brought by the fielding subs.
94th over: Essex 266-6 (Porter 0, Wheater 0) Porter, a keen nightwatchman, gets the prize of facing Overton in fading sunlight. He straight away gets him dancing around a bit, hand flying off the handle. And in the very next over, from nowhere, Cook loses concentration fora millisecond and Coverton grabs it. I think it was Vic who was saying how outstanding both Overtons were at slip - and that was a beauty.
“I thought today might be a battle between Cook and COverton, taps Romeo [before Cook’s wicket.] I’ve come to the conclusion that COverton (also JOverton) aren’t as good as some people think and Cook is still quite good. Essex’s game to lose.”
WICKET! Cook c Overton b Gregory 172
A slippery salmon of a catch by Overton who, as Gregory was running into bowl, had his hands in front of his eyes to shield them from the sun, then somehow sprung them low to snaffle a Cook edge. After 384 minutes of toil, he leaves the stage.
Updated
WICKET! Ten Doeschate lbw Overton 21
That’s the ticket!
92nd over: Essex 264-4 (Ten Doeschate 21, Cook 170) Overton from the nursery end in the sun. The keeper and two slips in the shade. Cook turns the first ball off his ankles for four - hmmm. Where’s the devil in that? Gregory barrels in from the pavilion end, just a single from it.
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The new ball is due
90th over: Essex 257-4 (Ten Doeschate 19, Cook 165) Cook is hoovering up all my words, send me sustenance via email. Paul Edwards muses over how he’s accumulated in blocks - 46 this morning, 85 between lunch and tea when he was in peak cover drive mode, then slowed down a bit since. Will the new ball do for Somerset what it did for Essex? Overton swings his arms in anticipation of the new ball.
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87th over: Essex 248-4 (Ten Doeschate 15, Cook 160) Three overs to the new ball, then eight overs left with it. I can see pale blue sky above the grand stand.
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85th over: Essex 244-4 (Ten Doeschate 14, Cook 157) The shadows are encroaching from all sides now, even the batsman’s boots are in the shades from the echo of the pavilion flag. Two consecutive maidens from Lammonby and Leach.
David Hindle has a suggestion for Ed Smith :“Although there’s still no final word on whether or where a winter tour for England is going to take place, this young Cook fella seems to be batting himself into contention for a place. Well. We can dream. But on
the other hand, his retirement was so perfect at the time, wasn’t it?”
😎 The very calmest of celebrations as he reaches 150…
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) September 25, 2020
Sir Alastair Cook is in the zone #BWTFinal pic.twitter.com/V7jqeI1bIT
80th over: Essex 236-4 (Ten Doeschate 9, Cook 154) Cook makes Leach pause at the end of his run at the pavilion end while he picks up a grain of sand from the pitch and brushes it away, then square drives him for four. The tress visible behind the stands sway vigorously in the wind, losing clothes with every gust.
150 for Alastair Cook!
With a quick single to mid-off, your casual 150 in the most important county game of the season.
77th over: Essex 225-4 (Ten Doeschate 3, Cook 148) Think of a fresh creme patissiere, then imagine it was a cricket shot and you’ve got somewhere close to the deliciousness of Cook’s cover drive off Davey. Next ball Somerset rise more in hope than conviction for an lbw shout. Not a chance.
A reminder of a cracking weekend of women’s cricket, and it is on telly.
Huge w/end of women’s cricket @englandcricket v @windiescricket Sat live on @BBCTwo @BBCSport @bbctms @SkyCricket, plus RHF Final Sun! Post a pic of you playing ckt with hashtag #WomensCricketMonth and you might win a prize! This was me, Kolkata,India. Impromptu, hence clothing! pic.twitter.com/azLI4hE1sZ
— Alison Mitchell (@AlisonMitchell) September 25, 2020
76th over: Essex 219-4 (Ten Doeschate 3, Cook 143) Cook pings Gregory for one boundary but he and Leach are keeping Essex quiet for now. Somerset must get Ten Doeschate before the zen-calm of Cook reaches the other end.
73rd over: Essex 214-4 (Ten Doeschate 0, Cook 141) Cook becomes the leading scorer in the Bob Willis Trophy, overtaking Jake Libby ( who played one fewer innings) and passing 500 runs in the Bob, but at the other end the butter has started to melt. Lawrence tried to meet aggression with aggression, Walter done by a beauty in the crease.
“You seem very measured today,” writes Nat Godden.”Maybe the studio guests had something to do with it. But what is it that Cook’s doing to Somerset? Slicing and dicing? Stuffing? Roasting? Stewing in their own juices? Something a tad autumnal, perhaps involving mushrooms? (You can see why I’m not a sports reporter.)“
Is he the stuffing in their calzone? ( I had a delicious one last night).
“It’s a fascinating match. Love to know what effect, if any, the howling gusty wind (well, here in east London) might have had. Any idea?”
We think it is certainly making everyone very cold, except Cook and his incredible weather-beating physique. Is that the sort of answer you’re looking for?
WICKET! Walter lbw Gregory 0
A dead eye hit! This is starting to look tasty - very Somerset to suddenly bowl them out, very Essex to suddenly lose 8 for 43.
Updated
WICKET! Lawrence c Lammonby b Gregory 6
An ice cream scoop straight to midwicket.
70th over: Essex 204-2 (Lawrence 5, Cook 135) A perfect September moment, Leach bowling in the sun from the pavilion end and Cook striding forward to sand away the spin. A maiden.
67th over: Essex 198-2 (Lawrence 0, Cook 133) A wicket with the second ball after tea! And the sun has come out. C’mon Somerset, make this a game.
“Alistair Cook simply loves playing cricket” writes Abhijato Sensarma “Most people would have retired from the sport if they knew they would no longer play at the international level. I suppose Cook loves the game too much to be one of them, even after earning a knighthood for his services and finding a commentary gig he excels in. As this knock reminds us, we never stopped loving him either!”
He certainly has been at his most fluent today. Cover drives to drool over, running between the wicket like a springer spaniel, meticulous annihilation of the bad ball.
WICKET! Westley c Abell b Lammonby 51
Set up! Westley clips, caught at short midwicket, Abell with two hands diving to his right. A partnership that beat the previous largest by Essex this season by 84 runs.
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TEA: 65th over: Essex 196-1 (Westley 51, Cook 131)
On march the groundstaff with their brooms and puffa jackets as Cook and Westley walk in for tea, the flag over the pavilion billowing all ends in the wind. A session undefeated, a hundred and a fifty under their belts. Somerset look rather lost, they haven’t had to deal with a situation like this, this year - this is the first time the two sides have met in any format all summer.
“Given that even pre Covid 4 day county matches were not profitable, could there be mixed male & female teams at that level ? ( the second division)“ writes Killian Flynn. “Let’s face it outside of T20 ECB cricket is close to being an amateur game again given the derisory salaries compared to football ( someone so talented as Tom Westley must have thought sod this 15 years of graft & I get 5 test matches - how will I raise a family etc without the central England contract). It would benefit both female & male cricketers who could then excel in female only & male only teams at higher levels of the game.”
I like the idea, but the differences in male and female physiology make mixed teams very unlikely at anything above club cricket. I can’t find the exact tweet I’m looking for, Sharon Davies was tweeting about this in reference to the trans debate but the difference between male and female strength and speed is huge.
👇🏼interesting biological facts-however if you take Olympic sport there a difference of 10-31% in elite performance M to F DDR female athletes dominated 1970/80s with just 9% average advantage by taking testosterone thru puberty, they were XX no bone/heart/oxygen up take advantage pic.twitter.com/HuV3L7ro8e
— Sharron Davies MBE (@sharrond62) September 22, 2020
Fifty for Tom Westley!
Seven fours and lots of dot balls in a doughty effort
61st over: Essex 184-1 (Westley 47, Cook 123) And at the half way stage, Essex are very comfortable indeed thank you very much. Plump up your sofas! Cook picks up Leach, long sleeves buttoned at the wrist, and drives him to backward square leg with the greatest of aplomb
59th over: Essex 177-1 (Westley 45, Cook 118) And that’s the 150-run partnership, of which Westley, who has had a rotten season, has made 44. An email pings in from somewhere 20 degrees warmer: “A bit surreal,” writes Chris Daniels,” but watching the game on a ferry between Santorini & Poros, with a beer in hand & the sun in full force, having paid 3 euros for wi- fi coverage! (Masks on!)Honestly, Sir Chef, as an exiled Essex boy he brings a smile to the face in these tough times.”
57th over: Essex 168-1 (Westley 44, Cook 110) Leach has been steady, he turned one outside Westley’s outside edge in the last over, but not more than that. Overton banging in some short stuff, especially at Westley, somewhat marooned on 44. Bearing in mind the first-innings rule, Somerset already need a minor miracle here.
Gary Lloyd: “What is your fondest memory in cricket?”
Vic:” Er.....[Scyld interjects] Ah yes! Of course. Finally scoring some runs for England, fifties in Pakistan against Abdul Qadir at his peak. Not many people finish their England career with three consecutive half centuries... but I did! “
“Yours was the first autograph I ever got in Weston Super Mare in 1989 (VJ Marks 3/35). Do you have any memories of playing at Clarence Park? And do you miss out-ground cricket?”
Vic: “We had towels the size of hankies and the consistency of sandpaper and there were splinters in the dressing room. I made my debut there for Somerset and I was caught wicketkeeper, bowled Andy Roberts for 0. So yes I miss festival cricket but not necessarily the spartan conditions in the dressing room.”
BillyMills: Who was the most difficult batsman (I’m assuming he didn’t play a lot of women’s cricket) he ever bowled to? Not necessarily the best, but the one it was hardest to face.
Vic: “I didn’t bowl much against Viv so we can’t have him. At county level.. I’ve mentioned Trevor Jesty as he hit me in funny areas through the off side, but also at Hampshire, Chris Smith, who was nowhere near as good an athlete as Robin, a bit of a carthorse in the field, but he seemed to be able to zip down the pitch when he had a bat in his hand surreptitiously. And Zaheer Abbas - at the end of one Test I played in, Zaheer was hobbling a bit, the game was dead, and in pursuit of merriment I bowled an over of left-arm spin and he didn’t really enter into the spirit of it but he suddenly skipped down the pitch and hit it through a packed off side. He was a marvellous player of spin who could penetrate the smallest of gaps.”
Doosra: What do you make of the new development at Lord’s?
Vic: “When Graham Gooch got 333 against India it was in my first year as a journalist in 1990 and the boundary was very short that year as they were rebuilding the Compton and Edrich stand. Bugger me, I’m still in this job and they’re rebuilding them again. Lord’s has been redeveloped well and I like them. I just want to see them full of people.”
Tom Lee: “ Who is the best English spinner you have ever seen.
Vic: “They could not be more contrasting in approach, style etc but it has to be Underwood or Swann. One self-deprecating and one... not so self-deprecation. Underwood hated to give runs away, Swann was prepared to gamble more.”
Vic is back, briefly, despondent now, his glasses slipping down his nose.
A hundred for Cook!
He slams Leach square- to score his 67th first-class hundred, in a mere 164 balls. On the balcony of the away dressing room at Lord’s Essex stand and applaud. What a inevitable, super, knock.
Updated
Sanitation break - Cook on 99
.
49th over: Essex 144-1 (Westley 33, Cook 97) And suddenly Cook is nearly there. Abell turns to Jack Leach who spins out a maiden immediately, and leaks only two from his next over. In between Cook tucks into some oh-god-look-at-the-scoreboard bowling from Brooks.
46th over: Essex 134-1 (Westley 31, Cook 89) For a minute there, some shadows appeared. Westley has quietly compiled 31 in SirAlastair’s shadow, as Cook cover drives freshly oiled and coiled - one from the returning Brooks’ first ball, two more in an over from Davey.
Do you want a chat about windmills? Here’s your starter for ten.
@tjaldred if you want to start a thread about windmills, York's won Best Roundabout in 2015 ...https://t.co/S9ALdUh1CS
— wixi108 (@wixi108) September 25, 2020
43rd over: Essex 122-1 (Westley 30, Cook 74) Two peerless drives through the covers, as Cook moves from third to fourth gear.
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Viriditan “I thought it was quite interesting to hear Vic Marks’ thoughts on Josh Davey the batsman. Looks like a top order bat; solid technique, nice strokes, Somerset signed him as an allrounder, not a bowler... yet he averages 16.Does this mean it will finally click one season and he’ll average 40? Or will he forever be a batting enigma, his lack of success inexplicable?”
Vic: “The problem is that because of the nature of Somerset’s lineup he ends up batting at ten and sometimes subconsciously people bat to their position. I noticed that Jamie Overton playing for Surrey was batting at 7 or 8 which is far higher than he batted for Somerset, and he’s good enough to do that too.”
And with that, Vic elegantly departs to the radio box. He’ll be back later.
Overrated: “A question for Vic apropos of this being the Bob Willis Trophy: Everyone knows that Bob Willis liked to give people nicknames (and I won’t mention the one he bestowed on Vic), but did other players have nicknames for Bob?”
Vic: “He was called Goose mostly because of the nature of his run-up which was like a goose trying to take off, ungainly. But you’re right he loved to create nicknames.”
40th over: Essex 104-1 (Westley 30, Cook 61) Vic is worried. “Cook was a similar thorn in our sides at the end of last year - when there is a big occasion he can do it. The other thing that strikes me after watching England this summer is that Cook has suddenly become an elegant batsman. We aint going to win unless we can get Cook out.”
Paul Frame: Is the leader of the house of Commons your new agent?
Vic: “I don’t agree a with Leader of the House of Commons in several areas and, as I mentioned the other day ,I don’t think I deserve to be paid the same as Gary Lineker - but parity would do!”
Mes: How do you feel about Dom Bess moving to Yorkshire?
Vic: “Disappointed as he’s a local boy but I understand because of the curious situation that he gets picked for England but doesn’t get picked for Somerset on a regular basis. From a purely cricketing perspective I’m sadder about Jamie Overton leaving - he’s a rarer breed in that there are not many people who can bowl fast. In a sense it reflects the fact that Somerset have done well to find their own players but it is always sad to see them go. “
Martin Wright: Writing as someone who’s just started playing for Devon Seniors, I’m curious to know whether Vic has ever felt tempted to don his whites again for his adoptive county’s ‘mature’ team…
VIC: I was sounded out to play for Devon in the early 1990s by Jack Davey, who used to play for Gloucs, and I resisted. I did play a bit of club cricket after I retired but I haven’t played a game of cricket since 2012 - when I announced my retirement from international cricket - it was against France at Tiverton. I’m not tempted, I’d rather play golf at Okehampton.
Romeo: Did you always plan to move into journalism and radio after your playing career?
Vic: “No! But it kind of happened - read all about it in Original Spin! - it kind of evolved so that when I did retire it was because I was offered the job at the Observer. “
Geoff Wignall: As it’s a match in which Porter is playing and Hildreth would have been bar injury: who was the best uncapped player Vic played with or against? Or maybe one of each, batsman and bowler.
VIC: “Possibly I could go for Roebuck or Paul Johnson from Notts and, because he was a very good player of off-spin, Trevor Jesty. Although I’m not sure any of them were better than Hildreth. Hildreth is the best English batsman I’ve seen who has not played for England in any format. And everyone used to talk about David Sales, who Duncan Fletcher was said to have written off as much for his lazy attitude in the field as any limitation in his batting.”
Vic has arrived. He has the radiator end of the box. So this is going to be a half hour of Vic interspersed with OBO updates.
FIFTY for Cook!
34 overs: Essex 79-1 (Westley 20, Cook 46) Overton returns straight after the break, Cook nicks a single then cover drives Gregory for four to reach his fifty, off 100 balls. One from the shelf of familiarity.
How cold are Russell Warren and Rob Bailey @tjaldred? I'd be layered and layered with those space age fabrics with fancy names, I'd wear gloves and at least one woolly hat.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) September 25, 2020
Take it from a motorcyclist who knows a bit about the wind - once you're cold, you're cold, so stay warm
I suffer from Raynaud’s and I concur! It’s all in the layering and keeping moving.
Updated
The players are back out and Cook is STILL in short sleeves...
LUNCH! 32 overs: Essex 79-1 (Westley 20, Cook 46)
An unbeaten, unruffled, near-50 from Cook puts Essex in a good place at lunch. On a chilly late September morning, Somerset threw all that they had at him but found no chink. They need a breakthrough after warming up. I’m stretching my legs, back shortly.
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28th over: Essex 69-1 (Westley 11, Cook 46) Cook slices Abell twice away for four and Overton returns for a last pre-lunch burst. A maiden. Scyld Berry walks into the box in his thermals and recollects that in all his long years of watching Cook he has only seen him out twice to the short ball, and also how seldom he’s been hit.
I've just looked up this famous match (https://t.co/YdonB1tVD0) for the first time @tjaldred. Must have been a decent strip at Chelmsford.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) September 25, 2020
How exactly did Alastair Cook go at a strike rate of 90 for nearly six hours?
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26th over: Essex 58-1 (Westley 10, Cook 36) Tom Abell scratches his head and, remembering Joe Root the other week, brings himself on to replace Jack Brooks. Westley turns one to fine leg to grab a couple. Somerset complain to the umpires about the ball and the young sub brings out a box full of ripe red ones. The new pill seems to nip about a bit more and catches Cook unawares.
“Sitting fast at home in Paris, delaying going into the office (not putting on your shoes seems to be the last crucial bulwark of psychological impediment) and watching live country cricket.” taps Robert Wilson [lucky devil (ed)] “Gotta love this modern world of ours. Yeah, Covid, Trump, Brexit and all that but also LIVE COUNTRY CRICKET!!! Alistair bleeding Cook! I feel like a puppy meeting its first puddle of other-dog pee. It doesn’t get better than this.”
24th over: Essex 56-1 (Westley 8, Cook 36) Cook rests at the non-strikers end, legs crossed, hand on hip, one for the ages. Davey replaces Gregory at the pavilion end, but Cook cover drives both for four.
“Do you think conditions are too cold for swing?”asks Matthew Doherty. We’ve had a long discussion about this in our little box in the Tavern stand and the consensus seems to be that yes, you’re right. Without exactly being able to tell you why you’re right.
21st over: Essex 44-1 (Westley 6, Cook 28) The dominant pattern of dot balls continues in domino fashion, normally you’d expect a wicket from the pressure. But Cook doesn’t think like that and I assume his calm works wonders at the other end too.
Paul Frame, the honorary secretary at Hutton CC writes: “At our Mountnessing ground in Essex there is the perfect infrastructure to deal with windy days like this one. The windmill is also a very inviting target for batsmen to try and hit me for six into it. Loving the coverage as ever. Could you #AskVic what is the strangest feature he has ever seen at a cricket ground?”
I will! Thanks for all the questions for Vic, I’ll grab him when he’s free.
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19th over: Essex 44-1 (Westley 8, Cook 26) Westley starts Brook’s over with a boundary down to third man, then plays the rest of the over dutifully back.
A thoughtful David Hindle writes “Just such a lovely thought. Alastair Cook, batting in a five day match. It must be like being “home” for him. You can already sense who has the
Test match experience out there. Overton too. But obviously, Cook is so
far ahead of everyone else in that respect, it almost isn’t fair.”
You’re so right. Even the way he potters about his stumps between balls spells a man completely at ease.
17th over: Essex 32-1 (Westley 3, Cook 23) The accuracy of the bowlers on a slow pitch brought that wicket. Nevertheless ,Cook slams a short fat one from Brooks for four the very first ball of the next over. Then the dot balls begin again. It won’t bother Cook, he absorbs them all, a kind of anti-sweat. “Morning Tanya,Who is this Cooke, referenced in all the updates? Tut, tut.” Yes sorry about that Geoff Wignall, my brain couldn’t cope with the extra e in Browne.
Breakthrough for @SomersetCCC at Lord's! 💪
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) September 25, 2020
Watch the #BWTFinal LIVE >>> https://t.co/9JZVRsAqa8#BobWillisTrophy pic.twitter.com/ywiI8ZSszA
Breakthrough for @SomersetCCC at Lord's! 💪
— County Championship (@CountyChamp) September 25, 2020
Watch the #BWTFinal LIVE >>> https://t.co/9JZVRsAqa8#BobWillisTrophy pic.twitter.com/ywiI8ZSszA
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WICKET! Browne c Overton b Gregory 8
The first change bowler gets the breakthrough! Browne edges to second slip, where it is caught comfortably by Overton.
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13th over: Essex 27-0 (Browne 8, Cook 19) A double bowling change as Jack Brooks replaces the unluckily-wicketless Overton at the Nursery end. A not particularly scary maiden, but a maiden nonetheless.
Charles Sheldrick is back. “I have played many times at Instow in the North Devon League.... usually a strong wind but never as cold as it is at Lord’s today... (the sun always shines in North Devon). The biggest problem we ever had was when the Marines arrived in ribs and a landing craft and stormed the beach...”
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12th over: Essex 27-0 (Browne 8, Cook 19) Browne faces every ball of that two overs. Weathering the storm clad in a full anorak and wellies, not swanning about with a cocktail and sunglasses. Lewis Gregory replaces Josh Davey at the pavilion end. Swarthy, well put together, he starts wide but pulls it in for the rest of the over. A maiden.
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10th over: Essex 26-0 (Browne 7, Cook 19) Is that an Alastair Cook hundred I see written on the wall? Overton tries a bouncer and Cook swivels on his boot toes and pulls him to the deep square boundary - snap, crackle, pop!
“Yesterday was a bit too stressful, with the farce of the last 3 overs just topping it off.....” writes Charles Sheldrick. “Looking forward to the usual Somerset bowling performance today.....”
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8th over: Essex 19-0 (Browne 5, Cooke 14) Three slips and a gully for both bowlers. Overton troubles Cook who has a false swipe before edging him over the grasping paws of gully. As a marker, Essex. haven’t made 300 all season in a first innings, and no-one has made more than 200 against Somerset , Worcestershire managing 200 in that last group-stages game at New Road.
From Cressida, later last night after Romeo’s pointer towards the Sky stream. “Please tell your Romeo, I am his Juliet! Watching now, but still following you, obviously!! “
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5th over: Essex 8-0 (Browne 3, Cook 5) It is so cold out there in the shade, a harsh wind blowing horizontally across the ground - which Paul Edwards tells me should make Craig Overton feel right at home as it is what happens at Instow, his home club at North Devon. Brown and Cook nurdle runs but it’s not easy. I’m worried that the twelfth man has left Josh Davey’s long-sleeved woolly jumper dumped on the grass by the boundary rope - it’s still dewy out there, put it on a seat!
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2nd over: Essex 1-0 (Browne 1, Cook 0) Essex survive the first two overs comfortably enough.
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The players are out, still a thrill to see Alastair Cook stride through the gate in an Essex helmet. I find his ability to seamlessly slot from England captain to county player quite touching. Overton to bowl the first over. He’s in shirtsleeves in the sun from the Nursery end.
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A flavour of Lord’s.
NW8, September 2020. pic.twitter.com/hMQHWrWjG8
— tanya aldred (@tjaldred) September 25, 2020
If anyone would like to send in some questions for Vic Marks, he has agreed to sit down and do an ASK VIC for half an hour later today. Ping me either at tanya.aldred.freelance@theguardian.com or via Twitter @tjaldred or get busy BTL.
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Preamble
It’s Friday, it’s North London, it’s chilly but ... it’s dry. Welcome to the third day of the Bob Willis Trophy Final, the players are out on the pitch in bobble hats and shorts as the clock ticks to ten o’clock.
The aim is to have 98 overs in the day over three sessions: 10.30-12.40, 1.20-3.30, 3.30-6pm. Essex start the day with Somerset’s 301 in their sights but Somerset’s bowling battalion pawing the grass in readiness.
Here’s Vic’s report from yesterday:
Updated
