As the English ladyblogger, I'll be bringing you occasional little snippets about the English county season. Today's item tells you all you need to know about Surrey's Friends Provident 50-over game with Kent on Monday 5 May. If you find the post boring, it'll be because I'm trying to give you an accurate impression of the game.
Throughout the day, I kept asking myself this: watching boring cricket is better than being at work, but is it better than being at home? I love cricket, any cricket (this is a person who once subscribed to Zee for a YEAR just to watch one Sri Lanka - Bangladesh test series). But yesterday's game turned out to be one of the more turgid days of cricket that I can remember. Now, the word "turgid" can be used in a few contexts, one of which is potentially exciting, another of which is boring. This was the boring one.
Kent put up a total of 282, which, after a slow start was, to be fair, not turgid. But then Surrey's first few wickets fell very quickly (as did Kent's actually) but Surrey has a much longer tail, so from then on it was all very "stab me with a spoon PLEASE" as the result of the game (Surrey lose by 90) was no longer in any doubt. Sometimes in such matches the English weather colludes to provide interest by adding the extra frisson of the Duckworth-Lewis target, but today Surrey were 100 runs behind the D/L target at the 25 over stage, plus the weather was gorgeous. Bloody English weather, ruining a match again. Although it was nice to be able to bring out my second-nicest Birkenstocks. Not my nicest pair, mind; that's gold and sparkly so was a bit too IPL for yesterday's outfit.
Mark Ramprakash: at the matches I've seen him at this season, he's scored 0 and 5. Ramps, honey, if I'm putting you off, just say so, and I'll stay at home.
The DJ playing music for every boundary was twiddling his thumbs for most of the day. This was no excuse, though, for the repeated cruel taunting of possible England hopefuls Rob Key and Ramps with "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow" and then the line "Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone". He did play "Brown Eyed Girl" a few times, and also a song which is my middle name, and I like to think that both were just for me.
Overseas Player Who Caught My Eye: It was almost Justin Kemp, for playing the same falling-over-doing-the-splits shot twice, and then employing the same move while fielding, but he was pipped by Pedro Collins. I'm definitely voting for Pedro (not least because he's given me yet another idea for a cricket t-shirt). He's called Pedro, and is also the half-brother of Fidel Edwards. He took a respectable 4 - 49 off his 10 overs, and SMASHED his previous FP Trophy high score of one not out by reaching the magical land of double figures plus 100% strike rate with 11 off 11. But he mostly caught my eye by running out to bat at number 11 with a skip and spring in his step. ...
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