A bit of a Breese for Durham? Not quite, for they scraped home in a taut contest against Warwickshire by three wickets and Gareth Breese, in his last match for the county, hit the winning runs.
Such a climax to his career cheered his team-mates because Breese, who is retiring at the end of the season, is such a popular cricketer in the north-east. He had already taken three wickets with his off-spin at the end of the Warwickshire innings and, although his overall contribution could not match that of Ben Stokes, at the non-striker’s end when the match was over, it was fitting that Breese should hit the winning runs even if he had no idea how the final ball sped to the third-man boundary.
Stokes, who hit a crucial 38 as well as taking two wickets, won the man of the match award and he summed up the mood of his team afterwards. “I told Breesey I wanted to be with him at the end and, although he meant to leave that ball, it still went for four. He thoroughly deserved to be the man who hit the winning runs for everything he’s done for Durham.”
Likewise Stokes deserved to be the man of a match contested throughout under floodlights as menacing grey clouds, which politely declined to spray St John’s Wood with water, lingered all day. Batting was never easy against either the quicker bowlers or the off-spinners. For Warwickshire Jeetan Patel, their Kiwi spinner, almost conjured an unlikely victory even though his side was defending a meagre total of 165. Patel took four wickets, all lbw, for 25 runs to ensure that Durham’s run chase was never a breeze.
On the day Stokes outplayed his friend and England rival, Chris Woakes. He consolidated the early work of Chris Rushworth and Paul Collingwood by dismissing Laurie Evans and Rikki Clarke in quick succession. In the gloom both were startled by the venom of Stokes’ bowling. Evans could only fend off a bouncer, Clarke lost sight of the ball and then his middle stump. But for Varun Chopra’s patient 64 there would not have been a contest.
Mark Stoneman set Durham on the way with a run-a-ball 52 but then Patel intervened with his off-breaks. Stokes managed to resist Patel, albeit with a few alarms, while delivering several sweet drives against the quicker bowlers, of whom Woakes was the most expensive. The maturity of Stokes’ innings will encourage England selectors, who are well acquainted with his natural talent. They might also be impressed by his commitment to his county, something which occasionally wavers when a youngster first tastes the bright lights of international cricket.
It rang true when Stokes talked afterwards. “I love coming to play for Durham. I’ve enjoyed every single game I’ve played and to walk away as champions is fantastic. We’ve been around each other for a number of years now. We know how everyone plays cricket and everyone’s personality. Everyone fits in the changing room. We’re not just colleagues, we’re mates as well and that goes a long way to explaining how successful we’ve been this year.”
When he is at ease with himself Stokes is a very dangerous cricketer, albeit still something of a wild card. Despite his inconsistencies he will surely be part of England’s one-day plans, which will become a little clearer on Wednesday once they have named their squad for the seven one-day matches in Sri Lanka before Christmas.
Warwickshire, like Durham, are finishing the season strongly. They battled tenaciously in the field at Lord’s in the knowledge they did not have enough runs on the board. Chopra, their captain, said: “There’s disappointment but I don’t think they feel like losers in the changing room. Hopefully we’ll have come in the top two in all three forms after next week and that shows how good we are and what a good squad we have.”
It was reassuring to see the mix of jubilation and despair. It was obvious that the end-of-season final still matters deeply to the modern county cricketer. However it was disappointing that Lord’s was no more than half-full for what was once a glorious finale to the season.
