After all that, the combined might of Nottinghamshire's all-star XI provged too much for Glamorgan in the YB40 Final. It was a shame, too, that Lord's was far from being sold out but as soon as it was announced that Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann weer to be released by England, it was always going to be a tough ask for the Welsh side to come out on top. Nevertheless, they reached the final on merit and in a single 40-over match, nothing is impossible.
The floodlights were on for a gloomy day in St John's Wood, and after Glamorgan inserted the Outlaws, the England T20 openers set a good pace, with Michael Lumb leading the way with three fours and a six. However, both he and Alex Hales fell in successive overs, then James Taylor and Samit Patel struggled as Simon Jones, in his last season of proper cricket with Glamorgan, and Andrew Salter in his second, exerted some pressure. David Hussey and captain Chris Read have disappointed this season, one reason while Notts are in Championship trouble. However, they rescued their side's innings with a 99 partnership. Swann and Mullaney biffed some late boundaries off Wagg and Hogan to set a stiff target of 245.
When the Welsh came out to bat, Broad and Gurney induced a lot of playing and missing from the word go. Mark Wallace miscued for 2, but Rees rode his luck to make 29. Danger men Chris Cooke, one of the highest scorers in this year's tournament, and consistent all-rounder James Allenby steadied the ship and kept the Glammies' hopes high. Enter Samit Patel. Miffed at his treatment by England selectors, he showed his talent as left-arm spinner by bamboozling both batsmen with prodigious turn, clipping both off-stumps. Murray Goodwin made little impression and when he went, a long tail was exposed. Shahzad, Patel and, in the 33rd over, easily cut it to pieces. Simon Jones, given a generous standing ovation by all sets of fans and the Notts players, was left high and dry on 0 while the Notts fielders went berserk around him.
As I wrote yesterday, this was their first one-day title for more than 20 years, and they relished the success. And so they should. Their side boasted five current and two recent England internationals plus Hussey. Their opponents featured just two, and Jones last played for England in 2005, Goodwin for Zimbabwe in 2000! Taylor and Patel each aggregated more than 500 runs in the competition, although well behind Peter Trego and Michael Klinger. The final featured the top wicket-takers in Michael Hogan and Ajmal Shahzad, while the Outlaws Gurney and Mullaney also enjoyed a solid summer of 40-over cricket. Jake Ball claimed 19 wickets in twelve games and could be forgiven for feeling pissed off at being dropped for the big occasion in favour of glory boy Broad. Hopefully he'll get another opportunity. Patel may be the Friar Tuck amongst Read's Merrye bande of Outlaws but he deserved the Man of the Match award!
And so the domestic one-day season came to a bit of a damp-squib climax. 40-over cricket has once again been consigned to the commercial dustbin, and a two-division 50-over format takes over in 2014. I hope next year's final gets the crowds the occasion deserves. IN the mean time, well done to Nottinghamshire but I'm cheering on Somerset against them in next week's Championship relegation showdown!
