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T20 Finals Day 2014 - Edgbaston, Birmingham
The old cricket stalwarts
would turn in their grave; they indeed would not recognise the events unfolding.
T20 Finals Day is the biggest day in the county cricket calendar, two semi-finals and final played in one day in front of around 23,500 people. Edgbaston has the 2nd biggest capacity in English cricket with only Lords holding more spectators. It is ideal for this event as it is centrally located, easy access and the stadium generates a tremendous atmosphere. This I suppose helped by the fact that you are there for just under 12 hours and if you have been enjoying alcohol refreshment constantly from the first semi by the final itself there is every chance you will be making a great deal of noise as we found around our block! At times, what's going on in the middle is just a side show to what's going on in the crowd. Many quite normal people dress up for the day in anything from animal costumes to chefs and during the afternoon in the Eric Hollis Stand, plastic glasses were collected into each other to form a snake going from top seats to the bottom .it caused great amusement as it was held head height with the crowd chanting “Feed the Snake, feed the snake!”. The day was also helped by the fact that the host county Warwickshire (well...Birmingham Bears) won the competition. This kept the locals interested. Curiously finals day often doesn't feature the host county. In an attempt to re-brand T20 cricket, Warwickshire called themselves the Birmingham Bears for this season. It’s a marketing idea based on India’s IPL to get the multi cultural 2nd city to identify with cricket. The fact they won the competition suggests they may keep the name, will others follow I wonder? So what about the cricket, 20 overs a side and thrash as many runs as you can. The first semi saw the hosts take on Surrey. The Bears got off to a good start through Chopra and Bell and this continued as Will Porterfield crashed 81 runs to give Surrey a challenging chase. Jason Roy, the Surrey opener, arrived with a big T20 reputation and didn't disappoint scoring a rapid 58. However when he was dismissed Surrey started to fall behind the run rate and lose their way. The infamous Kevin Pieterson was dismissed by Ateeq Javids first delivery and despite useful contributions by Davies and Robin Peterson, Surrey’s poor bowling at the death cost them dearly, and saw the bears through to the final. The second semi was rain interrupted between Lancashire who also had a sizeable following from the North West and former winners Hampshire. Lancashire were struggling at 8 for 2 when the players were forced off the field and when they did return both Ashwell Prince and Karl Brown had to dig in and rebuild. Slowly these two started to force the boundaries, Prince top scoring eventually with a very good 72 to give Lancashire a chance. The innings were cut short by one due to another shower and when the players returned Hampshire were set a revised total in 16 overs. Having witnessed a superb Hampshire display in the quarter final in Nottingham, I (Adrian) felt they had a real chance. I was particularly disappointed with their reply, a pretty dismal effort as they were all out for 101, half those runs coming from Jimmy Adams. Credit to Lancashire, they bowled very well. And so to the final, Birmingham Bears verses Lancashire Lightning. The time is now 6.45pm, the light is now fading and the huge floodlights, shaped as an ‘e’, are taking centre stage. The final turned out to be the closest of the three games and was lit up not only by the floodlights but the former England all rounder Andrew Flintoff. The Bears batted first, a steady start with Flintoff bringing the crowd to life with the wicket of Ian Bell, brilliantly caught by Karl Brown, who impressed on finals day. Several of the Bears batsman got in for a quick 30 but were frustratingly unable to stay in. Laurie Evans then arrived at the crease. He struggled to put bat on ball and looked ill at ease, until he suddenly exploded and plundered 53 in quick time, supported by Chris Woakes. These two made a reasonable score into a very good one. Jimmy Anderson was particularly expensive when bowling. So chasing a sizeable score, Lancashire were never going to find it easy. Brown held the batting together with a half century; Prince made valuable runs, the captain Paul Horton wrongly given out. The conclusion was right for the emergence of the ever popular Freddie Flintoff. He wielded the willow for two successive sixes off Oliver Hannon-Dalby but crucially in the final over bowled by the pacy Woakes lost the strike, young spinner Stephen Parry is a promising bowler but doesn't have the Flintoff ability to smash the maximums under pressure. This cost Lancashire the game, history will show they were one boundary (six) from an incredible win. So congratulations to Birmingham Bears, T20 winners for the first time. We enjoyed the new look Edgbaston and the spectacular entertainment.
As a footnote, parking!
The secret is simple, get into the city early, park on a residential street (we parked on Edward Road), walk 15 minutes to the ground. After the final we walked back to the car and were back in Leicester for 11pm. Following the designated car park idea is all very well but it has a cost £15 for the privilege of parking and about an hour queuing to leave! |
