Second Eleven Friendly
Day 1 of 3
Durham 220 / Notts 210
Wickets tumbled on the first day of this three day friendly at the South Northumberland Cricket Club adjacent to the Newcastle racecourse, where an afternoon meeting was being held.
Whether any of the punters would have bet on twenty wickets in a day falling is a matter of conjecture but this was the case in a day of profligate batting and bowling.
In the morning session the Durham batsmen took advantage of some loose bowling as the Notts attack struggled to find line and length and they had reached 153-4 at lunch from 32 overs.
After dining on rice and chicken, Jake Ball who had bowled an eleven over opening spell, then took 4-31 in his next six overs as Durham lost their remaining six wickets for 67 runs.
Dan Cumming also took advantage of some undistinguished batting to take 4-49.
The ball continued to follow Scott Elstone after his distinguished spell as substitute fielder for England as the home batsmen obliged him with three simple catches. However instead of 17,000 fans to roar him on the spectators here consisted of around twenty people and three dogs.
When Notts began their reply they mirrored the first team down the road at the Riverside.
Neil Edwards hoping to find form, shouldered arms and was adjudged leg before second ball & then Patel, Brown and Elstone were all gone with the score on 30-4
Tom Rowe then stepped up to the plate as Chris Read did at the Riverside & saved the innings, helped by Sam Wood 26 & Michael Robson 23 , he scored 83 with 12 fours, biding his time & hitting the bad balls with some well timed drives.
It came as a surprise when he cut a ball straight into the hands of backward point with the score on 160.
Notts were dismissed in the penultimate over of the day trailing by ten runs.