Cricket: Reeve engineers right result

Michael Austin
Monday 31 May 1993 23:02 BST
Comments

Lancashire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .279-7 dec and forfeit

Warwickshire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .forfeit and 171-7

Match drawn

JOKE bowling permeated the four-day game at last but a positive result was still lacking. Lancashire were the frustrated and frozen ones, braving a chilling wind and being denied by Dermot Reeve, together with all his irritating mannerisms.

Between deliveries, Reeve adjusts various parts of his anatomy and protective equipment, inadvertently it riles opponents and Reeve, a man for the trenches, clambered out with an honourable result, and 45 not out, after batting 37 overs. The bowling had by then moved from flippant to the serious after Warwickshire's donation of 195 runs in an hour before lunch was translated into their own target of 280 from what became 72 overs.

A newly relaid pitch, dubbed as a 'result wicket' before the match, would probably have matched its rating given even three fine days. To manufacture a result, the captains used the forfeiture-of-innings method and an unofficial agreement about a suitable target.

Lancashire geared it to Wasim Akram's absence through a groin strain. As for Warwickshire, their victory prospects were whisked away as the ball turned for Alex Barnett and Mike Watkinson on a surface which had less than a full day's wear and tear. At 87 for 6, with 40 overs still available, Warwickshire were in dire straits, but Neil Smith and Reeve added a match- saving 71, which occupied 23 overs. Apart from Wasim's injury, Neil Fairbrother could reflect on his decision to prolong Lancashire's innings by just one ball after lunch.

Peter Martin hit Trevor Penney for six and the players promptly trooped off. It cost Lancashire's bowlers four overs, including three lost between the innings. They would have been valuable in winkling out Warwickshire's lower order.

Steve Titchard's name will not appear on the scorecard but he held three catches at short leg as Wasim's substitute. Barnett took 3 for 48, including the wicket of Andy Moles, bowled when hitting wildly to leg, and Watkinson returned 3 for 82. Yet Fairbrother needed to resort to seam for some of the last 20 overs when a top-class spinner or Wasim could have finished the job.

Pre-lunch manoeuvrings to get the runs and overs equation correct involved Warwickshire using 10 bowlers and Warren Hegg making 50 in 23 minutes. Moles was plundered for 87 runs in nine overs but Gehan Mendis, Phil DeFreitas and Watkinson paid the price for dipping their bread in the rich gravy by providing him with wickets. The result was fitting because the weather had deprived both teams of the right to 16 points.

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