Ravaged
by Satish Sekar 
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Send to a FriendDébut:
Although it is is a strange choice of words to use for a 34-year-old cricketer who is a member of the exclusive Triple Centurions Club in Test cricket, Younus Khan has just made his county cricket début at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff for Swansea in a Division Two match. It was, however a match to forget for Khan – he made a five-ball duck.
The former Pakistan captain is appealing against his life ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board. If he wins that appeal, which he wants media to be allowed to attend, he will probably join Pakistan’s tour. The ban stemmed from the unsuccessful tour of Australia where divisions among senior players affected performances and resulted in several bans. If the ban is upheld his country’s loss is county cricket’s gain – especially Surrey’s – even though there was little benefit in a four-day match that was reduced to two by rain.
The dismissal of Steven Davies after a rapid 83 brought Khan to the crease. He lasted just five balls before shouldering arms to the wrong delivery from Jim Harris, which cut back and bowled him for 0. It was hardly the start to his county career that Khan envisaged, but Glamorgan’s hard-core faithful didn’t mind a bit.
Khan will get other opportunities. Meanwhile, Usman Afzaal had the chance to rebuild the innings with the evergreen Mark Ramprakash, chasing a Nelson (111) of first class centuries at the time, but any prospect of a result in this match seemed remote even then thanks to the intervention of the elements on the first day. The rain only permitted a miserly eight overs on the first day, so Glamorgan’s first innings – the first of the match – lasted into the third day.
Ruined:
Glamorgan ended 19 without loss on the first day. Australian Mark Cosgrove dominated the century opening partnership with Gareth Rees, who eventually top-scored with 86, playing the anchor role as usual. Cosgrove was dismissed before lunch, bowled by Stuart Meaker, for 82. His innings contained twelve fours and a six from 107 balls, as Glamorgan plundered Surrey's attack in the morning session.
The second day yielded an impressive 344 runs for eight wickets on a pitch which was slow, but offered the bowlers something if they put the effort in. Captain Jamie Dalrymple made 11 before he too was bowled by Meaker – second change. Chris Tremlett and Tim Linley toiled for no reward and Jade Dernbach would make his impact later, taking four wickets in the day, which included denying Jim Harris a half century by one run.
Ben Wright was his first victim, caught by Gareth Batty for 23. While Dernbach had to wait for the opportunity of a five-wicket haul, wicket-keeper Steven Davies took five catches, including that of Rees, whose knock lasted 170 balls with ten boundaries. He also dismissed opposite number Mark Wallace for 58 courtesy Dernbach. His innings included five fours as did Harris’.
Onslaught:
Earlier in the day Cosgrove’s onslaught made 400 in the day seem likely rather than just possible, but the scoring rate dropped appreciably after he was out. Surrey fought back after the opening partnership of 135, taking six wickets for just 112 runs, Glamorgan then battled from 247 for 6 with another century partnership between Wallace and Harris, but both fell within seven runs of each other at 354 and 363, both caught by Davies from Dernbach.
An entertaining day’s play ended four balls short of the scheduled close, leaving Glamorgan with a choice of declaring at the overnight total or batting on in the hope of getting to 400 – they had 6.4 overs to claim an extra point. It was a pity that more spectators didn’t choose to enjoy their Sunday here.
Mopped Up:
Dalrymple chose to bat on – it soon backfired as Dave Harrison was caught by Tim Linley for 1 and Huw Waters was bowled for 2 – Chris Tremlett took both wickets, as the tail failed to provide support to Dean Cosker, who finished unbeaten on 6. Glamorgan added nine runs to their overnight total in half an hour. Dernbach was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 78, while Tremlett grabbed 3 for 55 from 24 overs and Meaker closed with 3 for 83.
Surrey openers Arun Harinath and Davies raced to a fifty partnership in nine overs. Davies won the race to his half century, achieving the landmark in just 51 balls with 9 fours. Glamorgan’s skipper, Dalrymple got the breakthrough, trapping Harinath leg before wicket for 31. He scored four boundaries in his knock.
That brought Mark Ramprakash to the wicket at 81. Davies lasted an hour after lunch, departing for 84, an innings that included twelve boundaries before he was caught by Wallace to give Harris his first wicket with the score on 157. That brought Khan to the crease to partner Ramprakash whose innings had been a mixture of his customary brilliance and a small slice of good fortune.
Ramprakash’s luck finally ran out for 73, after hitting thirteen fours. He caught behind by Wallace, again off the bowling of Harris, who had also claimed Khan’s wicket. Surrey captain Rory Hamilton-Brown lasted just one ball, leaving Harris on a hat-trick that would also give him a five-wicket haul,but Gareth Batty survived it. The top five had been dismissed for 222.
Batty helped Usman Afzaal repair some of the damage. Their partnership was worth 58, but they were dismissed within two runs of each other. Afzaal was first to go for 49, caught by Dalrymple to give Jim Allenby his first wicket. Afzaal had taken 100 balls to fail to reach a half-century – the second batsman to depart on that unfortunate tally. He had hit six fours in his innings.
Batty went for 32, bowled by Cosker. Stuart Meaker made 4 before Cosker trapped him lbw and Dernbach was beaten all ends up by Huw Waters. Surrey’s last pair, Linley and Tremlett took the total from 290 for 9 to 303 before declaring to have a couple of overs at Glamorgan’s openers.
Glamorgan’s bowling figures did not tell the story of their effort. Several edges failed to carry and a few deliveries were too good for everything. Dave Harrison got little reward for splendid fast-bowling 1 for 73 from 17 overs hardly did him justice, but Harris picked up 4 for 82 from 20 and Cosker took 2 for 40 from 15.
Glamorgan led by 69 runs Gareth Rees and Mark Cosgrove negotiated the three-overs spell, ending on 7 without loss. Rain ruined the final day. Not a ball was bowled. It was a sad way to end a match that had tried to entertain against the odds.
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