The Drawn Game, so hated by Ben Stokes and the Baz-ballers, creates tension and excitement in Red Ball Cricket. International red ball cricketers would do well to treat draws with more respect.
The first round of the Championship featured 4 Draws on Day 4. The drama came at Taunton and Lords – Worcestershire were 9 wickets down and Lancashire were 8 down. Chelmsford was less dramatic with Surrey only 6 down at the close, and it was comfortable at Edgbaston where Warwickshire just closed down with just 2 wickets lost. Looking at those more exciting finishes, I followed the Lancashire one most closely, and looking at the scorecards, I think this was probably the most exciting game overall. For much of this fixture, all results were possible, but it did not quite get to the last ball – the players shook hands after the penultimate ball because Lancashire were 8 down and so the draw was a certainty. Over at Taunton, Tom Hineley had to come out at number 11 with 8.3 overs left to bat. Every one of those balls would have been an event because Somerset just needed the one wicket, which they failed to get.
In Test Match Cricket, we do not see many draws anymore. Ben Stokes says he believes it is more important to ensure a result than to salvage draws. To be fair to Stokes, he has stuck to this – even at Old Trafford in 2023 when so much of the game was lost to rain, England were not a million miles away from getting a last minute victory (and for this article, I will resist bringing up the issue of so called ‘bad light’ when the floodlights are on). What Stokes conveniently ignores is the fact that securing a draw at that Manchester game in 2023 meant that the Australians were guaranteed to retain The Ashes. Conversely, England’s failure to secure a draw at the same location in 2019 condemned them to not being able to regain those Ashes.
As I sat and watched the last hour or so of the superb livestream from Lords, while also watching the score at Taunton, I was taken back to some amazing Test Match Draws, games which form some of my most memorable and exciting memories of watching cricket. In 1998 against South Africa, England had lost badly in the Second Test Match at Lords and looked to be losing the third at Old Trafford, but Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart started a fightback. Despite a fine 160 by Stewart, it was still left to Angus Fraser batting at number eleven, in combination with a defiant Robert Croft, to block out a final over by the brilliant Allan Donald. That game was more significant than the famous Mike Atherton inspired draw at Johannesburg 3 years before because it changed the entire dynamic of a series that England would go onto claim 2-1. Great days.
In 2009, England won the Ashes, but they were only able to do so because Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar batted through 10 overs at Cardiff in the first test match to secure a draw that England did not deserve – they had been hopeless all game. It is extremely unlikely that England would have dominated the following game at Lords if they had lost at Cardiff – and they would not have been able to come back from being 2-0 down. Indeed, that England side would go onto secure two draws in the winter, again against South Africa. One thing I would want to say to Stokes is that England would never have got to number one in the world in 2011 without the ability to dig in and prevent losses on those bad days.
I could go on and on. What about that amazing innings by Ricky Ponting, again at Old Trafford but this time in 2005, which made it just that little bit harder for England to regain the Ashes, thus making the series even more exciting. Or the Brisbane Test Match in 2010/11 when England scored 517/1. Avoiding defeat in that fixure – where England still have not won a game since 1986 – was a huge part of the victory in the entire series.
And of course, these games stick in my memory because they were really exciting. At Old Trafford in 1998, the ground was sparsely populated on Day 5 – a Monday of course – but it filled up more and more as people came out of school and work and the draw became a realistic prospect. You only needed to watch skipper Stewart and coach David Lloyd on the balcony at the point when England could not loose to see how much it meant. At Cardiff it was a full house and nobody left the ground on the last day. Anybody watching would remember the drama around England’s time wasting tactics as gloves and drinks kept being delivered to the middle by the England 12th man.
I do know that endless ‘bore-draws’ is not what we want either. I suspect the other two draws yesterday were lacking excitement. For Surrey, Dom Sibley dug in. Like Paul Collingwood at Cardiff in 2009, the situation dictated someone dig-in. The county fans expect that of the teams they support. Who knows, at the end of the season, that small number of points separating victory and defeat might be the difference between being a championship winner and a runner-up. For Lancashire, it might be that those points make the difference between promotion and staying in Division 2. I would love to see England look a bit more closely at this. Yes, the priority is to win, but if you can not win you should do everything you can to avoid losing. Sometimes a draw will be exiting, but even if not, it might be the difference between winning and losing a series.
A word on Lancashire. As a fan, it feels that this was an ominous start. Lancashire has broken up the one part of the batting order that has worked for a few years, moving Luke Wells down to 6 in a bid to spread the batting experience around. To the same end, overseas signing Marcus Harris is batting at 4. The batting showed some promise but still looks dependent on Keaton Jennings, Harris and Wells. More is expected of Josh Bohannon, at one time spoken of for England. Equally, the bowling shows promise but lacks firepower, with the like of Saqib Mahmood and Luke Wood apparently focussed on the One Day game. It is to be hoped that James Anderson is able to recover from injury and make a contribution. Lancashire had a poor 2024, but in 2023, they played quite well. In both years, Lancashire were often unable to take 20 wickets. They are considered favourites for promotion this year – but they will need to take 20 wickets.
Cricketed 