Surrey beat Middlesex by 73 runs
by Layth Yousif
at Lord's

THE T20 London derby between north and south has always been a bellwether event. 

The clash between the capital aristocrats of Middlesex and Surrey can provide a fair indication of the health of the format, if not the game itself. 

In years of feast, the fixture is a 28,000 sellout, invariably played a matter of days after Lord’s main Test of the summer. A convenience that allowed for use of the extra seating at the Compton and Edrich stands, as the City decamped to NW8 for sport. Not least when sozzled City traders attempt to fire champagne corks onto the deep extra cover boundary in actions that emphasise that 20 overs a side is not county cricket. Thankfully. 

However, in fallow years, empty spaces are far more prevalent. At the bars, in the concourses, and in the stands, where a raft of unsold white seats scream lower bonuses. Yet, this year, it’s not so much that the economy is in a bad shape. Under such continuous Tory fiscal mismanagement that fact is not news, sadly. 

No, the clash between these two grand old cricketing rivals saw the upper tiers of the Lord’s Grandstand and the Tavern Stand shut. Along with the revamped top berths of the Compton and Edrich. While the sparse numbers in the corporate areas of the Mound Stand spoke volumes, compared to plentiful numbers in times gone by. 

Why? For the simple reason that there wasn’t enough interest in ticket sales to warrant opening up. 

Why? Well, in a nutshell, T20 in this county is experiencing a crisis of confidence. Who and what is T20? Where should it reside in the calendar and just how much importance do the counties, the players, the spectators and, alas, most importantly, the administrators place upon it?

One look at this summer’s scheduling and the answer is clear.

T20 should be played in late July and August, the height of summer. It used to be. Back when it was in favour. Now The Hundred has taken over the diary during the school holidays, when its so-called target audience of women and children are most likely to attend. T20 is now viewed as a beery alternative. Although anyone who has sat through 16.3 overs next to a group of hearty beer drinkers may think otherwise. 

Like a spurned partner, interest has faded in T20. The passion has long subsided, and the first flush of excitement has long since passed in favour of a younger version. 

Quite simply the ECB has run off with The Hundred, leaving T20 unsure and uncertain of its future. 

And the sad thing, for those who enjoy — if that is the right word — T20, is that the counties don’t seem to care either. Not when the ECB provides that big fat seven-figure cheque every year as an incentive to look the other way. 

Perhaps in honour of such an artificial lifeline we should call that shortest of short-form formats The Million instead. 

Which is why this T20 London derby was played before the end of the football season. Long before the longest day of the year. It’s not even June for heaven’s sake and already the fire machines are spewing their vacuous flames into the St John’s Wood ether. 

As for the match, Surrey posted a hefty target – they always seem to in this fixture, with the head-to-head in this format currently showing 26 wins to their north London rivals’ 12. So, it was no surprise that Surrey, captained by Sam Curran, reached 199-6, mainly powered by lusty blows from brothers Sam and Tom in a productive third wicket partnership of 118. With Curran (S) blasting 68 off 47 balls, while Curran (T) biffed 50 off 33.  

Middlesex’s Tom Helm added a veneer of respectability to proceedings with three late wickets with figures of 3-38 but those who study these things knew the home side would not get near to such a daunting target. 

Even despite this year’s marketing effort to make Dante’s Seventh Circle of Hell called Howzat Camera. An execrable concept in which boisterous children surely boosted by fizzy drinks were encouraged to appeal as loudly as possible into the camera.  

For those who prefer the peace and quiet of County Cricket – not to mention a subtle resurgence of such enthralling long-form cricket: Stuart Broad bowling to Sir Alastair Cook at a sun-baked Trent Bridge last weekend anyone – T20 continues to slide inexorably into decline, unloved by those who once feted it. 

With Test and County aficionados never having loved it in the first place. 

And so it proved. Middlesex subsided to 126 all out, their lowest ever total against Surrey at the Home of Cricket, beating the 128 all out they posted back in 2010. Gus Atkinson taking 3-20 and Will Jacks 3-17.