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Rayner the toast of overdue Lord’s win
- Updated: August 15, 2016
Middlesex 536 for 9 dec (Gubbins 145, Compton 131, Roland-Jones 66, Franklin 56*) beat Durham 204 (Rayner 4-17, Franklin 3-26) and 252 (Rayner 5-85) by an innings and 80 runsScorecard
August 15 is late in summer for a first home victory. Yet not until Graham Onions chipped Ollie Rayner to midwicket had Middlesex been able to toast a triumph at Lord’s, their primary home, in the 2016 County Championship. Even allowing for a victory in their single home game away from HQ, it has been an exasperating wait.
Five times Middlesex had played Championship matches at Lord’s; five times they had ended in draws. So they will be entitled to feel as if they have not merely defeated Durham, but also the pitch here. After a succession of slow pitches in previous home games, here Middlesex got a one with more pace, bounce and carry: a fine surface for Championship cricket.
No one exploited it better than Rayner. If his limits – the absence of prodigious turn or anything resembling a doosra – are well-know, Rayner has made himself into an indispensable cricketer for Middlesex, and one of the finest spin bowlers in the county game.
It has been a triumph for willpower, resolve and bloodymindedness. Rayner moved from Sussex, his home town club, in pursuit of more opportunities. He had to remodel his action after being called for throwing. He has honed his batting to make himself harder to drop, last year declaring: “When I see young kids around the grounds in county matches and their mums tell me that they bowl spin and do I have any tips for them, I say, yeah, learn to bat.” Never has Rayner shied from bowling when conditions are toughest.
Last year, Jeetan Patel criticised English spinners for not spending enough time honing their art. “Without wishing to sound full of self-pity, it is not easy being an English spin bowler at this moment in time”, Rayner wrote for ESPNcricinfo in response. “I, like many other spinners around the country, bowl the majority of my overs on green pitches such as Lord’s where we are often being used in short bursts to pick up the over rate.”
Those days are over. …
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