Michael Lumb
Richard Edwards finds that Nottinghamshire’s record-breaker is handing the credit to the influence of the T20 format
We speak to Notts’ one-day hero after back-to-back tons
The bowlers weren’t salivating at the end of two of the most remarkable one-day matches on English soil. But the statisticians certainly were. An aggregate match total of 870 runs on Monday, which included the largest partnership in English one-day domestic cricket, re-wrote the record books and handed those who were lucky enough to have been at Trent Bridge on Monday afternoon some golden memories.
Nottinghamshire were at it again just two days later, this time scoring 415 against a Warwickshire side that amassed a more than respectable 379 in reply.
Michael Lumb was one of the key protagonists in both. The former England man first scored 184 off 150 balls against a Northants attack powerless to stop his onslaught alongside opening partner Riki Wessels.
The pair pummelled 342 in 39.3 overs on a sun-soaked run-drenched One-Day Cup afternoon in Nottingham.
Lumb then plundered 133 off 108 balls against the Bears, putting on 178 for the first wicket with Wessels to take their week’s combined partnership to 520. Little wonder that Dan Christian, the county’s overseas star was singing the pairs praises.
“I’ve not seen two partnerships backto-back like that,” he said. Lumb, though, tells The Cricket Paper that his overriding emotion on a record-breaking Monday was frustration after getting so close to scoring a double hundred.
“First of all it was a really great game of cricket,” he said.“It can sometimes happen when one side gets a huge score, that the other does, too. Northants maybe went out not expecting to get it but they gave it a crack and got closer and closer. It was a great game to watch, hats off to them because they only just fell short.
“It was one of those days where the stars just aligned. Everything just seemed to hit the middle. It started well and it just carried on going. In the end I was pretty annoyed, pretty disappointed.
“I don’t know what I was doing. I tried to play like a ramp paddle. I don’t know if I’ll ever get a better chance (to get 200). I was absolutely disgusted with myself.”
As one of English cricket’s most decorated short-form cricketers, Lumb has witnessed at first hand the astonishing impact T20 has had on run rates and the sport in general since its introduction.
He played domestic one-day cricket back in 2001 when T20 cricket was barely a consideration. Now,15 years later, he believes T20 has utterly re-written the rules of limited overs cricket.
“Guys don’t show fear anymore – you stick two men out and I’ll smash it over you; bowl a yorker and I’ll just ramp it,” he said. “Yes, it’s quite stacked in favour of the batters but the skill levels these guys are showing are incredible. Whether it’s in the field or with the ball, the whole game’s gone to another level.
“T20 has to take a massive amount of credit. Just the way the guys hit the ball. They don’t hold back, they give it a good whack and take it on. Skills have progressed enormously in 10 years and there’s a knock-on effect in every format.”
Don’t get Geoffrey Boycott started on that discussion but while some Test batsmen – as witnessed by the hapless efforts of Sri Lanka this summer – now struggle to make the switch from T20 to the fiveday game, there can be no doubt that ultra-aggressive approach has breathed fresh life into the 50-over game as well.
Lumb said: “Teams score 350 but noone is afraid of chasing that down now. You saw that when Northants got to within 20 of our score. Cricket has suddenly become a really crazy game.
“A few years ago it looked as though 50-over cricket had had its day. If you were a neutral who turned up yesterday, though, you’d have seen nearly 900 runs with sixes disappearing all over the place. The game is exciting again and I think a lot of people would have said, ‘that was great, we’ll come here again.’
“When I started all the talk was about the pinch-hitting – the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Sanath Jayasuriya teeing off in the first 10 overs. To begin with, you’d be happy if you had 60 after 10 or 15 overs. Now, you’ve got to get 90 or 100 in the first 10 overs.You need to take the game to the bowlers in the powerplay and get on top right from the start.”
That might not be great news for the bowlers – with 60 runs from 10 overs now becoming perfectly acceptable figures in the modern game – but it’s great for the supporters and the big-hitting stars that they come to see.
Those who were at Trent Bridge to witness Lumb and Wessels break new ground this week certainly won’t forget it in a hurry.