Middlesex relegated after losing the final County game

Middlesex suffered a humiliation of being relegated a year after being crowned the champions of English County Championship. They lost their last game of the season against Somerset by a whopping 231 runs. Their opposition was also battling out to avoid relegation but they made use of the home advantage they possessed. However, the pitch used for the match is under investigation as it turned excessively which assisted their spinners to a large extent.

Both the teams struggled against spin bowling but Somerset bowled last on the pitch and with its fast deteriorating nature gave Middlesex no chance of chasing a mammoth 345 in the second innings. After opting to bat first, the home side scored 236 but the visitors were bundled out for 142 conceding the decisive lead. Somerset fared better in their second essay and extended their lead up to 344 only to declare on 250/9. However, Middlesex batsmen looked never comfortable on a wicket which offered a huge amount of turn and succumbed to a paltry total of 113.

Investigation on the pitch

The fate of the Middlesex team is on the edge of the knife still as the investigation will be carried on the nature of the pitch. Although it received a rating of ‘below average’ after the match, which does not carry a points deduction, investigations are to continue to see whether it overly favoured the hosts’ spinners. “There’s going to be an investigation tomorrow. Phil Whitticase, another CLO, comes in. He’ll conduct an investigation and he will go through my findings and speak to both umpires, both captains and the ground staff. “He could downgrade it, he could upgrade it, that’s entirely up to him. He looks at the evidence and he makes his own call,” said ECB cricket liaison officer (CLO) Wayne Noon.

Adam Voges, the skipper of the visiting side accepted that they were outplayed in all the departments but was disappointed with the state of the pitch. “We came here knowing we would face a pitch that helped Somerset’s spinners because every team in the world prepares wickets to aid their strengths, but there needs to be line which teams can’t cross. “Whether Somerset have crossed that line for this match is for the match referee to decide. I have certainly let him know my thoughts,” said Voges.

He also added that the team was surprised to see rake marks on both ends of the wicket. “What we didn’t expect was rake marks at both ends that were encroaching into danger areas on what was already a worn pitch. That was a surprise. “I’ll admit we have been comfortably outplayed over the four days. The ECB directive is that a pitch cannot be marked poor simply for excessive spin,” he added.