Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2017

15 www.sheffieldcricketlovers.org.uk Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society thanks to some excellent batting from Ben Stokes scoring his maiden ODI century and newly capped Ben Duckett showing why he was the find of the English summer with a patient 60 in his 153-run partnership with Stokes. With the ball we bowled with discipline and the other debutant Jake Ball became the first Englishman on debut to take five wickets in an innings. The atmosphere in the stadium is like no other I have experienced in cricket. The locals certainly make themselves heard when they are on top - hitting boundaries and taking wickets. However, as soon as the opposition are on the ascendancy, the 25,000 crowd goes silent and will not acknowledge the exploits of good play. They can be a fickle lot and that tag can also be labeled against the media. At the launch series press conference in excess of 150 written journalists attended the interview session with England captain Jos Buttler. In addition, there were 40 television crews and another 20-30 photographers. It was incredible to see the passion and interest in the team. That changed quite quickly after winning the first game and a packed press conference room that greeted us in the build-up turned into a handful of writers after our victory. According to one local journalist, “the media are only interested in the home side, whether we win or lose. The opposition means nothing to us.” England started the three-game series on a high with a scintillating win in Dhaka on Friday but failed to chase down a relatively modest 239 in the second match of the series, setting up a winner-takes-all clash in Chittagong. Another full house greeted the two teams in the Port City of Chittagong. The partisan crowd were in full voice as Bangladesh made steady progress in their innings reaching 277 from their 50 overs. Chasing 278 to win, Ben Duckett, playing only his third game, and Sam Billings, in his first match of the series, made 63 and 62 respectively. England had a slight wobble when Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali fell in quick succession but Ben Stokes’ mature 47 not out and an unbeaten 27 from Woakes saw us home. Woakes delivered the winning blow, swatting Shafiul Islam back over his head for six to spark the celebrations. It was satisfying to see the team win away and continue their push to become the best ODI team in the world. You should never underestimate the effort of winning a series in Bangladesh and the way the players coped with pressures of a security backdrop enveloping the team every day during the two-week tour. Watching England’s white ball team over the next few years is going to offer some great deal of hope and confidence.