Matthew Fleming: Little matter of a bad day at the office (23 July 1997)

Wednesday 23 July 1997

Little matter of a bad day at the office

Matthew Fleming Talking Cricket

"I DOESN`T matter how badly you did daddy, I still love you. What are you doing down there?" - Hannah Fleming, aged 5.25, Sunday, July 13.

On reflection, this was a very fair question. What was a relatively grown man doing on his hands and knees in front of the televi- sion clasping a 12-inch ruler. I couldn`t very well explain that I was tracking the path of the delivery from Chris Lewis which got me out lbw in the Benson and Hedges final.

I was lying on the floor attempting to pause the video on the exact moment the ball pitched, and then run the rule from that point to the exact spot the ball hit my pads thus discovering the angle of climb and the path the ball was taking, in order to ascertain once and for all whether it would have hit the stumps.

I stopped my investigation and found myself reacting in exactly the same way that she normally did when caught "in the act". I fibbed, and what a whopper. Mending the video so she could watch Noddy and Big Ears indeed - it even brought a blush to my cheeks, but with my complexion there is a very fine line between blushing, sunburn, and my normal colour so I got away with it.

It did, however, make me pause and think. Who cares whether or not I could have been given the benefit of the doubt over my lbw decision? Nothing can be done about it now. I am not embarrassed to have been dismissed for seven, I did my best, but sadly on the day Chris Lewis did better. We gave 100 per cent, and unfortunately Surrey`s 100 per cent amounted to considerably more.

Surrey deserved to win and no amount of fervent wishing will make it any different. If truth be told our cricket had been topsyturvy leading up to the final, and only incredible team spirit and collective desire had got us through. On the day, we were barely "turvy" and in light of recent performances by Surrey and Alistair Brown in particular, we were lucky to dismiss him early and take the match beyond the 20th over.

Apart from the result, the most disappointing aspect of the day was the manner of our defeat. To represent Kent at Lord`s in the Benson and Hedges final should be very near the pinnacle of my career. To admit, therefore, that at one stage late in the Surrey innings I just wanted the game to finish quickly and get back to the relative comfort of the pavilion should give some indication as to the desolation we felt out there.

We did not "bottle" it as some have suggested (bottling requires snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, or losing one`s nerve and failing to perform altogether, neither of which we did); we had a bad day at the office. Metaphorically, the traffic was so bad we barely made it into the office at all.

I cannot describe the sensation of complete emptiness as in the 40th over the Surrey fans started their victory chants and many of the neutral supporters, and a few of our own, started to leave. This potentially great final, between two of the true heavyweights of the modern one-day game, had not even got to the ear-biting stage. There was no gut wrenching tension, no nail biting, nothing, just oblivion.

We will bounce back because the true test of a team`s character is discovered in adversity, and we have character by the bucketload. We also owe it to ourselves and to our supporters, so we have to bounce back. I will bounce back because I`ve got a very perceptive five-year-old daughter who will make sure I do. Now where`s that ruler? I`m sure I had a good shout for lbw against Ben Hollioake.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)