Eyewitness: Martin Bicknell's 16 wickets against Leicestershire at Guildford

SCOTT OLIVER: Bicknell’s 16 for 119 against Leicestershire at his favourite hunting ground, Guildford, saw even Adam Hollioake single him out for praise

The middle of a hot July in 2000, and Leicestershire, county champions of 1996 and 1998, travelled to play reigning champions Surrey at Guildford, a fortnight after losing by an innings at Oakham School. It was a game that would be remembered for one man... 

Jon Batty (Surrey wicketkeeper) Leicestershire had beaten us in the last game of the season in 1998, so there was huge rivalry there. They would have felt quite hard done by at Oakham in that, five minutes after Saqlain [Mushtaq] took the last wicket, it chucked it down and we wouldn’t have played on the last day. 

Neil Burns (Leicestershire wicketkeeper) We were very quick to want to get to Guildford and turn the Oakham result around. Surrey had a bit of a lead on us in the Championship. We knew we had to go there and win. 

It was a happy hunting ground, both for Surrey and for Martin Bicknell: of all the venues at which he took at least 16 first-class wickets, his 83 at Woodbridge Road came at the lowest average. 

Batty The Oval was home, but Guildford was becoming a bit of a fortress. With a lot of outgrounds, the wickets might not be amazing, but Guildford was quite a quick wicket, short boundaries, quick outfield, a tree-lined ground, and the ball swung. We knew how to play there. 

Martin Bicknell (Surrey seamer) There was normally nothing in it for seamers but the ball generally did swing. I always fancied my chances there. It was my home club, so I always felt comfortable going back.

^{Ian Ward turns into the off-side; a young Darren Stevens is under the lid}

Burns They were a terrifically well-led side. Adam Hollioake was a truly outstanding captain and effervescent character, someone who was always prepared to play for the team. 

Ian Ward (Surrey opener) Adam and Martin had a great relationship. There was a deep mutual respect. Adam captained him brilliantly and just let him get on with it. 

Adam Hollioake (Surrey captain) Martin did what he wanted to do. He was the king. It was something I learned early on in my captaincy. We went down to Kent, and there was a guy, Nigel Llong, the umpire, who I played a lot of 2nd XI cricket against, and I knew he liked to play through gully, so I moved third slip to second gully without consulting Martin. I was young, 23 or something. He saw me do it and went crazy at me: “If I’m bowling the ball, I’m setting the field.” I had the law set down for me early. 

Thanks to a hundred from Ben Smith, Leicestershire made 318 in their first innings – closing day one at 313 for 9 – with Bicknell taking 7 for 72. 

Bicknell The ball just came out beautifully that first day. I look back at my career and I don’t think I’ve ever bowled better, including the second innings of this game: 27 overs for 70 on that pitch was as good as I could have bowled. 

Burns It crept up on us, the number of wickets he took in the first innings. You didn’t notice that he was bowling you out. All our planning had been about negating Saqlain.

"That was just freakish. It was just one of those perfect storm situations" 

In reply, Surrey, having been 266 for 5, were hustled out for 288, reached largely thanks to Ward’s 107. 

Bicknell Losing five wickets very quickly at the end was unusual for us. One of our strengths at that time was lower-order runs, so that felt deflating not to even get parity. 

Batty We were well short of what we felt was a par score. Wardy played brilliant to get his hundred but the rest of us felt we hadn’t done ourselves justice. 

Ward I don’t remember my hundred but I do recall Jimmy Ormond bowling quickly that day. He got a lot of bounce. We signed him not long afterwards. 

Burns Jimmy produced a Herculean performance. He swung the ball, bowled with real hostility, steep bounce. 

Batty Anil Kumble was the one we’d planned for in our team meetings. We knew Jimmy was a quality bowler, the sort of guy who gets quality batsmen out. A real handful.

^{Bicknell takes his 16th wicket of the match - that of Jimmy Ormond}

Ormond’s effort was double-edged however, in that it left Leicestershire a tricky 45-minute session to negotiate. Carnage ensued. 

Bicknell I wasn’t expecting to bowl again that day and was knackered to be honest. I was out on my feet. It had been hot as well. 

Ward I don’t remember anything Churchillian being said by Adam. He tended to lead by example rather than forceful words. We all realised what needed to be done. 

Hollioake We were in the s***. I just remember asking for a big hour. It was one of those dream sessions where everything went our way. 

Bicknell I normally bowled from the Pavilion End, but there was a massive foothole where Kumble had bowled. They were the bane of my life. I really struggled if it was uneven. I didn’t know whether to go outside it or inside it. It was a bizarre session of cricket and I didn’t feel comfortable running in to bowl and not knowing where my feet were going to land – whether I was going to hit the hole. So I made myself go inside, and got really close to the stumps. I bowled two absolute jaffas in the first two overs to Sutcliffe and Maddy, swinging balls that just felt unplayable, and got on a bit of a roll. And they kept nicking it. But I never felt comfortable, or that I was bowling well. 

Ward I was fielding at cover, looking at the slips, thinking: ‘Boys, get ready, because every ball is coming your way.’

"We were in the s***. I just remember asking for a big hour"

Burns It was just a high-class spell of new-ball bowling. It looked like he was going to take a wicket every ball. I can’t think there was anything we could have done differently. It was just one of those passages. He bowled a lot of very good balls and Surrey caught everything. 

Leicestershire closed on 33 for 6, Carl Greenidge nipping out Ben Smith with the last ball of the day, which denied Bicknell a tilt at all 10 yet hammered the crucial nail into the Foxes’ coffin. 

Burns Ben was a key wicket for us. He got a double-hundred at The Oval in ’98 when we won the Championship. There are moments in a game when a team shifts from being slightly in front to very in front. Those couple of wickets at the end really hurt us. It happened so quickly it was almost hard to catch your breath. 

Hollioake Their coach, Jack Birkenshaw, said: “The reason we lost is because we bowled you out too soon. If we hadn’t bowled you out with those 45 minutes left, we wouldn’t have lost.” I said: “That’s your fault for being too good then.” 

On the third day, Bicknell completed figures of 12.5-3-47-9 to finish with an astonishing match haul of 16 for 119, before Ward and Mark Butcher knocked off the 118 for no loss. 

Hollioake As captain, I was always conscious never to give praise to one particular player, but I remember going back into the changing room and saying: “You know I don’t like singling out individuals but we’ve just seen something pretty special.” It was probably the best bowling spell that I saw in my time as captain.

^{Neil Burns watches as Ward hits to leg in his century}

Bicknell I took 9 for 45 against Cambridge University, but this felt like my real career best. 

Batty You look at his figures and that was quite a high economy rate for him, because he just didn’t really bowl bad balls. His length was always immaculate. He just didn’t give you an escape. He was constantly probing that area: top of off stump, top of fourth stump. It was just relentless. 

Hollioake His nickname was ‘High Class’, because he didn’t ever perform badly, although before I became captain it was ‘Spandau’, because of his hair. 

Ward He was very low-maintenance, Martin. He just got on with it. Around 2001, 2002, he got – not into cruise control, but he knew exactly how much training he needed to do to be ready. He would do that, and no more. 

Bicknell It wasn’t a shock to take a few wickets, but 16? That was just freakish. It was just one of those perfect storm situations. 

No one had taken 16 in a Championship game for 44 years, when Surrey’s Tony Lock bagged 16 for 83 against Kent at Blackheath. So should this master craftsman have played more than his four Tests for England?

"His nickname was ‘High Class’, because he didn’t ever perform badly, although before I became captain it was ‘Spandau’, because of his hair"

Bicknell I think I was pigeonholed as lacking a yard of pace. David Graveney told me later on that they didn’t think I could bowl well in the subcontinent. 

Ward Maybe he could have been utilised more in English conditions because he was a highly skilful bowler. If there was going to be any swing, he would find it. He was relentlessly accurate, had a brilliant work ethic, and so probably was a bit unlucky. 

Bicknell I’m not gonna lie: the lack of England recognition did rankle. I thought I couldn’t do any more. There were several times I got the nod as ‘next in line’. After a while it got painful, to the point where I thought: ‘I’m just going to forget about it. Carry on doing the day job, see what happens.’ 

Batty It was good for us. You want players that are a bit too good for a lot of the players you’re playing against but aren’t going to get whipped away to play loads of international cricket. That’s the dream scenario for a county. And Martin was easily the best swing bowler around in county cricket in that period. 

Bicknell Looking back, with my stats it was ridiculous I didn’t play for England during the 1998 to 2002 period. The bottom line is that the people in charge at that time didn’t really rate me and drew a line through me. I got selected in 2003 as a bit of an afterthought. I was 34 and definitely on the slide, ability-wise and fitness-wise. 

Given those England frustrations, where does his 16 at Guildford rank in the career highlights showreel? 

Bicknell It would certainly be in my top five, and I have very fond memories of it, but I look more toward team-oriented success. A single game is often a by-product of what the bigger picture is, which was us being the dominant county, and I loved being part of that team, winning trophies: nine in seven years. That felt more important to me than individual performances. 

Hollioake Martin was a captain’s dream. I can honestly say I never saw him bowl badly. He was metronomic, especially on his home ground. I think they named the pavilion after him. If they haven’t, they should. 

Interviews by Scott Oliver

This article was published in the February 2019 edition of The Cricketer - the home of the best cricket analysis and commentary, covering the international, county, women's and amateur game

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