Leicestershire and Durham should be applauded for positive mindset in search for a Bob Willis Trophy result

SAM DALLING: In a mind-blowingly sophisticated use of common sense, the Durham and Leicestershire leaders put their heads together and agreed to set up a chase

Scorecard

Hats off to Ned Eckersley and Colin Ackermann: a pair of skippers who deserve their fair share of credit today.

Their respective sides met at Grace Road this week but the inclement weather restricted them to just 83.2 of a possible 270 overs across the opening three days.

In ordinary circumstances it would have been virtually certain to finish honours even. In the end it did, but that wasn’t for lack of trying.

You see with the Bob Willis Trophy campaign lasting just five games, results are the order of the day.

Three groups but only two winners make the Lords showdown; draws are of little use to anyone.

And so, in a mind-blowingly sophisticated use of common sense, the Durham and Leicestershire leaders put their heads together and agreed to set up a chase.

The mechanics were simple; resuming the day on 250 for 7 Durham would add another 40-odd as quickly as possible. The next two innings would be forfeited and Leicestershire would need to knock of a shade under 300 in near enough 80 overs for victory. Game on.

Keen to waste no further time, the hosts afforded the bowling duties to the not-so-new-ball pairing of Hassan Azad and Sam Evans.

Prior to today the duo had just six overs in professional cricket between them; stats that make even the tag “part-timer” feel a stretch.

They were tasked with dishing up the proverbial pies so  the real action could get underway.

They did, although Azad couldn’t resist chucking in a wrong-un at one stage, much to the consternation of the batters.

It’s a strange one to watch the whole setting up a target lark: a necessary evil but an evil nonetheless. Fingers crossed no one logged onto the live stream for their first ever taste of cricket only to immediately stick the sport in “never again” pile.

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It’s a lose, lose for batters as well. The best they can hope for is avoiding embarrassment. Brydon Carse may be a lower-order man but that will have been of little comfort when the inevitable ribbing kicked in. His slayer Azad hadn’t turned over his arm before this morning.

Once the agreed number was reached the next two innings were played out on paper. No runs, no wickets, no overs. One for each team chalked off, meaning Leicestershire’s first innings became their second and any hopes for batting bonus points disappeared.

In terms of the spoils for a winning the position is exactly as per the Championship; 16 points to victor.

While the ECB have upped the ante for what’s on offer for a draw - eight rather than five due to the possibility of weather dictating more than it would across a longer season – it’s still not really good enough in a truncated calendar.

Positive cricket is what we all want to see. Normally it brings fan through the turnstiles. In 2020 it adds to the online click count. Whichever way you look at it, bums go on seats.

Much can and has been said about the debacle of the test that “concluded” on Monday at the Ageas Bowl.

The debate over antiquated bad light regulations is for another column, but just what was the point in those 40-ish meaningless overs? Zak Crawley notched up a Test half-century and it was a difficult time to bat, but even so.

Granted there’s more riding on it at international level and, as a few England players have pointed out, it’s easy to have an opinion from the safety of the sidelines.

Ultimately the game is for the fans; is it that inconceivable that a double forfeit could have given England a sniff of a chase? Now that would have been worth watching.

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Back to the Bob Willis Trophy. Leicestershire looked to be timing their run chase to perfection.

Opener Sam Evans comfortably surpassed his highest score for the club before skying a full bunger from Cameron Steel straight into the hands of Alex Lees at mid-on.

The Foxes still need about 96 runs for victory when he departed for a well-made 85, but with Colin Ackerman well set on unbeaten half-century and nearly 20 overs remaining, they remained the bookies favourites.

Then heavens opened. All that for nothing. We all love a trier, though, and if there were marks available for showing your working these two teams would get plenty.

It sounds blatantly obvious but playing positive cricket really is the best way forwards. You don’t need 100 Test caps to figure that out.

Take a standard Championship season: if you play it safe, say winning three, drawing six and losing five, your base is 78 points. However, if you take a few risks, you might suffer more losses but you’ll also win more. A seven-seven split and all of a sudden your base is 112. It’s a no brainer really.

Let’s hope everyone remembers this when normality returns.

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