Matt Milnes going out with a bang as Yorkshire CCC effectively seal semi-final place
WHEN it was announced, at the start of the month, that Matt Milnes would be rejoining Kent at the end of the season on a three-year deal, the pace bowler citing the need for “long-term security” and the desire to be “closer to some family”, the press release confirming his departure contained the usual sort of comments.
It had been, said the player, a “tough decision”. He was “incredibly grateful” to everyone at Yorkshire. It had been “an honour to wear the White Rose”, and so on.
“There’s still plenty of cricket left this year, and I’m fully committed to giving everything for the club until the end of the season,” he added.
Never let it be said that Milnes is not true to his word.
Since that press release was drafted, the 31-year-old has taken his first five-wicket haul for the club in the County Championship (5-31 in the innings win against Sussex at Scarborough), 4-29 in the One-Day Cup triumph against Middlesex at Radlett, and, on this sun-kissed Sunday on the south coast, 7-38 against Sussex in that same 50-over tournament, the best figures of a career that has been blighted by injury.
They were Yorkshire’s third-best in all one-day matches – behind Richard Hutton’s 7-15 against Worcestershire in 1969, and Darren Gough’s 7-27 against Ireland in 1997, both at Headingley - and included a hat-trick, Yorkshire’s sixth in limited-overs cricket.
Thus Milnes emulated the feat of Paul Jarvis at Derby in 1982; Gough in that same Ireland match - then Gough again versus Lancashire at Headingley in 1998; Craig White against Kent at Headingley in 2000, and Matty Revis (released from Northern Superchargers’ inaction to play in this game) against Kent at Scarborough two years ago.
Milnes’s efforts – followed by Imam-ul-Haq’s third hundred of the tournament (106 from 105 balls) and a one-day best by James Wharton (85 from 103 balls) – inspired Yorkshire to a six-wicket victory which, given their outstanding net run-rate, effectively sealed a home semi-final on Sunday at Scarborough, where they would face the winner of Thursday’s play-off between the second-placed team in Group A and the third-placed side in Group B. Before that, Yorkshire round off a rousing group campaign against Kent in Canterbury on Tuesday, looking to make it seven wins from eight, when all the final standings will be known.
On a day when they showed three changes to the side that beat Durham at Scarborough on Friday, with Ben Coad (hamstring), Jack White and Will Luxton making way for Revis, Ben Cliff and Dan Moriarty, Milnes did the early damage as Sussex scored 284-9 after choosing to bat.
It was a pretty decent total in the finish, considering that Milnes had reduced them to 24-3 inside seven overs in a fine opening spell from the Sea End. He could have had two hat-tricks, in fact, as he removed Tom Haines and Tom Clark with successive balls only for Fynn Hudson-Prentice to clip the hat-trick delivery just wide of the close-in leg-side field.
Milnes got him in his next over, though, Hudson-Prentice lbw playing down the wrong line to give Milnes three wickets in the space of six balls. Charlie Tear, the opener, added 60 with John Simpson, his captain, inside 15 overs, as Sussex set about repairing the damage, Cliff dismissing Tear when he pulled to Wharton at deep square.
It was not Moriarty’s day as Sussex went after him - as they did Bess, their combined 12 overs of spin disappearing for 92. But Bess produced a key breakthrough to remove Simpson, trapped on the sweep as Sussex slipped to 165-5 in the 34th over to end a stand of 79 inside 13 overs with Oli Carter.
Carter, the 23-year-old right-hander, played superbly, going on to the top score of 94 before he was the first of Milnes’s hat-trick victims in the 45th over, Milnes’s ninth. Carter had clubbed five sixes and seven fours from 78 balls - and had added 80 for the sixth-wicket with Danny Lamb inside 11 overs - when he tried to reverse hit Milnes only to pick out Cliff at short third-man.
When Jack Carson chipped his first ball from Milnes to Bess at cow corner, Milnes had two-in-two again and his fifth wicket. His sixth and the hat-trick duly followed when Archie Lenham was yorked lbw, Milnes the second man to take a hat-trick for Yorkshire at Hove after Matthew Hoggard in 2009 - the most recent for the club in first-class cricket.
Lamb lashed 53 from 45 balls before he was ninth out in the penultimate over to give Milnes his seventh, skying to Adam Lyth at deep mid-wicket.
Lyth fell early in the chase, caught behind off a good one from Hudson-Prentice, but Imam and Wharton batted superbly to compile 196 for the second wicket inside 34 overs. Neither looked like getting out until they actually did, Imam skying a pull straight up and Wharton the victim of a brilliant diving catch at cover.
Fin Bean picked out deep mid-wicket but Revis (39) and George Hill (31) saw their side home with 14 balls left.