Nottinghamshire play Worcestershire and Derbyshire face Essex in the T20 Blast semi-finals. It’s hard to call a winner
By Gary Naylor for the 99.94
Cricket Blog
In the 140 days between their first match of the season at Old Trafford and the Blast quarter-final last Wednesday, Lancashire have played (or been scheduled to play) at the home ground on 23 days across the three domestic competitions. But they could not play their home tie against Essex on their home ground (otherwise engaged, as you may have noticed), so went to the Riverside, Durham a round trip of 291 miles. For Essex fans (and for a midweek match with a late finish and dodgy weather forecast, perhaps fanatic rather than fan fits the bill) the journey was 594 miles. The “crowd” was as sparse as you would expect, giving the match the atmosphere of an Eastern European football fixture played behind closed doors after a Uefa sanction. Why choose that venue rather than one a little more convenient for supporters? (Apologies – I should have referred to the grounds above by their correct titles: Emirates Old Trafford and Emirates Riverside).