Ed Craig enjoys a day off the beaten track at Stockton
Edward Craig at Stockton13-Jun-2006Durham 76 for 2 trail Kent 179 (van Jaarsveld 59) by 103 runs
ScorecardOut ground cricket these days is not particularly fashionable for counties: too expensive to move all the required technical support; too much of a lottery when it comes to quality of pitch; too many moans from county staff that the changing rooms are too small. It is much more bother than its worth.Yet it was something equally unfashionable that had driven Durham to schedule this week’s fixture against Kent at Stockton – Elton John. Thanks to a concert on Saturday at the Riverside (and an impending one-day international), this suburban district played host to a Championship game for the 11th time since Durham became a first-class county.Stockton is a suburban town, just outside Middlesbrough and the ground,while clearly not blessed with the architectural beauty of Durham City oreven the Chester-le-Street ground, has a gentle, picturesque atmosphere.Out-ground cricket may be dying – or regularly ignored – but here’s aprime example why it shouldn’t be.Stockton CC is a successful club in the high-class North-East PremierLeague – the same league the Durham Academy play in. Lee Daggett, theyoung Warwickshire swing bowler who dismissed Durham at Edgbaston for 141last week, played here while at Durham University, so this is an area – anda pitch – clearly immersed in the county’s cricketing fortunes.And the ground was full of passionate fans, most bedecked in Durham logoson shirts and caps, the bar and food stalls didn’t stop and the crowdcould hear the players’ chatter and the general noise of the game,something never too clear at most headquarters. Okay, the quality of thewicket might not have matched the quality of the atmosphere – but it didproduce entertainment.A slow morning session that ended with Kent on 100 for 2 – David Fultonbattled to 27 from 105 balls, Martin van Jaarsveld 59 from 127 – gave wayto fireworks in the afternoon. Ottis Gibson found rhythm and swing as thesun disappeared and Kent lost five for five in eight overs. A brief blitzfrom Andrew Hall and Darren Stevens, then the tail collapsed – all out179. This may be the lottery pitch counties try to avoid but only two ofthe dismissals – van Jaasveld and Jon Lewis in Durham’s reply – couldreally blame demons. The only other demons were in the batsmen’s heads,worried about what could (but rarely did) happen, as the home side’s toporder showed.As the Kent batsmen came and went from the changing rooms at square leg -the building looks more like a working men’s club than a sporting facility- the Durham crowd’s buzz increased. Gibson and Graham Onions keptstriking from the Grangefield Road end and the bar beside the pavilion,designed bizarrely like a football dugout giving the patron’s a sunken,worm-eye view, became busy through celebration and compulsory refreshment.The locals were on top and enjoying the day out.But the politics of staging such games are enormous and in the north-east,with such an isolated and young first-class county, these politics areworse. The clubs need endorsement and financial support from localcouncils, then they need to prove they are the best alternative in thearea, before crossing their fingers and hoping the county simply likesthem and can be bothered to move from home for a few days. It is nosurprise Durham, like many other counties, avoid out-ground fixturesunless their own marketing department – along with an internationalpop star – compels them to.But the members love the day out – 300 can seem like 3000 in this closeand intimate surrounds – many who find it difficult to travel toChester-le-Street have cricket coming to their doorstep and they don’twant to waste the opportunity. It really does bring cricket to the peopleand is a good experience of high-quality sport in a relaxed and accessibleatmosphere.So maybe it was the informality of the setting that did for Kent’s firstinnings – their skipper Rob Key was playing frisbee on the outfield duringlunch in flip-flops and shorts – but then this is the charm and the reasonout grounds are great: kids throw balls around next to a first-classcaptain enjoying his break. It’s not going to happen at Lord’s …