James Faulkner struck his maiden first-class hundred to lift Lancashire out of trouble on a lively day at The Oval
Tim Wigmore at Kia Oval02-Jun-2015 ScorecardJames Faulkner drives down the ground during his maiden first-class hundred•PA Photos
Two years ago, James Faulkner made quite an impression on his Test debut for Australia at the Kia Oval. Bowling with vim to take six wickets and providing a hint of his brutal hitting with a pair of 20s, Faulkner shaped up as Australia’s next Test allrounder.It hasn’t quite worked out like that. In a microcosm of the suffocating schedule that international cricketers face today, Faulkner’s limited-overs prowess has effectively deprived him of the chance to hone his game in red-ball cricket. In the 21 months after his Test debut, he became an integral part of Australia’s team in both limited-overs formats, won the Man-of-the-Match award for three wickets in the World Cup final and became an IPL regular. Little wonder that he only had time to fit in seven first-class matches.The upshot has been that Faulkner has faded a little from the Australian selectors’ minds in Test cricket, which is why he finds himself at The Oval rather than preparing for a Test in Dominica.Not that Faulkner gave any indication of being a TV star out of his depth on the silver screen. The most remarkable thing about the maiden first-class century that accompanied his Lancashire debut was how unobtrusive his innings seemed. To those accustomed to his limited overs belligerence, it seemed an innings defined by self-restraint, yet Faulkner’s hundred, brought up with a push for one off Stuart Meaker, arrived in only 141 balls.With Lancashire on the verge of saving the follow on – and with it ending the match as a contest – Faulkner then showed the penchant for destructiveness that England witnessed when he harrumphed 50 off only 24 balls at Perth in February. The two balls after reaching his century were both thumped for emphatic straight fours off Zafar Ansari. Faulkner then backed away and pulled Matt Dunn for two ferocious fours – one straight and one to midwicket – before being bowled.No matter. The follow-on had been saved, and Faulkner’s 121 had provided evidence that, still only 25, he should not be pigeonholed as a limited-overs player only. He certainly does not intend to be.”I’ve got a lot to learn and I thought this would be one of the best ways to do it – to come over and play county cricket in tough conditions which are foreign to all of us in Australia,” he said. “That’s why I came over here to play red ball cricket. Everyone grows up wanting to play Test cricket.”The only shame was that, on schools’ day at The Oval, most children had long since departed by the time Faulkner unfurled his full repertoire of explosives.If the ending was carefree, Faulkner’s innings was deeply significant in the context of this game. Entering at 102 for5, which soon became 108 for 6, Lancashire faced the prospect of ending up well short of the follow on target of 299.But Faulkner found a fine partier in Jordan Clark, a well-organised Cumbrian who also hit his highest first-class score, which was his first half-century to boot. Alongside austere defence, Clark smashed two huge straight sixes – one each against Ansari and Gareth Batty. The 183-run alliance between Clark and Faulkner ended the match as a contest, ensuring that Lancashire will leave London with a hearty lead at the top of Division Two still intact, unless there is much final-day collusion.It felt a little harsh on Surrey’s bowlers, who had bowled admirably on a flat pitch earlier in the day, even if they were aided by cloud cover in the morning.Tom Curran and Matt Dunn, are a rather coltish fast bowling pair: 20 and 23 respectively and aggressive in everything they do. They both bowled with gusto to induce Lancashire’s top-order collapse. Curran will take particular pride in trapping Ashwell Prince, newly appointed to South Africa’s selection panel, lbw caught on the back foot. Prince’s 20 was his second lowest score of the season: he is averaging 87.88 in his farewell season, although he initially said the same about last year.
