Club - milestones

The 2002 Benson & Hedges Final

The morning of the final was warm but slightly overcast and we were soon greeted with the news that Michael Powell had won the toss and had asked Essex to bat. What followed was a superbly controlled display of bowling by the Bears as we slowly stifled the opposing batsmen after having dismissed Nasser Hussain and the other danger man Ronnie Irani with only a handful of runs on the board. A total of 181 seemed eminently achievable, but the early dismissal of Nick Knight and Michael Powell saw us floundering at 21 for 2. At this point in the match there may have been some flickering hoe of an Essex recovery, but this did not account for Warwickshire's two rising young stars. Firstly, Ian Bell demonstrated his escalating class while Jim Troughton displayed a precocious talent as the pair launched into a third wicket partnership that made the game safe for the Bears. The pair added 84 in 12 overs with 14 fours. There had been but nine in the entire Essex innings. A consummate display of all round cricket by Warwickshire had seen us home with almost 14 overs to spare, and the impromptu lap of honour around the hallowed turf of Lord's was thoroughly deserved, as was the Gold Award to Ian Bell for his 65 not out.