County cricket: Kent’s Royal London Cup win was a great 50-over showcase

“We’ll have a bat.” Really Joe Denly? In mid-September? In a one-day final? Does nobody remember Phil DeFreitas? But so much about cricket has changed since the old orthodoxies of the 1970s and 1980s, even since 1995 when I saw these two sides duke it out for the Benson & Hedges Cup at Lord’s.

Back then, three archetypal Test match batters, Michael Atherton, Jason Gallian and John Crawley, dominated the Lancashire innings, scoring 212 of 274 for seven from the designated 55 overs. Hitters such as Graham Lloyd, Wasim Akram and Ian Austin barely got in, but few cared because the target set (five an over!) was deemed a stiff one.

Those of us in the Lancashire seats in 1995 sat back and enjoyed a perfect chase. Aravinda de Silva thrilled everyone with a magnificently constructed 112, batting on a different plane, fully deserving of the Gold Award. But local lads Austin, Mike Watkinson, Gary Yates and Glen Chapple (OK – he’s nearly local) kept squeezing and taking wickets at the other end and the result was never really in doubt.

Fast forward to the present and the sun was baking a glassy outfield at Trent Bridge as the same two clubs locked horns again 27 years on. The extent of that heat so late in the summer is another difference from 20th-century life, one that provokes an unease even as we delight in its warmth. Whether the 21st century will provide as warm a reception for 50-over county cricket is another concern to cloud the bluest of skies.

Ollie Robinson (who we know can push on, as his 206 in the competition’s first match demonstrated) had got through the first hour for Kent at almost a run a ball and had a personal platform to accelerate. Then Liam Hurt got a length delivery to seam back through the gate, rapping