sacrosanct but those in August more fleeting. It was enough for Trueman to relish captaining his side to an innings victory at Headingley during the 1968 Whitsuntide and for Old Trafford in 1970 to indicate another sea change in the way cricket was going. Good crowds attended on the Saturday, August Bank Holiday Monday and Tuesday but Sunday was allocated to the John Player League fixture of 40 overs per side. For the first time since 1948 the Old Trafford gates were closed with a crowd of nearly 33,000 watching Lancashire retain the trophy with a seven wicket victory over their old rivals. Then there was some amazing cricket at Southport in the 1994 Spring Bank Holiday game against Somerset. On a pitch which was wearing from the start, John Crawley made an unbeaten 281 and Wasim Akram proved too much for the Somerset batsmen, the match ending after half-an-hour on Spring Bank Holiday Monday. It was a classic example of the lottery of the holiday Monday being the final day – Lord’s saw Lara at his best on that same day, Southport the last five Somerset wickets go down for 24. In August 1994, Martyn Moxon’s undefeated 274 set up a Yorkshire victory at New Road which was reminiscent of their powerhouse performances of the 1930s. Surrey and Nottinghamshire met only briefly, Nottinghamshire beginning a series against their neighbours Derbyshire in May 1967 - a holiday fixture which had not been played in the Championship since 1876. There were some close encounters; a bitterly-fought draw at Derby in May 1990, with plenty of bristle involved at a time when the counties jointly led the Championship. In August 1991, Derbyshire, mounting a serious bid for the title, gained a fine victory by four wickets at Trent Bridge and Nottinghamshire won a splendid game at Ilkeston by one wicket in May 1994 – the last first-class fixture to take place on the Rutland Recreation Ground. Nottinghamshire were at the centre of a history-making performance at St Helen’s in Swansea, where they met Glamorgan in a match beginning on Saturday 31 August 1968. Garry Sobers, seeking quick runs to hasten a first-day declaration, struck Malcolm Nash for six sixes in one over. A side-effect of Bank Holiday switching to late August was an opportunity to enjoy the best of two sporting worlds – Saturday’s pre-lunch session at the cricket followed by a visit to the football during the afternoon. This took many from St Helen’s to Vetch Field half a mile away to watch Swansea draw 0-0 with Workington. More than 40 years on, the decision is still cursed. Nine years later, Nash was on the receiving end again in the August Bank Holiday match against Lancashire at Swansea when Frank Hayes hit him for five sixes and a four in one over, the four coming off the second delivery. In May 1974, Hampshire’s Barry Richards carried his bat for 225 at Trent Bridge and there was August success for Nottinghamshire against the 1980 Australians, beaten by an innings and 76 runs. Surrey found fresh company in Essex, with drama seldom far away, notably at Chelmsford in 1983, where rain ruled out Saturday’s play in the Spring Bank Holiday fixture. On the Monday Essex reached 287, Surrey beginning their innings against the bowling of the West Indian allrounder Norbert Phillip and Neil Foster. They got the ball to swing in the humid atmosphere and after Alan Butcher was well caught at the wicket for 2, the next six batsmen to depart were out for nought. Most of them played back to Phillip, who kept the new ball well pitched up. Eight wickets had fallen for eight before a wild slog by Sylvester Clarke produced the only boundary of the innings and averted the humiliation of the lowest-ever first-class total. Surrey made only 14 in 14.3 overs: Phillip six for Changing Partners 184