Matt Siddall re-wrote Cumbria's record books in 2022

Matt Siddall kept the statisticians busy during the 2022 season as the slow left-armer single-handedly re-wrote Cumbria’s record books. 

The self-employed painter and decorator from Poulton-le-Fylde took 40 wickets in just four matches in the National Counties Championship – which will be generously sponsored by Durant Cricket this season - and checked off a number of the county’s individual bowling records in the process. 

Siddall took five or more wickets in each of his first six innings of the season and became the first Cumbrian bowler to take six five wicket hauls in a season and three successive ten wicket match hauls. 

Against Buckinghamshire at Chesham Siddall took a career-best eight for 88 in match figures of 14 for 208 which might not have been enough to save Cumbria from defeat but they did secure him another county record. 

Initially it appeared that Siddall had become only the second Cumbrian bowler to take 14 wickets in a match after pace bowler David Halliwell who had been credited with taking 14 for 92 against Suffolk at Carlisle in May 1986. 

But detective work by Chris Gore, Cumbria’s handbook editor, revealed that Halliwell had been erroneously credited with an additional wicket in Suffolk’s second innings. 

Having identified the error the Suffolk scorecard was corrected to show that Halliwell’s match figures were 13 for 92 which confirmed Siddall as Cumbria’s new record holder. 

Siddall sent down more overs – 225 – than any other bowler in last season’s Championship and his appetite for hard work was a key factor in his record-breaking season. 

“I get a lot of backing from my team-mates. We have got a great team spirit and it’s a fantastic dressing room to be part of,” Siddall said.  

“In three-day cricket you know as a spinner that you are going to be bowling loads of overs and you are going to have a big part to play in the game.  

“You have to believe in yourself and put all the hard work you have done into practice. It’s important that you don’t get frustrated or bored. You have to stick to the process and the plans we have for each batters, keep changing the fields and hopefully it comes off - which it did last season.  

“In the team we have we are maybe a couple of seamers short, so spin is a massive part of our side. Knowing that’s the case it’s about practicing and executing your skills over long periods of time.” 

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