Whether it be for Durham or for the MCC, the former England Test and one-day international has a knack of pulling out the big performances in county cricket’s first match of the summer.
And yesterday was no different for the 33 year-old, who hit his second century in three appearances.
After scoring 102 for Durham against the MCC at Lord’s in 2009, he accrued exactly the same number of runs yesterday playing for the MCC against Lancashire, describing the comparison as “spooky”.
Blackwell’s unbeaten 102 off 145 balls underpinned the MCC’s first innings score of 266 all out before he took a wicket with his left-arm spin before close on day one as Lancashire replied with 38-2.
In 2010, also playing with the pink ball and under floodlights in Abu Dhabi like he is this year, Blackwell also took 4-70 for Durham against the MCC.
It’s obviously a very special fixture. My first game was against the MCC at Lord’s on my Durham debut, and that was fantastic to get a hundred
He said, “I don’t know what it is about this match, I just seem to hit the ball very well at the start of the year. I got 160 in the first game of last year as well, a University match.”
Blackwell shared 95 for the fifth wicket with Worcestershire’s Moeen Ali after MCC had been reduced to 73-4 on a pitch offering decent pace and carry for the seamers as well as plenty of spin for the slow bowlers.
It looks pretty good to bat on too, as Blackwell demonstrated.
He continued: “I felt really good out there. We lost a few early wickets, but we managed to stabilise it with me and Mo Ali. We had to dig in through the twilight period. We unfortunately got bowled out just before the end, but that enabled us to get two wickets.
“I was just looking to bat time and pick off anything that was loose. To be fair to Lancashire, they bowled pretty well and in good areas and caught their catches.”
Blackwell arrives back in the North East on Saturday following an early morning flight from the Middle East, and will therefore miss Durham’s two-day friendly against Yorkshire at Emirates Durham on Sunday and Monday.
But he is confident of being in good form when he does take to the field for his county even though he has not yet fully recovered from the double hernia operation he had in November.
He added: “There’s no substitute for spending time out in the middle. You can go through as many nets as you want to hit, but those miles in the legs and facing competitive bowling has been absolutely fantastic for me.”