Day of hat tricks at Bonalba!
Intellectuals CC intra-club match, Sunday, 17th April 2011-04-20
(at Bonalba Cricket Ground)
President’s XI 132
Captain’s XI 125
President’s XI won by 7 runs
The Presidents XI Vs Captains XI matches are always going to be exciting, close, entertaining and most of all humorous with the spirit of the game in abundance. At Bonalba on Sunday, there was nothing missing … or was there? I mean the wicket was not rolled to perfection, and the bounce was a bit uneven, oh and the out field could have been faster, but apart from those minor details it was another great day of cricket in Spain, in April, a week before the cricket season starts back home.
The scorebook reads one of the matches of the season, superb bowling figures, an individual batting performance, Tommy, (or was that Thom-e?) great catches and a very close finish. 12 off the last over with an unlimited amount of batsmen !!!!!
Or.
The scorebook reads a match of the season some wish was never recorded, more golden ducks than in a season, more dropped catches than a blind juggler cares to count and those, “ONLY three fours needed” off the last over.
The team sheets were biased but as the Presidents X1 was still trying to one day beat the Captains X1. However, it was expected that the captain would select the strongest squad to prevent any chance of a presidential party. And so by selecting experienced players; the Spanish youth contingency and a good wicket keeper, Mark J, I’m sure he was quietly confident.
The President’s team won the toss and the “President” himself was put in to open and even chose number one. Asked by his colleague number two if he was sure he wanted to face he confirmed and took a guard, we think. That famous first ball stands alone with the JFK single bullet theory, moving, turning, drifting, reversing before breaking through the presidents defence and smashing the wickets down. I say stands alone, but there really were many more incidents of odd balls bowled and baffled walks from GOLDEN DUCKS back towards the scoreboard through-out the day. Take Spence Dawes for example, another reliable selection from the Captain, clean bowled by son Elliot. He came out again, then he went straight back in again. Full honours however here go to the president – who faced three balls and somehow managed to conjure up three golden dismissals. But he was just unlucky with the easterly wind, an awkward bounce and a strange decision…. by the captain to put him in again!!!!
The fun of the afternoon gave us over four hours of enjoyable cricket and reached its seriousness with five overs remaining; needing 32 it was game on. Excellent field placements, tight bowling and clear instructions from the debutant captain applied the pressure to the batsmen that was just too much to handle. Spence probably came and went as did the vet / dentist Sansom, in fact at this point the bowling was so effective that the Presidents went through the complete Captain’s line up twice. But the Captains batsmen fought and ran to get themselves within reach of the win; 12 off the last over with Jamie on form with the bat and maths, “ONLY three fours needed”. What he didn’t count on was the tactics of the Presidents X1, a quick Captain to President talk confirmed what was needed.
Bring on the ringer. That’s right, we had drafted in a clinical accurate bowler who has no time for the pressure, no lack of nerves, who just runs up and delivers ball after ball of consistent bowling. He was going to be the man to take on this final deciding over. Kyle the KID did what he does; tight bowling built up the batsmen’s pressure and with 3 remaining, he teased the batsmen to have a go, first having a great clean catch by Ali on the boundary and then off the final ball having another great catch taken straighter on the boundary.
The Presidents XI taking the victory and Kyle taking the man of the match award for the President’s team for his clinical bowling and a hat trick of wickets in one spectacular over which was a solitary run away from a treble wicket maiden. It must be said for the President’s side that a convincing win was only possible due to the superb bowling of Kyle, Andy G, Ali F, Elliot D, the great batting from Tommy, Dave K and Derek, and the wicket keeping of the President himself.
The final mention is of THAT throw by Andy G from 35 metres. He naturally, gracefully and athletically ran to the ball, scooping it off the ground his eyes focused on the target and in the same movement, in mid air, released the ball like a missile locked on. It flew 35meters through cross winds and directly hit the stumps running the batsmen out by a yard or 3. It was a pleasure to see fielding at its best.
Many thanks to all who participated in making it such a great day, and to those who made it such a good fun game of cricket, and what a fun game it was.
Match Report courtesy of President’s biased Captain (Tim Stanford