Tasmania University Cricket Club
Scores and Reports
Season 2004/05
First Grade
Round 5 v. Lindisfarne (Kookaburra Cup)
Played at the University Oval, 20th. November 2004.
(Toss won by : University)
Rhett Lockyear 63 Brad Thomas 42 Mike Graham-Smith 32* |
Ben Hilfenhaus 4-10 Josh Bean 2-16 |
With our season hanging in the balance, our first grade team had one objective for this match – extract the digit, put our noses to the grindstone, pull out all stops, show some guts and determination, dig deep, go for glory, shoot for the stars, back ourselves in, fight tooth and nail,………. That’s more than one but I digress. Put simply we had to win the bloody match! Our semi-retired / ‘back from the grave’ skipper won the toss and had no hesitation in batting on a strip that would get lower as the day went on. Our patron, Bob Cotgrove spoke to us during the warm-up and gave us some inspiring words to go on with. He regaled us with stories of Indian cricket, the glory days of Intervarsity cricket and the variations on the interpretation of the LBW law around the globe and, on that note, we were pumped for the day! Some of us who have been bailed up by Cotty for hours in the past were actually gobsmacked that he stopped talking after 5 minutes! Lurch and Painey strode to the wicket. Lurch had an extra spring in his step after receiving his T.U.C.C. trucker cap earlier in the day. He’s been asking about them every day for the past 6 months! The openers got us away to a steady start and in the 11th over we were 0 for 27. By the end of the 11th over both openers had been dismissed and our form batters, Lockdog and Richie, were at the crease. At this point, ‘The Dog’ hatched a cunning plan to chase a wide ball and slice it to gully where the ball would hit the end of the little finger of the Farne’s best batsman and T.U.C.C. club legend, Jamie Cox, causing injury to his finger so that he would be unable to bat later in the day. What’s more, he executed the plan to perfection! Richie didn’t last long this time. He was caught at the wicket by the Chief Dragon Slayer off the bowling of ‘Go West, young man!’. ‘The Dog’ and Captain Starlight combined for a good partnership of 89 runs for the 4th wicket. Rhett entertained us, yet again, with shots to all parts of the ground continuing his consistent form with the willow this season. Brad added the stability to our innings that we have lacked in the past couple of matches. Lockdog was eventually dismissed for 63 off 79 balls. Bakesy’s unlucky stretch continued but we know it will turn around for him once he is over his injuries and gets his confidence back. This brought Cowboy X and BT together. This partnership usually ends in tears with one of the two laying prostrate on the ground having been run out by half the length of the pitch. Well, they didn’t disappoint with Brad being run out this time after trying to kick the ball square, away from the bowler following through but managing to kick it straight to the bowler who threw down his stumps. At least the two combined for a good partnership of 28 runs before the mix-up happened this time. Brad made a well-compiled 42 runs off 73 balls. Bars joined X in the middle in the 47th over and the two added 27 runs together in an unbroken partnership. X finished with 32 off 32 balls. 6 for 190 after 50 overs. We had come up 30 to 40 runs short on that wicket with their attack but we thought we had enough. We hit the field confidently and Hilfy struck in the 1st over trapping French LBW. Webby was dismissed by Dags a short while later and we had the Farne 2 for 15 in the 8th over. Costelloe and Bray kept the scoreboard ticking over VERY slowly until Costelloe made the fatal mistake of hitting it in the air anywhere near X who sprinted backwards and to his right for 15 metres, dived full length and caught the ball one-handed. (A more accurate account might read…until Costelloe hit the ball in the air to square leg and must have thought he was safe because he had hit the ball to the slow, old bastard with dickie knees and dodgy eyesight. X failed to pick up the ball straight away and stood motionless for what seemed like eternity. When he eventually picked it up he got off to a slow start thinking he had it covered. When he realised it was getting away from him he tried to run faster but his legs wouldn’t keep up and he tripped. As he fell to the ground he put his hand out to break his fall and, by some miracle, the ball fell into it and stuck. When he realised he had caught it he slowly dragged himself up off the ground and went to throw the ball in the air. The ball stuck in his hand and he managed to throw the ball into the ground directly behind him). Gordy had his first wicket back in the side after injury. Hoorah! Beanie was introduced and dropped straight into the zone. He claimed the crucial wicket of Allanby and claimed a second by rubbing Sault into the wound. (Oh dear! That sounds like a Bean pun!) After this wickets fell regularly and 4 for 60 became all out for 70. Everyone bowled well although the skipper looked like he was a week or two short of a run. Hilfy claimed 4 for 10 off 7.5, Dags claimed 1 for 10 off 8, Gordy 1 for 15 off 5, Beanie 2 for 16 off 9 and Bars 1 for 6 off 7. With Richie’s tribunal hearing behind us and the skipper swapping the bobcat for the creams our season is most definitely back on track, heading in the right direction, moving on up, looking brighter, promising big things………….. No more clichés, I promise! And you can count on that, it’s a safe bet, a sure thing…………… |
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