Cardiff Cavaliers Cricket Club

Match Report

Cardiff Hockey (Willow League), Tuesday 15 June 2010

Hockey 140/7 (20ovs, Fraser 3/19, J Davies 2/23). Cavs 143/5 (19.3ovs, Steadman 64no, McVeigh 20, Graveson 16no). Won by 5 wickets. Cavaliers 13pts, Hockey 2pts

Scorecard

Last week’s excellent win against Chartered Trust, combined with a number of other “big” results on the same night meant that we found ourselves unbeaten and leading the Willow League. Heady stuff indeed, but we had to remind ourselves that we faced a challenging seven days and that this was no time for complacency.

Our cup game against the Consmen on Thursday had to be put to the back of our minds - we had league action to worry about first as we faced another of the form teams, Cardiff Hockey, on a lovely evening at Llanrumney.

Hockey have always been a useful batting team and, on winning the toss, they decided to play to their strengths,  pad up, and set a total for us to chase. To be fair to them, this seemed like a very sound decision as their openers looked confident and soon got the scorecard ticking along a bit too quickly for the Cavaliers’ comfort. Mike McVeigh and Andy “Gravy” Graveson opened the attack but neither enjoyed the success of the previous Thursday when they had ripped the heart out of the Chartered Trust innings. Hockey’s openers Jones and James were equal to any variation Mike and Andy tried and, unusually, both bowlers finished their spells wicket-less. Jimmy brought himself on to replace Gravy but then handed the ball over to Al Fraser after a couple of overs. JD had replaced Mike at the other end and it was the Davies/Fraser combination which put the brakes on Hockey’s innings.

JD was the first to have some success. In his third over we managed to get rid of both Hockey’s openers - James was run out following a sharp piece of fielding by Irish Mike for 22, while Jones was well caught by Gravy at short third man for 66, slashing at a ball which got up a bit.

At 14 overs Hockey stood at 100 for 2 - still plenty of time to do some damage with plenty of wickets in hand. However, the Cavaliers dug deep, determined not to let the game run away from us. It was Al’s turn to enjoy some reward for his efforts taking three wickets in quick succession. Two batsmen were bowled and the third was caught at mid off by Gareth Payne - a fine catch after waiting for what seemed an eternity for the ball to drop from the skies.

There was another run out during Al’s spell - a lovely bit of cricket. The ball was pushed to mid wicket, Mike M covered the ground quickly, picked up cleanly and sent a perfect throw to Dave P who removed the bails with the batsman well short of the crease.

JD finished with 2 for 23 off his 4 overs and Al returned 3 for 19 from his spell. Great  bowling under pressure, backed up by enthusiastic fielding meant that Hockey’s final score had been contained to 140 for 7.

In the past we might have been daunted by the prospect of having to score at 7 an over to beat a team like Hockey but tonight there was a quiet confidence amongst the Cavaliers. We hadn’t given up in the field, we’d done well to peg them back to 140, and we were coming to the game fresh after scoring 148 against Chartered the week before on a pitch that had been misbehaving.

Steaders and Mike M opened the innings and soon had the board ticking along nicely. These two form players looked comfortable against Hockey’s attack and we were quickly up with the required rate. In contrast to the crash, bang, wallop of Hockey’s early overs,  Andy and Mike seemed much more measured, running well between the wickets and punishing the bad ball.

Steaders had indicated that he might need a runner as early as the first over – another mysterious injury to his calf, hamstring, groin (or all three) – but he battled on serenely and we soon passed 50. Mike was out shortly afterwards for an attractive 20, lobbing a catch to mid off, and JT followed quickly behind, trapped LBW for 1 – he’s struggling to find any luck or form at the moment – leaving us at 65 for 2. Grizz came in and scored a confident 5 before some uncertain calling left him stranded and run out.

Skipper Marchant was next in and he and Steaders moved the score on sharply. We were 92 for 3 at 14 overs – not far off Hockey’s score at the same point – so there was everything to play for. However, Jimmy was run out for 11 and Dave P came and went for 7, a victim of a very sharp stumping by Hockey’s keeper.

The score stood at 112 for 5, Gravy was striding to the wicket to join Steaders, and we faced the prospect of a thrilling finish.

Andy looked as controlled as he has all season and the on-looking Cavaliers felt that as long as he was at the crease we had a chance. As it turned out we were seen home by a couple of mighty blows by Gravy – one six in the penultimate over to leave us requiring 7 off the last and another six to take us past Hockey’s total with three balls to spare. The pair had put on an unbeaten 31 to take us home and they received a heroes’ welcome when they made it back to the boundary.

Steaders’ beautifully crafted unbeaten 64 was the foundation of our run chase but this was a very special team performance from the Cavaliers, full of character, grit and determination. It was a great game of cricket between two evenly matched teams but one which we ultimately deserved to win.

Who knows what the rest of the season holds but, for the moment, we should enjoy the confidence, the camaraderie and fun that comes with winning.

Champagne moment – the team’s reaction when Gravy smashed the winning six in the last over. It was that special feeling which reminds us why we play a team sport, sharing and enjoying our successes together.

Team: Jimmy Marchant (capt), Dave Parsons (wkt), Andrew Steadman, Mike McVeigh, Jonathan Thomas, Nigel Adams, Gareth Payne, Andrew Graveson, Alasdair Fraser, Michael Dawkins, Jonathan Davies