Cardiff Cavaliers Cricket Club

Match Report

Highways Hurricanes (C&H Trophy), Thursday 27 May 2010

HH 153/8 (20 overs, Pritpal 3/12, S Davis 2/7, Marchant 2/11). Cav 81ao (18.4 ovs, McVeigh 25, Dawkins 19no,  J Thomas 19). Lost by 72 runs

Scorecard

The first of the C&H Trophy fixtures of the season saw the Cavalier’s bitterest of bitter enemies the Highway Hurricanes arrive to take on the in-form Cavaliers. Your reporter, making his first appearance of the season was unsure if he had turned up to play for the correct team, with 5 wins on the bounce. For those longer standing Cavaliers, you will understand that the wise words of Mr Wayne Childs were in the back of my mind.

Captain Marchant pondered with what to do at the toss. The sort of evening that looked fantastic, yet subjected the hardy souls participating to near sub-zero temperatures courtesy of a strong ice-cold wind across the Blackweir wastelands. He won and chose to field. The Cavaliers attack was blunted slightly by McVeigh taking the gloves rather than the new ball, but we took to the field with confidence.

Mike D and Panda Bowen opened the bowling as the Hurricanes set out to attack from the offset. Mike finished his 2 overs with a respectable 0-13, fairing better than Bowen (0-23) who was somewhat rusty on his first appearance of the season, and struggled with his length pitching too many juicy half-volleys which the Hurricane’s openers feasted on.

Sensing the need to stem to flow of runs, the captain entered the fray and this immediately proved to be the right decision with the removal of both openers, one clean bowled and the other a great catch by JT. Young Havers, the housewife’s favourite Cavalier seemed to be day dreaming, looked startled as the ball headed towards him at cow corner, but despite picking up the ball late, took a thudding catch into his chest. Despite an impressive couple of overs (2-11), Jimmy selflessly removed himself from the attack to allow others a chance to bowl.

Payne and Pritchard came on for a couple of overs, but the middle order developed a liking for their bowling to and so it was time to unleash the deadly duo of Pritpal and the Gog.

Pritpal produced an excellent spell of swing bowling, bowling a nice full length getting some exaggerated movement through the air. Such was his control that he accounted for 3 Hurricanes by clean bowling them, finishing with 3-12 off his 3 overs. The pick of his wickets was a real beauty - aimed towards leg stump but with late outswing taking the top of off stump, the batsman befuddled and playing completely down the wrong line.

The Gog, who is proving to be posses a golden arm in his old age, produced an accurate and miserly 2 over spell taking 2-7. Both wickets were stumpings by McVeigh and due to some really clever cricket. The first was a peach. After floating tempters up to the watchful batsman, Gog slipped in a much quicker, flatter delivery at the moment the batsman had chosen to attack, it completely deceived him leaving McVeigh to do the rest. A similar story followed shortly after, this time McVeigh, collecting the delivery with oodles of time launched a haymaker at the stumps meaning that the stumps which barely stood up before, were now limply hanging in a huge crater.

Captain Jimmy managed to hold a great catch at long-on, but clearly was caught short midway through the innings when he raced into the bushes. The other 12 players and 2 umpires waited for his return. Cyril emerged from the bushes after a short while looking rather pleased with himself.

The Hurricanes innings rattled along, with much head scratching and shoe gazing evident amongst the now solemn Cavs.

Square Leg Umpire Poulsom managed to upset a Hurricanes batsman with his decision to decline to award a no-ball when the batsman advanced well down the track to a full toss. Quite correct in his decision, the Hurricanes left the field muttering, but having posted a daunting 153 from 20 overs - a run rate of over 7.5 needed.

It was noted upon taking over the scoring, that the rabble of delinquents that are the Hurricanes, had edited our great club’s name to ‘the Chavs’ and following apparent difficulty in ascertaining the identity of the Cavalier’s bowlers, they had chosen to adopt ‘look-a-like’ names for some of the ‘Chavs’. Libel laws prevent us from commenting further, but we’ll file away the comments for future motivation….

JT and Pritpal opened the Cavaliers innings, the latter returning to the boundary edge along with his space-age comical polystyrene pads (or oversized shin pads) without much trouble to the scorers. JT blazed 3 boundaries, but just as he looked set, fell LBW to J Stagg for 19.

Mike Dawkins entering at No.3 took his secret passion to mathematics to ridiculous and idiosyncratic levels electing to play his innings exclusively in binary. The series of 1s and 0s in the book were quite astonishing until he ruined everything by scoring a two. Although his strike rate was low he anchored an end whilst wickets tumbled at the other.

Jimmy parted quickly to his frustration, chipping up regulation caught and bowled followed by Payne, both adding 2 runs each. The Cavaliers new wicketkeeper batsman McVeigh entered at No.6 with the score at 36-4 and he quickly set about taking the attack to the Hurricanes. He was soon into the swing of things, hit four boundaries, one a six to give us a glimmer of hope that we could still worry the Hurricanes, if he could stay there till the end. Sadly it wasn’t to last as Khan bowled him for our top score of 25.

By this stage the sun was setting and what little warmth it provided was lost with it. A group of Cavaliers led by Pritpal vainly attempted to chase the sun around the boundary. It was to no avail as the tall trees soon deprived any warmth from the setting sun.

Prit then took on umpiring duties, but whilst standing at square leg he was clearly in no mood to remove his hands from the warmth of his pockets as he declined to give Dawkins run out. The Cavaliers amassed on the boundary reached the only possible conclusion that Prit had fallen asleep stood up and failed to see it.

The end of the Cavaliers inning was nothing short of a shambles. It is a far from well-known fact that the Giraffe, as well as possessing the longest neck in the animal kingdom, also has the longest tail. That was until the world witnessed the Cavaliers tail that evening.

Evans was run out for 2 and the No.8 Rabbit Pritchard was caught for a duck of the bowling of Jeffries. The very next ball Bill Ward received the finger of Prit, out LBW and Bowen entered the fray facing a hat-trick. He duly obliged the team’s desire to share a jug by falling victim first ball, he protested that he got an inside-edge (the only genuinely knocked in area of his Kookaburra supplied bat) before the ball hit his pads but it was futile. It was getting colder and Prit wanted to go home. Heartiest congratulations to Jeffries for a great achievement.

Gog entering at number 11 quickly followed LBW for a duck. Dawkins surely approved of the row of 0’s at the end as he returned to the boundary unbeaten on 19. 

It was all over. First blood to the Hurricanes with a heavy defeat by 72 runs, but a reassuring result nonetheless to your reporter, who was comforted by the old-Cavaliers shambolic nature of the result. Childs would most definitely approve.

Champagne moment: It was between Prit’s lovely outswinger and Steve Davis’ first wicket. But it goes to the Gog for the way he set the batsman up by varying his flight and pace and then pushing a quicker delivery through to the surprised advancing batman who missed, allowing stand-in keeper McVeigh to collect and whip the bails off. Good thinking, great teamwork.

Team: Jimmy Marchant (capt), Michael McVeigh (wkt),Jonathan Thomas, Michael Dawkins, Ross Bowen, Steve Davis, Bill Ward, Wyn Pritchard, Pritpal Sagoo, Chris Evans, Gareth Payne