Category Archives: Match reports 2014

Match reports 2014

MCC v RGS 16 May @ Jesmond Cricket Club

After a couple of rain-soaked weeks Mallards finally got to play some cricket on a lovely sunny evening at the splendid Jesmond Cricket Ground in what turned out to be a cracking game with a nail-biting finish.

A galaxy of Mallards stars turned out, so many that the teams decided to play with 12-a-side, Boyes being added to the Mallards XI and Dunhill guesting for RGS.

RGS won the toss, chose to bat and got off to a flyer with 19 from the first two overs, Browne’s rhythm somewhat disrupted by some rather over-zealous no-ball calls and Cox unlucky to see a thick edge fly for four.

The runs continued to flow as the batsmen seemed intent on going for their shots but in his second over Browne began to find his range, clean-bowling Devlin for 12 and after four overs the home side were handily set at 29-1.

Things then started to get really frantic. Firstly, Browne struck again, bowling the other opener Devlin for 4, then the incoming batsmen Davidson struck two more boundaries before Browne finished the over off by clean-bowling Walters for 0. With Davidson looking in fine form 11 runs came off Cox’s next over to leave RGS in charge with a hefty 52 runs from the first six overs though three batsmen were already back in the pavilion.

Despite the run-flow Mallards had been fielding well, with several good stops in the field and the pressure was starting to tell as RGS suddenly found it difficult to get the ball away. Browne capitalised on this again, taking his fourth wicket, trapping Loxley right in front of his stumps and in the next over, the unlucky Cox finally got his reward by clean-bowling Edwards for 0. After eight overs RGS were in the less impressive position of 59-5 with Browne finishing his spell with a brilliant 4-25 and Cox taking 1-21. Taylor took over at the pavilion end and struck immediately, bamboozling Broadbent with a straight ball to make it 59-6 as the runs really began to dry up. Wisbach replaced Cox and also started well, unlucky not to have the hard-hitting Davidson stumped first ball. With Davidson retiring on 30 the bowlers really began to dominate as RGS limped to 71-6 from 12 overs, Mallards display only tainted by a fumbling dropped catch by skipper Wood and a half-chance missed as the ball flew rapidly through McGuiness’s hands at square leg, both from the unlucky Wisbach. With the batsmen becoming increasingly bogged down they decided to take some chances but chose entirely the wrong fielder to take on as Dickinson’s throw from the boundary and Buckley’s clean take saw Sneddon run out for 1.

With Taylor keeping things very tight at his end, Wisbach finally got some reward for his efforts, bowling Burton in his third over and then seeing Wood make amends for his earlier howler by safely pouching Watkins in his next over to reduce RGS to an under-achieving 87-9 after just 16 overs.

Cleverly, RGS chose not to allow Dunhill to bat (perhaps they’ve seen him play before) which brought the previously-retired Davidson back to the crease with Taylor and Wisbach having finished their excellent four-over spells with 1-12 and 2-13 respectively.

Wood chose to bring himself on to bowl at Davidson, a decision which looked thoroughly misguided when his first ball was smashed for four and his sixth ball was smashed to cow corner. Fortunately the lurking Cox had anticipated this and took a fine catch running round the boundary to end the RGS innings at an apparently very- gettable 93 all out in just 17 overs.

With a seemingly strong batting line-up Mallards were confident of continuing their unbeaten run, a confidence that was slightly dented when Mussett thick-edged straight to a deep point for 0 in the first over from Dunhill, casting grave doubts on the selector’s decision to leave out the ever-consistent bowler.

Dickinson then joined Steel at the wicket and set about matching the RGS style with some extravagant strokes mixed with suicidal hacks. He moved quickly to 13 but was dropped three times before someone finally managed to hold on to a catch in the sixth over to leave Mallards on a solid 30-2.

Nitsch came and went very quickly, caught behind for 1, to bring Boyes out to join Steel who was progressing steadily, if unspectacularly, at the other end. The pair succeeded in steadying the Mallards ship but found it difficult to really get on top of the bowling and after 10 overs they had crept along to a cautious 45-3.

The contrast with the RGS innings was stark as Mallards continued in the same careful vein for another four overs with Boyes striking a rare boundary but otherwise finding it difficult to find the gaps and after 15 overs they had moved things on to 69-3 to leave Mallards needing just 25 to win from the final five overs.

Regulars to these match reports will understand that despite the seemingly strong position this was no foregone conclusion and this game was to be no exception to that rule. The next over saw Steel finally perish for 21, a fierce drive well held at the second attempt at mid-off and the unfortunate McGuiness claiming the famed golden duck, clean-bowled off a faint inside edge for 0. The normally phlegmatic Buckley came to the crease to finish things off but unusually he also disappeared quickly, clean-bowled for 2 in the next over as Mallards scrambled to 81-6 from 17 overs with 13 needed to win. Wood joined Boyes at the crease but their partnership was also short-lived as Boyes finally ended his vigil, also on 21, clean-bowled by RGS skipper Edwards to leave Mallards needing 10 from the last two overs to win.

Wood and Wisbach decided to get them in singles and with the field set back they picked up five in the next over to leave five required off the last six balls.

With another four runs off the first four balls the match looked over but then Wisbach failed to get the fifth ball away and the game had reached the last ball with Mallards needing one to win.

With the field in very tight Wisbach manage to get his pad in the way of the final ball and as the fielders scrambled desperately to pick the ball up Wood and Wisbach sprinted the final leg-bye to win the game.

A splendid match was enlivened further by some very pleasant beer and chat outside the pavilion as Mallards celebrated their unbeaten start to the season in the fading evening sunshine.

 

 

 

 

Match reports 2014

MCC v Excelsior Batters 23 April @ Riding Mill

Ominous dark clouds greeted the Mallards as they finally got their season underway following last week’s pitch debacle with a home game against Excelsior Batters.

Skipper Wood won the toss and chose to bat while his batsmen were still able to see the ball. The two skippers agreed to be flexible on the number of overs, starting with 16 but looking to play 18 if the weather held up.

A new opening pair of Steel and Kent began the season steadily on a typically erratic early-season pitch with Steel in particular finding timing difficult.

Nevertheless they set the Mallards ship steadily on course, with Kent hitting a couple of solid boundaries, before Steel was caught and bowled by Langley for 7 with the score on 29 in the sixth over. Dickinson joined Kent at the crease and started unusually slowly with five dot balls in his first six before launching a ferocious attack on the unfortunate Shearer. After defending the first ball of the over he hit the next four for three fours and a six before taking a single of the last ball to make it 19 off the over, leaving Mallards well set on 54-1 from 8 overs.

Mallards fixture maestro Dunhill then appeared on the scene and with the opposition a man short joined the fray, fielding for Excelsior.

Another four in the next over helped propel Dickinson towards early retirement as he quickly reached 30 from just 16 balls to return to the pavilion and bring Cox to the crease. With Kent still steadily accumulating runs at the other end the score continued to mount rapidly until he too reached 30 with another boundary in the 12th over and the score on 81-2.

Last season’s in-form batsman Butcher replaced Kent as, with the weather and light improving, the captains agreed to make it an 18-over game.

Under instructions to try and move things on quickly Butcher perished for the cause, clean bowled by Woodhead for six, and he was quickly joined back in the pavilion by the incoming Nitsch whose brief innings was quickly closed by Langley, clean bowled for 1. Wood then joined Cox to see the Mallards home as they finally reached a very useful 111-3 from their 18 overs with Cox unbeaten on a steady 16 and Wood 6 not out.

Mallards took to the field confident of defending their impressive total with Wood taking over the keeper’s gloves from the unusually absent Beacock and Browne (pictured) opening the bowling and they got off to a flier. Excelsior opener Krishnan, whose fine reputation with the bat had been extolled by several fearful Mallards, carved Browne’s first ball to Taylor at a deepish point. With hearts in mouths the rest of the field watched as Taylor manfully held on to the sharp catch to send the illustrious opener packing.

No sooner had the celebrations died down when Browne struck again, his fourth ball an absolute beauty which cut in sharply off the pitch to smash Haggie’s stumps out of the ground and reduce Excelsior to 4-2 from the first over.

And Mallards weren’t stopping there, Hunt instantly found some swing from the other end, his fourth ball bamboozling the normally impressive Woodhead for one.  Browne’s second over then saw another beauty trap Shearer right in front of the stumps to leave Excelsior in disarray at 5-4 in the third over and it could have been even better if Nitsch hadn’t narrowly failed to grasp a sharp slip catch in the same over. This opposition had snatched victory against Mallards from precarious positions in the past but surely even we couldn’t lose from here!

Excelsior managed to finally settle things down with skipper Birrell playing steadily but their slow recovery was undermined again when Hunt found more late swing to clean bowl Lattimer for 5 and after two great opening spells they had staggered to 26-5 from 8 overs with Browne returning 3-17 and Hunt a miserly 2-7.

Taylor and Haylock took over the bowling and kept a tight grip on things with Taylor producing his usual ‘pearls amongst swine’ repertoire of the odd great ball amongst a scattering of wides and dead balls and Haylock hitting his straps immediately with a spot-on maiden.

One of Taylor’s pearls struck gold in his second over with Glenwright comprehensively bowled for one and though he then went for a couple of boundaries he found another one in his third over to dismiss the ringer Dunhill, smartly caught by Nitsch at something approximating short leg. With 13 overs gone Excelsior had been reduced to a mere 53-7 and Mallards were so confident of an opening day victory that Nitsch left the field to order the chips!

Taylor’s three-over spell had produced fine figures of 2-15 and the unlucky Haylock completed his four very steady overs with 0-17.

Nitsch returned to the field to take over at the tree end and in his second over he produced a fizzing delivery which startled the batsman so much he leapt back into his stumps, not just ‘hit wicket’ but ‘totally demolished wicket’ and with a Mallards victory in the bag Butcher was given the last over to complete an excellent win with some very good bowling backed up by some excellent fielding, Cox, in particular, impressing at both cover and mid-wicket.

Excelsior finally finished on 73-8 from their 18 overs, a comprehensive 38 run victory, with contributions from everyone and a great start to the season.

The delight continued at the splendid Wellington pub where the usual provision of roast tatties and chips was accompanied by a vast array of delicious roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. We must try and win more often if that’s what we get!

 

Match reports 2014

MCC v Ovingham 31 July 2013 @ Clara Vale

Match reporter: Paul Benneworth

It seemed only fitting that a Mallards game would once more serve to bring to a temporary close North East of England’s prolonged dry spell of recent weeks.  With all the previous week’s efforts against Davipart at Riding Mill wiped out by rain, the worsening weather forecasts over the 24 hours preceding the game raised fears that this time it would be impossible even to take to the field against Ovingham  CC.

Facing competition for players from a Genetics mid-week league game, only seven regulars plus a returning Mallard and three ringers from Clara Vale had made themselves available for selection.  But with twenty two players at Clara Vale CC by 6pm, and early drizzle thankfully  lifting, it was decided to at least take up positions to see how far the game would progress.

One of the casualties of the Davipart fiasco was Acting Captain Mark Butcher, whose back as well as his pride had taken a battering from Davipart’s quick-fire 150 runs.  Into the captaincy selflessly stepped Tom Browne, his head still spinning from the quick-fire 28  thrashed from him the previous week. Browne’s first act in the role was to lose the toss, and Ovingham duly chose to make Mallards bat, perhaps the gathering black clouds hinting that the way to victory was to skittle the Mallards and quickly knock off the required runs.  But Tom showed no fear in his new responsibilities, and sent the first of the ringers Matthew Wildman to the crease to open the batting alongside Clara Vale team mate and Mallards veteran Andy Porteous.

The bowling was opened by Hall, whose youth and pace on a skidding wicket forced the opening pair onto the back foot to assess their options; Bowey’s first over went for two, leaving the Mallards seeming harried and nervous at 5-0 after two overs.  But with the darkening conditions affecting the bowling, increasing numbers of wides gave the openers more room to start taking well-judged boundaries, no  mean feat on an increasingly damp outfield.

With Hall conceding seven off the next over, and Mallards at 19-0 after  four, Ovingham skipper Lee spelled Hall for Millar, a niggling slow bowler with a bamboozling variety in line, length and movement, ideal  for exploiting the now steady drizzle.  Nevertheless, Wildman responded by blocking to Millar, and care-freely thrashing Bowey and his replacement Derrick, to quickly reach and retire on 30, losing Porteous along the way for a careless run-out .

With Porteous replaced by Dave McGuinness, and Wildman retiring for veteran Beacock, it lay to Dave to increase the pressure.  Their fielding ranged from excellent sliding stops on the boundaries to comical dropped catches at  short-mid on, in part a response to worsening weather conditions.  But Ovingham had no answer to McGuinness’s quick-fire 30, losing only Beacock along the way to a ball that kept low from third change bowler Ashfield.

With seventeen overs completed, Mallards at one hundred, and McGuinness joining Wildman on the replacement’s bench, Benneworth took to the field with orders to up the run rate, with the umpires suggesting that the increasingly persistent rain might shorten his time at the crease.  The weather was not to trouble him, leaving the field two balls later having spooned his first faced delivery to short mid off. It lay to Craig Scott and Jordan to guide the Mallards home with 5 and 3 not out respectively to a total of 111 for 4 from twenty overs.  That figure including two retirements for 30, was certainly respectable given the increasingly marshy conditions.  OCC ran from the field and quickly took up their batting guards with the only question now when, rather than whether, the match would be stopped.

Again, Tom turned to the guest players to open the attack, passing the new ball to Dave Barnaby, who opened with a no ball.   But the opening pair were not to remain together long, with Wildman stopping a ball racing to the boundary with a diving rolling recovery, hurling the ball back at the stumps giving wicket keeper Beacock a seeming eternity to remove Ashfield’s bails and break the opening partnership.

In the second over, Cox began by bowling two very low tight balls that opener Lee poked away to the slip cordon.  A third looser delivery allowed Lee to step forward and smash the ball out to long on, where a rather surprised Benneworth stuck his hands up out to the right to stop the ball, sending an even more surprised Lee back to the pavilion when the ball stuck in Benneworth’s hands. When Tate skied an almost identical ball tantalisingly above Benneworth’s head two overs later, and three more balls were  poked soggily back to an increasingly drenched inner ring, umpires and  fielders decided that the best of the game had been had, removing the  bails for the last time with Ovingham on 20-2 after four overs.

The match provided a welcome excuse for a seasonal trip to the Boathouse Pub in Wylam, where both teams shrugged once more, and wished each other better weather next time.  But if the scoreboard will record this as a draw due to abandonment, then surely the moral account will have Mallards as having the upper hand in a game which offers much hope for what remains of our season.