|
Lynxes v.The School
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tim Piper Lynxes Innings
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Match Drawn Having been well beaten by Old Georgians in the first four meetings between the two sides, Lynxes are now unbeaten in this particular fixture for the last three years. I'd like to think that this reversal in fortunes was down to our own improvements as a team, but I can't help thinking that it also coincided with the year that Rich Aspinall (OGs captain) decided to hang up his bowling boots because of a bad back. Whatever the reason, this fixture has become a pretty close affair in recent years and often seems to produce some of the best cricket of the week. On a partly sunny morning with the forecast of rain in the afternoon, Jez Lawson's decision to bat was greeted with predictable carping from the massed OGs ranks, many of whom had come a long way and were now faced with the reward of spending half a day in the field and the rest of it in the pavilion. Most glum of all was Andy Robson, son of Sir Bobby, who had driven all the way from Newcastle the previous evening. Like his old man, though, he isn't down for long and he was soon donning the keeper's gauntlets. Peter Newman and Colin Barrett got Lynxes off to a flyer, racking up 22 without loss in the first two and a half overs, before Barrett edged one to slip and was out for 7. Gary Marshall and Newman then added 52, but the latter was caught behind by Robbo, much to everyone's surprise since he had fumbled everything else. James Barron predictably shouldered arms every 4th delivery, much to the amusement of his "friends" who were counting from the boundary edge. Indeed, he was out LBW for 2 not playing a shot, but he did make his dismissal look majestic, as always. At 86 for 3 and the game in the balance once more, in strode Tasmanian Under-19s representative, Chris Morrison. I'm not sure if there is a Cranbrook Lynxes constitution anywhere in the bowels of the Big Side pavilion, but if there is I would be interested to read the section entitled "Player Eligibility". I'd be surprised if the description read as follows: "…a player is eligible to play for the Cranbrook Lynxes if he is a former/present pupil or teacher…or if he is an Aussie currently staying at James Thompson's cousin's gaff while taking a well-earned break from coaching cricket in Switzerland". As the ball started to speed to all parts of the ground off Chris's bat, Lawson decided to adopt the Arsene Wenger approach to answering difficult questions. Whenever eligibility was raised by one of the OGs players, the response was invariably, "I don't know. I didn't see the incident from where I was." With Marshall playing his usual cultured innings at the other end and both players riding their luck to good effect, the scoreboard showed 245 for 3 at around 3:20pm. Morrison missed a straight one and was bowled for a memorable 78 and then poor Tom Cullen, centurion in this same fixture last year, was caught for 0 having waited two and a half hours for a chance to bat. Lawson joined Marshall at the crease for the final push and Gary was unfortunately out just four runs shy of his hundred. Even more unfortunately, that meant he was just one run shy of winning the batting cup for the third time since it was introduced in 2000, his aggregate for the week just failing to overhaul Max Taylor's 114 in the game against Bully Boys. Giles May came in and carved an immediate four which made everyone from his era reminisce about his axeman qualities in the early 90s. After being bowled for 6, it was left to James Harfoot (5 not out) and Lawson (18 not out) to conclude the innings at a highly respectable 288 for 7 declared off just 56 overs. Despite posting a hefty total, it is never wise to be complacent against the Old Georgians, particularly when your bowling attack is to be spearheaded by Tom Cullen and Chris Hoggard. The two of them were like kids on Christmas Eve when told of their new-found responsibilities, but to be fair to them, they gave very few gifts away to the OGs openers. After 20 overs the score was 110 for 4, with Anthonisz (1 for 14) and The Tasmanian Devil (1 for 37) both bowling tidy spells. OGs seemed to shut up shop very early and showed no signs of going after the total. May and Barrett were introduced to the attack to try to manufacture a tight finish, but despite May being hit out of the attack after two dreadful overs, Barrett seemed to find some rhythm and ended up taking 2 for 25. Unfortunately for Colin, the adrenaline was obviously pumping too quickly, because a volley of unintentional beamers followed, concluding in him being ordered out of the attack by the umpire. The ensuing scenes were reminiscent of the finger-jabbing episode between Mike Gatting and Shakoor Rana in 1987, with Barrett eventually sent to deep square leg to cool off while Marshall finished off his over. The only real threat of losing was eliminated when Hoggard (1 for 50) returned to claim the prize scalp of Gareth Notton, who made a solid 92. That was the 8th wicket to fall, but neither Hoggard nor the returning Cullen could finish off the tail, which featured the usual obduracy from captain Aspinall. Cullen did finish with 3 wickets, however, which was good enough to take the Bowling Cup in a year when the absence of Thompson, Blaydon and Chuter meant that any number of jokers could have pinched that particular honour. Thank goodness it wasn't Barrett, who is now being lined up for a new TV series, "When Old Cranbrookians See Red". Jez Lawson
Old Georgians Innings
Jez Lawson ________________________________________________________________________________________________
|
Reports >