Social Fixture, Sunday 3rd September 2017
HALVERSTOWN: 106 (30 overs)
Des Drumm 33* S.Rix 25 Barry Ashmore 14 Ryan Hodson 5
K.Hodson 4-0-16-2 Jon Kirby 4-0-12-1 D.Drumm 3-0-15-1 Maruf 5-0-17-0
J.Browne 2-0-7-0 B.Ashmore 3.1-1-11-0 E.O'Connor 2-0-11-0 D.O'Ceallaigh 2-0-14-0
THEATRICAL CAVALIERS: 107 FOR 5 (25 overs)
M.Ford 40 Stott 14 M.O'Regan 10* R.O'Connor 8
Ralli 4-0-11-2 Coury 3-0-18-2 Faye 4-1-4-1 M.O'Regan 2-0-8-1
Delaney 3-0-14-1 Stott 2-0-5-0 Duggan 3-0-5-0 R.O'Connor 3-0-11-0
“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies”, to quote from Proverbs 31. And just how virtuous can a woman be than to not only allow her husband to play cricket on their ruby wedding anniversary but to come along too. Jeanette also brought along a surprise celebratory cake for everyone to enjoy at the tea. What a way to celebrate our 40th- well done, Jeanette!
Having lost heavily to Cavaliers in recent years- and not fielding a team with strength in depth- we decided to bat first. Barry Ashmore opened steadily, though he lost partner Kevin Hodson fairly quickly. Steve Rix again demonstrated his keen eye with a quick-fire 25 that included 3 boundaries. New recruit Jon Kirby was looking comfortable until an optimistic call by Maruf saw him run out- a fate Maruf himself suffered shortly afterwards. Deaglan O'Ceallaigh was run out by me not long later as our wickets tumbled with frightening rapidity. I managed to bat through the slaughter of the innocents for an unspectacular, but necessary, 33 not out, ably assisted for quite some time by Ryan Hodson. To quote the Cavaliers Blogspot:
“Des' last partner was the 12 year old son of one of their regulars Kevin. Ryan was making his debut and helped his team past the 100 mark, well done that boy.”
Actually not quite his debut: Ryan partnered me at the close of two other innings', batting bravely under pressure. Some firm umpiring by Dad Kevin, who quite rightly turned down stumping appeals by Trevor White (from the opposite end!) helped a little too!
Cavaliers bowled well with Ralli the pick of a uniformly good bunch and Faye's 1 for 4 off 4 overs also impressive. Halverstown's bowling took up where our batting left off and Cavalier's 107 included a quite extraordinary 33 extras, mostly wides though with a fair number of no-balls thrown in. Defeat was not a surprise in the circumstances, though the fact that it took them 25 overs possibly was and that, bar Michael Ford's nicely judged 40 (possibly in tribute to the occasion, though a “not out” would have been a nice touch!), their batsmen also struggled to get into double figures.
Several bowlers did well, with Kevin taking 2 wickets, Maruf bowling economically (and took a good catch from my bowling- thank you Maruf!) with John Browne (until his injury) and Jon Kirby looking very tidy. If you didn't notice, Cavaliers reversed their normal batting order, a nice sporting touch and a wise decision which left Trevor White, normally a cert for a century against us, wandering the outfield disconsolately. As it says in the Book of Job: “No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies”.
At the end of a fun and sporting encounter Jeanette and I slipped away to Pickle in Dublin for what is known in cockney rhyming slang as a “Ruby Murray”*. Thanks to everyone for making it a very special day and also for turning out over the season - and do start practising for next season now!
* A curry to everyone else
Des Drumm 19/9/2017
Halverstown Cricket Club (2017 Season)
Wednesday, 20 September 2017
Monday, 11 September 2017
Halverstown v. Greystones 3
Leinster Division 13, Sunday 10th September
Halverstown won by 9 wickets
I have been hoping to write these words for some time but the complex system of calculating points meant that if Greystones beat us we could be knocked off the top spot by Bagenalstown.
There had been a considerable amount of rain during the week and the pitch was only just playable. If the fixture had to be abandoned due to weather our position in the league would be unassailable. However we are not that sort of team and as Greystones were prepared to travel we were happy to play the match.
Greystones won the toss and elected to bat. However in view of the weather forecast the match was reduced to 30 overs per side.
Whilst there have been some spectacular batting performances this season it is the bowlers who have been the model for consistency. Over the years Neville and JT have taken over 250 wickets for Halverstown between them at an RPO of approximately 3.5. Our top 5 bowlers have an average that would make Glen McGrath cry. Moon has taken 44 wickets at 9 and Neville has 154 at 13. Well the boys tucked into the wickets again and Greystones were back in the hut for 37 after 20 overs. Given the weather it was decided to postpone tea until we had batted.
HCC started the season with a determination to recruit new players. We are a small club and therefore our catchment is limited to sons, daughters and acquaintances of existing players. Des Drumm handles the media end of things and made it known through the press that we were looking for new recruits. Last year Moon and Wasif came to our team through the offices of Ahsan. This year our ranks have been swelled by Barra, Gunter, Kevin and Ray. Ray has scored two centuries and Gunter one. Only Sir Don Bradman betters the latters average of 98. Barra is an excellent all rounder and a good team player with an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules of the game. Kevin is a ‘reformed’ around the wicket bowler and now bowls over the stumps to great effect. We have welcomed them into the Halverstown family and they have become an integral part of our team.
Ray (26*) and JP (7) got the runs with the help of a few extras. Greystones were very sporting and congratulated us on our victory in both the game and the league. We retired, with some relief it has to be said, to the pavilion for an excellent tea prepared by Barra. This team has always been content but today we were genuinely happy and a little bit sad. Happy that we had won the league but sad that it was all over for another year.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the captain. He has led from the front for the last two years whilst rebuilding a fractured team. He knows the game backwards and he understands bowling changes, batting orders and field settings. This team is now happy to let the captain call the shots because he has our confidence. If he does something that we think is incorrect we smile indulgently and are happy to be proved wrong.
Richard, the HCC President, and Tim, the Chairman, have put in a lot of work to keep the club going. Both had significant moments of success this season. Richard hit 84 runs against Wicklow County and Tim got two stumpings against Clondalkin thereby proving that he is the only ‘proper’ wicketkeeper in the club.
The supporter’s award goes to Gunter’s parents, Lene and Willie, together with his wife, Helen. They have been at most matches both home and away rejoicing in his prowess and our success. Stuart Conroy hasn’t had many matches this year but he has been a great support via social media and in person.
Ahsan also deserves a mention. He has recruited new members and plays every game that he is asked to. Therefore it was unfortunate that his thumb was both broken and dislocated in the Pembroke game and he couldn’t play in the last 2 matches. Needless to say he turned up to see us win against Greystones and celebrate the success.
Tea was a celebration of our league success and you knew from the good-humoured banter that this was a team of equals. There are no stars just players. Everybody there on that day, despite past or future affiliations, is a Halverstown man to his bootstraps. Whatever happens next season or in the future the 21 players who turned out this year have shared this victory equally and unequivocally.
Halverstown won by 9 wickets
I have been hoping to write these words for some time but the complex system of calculating points meant that if Greystones beat us we could be knocked off the top spot by Bagenalstown.
There had been a considerable amount of rain during the week and the pitch was only just playable. If the fixture had to be abandoned due to weather our position in the league would be unassailable. However we are not that sort of team and as Greystones were prepared to travel we were happy to play the match.
Greystones won the toss and elected to bat. However in view of the weather forecast the match was reduced to 30 overs per side.
Whilst there have been some spectacular batting performances this season it is the bowlers who have been the model for consistency. Over the years Neville and JT have taken over 250 wickets for Halverstown between them at an RPO of approximately 3.5. Our top 5 bowlers have an average that would make Glen McGrath cry. Moon has taken 44 wickets at 9 and Neville has 154 at 13. Well the boys tucked into the wickets again and Greystones were back in the hut for 37 after 20 overs. Given the weather it was decided to postpone tea until we had batted.
HCC started the season with a determination to recruit new players. We are a small club and therefore our catchment is limited to sons, daughters and acquaintances of existing players. Des Drumm handles the media end of things and made it known through the press that we were looking for new recruits. Last year Moon and Wasif came to our team through the offices of Ahsan. This year our ranks have been swelled by Barra, Gunter, Kevin and Ray. Ray has scored two centuries and Gunter one. Only Sir Don Bradman betters the latters average of 98. Barra is an excellent all rounder and a good team player with an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules of the game. Kevin is a ‘reformed’ around the wicket bowler and now bowls over the stumps to great effect. We have welcomed them into the Halverstown family and they have become an integral part of our team.
Ray (26*) and JP (7) got the runs with the help of a few extras. Greystones were very sporting and congratulated us on our victory in both the game and the league. We retired, with some relief it has to be said, to the pavilion for an excellent tea prepared by Barra. This team has always been content but today we were genuinely happy and a little bit sad. Happy that we had won the league but sad that it was all over for another year.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the captain. He has led from the front for the last two years whilst rebuilding a fractured team. He knows the game backwards and he understands bowling changes, batting orders and field settings. This team is now happy to let the captain call the shots because he has our confidence. If he does something that we think is incorrect we smile indulgently and are happy to be proved wrong.
Richard, the HCC President, and Tim, the Chairman, have put in a lot of work to keep the club going. Both had significant moments of success this season. Richard hit 84 runs against Wicklow County and Tim got two stumpings against Clondalkin thereby proving that he is the only ‘proper’ wicketkeeper in the club.
The supporter’s award goes to Gunter’s parents, Lene and Willie, together with his wife, Helen. They have been at most matches both home and away rejoicing in his prowess and our success. Stuart Conroy hasn’t had many matches this year but he has been a great support via social media and in person.
Ahsan also deserves a mention. He has recruited new members and plays every game that he is asked to. Therefore it was unfortunate that his thumb was both broken and dislocated in the Pembroke game and he couldn’t play in the last 2 matches. Needless to say he turned up to see us win against Greystones and celebrate the success.
Tea was a celebration of our league success and you knew from the good-humoured banter that this was a team of equals. There are no stars just players. Everybody there on that day, despite past or future affiliations, is a Halverstown man to his bootstraps. Whatever happens next season or in the future the 21 players who turned out this year have shared this victory equally and unequivocally.
Monday, 4 September 2017
Halverstown v. Bagenalstown 2
Leinster Division 13, Saturday 2nd September
Halverstown won by 3 runs
This was the fixture we had been talking about for the last half of the season. Whilst Halverstown maintained ascendancy in the league we have been tracked all the way by Bagenalstown. You will recall that we had a fractious encounter with them when we played away. Despite the ground being swamped by rain during the tea break they insisted we stay around for 3 hours in case it dried. This was something akin to expecting sunrise at sunset.
It has to be said that Bagenalstown arrived in the mood for a sporting encounter and thus it proved to be. They have led a parallel existence to us over the years and we welcomed back old friends like Ray Stapleton and Sean Farrell. We were also grateful for the presence of umpire, Peter Thew, who laid out his expectations at the beginning of the match and enforced the rule of law throughout.
We won the toss and decided to bat. This appears to be the captain’s preferred option and both Ray and Moon seem happier posting a score rather than chasing one. However, after a few overs we were in all sorts of trouble. Bagenalstown opened with pace from one end and spin from the other and after a few overs the 3 top scoring batsmen this season were back in the pavilion for 18 runs. It looked like we would be home for tea and second place in the league.
The wonderful thing about cricket is that it’s never over until the last ball is bowled. Gunter (102*) who has picked up the pseudonym of “boom boom” for his powerful hitting came in at no.3 and steadied the ship. He understood that with the exception of JT the ‘tail’ was long and so he played himself in quietly. He is a big presence both at the crease and in the field. Once he had his eye in he hit the ball very hard but avoided risky shots. It was an innings of total responsibility and Richard who is Halverstown ‘man and boy’ said it was one of the best innings ever played on this ground. The captain gratefully remarked that it was more ‘brains than boom boom’. We were fortunate that JT who is a good all rounder and understands the games nuances as well as anybody was there with him. His was an innings of unselfish behavior as he fed the strike to Gunter who clubbed the ball to the boundary on a regular basis. Their partnership yielded 75 crucial runs and set up a defendable score of 159.
It should be recorded that Neville Case has been scorer for most of the games this season. This is not an easy job when you are fielding questions, being a good parent and keeping an eye on the umpire.
After a convivial tea both sides knew it was ‘game on’ as we took the field. Our bowling attack has established itself over recent years as the unit we could depend on in a crisis. Whilst Gunter and JT had given us breathing space it was certain to go down to the wire.
The name of the game was containment and by over 20 they were 44-0. Our strike bowlers had done the job ably assisted by Des and Kevin. Des is a seasoned campaigner and has taken on the 5th bowler role before. Kevin is relatively new to the team but has put in a lot of time in the nets to bring himself up to the standard necessary to share that role. They conceded a very creditable 3.6 an over to keep us in the game.
This meant that following drinks Bagenalstown needed a run a ball to win. Neville took the first wicket and the opener was replaced by Uddin who we knew to be an accomplished batsman. The satisfaction that Uddin had in dismissing Ray was short lived as Ray put him back in the ‘hut’ for 1. Whilst we breathed a collective sigh of relief there was more to come. Batsmen 3,4 and 5 got runs but it wasn’t enough. O’Neil (15) skied the ball and 2 of our best catchers went for it. Fortunately Richard yielded to Ray at the last minute so that he could complete a caught and bowled. JT dismissed the danger man Mumtaz (33) and Moon got rid of Riaz (17). The catch of the day was taken by Gunter who specializes in waltzing down the Halverstown hill. Most fielders fail to take these catches because of the 45 degree slope. Gunter executes the High Veldt Two Step by descending from altitude whilst keeping perfect balance and scooping the ball up just before it hits the ground.
As we came to the last over of the day the excitement was palpable. My recollection is that they needed 7 to win with 4 wickets standing. Who do you throw the ball to in these circumstances but JT aka the ‘Iceman’. He bowled a nerveless over conceding 2 runs and securing victory.
It has to be said that this was once again a team effort and the strategic thinking of our captain particularly in his bowling changes was vital. Michael Coyle should be mentioned as he has turned out despite a back injury and has acquitted himself well in the field and with the bat.
Bagenalstown were magnanimous in defeat and their captain, Stephen Hadley, came into our changing room to congratulate us on our victory and to pay tribute to the sportsmanship of both teams.
It was an amazing match to play in with all the ups and downs. Victory never certain until the last ball. I will sign off with a quote from the great John Arlott ;
“It is a game complicated enough to be a science-or a joke: competitive enough to be an epic-or futile; compelling enough to be mania-or anathema. In short, it is such a blend of ceremony and slapstick, tragedy and humour, greatness and insignificance as to be completely human.”
Our final match of the season is against Greystones 3 at home next Sunday.
Halverstown won by 3 runs
This was the fixture we had been talking about for the last half of the season. Whilst Halverstown maintained ascendancy in the league we have been tracked all the way by Bagenalstown. You will recall that we had a fractious encounter with them when we played away. Despite the ground being swamped by rain during the tea break they insisted we stay around for 3 hours in case it dried. This was something akin to expecting sunrise at sunset.
It has to be said that Bagenalstown arrived in the mood for a sporting encounter and thus it proved to be. They have led a parallel existence to us over the years and we welcomed back old friends like Ray Stapleton and Sean Farrell. We were also grateful for the presence of umpire, Peter Thew, who laid out his expectations at the beginning of the match and enforced the rule of law throughout.
We won the toss and decided to bat. This appears to be the captain’s preferred option and both Ray and Moon seem happier posting a score rather than chasing one. However, after a few overs we were in all sorts of trouble. Bagenalstown opened with pace from one end and spin from the other and after a few overs the 3 top scoring batsmen this season were back in the pavilion for 18 runs. It looked like we would be home for tea and second place in the league.
The wonderful thing about cricket is that it’s never over until the last ball is bowled. Gunter (102*) who has picked up the pseudonym of “boom boom” for his powerful hitting came in at no.3 and steadied the ship. He understood that with the exception of JT the ‘tail’ was long and so he played himself in quietly. He is a big presence both at the crease and in the field. Once he had his eye in he hit the ball very hard but avoided risky shots. It was an innings of total responsibility and Richard who is Halverstown ‘man and boy’ said it was one of the best innings ever played on this ground. The captain gratefully remarked that it was more ‘brains than boom boom’. We were fortunate that JT who is a good all rounder and understands the games nuances as well as anybody was there with him. His was an innings of unselfish behavior as he fed the strike to Gunter who clubbed the ball to the boundary on a regular basis. Their partnership yielded 75 crucial runs and set up a defendable score of 159.
It should be recorded that Neville Case has been scorer for most of the games this season. This is not an easy job when you are fielding questions, being a good parent and keeping an eye on the umpire.
After a convivial tea both sides knew it was ‘game on’ as we took the field. Our bowling attack has established itself over recent years as the unit we could depend on in a crisis. Whilst Gunter and JT had given us breathing space it was certain to go down to the wire.
The name of the game was containment and by over 20 they were 44-0. Our strike bowlers had done the job ably assisted by Des and Kevin. Des is a seasoned campaigner and has taken on the 5th bowler role before. Kevin is relatively new to the team but has put in a lot of time in the nets to bring himself up to the standard necessary to share that role. They conceded a very creditable 3.6 an over to keep us in the game.
This meant that following drinks Bagenalstown needed a run a ball to win. Neville took the first wicket and the opener was replaced by Uddin who we knew to be an accomplished batsman. The satisfaction that Uddin had in dismissing Ray was short lived as Ray put him back in the ‘hut’ for 1. Whilst we breathed a collective sigh of relief there was more to come. Batsmen 3,4 and 5 got runs but it wasn’t enough. O’Neil (15) skied the ball and 2 of our best catchers went for it. Fortunately Richard yielded to Ray at the last minute so that he could complete a caught and bowled. JT dismissed the danger man Mumtaz (33) and Moon got rid of Riaz (17). The catch of the day was taken by Gunter who specializes in waltzing down the Halverstown hill. Most fielders fail to take these catches because of the 45 degree slope. Gunter executes the High Veldt Two Step by descending from altitude whilst keeping perfect balance and scooping the ball up just before it hits the ground.
As we came to the last over of the day the excitement was palpable. My recollection is that they needed 7 to win with 4 wickets standing. Who do you throw the ball to in these circumstances but JT aka the ‘Iceman’. He bowled a nerveless over conceding 2 runs and securing victory.
It has to be said that this was once again a team effort and the strategic thinking of our captain particularly in his bowling changes was vital. Michael Coyle should be mentioned as he has turned out despite a back injury and has acquitted himself well in the field and with the bat.
Bagenalstown were magnanimous in defeat and their captain, Stephen Hadley, came into our changing room to congratulate us on our victory and to pay tribute to the sportsmanship of both teams.
It was an amazing match to play in with all the ups and downs. Victory never certain until the last ball. I will sign off with a quote from the great John Arlott ;
“It is a game complicated enough to be a science-or a joke: competitive enough to be an epic-or futile; compelling enough to be mania-or anathema. In short, it is such a blend of ceremony and slapstick, tragedy and humour, greatness and insignificance as to be completely human.”
Our final match of the season is against Greystones 3 at home next Sunday.
Sunday, 27 August 2017
Halverstown v. North Kildare
Taverners Fixture, Friday 18th August 2017
HALVERSTOWN: 92 for 9 (15X8 overs)
Stuart Conroy 20* S.Rix 19* K.Hodson 18
D.Drumm 1.7-0-6-0 D.O'Ceallaigh 1.5-0-6-0 M.Coyle 2-0-8-0
K.Hodson 1.1-0-10-0 E.Maguire 1-0-10-0 R.Hodson 1-0-11-0
S.Rix 1-0-12-0 D.McConaghy 1-0-13-0 Stuart Conroy 1-0-15-0
NORTH KILDARE:93 FOR 0 (11.5 overs)
R.Machin 21* J.Habbington 20* J.Scully 20* D.Galbraith 11*
J.Habbington 2-0-10-2 L.Tobin 2-0-7-1 L.Winters 2-0-12 -1 R.Cruise 2-0-12-1
“North Kildare” they are called, which I suppose makes us “Central Kildare” if we wanted a geographical nomenclature. Or perhaps “East Kildare”. But, without any airs and graces, “Halverstown” does us fine. Kildare once boasted 27 cricket clubs, but now there are just the two of us, sadly. North Kildare are the new boys on the block, formed just yesterday- well 1928 to be exact. Interestingly North Kildare Cricket and Tennis Club was formed by the amalgamation of clubs at Lucan and Firmount, Clane. Presumably the location, near Kilcock, was close to midway between them. Firmount House was the site of the national communications bunker in case of nuclear war and is now a recently opened, and quite nice, cafe. I have no knowledge of a cricket club at Firmount. Shame it moved: it would have been really handy for Cecil and me.
John Habbington, the North Kildare Captain, doubted me when I rang to tell him that I was bringing a genuine Taverners team “I have heard that 6 times already this year!” he said. However, was less sceptical when he saw our batting, and truly believed me when he saw our bowling. Any team that fails to take a single wicket in a Taverners game must be genuine!
There was some doubt as to whether they got us all out: Ryan Hodson was down as a run-out in their book, but I was at the wicket with him and didn't see that. However since I also failed to see pretty much every ball that was bowled at me, it might well have been the case. Only 3 of our players got into double figures with Stuart's 20 not out very impressive; Steve Rix sportingly retiring himself on a well hit 19 to give others a bat. Such gallantry is not usual! Steve was awarded their Man of the Match for his innings and-they said- he bowled well also. I missed that bit too. Kevin Hodson batted well but pulled a muscle at the start of his second over so I finished out for him. Technically (and oddly) those 7 balls should be counted in Kevin's figures. However they were quite good so I kept them for myself.
North Kildare bowled tidily throughout, but notably John Habbington and Liam Tobin, who bowled a couple of very accurate overs. Their batting line-up was too strong for us, with the first 3 batsmen, Robin Machin, John Scully and their Man of the Match John Babbington, all getting their 20s not out. The die was cast. After that it was a matter of how long it took to get the runs. And that wasn't long. The good news was that everyone got to bat and bowl for Halverstown. If that was the objective of the game we would be unbeatable! The leadership in Kildare Taverners goes North, for the moment.
Des Drumm
HALVERSTOWN: 92 for 9 (15X8 overs)
Stuart Conroy 20* S.Rix 19* K.Hodson 18
D.Drumm 1.7-0-6-0 D.O'Ceallaigh 1.5-0-6-0 M.Coyle 2-0-8-0
K.Hodson 1.1-0-10-0 E.Maguire 1-0-10-0 R.Hodson 1-0-11-0
S.Rix 1-0-12-0 D.McConaghy 1-0-13-0 Stuart Conroy 1-0-15-0
NORTH KILDARE:93 FOR 0 (11.5 overs)
R.Machin 21* J.Habbington 20* J.Scully 20* D.Galbraith 11*
J.Habbington 2-0-10-2 L.Tobin 2-0-7-1 L.Winters 2-0-12 -1 R.Cruise 2-0-12-1
“North Kildare” they are called, which I suppose makes us “Central Kildare” if we wanted a geographical nomenclature. Or perhaps “East Kildare”. But, without any airs and graces, “Halverstown” does us fine. Kildare once boasted 27 cricket clubs, but now there are just the two of us, sadly. North Kildare are the new boys on the block, formed just yesterday- well 1928 to be exact. Interestingly North Kildare Cricket and Tennis Club was formed by the amalgamation of clubs at Lucan and Firmount, Clane. Presumably the location, near Kilcock, was close to midway between them. Firmount House was the site of the national communications bunker in case of nuclear war and is now a recently opened, and quite nice, cafe. I have no knowledge of a cricket club at Firmount. Shame it moved: it would have been really handy for Cecil and me.
John Habbington, the North Kildare Captain, doubted me when I rang to tell him that I was bringing a genuine Taverners team “I have heard that 6 times already this year!” he said. However, was less sceptical when he saw our batting, and truly believed me when he saw our bowling. Any team that fails to take a single wicket in a Taverners game must be genuine!
There was some doubt as to whether they got us all out: Ryan Hodson was down as a run-out in their book, but I was at the wicket with him and didn't see that. However since I also failed to see pretty much every ball that was bowled at me, it might well have been the case. Only 3 of our players got into double figures with Stuart's 20 not out very impressive; Steve Rix sportingly retiring himself on a well hit 19 to give others a bat. Such gallantry is not usual! Steve was awarded their Man of the Match for his innings and-they said- he bowled well also. I missed that bit too. Kevin Hodson batted well but pulled a muscle at the start of his second over so I finished out for him. Technically (and oddly) those 7 balls should be counted in Kevin's figures. However they were quite good so I kept them for myself.
North Kildare bowled tidily throughout, but notably John Habbington and Liam Tobin, who bowled a couple of very accurate overs. Their batting line-up was too strong for us, with the first 3 batsmen, Robin Machin, John Scully and their Man of the Match John Babbington, all getting their 20s not out. The die was cast. After that it was a matter of how long it took to get the runs. And that wasn't long. The good news was that everyone got to bat and bowl for Halverstown. If that was the objective of the game we would be unbeatable! The leadership in Kildare Taverners goes North, for the moment.
Des Drumm
Thursday, 24 August 2017
Halverstown v. Malahide 5
Leinster Division 13, Saturday 12th August
Malahide won by 48 runs
The glorious 12th of August is the opening of the grouse shooting season when the innocent are slaughtered in the name of sport. I will let you draw your own conclusions as to the parallels.
We had a slightly uncomfortable win against Malahide in the away match in that we didn’t dominate. They turned up with the usual mix of young and old but not the same team.
Traditionally the core membership of Halverstown has been farmers and that is both its strength and a weakness. Strength because they are great supporters of the club and weakness because as soon as the harvest starts they disappear like swallows in autumn. The captain has to factor this in along with holidays and for this match 3 of the top order were unavailable
Malahide won the toss and decided to bat. Neville (3 for 32) and JT (3 for 28) did their usual job of containing the batsmen and taking wickets. Batsmen 1 and 3 departed for the pavilion fairly promptly leaving Malahide on 14-2. Their captain, Kooottembeth, had scored very slowly in the away match and we looked forward to a rather sedate innings particularly as he mentioned that he wasn’t feeling particularly well. Whatever ailment he had it didn’t affect his batting and he went on to score 125 runs and dominated the innings. By the time he left the crease Malahide were 225-6 and coasting towards a sizeable score. Gunter’s catch to dismiss him is worth a mention as he took it running down the hill at the pavilion end. He checked twice and rebalanced before getting under it safely. As a lesson in foot/hand/eye coordination it would be hard to beat although there are very few pitches in the world with their own “Beechers Brook” to contend with.
Malahide were back in the pavilion for a very impressive 229 for 9. Whilst Mark Deacon (34) made the only other significant score the young batsmen from Malahide stayed in to let Koottembeth do his stuff. Old and young combined together and batted intelligently.
On occasion I have remarked how fast Ray (77) scores but today was exceptional even by his standards. He scored 50 in the first 5 overs and after 10 overs we were 83-1. At the same stage Malahide had scored only 30 due to the tight bowling of Neville and JT. Ray’s timing is exceptional and he treats the game like a 20:20. After the skipper had departed ‘boom boom’ Bayer (38) came in to join the assault. By the time he and Ray left the battle the score was 153 and there were 6 wickets standing. While there were still wickets in hand we had run out of specialist batsmen due to a combination of holidays, farming and injury. Richard has been in terrific form this season and his ability to anchor the innings whilst the younger players have their fun was missed.
The last 7 batsmen scored 28 runs and Halverstown were all out for 181. The outstanding bowler for Malahide was Koottembeth with 22-5.
Another disappointing result and a match we probably should have won. Our next fixture is away to Wicklow County 2 on 20th August.
Malahide won by 48 runs
The glorious 12th of August is the opening of the grouse shooting season when the innocent are slaughtered in the name of sport. I will let you draw your own conclusions as to the parallels.
We had a slightly uncomfortable win against Malahide in the away match in that we didn’t dominate. They turned up with the usual mix of young and old but not the same team.
Traditionally the core membership of Halverstown has been farmers and that is both its strength and a weakness. Strength because they are great supporters of the club and weakness because as soon as the harvest starts they disappear like swallows in autumn. The captain has to factor this in along with holidays and for this match 3 of the top order were unavailable
Malahide won the toss and decided to bat. Neville (3 for 32) and JT (3 for 28) did their usual job of containing the batsmen and taking wickets. Batsmen 1 and 3 departed for the pavilion fairly promptly leaving Malahide on 14-2. Their captain, Kooottembeth, had scored very slowly in the away match and we looked forward to a rather sedate innings particularly as he mentioned that he wasn’t feeling particularly well. Whatever ailment he had it didn’t affect his batting and he went on to score 125 runs and dominated the innings. By the time he left the crease Malahide were 225-6 and coasting towards a sizeable score. Gunter’s catch to dismiss him is worth a mention as he took it running down the hill at the pavilion end. He checked twice and rebalanced before getting under it safely. As a lesson in foot/hand/eye coordination it would be hard to beat although there are very few pitches in the world with their own “Beechers Brook” to contend with.
Malahide were back in the pavilion for a very impressive 229 for 9. Whilst Mark Deacon (34) made the only other significant score the young batsmen from Malahide stayed in to let Koottembeth do his stuff. Old and young combined together and batted intelligently.
On occasion I have remarked how fast Ray (77) scores but today was exceptional even by his standards. He scored 50 in the first 5 overs and after 10 overs we were 83-1. At the same stage Malahide had scored only 30 due to the tight bowling of Neville and JT. Ray’s timing is exceptional and he treats the game like a 20:20. After the skipper had departed ‘boom boom’ Bayer (38) came in to join the assault. By the time he and Ray left the battle the score was 153 and there were 6 wickets standing. While there were still wickets in hand we had run out of specialist batsmen due to a combination of holidays, farming and injury. Richard has been in terrific form this season and his ability to anchor the innings whilst the younger players have their fun was missed.
The last 7 batsmen scored 28 runs and Halverstown were all out for 181. The outstanding bowler for Malahide was Koottembeth with 22-5.
Another disappointing result and a match we probably should have won. Our next fixture is away to Wicklow County 2 on 20th August.
Wednesday, 16 August 2017
AIB v. Halverstown
Leinster Minor Cup Semi-Final
Saturday, 5th August 2017
This was a Minor Cup match played at St Andrew’s College on 5th August. AIB won by 75 runs.
We had encountered AIB in the Russell Court Trophy and we knew they were good. However we fielded our A team out and we travelled in hope that we could turn the tables.
The pitch inspection showed that the groundsman had gone on holidays. The farmers among us measured the depth of grass and wondered how many bales of hay could be cut off this meadow. The batsmen measured the distance to the boundary realizing they were going to have to go the aerial route.
The captain won the toss and decided to field. One player said this was the right decision and another said it was wrong. It’s a lonely business being captain! However our bowling attack has never let us down and today was no exception.
The fielding and catching was excellent which has become the accepted norm. Darren and Gunter were even competing with each other to get there first. The wicket keeper was heard to say, “decide which one of you is playing the piano” as they both hurled themselves headlong at a catch which didn’t go to hand. A few minutes later Gunter took a big catch on the boundary and with a big smile declared “I’m playing the piano!”
The bowlers did their job and wickets fell at regular intervals. Neville, Moon and Barra each got 2. AIB were 86 for 5 and we were feeling comfortable. By the time the next wicket fell they were on 152 and the game had got away from us slightly. However once Bansal (64) had gone they added only another 22 runs by the conclusion of their innings. We felt we had done well to restrict a talented batting side to this total.
Ray and Richard have set the bar high after their opening partnership of 177 in the previous match. Richard had picked up an injury whilst fielding and needed a runner. From a spectators point of view it may seem such an injury would not affect your batting but this is not the case. Particularly with Richard whose nimble footwork is part and parcel of his batting. He has been in marvelous form this season and therefore his brief time at the crease in this match must in part be due to that injury.
Ray (37) started like a train but was caught on the longest boundary going for a 6. Following Ray’s dismissal at 73 for 3 Moon (25) came to the crease and was unlucky to be caught by a spectacular catch in the slips. It was so far wide of the fielder that it looked impossible but according to his peers he does this all the time.
There were independent umpires for this match, which is generally considered a good thing. However Darren got a bad decision from the same umpire for the second time. Last time he gave an LBW and then conceded that he had been wrong. This time he gave a caught behind when the ball in question missed the bat but hit the stumps without removing the bails. AIB sportingly withdrew their appeal but the umpire was unmoved. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde ‘one incorrect decision may be regarded as a misfortune; two looks like carelessness.' Darren is not a conspiracy theorist but he could have been forgiven for thinking that this was a bit ‘grassy knoll’.
Our tail was long but it didn’t wag. Curley of AIB got a fifer including 3 of the top order. The wicket keeper, Forde, performed well and got 4 catches including the one that ‘missed’ the bat. However that was not his call and his keeping was exemplary. We were all out for 99 and whilst we were somewhat dispirited we conceeded that the better team on the day had won. AIB were good in all departments and sporting opposition.
Our next match is against Malahide at home on 12th August followed by the Club BBQ the next day.
Monday, 7 August 2017
Halverstown v. Chapelizod
CHAPELIZOD: 143 All out
Mahesh 48 Greg 13 Rob 13
Ross 10-1-30-3 Cosy 5-0-11-2 Mahesh 2-0-6-1 J.Egan 9-0-32-1 Rob 3-0-3-0
HALVERSTOWN: 103 for 10 (Not an error: 12 players!)
Sean Conroy 15 K.Hodson 14 D.Drumm 8 H.Beaumont 8 Extras 47 (!)
D.Drumm 6.5-0-25-5 K.Hodson 8-0-25-2 J. Browne 5-1-22-1
Sean Conroy 6-1-26-1 G.Bayer 3-0-20-0 D.O'Ceallaigh 2-0-10-0 E.Maguire 3-0-15-0
MATCH DRAWN
Saturday night and, as Bruce Springsteen sang, “57 channels and nothin' on”. So a DVD was dug out and Jeanette and I watched “Tristan and Isolde”, a teen-style romantic swashbuckler supposedly based on the mediaeval legend of Tristan and Iseult. Although you could do worse than watch it, you probably couldn't do much worse. It is just a legend, but taking such liberties with the historical context was annoying. The Irish were the baddies who invaded England, using the divide and rule approach to the English tribes, who (except for a sneaky one or two) were the goodies. Wait a minute! Shouldn't that be the other way round?! The only faintly “true” bit was that Isolde was the daughter of an Irish king, which she was in 12th century Anglo- Norman/ Celtic legend.
Coincidentally we were playing Chapelizod the next day. Chapelizod: “Seipeal Iosoid”, Iseult's Chapel. A historic village on the edge of Dublin in which I spent over 14 years of my working life. Home to Sheridan le Fanu and his “Ghost Stories of Chapelizod”. His “House by the Graveyard” is still there, as is “Sunnybank”, the house of Viscount Northcliffe (the Rupert Murdoch of his day) and the Mullingar House, home to James Joyce's Anna Livia Plurabelle.
At Chapelizod's request it was a timed game, to finish at 20 overs after 5pm- probably the right decision given the uncertainty of the weather but they may have regretted their request ! Winning the toss, they batted first and lost 3 wickets in the first 3 overs, thanks to some accurate bowling by Kevin Hodson and the evergreen John Browne. But they rallied and Mahesh hit an excellent 48 before Sean Conroy trapped him LBW. Gunter Bayer 's runout was the highlight of his time in the field but I must,modestly of course, acclaim my own “fifer” (a corruption of “five for”, apparently). I took 5 wickets for 25 in almost 7 overs, and extraordinarily they were all bowled out- an unusual occurrence I would hazard. Kevin's 2 for 25 was also worth noting as well as tidy overs from “newbies” Deaglain O'Ceallaigh and Eoin Maguire. However, it did not stop Chapelizod running up a decent total of 143.
Knowing that we had “Boom Boom” Bayer hidden safely down the order we felt pretty smug, especially after Kevin and Sean put on an opening partnership of over 40 runs. In the batting line-up I had then put in players new to the team or the game. Unfortunately 4 of them scored just the 1 run before I brought in Gunter, our knight in shining armour, who would bat alongside our Isolde, Yvonne Frayne, and save the day. Yvonne went the way of other new players unfortunately whilst Gunter was run out for a mere 2. Tristan indeed! Plan B:I went in at No.9 with a the total at 82 runs and 17 overs left to play. Do we go for the win or try to bat out for the draw? Hubert joined me at the crease and had obviously decided the former whilst I prevaricated. Hubert was out for 8 fairly shortly so it was now the latter! I was joined by first time batsman young Ryan Hodson who bravely scored 4 whilst I stonewalled everything I could. John Browne, our last batsman, joined me for the remaining 9 overs. No better man to have with you! We stole runs at the end of every over so I could face the bulk of the bowling and we battled and blocked everything for a famous draw! Chapelizod were graceful in what must have seemed like defeat whilst we were jubilant at a draw snatched from defeat, that was originally going to be a win! Honours even.
Des Drumm 6/8/17
Mahesh 48 Greg 13 Rob 13
Ross 10-1-30-3 Cosy 5-0-11-2 Mahesh 2-0-6-1 J.Egan 9-0-32-1 Rob 3-0-3-0
HALVERSTOWN: 103 for 10 (Not an error: 12 players!)
Sean Conroy 15 K.Hodson 14 D.Drumm 8 H.Beaumont 8 Extras 47 (!)
D.Drumm 6.5-0-25-5 K.Hodson 8-0-25-2 J. Browne 5-1-22-1
Sean Conroy 6-1-26-1 G.Bayer 3-0-20-0 D.O'Ceallaigh 2-0-10-0 E.Maguire 3-0-15-0
MATCH DRAWN
Saturday night and, as Bruce Springsteen sang, “57 channels and nothin' on”. So a DVD was dug out and Jeanette and I watched “Tristan and Isolde”, a teen-style romantic swashbuckler supposedly based on the mediaeval legend of Tristan and Iseult. Although you could do worse than watch it, you probably couldn't do much worse. It is just a legend, but taking such liberties with the historical context was annoying. The Irish were the baddies who invaded England, using the divide and rule approach to the English tribes, who (except for a sneaky one or two) were the goodies. Wait a minute! Shouldn't that be the other way round?! The only faintly “true” bit was that Isolde was the daughter of an Irish king, which she was in 12th century Anglo- Norman/ Celtic legend.
Coincidentally we were playing Chapelizod the next day. Chapelizod: “Seipeal Iosoid”, Iseult's Chapel. A historic village on the edge of Dublin in which I spent over 14 years of my working life. Home to Sheridan le Fanu and his “Ghost Stories of Chapelizod”. His “House by the Graveyard” is still there, as is “Sunnybank”, the house of Viscount Northcliffe (the Rupert Murdoch of his day) and the Mullingar House, home to James Joyce's Anna Livia Plurabelle.
At Chapelizod's request it was a timed game, to finish at 20 overs after 5pm- probably the right decision given the uncertainty of the weather but they may have regretted their request ! Winning the toss, they batted first and lost 3 wickets in the first 3 overs, thanks to some accurate bowling by Kevin Hodson and the evergreen John Browne. But they rallied and Mahesh hit an excellent 48 before Sean Conroy trapped him LBW. Gunter Bayer 's runout was the highlight of his time in the field but I must,modestly of course, acclaim my own “fifer” (a corruption of “five for”, apparently). I took 5 wickets for 25 in almost 7 overs, and extraordinarily they were all bowled out- an unusual occurrence I would hazard. Kevin's 2 for 25 was also worth noting as well as tidy overs from “newbies” Deaglain O'Ceallaigh and Eoin Maguire. However, it did not stop Chapelizod running up a decent total of 143.
Knowing that we had “Boom Boom” Bayer hidden safely down the order we felt pretty smug, especially after Kevin and Sean put on an opening partnership of over 40 runs. In the batting line-up I had then put in players new to the team or the game. Unfortunately 4 of them scored just the 1 run before I brought in Gunter, our knight in shining armour, who would bat alongside our Isolde, Yvonne Frayne, and save the day. Yvonne went the way of other new players unfortunately whilst Gunter was run out for a mere 2. Tristan indeed! Plan B:I went in at No.9 with a the total at 82 runs and 17 overs left to play. Do we go for the win or try to bat out for the draw? Hubert joined me at the crease and had obviously decided the former whilst I prevaricated. Hubert was out for 8 fairly shortly so it was now the latter! I was joined by first time batsman young Ryan Hodson who bravely scored 4 whilst I stonewalled everything I could. John Browne, our last batsman, joined me for the remaining 9 overs. No better man to have with you! We stole runs at the end of every over so I could face the bulk of the bowling and we battled and blocked everything for a famous draw! Chapelizod were graceful in what must have seemed like defeat whilst we were jubilant at a draw snatched from defeat, that was originally going to be a win! Honours even.
Des Drumm 6/8/17
Tuesday, 1 August 2017
Halverstown v. Wicklow County 2
Leinster Division 13, Saturday 17th June
Halverstown won by 305 runs.
This is the day you dream about when you are huddled up in front of the fire and it feels like the winter will never end. Sunny skies and a performance that defied superlatives. Whilst it was only 3 days short of St Crispin’s Day which occurs on 25th July I fear the Bard would have cashed in his ticket for Agincourt and rebooked for the main event at Halverstown. It was a case of “Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”.
We were quietly cautious because Wicklow had won their 3 matches by some margin and we anticipated that they were the form team. However with the exception of JT and Tim we had our ‘A’ team out and we were happy to take on anybody. Ray and Moon looked particularly relaxed and you got the feeling that it was going to be a good day. Interestingly the skipper looked less anxious than usual although that is only a comparative statement.
We lost the toss and Wicklow put us in to bat. When you have a batting line up like ours you are happy to bat and if we had won the toss we would have done the same. Ray (125) and Richard (84) strode out to the crease. Umpiring your own team mates can be stressful as you know their foibles but no quarter can be given. To our immense relief Ray took a stance outside leg stump. No more LBW’s for this man ~ he had ’got the religion’.
The opening partnership was 177 and Wicklow were in complete disarray. Ray scores quickly and Richard unselfishly feeds him the strike. With the exception of Sreedharan (50 for 2) the Wicklow bowlers were cavalier at best. Raikar decided that the way to stop Ray was to bowl short. The leg side fielders were almost on first name terms with the sheep in the adjoining field such was the number of times that they had to climb the fence after the ball had sailed over their heads. Once the bowler had tired of this he decided to bowl full outside the off stump but such is Ray’s ability that he clubbed these wides into the boundary. Admittedly they were mere 4’s but as a containment policy it lacks conviction. 100 of Ray’s runs were scored in boundaries.
You would think it was all about Ray but it wasn’t. Richard quietly accumulated runs and played the most valuable of innings while his other team mates came and went. Barra (18) and Darren (23) played their part. For those of us who have been around for a bit we know that every season Darren will put one into the river. He doesn’t plan this but it just happens. He didn’t disappoint. A massive 6 cleared the trees and the ball went to a watery graveyard alongside the others that he has put there in the past. Boom-boom Bayer wrapped up the innings with a quick fire 44* and he has secured his place as the ‘red inker’ of the team.
The statistics are impressive. The first 100 came in 13 overs, the second in 11 overs and the third in 14. After 40 overs Wicklow looked as though they had been hit by a tsunami. Interestingly Ray wanted to field first. You can’t make 125 chasing 15!
Wicklow County was set a target of 305, which was a mountain to climb. Whilst our Rolls Royce batting attack is relatively new our bowlers have been defending low scores for a couple of years. This time our captain had the luxury of a massive total behind him and set the field accordingly. It was quite claustrophobic behind the wicket with 3 slips and a gully. A lot of chatter in Punjabi and Urdu meant that Ray was at first and Moon second. Ray was elated after his century and Moon was happy for him. The skipper couldn’t have enforced the ‘no talk’ zone even if he’d wanted to. Next to them was Gunter at third and Richard at gully. Four of Halverstown’s finest close catchers.
Neville who at the age of only 38 has decided that retirement is still an option opened the bowling and was immediately in among the wickets. Moon backed him up with some of the fastest bowling we have seen from him. The keeper was standing back another 5 yards and still the ball was on the rise. Halverstown used 4 bowlers; Neville (9 for 5), Moon (3 for 2), Ahsan (3 for 1) and
Kevin (0 for 1). Presumably Neville will put off his impending retirement again and we may not hear about it for at least 6 months. He needs the odd ‘fifer’ to keep him away from the pension office. Congratulations to Kevin who has been putting in some serious work on his bowling and got his first Halverstown league wicket.
Richard took a sharp catch at gully off Moon and modestly remarked that he had been “born in the gully”. Only those who were there on the day will know what happened to Ray’s ‘catch’ at slip. A case of what happens on the field stays on the field.
Whilst Wicklow fielded 11 players only 10 of them batted and they were all out for 15 after 14 overs. They were a sporting side and we look forward to meeting them for the return match when they will have home advantage.
Psychologically it was a fascinating game. By the 16th over Wicklow had all but
given up and despite their captain’s efforts to give them confidence their fielding deteriorated steadily.
The match was a tale of 2 captains. Mick was in his element. His batsmen had done the job for him and so he was going to turn the screw. A 7-2 field and an array of slips reminding us of the days of McGrath and Gillespie in their pomp. The batsmen just wilted. It was also the reward for leading from the front for two years. He is always thinking about the game and weighing the odds as befits an insurance broker and a follower of the ‘ponies’. Harsh words are used when necessary but praise also. Never afraid to speak his mind we wouldn’t be happy if we didn’t get the odd text rebuking us for something ~ usually time keeping. Stockholm Syndrome? Probably.
Our next fixture is the Minor Cup semi final against AIB, away, on 5th August.
Halverstown won by 305 runs.
This is the day you dream about when you are huddled up in front of the fire and it feels like the winter will never end. Sunny skies and a performance that defied superlatives. Whilst it was only 3 days short of St Crispin’s Day which occurs on 25th July I fear the Bard would have cashed in his ticket for Agincourt and rebooked for the main event at Halverstown. It was a case of “Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war”.
We were quietly cautious because Wicklow had won their 3 matches by some margin and we anticipated that they were the form team. However with the exception of JT and Tim we had our ‘A’ team out and we were happy to take on anybody. Ray and Moon looked particularly relaxed and you got the feeling that it was going to be a good day. Interestingly the skipper looked less anxious than usual although that is only a comparative statement.
We lost the toss and Wicklow put us in to bat. When you have a batting line up like ours you are happy to bat and if we had won the toss we would have done the same. Ray (125) and Richard (84) strode out to the crease. Umpiring your own team mates can be stressful as you know their foibles but no quarter can be given. To our immense relief Ray took a stance outside leg stump. No more LBW’s for this man ~ he had ’got the religion’.
The opening partnership was 177 and Wicklow were in complete disarray. Ray scores quickly and Richard unselfishly feeds him the strike. With the exception of Sreedharan (50 for 2) the Wicklow bowlers were cavalier at best. Raikar decided that the way to stop Ray was to bowl short. The leg side fielders were almost on first name terms with the sheep in the adjoining field such was the number of times that they had to climb the fence after the ball had sailed over their heads. Once the bowler had tired of this he decided to bowl full outside the off stump but such is Ray’s ability that he clubbed these wides into the boundary. Admittedly they were mere 4’s but as a containment policy it lacks conviction. 100 of Ray’s runs were scored in boundaries.
You would think it was all about Ray but it wasn’t. Richard quietly accumulated runs and played the most valuable of innings while his other team mates came and went. Barra (18) and Darren (23) played their part. For those of us who have been around for a bit we know that every season Darren will put one into the river. He doesn’t plan this but it just happens. He didn’t disappoint. A massive 6 cleared the trees and the ball went to a watery graveyard alongside the others that he has put there in the past. Boom-boom Bayer wrapped up the innings with a quick fire 44* and he has secured his place as the ‘red inker’ of the team.
The statistics are impressive. The first 100 came in 13 overs, the second in 11 overs and the third in 14. After 40 overs Wicklow looked as though they had been hit by a tsunami. Interestingly Ray wanted to field first. You can’t make 125 chasing 15!
Wicklow County was set a target of 305, which was a mountain to climb. Whilst our Rolls Royce batting attack is relatively new our bowlers have been defending low scores for a couple of years. This time our captain had the luxury of a massive total behind him and set the field accordingly. It was quite claustrophobic behind the wicket with 3 slips and a gully. A lot of chatter in Punjabi and Urdu meant that Ray was at first and Moon second. Ray was elated after his century and Moon was happy for him. The skipper couldn’t have enforced the ‘no talk’ zone even if he’d wanted to. Next to them was Gunter at third and Richard at gully. Four of Halverstown’s finest close catchers.
Neville who at the age of only 38 has decided that retirement is still an option opened the bowling and was immediately in among the wickets. Moon backed him up with some of the fastest bowling we have seen from him. The keeper was standing back another 5 yards and still the ball was on the rise. Halverstown used 4 bowlers; Neville (9 for 5), Moon (3 for 2), Ahsan (3 for 1) and
Kevin (0 for 1). Presumably Neville will put off his impending retirement again and we may not hear about it for at least 6 months. He needs the odd ‘fifer’ to keep him away from the pension office. Congratulations to Kevin who has been putting in some serious work on his bowling and got his first Halverstown league wicket.
Richard took a sharp catch at gully off Moon and modestly remarked that he had been “born in the gully”. Only those who were there on the day will know what happened to Ray’s ‘catch’ at slip. A case of what happens on the field stays on the field.
Whilst Wicklow fielded 11 players only 10 of them batted and they were all out for 15 after 14 overs. They were a sporting side and we look forward to meeting them for the return match when they will have home advantage.
Psychologically it was a fascinating game. By the 16th over Wicklow had all but
given up and despite their captain’s efforts to give them confidence their fielding deteriorated steadily.
The match was a tale of 2 captains. Mick was in his element. His batsmen had done the job for him and so he was going to turn the screw. A 7-2 field and an array of slips reminding us of the days of McGrath and Gillespie in their pomp. The batsmen just wilted. It was also the reward for leading from the front for two years. He is always thinking about the game and weighing the odds as befits an insurance broker and a follower of the ‘ponies’. Harsh words are used when necessary but praise also. Never afraid to speak his mind we wouldn’t be happy if we didn’t get the odd text rebuking us for something ~ usually time keeping. Stockholm Syndrome? Probably.
Our next fixture is the Minor Cup semi final against AIB, away, on 5th August.
Halverstown v. White City
Social Fixture
Monday, 17th July 2017
WHITE CITY: 133 for 7
B.Berrigan 43* M.Ffrench-Davis 27 P.Oborne 27
B.Berrigan 5-0-28-1 P.Oborne 4-0-32-1 A.King 3-1-19-0 A.Beard 4-0-38-0 W.Coles 1-0-17-0
HALVERSTOWN: 134 for 2
G.Bayer 66 D.Ruddock 39* D.Bursey 19*
D.Ruddock 5-0-23-2 Sean Conroy 4-0-35-2 K.Hodson 1.1-0-6-1 M.Bursey 5-1-15-1 J.Maher 4-0-16-1 Sahab 7-1-9-0 D.Drumm 4-0-10-0 D.Bursey 1-0-13-0
Mickey Ffrench-Davis, a shape-shifting Leprechaun, made his second appearance in 8 days at Halverstown, this time as a White City All Star. However, the boot was firmly on the other foot as Halverstown demolished a lighter weight White City than usual. Late defections and the timing for the fixture, facilitating Peter Oborne's trip to Colombia for his son's wedding (so he says), left them struggling- and a Halverstown team bruised by last week's encounter with rampant leprechauns took full advantage.
Peter was on the back foot from the start as, for the toss, I offered him a choice of German eagle or map of the (current) EU. The German eagle triumphed, of course, and I put them in to bat (also of course). Danny Ruddock, eager to keep the Alan Ruddock Memorial Trophy in Ireland, bowled furiously despite not playing since last year's game. At the other end Sahab bowled with incredible accuracy, conceding just 9 runs off his 7 overs. Indeed it was hard to fault any of our bowlers -well, except maybe Dave Bursey, but his daughter Michaela more than made up for him. Sean Conroy took 2 valuable wickets, John Maher again demonstrated his natural bowling ability and Kevin Hodson dismissed a still slightly mystified Peter Oborne. Kevin also took a good catch from Michaela to dismiss Alex Beard. For the All Stars Brian Berrigan ,well, starred with 43 not out. Other notable scores were Mickey and Peter, both 27, and Tim “Shippers” Shipman fell to a catch by John Maher, his second in 2 games for the club, from Sean Conroy for 12.
We thought it a sporting declaration but perhaps it was just a case of nothing left in the batting tank that saw the innings end at 133 for 7- or they were keen to get stuck into Karen Plewman's delicious tea. Perhaps out of politeness, conscious that White City had a flight to catch, our batsmen polished off the required runs in just 17 overs. Gunter, in unbelievable form of late, hit a magnificent 66 with Danny supporting nicely with 39 not out. Dave Bursey, perhaps worried by what I might write about his bowling performance, contributed an impressive 19 not out. 20 boundaries were struck and what was a rapid and very clinical victory, so unlike the extraordinarily tight games that have been the norm. Last year was more typical, where we needed our last man, TP, to hold out against some very aggressive bowling to secure the draw and retain the Trophy. As my wife Jeanette pointed out -and I reminded them, perhaps a little ungraciously- White City's name does not appear on the trophy except in it's name- since they donated this magnificent piece of old Cork silver in memory of Alan Ruddock. Perhaps next year... if they all have their passports in order.
Halverstown v. Adamstown 4
Leinster Minor Cup
Sunday, 15th July 2017
Halverstown won by 7 wickets.
Although nominally the same team as the one we played in the 20/20 some of the players were different. The name Adamstown conjures up an aura of invincibility based on the fact that we rarely beat them and according to them they are rarely beaten. However with the 20/20 victory under our belt we have started a new chapter in this relationship.
Two of our starting XI were grudgingly given permission to attend parties. In the past this would have resulted in the following conversation between the skipper and the committee:
“We’re down two players for Saturday. Does anybody know somebody who could fill in?”
“I’ve got a cousin who played cricket once. Or maybe it was hurling. He’s got a bad back and he limps a bit.”
“Sounds fine to me. Is he registered to play?”
“No but Joey Browne is.”
“Great. That’s 10 and maybe I could ask that man who turned up to nets 3 years ago………….”
Anyway such is the influx of talent since we started to rebuild the team last year that these conversations are a thing of the past. We are now in an era of squad rotation.
Adamstown won the toss and elected to bat. Neville (19 for 2) struck early and the openers were soon back in the pavilion. Ably supported by JT they turned the screw on Adamstown restricting the flow of runs. However after our initial success numbers 3,4 and 5 started to fight back. Without Moon as first change bowler it was left to Ahsan to continue the pace attack and Darren came on at the other end bowling his loopy spinners. The combination worked well and they both got wickets.
The fielding was particularly good with Ray and Darren getting spectacular run outs by direct hits. They throw the ball so hard that if it isn’t a direct hit the ball can sail on to the boundary for overthrows. Such is their accuracy this doesn’t usually happen. After Darren’s direct hit from the boundary the skipper jokingly admonished him for not throwing it into the wicketkeeper. The wicketkeeper it has to be said was very relieved that he was excluded from the possibility of bodily injury on this occasion.
Now that we are a happy team we are inclined to chatter a bit more than we should and the skipper was heard to remark that field placing is not on the basis of talent but separating the talkative from the mute. The senior players seem be the main culprits and the skipper told two of them to “save it for your memoirs!” This is tough love!
Ray (2 for 3) was brought in to finish off the tail. An excellent caught and bowled saw the back of Mughal (38). Adamstown’s wicket keeper, Sivanatham, played a ridiculous reverse sweep the like of which you would sack a player for and gave away an easy catch. The third of Ray’s wickets was caught by the ever reliable Darren.
It was a good bowling and fielding performance by Halverstown and this restricted Adamstown to 120. We retired to the pavilion for tea confident that we had the batsmen for the task.
In our openers, Richard and Ray, we have two classy batsmen. Richard’s technique is that of somebody who has been well coached and has a natural eye. He lures the fielding side into a false sense of security by playing several well executed forward defensives and just at the moment they decide to move in 10 yards he bangs the ball past or over them for 4 or 6. There is never any hurry. Ray on the other hand is a swashbuckler. He has all the shots and deploys them to great effect. He doesn’t hang around as though he has a train to catch. He has only one weakness and it has cost him dearly on 3 occasions ~he likes to stand in front of his stumps.
They strode to the crease and started as though they would ensure that nobody else would have to pad up. Unfortunately Ray was adjudged LBW after scoring 12 whereas Richard went on to get 50*. A case of the “old dog for the hard road”. Batsmen number 3 and 4 came and went and it was left to the newly christened ‘Boom Boom’ Bayer to help bring home the prize. Gunter (39*) aka BB has spent a lot of time in the nets rekindling the technique he had abandoned when he took up ice hockey at the age of 14. He is a muscular bottom handed hitter of the ball. He hits the ball hard and gets over the top of it to keep it on the ground. He is a momentum player and takes the game away from the opposition quickly. After 25 overs victory had been secured and we had won by 7 wickets.
This victory over a regular Adamstown 4 team shows how big an achievement our 20/20 victory was against a team packed with players who were presumably from higher divisions.
As we were basking in the glow of victory at home, with glass in hand, a text appeared from our leader congratulating us on our performance. I think I’ll put that in my memoirs as well……..
Our next Cup match is against AIB on 5th August.
Halverstown v. Leprechauns
Social Fixture
Sunday, 8th July 2017
LEPRECHAUNS: 259 for 7
I. Smiley 79 M.Ffrench-Davies 39* R.Harris 36 N.Wilkinson 27
I Smiley 3-0-6-3 S.Gallagher 9.4-2-28-2 M.Goodwin 4-0-19-2 N.Wilkinson 3-0-9-1 D.Williams 9-0-28-0 Hunter 4-0-33-0 A.Kerr 5-0-42-0
HALVERSTOWN: 172
G.Bayer 81 J.Maher 32 J.Threadgold 23
G.Barnes 2-0-22-2 J.Maher 4-1-14-1 B.Maher 3-0-16-1 K.Hodson 4-0-25-1 Sean Conroy 4-0-35-1 D.Drumm 6-0-40-1 J.Threadgold 8-0-14-0 M.Ronaldson 2-0-16-0 G.Bayer 3-0-27-0 J.Browne 5-0-42-0
7 is considered a lucky number, the number of perfection, security, safety and rest.
There are 7 days in a week; 7 notes to the diatonic scale; a menora has 7candles; the opposite sides of a dice always equal 7. There are 7 colours of the rainbow: Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain. And so did we. I was bowled out in the penultimate over, by former Halverstown captain Stuart Gallagher to make it worse. Gunter held up 7 fingers to me: 7 balls left, could you not hold out for just 7 more balls to draw the game and gain the moral victory? Gunter had a point since he had played a remarkable, hard fought and exhausting innings on a really hot day to score 81 runs and in comparison my task seemed modest.
Leprechauns batted first and put up a total which I have never seen before in Harristown: 259 runs on the board for 7 wickets before Charles Lysaght finally declared, with Smiley's 79 the pick whilst former player Ronan Harris scored 36. A quickfire 37 from Mickey ffrench- Davis at the end finished off a tough day in the field for us despite good fielding and 5 very good catches- 2 by me, one each by Nassau Greene and John Maher and a stupendous catch by Brian Maher. The Mahers also turned in excellent bowling figures too in their 1st game for us. John Threadgold bowled very tightly too but the surprise package was Graham Barnes' two wickets!
I laid out the strategy: we would have a go for a while and see how it goes before we defended to bat out the draw. How long would we give it a go? John Threadgold suggested one over. I should have listened to his advice! After John's own 23 and Gunter's amazing knock only John Maher scored anything significant with a fast and exciting 32. What would we have done without the Maher boys?! At the end the our wickets fell in quick succession.
You would have guessed that Stuart Gallagher would have been our nemesis: Charles bowled him for nearly 10 gruelling overs and we struggled against him- though it was Smiley who caused problems in the end with his 3 for 6.
After last year's thrashing Leprechauns got their revenge. Who would have thought lovable leprechauns so ruthless? But Gunter was wrong, by the way. There were 8 balls left. My own lucky number as it happens.
Saturday, 24 June 2017
Malahide 5 v. Halverstown
Leinster Division 13, Saturday 17th June
Halverstown won by 13 runs.
Hillaire Belloc wrote, “The nuisance of the tropics is, the sheer necessity of fizz”. Although he was referring to champagne we seemed to lack a certain amount of fizz in the oppressive heat. JT, a wordsmith of similar stature was overheard to say that Ireland was one of the few countries where you could put on sun cream in the morning and have it frozen to your face by evening.
Anyway we turned up at Malahide’s beautiful cricket ground to find that we were playing on the international pitch in a week when Ireland have been accorded Test status. We assumed that we had been accorded this honour because of our fearsome reputation but it was only that the no.2 pitch was otherwise occupied.
We won the toss and elected to bat on a very hot and sunny afternoon. The openers were in good form. Richard (31) and Mamoon (49) put on 90 by the time the 19th over was bowled. It seems disingenuous to say this but Moon’s timing appeared to be slightly off and it turned out that he had been playing in a softball competition earlier in the day. This is a popular game played in Pakistan with a tennis ball and only 4’s and 6’s count which would explain Moon’s love of boundaries and his timing issues with the harder ball. Having said that he struck a drive that glanced off the Halverstown umpire nearly disemboweling him but stopping short of the boundary. Barra muttered unsympathetically “if we lose by 2 runs you know whose fault it is”.
The talk was about scoring 220 and the batsmen from no.6 onwards had their feet up assuming that they wouldn’t be called upon. We even found it difficult to raise the enthusiasm to replace the umpires. Heat does that to you.
The next thing was that Moon and Richard were back in the pavilion and Mick (22*) and Darren (23) were out in the middle. Things began to unravel after the 28th over. Barra (12) was the only other batsman to put up any resistance and the rest of us went cheaply to some fairly regulation bowling. The two Nevilles, Mick and Case provided a moment of comedy when the captain called for a second run before the Glen of Imaal man had finished his first. They never even crossed on the second run! There were lots of apologies at tea and wry smiles but no sulking. We are a team moving forward not back.
At the end of our innings we had amassed 169 runs and Mick and Des remained unbeaten. Whilst we had fallen well below our projected score we felt we were in command. However Malahide are a young and well-disciplined team with a couple of older players to provide balance. They weren’t going to be rolled over.
It should be mentioned that a number of our team are observing Ramadan and the heat must have put considerable pressure on them. Nevertheless they turn out in all conditions and the rest of us admire their stoicism.
Case and Threadgold did their usual thorough job of containing the openers and whilst Malahide were always behind the run rate they occasionally threatened to get going. Our second change in this match was Moon (32 for 4) and Des Drumm. Des is not a strike bowler but batsmen find his ‘flight’ difficult to read. He bowled 4 overs for 13 runs and did an excellent job at an economy rate of 3.25. Only Ahsan did better at 2.50.
Their top 5 batsmen kept them well in the game but it was the tall South African teenager, Camron Calder (40) whose wicket decided the match in our favour. He scored one boundary only and ran the rest of his runs which was impressive given that the temperature was 27C + and the earlier breeze had disappeared. There is no substitute for youth or coming from a hot climate.
Malahide’s scorers were a succession of teenage girls who were numerate but not quite as dedicated to the task as they might have been. The electric score board did not tally with the book and fortunately both John and Mick spotted this. JT is a headmaster and he wasn’t going to put up with this Junior Infants type behaviour. The game was stopped until the error was reconciled. After that the scoring tallied but Kevin Threadgold who came to spectate took on the unenviable job of trying to unravel some of the rather more inventive hieroglyphics. Despite his string of first class degrees he looked perplexed. On the field Malahide understood the rules and were happy to put out their younger players to Umpire who by and large got it right.
Our fielding was not at its best and some difficult catches went down. Barra however took an extremely difficult caught and bowled whilst doing his job of ‘bottling up’ the batsmen. His ‘through and around’ bowling is difficult to read at our level.
After 40 overs they had scored 156 and we had beaten them by 13 runs. It was a sporting match with friendly handshakes at the end and no complaints.
The skipper was disappointed that we hadn’t controlled the game better but was happy that given our indifferent performance we had still won. Mick and Richard have hit form with the bat and Moon, as always, was prolific. The supporting cast is there to pick up the pieces if things go wrong and our bowlers always look strong. There is more than one match winner in this team.
We are on ‘half term’ now. Our next competitive fixture is the Minor Cup on 15th July but we will be playing a couple of Social fixtures in between. The league resumes on 23rd July against Wicklow County 2 at home.
Halverstown won by 13 runs.
Hillaire Belloc wrote, “The nuisance of the tropics is, the sheer necessity of fizz”. Although he was referring to champagne we seemed to lack a certain amount of fizz in the oppressive heat. JT, a wordsmith of similar stature was overheard to say that Ireland was one of the few countries where you could put on sun cream in the morning and have it frozen to your face by evening.
Anyway we turned up at Malahide’s beautiful cricket ground to find that we were playing on the international pitch in a week when Ireland have been accorded Test status. We assumed that we had been accorded this honour because of our fearsome reputation but it was only that the no.2 pitch was otherwise occupied.
We won the toss and elected to bat on a very hot and sunny afternoon. The openers were in good form. Richard (31) and Mamoon (49) put on 90 by the time the 19th over was bowled. It seems disingenuous to say this but Moon’s timing appeared to be slightly off and it turned out that he had been playing in a softball competition earlier in the day. This is a popular game played in Pakistan with a tennis ball and only 4’s and 6’s count which would explain Moon’s love of boundaries and his timing issues with the harder ball. Having said that he struck a drive that glanced off the Halverstown umpire nearly disemboweling him but stopping short of the boundary. Barra muttered unsympathetically “if we lose by 2 runs you know whose fault it is”.
The talk was about scoring 220 and the batsmen from no.6 onwards had their feet up assuming that they wouldn’t be called upon. We even found it difficult to raise the enthusiasm to replace the umpires. Heat does that to you.
The next thing was that Moon and Richard were back in the pavilion and Mick (22*) and Darren (23) were out in the middle. Things began to unravel after the 28th over. Barra (12) was the only other batsman to put up any resistance and the rest of us went cheaply to some fairly regulation bowling. The two Nevilles, Mick and Case provided a moment of comedy when the captain called for a second run before the Glen of Imaal man had finished his first. They never even crossed on the second run! There were lots of apologies at tea and wry smiles but no sulking. We are a team moving forward not back.
At the end of our innings we had amassed 169 runs and Mick and Des remained unbeaten. Whilst we had fallen well below our projected score we felt we were in command. However Malahide are a young and well-disciplined team with a couple of older players to provide balance. They weren’t going to be rolled over.
It should be mentioned that a number of our team are observing Ramadan and the heat must have put considerable pressure on them. Nevertheless they turn out in all conditions and the rest of us admire their stoicism.
Case and Threadgold did their usual thorough job of containing the openers and whilst Malahide were always behind the run rate they occasionally threatened to get going. Our second change in this match was Moon (32 for 4) and Des Drumm. Des is not a strike bowler but batsmen find his ‘flight’ difficult to read. He bowled 4 overs for 13 runs and did an excellent job at an economy rate of 3.25. Only Ahsan did better at 2.50.
Their top 5 batsmen kept them well in the game but it was the tall South African teenager, Camron Calder (40) whose wicket decided the match in our favour. He scored one boundary only and ran the rest of his runs which was impressive given that the temperature was 27C + and the earlier breeze had disappeared. There is no substitute for youth or coming from a hot climate.
Malahide’s scorers were a succession of teenage girls who were numerate but not quite as dedicated to the task as they might have been. The electric score board did not tally with the book and fortunately both John and Mick spotted this. JT is a headmaster and he wasn’t going to put up with this Junior Infants type behaviour. The game was stopped until the error was reconciled. After that the scoring tallied but Kevin Threadgold who came to spectate took on the unenviable job of trying to unravel some of the rather more inventive hieroglyphics. Despite his string of first class degrees he looked perplexed. On the field Malahide understood the rules and were happy to put out their younger players to Umpire who by and large got it right.
Our fielding was not at its best and some difficult catches went down. Barra however took an extremely difficult caught and bowled whilst doing his job of ‘bottling up’ the batsmen. His ‘through and around’ bowling is difficult to read at our level.
After 40 overs they had scored 156 and we had beaten them by 13 runs. It was a sporting match with friendly handshakes at the end and no complaints.
The skipper was disappointed that we hadn’t controlled the game better but was happy that given our indifferent performance we had still won. Mick and Richard have hit form with the bat and Moon, as always, was prolific. The supporting cast is there to pick up the pieces if things go wrong and our bowlers always look strong. There is more than one match winner in this team.
We are on ‘half term’ now. Our next competitive fixture is the Minor Cup on 15th July but we will be playing a couple of Social fixtures in between. The league resumes on 23rd July against Wicklow County 2 at home.
Monday, 19 June 2017
AIB 1 v. Halverstown
Russell Court 20/20, Wednesday 14st June
AIB won by 6 wickets
Mick won the toss and decided to bat. Within the first over we were 2 wickets down to some amazing bowling by Ullah. Amazing because he swung the ball so far that he appeared unplayable but if he missed the wicket it was a wide. His colleague Dharmanna suffered from the same problem and so in the opening phase of the match we amassed extras faster than runs from the bat. In one over there were 5 wides! This kept us in the match.
It was left to the old guard to rescue the situation. Messrs Greene (19), Ronaldson (12) and Neville (18*) anchored the innings with help from Darren Ryall and Gunter Bayer. Gunter never seems rattled. He just leans into the ball with a look that says bring it on. Of course he is used to the rarefied air on the high veldt and the ball coming onto him a lot quicker.
Darren interestingly has learned a new shot ~ the ‘leave’. A vital weapon for any serious batsman. JT was glowing with pride as he explained that he had encouraged this years ago ~ the headmaster’s satisfaction at seeing a wayward pupil brought to book. He was unlucky to be run out and the umpire told him that he had treated him harshly, afterwards.
Richard and Tim struck the ball hard while Mick played delicate shots around the park. This triumvirate of senior players is still firing and once Tim had gone to a big catch in the deep JT stepped in with a couple of balls to go. He can get going from a standing start and with this array of talent we can say now that we have depth in our batting.
I use the term ‘old guard’ and ‘senior player’ advisedly. The hair may be thin or in some cases absent but these men are youthful. Tim is taking his wife to Robbie Williams on Saturday. Who knows it could be Donny Osmond next. Maybe there are one or two who play a riff of Brown Sugar on air guitar when nobody is watching? Well, Richard excepted.
At the younger end of the team we have Barra who wears jeans that are impossibly tight and would cause a medical emergency in any of the older men. One fears that eventually he will end up in the soprano section of the church choir. However he is a superb cricketer and we are delighted to have him on board.
At the end of our innings we had scored 94 slightly unlikely runs, with extras being top scorer.
AIB bowled and fielded well and much to Mick’s evident joy they ran between overs to their new fielding positions. In another world he could have been a Sergeant Major but he is resigned to the fact that we are poor parade ground material.
With the exception of Darren’s run out the umpiring was excellent and continued to be so throughout the match. Which one of us can say we haven’t given a poor decision and it is much easier to accept when the umpires are independent?
We had a chat at the break. We acknowledged that we didn’t have enough runs on the board but we knew the strength of our bowling and maybe we could ‘shade it’.
Case and Threadgold opened the bowling. Neville has a sensitive nature coming from the Glen of Imaal and therefore has to bowl downhill with the wind behind him. John is more robust and does the ‘grunt’ work uphill with the wind against. They are both remarkably good at what they do.
We knew that even with the strict umpiring of wide’s we wouldn’t give away many and that proved to be the case although the swing bowlers, Neville and Ahsan, were more vulnerable than the others. First to strike was John who had both openers dismissed with sharp catches from Gunter and Darren.
The game remained evenly balanced throughout the innings and the superb bowling and sharp fielding kept us in the game. Another 2 outstanding catches from Rehan Ali, one a caught and bowled that was hit so hard that nobody knew where it had gone until Ray held it aloft. Our Nemesis turned out to be Bruce Thompson (42*) who we couldn’t shift despite a couple of half chances.
In the end AIB won by 6 wickets with 2 overs to spare. The feeling in the dressing room was that another 20 runs would have seen us home. However their bowling attack was very good and we expect them to win the final.
Our skipper left the field with a smile on his face congratulating us on a great effort ~ that doesn’t happen after every match!
This dream is over but the future is bright. We’ve got a great deal out of this tournament and rebuilt confidence. Our skipper gave us a rousing speech at the end and told us that if we played the rest of the season like this nothing was impossible.
If he’d shouted, “I am Spartacus” there would have been another ten voices echoing that refrain.
Our next match is a league fixture at Malahide.
AIB won by 6 wickets
Mick won the toss and decided to bat. Within the first over we were 2 wickets down to some amazing bowling by Ullah. Amazing because he swung the ball so far that he appeared unplayable but if he missed the wicket it was a wide. His colleague Dharmanna suffered from the same problem and so in the opening phase of the match we amassed extras faster than runs from the bat. In one over there were 5 wides! This kept us in the match.
It was left to the old guard to rescue the situation. Messrs Greene (19), Ronaldson (12) and Neville (18*) anchored the innings with help from Darren Ryall and Gunter Bayer. Gunter never seems rattled. He just leans into the ball with a look that says bring it on. Of course he is used to the rarefied air on the high veldt and the ball coming onto him a lot quicker.
Darren interestingly has learned a new shot ~ the ‘leave’. A vital weapon for any serious batsman. JT was glowing with pride as he explained that he had encouraged this years ago ~ the headmaster’s satisfaction at seeing a wayward pupil brought to book. He was unlucky to be run out and the umpire told him that he had treated him harshly, afterwards.
Richard and Tim struck the ball hard while Mick played delicate shots around the park. This triumvirate of senior players is still firing and once Tim had gone to a big catch in the deep JT stepped in with a couple of balls to go. He can get going from a standing start and with this array of talent we can say now that we have depth in our batting.
I use the term ‘old guard’ and ‘senior player’ advisedly. The hair may be thin or in some cases absent but these men are youthful. Tim is taking his wife to Robbie Williams on Saturday. Who knows it could be Donny Osmond next. Maybe there are one or two who play a riff of Brown Sugar on air guitar when nobody is watching? Well, Richard excepted.
At the younger end of the team we have Barra who wears jeans that are impossibly tight and would cause a medical emergency in any of the older men. One fears that eventually he will end up in the soprano section of the church choir. However he is a superb cricketer and we are delighted to have him on board.
At the end of our innings we had scored 94 slightly unlikely runs, with extras being top scorer.
AIB bowled and fielded well and much to Mick’s evident joy they ran between overs to their new fielding positions. In another world he could have been a Sergeant Major but he is resigned to the fact that we are poor parade ground material.
With the exception of Darren’s run out the umpiring was excellent and continued to be so throughout the match. Which one of us can say we haven’t given a poor decision and it is much easier to accept when the umpires are independent?
We had a chat at the break. We acknowledged that we didn’t have enough runs on the board but we knew the strength of our bowling and maybe we could ‘shade it’.
Case and Threadgold opened the bowling. Neville has a sensitive nature coming from the Glen of Imaal and therefore has to bowl downhill with the wind behind him. John is more robust and does the ‘grunt’ work uphill with the wind against. They are both remarkably good at what they do.
We knew that even with the strict umpiring of wide’s we wouldn’t give away many and that proved to be the case although the swing bowlers, Neville and Ahsan, were more vulnerable than the others. First to strike was John who had both openers dismissed with sharp catches from Gunter and Darren.
The game remained evenly balanced throughout the innings and the superb bowling and sharp fielding kept us in the game. Another 2 outstanding catches from Rehan Ali, one a caught and bowled that was hit so hard that nobody knew where it had gone until Ray held it aloft. Our Nemesis turned out to be Bruce Thompson (42*) who we couldn’t shift despite a couple of half chances.
In the end AIB won by 6 wickets with 2 overs to spare. The feeling in the dressing room was that another 20 runs would have seen us home. However their bowling attack was very good and we expect them to win the final.
Our skipper left the field with a smile on his face congratulating us on a great effort ~ that doesn’t happen after every match!
This dream is over but the future is bright. We’ve got a great deal out of this tournament and rebuilt confidence. Our skipper gave us a rousing speech at the end and told us that if we played the rest of the season like this nothing was impossible.
If he’d shouted, “I am Spartacus” there would have been another ten voices echoing that refrain.
Our next match is a league fixture at Malahide.
Monday, 5 June 2017
Greystones 3 v. Halverstown
Leinster Division 13, Saturday 13th May
Halverstown won by 8 wickets.
We travelled to Greystones with a full team including Darren Ryall who despite his youth has been a member of this team for longer than most of us can remember. It was a relatively young team with a few ‘old boys’.
The weather forecast was indifferent but we only got one heavy shower. Mick Neville won the toss and conscious of the weather elected to field.
Moon and John opened the bowling. John’s first ball was signaled wide, something he is not used to. With a scowl on his face he added an extra yard to his run up, snorted, charged in like a bull and delivered a ball that brushed the edge of the bat and landed safely in the wicket keepers gloves. You don’t mess with JT!
Greystones, Ian Oliver (27), was the only batsman to score a significant amount of runs such was the accuracy and penetration of the Halverstown bowlers. Neville Case was on a hatrick with his first ball but the batsman wisely left it alone. The fielding was generally good and the throwing kept the batsmen on their toes. There are some good arms out there but it would be hard to beat Darren. He ran out the Greystones No.2 with a throw like a rocket, over the top of the stumps, which the wicketkeeper merely had to catch and flick off the bales. He also took an excellent catch covering a large amount of ground to watch the ball drop into his hands. He made it look easy despite suffering a significant amount of pain from an injured knee.
Barra bowls right arm spin ‘through and around’. This is a level of sophistication that we aren’t used to. More caviar than cod’s roe. It certainly confuses the batsmen. He is a very effective change or ‘death’ bowler and ended the day with 1-9.
Mamoon is another interesting case study. He gets quicker as he moves through his overs. After his first over one of the batsman was heard to remark that he wasn’t very quick. “Nothing to worry about”. After his second over there was a certain quietness as the batsmen mentally adjusted to the faster ball. His action doesn’t change and so the increase in speed is deceptive. Similarly you can’t pick his slow ball which is an attribute shared by JT. In his last 2 overs he went around the wicket and dismissed the last 3 batsmen for 8 runs in total.
It has to be said that we are well captained and this makes a huge difference. Bowling changes are astute and field placing is precise. Mick sometimes feels we are too relaxed but actually we are happy.
At tea Greystones were all out for 87.
Our skipper who always has an eye to the weather opened with himself and Moon. Moon is the nuclear option. On his way to 57* Moon clubbed three mighty sixes over the long boundaries clearing them by some distance. He was ably supported by Barra (16) who unselfishly kept him on strike as much as possible.
The match was wrapped up in 13 overs and Halverstown were victors by 8 wickets. Greystones were very sporting opposition and there were no disputed decisions or less than civilized exchanges.
Once again it was very much a team effort and the vocal support for both successes and failures signifies a team at one with itself.
On 14th June we have the next round of the 20/20 away to AIB. On 17th June we are away to Malahide in the league and on 25th June we have the club barbecue our main fund raiser.
Halverstown won by 8 wickets.
We travelled to Greystones with a full team including Darren Ryall who despite his youth has been a member of this team for longer than most of us can remember. It was a relatively young team with a few ‘old boys’.
The weather forecast was indifferent but we only got one heavy shower. Mick Neville won the toss and conscious of the weather elected to field.
Moon and John opened the bowling. John’s first ball was signaled wide, something he is not used to. With a scowl on his face he added an extra yard to his run up, snorted, charged in like a bull and delivered a ball that brushed the edge of the bat and landed safely in the wicket keepers gloves. You don’t mess with JT!
Greystones, Ian Oliver (27), was the only batsman to score a significant amount of runs such was the accuracy and penetration of the Halverstown bowlers. Neville Case was on a hatrick with his first ball but the batsman wisely left it alone. The fielding was generally good and the throwing kept the batsmen on their toes. There are some good arms out there but it would be hard to beat Darren. He ran out the Greystones No.2 with a throw like a rocket, over the top of the stumps, which the wicketkeeper merely had to catch and flick off the bales. He also took an excellent catch covering a large amount of ground to watch the ball drop into his hands. He made it look easy despite suffering a significant amount of pain from an injured knee.
Barra bowls right arm spin ‘through and around’. This is a level of sophistication that we aren’t used to. More caviar than cod’s roe. It certainly confuses the batsmen. He is a very effective change or ‘death’ bowler and ended the day with 1-9.
Mamoon is another interesting case study. He gets quicker as he moves through his overs. After his first over one of the batsman was heard to remark that he wasn’t very quick. “Nothing to worry about”. After his second over there was a certain quietness as the batsmen mentally adjusted to the faster ball. His action doesn’t change and so the increase in speed is deceptive. Similarly you can’t pick his slow ball which is an attribute shared by JT. In his last 2 overs he went around the wicket and dismissed the last 3 batsmen for 8 runs in total.
It has to be said that we are well captained and this makes a huge difference. Bowling changes are astute and field placing is precise. Mick sometimes feels we are too relaxed but actually we are happy.
At tea Greystones were all out for 87.
Our skipper who always has an eye to the weather opened with himself and Moon. Moon is the nuclear option. On his way to 57* Moon clubbed three mighty sixes over the long boundaries clearing them by some distance. He was ably supported by Barra (16) who unselfishly kept him on strike as much as possible.
The match was wrapped up in 13 overs and Halverstown were victors by 8 wickets. Greystones were very sporting opposition and there were no disputed decisions or less than civilized exchanges.
Once again it was very much a team effort and the vocal support for both successes and failures signifies a team at one with itself.
On 14th June we have the next round of the 20/20 away to AIB. On 17th June we are away to Malahide in the league and on 25th June we have the club barbecue our main fund raiser.
Halverstown v. Clondalkin 2
Russell Court 20/20, Wednesday 31st May
We slightly unexpectedly found ourselves in the second round of the Russell Court Trophy facing Clondalkin 2 in Halverstown. In summary we won by 23 runs with a fine all round team effort. Four batsmen made 20+ and Mark Ronaldson(21) launched a massive 6 that landed on the pavilion roof. Not to be outdone his father Tim(21) also hit a six.
The fielding was equally exciting. Tim got 2 stumpings which is an improbable event in Division 13 and reminded him of his youth when he was club wicketkeeper. The bowling unit of Drumm, Case (4 wks), Ali (3 wks) and MacNiocaill (2 wks) kept it very tight and the ‘coup de grace’ was Neville’s double wicket maiden in the last over. We march onto the quarter-final to face AIB on 14th June.
We slightly unexpectedly found ourselves in the second round of the Russell Court Trophy facing Clondalkin 2 in Halverstown. In summary we won by 23 runs with a fine all round team effort. Four batsmen made 20+ and Mark Ronaldson(21) launched a massive 6 that landed on the pavilion roof. Not to be outdone his father Tim(21) also hit a six.
The fielding was equally exciting. Tim got 2 stumpings which is an improbable event in Division 13 and reminded him of his youth when he was club wicketkeeper. The bowling unit of Drumm, Case (4 wks), Ali (3 wks) and MacNiocaill (2 wks) kept it very tight and the ‘coup de grace’ was Neville’s double wicket maiden in the last over. We march onto the quarter-final to face AIB on 14th June.
General Catch Up
The Blog has been quiet for a couple of weeks and therefore it is appropriate to give an update on life at Halverstown CC.
Bagenalstown Match
The match against Bagenalstown was a washout. We batted first and then after an excellent tea we went out to field. The heavens opened and the grass wicket took on the appearance of a swamp. If a crocodile had appeared nobody would have been surprised such was the deluge. We never got back on although our hosts insisted we stayed until 7.30 pm in case a ‘heatwave’ arrived to dry out the pitch.
Table Quiz
The following week we had a Table Quiz to raise much needed funds. Enthusiastically organized by Stuart Conroy and his mother, an able quizmaster, it was hotly contested. The Threadgold Team from Carlow looked dangerous and duly won but the Ashmores ran them very close. It was an enjoyable evening and €500 was raised. A big thank you to the Conroys for their hard work.
Bagenalstown Match
The match against Bagenalstown was a washout. We batted first and then after an excellent tea we went out to field. The heavens opened and the grass wicket took on the appearance of a swamp. If a crocodile had appeared nobody would have been surprised such was the deluge. We never got back on although our hosts insisted we stayed until 7.30 pm in case a ‘heatwave’ arrived to dry out the pitch.
Table Quiz
The following week we had a Table Quiz to raise much needed funds. Enthusiastically organized by Stuart Conroy and his mother, an able quizmaster, it was hotly contested. The Threadgold Team from Carlow looked dangerous and duly won but the Ashmores ran them very close. It was an enjoyable evening and €500 was raised. A big thank you to the Conroys for their hard work.
Thursday, 1 June 2017
Halverstown v. Arthur's Knights
Social Fixture
Sunday, 28th May 2017
Halverstown: 149
Hugh Ronaldson 30* S.Conroy 25* K.Hodson 19* D.Drumm 18*
D.Drumm 3-0-11-3 H.Ronaldson 3-0-7-1 Sahab 4-1-8-1 J.Brown 5-0-11-1 K.Hodson 3-0-12-1 M.Ronaldson 5-0-14-1 Arston 3-0-12-1 D.O'Ceallaigh 1-0-6-0
Arthur's Knights: 96
T.Millman 25* E.Rankin 15 S.Hayes 10 B.Glascott 9*
E.Rankin 5-0-16-1 W.Barr 5-0-17-1 T.Millman 5-0-29-1
“To begin at the beginning, it is Spring” ...and this was the beginning, the beginning of the season (finally) for the Social team and a new look Halverstown too with no less than 5 debutantes. The day was fine,”the principality of the sky lightens now, over our green
hill, into spring morning larked and crowed and belling”. It was great to be alive and in Harristown on such a day.
“I know there are
Towns lovelier than ours,
And fairer hills and loftier far,
And groves more full of flowers”,
but quite frankly they don't have a cricket pitch like ours.
Arthur's Knights is one of the friendliest of fixtures, not least since there is a noticeable overlap in the membership of the two teams, such that Willie Barr proferred his Knight's match fee to me- and I took it.
We had a strong team and Sean Conroy and Hugh Ronaldson, after the blip of Arston's dismissal, moved the score along nicely, batting with real style. With retirement looming on reaching 25 Hugh finished with a mighty 6 to give him 30 not out. Sahab and Steve Rix had brief innings but both scored 4s, which had a scarcity value and no mean feat in the conditions. Kevin Hodson and myself ran and sweated an awful lot for our runs before we retired to give a bat to others. Deaglan, in his first ever game of cricket, showed promise with his 4 runs as well as a nicely bowled over later. Eric Rankin's bowling for Knights was as canny as ever and Willie bowled tidily too, but it is worth noting that Brian Hamilton conceded just 15 runs off his 4 overs also.
John Brown and Mark Ronaldson opened the bowling for us and had the Knights under pressure from early on. The loss of Eric's wicket was a significant blow before Tim Millman, notably, and Willie steadied the ship. However the final 5 batsmen managed the difficult task of scoring just 2 runs between them, which may indicate a slight weakness in the lower order for skipper Mike Beetlestone when he gets back in the saddle. I must mention my 3 for 11 in that regard; holding myself back in the bowling order has its rewards.
I should mention that Sahab was outstanding with his bowling, such that I had to ask him- and indeed Arston- to bowl slow balls, though still fast by our standards!
And so
“The thin night darkens. A breeze from the creased water sighs... The Wood, the suddenly wind-shaken wood springs awake for the second dark time this one Spring day”.
Another year, another win for Halverstown (OK, two years in a row anyway). “Time passes. Listen. Time passes”. I hope that we are all back to enjoy this great fixture next year.
Des Drumm, 31st May 2017 (apologies to Dylan Thomas, who was out a while ago).
Thursday, 18 May 2017
Adamstown 4 v. Halverstown
Russell Court 20/20, Wednesday 17th May
A 20/20 Russell Court Trophy fixture played in Corkagh Park. Halverstown won by 25 runs.
The weather had been threatening to wash out this fixture all day but we arrived at the ground and it seemed that we might get away with it. We did with about 10 minutes to spare. Adamstown won the toss and put us into bat.
Rehan and Mamoon opened the innings. It is hard not to be over excited when your opening partnership is 130 and your openers score 102 and 52 respectively. And just when you thought the main meal was over your number 3, Barra, produces an unbeaten 21 for desert, including a well-fashioned 6. As the Bard put it “And gentlemen now a-bed shall think themselves accursed they were not here.” Certainly I can’t think of a better way of spending an evening than with friends playing this wonderful game. Mick as Captain paces the boundary like an expectant father nervously watching proceedings. He didn’t need to worry as the triplets were born unharmed.
John, our resident humourist said “you can have all the youth acadamies you like but you can’t beat the transfer market”.
Its not that Adamstown bowled badly because they didn’t. They also fielded well but we had the tools. As Winston put it “give me the tools and I will finish the job”. With new boys Mamoon, Rehan and Barra the tool chest has been expanded. Centuries in this form of the game are unusual and Rehan took every opportunity to score without ever looking in a hurry. Every single that was there was taken. Mamoon is more ‘muscular’ and prefers boundaries. He drove one ball at chest height to the boundary. If it had hit a fielder on the way it would have drilled a hole straight through him. Barra thinks and plans. He understands run rates and what is necessary to achieve a win. After 20 overs we were 183 for 1.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that while the young lions were out in the middle they were being watched by an older generation who have served their club well. Tim has scored a century, and Mick has had averages in excess of 50 for several seasons. Who will forget John’s 44 not out at Malahide last season when every time he hit the ball it went sizzling towards the boundary.
We were far from complacent when Adamstown went into bat. They are good players and wins in Corkagh park are few and far between. They opened with Gurusharan who had kept wicket, fielded and bowled. It turned out he could also bat. It took a quick ball from Mamoon and an excellent catch from Barra to put him back in the pavilion for 59. Mamoon and Barra were the pick of the bowlers and the wicket takers. Stuart Conroy gets a special mention for his excellent ground fielding.
Adamstown were never far behind the run rate and it wasn’t until the ‘death’ bowlers, Barra and Rehan closed out the game that you could feel comfortable. We won by 25 runs but to quote a great Irishman “it was a damned close run thing”.
In case it appears that this game was won by a few, it was a real team effort. Everybody supporting and conjoling each other through the game. Everbody doing their best for the team.
A special thank you to Neville Case for keeping the book. This is an unsung but important aspect of the game. He is used to counting his sheep up at the Glen and he has translated this into scoring.
Rehan was certainly MOM but his euphoria was short lived. The car park had closed with his car on the wrong side of the barrier. It took some ingenious manouevering across country with the help of some Adamstown players to make an illegal exit from the park. I am sure that CCTV will bring the culprits to justice and fortunately there is a club fundraiser tonight to pay Rehan’s bail. For those of you familiar with Ferris Bueller we will be wearing our ‘Free Rehan’ T-shirts.
Our club is in good hands and we are in that ‘happy space’ called contentment. We are enjoying the moment.
Our next fixture is against Bagenalstown on Saturday, 20th May.
A 20/20 Russell Court Trophy fixture played in Corkagh Park. Halverstown won by 25 runs.
The weather had been threatening to wash out this fixture all day but we arrived at the ground and it seemed that we might get away with it. We did with about 10 minutes to spare. Adamstown won the toss and put us into bat.
Rehan and Mamoon opened the innings. It is hard not to be over excited when your opening partnership is 130 and your openers score 102 and 52 respectively. And just when you thought the main meal was over your number 3, Barra, produces an unbeaten 21 for desert, including a well-fashioned 6. As the Bard put it “And gentlemen now a-bed shall think themselves accursed they were not here.” Certainly I can’t think of a better way of spending an evening than with friends playing this wonderful game. Mick as Captain paces the boundary like an expectant father nervously watching proceedings. He didn’t need to worry as the triplets were born unharmed.
John, our resident humourist said “you can have all the youth acadamies you like but you can’t beat the transfer market”.
Its not that Adamstown bowled badly because they didn’t. They also fielded well but we had the tools. As Winston put it “give me the tools and I will finish the job”. With new boys Mamoon, Rehan and Barra the tool chest has been expanded. Centuries in this form of the game are unusual and Rehan took every opportunity to score without ever looking in a hurry. Every single that was there was taken. Mamoon is more ‘muscular’ and prefers boundaries. He drove one ball at chest height to the boundary. If it had hit a fielder on the way it would have drilled a hole straight through him. Barra thinks and plans. He understands run rates and what is necessary to achieve a win. After 20 overs we were 183 for 1.
It shouldn’t be forgotten that while the young lions were out in the middle they were being watched by an older generation who have served their club well. Tim has scored a century, and Mick has had averages in excess of 50 for several seasons. Who will forget John’s 44 not out at Malahide last season when every time he hit the ball it went sizzling towards the boundary.
We were far from complacent when Adamstown went into bat. They are good players and wins in Corkagh park are few and far between. They opened with Gurusharan who had kept wicket, fielded and bowled. It turned out he could also bat. It took a quick ball from Mamoon and an excellent catch from Barra to put him back in the pavilion for 59. Mamoon and Barra were the pick of the bowlers and the wicket takers. Stuart Conroy gets a special mention for his excellent ground fielding.
Adamstown were never far behind the run rate and it wasn’t until the ‘death’ bowlers, Barra and Rehan closed out the game that you could feel comfortable. We won by 25 runs but to quote a great Irishman “it was a damned close run thing”.
In case it appears that this game was won by a few, it was a real team effort. Everybody supporting and conjoling each other through the game. Everbody doing their best for the team.
A special thank you to Neville Case for keeping the book. This is an unsung but important aspect of the game. He is used to counting his sheep up at the Glen and he has translated this into scoring.
Rehan was certainly MOM but his euphoria was short lived. The car park had closed with his car on the wrong side of the barrier. It took some ingenious manouevering across country with the help of some Adamstown players to make an illegal exit from the park. I am sure that CCTV will bring the culprits to justice and fortunately there is a club fundraiser tonight to pay Rehan’s bail. For those of you familiar with Ferris Bueller we will be wearing our ‘Free Rehan’ T-shirts.
Our club is in good hands and we are in that ‘happy space’ called contentment. We are enjoying the moment.
Our next fixture is against Bagenalstown on Saturday, 20th May.
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