Halverstown v. Civil Service

Halverstown v. Civil Service

Social Fixture, Sunday 17th April
Civil Service won by 24 runs

Despite the Arctic wind blowing off the Siberian tundra these two sides opened their respective seasons with a friendly game at Halverstown. The Halverstown ground staff had been preparing the ground for two weeks and whilst it was playable, the outfield was soft. The biblical floods of the winter had receded into the Liffey leaving a surface that was playable. The mat was in good order and would once again prove an excellent surface with even bounce.

Halverstown have a new captain this season in Mick Neville who took over from the redoubtable Neville Case. Mick has made it clear that the matches are to start promptly, to be played quickly and that field setting by committee will not be allowed. His captaincy of the first match endorsed this.

Civil Service won the toss and elected to bat. The bowling unit of Halverstown was ready for action after their high altitude pre season training in the Glen of Imaal on Neville Case’s sheep farm. Neville Case opened the bowling and placed the first ball on the same spot that he put the last one on at the end of the previous season. He is a byword for accuracy and troubled the batsmen all day with his in swinging yorkers. John Threadgold opened at the other end and completely deceived the batsmen with a couple of widish balls before settling in to his rhythm. It was a welcome return for Des Gray as first change and new boy Sean Conroy got his first wicket for Halverstown with some wily leg spin. He was unlucky not to get more wickets.

The Civil Service openers of Wall and Kilroy made steady progress until Darren Ryall came into the attack and took the first of 4 wickets. O’Hara (A) top scored for Civil Service with 36 and Wall scored 25. Only Kilroy and Ryan got into double figures after that but given the slowness of the outfield Civil Service came away with a very workmanlike score of 122. Boundaries were almost impossible to get given the soft outfield.

Tea was taken after which the Halverstown openers strapped on their pads, applied the linament and stepped out onto the pitch, their dreams still intact. Whilst several batsmen promised to deliver only the captain and John Threadgold got into double figures, both securing a respectable 31 runs. Without support though the Halverstown chase dwindled and despite the initial optimism they could only post 99 runs leaving themselves 24 runs short of victory. Ryan was the outstanding bowler for Civil Service taking five wickets for 9 runs.

This was a very sporting match in which cricket was the victor. We wish Civil Service well with their season and look forward to welcoming them back to Halverstown in due course.