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.
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