TGIF. Planes, Buses, and the Hippodroom
It all started Friday evening when we gathered under gloomy skies at the Hipodroom and awaited the arrival of Carmel CC, a band of weary travellers from Wales who had decided to undertake an ambitious 2 week tour of Finland, Russia, Latvia and of course Estonia.
Tim Abraham (not the one from Sky Sports!) later commented that:
"the lads were knackered and quite down on travelling up from Riga. 20 hours of travelling had taken their toll and with rain on the way up from Riga, the lads were a littel concerened that no cricket was going to played. We also had no idea if you (Estonia) even had a proper field or had any cricketers worth their salt. So when we saw you guys practising on the boundary, in full whites, it gave us a huge lift to our spirits.'"
The game got underway with the Estonian skipper (me) giving the opposition, despite my desire to put the visitors in, the option to bat or field. They happily made us bat first and as I recall, Carmel got off to a flying start with the wicket of the Estonian Skip (me unfortunately) caught on the boundary at fine leg.
Of course, it was always my intention to get out first ball*. Here's why:
1. It provided a lot of amusement for everyone.*
2. It took the pressure of following batsman**
3. It lured the opposition into a false sense of euphoria.**
4. It brought Tim Heath to the wicket! *
(*True)
( ** Bullshit)
Ok. It was a crap shot.
Tim was chomping at the bit for the last few days for this weekend of cricket, so much so that he had been in extra special training (cut down from 12 hours on his PC to just 6 this last week), and it showed at the crease with some devastating shots around the field. On losing his wicket the game continued to ebb and flow, with cameo performances from Mike Tiffin, Mike Bevin, and Andres Burget. However keen fielding and a varied bowling attack from Carmel, reduced the Estonian score to a slighlty below par 108, a tough score to defend, but not as it proved impossible.
Tight bowling from key bowlers such as Heath, Mike Bevin, Rob Brookes, and the noisiest man in Estonian cricket history Anil Puri (welcome back!) tied the opposition down to make it a thrilling finish, with Carmel just failing to make the quota by 2 runs. It wasnt for lack of trying though. The Carmel CC Aussie connection, including an Adam Gilchrist look-alike, took the game to our bowlers with some very strong and often devastating batting displays. All credit to our fielders who managed to not drop catches at the vital times, and champagne-moment run outs that turned the game. Great throw from One Stump Siva....!
The fileding display on this day was quite simply the best there has ever been. Special mention should go to Gleb Bihanov, Andres Burget, David Bolts, and Mike Tiffin.
Man of the match went to Tim Heath for his excellent display with the bat, and some valuable wickets with the ball.
So...... a great start to the weekend with a one run victory against a strong Carmel team. And so to Saturday morning and the ferry.......
Report by Jason Barry
| Estonian 2nd XI Vs Carmel XI |
| 1-Innings Match Played At Hippodrome, 28-Jul-2007, |
| Estonian 2nd XI 1st Innings 10/111 All Out (Overs 20) |
| Batsman |
Fieldsman |
Bowler |
Runs |
4s |
6s |
| Jason Barry*+ |
c ? |
b Sorne |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| A Puri |
c ? |
b M Somerfund |
25 |
0 |
2 |
| Tim Heath |
|
b S Philip |
45 |
3 |
4 |
| Rob Brookes |
|
b S Philip |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| Mike Bevan |
|
b M Somerfund |
5 |
1 |
0 |
| Siva Arunachalam |
lbw |
b R Darnett |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| Mike Tiffin |
not out |
|
14 |
2 |
0 |
| David Bolton |
lbw |
b J Peacock |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Andrus Kambre |
|
b J Peacock |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Andres Burget |
|
b J Peacock |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| Gleb Bihanovs |
|
b T Hill |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| extras |
|
(b1 lb0 w9 nb3) |
13 |
|
|
| TOTAL |
|
10 wickets for |
111 |
|
|
| Bowler |
O |
M |
R |
W |
wd |
nb |
| Sorne |
4 |
0 |
48 |
1 |
- |
- |
| J Peacock |
4 |
0 |
17 |
3 |
- |
- |
| S Philip |
4 |
0 |
24 |
2 |
- |
- |
| M Somerfund |
4 |
0 |
8 |
2 |
- |
- |
| R Darnett |
2 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
- |
- |
| T Hill |
2 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
- |
- |
| Carmel XI 1st Innings 10/110 All Out (Overs 20) |
| Batsman |
Fieldsman |
Bowler |
Runs |
4s |
6s |
| T Abraham |
|
b Rob Brookes |
8 |
1 |
0 |
| A Pierce |
run out Tim Heath |
|
11 |
0 |
0 |
| G Roberts |
|
b Tim Heath |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| M Somerfund |
c Siva Arunachalam |
b A Puri |
65 |
6 |
5 |
| T Hill |
|
b Mike Bevan |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| R Darnett |
run out Siva Arunachalam |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
| H Reekie |
c Rob Brookes |
b A Puri |
2 |
0 |
0 |
| T Horne |
c Rob Brookes |
b A Puri |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| S Philip |
not out |
|
6 |
0 |
0 |
| J Peacock |
lbw |
b Tim Heath |
5 |
1 |
0 |
| R Brookes |
run out Andrus Kambre |
|
2 |
0 |
0 |
| extras |
|
(b0 lb1 w5 nb0) |
6 |
|
|
| TOTAL |
|
10 wickets for |
110 |
|
|
| Bowler |
O |
M |
R |
W |
wd |
nb |
| Tim Heath |
4 |
0 |
16 |
2 |
- |
- |
| Rob Brookes |
4 |
0 |
12 |
1 |
- |
- |
| Siva Arunachalam |
2 |
0 |
22 |
0 |
- |
- |
| Mike Bevan |
4 |
0 |
13 |
1 |
- |
- |
| A Puri |
4 |
0 |
24 |
3 |
- |
- |
| Jason Barry |
2 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
- |
- |
|
