2’s fall agonizingly short…again

Coming off a heartbreaker last week - almost securing a win against Old Camberwell thanks

to the heroics of Jack Stratford - the 2’s hosted the MCC on the Jackson Oval, Xavier College.

Despite losing the toss, co-skipper Matt “The Pez” Perrett still found a moral victory as we

were sent into bat. The conditions provided an even contest between bat and ball as

gloomy skies lingered from thunderstorm’s the night earlier, but the outfield was still quite

damp proving it to be difficult to bowl with. Additionally, the wicket was very green but firm

underfoot.

Alex “Lash” Eden Lachowicz (0) and Andrew Seal (23) were once again given the task of

seeing off the new ball. Tight bowling from the MCC openers forced Lash and Sealy to bide

their time and wait for the loose one, however a good one jagged back in on Lash taking him

for a globe, soon followed by our No. 3 Nick Harries (5). With Matt Perrett (74 (off 55!))

now at the crease, his aggressive nature seemed to also rub off on Sealy as they started to

pick up the run rate, putting away bad balls for four and taking quick singles. When Sealy

was beaten, Jesse Lucchesi (26) picked up right where he left off from his solid 36 last week,

with aggressive running between the wickets and loud calls striking at almost 100. Jesse and

Pez put on a strong partnership of 63 together before they both in the sheds in quick

succession. This then brought out the iconic and almost match winning duo from the

previous week, Jack Stratford (10) and Finn Chiodo (8) who looked to strike with similar

ferocity and aggression however to no avail. With small contributions from Pat “Noons”

Nunan (5) and Ed MacIsaac (14), the 2’s once again had a typical collapse losing 5/23 and

failing to bat the 40 overs. At the end of the first innings, the Old Xav’s made 10/178 off 34

overs.

As we had 20-40 less runs than we’d like to work with, co-captains Matt Perrett and Pat

Nunan opted to go with a different technique with the new ball, straying away from typical

pace from both ends and going with seamer Pat Nunan (2/40 off 7.5) and off-spinner Ed

MacIsaac (1/15 off 8). This proved to get the boys off the start we wanted, having the MCC

2/11 off the first 8 overs of the innings, including a ripping “catch” by Lash, diving to his left

in first slip. When Tom Worsnop (0/14 off 3) was given the ball, he continued to pile on this

dot ball pressure, only bowling one bad ball in his spell which unfortunately went for a

maximum. The skippers then looked to a similar tandem as their opening combination to

help in the middle overs, this time with off-spinner Lash (1/45 off 8) and pacer Finn Chiodo

(0/26 off 5). Although they managed to keep the strike rate low, we struggled to find the

answer in taking wickets, as their opening batsman and No. 4 put on a 117-run partnership.

Eventually this was ended in abrupt fashion, with an alert stumping by Andrew Seal off

Lash’s bowling. This play by Sealy seemed to have sparked a flame under the boys, as we

soon had the MCC from 2/123 to 5/132 within minutes, thanks to Pez (1/36 off 8) clean

bowling the Commish with a flipper and then an awesome diving Marnus like run-out from

Jesse Lucchesi. And just like that it was game on, with the equation around a run-a-ball with

10 overs to spare, with our skippers Pez and Noons bearing much of the pressure taking the

rock at both ends. They kept us well and truly in the game bringing it to the last over with

the Demons needing 10 runs to win. Unfortunately, our hopes of victory were brought to an

end as the MCC made use of the very short straights of the Jackson Oval, hitting a straight

six off the first ball of the final over, then a late glance on the second last ball of the game,

going past third man for four and providing the win for the MCC, winning the game 6/180

off 39.5 overs.

As we were unable to bat the full 40 overs in the first innings, we simply did not put enough

runs on the board on a small Jackson Oval. Special thanks to Dan Crowley for filling in and

providing great voice and intent in the field. We once again proved we well and truly belong

in this competition, falling just short for the third time now, along with a few unlucky

breaks. Once we start to make a few more runs and keep up the really strong numbers at

training, we’ll convert these L’s into W’s in no time.

GO XAVS!!!