Vets oh so close again. Come up short against the ‘Burgh
A big Fitzroy crowd had come out to Edinburgh Gardens on Sunday to watch the highly anticipated combat between Div 1 cellar dwellers the ‘burgs and the OX.
The weather was sunny and a cooling zephyr was blowing in from the city end. OX won the toss and took to the field. Instantly, Rob made a bee-line for aptly named deep fine leg where two young ladies had decided to break out their bathers and make an early start on their summer tans. It was the most distracting position on the ground that day and Rob made it his own.
Meanwhile out in the middle, and reminiscent of Mitchell Starc taking out Jonny Bairstow with the first ball of the innings in the recent WC match, so did the OX make a perfect start. With Sammy having the wind at his back, and the hair on his neck standing tall, he sent down the first ball of the day, quick, short and wide. Their #1 cut strongly in the air and into the hands of yours truly at point. One for none and we were away.
Bernie followed Sammy and bowled a wonderful first spell. 9 overs = 1/26 (@ 2.9 / over).
Following this great start was myself, the Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, Boothy!
Their #2 & 3 moved into 2nd gear as Boothy picked up his first with a bloody good catch to a well-placed John at deep long on. “Bloody” being the operative word. #3 & #4 put their foot down and brought the ‘burgs through to the drinks break @ 2/76 (Rate: 4.2 /over).
It took us while after drinks to get our 3rd wicket from a beast of ball from Bernie. Top edged and very well caught by the Warrigal Warrier, Clarkey, running back behind the keeper. The ‘burgs had moved into 3rd gear and after 27 overs were 4/132 (@ 4.9 / over).
The infield was as smooth as a 15 year-old’s acne ridden face and was challenging us on almost every ground ball hit. The run rate kept climbing despite Brian, Clarkey and bowling well for 7 overs between them. Boothy took the ball for the last over and picked up their last 2 wickets thanks to some excellent work from Michael with the gloves picking up a stumping and a leg side catch to finish them off for 193. 5.3 per over is tough but doable on a small ground.
Pick of the bowlers: Sammy, Bernie & Boothy’s 3fa. Fielding was pretty damn good (considering the state of the in-field) with 3 solid catches and Michael faultless with the gloves.
The tea break good with an assortment of fresh healthy sandwiches, mini pizzas, lemon tarts and cinnamon donuts. 60:40 savoury to sweet ratio. A solid 7/10 from our #1 ticket holder, Professor Whelan.
Clarkey and John opened and got us off to steady start. 0/39 after 9 overs. John retired on a classy maiden 40 for OX after 14 overs and Clarkey retired on very solid chanceless 41 about 5 over later. Meanwhile, in came our Marcus Stoinis, the one and only Pete McGarry, who hit 5 fours and 2 of the biggest 6s you will ever see and hear. The noise off his bat for the 2nd of those 6s was like a thundering crack from Thor’s hammer. Lucky to escape a very adjacent LBW but Sammy adjudicated it with a strong “not out”. Next ball 4 and Pete retired on 41 off 34 balls. The bowler gave Pete a bit of a send off about the LB decision but Pete quickly retorted that he got “more bat on that than a Wuhan market soup”.
Despite Pete’s best efforts the run rate required was still challenging. Just after that, we are 140 with 3 retirements (no dismissals) in the 27th over still needing 54 runs off 9 overs at 6 per over. Then the wheels fell off. It started with me driving the ball down the wicket and the bowler gets the skinniest of fingernails on the shot and crashes into the stumps leaving our skipper run out on not many. Frustrated as hell, the next 3 balls go 6,4, out and I’m stumped trying to send another one into the crowd. Bernie, Rob, Sam, Brian & Boothy didn’t get to double figures and left Michael stranded on 21 off 15 balls who was looking more than likely to bring us home. All out 182. 14 runs short with 10 balls remaining. Tough loss!
Pick of the batters: The 3 retirees and Michael.
The day was best summed up by Pete “The Oil Rig” McGarry when he said after the game “I am so proud to be part of this team & this club. Most at our age have given up competitive sport decades ago. This game called cricket is tough and it doesn't get any easier as you get older. I want everyone to hold their heads up as we almost chased down 193 today, FFS”.
We look forward to Round 4, as we are back on the road to Seddon Reserve, to on West Ivanhoe, for hopefully, our first win of the season.
