Hillend v Crow Road, 06/05/2007

Hillend v Crow Road
WDCU Div 5, Glenpark, 06/05/2007

Hillend won toss and elected to bat

Hillend
M Robertson c Mansell b Murray 59
Gerrard c Smillie b Curtis 6
Thomson b Curtis 17
Copeland b Smillie 3
* P Robertson b Curtis 11
Sharman c Mustoe b Curtis 1
# Baum c Smillie b Curtis 1
McDougall c Rixon b Ali 2
Peterson b Curtis 1
McPaul c Rixon b Curtis 0
Daisley not out 9
Extras 11
Total (all out, 26.4 ovs) 121

Curtis 13-1-53-7, Smillie 10-0-51-1, Murray 3-0-14-1,
Ali 0.4-0-2-1

Crow Road
S Alcock lbw b McDougall 10
A Mansell c Copeland b Peterson 35
G Smillie c Gerrard b Copeland 37
# A Mustoe lbw b Thomson 7
L Curtis b Copeland 4
U Ali c P Robertson b Thomson 4
* A Rixon not out 4
W Murray b Copeland 0
I Miller run out 0
J Pulley not out 0
Extras 21
Total (8 wkts, 40.2 ovs) 122
L McDermid did not bat

Sharman 6-0-20-0, McDougall 10-0-25-1, Peterson 5-1-21-1,
McPaul 6-1-17-0, Copeland 8-0-25-3, Thomson 5.2-2-9-2

Crow Road won by 2 wickets
Crow Road 25 pts, Hillend 5 pts

Match Report

Crow Road picked up their first win of the season in nerve-shredding circumstances, surviving a catastrophic batting collapse to edge out Hillend by 2 wickets at a showery Glenpark. After restricting the home side to 121, then cruising to 105-2, it was almost incomprehensible that Crow Road could come so close to defeat, but 30 minutes of brainless batting left the match on a knife edge before Rixon and debutant Jon Pulley finally scrambled the winning single.

The Hillend captain won the toss but somewhat bizarrely offered Rixon the choice of what to do. The home side were promptly inserted in drizzly conditions to face Smillie and Luke Curtis, also playing his first match for the club. Crow Road started uncertainly, with a number of chances going to ground just as they did last week - this is evidently something that needs to be worked on at training. Even when Smillie managed to hang on to a skier in the 5th over, it only brought to the crease a batsman who was clearly a class above any of his team-mates.

The score was racing along, with Smillie going for 27 off 11 balls at one point including a 6 that disappeared into a nearby back garden. Thankfully, Luke made a crucial breakthrough, forcing the No. 3 to play-on for 17, and this completely shifted the balance of power, to the extent that only 4 more boundaries were scored in the remainder of the innings.

Smillie tightened up his line and length and got due reward when he bowled the No.4, and then Luke exploded through the middle order, taking 5 more wickets for 12 runs. Some of these were to excellent balls, though a couple of the Hillend batsmen did themselves no favours by miscuing full tosses to the off-side fielders. In any case, Luke’s superb final analysis of 7-53 is right up there on the list of best-ever innings returns for a GHK bowler.

Towards the end there was also a promising spell from another GHK debutant, Will Murray, which included the wicket of the opener Robertson for a resilient, if slightly fortuitous, 59. Umar also got amongst the wickets, finishing off the innings courtesy of a skier to mid-on.

That left Crow Road chasing a target of 122 and, after a short rain delay, Steve Alcock and Manse strode out to open. Six overs were safely negotiated before the rain came down again, causing a further half-hour interruption, and by the time the match resumed the wicket was starting to resemble a bit of a bog. Manse still played with impressive fluency, hitting one particularly attractive cover drive, before he was caught out by the increasingly slow bounce and mishit a drive to a fielder for 35.

Smillie came in at No. 3 and played with calm assurance, while Steve-o’s somewhat stroke-free innings (10 off 64 balls) was just starting to get going when he was unfortunate to be judged LBW. Ally Mustoe (who had earlier kept very tidily) replaced him and helped guide the score to 105-2 in the 33rd over. Everything looked very comfortable – so comfortable in fact that some of the lower order batsmen decided to change out of their whites. Obviously they had no idea of what the GHK 3rds are capable of...

The collapse started when Smillie tried to up the scoring rate, but could only pick out a deepish cover to depart for a solid 37. It got worse when Ally received a highly dubious LBW decision, the day’s second example of Crow Road umpires doing their batsmen no favours at all. With the rainclouds gathering again, and the pitch having now deteriorated into a mudbath, Hillend were starting to waste time in the hope the match would be abandoned. The pressure was on Umar and Luke to reach the winning line as quickly as possible, but with 4 runs still required, they both got out to ugly swipes and Crow Road were in freefall.

Will came in at No. 8 and was swiftly dispatched for a duck, then Iain was run out as his increasingly agitated captain made a desparate attempt to get on strike. By now, the ‘Fall Of Wickets’ column was starting to resemble an advert for Directory Inquiries, with four having gone down on 118. Thankfully, the spinner dropped a bit short with the next ball, which Rixon spanked over square leg for 3, and after John saw out the rest of the over, Rixon struck the winning run – a drive straight to a fielder, who fortunately failed to manage a direct hit. This was a huge relief to the Crow Road team – not least the No. 11, Liam McDermid, a late call-up for the match, who was by all accounts reduced to a quivering wreck in the dressing room by the prospect of having to come in to bat.

In the end, then, 25 points in the bag, but there’s no doubt that this match highlighted some serious problems that the team must address. An unacceptable level of dropped catches for the second week running, self-destructive umpiring, complacency when we appeared to be cruising to victory and a complete lack of common sense once it started to get tight. Even though the game was won, we’ve got to learn from these mistakes, because if we make them next time, we might not get away with it.

Still, there’s plenty of positives to take as well – not least Luke’s magnificent 7 – and plenty to suggest we’re in for a great derby match at home to the Alps this Saturday.