Match Report

It was the morning after the night before. Despite weather warnings and banging headaches, 11 Ploughmen arrived at the DSG (approximately 11 of them feeling rather worse for wear) to face Sunday’s almost humorously named, “I Don’t Like CC”. Barely a word was spoken upon arrival as many of the boys were simply fighting to keep down their kebabs from the previous evening until, in true Ploughman’s spirit, skipper Liam Gray uttered that ancient proverb… “shall I get a jug in?”. Yes skip. Game on.

After talking a gigantic game at the pub the night before, Messrs Lane and Eaton were sent in by Grayzer to open the batting to see if they could back it up. Moments before the pair took to the field, Tom Lane took himself behind the shed for a tactical chunder and minutes later Iskandar Eaton was dropped at slip on the fourth ball. It seemed for all money that the captains gamble would not pay off. However, the pair ploughed on and against all odds, despite genuinely struggling to see the ball, put on a very respectable opening stand of 95 before Iskandar was finally caught (on the fourth attempt) on 39. Tom however, was not so easily dismissed, and a couple of overs later, much to the delight of both him and his teammates, he had secured his first 50 for the plough. A tactical chunder indeed.

Both Tom and Hector, in at 3, saw this as their opportunity to kick on. A few top edges from Tom including one that found its way straight down the ground for 6, took him to within 2 lusty blows of that illusive century before he was eventually bowled on 88. A fantastic innings from a distinctly average cricketer and bloke. Hannibal Lecter continued his good run of form adding a classy 27 before he was bowled by a brilliant nut that seemed to come out of nowhere, and Paul Hynes once again showed why he is one of the Ploughs all-time greats as his quick fire 38 not out continued his push for this year’s batting award and put the Plough in a very strong position. A few runs at the end from Freeway and new boy Sandeep set the oppo a mammoth 232 to chase off 35 overs.

I Don’t Like CC got off to a good start and despite some tight bowling from openers Chris Michael Jackson Silvapulle and Mark Wildig, the Plough dropped a few catches and the oppo put on a rampant 53 for the first wicket before Silva eventually made the break-through. At this point Grayzer, captaining his second game in as many days, rallied his troops exclaiming he was “not here to lose a f****** cricket match.” No one took this on more than Duray Pretorius, simply a Ploughman through and through. Dooz, or ‘guy in black trainers/plimsoles’ as he was referred to as in the oppo’s scorebook, took 3 catches in total including two absolute one-handed worldies to really kick start a period of dominance from the Plough. An inspiration in the field both technically and vocally. He claimed in the post-match interview “I live to field at gully for the Plough.”

Mark eventually got his just rewards taking 2 wickets. Captain Grayzer capped off an excellent weekend with the ball with another 2 to add to his 4 on Saturday. While yet another new boy, Archie Fiddes, demonstrated the quality of the club’s recruitment system as he looked frightening for his 1-11 off 7 overs and frankly, deserved more. Hannibal Lecter showed his value as a nifty all-rounder as he came on and took 3 with the ball. DJ Pretorius bowled a tidy couple of overs and could’ve had a wicket if it wasn’t for some questionable fielding on the boundary from man of the hour, Tom Lane, who was perhaps resting on his laurels, displaying a lack of both ground speed and commitment as the catchable ball eventually trickled past him for 4. Needless to say, he was taken off the boundary the next ball by the skipper. Harsh? I don’t think so. The oppo were eventually bowled out for 134. An outstanding 97 run victory for the Plough.

Despite the atrocious weather forecast, the Plough got 4 full games in this weekend and came out with 4 cracking wins, with players old and new contributing classy performances. What. A. Club.

Plough on.

Iskandar