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North Wicklow 2^nd XI vs. Rush 3^rd XI at Rush, Sun. 27^th April 2008 Inter B

Innings of Rush

Scores

1

b. Bridge

2

b. Bridge

3

b. Bridge

4

b. Bridge

5

ct. Hennessy b. Bridge

6

ct. Jackson b. Hennessy

7

b. Hennessy

8

b. Fusco

9

b. Fusco

10

b. Fusco

11

Not Out

Extras

Byes

L/Byes

Wides

No Balls

Total Extras

6

-

2

-

8

Total  for 10 wks. in 32 overs

122

Innings of North Wicklow

Scores

1

A. Jackson

Bewildered.

18

2

J. Joyce

LBW

12

3

N. Fusco

Ct.

24

4

N. Clifton

Bewildered.

2

5

R. Bridge

Run Out

16

6

N. Fares

Bewildered.

0

7

H. Bridge

Not Out

36

8

B. Hennessy

Run Out

0

9

S. Reynolds

Not Out

5

10

D. ffrench Mullen

Did not bat

11

H. Woods

Did not bat

Extras

Byes

L/Byes

Wides

No Balls

Total Extras

12

Total  For 7 Wickets in ? overs

125

NWCC Bowling

O.

M.

R.

W.

1

R. Bridge

9

33

5

2

D. ffrench Mullen

4

21

0

3

B. Hennessy

10

32

2

4

S. Reynolds

4

12

0

5

N. Fusco

5

16

3

RESULT: North Wicklow won by 3 wickets

Match Report by Richard Bridge

 It was a bright and cloudless day. A door slammed. A maid screamed (if the new skipper counts as such). A pirate ship (the Eggmobile) appeared on the horizon. And so, The Wildcats second XI belatedly commenced their season with a lengthy trip to Rush. The only sight in the natural world which compares to the emergence of whole colonies of squirrels from hibernation in the springtime is the annual reawakening of the North Wicklow second XI players from winter rest. With a few players who hadn't played for the seconds for a while (due to issues of excessive ability), namely Fusco and Joyce, we were quietly confident that we could take a good result back to the fatherland.

   As Captain Reynolds strode to the wicket for his first toss as seconds captain , we were confident we could bat first, as he claims to have spent most of the winter practicing his "toss". We were sadly disappointed though, as he called incorrectly and we were left to field. With a keeper who had only touched a cricket ball once in almost two years and gloves not at all, we were aware of the momentousness of the task that lay ahead of us. As the first ball went straight between Henry's legs for four byes, this feeling was reinforced upon us. With a flat pitch, short boundaries and a quick outfield, we were aware that this had the potential to be a very long day. However, Henry quickly got back into the game, and even mastered the art of keeping his legs together from then on, something he's always found difficult. Although Bridge kept it tight at one end, at the other end Dougie took a bit of a spanking from there Indian opener, and he was not enjoying it (unusual…), leading to him being replaced by Hennessy, B"E" after three or four overs. However, yours truly kept the ball aimed roughly at the top of off and the opposition kept playing shots alarmingly reminiscent of my own batting last year. This led to the first four batsman going down as bowled by Bridge. At the same time the Egg was bowling some lovely lines and lengths (and a few dodgy ones, but not many), but gained very little reward for it. However, he was there to take a catch at mid-on when your reporter bowled a beautiful; half tracker to their only batsman who looked like crafting an innings. After this followed a partnership between two left handers, who frustratingly refused to get out either to the skipper's four overs or the delicious looking "cakes" Fusco served after the captain had relieved himself at that end. Meanwhile, The Egg continued to bowl with very little luck, though eventually one of the batsmen chipped a full toss to Jackson at cover and the other stepped across a ball on leg stump and was bowled. This brought a big hitter to the wicket who started creaming the ball to all parts. The captain reintroduced yours truly into the attack, and first ball the aforementioned hitter slapped the ball hard and straight to long-on, where the Egg was standing. Usually, Brian is placed at long-on because his height makes the boundary three yards longer. However, this weekend he has made it shorter as for the second time he dropped a catch for six. The batsman hit a couple more lusty blows, but Fusco managed to clean up the tail with three cheap wickets. We had bowled them out for a seemingly below par score of 122, with some sharp ground fielding from such luminaries as Mr. Cliff Claverson, Hugh Woods, Andrew Jackson and others, who regularly  hit the stumps from twenty yards. Never when the batsmen were attempting a run though… this was offset with some poor catching, with four or five catches being dropped.

  And so, on to the important business of the day: the tea. Disappointingly, the usual homemade scones failed to put in their usual appearance, but there was still plenty of food to go round, leaving even myself full of food, and that does not happen often.

  After the impressive feed, we proceeded to chase down an apparently low target. With a strong opening pair of Joyce and Jackson, to be followed by Fusco, Claverson, and two Bridges, we felt confident. After a slow start, only 5 wides coming from the fist three overs, Jackson revealed a previously unseen top gear and proceeded to hit fours to all parts. Sadly, he perished eventually, bowled by the handier of their opening bowlers. Fusco proceeded to the wicket, where he played an uncharacteristically long and slow innings, 24 of 22 balls, including 2 fours and 2 sixes, before also falling. This brought that most elegant of creatures, Cliffy, to the wicket, equipped with even more new protective gear. Shortly after, the skipper awarded their spinner a hotly contested LBW decision against Joyce. He wasn't happy. This brought my good (or otherwise) self to the crease. With a required run rate of barely more than one an over, knocking the ball around seemed the order of the day. Myself and Cliff set about doing this, but sadly he fell, also bowled  by that pesky opening bowler who had dealt with Jackson and Fucso. Nader also soon departed for a duck, so this brought a second Bridge to the crease, leading to some witlessly amusing jokes form the captain about it being a Bridge too far, and the brothers needing to “build bridges” to success. With the rate trundling along nicely, and neither batsman seeming particularly troubled by the bowling, some members of the team seemed more interested in the rugby than the rest of the cricket. However, some shambolic running and calling led to the dismissal first of R Bridge than of Hennessy, batting at eight. The skipper strode once again to the middle, in a highly pressured situation, but fortunately, himself and Henry sheperded the team home for a good win, by three wickets. A game where we were better than the opposition almost throughout, but which we nearly played ourselves out of with some aspects of our cricket, particularly our running and catching, However, we won, and we know what to work on for later. The Wildcats roared, than stuttered, but purred gently.....

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NWCC II v Pembroke IV at Three Rock on Sat. 3^rd May 2008 Inter League B

Innings of North Wicklow

Scores

1

Andrew Jackson

c and b F Khan

    0

2

Henry Bridge

b F Khan

   11

3

Nicky Fusco

b Fox

  0

4

Dan Boylan

lbw b F Khan

 8

5

Bazil Cromer

b F Khan

   4

6

Nader Fares

run out

  3

7

Usman Ghani

run out

40

8

Simon Reynolds (Capt)

not out

18