Scorecard

Y.M.C.A. Cricket Club 1st XI v Clontarf on Sat 01 Aug 2015 at 11.00
Y.M.C.A. Cricket Club Lost by 8 wkts

Match report Best laid plans of mice and men
Stu Daultrey (CricketEurope)
2 August 2015

Because it is so easy to lose a match and so hard to win one, a game of cricket frequently is one long, drawn out anticlimax. The Leinster Senior Cup final, played at Claremont Road yesterday between YMCA and Clontarf, was just such a match. When this occurs, the drama is very brief, and the enjoyment of the remaining 95% of the match has to come from observing individual performances and team organisation.

When I arrived at Claremont Road and was shown to my seat in the media tent, the ground looked in great nick. Dale the groundsman and his team had the place looking shipshape, if not Bristol fashion, and events would reveal the pitch to be a very good one, with a bit in it for the bowlers, particularly from the Aviva Stadium end (aka the Sandymount Road end).

Albert van der Merwe won the toss for YMCA and elected to bat. With a host of spinners but only two seamers, his side were highly unlikely to bowl out as strong a batting unit as Clontarf's, so the strategy had to be to pile on the runs and then frustrate the chase. But his best laid plans ganged agley from the very first ball.

Aussie Mick Granger galloped in from the Aviva end and sent down a delivery from over the wicket which pitched on or just outside Kiwi left-hander Tom Fisher's off stump. In hindsight, he could have left it, but he didn't. It lifted, took the edge and flew low toward second slip where Andrew Poynter swooped to hold a tumbling catch.

In came the right handed Simi Singh, who got a ball on the same line which went for four leg byes, then a ball outside his off stump which evaded everybody and went for four byes. Next over Joe Morrissey lumbered in from the Wes Earl end and bowled a maiden over to Jack Tector, including one play and miss.

Singh got off the mark with a cover driven four off Granger, and when he got down to Morrissey's end he skipped down the track to drive through extra cover, then on drove another boundary, though this time not off the middle of the bat. But having flown to 15 out of 26, the other 11 being extras, his brief florescence was terminated in Granger's third over.

The media tent was positioned in front of the pavilion, so behind about extra cover to a right hander facing from the Aviva end. Such a position, while offering an excellent view, doesn't make it easy to judge lateral movement, either in the air or off the pitch. So all I know is that Simi played half forward on the Piccadilly line while the ball hit the top of off stump on the Bakerloo line. I can only conclude that it must have swung away, probably late.

Thus YMCA were 26-2 with both batsmen on nought. Next over Jack Tector got off the mark with a single, and Albert van der Merwe with a drive to the extra cover boundary. In his fifth over, Granger had a huge shout for lbw against Tector which Azam Ali Baig adjudicated as not out. This was one of the few concerted appeals off Granger's bowling which the bowler himself joined in with any enthusiasm.

There was considerably less noise from the slip cordon, and none at all from long leg and extra cover, when a couple of balls later Tector got an inside edge that wrong-footed Bobbo Forrest, and the keeper couldn't hang on to the catch as he dived to his left. After an excellent opening spell Granger was relieved by Alex Cusack, while Morrissey continued from the Wes Earl end.

After ten overs the total was 40, quite respectable until you take into consideration the two wickets down and the 18 extras. Cusack bowled mainly back of a length, and got plenty of lift. In Morrissey's sixth over Jack Tector reached four courtesy of two overthrows and was obviously frustrated. But when he got a full delivery he played too soon at it and lobbed it to Cusack at extra cover. 44-3 and deep doggy do-dah.

Ruadhan Jones on drove Morrissey for two and drinks were taken. On resumption Cusack was called for a wide above head height, but I didn't notice whether Azam had got a signal from Clive Colleran at square leg. Had Jones been on strike, fair enough, but Albert is very tall, and the elegance and quickness of his evasive action must have fooled the umpires.

With Morrissey stacking up the maidens, and Cusack offering only the occasional drive ball but nothing with any width, YMCA became like the Fonz, stuck in the fifties. After six overs, Cusack was given a breather and Eoghan Delany called up Clontarf's secret weapon, “Golden Arm” Bill Coghlan. And he delivered. Albert van der Merwe, on 16, slapped a wide half tracker straight to Adrian D'Arcy just backward of point, to make it 71-4.

Morrissey finished his spell of 12-6-24-1, an excellent effort, Coghlan was whipped off after his successful over, and Granger brought back for a couple of overs before lunch. Granger is Clontarf's answer to Maria Sharapova – bottle blond and grunts a lot. But like the six-footer from Sochi, he does the business.

First over Jones edged him through slips for four, along the ground so not a chance. Second over he again found the edge of Jones's bat, and this time the ball was above ground and remained so until resting in Andrew Poynter's hands, another very good, low catch. With Jones gone for 14 out of 80-5, Sean Mcauley showed good bottle when he pulled a ball from in front of his face for four, and lunch was taken at 85-5 off 28 overs.

Cusack was given the ball after what everyone agreed was an excellent lunch, and immediately found the outside edge of Mcauley's bat, but the ball rose over Bill Coghlan at third slip and on to the third man boundary. Conor Kelly was doing a similar job to that done by Morrissey. When the pitch is helpful, Kelly can be a very dangerous bowler getting seam movement both ways, but here he was concentrating on line and length and giving nothing away.

After two overs Cusack was replaced by Sameer Dutt, the former Old Belvedere and YMCA all-rounder, who was originally appointed to umpire this match, but withdrew when his club was involved. Injuries to Connor D'Arcy and to David Delany left Clontarf with the choice of Sameer or the “Nibbler”, Mark Collier. Sameer got the nod and “Nibbler” was carrying the drinks.

Sameer's off breaks are of the quickish dart variety, and one immediately hit the pads and elicited a noisy enqury – not quite as noisy as you would hear in Sydney Parade, but not far off – it looked a tad high to me so I agreed with Azam's not out verdict. YMCA reached 100 after 35 overs, leaving them 25 overs to get at least another 100 and preferably a lot more to make a game of it.

Robbie Garth cover drove Kelly for four then survived a big shout for caught behind – I heard nothing, and more importantly neither did Clive. But in Kelly's next over Garth tried to pull a ball that wasn't short enough and directed it to Morrissey at mid wicket. Garth made 20 out of 112-6, and the YMCA ship was sinking fast.

“Golden Arm” was called up for a second over, got driven through extra cover by keeper Sam Murphy, conceded five wides, and was swiftly withdrawn from the attack. Cusack was brought on for two of his remaining four overs, but couldn't maintain his earlier control, got driven for four by Mcauley to cover's right hand, then to cover's left for four more by Murphy, in between an on driven three by Murphy.

The score reached 150 after 47 overs, when drinks were taken. Dutt had another spell, and Kelly finished his with 12-1-27-1, another excellent effort. Granger had five overs left to bowl, and bowled the fiftieth from the Wes Earl end, while Dutt continued from the Aviva end. Murphy in particular tried to up the pace with some crisp drives, but the well set field kept the boundaries to a minimum.

After lofting Dutt straight for four, Mcauley was caught neither backward nor forward and lbw for a well-constructed 40 out of 179-7 and a partnership of 67 in 13 overs with Murphy. Harry Tector came in an immediately cover drove Granger to the rope. In his next over the Aussie induced a nick behind to dismiss Murphy for 38. Dutt delivered his tenth over to finish with 10-1-37-1, then Cusack switched to the Wes Earl end to bowl his final two overs.

But he managed only one, in which Harry Tector cover drove him for three to bring up the 200. Granger went back to the Aviva end to bowl his last over, and with the score on 204-8, Tector, on 16, slashed him to extra cover where Poynter held his third good catch of the day. Padraig Flanagan blocked one, then pushed the next one to mid off and ran. He'd just about crossed with Yaqoob Ali when Bill Coghlan's throw hit the stump, leaving the Yak 4* and YMCA all out for 204 in 58.4 overs, third highest scorer being Ernie Extras with 37.

Granger finished with 5/38 from 11.4 overs, and Cusack 0/44 from 11. The Aussie Aussie had bowled really well for his Michelle, his third in four Leinster Senior Cup matches, and by a distance the best I've seen him bowl. As for the Irish Aussie, he'll bowl a lot worse than he did today and pick up plenty of wickets in the process.

Clontarf promoted Adrian D'Arcy from the lower middle order to open the batting, his regular berth five or six years ago, and he played out a maiden from off-spinner Simi Singh from the Wes Earl end, while from the Aviva
end Bill Coghlan watched a couple of wides from Rob Garth and took a single from a miscue.

In Garth's second over Coghlan edged four through the slips then crashed a ball on middle stump over mid wicket for four more. Simi bowled a second maiden before Garth got driven twice to the rope by Coghlan, once straight and once square on the off side. Coghlan got up to Singh's end and pulled him for six, then found himself facing the Aviva end, but this time Padraig Flanagan.

The lanky right hander, on 26 out of 31, carved Flanagan to backward point where Jack Tector dropped the catch. There followed another square drive for four. The left handed D'Arcy got his first boundary with a straight drive off Singh, and Coghlan off drove Flanagan to the rope to make it 47-0 from 10 overs.

After Singh had conceded two boundaries to Coghlan, one a square cut, the other an extra cover drive, he was relieved by van der Merwe, who was slog swept for six by D'Arcy. His next over was a maiden after which drinks were taken only twenty minutes before the scheduled tea interval, with the score on 67-0 after 17 overs.

Ruadhan Jones was brought on to bowl his leg breaks, and each batsman responded with a slog sweep, D'Arcy's for six, Coghlan's for four. Jones got away with just a single next over, but in his third he was lofted by each batsman, over long on for six by D'Arcy and over long off for four by Coghlan. Coghlan reached 50 in the 23rd over, the final one before tea, with D'Arcy on 44* and the total on 99-0.

Yaqoob Ali came on from the Aviva end after tea, and four runs after the hundred was brought up D'Arcy called Coghlan for a single that just wasn't there, and even with his long, long legs and seven league boots, Bill had no chance of beating Flanagan's accurate throw. But his nine fours and a six in a 90 ball 53 gave Clontarf an excellent start.

Stephen Moreton took his time and D'Arcy pottered around with the odd single before Moreton got the show back on the road with an on driven boundary off van der Merwe and a leg tickle for three off Yaqoob, and then D'Arcy swept van der Merwe to the rope to reach his fifty. Moreton continued to accumulate ones and the odd two while D'Arcy took boundaries, mainly with cover drives.

van der Merwe finished his spell of 12-3-36-0, good bowling but the empty fourth column was not what he needed for his team. Simi Singh came back in his place, and the Yak persisted from the Aviva end. He persisted his way through Moreton's defence and onto his pads, and umpire Azam raised the index finger in response to the appeal.

Moreton looked aggrieved, but he always does, and I suppose I'm not alone in never having met a batsman who liked being given out lbw. He had to go for 18 out of a partnership of 52, and was replaced by Andrew Poynter with 49 runs still required. Singh didn't bowl his eleventh or twelfth overs – why not I've no idea, but Garth came on at the Wes Earl end, Yaqoob bowled his final over, and drinks came on. Again, I've no idea why – the sun had long since disappeared and it was getting cool.

D'Arcy off drove Flanagan for four to reach eighty and an outside chance of a ton, but Poynter soon buried that possibility when he off drove Garth for four then smashed him through extra cover for four more before pulling Flanagan for six. Tom Fisher tried his dibbly-dobblies from the Aviva end, had a catch grassed and was pulled to the rope by Poynter.

Singh bowled his eleventh over at the end of which the scores were level. Fisher's first ball was straight driven for four by Poynter and Clontarf had won the Leinster Senior Cup by eight wickets in 53.1 overs, with D'Arcy on 88* and Poynter on 33*. Yaqoob finished with 12-1-32-1 and Singh with 11-3-33-0. Derek Dockrell quite correctly gave the Man of the Match award to Mick Granger, and we all went home. Well, I did – I had an Aussie Cabernet/Shiraz waiting for me.

On Sunday morning I tried to think of the differences between the two teams' performances. There was the obvious one of Granger's bowling – no other bowler took more than one wicket.

YMCA hit 19 boundaries, all fours, while Clontarf hit 27, including five sixes. That's a difference, but not a huge one. In 58.4 overs, YMCA scored 167 runs with the bat, 0.474 runs per ball, whereas Clontarf scored 192 runs with the bat in 53.1 overs, 0.602 runs per ball.

So as a unit the Clontarf bowlers defended much better than the YMCA bowlers. Better defence and better attack – like Arsenal just now, you win!

Y.M.C.A. Cricket Club 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
17w 4b 16lb 
for 10 wickets
37
204		        
Tom D.L. Fisher ct A.Poynter b M.Granger 0 1 0
Jack B. Tector ct A.Cusack b J.Morrissey 4 30 13.33
Simi Singh b M.Granger 15 18 3 83.33
Albert Van Der Merwe ct A.D'Arcy b B.Coghlan 16 50 2 32.00
Ruadhan Jones ct A.Poynter b M.Granger 14 48 2 29.17
Robert A. Garth ct J.Morrissey b C.Kelly 20 57 2 35.09
Sean C. Mcauley lbw S.Dutt 40 64 5 62.50
Sam M. Murphy ct R.Forrest b M.Granger 38 54 4 70.37 1
Harry T. Tector ct A.Poynter b M.Granger 16 20 1 80.0
Yaqoob Ali Shah Not Out  4 8 50.0
Padraic J. Flanagan run out (B.Coghlan/M.Granger) 0 2 0 1

Clontarf Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
M.Granger11.423857.603.26
J.Morrissey12.0624124.002.00
A.Cusack11.014400.004.00
B.Coghlan2.0014114.007.00
C.Kelly12.0127127.002.25
S.Dutt10.0137137.003.70

Clontarf Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
13w 1b 2lb 
for 2 wickets
16
208 (53.1 overs)		     
A.D'Arcy Not Out  88 143 8 3 61.54
B.Coghlan run out (P.Flanagan) 53 90 9 1 58.89
S.Moreton ct S.Murphy b Y.Ali Shah 18 47 1 38.30
A.Poynter Not Out  33 39 4 1 84.62
R.Forrest +  
J.Morrissey  
E.Delany *  
M.Granger  
C.Kelly  
A.Cusack  
S.Dutt  

Y.M.C.A. Cricket Club 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Simi Singh11.033300.003.00
Robert A. Garth7.013900.005.57
Padraic J. Flanagan7.012900.004.14
Albert Van Der Merwe12.033600.003.00
Ruadhan Jones3.002300.007.67
Yaqoob Ali Shah12.0132132.002.67
Tom D.L. Fisher1.101300.0011.14

  • Umpire :
    C.Colleran & AA.Baig
  • Scorer :
    A.Mooney