22^nd June 2011 Match Report

Captain's Report

Background:

Our annual away fixture to Malahide is one of our favourites: the conviviality of the players, the traditional after-match hospitality and the beautiful green-baize-like pitch makes the event a pleasure every time.  We also tend to be pretty closely matched in terms of our cricketing ability and this inevitably makes for excitement.

Bowling:

Malahide batted first and had to contend with a good deal of decent bowling by Dalkey.  Everybody played their part, including the fielders, and Stewart Reay will be pleased to know  Malahide thought "the dark haired young man" was a particularly effective bowler.  All the good bowling kept Malahide to a relatively modest tally of 102 for their innings.  This is about 20 runs shy of the regulation 120 for Taverners, and so I felt it was an achievable target.  However, my hubris was noted when our turn came at the crease as it turned out the Malahide bowlers were equally accurate: indeed, initially they were almost unplayable!

Batting:

Dalkey opened its innings with two stalwarts, Richard Corkin and Patrick Wilshere, at the crease.  Both are able batsmen and when we had only managed a mere handful of runs off the first four overs I sensed we might be in a bit of trouble.  The Malahide bowlers who pinned our openers down so effectively were Robbie and Gary, who had figures of 2-0-8-0 and 2-0-7-0.  They were followed by Chris Smith whose figures of 2-0-3-1 were the best of the evening.  Fine bowling runs in the family as his 16 year old son bowled with the skill and accuracy of a veteran and posted 2-0-4-1, and only his youth stood in the way of him being awarded the bottle of wine for man of the match.

No wonder Dalkey struggled at the crease at the start of the innings.  Nevertheless, Patrick got his eye in and and achieved 22 not out, ably supported by one of our two guests from Halverstown - Hubert Beaumont - who anchored our innings and crafted a solid 22 not out.  Richard was stumped for 4 runs, Dave Lee was bowled for 5, poor Stewart Reay was bowled for a duck and Des Drumm (also from Halverstown and a tidy bowler) was caught for 4.  Our run rate in the middle of the innings dropped alarmingly until David Ingram and Ian Walker - under orders from their captain to "hit the ******* thing" - duly dug Dalkey out of a hole and thumped the ball about with some abandon.  David was not out for 15 and Ian, not out for 19, hit the winning runs with a huge driven six.  In the end, despite our slow start and middle order plateau, Dalkey passed the target of 103 runs with a couple of overs and 3 wickets to spare.

Post Match Details

One of the pleasures of this game was the sight of so many children and their parents milling around celebrating the end of a Malahide Cricket Club summer camp in front of the clubhouse.  Barbecues, bouncy castles and loud music were the backdrop for the evening.  We don't often play in front of crowds of hundreds but sadly in this case they were pretty much oblivious to the earnest endeavours of 22 Taverners out on the pitch.  The colourful, noisy, carnival-like atmosphere added to the festive nature of the occasion and I clearly remember bowling to the distinctive sound of Johnny Cash singing "The Man Comes Around".  Large crowds and loud music are not exactly standard Taverners fare and it was all the more entertaining for that. 

Malahide generously fed and watered us afterwards with a splendid barbecue and we are grateful to our good friends for their customarily gracious hospitality. Malahide man of the match was Paul Connolly in honour of his effective and penetrating bowling.  Dalkey's man of the match was Ian Walker for his towering driven six to win the game.

Report Compiled by: Owen Jacob (Captain)