First ever "Clean Sweep" for any Tommies side on Jersey Cricket Tour
2012 will be a memorable year for many cricketers for the rain that fell washing out so many fixtures during the first half of the season. For the Tommies U13 side however and for Phil Brown, their coach and organiser of the annual junior cricket development tour to Jersey, it will be the first ever year in which a side returned from that beautiful island with 3 wins out of 3 – a 100% victory record, a clean sweep! Well done U13s!!
Enjoying the rarity of warm summer sunshine for much of their stay, the U13s played and won all three of their scheduled matches. The first against an U14 side from De La Salle was comfortably won with less than half of the scheduled overs bowled.
Batting first, De La Salle struggled against the variety of their visitor’s bowling attack, as skipper Matt Cox mixed up left arm swing and pace from Matt Munden and Henry Peach (3-12) with his own subtly flighted and Harry Cook’s (2-9) pacey leg spinners. Backed up with sharp fielding (4 catches and a run out) and Tom Green (2-1) to mop up the tail with his floated off spin, it took only 18.5 overs to dismiss the De La Salle batting for a paltry 66 all out.
The loss of an early wicket - Joel Price for just 1 – to a very good reaction catch, did little to hold back Cox (22) and Adam Robson (27) from confidently and swiftly setting about the De La Salle bowling and take Tommies to within a boundary strike of victory. Both then succumbed (Cox yorked, Robson cutting hard straight to the backward point fielder) leaving it to Ben Davis and Haydn Lavender to knock off the remaining 6 runs to complete a 7-wicket victory in just 10 overs.
The next day’s opposition was of a different calibre and reputation – Victoria College.
Electing to bat first on a superb College Field track, they initially found runs hard to come by against the artful swing of Matt Munden (1-18) and pace of Kieran Richards (1-24). The fielding was tight but uncharacteristically a couple of basic catches went down. Let off the hook, Victoria batsmen Hamilton and Brewer then posted a steady 61 runs for the 4th wicket, before Elijah Samuel (1-8) broke the partnership. Some cavalier hitting doubled the run rate during the last 6 overs, as Victoria College did their best to break the shackles of some hitherto tight bowling and fielding. At the close of their allotted 30 overs, they had reached 144 for 8.
Opening the Tommies innings, Matt Cox and Elijah Samuel both looked comfortable on the easy paced pitch and it wasn’t long before Samuel’s stylish stroke play and Cox’s belligerent hitting had Tommies in a commanding position, scoring 78 off the first 10 overs. Cox took full advantage of the short leg-side boundary, hitting 2 sixes and 5 fours before he surprisingly fell for 45, again playing over a well pitched up delivery. Adam Robson joined Samuel and they both kept the scoreboard revolving and at 114 for 1 with 14 overs still to go, a comfortable nine-wicket victory seemed on the cards.
But cricket is a funny game. College tried a sixth bowler who promptly removed both Samuel (38) and Robson (18) in two balls, both to catches in the deep. Kieran Richards then joined Joel Price, and with twelve overs remaining to score just 14 runs all it required was some sensible no-risk batting for an easy stroll to victory. Joel Price then went for 10, holing out to the returning College opener Tate, and Richards could only stand and watch in utter disbelief (along with everyone else!) as Gare (first ball), Peach (first ball), Cook (second ball) and Munden (first ball), all got themselves out trying to hit the cover off the ball, leaving the score teetering on 134 for 8. It took the straight bat of Sam Tickle to firstly avoid the hat trick and then provide sensible support for Richards. The end itself was an anti-climax – the first 2 deliveries of the 23rd over Richards hit a no-ball for 2 and then ran 2 more off a wide to steer Tommies home by 2 wickets. Whew!
So on to Les Quennevais and the Jersey Island XI. With several of the previous day’s Victoria College side representing the Island and spoiling for revenge, this was going to be a tough encounter. The pitch played slow with a little bit of movement and turn right from the outset, making runs not easy to score. Put into bat Tommies made a steady start through Robson (13) and Samuel (19) but when they departed close together, followed by an unsuccessful Cox for just 3 runs, the innings at 43 for 3 off 12 overs was in the balance. With the Jersey Islanders scenting (perhaps prematurely) that they had broken the back of the innings and looking to push their advantage home, Kieran Richards joined Joel Price at the crease. They weathered the initial storm, coping well with the off-spin bowler Herridge, who was getting the most life out of the pitch, to craft out an excellent 4th wicket partnership of 85 runs, before Richards fell for an extremely valuable 31 runs. Tickle (0) and Gare (1) followed quickly but Tom Green (4no) hung around with Price to see the final total through to 133 for 6 off their 35 overs. Price finished with 37 runs, out on the very last ball.
Not a big total and a run rate of just 3.8 runs per over meant that early wickets were needed and some very tight fielding and miserly bowling. And Tommies did just that! While Matt Munden tied down one end with his in-swingers, a sharp run out and two wickets from Sam Tickle had the Jersey boys floundering at 5 for 3. Ben Davis then turned in fantastic figures of 1 wkt for just 6 runs from his 4 over spell. Harry Cook nipped in for a wicket and Sam Tickle (3 for 13) returned to finish his allotted 7 overs by breaking the developing and vital 6th wicket partnership. The run rate had by now gone out to over 5.5 an over.
Jersey now pinned their hopes on the powerful hitting of their last recognised batsman M Davies, who took the attack to the Tommies bowlers, bludgeoning several fours and edging Jersey ever closer to the victory total. However it was the gentle flighted leg spin of Adam Robson who made the telling contribution, mesmerising the batsmen through the air and putting the breaks on the scoring. His return of 1 for 21 in 6 overs (another sharp catch by Cox behind the stumps) halted the run chase in its tracks. Another excellent run out and it was left to Samuel (2-7) to wrap up the Jersey innings at 111 all out.
It was a great moment to savour – the first ever side to secure three victories out of three on a Jersey Tour. Fantastic team spirit, astute cricket awareness and everyone playing their part and giving their all were the ingredients of this success. Well done boys!
With apologies to the U14s for dwelling on the U13s Jersey cream success - a little bit about their tour ...
The expectation of building on last year’s batting successes evaporated in the warm Jersey sunshine. The amount of moisture grounds still retained made for bowler friendly wickets; not being able to get any momentum in training and preparation prior to the tour due to so many matches and practice sessions being curtailed or lost to the inclement weather, coupled with new ideas and a few niggling injuries, meant an established batting order and settled bowling attack had not been formulated by the time they arrived on Jersey soil.
Leading from the front, the Tommies batting was held together by captain Toby Hiram with scores of 24, 36 & 42. With other key batsmen suffering loss of form, no-one else consistently stayed with him and the large partnerships necessary to create winning situations were not forthcoming. The bowlers suffered too from lack of match practice. Good stints returned 1 or 2 wickets, not match winning hauls. The fielding was sound for the most part, with spectacular flashes, but lacked the edge to really impose themselves on and frighten the opposition batsmen.
The first game against Victoria College was exciting as Tommies, defending a low total of 88 all out, nearly upset the form book as an extremely flustered College lurched from cocksure certain to decidedly nervous victory, losing 7 wickets in their stuttering reply. Nerves were jangling so much in the Victoria dressing room (and out on the spectators boundary) that several blood vessel ruptured and tempers frayed when a mix up with the vagaries of the electronic scoreboard indicated suddenly that 17 not 7 runs were required for victory. Home side scorers doing the job might have avoided the embarrassing outbursts.
The second match against a Jersey Island Development side yielded a fairly comfortable victory. Tommies’ tight fielding and containing (but not penetrative) bowling restricting the Development side to 120 for 6 off their 30 overs. In reply, Tommies’ 121 for 4 was achieved in 27.3 overs. Toby Hiram (36), Peter Carter (31no) and Ben Stratford (14) were the main contributors to their 6 wicket win.
The full Jersey XI however proved an entirely different kettle of fish. Batting first they took the Tommies’ bowling apart, posting a mammoth 207 for 2 off 30 overs. The run chase was beyond the Tommies’ batsmen – only Toby Hiram (42) making any telling contribution as the side folded to 102 all out.
A lot to be pondered and reflected upon – the U14 side is finding itself in transition. Hopefully they have learned a lot from this tour – most of all about themselves, the need for complete application to the skills of cricket and how each player’s own role and special abilities should fit into the overall make-up and performance requirements of the team as a whole.
Match Summaries
U14 - Played 2, Won 1, Lost 2
Victoria College - lost by 3 wkts
STRS 88 all out (32.3 overs) - Toby Hiram 24
Victoria College 89 for 7 (27.2 overs) - Sam Rideout 3-30, Oli Pearce 2-18
Jersey Island U14 Development XI - won by 6 wkts
Jersey Island Dev XI 120 for 6 (30 overs) - Kieran Tompkins 2-15
STRS 121 for 4 (27.3 overs) - Toby Hiram 36, Peter Carter 31no, Ben Stratford 14
Jersey Island U14 XI - lost by 105 runs
Jersey Island XI 207 for 2 (30 overs)
STRS 102 all out (27 overs) - Toby Hiram 42
Top wicket takers were ...
Sam Rideout | 20-1-93-4 |
Oli Pearce | 13.2-1-91-4 |
Kieran Tompkins | 12-2-41-3 |
Toby Hiram | 102 |
Peter Carter | 49 |
Ben Stratford | 23 |
Peter Carter | 3 |
Oli Pearce | 2 |
Alex Roper | 1 |
Hamish Proudlock | 1 |
Jack Tyrer | 1 stumping |
Top wicket takers were ...Henry Peach | 14-0-73-5 |
Elijah Samuel | 9.3-2-17-4 |
Harry Cook | 7-1-29-4 |
Sam Tickle | 15.3-2-71-4 |
Matt Cox | 6-1-29-3 |
Elijah Samuel | 94 |
Kieran Richards | 76 |
Matt Cox | 70 |
Adam Robson | 58 |
Joel Price | 48 |
Elijah Samuel | 5 |
Matt Cox | 3 |
Henry Peach | 2 |
Adam Robson | 1 |
Joel Price | 1 |
Sam Tickle | 1 |
Tom Green | 1 |
Haydn Lavender | 1 |
Harry Cook | 1 |