Day 1 - Saturday 13/3/2010

We showed up bright and early to find a deck that was hard as a rock and a field which was saturated but with no puddles anywhere. There was a howling south easterly which promised to dry the ground out but also bring showers from time to time. None the less I had no hesitation in saying we'll have a bat after calling the coin correctly with confidence we could put a big score together and taking them out of the game.

This was not to be the case at all. We lost wickets early, quickly and consistently and were in a terrible state at 6-62. 

Some of our batting demise was due to bad luck and good bowling but plenty due to poor batting (especially from me). Thankfully we had a couple of batsman show some determination and allowed us to struggle our way to 92 all out at about 1:40pm. 

Steve Andrews top scored with a quick 26 and Frank Modan scored 16 before being caught by a absolute screamer but other than them it was a very sad score card.

It's obvious but we knew we had to roll them cheaply to have a chance of winning and I'm sure it crossed the mind of many that if they went to stumps with only a couple of wickets down and a lead the game was effectively over.

At our level of cricket in particular batsmen will always give you chances and if you hold on to all of them you are almost guaranteed to get them our shortly. As we took the field I reminded all the boys of that and called on them to stay focused and alert regardless of the state of the match. 

Clem (Adam Marre) opened the bowling and first ball was a thick outside edge straight to Frank at 3rd slip and straight to ground. Head's didn't drop though and there was a level of excitement from producing a chance on the first ball. Two balls later and Clem had his man with a lob to mid-off taken by a diving Bruce Crawford. Rarely has a batsman been so owned.

We took 3 more wickets in the first hour including 2 of the 3 Muddies batsmen who's wickets we prized most. One trapped in front LBW after a couple of very good shouts and the second to a scorching diving catch by David Hooper at gully of a ball that flew off the bat high and too his left. Both wickets fell Matty Thompson. 

The other wicket to fall in the hour was that of the number 4 who hooked a short ball from Clem which went high to deep square leg and Matty Thompson covered at least 20m from fine leg to take a diving catch literally 10cm off the ground. Matty's and Dave's catches were perfect examples of the level of fielding we needing to stay in the game. 

After tea we continued to knock the wickets over, Matty Thompson doing most of the damage bowling full and at the stumps but aided in part by some very bad batting. The last prize scalp came from great sustained pressure from Matty tying him down resulting in a loose shot which saw the ball go high in the sky to mid-wicket and comfortably swallowed. 

The Muddies on the rocks at 9-66 looking down the barrel of a not insignificant first innings deficit, something they couldn't have imagined at the start of their innings.

Unfortunately - or possibly fortunately in the end -  the last wicket was not so easy. Their tale enders swung wildly at times, we bowled some poor deliveries at others and our fielding for the first time in the day let us down. We missed two simple opportunities but to their credit the 10 and 11 were able to do what their batsmen couldn't and put together what they thought was a match winning partnership of 43 to take them 17 past our total. We had two chances which should have been taken, one of them with the lead reduced to 3 runs but we couldn't do it.

Matty Thompson had bowled 17 overs straight into the wind taking 5/43 and bowling as fast as I've seen him bowl. Clem bowled beautifully at the other end with 3/41 off 11.2

We walked off the field disappointed that we had played so well to get so close to first innings only to fall short. I encouraged the boys not to drop their heads though since with both first innings completed during the day it was going to be a full 2 day game regardless of whether we had won first innings or not. Some of the Muddies didn't seem to think so and were carrying on like they had won the premiership already.

There was still 24min left in the day, enough for a testing 9 over spell. It started horribly with us losing 2 quick wickets in the 3rd over to be 2 for 3. We finished at 2 for no many still trailing at the end of the day. Far from the ideal start.

Day 2  - Sunday 14/3/2010

On the drive to the ground there was water on the roads everywhere and I was really concerned we would lose time which could put us out of the match. Thankfully it was much drier at the ground. There had been showers overnight but the field was still in good nick and while there was some water damage to the side pitch, there was none to the playing surface so we were right to start at the scheduled time.

We started determinedly, not scoring quickly but keen to erase what was left of the deficit and get back in the game. Jarrod Harkness fell after 20 min solid resistance to an LBW that was worth a shout but certainly not plum. This bought Frank Modan to the crease and their bowlers would get no further joy for the next hour and a bit. Frank played beautifully scoring  comfortably and elegantly while I fought hard and doing it in 1's and 2's. 15 min before lunch I fell for 41 having put together a partnership of 70 with Frank to give us a position to launch from.

We lost no further wickets till lunch and I wanted to bat for another hour and build whatever total we could in that time. Unfortunately Frank fell soon after lunch to a very dubious decision but thanks to Brendan Pearce, a stellar performer for the A's after receiving a promotion in round 8, and magnificent hitting by Stuart Sheridan, including a huge 6, we went to drinks at 9-160 dec. We had 2 hours and 50 minutes to get 10 wickets for less than 143 runs, while they had the comfort of knowing all they had to do was not get out and they would win based on first innings.

Muddies started much better in the second dig and after losing one early wicket two of the best batsmen looked very comfortable at the crease. Thankfully Clem struck in the over before tea taking the wicket of the opener to have them 2-49. 

For much of the next hour of play the game was slipping away. Their best bat was looking very comfortable and scoring freely. That was until Richie Delisser bowled a 3 over spell which was not pretty but got the job done. For the first 2 overs he mainly sprayed them but was able to bowl a couple of good balls which led me to give him a 3rd over. After the first few balls of his 3rd over I was starting to think I had done the wrong thing and then out of nowhere he made magic happen. He hit their star bat on the pads and the finger went up. It was a dubious LBW at best.. He walked off fuming but we had our fair share of bad decisions so there was no pity. Score: 3-80.

From there things went from strength to strength. Matty Thompson took the wicket of their no.4 thanks to a magnificent diving catch by Clem at mid-wicket, the same batsman that Matty had dismissed with a screamer off Clem in the first innings  After that the slips cordon convinced me to roll my arm over and I was lucky to pick up 2 wickets in my first over; both bowled.

With about an hour to go we could see dark clouds brewing to the south east and appeared to be heading straight for us. If they did we would be able to extend play by up to 30 minutes but it is much more likely we would have been washed out completely.

With the bad weather looming we took more wickets until we had only 2 more to get with 40min to go; one of them the determined bowler that had help them get first innings points and the other their captain who was defending solidly trying to bat out the day. 

With all this pressure I threw the ball to our resident slow bowler, Greg Thompson. He quickly created a bit of interest so we were soon all crowding the bat with only 2 guys further than 5m; one in front of square leg, the other in front of point. Time passed and the storms miraculously blew south of us but we were not able to take either wicket. 

With 15 more minutes to go in the day Greg started the over of his life. First ball of the over GT dropped one in short, their number 10 leaned back and swung with everything he had. Unfortunately for him he didn't time it perfectly and hit it in the air, roughly 15cm off the ground, and 2.5m to the left of Clem in front of square. He took 1 pace, launched and again came up with an inspirational catch. Their batsmen trudged off an inconsolable figure.

That bought no. 11 to the crease with 5 balls to go in the over. He survived the first 3 looking very uncomfortable and we were certainly letting him know how tight the situation was. 4th ball he faced beat him, brushed the pad, brushed the keepers pad and goes to me at second slip. I thought I heard a feather edge and was up for the catch along with a couple of other guys, the rest of us were appealing for LBW (See Matty Thompson go from one side of the pitch to the other during the appeal in the photos above). Not Out! 

What a let down. Back to the mark. Here we go boys. Next ball, not much different, little straighter, going straight for middle stump, he steps back and across in front of his stumps and missed it by miles. We were all up in unison and so was the finger with only 12 minutes left in the days play!

Scorebook

We lost our minds in scenes similar to when Michael Clarke picked up 3 wickets to win the Sydney test vs India in 2008.

As we left the ground the roads just 200m from the field were drenched and it is truly amazing how close it came to getting washed out. I've played in some tight games and come up trumps but never before have I been involved in a game which has see-sawed so much. A match I will never forget and one I suggest should go down in West Brisbane folk lore.

Dave Andrews (Proud Captain)