Detail: 21-06-2009 -
Result:
Magdalen 282 for 5 (Natoli 2/24). The Blues 124 (Corcoran 42, Selleck 32). Lost by 158 runs.
The Longest Day - 21 June
On Sunday, Blues CC met Magdalen CC on a beautiful day in South West London. With Hampton Court Palace in the distance, conditions were ripe for champagne cricket - a relatively flat pitch for the batsmen but crumbling to give the bowlers some hope and a flat outfield for fielders and batsmen to take advantage of. Blues won the toss and elected to field. On a day like Sunday, it was probably best to have a target in mind.
From the off, the vibe created by the Blues in the field was outstanding; a proper "atmosphere" all the more surprising given that we had a number of new faces. Selleck threw the ball to Daniel Natoli for the first over and he immediately got into the groove with some pacey deliveries, allowing both openers very little room to play any shots. From the other end, Mitch Cocoran dipped into his vast basket of different deliveries and managed to keep Magdalen thinking. We restricted them early on and with Daniel getting two early breakthroughs (one from a well taken skier by Tim Cocoran), life by the Thames was dandy.
Unfortunately, with two wickets down, Magdalen introduced their superstar no 4 bat, a Sri Lakan young man, with the strength of 10 Blues and seemingly in desperate need to get the game over quickly to watch his side in the 20:20 Final. It was ominous from his first ball that he dispatched his first ball for six with little more than a flick of a wrist. And so it was, for the next 30 overs, one man took the Blues bowling attack apart, hitting the ball to kingdom come with not so much of a hint of effort. The Blues did everything in their power to try and restrict him with an "in and out" field approach and bowling to the best of our ability. Ahmed, Mullett, Webb, Cutting, Selleck and May were the bowlers who pitched in and all managed 3 to 4 good deliveries per over; unfortunately our man hit the other 2 to 3 for six or four, but mainly six. When he was out for 132 (a skier he purposely gave), it was a vast relief mainly for the fielders who had become experts in finding balls in bushes. We managed a few more wickets but by then, the damage had been done with Magdalen posting a daunting 282 for 5.
After a great tea, Blues turned to John Lee and Gary Cullinan to set the foundation for "mission very difficult but possible". Unfortunately Gary was unlucky with one that popped and after the in form Tom Jordan fell having hit his first ball for six, the already big mountain ahead of us was turning into our very own Everest. With Cocoran (T) and Natoli also falling cheaply to Magdalen's accurate openers, at 32 for 5, it was questionable whether the Blues would even arrive at the range, let alone take on the mountain.
Corcoran (M) and Selleck came together and set about bringing about respectability to the Blues innings - they put on 74 between them, Selleck 32 and Cocoran 42 and with twenty overs, they were talking semi seriously about taking on the Magdalen total. However, they both fell and unfortunately, the Blues were not able to hold out the last 12 overs, leaving us 124 all out, losing by 158 runs - a resounding thumping.
Without doubt there was a one man difference between the sides and it was disappointing that if luck had been on our side, things may have been very different. However, many thanks to all who played; commitment could not be faulted; everyone contributed with either bat, ball or in the field and in that way, it was a Blues Classic. Whatever the result.
[updated 30 Jul 18]