Detail: 16-08-2015 - Blackheath
Result: Won by 4 wkts
Blues vs Blackheath 16th August
Blackheath 245 for 9 dec. Blues 246 for 6. Won by 4 wkts
As the wheels were coming off for the Super Blues of Chelsea in the Etihad Stadium, the super Blues at Blackheath were kick-starting their season with a cricketing masterclass. It was a game that had everything, a hat-trick, a debut ton and catches galore.
Winning the toss, your captain-on-the-day elected to field first, definitely because of the conditions and not because of Blackheath having Sky in the clubhouse and the aforementioned football match kicking off at 4pm.
Despite the best efforts of the opening bowlers Mitch "The Balham Express" and Rich "Cuddles" Mullet storming in, it became clear early on that the opening batsmen may have played before once or twice.
One had an Australian accent, which was a bit of a giveaway, and the other turned out to be in Blackheath's first team. The bowlers toiled away but were unable to stem the pair who were going at 10 an over.
Then the first of three debutants, all of whom would make an impact, made his presence felt. Tom, who I had been calling Tim for most of the first innings (sorry about that), quickly earned the nicknamed "Glenn McGrath" for his lovely action and away swingers that had the opener caught behind. He wasn't happy, but he had to go.
The other opener was proving harder to get out, hitting 130 in close to 15 overs. Yep, he had definitely played before. But Tom would again account for him. Not worried about being hit for two fours and a six in the over, he tempted him again and the Aussie skied it, only to be taken by your humble correspondent on the boundary.
Apres ca, la deluge. The wickets began tumbling, with standout spells coming from Tom and Charlie Walford, who should have got more than 2 wickets for his pains. Also a nice spell from new boy Andrew, who chipped in with a few.
The Express came back into the attack, roughing up Blackheath's 12-year-old bat with the three card trick of a bouncer, a beamer and then a wide. Childline was duly informed.
Rich Mullet came back into the attack late on. Furious about being tapped around by the big Aussie, he took revenge in the best possible manner with a glorious hattrick accounting for their numbers seven, eight and nine. Blackheath just made it to tea with one wicket to spare and declared on 245, a brilliant effort by the Blues to reel in the run rate after a somewhat brutal opening.
After tea, and the horror news that Chelsea were one-nil down, we set about the chase. Cormac and his charge Gaz opening up. They may have had the Aussie, but we had the boys from Zim.
Cormac hadn't thought to bring Gaz in before. He may have proved a useful addition as he unfurled every shot in the book from a glorious back foot drive to the paddle sweep and compiled a glorious century on debut. It inspired Cormac at the other end who made a nice 25 including one glorious cover drive. Das and Bruce both made attacking contributions, but there was controversy.
Bruce was well caught on the boundary only for the teenage catcher to appear to go over the rope. As there wasn't actually a rope and just a flag vaguely marking the boundary nearby it was felt best for relations for the wicket to stand. That magnanimous decision was to backfire as a classic blues mini collapse ensued, with Charlie needed to steady the ship coming in at number six. With 15 overs to go the run rate had been brought down to a manageable 7 but it remained tight going into the past few overs.
With some creative running with Andy straight out of the Keystone Cops, nerves became frayed. Nothing to fear as Walford pulled out a nice little dab for four to tie the scores, and knocked off the winning run with an over and a bit to spare.
To commemorate the glorious victory we have a photo of the celebrating blues. A cracking match and hopefully the new lads will be keen to get involved again in the future.
Nick Clark
[updated 23 11 2015]