Match 4 - Appleby

VICTORY! REDS BREAK TOUR CHERRY, THANKS TO TIM CHERRY

Monday April 6

The Reds knocked up their first win on tour yesterday, defeating the Appleby Cricket Club second XI by a comfortable five-wicket margin. After being humbled by Appleby’s senior team at Queens Park Oval in game three, the Reds made some wholesale changes to their team, recalling ex-skipper Blair Hobbs from exile and rushing back Harry Martin, Richard Lovett, Jason Taylor and Dion Newburn. Hydroflow nightclub aficionado Mark Lucas was retained in the team despite a debilitating hamstring injury. Alec Kahn was dropped but took advantage of this to don the most immaculate umpiring garb ever seen by the Reds squad (according to some sources Kahn was ready to go at 6am and was seen practicing his signals in front of the mirror in his hotel room).

Wet weather through the week made preparation of a turf pitch untenable so the match was transferred to the synthetic pitch, which captain Hobbs described as “hard”. Hobbs lost the toss and Reds found themselves in the field and the beneficiaries of two poor shots straight up. White tried to heave Harry Martin to mid wicket but was skittled, giving the young Pommy git his first tour wicket – then Bargent edged Tim Cherry to slip, where Lucas dropped the chance but Hobbs bushranged the rebound. Appleby were 2/0 and the Reds were on fire – LIKE A TIGER! The middle order steadied, however, and the next wicket took 34 runs before Rob Johnson popped up to take three successive wickets. He bowled the cross-batting Wilson and the dangerous Meikle two balls later, then later had Clarke caught by Cherry at square leg. Unfortunately for Johnson he also spilled a caught-and-bowled chance between his first two wickets, which earned him the ritual ‘jacket of shame’ – bad luck Rob.

Fortunately for Appleby they had some capable hitters in their lower order, especially the Williams’ brothers (not Venus and Serena), who contributed to the home team’s final score of 187. Johnson and Harry Martin both bowled well and collected three wickets, Tim Cherry bowled economically while Greg ‘Eating Machine’ Powell also completed a tidy ten-over allotment. Hobbs came in for some punishment, being clubbed onto a nearby road, while Jason ‘JT’ Turner bowled a five over spell without luck. With 50 overs to make 187 the visitors were quietly confident, though mindful that their tour high score was at that point a measly 115.

Hobbs urged his team on with the inspiring words “make the runs” and Nick Whittock took them to heart, belting the first ball of the innings over cover for four, then cutting the next ball to the fence. Whittock inside-edged soon over and departed for eight, before his fellow opener Geoff ‘Groucho’ Boyes and number three Tim Cherry (or in Kiwi, Tom Cheery) survived a difficult period against some good fast bowling. They consolidated the innings and maintained a good scoring pace before Boyes lifted a ball to square leg for 24. A momentous occasion followed when Cherry brought up the first half-century on tour – and my, didn’t Tim look good in that Reds cap (for all the Sacred Heart CC readers back home). Powell helped steady the ship after Cherry and then Hobbs departed, however the real clincher was the big-hitting of Mark Lucas. Batting with sore hamstring and a 4am finish the previous night, Lucas decided to stand and swing, lobbing five balls to the line and another which cleared the boundary, a building, a hedge and a nearby road. This ball was never seen again, prompting Kahn to initiate a frantic search and invoice Hydroflow CC for the return of said ball.

With a victory finally in their kitbag, the Reds celebrated with a few quiet ales before moving on to downtown Invercargill and the cunningly-named ‘Thai Dee’ restaurant. The satays and pad tais were devoured with glee before the lads returned for a quiet night (unlike the previous evening, which didn’t end until 4am for many of the squad). The next match is scheduled for Tuesday against Southland Boys’ High School, however with rain, hail and a top of 14 degrees most of the squad – Alec Kahn excepted, of course – is not confident that much play will be possible.