Penn Street vs Church Boys

Penn Street CC 136 (Reavey 43) lost to Church Boys CC 218 (Barnett 4-63, Jones 3-28) by 82 runs

We waited so long for some cricket. So long. And then this happened. There’s no easy way to put this – PSCC were well beaten. In mitigation, it was the first game of the season after no fewer than nine postponements (surely a record in itself) against opponents who are not only always strong, but who had played a few games already.

Things actually did not start too badly. Sam Saunders on debut was given the new ball and he and the always-reliable Caitlin Macken were an effective opening partnership without actually making a breakthrough. That came when Captain James brought Jonny Barnett into the attack; his very first ball of the new season saw the batter spoon a catch to the skipper at mid-off. How many other PSCC players have opened their season with a wicket? Two more swift dismissals followed (one bowled, one caught behind), Jonny had a three-fer and PSCC were well into the game.

That’s where it all began to unravel. Despite another wicket for Jonny, a couple for Dave Jones and a wonder catch by President Matt Reavey off Asif Teja, PSCC just could not dislodge the one Church Boys batter who seemed to have an eye for the ball, despite inexplicably batting down at number eight. By the time Dave nailed him leg before to finish the innings Jeychandaran had scored 84 off 56 deliveries and had more than doubled the Church Boys’ total to something extremely challenging.

The total of 218 was also boosted by an absolutely inexcusable 49 extras, including 35 wides which neither the irregular bounce nor inept wicketkeeping could account for.

After tea PSCC started brightly, Captain James striking two crisp fours before holing out to cover. Rob Sutherland gave President Matt some stoic support and the two put on over fifty runs before the drinks break. And then the wheels well and truly came off. Rob was caught off a leading edge, Dave skied his second ball to midwicket and Steve Smith was bowled. Jeremy Knox made his traditional nine off five balls, at which point Sam decided that was a bit of a laggardly strike rate, hit his first ball in PSCC colours for four (another record, perhaps) and then got an unlucky edge to his second. With only the tail (and Asif) to bat with President Matt tried to accelerate but got an almost unplayable delivery to be 9th out.

In short, the last nine PSCC wickets fell for 62 runs, the top scorer was extras and we probably shouldn’t talk about this match any more.

PSCC: James Sempill (c), Matt Reavey, Rob Sutherland, Dave Jones, Steve Smith, Jeremy Knox, Sam Saunders, Asif Teja, Jonny Barnett, Richard O’Hagan (wk), Caitlin Macken