The Valley Of Peace Cricket Club Inc.

After a delayed start due to Honest Trundlers arriving from Queenstown via Invercargill a day late, the battle commenced for the 17th Anzac Trophy game. The Honest Trundlers work in codes with numbers and nicknames such as Baldy, Brewery, Harmy, Action, Saint and the like, so it’s sometimes a mystery just what’s up. An interesting bunch with a long history of tight games at the Valley.

A slow start from the Valley with only 45 off the first 20 overs, in the split format. The Trundlers blazed away in their response and were 75/2 at the lunch break. With the Valley then required to set a target a fresh approach was taken for the second twenty. Stern words from the skipper about a mini “bazzball” approach saw runs starting to flow with the help of some friendly bowling in the middle stages. Phil Harris 35 retired and Paul Bateman 30 retired and an unselfish approach by the Valley middle order, plus a late flourish from Tim Fulton and skipper Ryan saw the Valley ending up with 172. This left The Honest Trundlers with five an over to retain the Anzac Trophy.

Mention must be made of Harmy, a bowler brought on to free up the game but he ended up with 3 scalps to show the established bowlers how a different approach with surprises-a-plenty can help take wickets.

The last twenty was an intriguing battle. The Valley, without its strike weapon in Geoff Olsen who claimed he had broken bones in his foot, left the Valley with a modest attack that sprang into action.

All the bowlers contributed with Tim Fulton 2/31 playing a key role. If you haven’t seen Tim in action is worth attending the Valley to watch. It’s an action that resembles a wind turbine going backwards with a broken propeller set on the side of a steep hill.

Baldy for the Honest Trundlers provided an exhibition of clean powerful hitting with seven boundaries in his 30 retired. Along with Action’s 40 retired, the Trundlers did their very best to take the game deep. Tight bowling from John Durning 1/23  and skipper Ryan 2/19 in the last few overs closed the game out in the last over. The sight of Baldy wanting to return to the crease to continue the onslaught had the Valley players fielding like demons to save runs. VoP keeper Tony Penny had a great day with the gloves (two catches and a stumping). The visitors needed 2 off the last ball to tie but the Valley fielding remained strong and picked up a final ball run out.

Mention must be made of two fantastic boundary catches taken by Trevor Thornton and Tony Danenberg that helped reinforce the cricketing term, “catches win matches”. They resulted in two key batters returning to the pavilion when victory was near.

The first Valley victory of the season.

Hosting the Honest Trundlers with their team culture, sportsmanship, and generous nature makes the game a must for Valley members and friends and I do recommend that you mark now in your calendar for next year as must must-watch day out at the Valley of Peace.

Long may the Honest Trundlers return.

Valley of Peace – 172/6  P Harris 35 rtd, P Bateman 30 rtd, T Fulton 20no, defeated
The Honest Trundlers – 170/8  Action 40 rtd, Baldy 30 rtd, T Fulton 2/31, L Ryan 2/19

Lance Ryan, Valley of Peace Captain

Stunning conditions greeted us at The Valley of Peace for the match against Swannanoa CC with a 26-degree scorcher ensuring the refreshments at long off would definitely be required throughout the day. The pitch and outfield were excellent, and the lunch put on by Scott Cartwright & Barry Frost was exquisite.

Now that I have padded out the report, I can report on the actual cricket which wasn’t much to write home about for the Valley. Swannanoa won the toss and asked us to bat.

They opened up with a couple of lively young quicks, but it was change bowler Hayden Ryan (also a VoP member) who did the damage, ripping through the middle & tail, and picking up the extraordinary figures of 6 for 1.

Strategically placing himself at 7, the skipper was left 8* off 2 balls as he was left stranded, as VOP proceeded to lose 5 wickets in 2 and a bit overs. Valley of Peace all out for 50 before lunch.

Swannanoa CC knocked it off for the loss of no wickets in not many overs. Any thought of rustling up a 2nd abbreviated (by choice this time) game was not even entertained as the mercury rose close to 30, and the cold beverages beckoned.

As always, it was a pleasure to play at the Valley of Peace. Thanks to Swannanoa CC for travelling in, to Scott & Barry for hosting, and to Ant Polson and the team for the grounds.

Ben Larter, VoP Captain

On an extremely hot Sunday morning, it was good to see the original Valley of Peace cricket team all turn up, as no cancellations were recorded through the week or Sunday morning, and the Millbrook CC team arrived, some looking worse for wear, after a good weekend over in Akaroa following a loss to the Goat Herders on Friday. Was that going to be an advantage to us??

The grounds were looking splendid as usual but due to the forecast of a change to rain by 1 pm, we decided to make it a forty-over game, plus some of the Millbrook boys had to catch planes and others driving back so wanted to allow time after the game for socialising. As part of the shorter game, it was decided batsman would retire at 40.

Millbrook CC won the toss and chose to field, which suited us. The pitch in the previous two games had played well with a good number of runs scored by both sides.

We opened with Josh Lilley and Mike Mehaffey (a blend of youth and experience) but tight bowling from Millbrook meant slow progress. After 10 overs we hadn’t lost a wicket and we were thinking (hoping) a change of bowling would give us the chance to pick up the run rate, but this was not to be. The next bowlers were just as tight combined with some outstanding fielding by Millbrook CC.

Our first wicket fell at 26 when Joshua was caught. Mike then did a good job anchoring the innings as other wickets fell, before being bowled for 34 with the score at 88.

The Valley did manage to speed up the scoring thanks to Mark Barnes, who was striking the ball extremely well – he reached 40 and retired. Mark was aptly supported by Russell McGregor who made 19 before unfortunately being run out trying to push the scoring along with only a few overs left. Matt Wenborne was striking the ball well before being bowled for 12 leaving Bert Walker and John Kerrison to see out the last over. VoP ended up with 140 for 8 after the 40 overs.

Millbrook CC were their usual selves with excellent bowling proving hard to get away early on, fielding well and taking four good catches, Matt Walker being their best with figures of 3 for 4 off 7 overs.
We would definitely have liked more runs as we knew it was going to be a challenge to defend but we were feeling reasonably confident given our line-up of bowlers on paper. Unfortunately, Mike (shoulder) and Hamish (hip opt recovery) couldn’t bowl and this restricted options somewhat. But we still had a good attack and the option to bowl Josh who was keeping wickets.

Millbrook CC are never a team to shy away from their shots and today was no different. They managed to find the boundary often, making it through to 42 before losing some quick wickets. Then Mike McGee 29 and Aaron McLeod 32 not out steadied the ship for Millbrook.

We bought John on for two overs to try and break the partnership and he was very unlucky not to get a wicket due to a dropped catch. We then brought back our opening bowlers and managed to apply pressure on Millbrook thanks to a fine 2^nd spell of bowling from Matt resulting in three quick wickets. Millbrook got home at the end of the 36^th over with 3 wickets to spare. Special thanks to Josh who did an excellent job keeping wickets letting only 4 byes through, and the bowlers only bowling three wides.

Some Valley of Peace bowling stats:  Matt 3-31 off 8 overs, Russell 2-27 off 8 overs, James 1-32 off 8 overs, Greg 1-18 off 4 overs.

As usual, the grounds and facilities were fantastic, a great lunch partaken of, and well hosted by Phil Smith.

Greg Jones, VoP Captain