The match began with some kind words from the President Scott Cartwright and a moment’s silence in memory of John Waters, this being the first Valley of Peace match since his passing earlier this year.
The toss of the coin was a harbinger of things to come – the long grass grabbed the first coin toss and it landed perfectly on its side and stayed there. The second coin toss was won by the Valley who elected to bat first against the Millbrook Cricket Club – a decision having been made to play 40 overs per side.
The long outfield grass continued to play a part in scoring – however it remained the same for both innings. It made sure that not too many boundaries were hit and good running (and calling!) was imperative from the batsmen. In some respects it was like a Valley home game – a well-timed off drive generally being rewarded with only two runs. In other respects, it was quite different to a Valley home game – having to catch balls in the deep 40+ metres from the bat turned out to be a tough ask at times, and having no lifesaving in-field trees was missed by some of the more experienced players in the match – a total of 11 players being caught out during the course of the day.
The Millbrook opening bowlers Winder (1/10 off 6) and McGee (3/13 off 8) started incredibly well as the Valley limped to just 11/2 after the first ten overs. Things in the next ten didn’t improve massively for the home side with more tight bowling, good fielding and that long grass meaning we had a break at 42/6 after 20 overs. Once Bob Masefield was caught behind after drinks the Valley was 57/7 and needed something to change. Fortunately for us we’d saved Kade Atkinson to bat at #9 – a job he did excellently. Starting watchfully, he eventually got his eye in and hit 4 sixes and 3 fours being retired at 50. Rusty McGregor and John Kerrison continued on, the latter surviving at least one close run out attempt during this period. Eventually Rusty was caught (not before hitting a sublime 6 over fine leg) and Kade was back at the crease. Unfortunately he didn’t have time on his side and the Valley ended at 140/9 after 40 overs – Kade making an unbeaten 52. The Millbrook team bowled tightly, only conceding 3 wides and 2 no balls – every run counting in a low scoring game such as this.
Lunch was enjoyed in the shade and the Valley knew that with just 140 on the board meant there wasn’t a lot of room for wasted runs in the field. The Millbrook openers make a watchful start, getting through to 20 before the first wicket fell in the 7th over. The careful batting continued for the next 13 overs and Millbrook took a drink at 80/3 off 20 overs. After drinks wickets starting falling more regularly, and in general the Valley fielding effort was pleasing, particularly Bob Masefield’s (1/26 off 8) efforts all round and John Kerrison’s (2/22 off 5) incredibly thoughtful fielder positioning – twice he moved a fielder before bowling and the next ball was hit to the man! Tom Byrne (1/16 off 8) held two good catches in the deep (including the hard hitting S Fraser), and Tom’s run out of B Sheehy off his own bowling was pivotal as the batsman was on 38 and looking to take the game away from us. Hamish Cochrane (3/8 off 3) rather reluctantly took the ball in the 32nd over, and ended up taking a wicket in each of his three overs. The Millbrook team losing their last 4 wickets for 12 runs, meant they fell 23 runs short at the end of the match.
Afterwards our new Patron Derek Banks was present to say a few words, and he did quite an excellent job of drawing the Gin raffle. The Brad Winder Cup was awarded to Kade Atkinson (this cup being awarded to the Valley Player of the Day as adjudged by the visiting team) and it was a nice touch to have Brad himself there to present it this year and tell us a little about its genesis.
Special thanks once again to the Cartwright family (Scott, Tina and Kate all having helped) for hosting and preparing meals, Bob Masefield for arranging clubroom access and mowing the boundary, and all of the non-playing visitors and guests who enjoyed some sun and warm weather. Thanks too to Stu and the entire Millbrook team for travelling – we look forward to next year and a return to the Valley of Peace for our first game of the 2019/20 season against you all.
Match summary:
VOP win by 23 runs.
VOP 140/9 (K Atkinson 52*, McGee 3/13 off 8) off 40 overs
Millbrook CC 117/10 (Sheehy 38, Fraser 28, H Cochrane 3/8 off 3 overs) off 36.3 overs
Jesse Tritschler
Valley skipper for the day
Millbrook Cricket Club match, at lunch, Nov 2018
