This was a match that had been a long time in the making, as the Auckland Wanderers Police cricket team, under the genial leadership of the great Grim, had made their first visit to the Valley of Peace back in 2008. They subsequently kept coming back every 2 years and by 2018, after 6 matches, the score (with by now 2 trophies at stake) was tied at 3-3. That was with the last 5 hugely enjoyable games all having gone right to the wire!
So the plan was to have a final decider in 2020, but Covid scuppered that, and again in 2022. Accordingly, it was 6 years from the last game to this one, for the long awaited finale. It was a nice sunny day and as per tradition, the Valley batted first, in a 40-over match. The 2 Wanderers’ opening bowlers, Tim McKinnel and Peanut, both got some good movement at above medium pace – which was particularly impressive as this was their first game (as it was for some of the others too), since the last one here 6 years ago! In fact, Tim literally put his heart and soul into his bowling, as after a couple of overs the bottom of one of his boots fell off! 🙂 So he completed his bowling in the shoes he’d arrived in; an impressive effort.
Our openers Brad and Kim were accordingly respectful and after 6 overs we were 11/0. But then Brad opened up with a wide array of quality shots, and when quality left arm spinner Jason Spice (better known for his rugby exploits, but he had been Dan Vettori’s predecessor for ND), Brad promptly hit 2 big consecutive shots high over the fence. When he retired for a quality 40*, at 56/1 after 12 overs, things were looking good. But soon we were 63/4, with Jason showing his class coming back with 2 quick wickets and Kane Matich taking a simply sensational c & b – somehow holding on to a firmly hit on drive from Humey, at full stretch low to his right just off the grass.
Ben Larter then battled hard and batted well for 28 in the middle order, but after he was out we soon fell to 112/8, then suffered another big blow. As key bowler Stan Wooliscroft, after a couple of nice scoring shots, strained a hamstring going for a single. So he limped off, got his gear and drove off to find a physio – which not only left us one short in the field but removed a key bowler who had been a match-winner against the Wanderers last time with 4 wickets. Brad then returned to join captain Bert and they managed to put on 36 for the last wicket.
Then Bert was run out with a couple of overs to go, but the Wanderers sportingly allowed us to bat one more, with Stan gone – so to save time Bert was the one who batted again. A few more were added before in the last over Bert was brilliantly stumped down leg by (ex-Auckland keeper) Richard Irving, whose keeping was of very high quality throughout the innings. Thus we were all out 158, with Brad scoring an excellent and vital 62*. The best of the Wanderers’ bowlers were Gore with 6 1 12 3 and Jason with 6 0 16 2.
So we were about 20 short of our desired total and a man short, but after a splendid lunch from the “A” catering man Barry Frost we took the field with real determination and proceeded to bowl and field at a high level, so much so that the Wanderers were just 45/3 at drinks after 20 overs, a truly excellent concentrated effort. SvG (Steve van Grunsven, not the lesser-known Shane van Gisbergen!) struck a big blow in the very first over, with his sharp mediums bowling the ever-dangerous Simon Irving off an inside edge. While at the other end, Kim bowled with great accuracy (6 1 11 0).
And their good work was carried on by Frank Walsh, Humey (6 0 16 1) and Ben. Shortly before drinks, SvG came up with a great throw from the boundary for a run-out and our ground fielding had been exceptional, with Craig Dacombe, Paul Bateman, Humey, Brad, SvG and others all distinguishing themselves with some great diving saves. We knew they would come out aggressively at us after drinks though and Kane initially looked to take the long handle, but after one big hit over the fence, he was excellently caught by Greg Hills at short cover, high to his left, off Ben.
Then came a fine partnership of over 50, between Jason and Richard. Jason did give 3 chances (2 of them hard ones) but played some terrific shots before he retired for a well-hit 40*. Richard carried on in his usual very graceful attacking style and with Grim’s son Ben hitting some big blows, the Wanderers looked well on track. Craig had bowled a good spell of off-spin and from his last ball, Richard hit a powerful pull shot that looked like clearing the square leg boundary by the shed for all money. But Humey dashed around the boundary and pulled down the second superb and spectacular catch of the day, above his head and then managed to stay inside the line, this was a real turning point. Eventually, 25 were needed off the last 4 overs and SvG returned – to bowl Ben and 2 balls later the next batsman, in a great over.
Brad’s first spell had been punished by Jason, but with the pressure on he now returned to bowl an excellent over, leaving 15 needed off 2. SvG continued to bowl beautifully and cleaned out the next batsman as well, aiming a big hit at him, for his 4th bowled of the innings. In walked Tim and immediately hit the shot of the day, 1st ball lifting the destructive SvG back over his head with a fantastic clean hit that all but cleared the top of the pavilion roof; wow, what a stunning shot for his first ball in 6 years! But SvG completed the over tightly, to finish with the standout figures of 6 1 19 4.
So 8 down, Jason ready to return with 9 needed to win off the last over. And Brad bowled it beautifully. A couple of singles were taken and a couple of byes scrambled, but with 5 to win off the last ball Brad heeded the captain’s call not to ball a no-ball or wide (if he wanted to live!) and the resulting single meant that we had won by 4 runs – what a game!
As always the Wanderers were the best and friendliest of opponents, a credit to themselves and the game of cricket. So we enjoyed their company after the match, after which both teams had an excellent dinner together at Shanghai Dumplings (at the Bush Inn Centre). And big thanks to Simon for organising this – on top of many emails and calls trying to fill our team for this game, and after several withdrawals. But the team we did finally manage to assemble certainly did themselves proud on the day 🙂
And as always at the Valley we were indebted to our hosts – the ever-present President Scotty, Barry the great caterer, and stalwart Phil Smith – who had played the first 6 games, so while unable to play in this one made sure he was present on the day and helping out. This left Greg Hills and Bert as the only 2 from the Valley to play in all 7 games, in this wonderfully close series.
A tribute was made to the 6 Wanderers players who played in all 7 games – Simon, Richard, Tim, Peanut, Kane and Tom Gollan – plus Grim, who made all 7 trips.
Incidentally Grim had 3 innings at the Valley without being dismissed, scoring about 70 runs in all (with a top score of 48*). And his son Ben played a hurricane innings of 43* last time (nearly bringing them home), so his dismissal this time meant that this fine father and son pair finished this series at the Valley with a most impressive batting average of about 130! Also warmest regards to their Hamish Kerr, a simply great guy who played the 1st 6 games – but was regretfully unable to make this final trip, because of a post-op recovery.
And we all paid tribute to Big Mikey from the Wanderers – who loved the Valley so much that at the 2018 game, his ashes were sprinkled underneath the score box in a poignant ceremony. He was a big man and an even bigger character – so it was with no disrespect whatsoever that it was observed the Valley’s bar takings would have been somewhat down on previous trips, purely because of Big Mikey’s absence! To conclude the after-match speeches Simon read a very funny, clever and moving poem as a tribute called “Big Mikey, the bag man”.
And so the sun set on this wonderful series of games – thank you Auckland Wanderers, for the truly great matches, great memories and great camaraderie.
Bert Walker (Valley of Peace Captain)
Match Summary:
Valley of Peace 158, B Moore 62*, B Larter 28, Gore 3-12, J. Spice 2-16
Auckland Wanderers Police 154/8, J. Spice 40 retired, R. Irving 28, S van Grunsven 4-19
Valley of Peace won by 4 runs
