By James Corbishley
Sydney - 18th November 2012
Another stunning spring morning greeted the Mad Dogs and Aussies at the Alan Davidson oval for the first match of the latest Ashes series. Rain had threatened to keep the pitch wet but 24 hours of no rain saw all the excess water drain away, providing a lush green outfield ready for action. The wicket was in decent shape, if a little damp, but the North Easterly gusts would soon take off the moisture and provide excellent conditions for a great day.
(Link to Dropbox Photo Album of the day)
Captain Bourne tossed well for the Dogs who eagerly picked up the mantle to face first. Some decent pace from the Aussie bowlers on the moist wicket saw a tentative start from the Mad Dogs for the first few overs. It wasn’t helped by a slow and sticky outfield and a quick high catch taking the 1st Dog Steyn for single figures, but then a very solid partnership took shape between Timmo and Cutler, with Marcus giving the new bad-boy-bat a proper knocking in by spanking 6&4 consecutively. Both ended retiring with 20+ runs under their belts to give the Dogs an excellent start. The Dogs continued a slower pace, with the Aussie’s firing some fine balls down the line and this slowed the running down considerably with some great legside fielder positioning taking TC and Garvs out of the picture. Ed W came in to pick up the pace and hammer more sixes over the Aussie’s heads, alongside TP, showing tenacity from the middle order to stick around until retirement. The tail enders Bourne, Corbo and Suttle found some more runs in the last few overs, with another couple over the fence and to the boundary to give the Mad Dogs a very respectable 133 to chase from 20 overs, with 4 retirees.
Out came the Aussie’s batsmen to face the Dogs in their first innings. I’m not sure anyone expected what was to come over the next 90 mins. Ed W started the assault with two excellent outswingers, both clipped and caught by the keeper to take the first two Aussie openers for single figures and it would have been a hat trick but for the free hit rule. Whilst Keith kept the Aussie’s in check with some decent spins from the South, in came ‘Pallet the Mallet’ – smashing straight down the middle to see the bails flying twice, whilst all the time the Mad Dog fielders had the eye, firing the leather back into base and keeping the runs between stumps a one way affair. The Aussie batters found some form with awesome slogs over Cover and Mid Wicket almost taking out a bicycle and it’s 4 year old rider but then Suttle provided a suitably “subtle” ball which was hit by one of the Aussie big hitters and caught in the outfield by a superb diving catch by Garvs, the first of a few to come. The Timpson spin came into play, bring out another two spectacular catches deep out in the field, before Garvs came up to the wicket and produced a stunning display of athleticism by a double bowl and catch effort, one caught whilst sprawled on the floor with outstretched fingertips. Cutler finished the last Aussie big hitter off with another excellent bowl and catch effort before the last Aussie tailers were caught by the safe hands of the Dogs. Too easy! All out for 94.
Snags and Beers were consumed rapidly, before Round 2 kicked off. The Mad Dogs were keen to seize the opportunity and raise the run rate to make the target very difficult for the Aussie’s, but the reverse battling order and some fine bowling and fast hands meant wickets were taken quickly and if it hadn’t been for the Mad Dog Secret Weapon, aka ‘Slog Master’ Jon Gill sitting tight until retirement it might have been an early collapse. Corbishley went out for a dumb duck by running himself out (what a tool) and it seems the Dogs were a bit too keen on scampering about, getting run out on three occasions. Ed W and Garvs then solidified things in the middle, rising the tally again until Garvs retirement. The score was rattled up again nicely with The Tim’s providing a few extra notches before “3 beers Cutler” was out for a glittering quack (I thought it was a free ball!). Tail ender Steyn finished off with the resurrected retiree Gill for another sterling performance raising his total to 32 for the innings. 40 overs done and dusted. 249 run total for the Dogs. NICE.
It seemed a daunting task for the Aussies from the outset. 150+ from 20 overs would be a very nice score on a good day but they were immediately cut to ribbons by Cutler who took two bowled wickets in the first few overs to make it very difficult for recovery. Again the two Aussie Big Hitters did themselves proud and achieved retirement age, and the middle order racked up some singles but it was too little too late with some fine MD spin bowling and brilliant fielding keeping things firmly under control and producing some superb catches for the outfield yet again. The young Mad Pups came out for the final 3 overs bowling, and a perfectly pitched final ball of the day from Mini-Marcus Eddie got a plum LB and produced a wicket for a very happy and smiley lad. Top effort! After the final 20 overs the Aussies did hit over a ton for a day’s total of 203, but nowhere near the Mad Dogs. Man of the match for me was Garvs with all-rounder excellence, and more green on his whites than anyone else to prove it.
It turned out to be a day to go down in history as the best Mad Dogs performance that can be remembered for some time, if not ever. What where the secrets to this success? Was spring in the air perhaps? Was it the new $500 bat? Was it the Sterling captaincy from Mr Bourne bringing flair and cunning to the proceedings by sending in the spin doctors Marcus, Keith and Ed to dealing out some nasty, slow poisonous medicine into the wind from the South end and keeping the medium pacers attacking from the North? The Mad Dogs hangover percentile certainly seemed remarkably low compared to usual ratings – perhaps worth noting for future? Perhaps not…
I reckon a little bit of all of that came together yesterday. Whatever it was, it was a day of first grade cricket from the Mad Dogs. As Seamus the Aussie Captain phrased it, “Catches Win Matches”, but not only did we have the Catches, but blistering bowling and solid, stalwart batting to boot. A combination that meant only one thing for the Mad Dogs – GLORY!