Match of the season goes to the wire

Dubbed to be the match of the season, the one-day league match between Hales and the Crusaders did not disappoint as an electrifying cricket match was played under the lights of the House of Hale. In four previous encounters, the Crusaders have only won once, although they came really close while defending a total of 306.

Despite the label of the match, the Crusaders selectors opted to rest most of their frontline players. It was a slap in the face for the full-house of spectators as they felt like they had deserved better after the build-up of this match.

When questioned about the selection, O’Shea answered, “We have faith in our entire squad and anyone of them can perform admirably when given the environment. This is not a second-string team, but rather our best one-day team under the circumstances following a draining first-class match earlier this week”.

Non-playing club vice-captain Graeme Jeremy added, “We brought in some of the younger guys, feeling that some urgency in the field and the running between the wickets would be beneficial against such a dominating opposition. At the same time, we’ve brought in the older guys to balance the youth with experience”.

Despite the potential controversy, the match proceeded with Hales winning the toss and elected to bat on a batsman’s paradise. Despite a fairly slow start by Bardsley(46) and Basson(54), the tempo was picked up by Khanya who made 104* in 82 balls, and Deon(47* off 32). The bowlers were sent to all parts of the ground with no place to hide. Graham Ferdinand bowled a tight line and walked away with a respectable 1/45 after a total of 307/4 was allotted in the 50 overs.

A target of 308 seemed to be too far out of the league for this team, nonetheless their captain had complete confidence in his batting lineup. The innings began poorly with Geoff Kenny being run out in the second over for 5. Pete Moller joined captain O’Shea to hit a quick 22, but they were continuously behind the required run rate. William Downing(37) and Ferdinand(25) offered support to O’Shea who marched towards a hundred, but at 213/4 in the 40th over, there was a lot of work to do. Ron Stearman, known for his big hitting, walked in to try to prove a saviour. That he did as he and O’Shea blasted everything in sight. There was no big-hitting, but lots of fours through the gaps. Needing 45 of the last 5 overs, the two batsmen increased their tempo and took their team home in the final over of the innings to end at 308/4. O’Shea was brilliant in his 156* off 147 balls, showing big match temperament. Stearman was clinical in his 56* off 36 balls, providing the necessary support for O’Shea.

It was a match that went against the script. Hales were expected to win against a fairly out-of-sorts selected Crusaders XI, but it was the experience that took them home to an amazing victory.

O’Shea said after the match, “I don’t know how to describe it. Its amazing, to chase such a big score successfully, its just amazing. I’m glad some of the non-regulars have been apart of this win, because this is what it feels like to win against all odds. I’m very proud of the way the batsmen kept us in the game, despite the increase of the required run rate. Just amazing, that’s all I can say”.

Stearman added, “I don’t get a lot of game time these days, but hell, when I do I give my best. Tonight was no different and I was honoured to have batted with Matt and take us home”.

The team was: Kenny, O’Shea(c), Moller, Downing, Ferdinand, Stearman, Ahad(wk), Harding, Kotzo, Blott, Legg. 12th: Hibbert.

Spinners too much for opposition

In a first-class league match, the T&N Crusaders traveled to NUTs Cricket Ground, hoping to obtain their first first-class victory of the season. After a poor start to the season in this format, the players were pumped up for a close match-up. The big team news for this match was that Allan Blott was dropped for this fixture due to a dip in form. This would be Blott’s first dropping since joining the club 4 seasons ago. Tim Fox replaced him as opening bowler.

NUTs won the toss and chose to bat first on a dusty wicket, once again perfect for the two in-form Crusaders spinners. The first innings did not begin well for NUTs as Eddie Ayres picked up two quick scalps for only 5 runs. Ayres collected a third with the score on 28, but the worst was to come when Chris Hayward came on early to exploit the conditions. He wrapped up the middle-order and tail very cheaply, taking 5/12 in 9.3 overs. Stephen Harding’s two overs of spin were both maidens and he picked up a wicket. NUTs ended on 113 with Brickhill(37) being the top-scorer.

Matt O’Shea and Michael Prince walked out to open the innings, hoping to achieve a large first innings lead. The opening stand amounted to 200 before O’Shea was stumped for 109 (off 98 balls) after trying to keep up the tempo of his innings. Prince(92) followed shortly after, but that did not slow the innings down. Jeremy(120) picked up his 6th first-class century in a 3rd wicket stand of 179 with John Simpson(76). After their dismissals, Graham Ferdinand(49*) was the only other to offer resistance, but a total of 504 was always going to be challenging for the NUTs.

The openers for NUTs looked to bat out the rest of the match, knowing that they’d never attain a second innings lead. They began well with a stand off 66 off 190 balls, but the consistent line by Harding and Ferdinand got too much as both fell within 5 deliveries. Hayward took 3 wickets for 0 runs in the middle order, but it was Foley(74) who stood strong amid the fall of wickets. The lower order continued to resist, but it was Ayres who came back with the new ball to pick up 2 quick wickets, dismissing the home team for 195.

It was a convincing victory, one which will be a good platform in which to launch the remainder of their season’s campaign. Tim Fox bowled poorly and he may well-likely be replaced for the next first-class match.

O’Shea said after the match, “We are glad that we have finally won a first-class one this season. We’ve put in hard work, but I think for this game we just got the balance right in terms of team selection. We were always going to field a second spinner, and even discussed the possibility of a third. Overall it was a good performance”.

Man of the match was Chris Hayward for his 8 wickets in the match.

The team was: Prince, O’Shea(c), Jeremy, Simpson, Lothrop, Ferdinand, Ahad(wk), Hayward, Harding, Fox, Ayres. 12th: Legg.

The Crusaders next host Walker XI in their next first-class league match.

No chance for Vanha in crushing one-day defeat

The Crusaders hosted Vanha in a one-day league match under a partially cloudy and humid day. Vanha, who have looked poor so far this season, won the toss and elected to bat first.

The batsmen never got off the ground as they were quickly shaken up by the pace of Eddie Ayres and Tim Fox. In a team total of 49, Claasen(18) was the only batsman to make double-figures. Ayres’ 2/7 and Fox’s 5/7 was a brilliant display of fast bowling, ably backed up by Hayward’s 3/5.

The target proved very undaunting as O’Shea(30*) and Jeremy(13*) finished the job in 12 overs. Man of the match was Tim Fox.

O’Shea commented after the match, “A victory is always sweet, but I would have liked to have batted first and perhaps gotten some more batting time in for the guys. Our bowlers were in top form today and the results showed”.

The team was: Prince, O’Shea(c), Jeremy, Lothrop, Ferdinand, Simpson, Ahad(wk), Hayward, Blott, Fox, Ayres. 12th: Branson

The Crusaders travel to the House of Hale for next week’s one-day league match, a match which has been greatly anticipated as the match of the season amongst locals.

Hayward stars in T20 victories this week

This season’s T20 action began this week with 3 fixtures for the T&N Crusaders. After a poor T20 performance last season, the club was looking for some improvements this season.

The first match was at home to Ravi at Hyd. The home team won the toss and chose to chase on a dusty wicket. The visitors piled up 176/4 in their 20 overs, taking the opening bowlers apart to send them packing for 11+ an over each. It could have been worse if it weren’t for Tim Fox’s 2/18 in 4. Chris Hayward assisted with 2/31, but the bowling was not on target.

The Crusaders showed very little fight as they were bundled out for 129 in the 18th over. O’Shea made 64 and was the lone fighter in an amazing display of bowling by Murphy(4/17) and Southern(4/19), giving victory to Ravi by 47 runs.

In their second T20 fixture of the week, the Crusaders travelled to Norm Beale Stadium to face Klunkalush Cricket Club. The wicket was green, which gave the Crusaders’ fast bowlers delight as they were asked to bowl first. In terms of selection, surprisingly Stephen Harding was called up for this one, replacing speedster Allan Blott. The decision proved fruitful as Harding destroyed the top order with 3/22. Fellow spinner, Chris Hayward, left a lasting impression on the middle-order with a best of 4/13, and Graham Ferdinand cleaned up the tail, ending on 3/13, also a career-best for him. KCC were all out for 84 in 16 overs.

The target proved minimal for the Crusaders, despite a first-ball duck by Michael Prince. Matt O’Shea(29) and Graeme Jeremy(33*) kept the runs flowing to get their team home in the 11th over. Man of the match was Chris Hayward.

In the final T20 match of the week, Crusaders hosted the Ferndale Flyers in what was to be a battle of the spinners on a dusty track. O’Shea had no hesitation in batting first, knowing that the wicket would be more difficult to bat on in the evening. O’Shea(57) and Jeremy(58) shared in a 66-run partnership in just 40 balls for the 2nd wicket, before Ferdinand came in during the penultimate over to smash two sixes off Pickford and getting his team to 179/4. Steve Lothrop made 28.

The Flyers lost early wickets which halted all progress towards the daunting target. Hassall top-scored with 21 in an embarrassing total of 63. Ayres(2/11), Fox(2/13) and Hayward(3/3) were the chief destroyers. Hayward picked up his second consecutive player of the match award in a 116-run victory.

Ferdinand steals the show

The much-anticipated debut of the 18-year old all-rounder from Hampshire, Graham Ferdinand, happened on only his 6th day with the club. The Crusaders hosted Toon Town in a 2nd XI friendly on the weekend in front of a very disappointing crowd.

2nd XI captain Pete Moller won the toss and chose to bat first, hoping to allow his team some time in the middle after brief shows during the week. Openers Geoff Kenny and Kieran Strou began well with an opening stand of 96 before Strou was bowled for a solid 39. Captain Moller joined Kenny before the latter was bowled by Thornton for a responsible 59. Moller(23), Downing(14) and Stearman(14) did not last too long and left the home team in some trouble at 171/5. This is where the match turned as keeper Rohana Ahad joined Ferdinand for the 6th wicket and the two of them had a blast as they powered their way to significant milestones in a partnership of 99 off just 77 deliveries. Ahad was bowled in the 48th over for 47 off 43 balls which included 6 boundaries. The Crusaders ended on 296/8 after 50 overs with Ferdinand top-scoring with a magnificent 78* off only 63 balls. His knock included 10 fours and a brilliant six into the west stand.

Toon Town’s chase began well with Munnik(104*) playing his shots all round the wicket. Unfortunately for the visitors nobody else was able to stick around long enough to support him in a major partnership. Toon Town were dismissed for 228 in 49.2 overs. Tim Fox(2/50) and John Branson(2/40) bowled well enough to keep the required run rate out of reach, but it was the debutant Ferdinand’s haul of 4/40 that completed a memorable first match for the youngster. His all-round performance pulled him the player of the match award.

Moller said after the match, “The entire team played well and I’m glad that our guests made a good competitive match out of this. I was overall pleased with our batting and bowling performance, and am also looking forward to spending some more time with Graham who had a phenomenal first match”.

Matt O’Shea, who attended the match to watch Ferdinand in his first match, added his comments, “I liked what I saw today of this chap, although he knows that there’s still a lot of work to do if he wants to be successful with this club. Thankfully he’s come in with the attitude of wanting to learn as much as he can”.

On the question of whether he’s ready for first-class action next week, O’Shea again, “After today’s performance, I’d like to give him a run as soon as possible, especially since we are having some issues at number 6. We’ll see, but you know my feelings of how there’s no better way to learn than to do”.

The team was: Kenny, Strou, Moller(c), Downing, Ferdinand, Stearman, Ahad(wk), Harding, Legg, Fox, Branson. 12th: Lothrop.

Huge win for Crusaders

Jillian Within Temptation was the first one-day fixture of the season for the Crusaders and they almost did not need to show up as they thrashed the visitors by 10 wickets inside the first 90 minutes of the match.

The home team won the toss and O’Shea had little hesitation in putting the visitors in, hoping to make use of the conditions early on. He may be kicking himself now as he rid his team of some batting practice, although the bowlers were smiling with the short amount of time they had to spend in the middle. JWT were dismissed for a pathetic 19 in 11.1 overs. Blott cashed in with 2/13 from 5, well-supported by his new-ball partner Eddie Ayres who took a career-best 7/5 in 5.1 overs.

The Crusaders finished the match in the 4th over of their innings with 21/0.

Vice-captain Graeme Jeremy said post-match, “A wonderful start to the season, although we know that there are still going to be many tough matches ahead. It is good to see our regulars putting in the strong performances”.

The team was: O’Shea(c), Prince, Jeremy, Lothrop, Simpson, Downing, Ahad(wk), Hayward, Blott, Ayres, Hibbert. 12th: Fox.

Innings defeat against Blue Balls

In the Crusaders’ first first-class match of the season, they traveled to Blue Balls Cricket Ground to play one of their nemeses, having lost to them many times in both first-class and one-day cricket.

The home team won the toss and elected to bat first on a slow wicket under overcast conditions. The slowness of the wicket deterred the fast bowlers from making any in-roads and the swing was minimal as the Blue Balls put on 380/3 declared before the end of the first day. Carlos Hibbert was the best of the bowlers, picking up 2/83.

The visitors were in immediate trouble when Michael Prince was bowled first ball. Matt O’Shea and Graeme Jeremy(29) put on a positive 2nd wicket stand of 56 before chaos appeared. Bowker and Hawes cleaned up the middle-order for an addition of only 48 runs, leaving the O’Shea stranded on an unbeaten 50 and the Crusaders being dismissed for 104.

The follow-on was put in place and the Crusaders fared much better in the 2nd innings thanks to some more consistent batting by the top order. O’Shea reached his second fifty of the match and was eventually bowled by Bowker for 79. Jeremy’s 31 and Lothrop’s 50 was not enough to get the home team to bat again, leaving victory to the Blue Balls by an innings and 35 runs and the Crusaders were bowled out for 241.

“Definitely some rust was evident in our game this week,” said O’Shea post-match, “but there’s really no excuse for our poor batting display in the first innings. We’re better than that and I hope we can get our BMT going again”.

The team was: O’Shea(c), Prince, Jeremy, Simpson, Lothrop(wk), Downing, Ahad, Hayward, Blott, Hibbert, Ayres. 12th: Branson.

Out with the old, in with the young

During the first week of the season, changes continued to happen within the Crusaders camp. Most of these changes were due to happen pre-season, but due to conditions beyond the control of club management, changes have happened in-season.

The first big change is the selling of Marc McVeigh to English club, Babo. McVeigh only played for single season for the Crusaders after a massive purchase price of R530,604. The money was ill-spent as McVeigh did very little to trouble the scorers, despite his top-notch keeping. Team manager, Neville Smeda, agreed that Rohana Ahad should continue to be nurtured as the first-choice keeper due to his youth. He also admitted that the price for the quality of McVeigh was too good to refuse, only to see the purchase turn sour.

Smeda said, “We have invested a lot of money in Rohana at the Academy and he has improved in his keeping and batting tremendously. The purchase of Marc was a quick-fix to our lower middle-order batting issues with Rohana not making the kind of impression hoped for. Nonetheless, I feel that now that we have reversed that decision and allowed Marc to return to England, we have given Rohana the confidence he needs to continue his improvements in the batting department”.

Another big change is the purchasing of 18-year old Graham Ferdinand from the top-ranked Indian club Silk. This was a significant purchase as the youngster has gained significant experience from playing for a top-ranked club. Ferdinand came from a Hampshire school, only to be sent to play in New Zealand. His stint there lasted one month before going over to Silk. Due to overwhelming strength in the Silk squad, Ferdinand was sold to the Crusaders for R1,061,208.

The club management feels that this amount of spending was warranted as they have been desperately looking for a genuine all-rounder, which Ferdinand is. The reason for this search has been to take some of the burden off John Simpson, who has had to field the all-rounder spot.

Captain, Matt O’Shea commented on this acquisition, “Graham just joined us yesterday and he had a little net with us, immediately showing his superiority with both bat and ball. If he comes off, we could see the Crusaders upping their game to a new level”.

Ferdinand has already been enrolled in the Academy and will work in both the batting and bowling setups. With a 2nd XI friendly looming this weekend, the youngster may very likely get some game time in.

Announcements have been made about the leadership setup for the coming season with no changes from last season. Matt O’Shea will captain, with Graeme Jeremy serving as his deputy. Pete Moller will lead the 2nd XI in the weekend friendlies.

O’Shea said about the prospects of the new season, “This upcoming season will be tougher than any we’ve had before, but I also feel that we’re coming together as a team nicely. We’re out of the SA Cup and that was purely an unlucky pick of the draw, but I truly believe that even if we don’t succeed with trophies this season, we’ll play better this season than we’ve ever played before”.

Crusaders out early in SA Cup

 

The T&N Crusaders hosted the Argentina Basel in the first round of the SA Cup on the weekend and were handsomely beaten by 10 wickets.

Crusaders won the toss and elected to bat first, and were cleaned up for just 41 in the 22nd over. John Simpson top-scored with 8, although Allan Blott hit the only boundary of the innings, a massive six which landed in the Academy parking lot.

The visitors marched to the second round by winning in the 6th over, ensuring that the match ended within the 2nd hour.

O’Shea said after the match, “We were just unfortunate to be drawn against such a strong team and we never really had much chance”.

With the Crusaders now out of the SA Cup, their weekends will be spent playing 2nd XI friendlies.

The team was: Prince, O’Shea(c), Jeremy, Lothrop, Simpson, Downing, Ahad(wk), Kotzo, Blott, Hibbert, Ayres. 12th: Branson.

 

Awards Banquet

The Awards Banquet for season 4 has been scheduled for Saturday the 19th of September at the T&N Smeda Stadium Banquet Hall.

At this banquet the club will honour those who have excelled throughout the season.  There will also be an Academy graduation ceremony as well as announcements for changes in the new season.

The agenda is as follows:

17h00  Registration

18h00  Supper

18h45   Dessert and Video Highlights package

19h00  Academy Graduation

19h15  Captain’s report

19h30  Manager’s report

19h45  Awards ceremony

20h15  Announcements for next season

20h30  Adjourn