Record total demolishes Stella Artois

In the best performance of the season so far, the Crusaders travelled to FC Stella Artois Cricket Ground and put on a highly professional display of cricket. Captain Michael Prince won the toss and chose to bat first, looking to make first use of the green wicket with the hope that the wicket would be quicker in the evening.

The openers Prince and Matt O’Shea smacked 249 for the opening partnership in only 230 balls. Prince took few risks in his 116 off 101 balls as he creamed 8 wonderful fours through the gaps. O’Shea was the aggressor as he made 130 off 122 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes. Both openers were dismissed on the fence off of Cleminshaw. The carnage was not over as the final 10 overs went for 120 thanks to Graeme Jeremy’s unbeaten 58, aided by Geoff Kenny’s 61* off just 38 balls. With Moller having an indifferent time at number 4, Kenny was chosen to bolster the attacking nature of the middle-order, and that he did.Crusaders made 378/2 in their 50 overs, which is to date their highest limited-overs total.

FC Stella Artois were never in the game as their innings ended in the 13th over. They could not combat the extreme pace and lift that Eddie Ayres and Allan Blott were getting and they folded for a total of 44. Ayres took 4/17 and Blott 3/21. Stephen Harding got 9 balls in with his leg-spinners and took 2/6 as the victory unfolded by 334 runs. O’Shea took the player award for his aggressive century.

Prince said, “I was surprised as to how easy the wicket played in the earlier part of the match. It looked likely to assist the quicks, but we were able to play very freely. I must say, though, that we certainly used the conditions to our advantage when it was our turn to bowl”.

On having Kenny back in the team in the middle, “We know Geoff’s ability with the bat and he can be very explosive. The challenge was being able to find a place for him in the one-day team as opening is really his forte, but both Matt and I are solid at the top. With Molly [Pete Moller] needing a rest, we thought about giving Geoff a chance in the middle and he showed how dangerous he can be at the end of an innings”.

The team was: Prince(c), O’Shea, Jeremy, Kenny, Lothrop, Simpson, Ahad(wk), Harding, Blott, Fox, Ayres.

New player, new captain

There have been some changes to the setup at the T&N Crusaders Cricket Club over the weekend. The first is the purchase of teenaged fast bowler, Mike Legg, from ShangerRatsXI in Australia. He is a 19-year old right-arm fast/medium bowler. In 9 first-class matches he has taken 32 wickets with a best of 6/5. His one-day record is as impressive with 12 wickets at 20.17 in 10 matches, with a best of 3/16. He is scheduled to play his first match for the Crusaders 2nd XI on Sunday against the Nashua Titans.

In other news, Matt O’Shea has been named as the captain for all Crusaders first-class matches for the remainder of the season. O’Shea’s wealth of cricket knowledge and experience has given Michael Prince the option of focusing his captaincy on the limited-overs format. Prince, who had hoped to relinquish captaincy at the beginning of this season, agreed to stay on for one more season but hopes to be able to just play cricket rather than having captaincy on his plate too.

Spin-vetaran Chris Kotzo commented on the change, “What is exciting about this is that you have two excellent cricket minds on the field at all times and they will consult with each other on all decisions no matter which format it is, which can only give you a winning combination. I think where Michael was struggling for a while is that he didn’t have anybody else really to turn to. Graeme Jeremy was his vice-captain last season, but was also only 18 so was not able to provide that maturity in decision-making. Matt and Michael not only make an excellent leadership team together, but you can see how well they bat together at the top of the order. The Crusaders are in for some positive times in the near future”.

First-class victory for Crusaders…thanks to Hayward

Darrows & Arrows hosted the T&N Crusaders in a first-class league match. The home team chose to bat first on a green belter of a wicket. This suited Allan Blott perfectly as he was able to tear the middle-order apart with his swing and accuracy. Blott, who has not had the best of seasons thus far, showed great stability in his bowling which brought him figures of 3/37. Bonds held the innings together with an undefeated 114, but John Branson(3/47) and Chris Hayward(3/37) made sure that their opposition did not reach 200, bowling them out for 195.

Crusaders batted well under the conditions, especially with the amount of pace and bounce that Muller(3/71) was getting. Matt O’Shea made 120 off just 109 balls as he looked to dominate anything thrown at him. He hit 8 fours and 7 sixes in his innings. Graeme Jeremy(49) and John Simpson(38) were the only other contributors to the total of 284.

The 2nd innings for Darrows & Arrows did not go well as they were bowled out for a pitiful 109, leaving the visitors with an easy 22 to win. Bonds(53) was once again the sole contributor for the home side as Chris Hayward found some turn on the green stick and picked up 5/15. It was an emphatic bowling performance by the spinner as he was completely unplayable for most of the innings.

Prince and O’Shea knocked off the target in the 5th over of their 2nd innings, taking them to their 2nd first-class victory of the season. Man-of-the-match went to Chris Hayward for his spectacular bowling effort.

Hayward said after the match, “I couldn’t believe how the wicket played out on the 2nd day. I was having a tough time on day one being able to get some turn going, but the wicket gave me great assistance on the second afternoon. I feel good about my bowling this season and am grateful for the assistance I’ve received from the guys at the Academy to get me to be so successful so far.”

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

Crusaders have no answer to Contraband

Following a very successful T20 week, the 50-overs league match on Friday did not continue the unbeaten run for the Crusaders as they lost to league leaders Contraband by 10 wickets.

Crusaders began well at the top with both Prince and O’Shea scoring fifties in an opening stand of 95, but once those two were dismissed the innings was mostly over. Pete Moller made 24, but was the only other batsman to reach double figures as the Crusaders were bowled out for 171. Konara took 3/32.

The visitors tore into the Crusaders bowlers and achieved victory without losing a wicket as Purdon(82*) and Krause(90*) continued their fine season form. Krause took the player award for this match.

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

Week 2 of BT20 a success for Crusaders

The second week of this season’s BT20 matches went extremely well for the T&N Crusaders, winning all 3 encounters and taking them to 2nd on the log.

Their first match was away against We Are Jazz. The home team won the toss and elected to field on a cloudy day and green wicket. Matt O’Shea and Graeme Jeremy smashed the bowling to all parts of the ground in a stand of 109 for the 2nd wicket. Jeremy’s 70 lasted 45 balls and included 5 fours and 5 sixes. O’Shea was even more explosive as he pounded an unbeaten 104 from just 59 deliveries. He hit 8 fours and 6 sixes to get Crusaders to 212/3 in 20 overs.

We Are Jazz began their run chase well, despite opening bowler Chris Hayward limiting the boundaries with his flight. Carlos Hibbert came on and was torn to pieces, but all went downhill very quickly for the home team when part-timer John Simpson and pace bowler John Branson came on to bowl. Branson made the initial breakthrough with the score at 65 and did not look back. He ended with 4/29 from 4 overs, but it was Simpson who stole the match. He put every delivery in the right place and he deservedly took 4/12, conceding only 3 runs per over from his 4, ensuring that the home team were dismissed for 140. Simpson could easily have been nominated as player of the match, but the award instead went to O’Shea for his masterful batting.

Their second match of the week was even more impressive, and they were able to demonstrate their dominance in front of their home crowd. Michael Prince won the toss against the Royal Crusaders and elected to bat first, once again, looking to dominate and apply pressure to the opposing team. He took his own challenge to heart as he pummelled an unbeaten 117 off only 63 balls, bludgeoning anything short and lofting anything full. His innings included 10 fours and 6 sixes. He was in an unbeaten opening stand of 220 with Matt O’Shea who could not quite keep up the pace with his captain, but still managed 92* off 57 balls.

A target of 221 was always going to be challenging for the Royal Crusaders, and it proved to be as only Praseetha(81) could withstand the pace of Eddie Ayres. The fast bowler notched up 5/22, well-aided by Chris Hayward’s 3/22. Together they cleaned the visitors up for just 139, leaving the man-of-the-match award in the hands of Ayres.

Their final T20 fixture for the week was home to DomsTreturn. The visitors won the toss and decided to have a bat on another spinner-friendly wicket. Despite the prediction of spin-dominance from the groundsman, it was Eddie Ayres again who spawned in with a handful of wickets. He nabbed 5/14 from 4, and showed great pace and control. Duff’s 56* was the only pride in the team’s total of 120. Leggie Stephen Harding took 3/23.

The chase was rather wobbly as the Crusaders lost 3 wickets before achieving their target in the 15th over. Jeremy top-scored with 38, while Moller was unbeaten on 31 from just 15 deliveries. Ayres took home the player award for this match.

Prince said at the end of the week, “We’re playing some excellent T20 cricket and I hope we can continue towards a league victory. We have our combinations working and the guys have really learned how to play this format of the game”.