Hayward ensures a victory in two days

In the return first-class match between the Crusaders and Tranmere, played at the T&N Smeda Stadium, the home team thrashed Tranmere by an innings and 442 runs.

Captain Matt O’Shea won the toss and was always going to bat first, hoping to bat just once and allow his bowlers to clean up the Tranmere batsmen. With some players resting for this week’s fixture, guys like Steve Lothrop, William Downing, Pete Moller and Tim Fox got a run in the first-class setup.

Lothrop opened the innings with O’Shea and put on a whopping 299 for the first wicket before he fell to Lyons for a magnificent 141. Graeme Jeremy continued the assault with his captain and smashed 84 off just 83 balls before he was bowled by Lawson. Downing, who’s promise at the Academy has yet to be transferred to the middle, failed to consolidate and only made 18. The captain finally fell for 264 with the score at 544. This goes with his 474 he made against the same team just a month ago. There was very little batting to come after O’Shea’s departure. Moller made 46 and Ahad, 42, but 663 was a far poorer comparison to the 1000 they amassed against Tranmere in their earlier fixture.

The bowlers got stuck in quickly and it was Chris Hayward who turned the heat on, picking up a solid 4/10, backed up by Fox’s 3/16. Tranmere’s first innings folded for just 99.

The follow-on was enforced and the visitors made a better attempt, getting up to 122 before being bowled all out. Hayward’s deception and guile made it very difficult for the Tranmere batsmen to score freely on a turning wicket. Hayward ended with 7/7 from 9.3 overs, by far his best performance of his very short career.

O’Shea’s comments at the end of the match, “I am truly amazed at the development of Chris Hayward. He is only 20, yet has the maturity of a senior player. I think the work that Chris Kotzo has done with him at the Academy has been phenomenal and I give him a huge clap for that. The season is drawing to an end, but we still have a chance in the one-day league to get into the promotion bracket so we’ll continue to keep our focus”.

Michael Prince, who did not play in this match, also attended the post-match conference, “It has been nice to take a break after a full season of cricket, and I’m glad that Steve got an opportunity to open and score a brilliant hundred”.

The team was: O’Shea(c), Lothrop, Jeremy, Downing, Moller, McVeigh, Ahad(wk), Hayward, Fox, Hibbert, Ayres. 12th: Legg.

The Crusaders travel to Rats Park next week to take on the Rats in what will be their penultimate first-class fixture of the season.

Crusaders steal victory

In a first-class fixture this past week, the T&N Crusaders traveled to B23 Cricket Ground to contest in their return match against B23. The pitch was looking rather uneven, so the home team chose to make first use of the wicket after winning the toss, knowing that the pitch would only get worse.

Strathearn top scored for B23 with 120, really the only feature of the home team’s first innings, which ended at 277 all out. Eddie Ayres picked up 5/40 and utilized the conditions well, which suited his bowling as he was able to acquire immense movement off the pitch. Spinner Chris Hayward chipped in with 3/37.

The Crusaders’ first innings began well with an opening stand of 96 between Matt O’Shea(65) and Michael Prince(49), but Raven and Rostok dug in with their spin bowling and took wickets at regular intervals. The middle-order fell apart and there was nothing for the tail-enders to shout about as Raven picked up the last 3 wickets for 0 runs. Steve Lothrop was the only one to offer any middle-order resistance with a well-worked 69*, to get Crusaders to a respectable, although somewhat lagging, 248 all out.

B23, who made a ferocious comeback to force a draw in their first leg a few weeks prior, made another excellent performance in their second innings, totalling 327, leaving Crusaders with 358 to in 80 overs. Strathearn once again made a century with 143, succumbing only to the deception of Hayward as he was bowled while trying to pad up. Biddington contributed with 48, but all the other batsmen looked rather ordinary against the immense pace of Carlos Hibbert(4/41) and the deceptive turn of Hayward(4/36).

B23 struck early through Makhanda, who bowled Prince for just 1, and then followed by Jeremy for 25. O’Shea and Simpson took the score to 121 before the latter fell to Rostok, leaving uncertainty in the mind of the captain as to whether play out the draw or chase the victory. He chose the latter as he and Lothrop(81) put on 199 for the 4th wicket, getting them close enough where O’Shea(184*) was able to seal the deal in the 77th over. Pete Moller was 28*, giving the Crusaders victory by 6 wickets.

This win elevates the Crusaders into 4th place in the first-class league, with only 3 more matches to go.

O’Shea said of the win, “This was one of our best victories of the season, thanks to some phenomenal temperament shown by our guys. We need to keep up on this streak and take it to the end of the season where we can hopefully win at least one trophy”.

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