GCF World Test Season 10 - RP/Rosters/Scores

[Liventia]

Matchday 13

GCF Test no. 702
Match Report: Ko-oren in The Plough Islands (2 of 4)
The Plough Islands bat first
The Plough Islands 259 (73.5 overs), 373 (195.2 overs)
Ko-oren 203 (81.4 overs), 150/2 (58.4 overs)
Drawn

GCF Test no. 703
Eastfield Lodge in Darmen (Match 1 of 3)
Darmen bat first
Darmen 293 (100.3 overs), 361 (124.0 overs)
Eastfield Lodge 327 (120.3 overs), 269/7 (96.3 overs)
Drawn

GCF Test no. 704
Ethane in Eura (Match 1 of 3)
Ethane bat first
Eura 349 (129.2 overs), 56/2 (20.2 overs)
Ethane 336 (122.1 overs), 285 (105.2 overs)
Drawn

Updated League Table

                        Pl  W  L  D  T  Ld  Lv  Pts IW  Avg
1   The Busoga Islands   2  2  0  0  0   2   0   40  0  20.0*
2   Damukuni             5  4  1  0  0   3   0   76  1  16.2*
3   The Plough Islands  10  5  2  3  0   6   1  112  3  15.1
4   Ethane               8  4  2  2  0   3   0   86  2  12.8
5   Teusland             5  3  2  0  0   3   0   60  0  12.0*
6   Liventia            10  4  3  2  1   5   0  103  1  11.3
7   Darmen              11  4  3  3  1   4   0  104  1  10.5
8   Ko-oren             10  3  3  4  0   5   0   88  1   9.8
9   Pratapgadh           3  1  1  1  0   2   0   29  0   9.7*
10  Apox                10  3  5  2  0   3   1   72  0   7.2
11  Eura                 9  1  3  5  0   5   0   61  0   6.8
12  Sajnur               5  1  3  1  0   1   0   25  0   5.0*
13  Eastfield Lodge      7  0  5  2  0   4   0   26  0   3.7
14  Elejamie             3  0  2  1  0   1   0    9  0   3.0*

[Ko-oren]

(This RP takes place between Tests 1 and 2)

The one that could have been

The Dragonflies' final Test series for the season has started, and before long the team will report back to their domestic teams in preparation for a long summer. Until then, there are two more Plough Islands tests to marvel at, and the first two matches have been a treat to watch. No results, but enough swings in momentum, inexplicable decisions and individual efforts to keep you entertained and then some.

Ko-oren versus the Plough Islands is starting to turn into a rivalry of sorts. Last season featured the first four battles between the two, and as far as you can call it a rivalry after just two seasons of scheduled Tests, this is a rivalry. In the previous set of matches, the Ko-orenite heat of the southwest has proven a very difficult foe for the Foxes especially, though both teams wished for different conditions given another day of sweltering heat and humidity. How different were the conditions in Foxdale for the first Test, where it was all relatively easy until the last day more or less rained out, saving the Foxes from sure defeat.

Ko-oren opened proceedings, and Stevenson immediately settled in with no intention of leaving. At all. He eventually passed the baton to yChaegrheodd, Stevenson going out on 72 runs and yChaegrheodd would be the next batsman to stay on the crease for a very, very long time. The Dragonflies took their innings well past day one, with yChaegrheodd still on and the Foxes having a lot of trouble dismissing the Ko-orenites. Eventually the Mawryshire batsman finally fell to an edge, and now yMharwn was a plague to the bowling attack. yChaegrheodd finished for 98 runs, so the edge came at exactly the right time for Davy - had he finished his over, he would have surrendered a century. A miscued pull ended his innings 78 runs later, and even then the tail end did not go down without a fight, Marsden and Chesterman combining for 24 runs. The further on it went, the more capers the Plough bowlers attempted just to get the ball at the wickets. Excellent timing and vision from the three players mentioned (and the other eight batsmen) gave Ko-oren a great score and a long innings - but that comes with a consequence. Nearly two full days down, is that enough time to take 20 wickets and potentially bat again in the middle of it?

Three Plough Islanders managed a 50, with a fourth one in the making (Weaver, 49 runs). That said, neither batsman gave off an invincible attitude, and they surely had no answer to Wilkins. He previously had a poor batting innings, but he was determined to make something of the overs he had to bowl. After Holt, Davy and Weaver fell, he ended off the middle of the order, dismissing Whittall for a duck and Laing for a single run. At that point, the hosts were in the middle of a very nice answer to Ko-oren's 369, and to be fair, it didn't stop them from going back to scheduled programming after that. Leggett, Fedorov, and Lebed added nearly 100 again, and the bowlers after them completed the innings for 315: a big lead, but not as large as we'd hoped. Wilkins had a 5-for, Chesterman took three wickets as well, if only they could have kept the run rate down a little. At this point, the Foxes were looking to extend their innings with the weather report for the later days in mind. A win might not be on the cards for them, but a draw surely was.

Ko-oren started again, hoping to add to the lead and it led to basically going for an entire innings as normal. Stevenson started off and didn't give up, and then paired with Willis and Darknoll - and before yChaegrheodd even stepped on the crease, the Dragonflies already had a huge total. As in, we've seen innings go for less in ten wickets than the first four batsmen here. yMharwn had something to contribute, but the message was clear as the innings dragged on - "get more aggressive, increase the run rate, wickets don't matter. If we want the result, we need to start going now or declare it". And that they did. Six players went for under 10 runs, including yChaegrheodd, Wheelwright, and Twaddle.

The clouds came in heavy on the last few hours, and Marsden and his colleagues went on to focus only on wickets. The lead was massive at this point, only the clock or the weather could stop them now. As the Foxes desperately tried to defend everything, they could not help but swing at some easy-looking deliveries, which was the end to Holt, Whittall, Laing, and Fedorov. Wilkins again added three wickets, and the Dragonflies were so close - when mid-over, it started pouring down. It did not let up until the end of the day, and the Foxes escaped by the skin of their teeth. Still on a massive deficit, and nine wickets lost, only Leggett put something together that looked like a coherent innings.

This match was the one that could have been. If Ko-oren need a win by the fourth match to tie or win the series, this will be the one we look back at and go 'Why didn't you declare it?' - such an easy decision to make in hindsight. But that goes for every decision in hindsight.

Both teams will roll with the same XIs for the second Test.

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Stelburger Zeitung

Sports

Teusland’s Cricketers Ready for Return to Action

It’s fair to say that Teusland has had a successful debut during the Global Cricket Federation’s 10th season of cricket competition. A split series with the Plough Islands was a pleasant surprise, followed by a superb series victory against Ko-oren at home.

All this excitement has certainly been a benefit for the sport in the country. “We’re really pleased with how things have gone so far. You saw the stands were packed for all three home tests, and the television numbers have been higher than we expected. And of course, the results on the pitch have just been excellent,” commented TKV director David Mach. Cricket’s popularity in the country is bigger than ever, and thus there was much more attention this year on the Traunsee Ice Cricket Invitational.

Ice cricket is certainly not the world’s most famous brand of the sport, but it holds a special place in Teusland. “Well, winter sports are definitely our specialty. Hockey’s our number one sport, after all. It was only a matter of time before someone brought that all together with cricket!” commented the organizer of the TICI, Georg Muller. Ice cricket is played, well, on the frozen over ice of the Traunsee, located about an hour’s drive north of Stelburg. The event uses a ruleset similar to Twenty20 cricket.

The Invitational has become a marquee event on the national cricketing calendar. Most cricket clubs in the country send a team, and the matches are always exciting. This year, with Teusland’s finest cricketers on a bit of a break from Test action, they were able to pay a visit to the Traunsee event. “It’s always fun to be here, I actually played in the tournament last year!,” commented Elias Lehner. “Unfortunately, we came up a little bit short in the final. I hear that they’ve asked us to play against the winners, though, so that’d be a fun time for sure.”

The Edelweiss were all smiles when talking about their experiences so far in the Test season. “It’s everything we wanted, really. Once we got that debut win, our confidence really went up. We’ve had a great year, and I know that there’s more to come from us both this year and in the future,” commented the captain Konrad von Sauerland.

The man everyone wanted to hear from as well was August Tausche. Certainly the breakout star of the Edelweiss, he’s managed 520 runs across all five tests this season. “I think a lot of it is having patience, and just building confidence. There’s a lot of luck, too, and I’m hoping that will continue.” Tausche put his name into the Teus cricketing history books by scoring the first-ever international century for the Edelweiss, hitting for 112 in the first innings of the first test of the Ko-oren series. He couldn’t help a grin when asked about it: “Oh certainly it’s nice yeah, it’s a record I’m proud to have, but the goal is to make sure that there’s plenty more to come.”

It was a great weekend at the lake as well, with the sporting spectacle providing great entertainment. The home Traunsee Cricket Club managed to reach the finals, taking on an XI from the Stelburg-Zentrum club. Though Stelburg-Zentrum put up a strong fight, the hosts wouldn’t be stopped and they pulled out a deserved tournament victory. As promised, the Edelweiss then took to the ice for some friendly competition against the winners.

It was clear that everyone was enjoying the event, and despite big performances from Elias Lehner and Noel Koller, Traunsee managed to defend their title. Talking after, Elias Lehner said “Well, it’s disappointing to lose in the final again here...I think we lost it when Linus (Schell) slipped on the ice to be honest, just not what you want to see really. Really disheartening, you know,” battling through laughter as he spoke to reporters.

At the end of the day, everyone converged at a local restaurant for the final banquet dinner. David Mach spoke, telling the audience how excited he is for the future of cricket in Teusland, and how the Traunsee tournament plays a big role in that. Georg Muller also spoke, thanking the Edelweiss for their presence and also speaking about the success of the Traunsee tournament. One interesting comment he made was about the possibility of opening the tournament in the future for international competition. The TKV expressed their support for the idea, but no more details are available.

The focus for cricket in Teusland now shifts back to grass, with the Edelweiss now scheduled to take on cricketing superpower Liventia. Teus cricket fans will remember Teusland’s World T20 Championship upset win over Liventia, but it is certain that the Test matchup will be a different beast. Liventia are the second ranked side in the world, and will surely be looking to cap off their season with strong performances against the Edelweiss.

The two-match series will see Teusland travel to Liventia, with the first test to be held at the Park Central Oval in Orean. The ground is certainly favourable to batsman, which should make for an exciting match-up. The second test will be held at The Bastion Dover Cricket Ground in Dover, a pitch that favours bowlers more. “We’re looking forward to it for sure, it should be a good way to end our first season and we’ll certainly be ready for it,” commented Elias Lehner.

So, two more tests on the schedule for the Edelweiss, as the first season of Test cricket winds down for Teusland.

[The Plough Islands]

Apologies for the slight shift in tone here - I was really struggling with badly timed writers' block, and eventually this came out. I'll admit, I'm kind of hoping for at least one positive result in this series, no matter which way it goes...

---

PROFILE: CDE PREMIER DALE PIPER

The Plough Islands' series against our old friends Ko-oren remains (despite the best efforts of Sarah Ashe and Alec Fedorov) even after a second drawn game in two Tests at the Highrock Athletic Club, precipitated by heavy fog - worse than had been forecast by Plough Radio - making the last three days' morning sessions unplayable and cutting short day five due to poor light.
Watching on as the twilight faded was what would be, to the overwhelming majority of Plough Islanders, an extremely familiar, firm face - and for all of Cde Premier Dale Piper's other commitments, up to and including running our country, he was keen to stress after the close of play that his attendance on the final two days of the Test was "just a local boy watching cricket at his local ground", despite the subtle two-person security detail that trailed behind.
It is traditional for the President of the Plough Islands Cricket Association to be a high ranking official of the Commonwealth; more as a reflection of the game's unique place in the history and culture of the country than out of any practical effect. Since his election in 2016, though, Cde Piper's involvement has been far more personal. A large part of that could perhaps have been expected from someone with his background in the sport; a native of Highrock, he is the first Premier to have played top level cricket (and, it is believed, only the second head of government in the world to do so).
Statisticians will have known Flight Lt DA Piper, a tall, blonde, tousled right-hander with a fondness for hitting to the leg side, as a handy opening batsman for the Air Force side in the Sutcliffe Shield from 1988 to 1991, though his performances showed him to be a better officer and activist than a cricketer. "I was average, it would be fair to say. I think my best innings was something like 72 not out [he is correct] against Redcliff, at a strike rate of about 75, on a pitch that had gone about a week with no rain. And two weeks later we had New Dalmatia in the local game and I got hit on the shoulder by Andrew Kulayev...". Faced with increasing commitments within the PIA that were incompatible with taking weekends off to face chin music for several hours, Cde Piper's sporting career progressed no further, but it was an area of interest he returned to after leaving the force and being elected the MPA for Highrock Central in 1995.
It was with the Highrock Athletic Club that he initially made his name known; he advocated - "quite forcefully, though I would like to think politely, but the island administrator of the time [Cde Cassandra Cloud] probably did not share my views" - for the rebuilding and development of their existing hillside grounds rather than a relocation to the north of the city, which was only averted due to a realignment of districts making the proposed site of the ground unsuitable. Then, as Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs, he strengthened the role of cricket in each service's recreational programs, which included Commonwealth funding for overseas tours by their representative teams. It would prove a precursor to what would happen when, the year he was elected Premier, he succeeded former Minister for Health and Education Cde Donald Lewes as the PICA's President.
"Making contact with international governing bodies was almost the first thing I did on assuming the role. I do believe, looking back at it, that some people were not anticipating I would want to use my role as President to actually do anything, so unfortunately a few plans probably got trampled on, but I did and do still have absolute confidence that it was the right thing for the Association, and for our country". 'it', as Foxes fans will recall, was the announcement in early 2018 that the Association would seek to affiliate to the Global Cricket Federation and end what had become an incongruous period of isolation in international sport. "We cannot develop in a vacuum, after all", asserts the Premier, his shift in tone betraying some of the internal battles he had to fight to get to this stage. Having personally travelled to the GCF headquarters in Liventia to work out the details, Cde Piper was in attendance at that first Test against Lisander at December Park, but such has been his workload that he has only been able to attend one match outside Sutton.
Not that this has prevented him following the Foxes' progress; he admits to "a few Cabinet meetings where I had one of my security detail feeding me the scores" - at which the taller of his two guards laughs and nearly chokes on her drink. The Premier is deeply familiar with the achievements of Kevin Laing and Lourens Hendricks and their team - diplomatically, he demurs when asked about any favoured players, although when asked if he followed events in Foxdale, he animates at length about Salisbury and Audrey Leggett's tenth wicket stand to save the Test. "Honestly, we could just replace half our social studies and citizenship programme with the coverage of that final session. You could not script a better definition of "Plough Islander" than that..."
Whether it is positive or negative, though - and the opinion of a hundred and forty thousand comrades seems to be tending towards the former, given the listening figures and attendances for the last two Tests - it is hard to express fully what a fundamental impact the Premier has had on the sport. Especially in contrast to his other aims in the office, Cde Piper is reluctant to make too much of it. "I suppose it is not wholly Marxist of me to be focusing so much on what could be seen as a frivolty, although I have had this argument before about the benefits of cricket - Cde Sutcliffe had this argument in the 1950s and 60s about the benefits of cricket! There are certainly more important problems to be overcome and greater things for our country to aspire to and build together, from the ground up. But I will admit, if my only legacy as Premier was that we joined in with the rest of the world of international cricket, that would be a very satisfactory legacy to have".
The Premier is unable to attend in Southport - "to my regret", he hastens to add, as he describes a prior commitment to attend a development conference with some of the glint gone from his eyes - but, like many other Plough Islanders, he will doubtless be making sure he is kept aware of events. And as the Foxes walk out on New Hibernia, they will be representing a facet of socialism that Cde Piper is especially proud of. "Whenever you travel abroad you always see misinformed stories about starvation or totalitarianism or some other fairy story that is more about Stalinism than about actual communism. But with cricket we can show the best of socialism - that when everybody works together no matter their background or gender or race, we can do so much more than we ever thought possible. And I do believe that our results have proven that we can compete against the best in the multiverse. You only have to look at the table to see that".

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR THIRD TEST AGAINST KO-OREN

      PLAYER            BAT   BOW
G     Holt              LHB      
MG    Davy              RHB   RLB
SLC   Weaver            RHB   RLB
A     Whittall          RHB   ROB
KCT   Laing (c)         RHB   RMD
AC    Leggett           RHB   RLB
OD    Fedorov           LHB      
IT    Lebed (w)         LHB      
S     Ashe              RHB   ROB
CG    McCarthy          RHB   RFM
NA    Salisbury         LHB   SLA

SOUTHPORT ATHLETIC CLUB (P.M: -3)

[Apox]

Matchday 14

GCF Test no. 705
Match Report: Ko-oren in The Plough Islands (3 of 4)
Ko-oren bat first
The Plough Islands 265 (87.1 overs), 105/4 (28.3 overs)
Ko-oren 183 (66.1 overs), 186 (55.3 overs)
The Plough Islands win by 6 wickets

GCF Test no. 706
Match Report: Eastfield Lodge in Darmen (2 of 3)
Eastfield Lodge bat first
Darmen 180 (64.2 overs), 225/4 (82.0 overs)
Eastfield Lodge 254 (78.1 overs), 150 (70.5 overs)
Darmen win by 6 wickets

GCF Test no. 707
Match Report: Ethane in Eura (2 of 3)
Ethane bat first
Eura 306 (103.3 overs), 139 (57.0 overs)
Ethane 151 (50.3 overs), 590 (185.1 overs)
Eura lose by 296 runs

GCF Test no. 708
Match Report: Teusland in Liventia (1 of 2)
Liventia bat first
Liventia 581/4d (164.1 overs),
Teusland 375 (127.2 overs), 252/3 (86.0 overs)
Drawn

Updated League Table

                        Pl  W  L  D  T  Ld  Lv  Pts IW  Avg
1   The Busoga Islands   2  2  0  0  0   2   0   40  0  20.0*
2   Damukuni             5  4  1  0  0   3   0   76  1  16.2*
3   The Plough Islands  11  6  2  3  0   7   1  141  3  15.8
4   Ethane               9  5  2  2  0   3   0  102  2  13.3
5   Liventia            11  4  3  3  1   6   0  112  1  11.2
6   Darmen              12  5  3  3  1   4   0  120  1  11.0
7   Teusland             6  3  2  1  0   3   0   65  0  10.8
8   Pratapgadh           3  1  1  1  0   2   0   29  0   9.7*
9   Ko-oren             11  3  4  4  0   5   0   88  1   9.0
10  Apox                10  3  5  2  0   3   1   72  0   7.2
11  Eura                10  1  4  5  0   6   0   65  0   6.5
12  Sajnur               5  1  3  1  0   1   0   25  0   5.0*
13  Eastfield Lodge      7  0  5  2  0   4   0   26  0   3.7
14  Elejamie             3  0  2  1  0   1   0    9  0   3.0*

Just a reminder that the final scorination of the season will be occurring on the 4th March a week from now. Plenty of time to get those RPs in!

[Ko-oren]

Congratulations to the Plough Islands

Finally, a result. Actually, maybe we do want the draws. The bad weather of the last few weeks has disappeared a little and all of a sudden the Dragonflies and Foxes show that they are perfectly capable of finishing a match in under three days. The result wasn't exactly what we hoped for, but the Plough Islands are something else this season. Where Darmen and Ko-oren seemed to churn out good results all the time last season, or at least forced a draw, it's the Plough Islands and Ethane that just can't do anything wrong.

Ko-oren started very cautiously, knowing how in-form the Foxes are even though we've had a very good track record against them. Under the blue sky, on a flattish and not too-dried out pitch, there was a lot of opportunity for the match to develop along with the conditions. There were no predictions for rain or fog, and it looked like finally the series would see its first uninterrupted match. At first, there should be plenty for the batsmen on offer, and the rest will change as the match goes along. With a few right-handed spinners coming up, Stevenson and Twaddle once again went out there to defend the honour of Ko-oren. It all didn't go as planned, as the normally so dependent Stevenson swung at a ball that should have stayed well off, only it came back so much it took out the top of off-stump. Well, that's the entire point of Ashe's bowling, and it was a very foolish attempt to let it go without first defending a few deliveries if you don't yet know how the pitch behaves. That warning alone should have been enough, only the tiniest bit of swing took out Willis on the very next over. A bad start, but nothing was decided just yet - it just shows how dangerous this 'easy' pitch really was, and between that and the spinning, there was a very honest battle between bat and ball. Twaddle and Darknoll set themselves up and dug themselves in, defending a good bit in order to determine what this pitch really was. Then came a barrage of right-handed bowlers, and the batsmen opened up a little. Defending everything that came at the stumps, and playing everything that was off or around as long as it didn't spin too much, and soon the 50-mark was on the horizon. Before that, Laing threw a curveball (so to speak), and brought Salisbury into the attack. The left-handed spin should, again, not have been a massive problem only she set herself up for a hattrick taking out Twaddle who knocked it into the slips, and Darknoll with an inside edge and an easy prey for Lebed. It was a little windy and dusty, the ball had enough to grip as spin slowly turned into a real monster.

Finally, coming to Wheelwright and yMharwn, the Dragonflies got something that resembled a partnership. First crossing 100 and later 150, the duo frustrated the bowlers into a rhythm more like in the first two Tests - a marathon, not a one-day international. After Leggett bowled a rare over and took out Wheelwright (more bad timing), yMharwn quickly went through the rest of the team, Ashe easily claiming two more wickets as the Ko-orenite bowlers could not grasp the conditions and the Foxes didn't even need to play around with length. The Ko-orenites did enough to impede themselves - but even then, they did get 183 on the board. In these conditions, two of these innings might just be enough for a win.

Ko-oren First Innings

Name            R   Out

Stevenson       2   lbw Ashe
Twaddle         27  b Salisbury c Weaver
Willis          0   lbw McCarthy
Darknoll        16  b Salisbury c Lebed
yChaegrheodd    11  b McCarthy c Leggett
Wheelwright (w) 40  lbw Leggett
yMharwn         71* not out
Wilkins         1   b McCarthy c Lebed
Marsden (c)     5   lbw Ashe
Chesterman      0   lbw Salisbury
Raycraft        0   lbw Ashe

Extras: 10

Total: 10-183 (66.1)

Now, something else that seems like it's more than just happenstance: Wilkins' incredible wicket-taking skills. As an all-rounder, he bowls more than enough overs in the Ko-orenite domestic system, and he's a very capable player at that, but he isn't the biggest wicket-taker on his team. Willowbourne isn't as strong as it could be, but that's not the problem at hand. Marsden was probably the best bowler on the Ko-orenite side, taking the bigger wickets. Wilkins just took the easy ones, including the final three of the tail-end. Or... was that all there was? The openers for the Foxes had the same problems as the Dragonflies - it was a hard pitch to play on and Marsden paid attention to why his own team struggled. Ko-oren came out with nearly the same game plan: as long as it was still day 1, the plan should probably keep working... and it did. Holt saw a gap and played a straight drive, only to get the short delivery very high on the bat, straight back to Wilkins. Bad timing there, and it could be excused if it weren't for the same things happening to the Dragonflies just a session earlier. Weaver had a good innings, as did Laing and Leggett, but you'd still feel like there was far more for them today. Raycraft was key, as similar his bowling style is to what Ashe and McCarthy were doing. He did everything: bowling around the wicket, varying amounts of spin, bowling faster short balls - until finally Weaver and Laing cracked. It wasn't a hattrick situation, but it was the same over.

Day two as Marsden's. The dust and the wind settled, the pitch felt a bit more compact, and Marsden tried it out with a lot of pace. Not letting up, Leggett and Fedorov occasionally felt like they were swinging for nothing, until finally they did and they didn't like what they hit. Lebed then was the true star for the Foxes, while the tail-end churned out a fantastic stand to give the Plough Islands a very clear lead. With more on offer for the batting team, Stevenson and Twaddle returned for revenge.

Plough Islands First Innings

Name          R   Out

G Holt        17  b & c Wilkins
MG Davy       11  lbw Marsden
SLC Weaver    42  b Raycraft c Willis
A Whittall    0   b yMharwn
KCT Laing (c) 28  b Raycraft c Wheelwright
AC Leggett    35  b Marsden c Wheelwright
OD Fedorov    2   b Marsden c Wilkins
IT Lebed (w)  78* not out
S Ashe        12  b Wilkins
CG McCarthy   16  lbw Wilkins
NA Salisbury  9   b Wilkins c Wheelwright

Extras: 15

Total: 10-265 (87.1)

The remainder of day two proved very profitable for the Dragonflies - it even looked like they could catch up and then some. The match was going at breakneck speed compared to the first two Tests, but maybe this is what the Dragonflies are made for. Stevenson and Twaddle were perfect, much more in sync with what the pitch had to offer. Willis and yChaegrheodd had great days as well, the latter even making it to the very end. It was the turn from day 2 to 3 that made everything terrible for the Dragonflies again - Wheelwright settled for 10 and the five batsmen to come after him all did worse. Two ducks and a mediocre final stand by Marsden, Chesterman and Raycraft - surely there was more to be gotten from this. At least a more conservative style. The clouds now came in, the wind picked up once again and the conditions were much the same as on the first day, only with a quicker pitch. Ko-oren barely made it to lunch - which was delayed so the Foxes could try to get Raycraft or yChaegrheodd out. The first few batsmen could find the boundary from time to time, but the run rate fell to barely 2 as Wheelwright went in.

Ko-oren Second Innings

Name            R   Out

Stevenson       29  b McCarthy
Twaddle         26  lbw Ashe
Willis          46  b Salisbury c Lebed
Darknoll        7   b McCarthy c Lebed
yChaegrheodd    44* not out
Wheelwright (w) 10  b & c Leggett
yMharwn         0   lbw Davy
Wilkins         0   lbw Davy
Marsden (c)     6   b Weaver c Lebed
Chesterman      5   b Salisbury c Laing
Raycraft        4   lbw McCarthy

Extras: 9

Total: 10-186 (55.3)

Well, that makes things a lot easier. With well over half of the allotted time left, there was a target of 105 - hard to do on such an unpredictable pitch. There wasn't much rhyme or reason to the bowling strategy employed by Marsden - he just threw different styles at the batsmen just to see what would happen. It worked, somewhat: the openers couldn't gauge every single style.

Four different players took wickets on the final session - yet Wilkins wasn't one of them. Davy put together the meat of the innings, getting nearly half of the needed runs by himself. He didn't see the end of the match, yMharwn deceived him just in time. Not just in time to save the match, but just in time to childishly deprave him of batting in the win himself. Davy did get a 50 in time, though. Whittall had the honour of surviving until the end, and after what Davy and Holt did against a crazy bowling attack, it's almost an insult to their performance. Laing desperately wanted to be the saviour of the team, trying to find the boundary but lobbing it up for an easy catch at point instead.

Plough Islands Second Innings

Name          R  Out

G Holt        20 b Marsden c Wheelwright
MG Davy       50 lbw yMharwn
SLC Weaver    17 lbw Chesterman
A Whittall    8* not out
KCT Laing (c) 1  b Raycraft c Twaddle
AC Leggett    1* not out
OD Fedorov    did not bat
IT Lebed (w)  did not bat
S Ashe        did not bat
CG McCarthy   did not bat
NA Salisbury  did not bat

Extras: 8

Total: 4-105 (28.3) - target 105

Ko-oren goes into the final Test of the season needing a win to tie the series. Other than that, it's been an alright season, definitely not what was expected after last season's final appearance, but there's another 10 (soon to be 11) Tests done and there's more to work from. Ko-oren is an established Test nation that can probably book whatever opponent it wants next year, and honestly if it only took us two seasons for us to get that status, we're ahead of schedule. Marsden is a very capable captain, and while there are some recurring issues (giving up long innings, going all-out under 200 runs very regularly), nothing stands in the way of a victory every now and again. The team peaked way too early, it really looked like we could get something done against Liventia - but then the debutants of Teusland got the better of us. Darmen gave us a perfect revenge run. All in all, Ko-oren was on six unbeaten Tests before this one, and there were only three losses all year - and yet, it's good for a spot right in the middle of the season's standings.

See you next year!

[The Plough Islands]

Apologies that this took a while - it's been a busy week, although I've enjoyed having the time to actually think my RP material through instead of madly writing whatever comes to mind. That said, I'd hope I'm getting slowly better at this by now

Good luck to Ko-oren for the final Test, and many thanks to Apox and Liventia for having us again - hopefully we can finish on a high and get some momentum into the ODI series (which we are still working on!). I'm glad I've got a week to write the RPs for that as well...

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FOXES PURSUE DRAGONFLIES IN SOUTHPORT
by Denis Wormwood, Sporting Correspondent, in Southport

Following two Tests in which the Plough Islands had been frustrated by a combination of the elements and Ko-orenite bravery and tactics, Kevin Laing's team faced no such obstructions today as they resumed the third Test at the Southport Athletic Club in a commanding position with three days to play. With the series having been full of tension thus far, a capacity crowd on New Hibernia instead had the opportunity to will on their comrades to a positive outcome, and for once this season, they were not to be disappointed.
Overnight, Illres yChaegrheodd and wicketkeeper Gilbert Wheelwright had had the chance to plot a fightback after being left on 140-4 at stumps, and they came out swinging to the Foxes; they resumed their attack with carefree tactics and a positivity that had eluded them towards the end of day two, and as they caused the scoreboard to edge upwards, Laing was forced to try different bowlers. Wheelwright was notably careful with Audrey Leggett's forcefully delivered leg breaks; he had been trapped in front by one in the first innings, precipitating a run of Ko-orenite wickets, and he was careful not to overstep his mark to them as they came in; so careful, in fact, that he would clip a somewhat off line ball off the handle of his bat rather than the face, and Leggett gleefully snapped up the catch to break the partnership after nearly an hour of play.
As Ko-oren had struggled with so many times in this Test, a slightly inevitable collapse followed, and this time it would prove to be terminal. The tourists lost their last five wickets for just twenty runs, as yChaegrheodd struggled to keep a partner for very long and some clever Foxes fielding meant he was unable to take back the strike at key moments. Matthew Davy - who had until now struggled to make an impact with the ball - found a sweet spot of turn and pace and dismissed Seophyn yMharwn and Morris Wilkins with virtually the same delivery in the same over, trapping both perfectly in front. There was a little more resistance from the captain Herschel Marsden and Solomon Chesterman, who dug in and forced the extension of play just before lunch as the Plough Islands tried to finish Ko-oren off, and it was ultimately not until the first over after a shortened break that Colin McCarthy would succeed in removing last man Albin Raycraft. It was the worst case scenario for the visitors though, and though their second innings total of 186 was an improvement on their first (by three runs), it seemed like a case of delaying the inevitable for Marsden.
With a target of 105 thus set, even on this unpredictable Southport pitch most observers were predicting that the Foxes would stroll to their sixth Test victory of the year, and initially - as Graeme Holt and Davy set out to chase it down - that seemed to be exactly what was happening, as Holt glanced the first delivery by Marsden for four just behind the slip cordon. Indeed, the pair of them charged towards and then beyond fifty with little trouble, with Davy especially taking advantage of the pitch and the haphazard nature of the Dragonflies' bowling - Marsden having figured that, in all the circumstances, confusion was the best approach to trying to limit the score - before the Test, dramatic as it had been, had one final spell of wickets in store for the hosts.
First Holt (20) got his feet mixed up and narrowly avoided chopping onto his own stumps only to send the ball straight through to Wheelwright, and then - after a few overs where she flayed the Dragonflies down the leg side - Shauna Weaver (17) followed, falling to a Chesterman delivery that spun the 'wrong' way and caught her on the legs. Davy, however, carried on scoring with Angus Whittall in tow, adapting well to whatever Marsden could throw at him and capping it off with an excellent drive back down over yMharwn's head, the Mawryshire all-rounder powerless to act as it flew for six and brought up his fifty and the Foxes' hundred.
yMharwn, though, had his revenge; the very next delivery, he delivered a far straighter ball that Davy played across to and was adjudged lbw, bringing in Laing to see his Foxes home. It was a task that, for the first time in his 32 years, the captain was unable to see out - whether he was inattentive for just a split second, or just overthinking the situation, he was able to score a single - levelling the scores - from yMharwn before scooping Raycraft up in the air and down into Reginald Twaddle's hands at point. He trudged off shaking his head, but with a wry smile and a hug for Leggett as she came in, and his deputy - wearing Naomi Salisbury's helmet - made no mistake as she flicked her first delivery down towards cow corner and jogged down the wicket before grabbing hold of Whittall and sharing in the outpouring of joy from the Southport crowd. After what had been a surprisingly tense match in spite of the scores, and two prior Tests in which the Foxes had been first on the back foot and then frustrated, it was all beginning to work out alright.
The tension had arisen partially as a result of inconsistent conditions; while there was none of the rain or fog that had plagued the first half of the series, a bitter wind blew around the Southport Athletic Club and whipped little dust devils from the surface of the freshly rolled pitch, which Marsden had opted to have a first go of batting on. McCarthy took the first over, which the Dragonflies took three from as they attempted to read what was still a relatively new pitch after the club's reconstruction over the past year, but it did not take long for the first signs of the way the game would go to show. After the emotional grinder that had ensued earlier in the season over her bowling action, there was nothing to stop Ashe from making her home debut this time, and the New Hibernian could scarcely have started better; she persuaded her first delivery to turn in under Ezekiel Stevenson's bat and have him plumb in front, to a standing ovation from the already-full crowd.
McCarthy then came back two overs later to remove Patrick Willis - also lbw - without scoring, and the scales began to tip slowly against the tourists. In what has been a set of very close contests, momentum has often been the key factor in the many layered mini-contests that make up a Test, and it was with Laing's team - the captain rotated his bowlers and each time someone on the batting side was caught out by the change in style. Theophilus Darknoll and yChaegrheodd both failed to build on what had seemed like promising starts, holing out off Salisbury and McCarthy respectively, and their dismissals bookended the end of Twaddle's fight as he fell, off Salisbury, to a gymnastic catch by Weaver that left the all-rounder hobbling for a few minutes after landing awkwardly.
If any one bowler changed the course of the match this early on, it was Salisbury; aside from doing for two of the Dragonflies' more dangerous batsmen, the left-arm spinner had kept the scoring rate low with a succession of maidens, and was used in long spells by Laing to good effect as the match came to lunch with three figures not yet reached and the tourists in all sorts of trouble. However, the break provided them with a chance to regroup, and in wicketkeeper Wheelwright and yMharwn, Ko-oren found a way back into the match, and they fought back against the hosts' bowling attack with aplomb as they edged the scoreboard first above 100, and then - despite some increasingly frequent rotation - 150. Eventually, just before tea, the rotations had the desired effect, and Leggett sent down a delivery that found a gap around Wheelwright's bat and rapped him - quite firmly - on the knee roll for 40, and the floodgates opened; yChaegrheodd managed to hold on to his wicket, and would finish on an impressive 71 not out, but he lost his next four partners for just six overs and 12 runs, as Salisbury (3-29) and Ashe (3-32) became adept at finding the tourists' pads. From a relatively strong position at 166-5, it had been a sudden collapse from Ko-oren to 183 all out.
With enough time left in the first day to get a few overs done, Holt and Davy were in jovial mood as they began the Foxes' reply, but they soon found what Ko-oren had; though both of them got off to quick starts, neither of them foresaw the difference of different types of bowling from the batting crease on the Southport pitch, and they were both gone relatively cheaply by their own high standards. Coupled with Willis pouching an excellent catch at deep midwicket to dismiss Whittall without scoring, it seemed as though the Plough Islands were in trouble, but captain Laing and captain-in-making Weaver were able to anchor themselves on the dusty track, and settle in to what became a patient, careful routine, making use of the Ko-orenites' fielding weaknesses well and seeing their team almost through to the close of play; ultimately Laing (28) was drawn into the thinnest of edges through to Wheelwright by Raycraft with the first ball of the last over of the day, and then - with the umpires having decreed this would be the last before stumps - Weaver (42) hooked to Willis off the last scheduled delivery.
Yesterday therefore began with two new faces at the crease, and soon had another - while Leggett set about the task at hand with typical abandon, Alec Fedorov took three overs to get off the mark, and another three before he clipped one of Marsden's short balls to Wilkins for two, and his island colleague Lebed came out instead. However, in their long intervals between wickets, and with a friendly, supportive home audience at the ground and on radio willing them on, the Foxes were far more comfortable then their guests, and they soon surpassed the Ko-orenite total and began to build on their advantage; even as Leggett's cameo inevitably ended as she flicked an attempted slog high in the air for Wheelwright, the mood rarely suggested panic or any sense of being on the back foot.
Lebed was not done yet, and the wicketkeeper patiently cruised past his fifty and into the afternoon session, where he was ably aided by Ashe (12) and McCarthy (16) as the Foxes' tail continued to frustrate Marsden and his colleagues. The Ko-orenites would have thought that the game was up when McCarthy was adjudged lbw off Wilkins twenty minutes before tea, but in spite of - or perhaps, by now, because of - her borrowed bat and pads on the wrong legs, Salisbury defied all expectations to grind out a most un-eleven like nine, which took her and Lebed into the extra overs before tea; it took an uncharacteristically pacy delivery from Wilkins (who finished on a not unreasonable 4-40) to take an edge and dismiss her just as Marsden was beginning to look exasperated. Lebed was left on a fine unbeaten 78, and the Plough Islands on 265 all out - a lead of 82 for the Foxes.
For Ko-oren, the goal was by now quite clear - Stevenson and Twaddle had to go out and do better, and this they did; on a still relatively new pitch, but without the wind and dust that had helped the previous day, McCarthy and Davy struggled a little to assert their control over the bowling, and both openers were able to settle and start to accumulate something that the Dragonflies could build on; they had added well over 50 by the time the first wicket came, via a McCarthy ball that swung back in and rearranged Stevenson's furniture for 29. And once again, the Dragonflies went through a minor collapse after a partnership was broken; this time responsibility was more or less even, with Salisbury and Ashe both chipping in with wickets, but ultimately it was Wheelwright and yChaegrheodd who steadied the ship and saw the tourists through to the end of a dramatic day.
Laing was still in a jubilant mood despite personally missing out on the winning runs, greeting this author with a hug before speaking; "I feel like we have more than deserved the victory, it has been hard and Ko-oren have been a really tough foe. But everybody played their part and we have shown what we can do time and again - hopefully we can carry this back to December Park". Weaver had some reservations still - "We still need to be cautious, it would not have taken much for the match to swing the other way, but fortunately it all came together"- but Davy, the hero with the bat, was less guarded in his reflections; "I had a couple of not brilliant days but today everything just fell into place, I found something with both the ball and the bat and I am happy I could contribute. A little irked perhaps that I could not see it to the end, but you know how these things work out..."
As the evening session was rendered unnecessary and the crowd slowly, sociably dispersed across Southport, a wonderful feeling of release and positivity hung in the air after what had been a tense few days, and it was hard not to conclude that the Plough Islands are now delivering on their potential as a Test cricket nation. Although it is a fool's errand to put too much faith in statistics - even, as the most involved scorer will eventually admit, in cricket - the Global Cricket Federation's tables for this season's performances see the Foxes as having performed the best in the world of all Full Members, and that position certainly feels like an accurate reflection of the effort, graft and patience applied by Laing, Hendricks, and their comrades over what has been an exciting few weeks for the sport in our small country.
While tonight will have special significance considering the history we share with our courteous guests - the total score now reading 2-3 in Tests - the future surely is bright for the Foxes no matter the result in Sutton in a week's time.

PROFILE: RORY ALIYEV
Born 16th August 1999, Highrock ☭ Right-hand bat ☭ Occasional right-arm leg break

With one Test remaining in the Plough Islands' 2019 season, it might seem like a frivolity to call up a 19 year old batsman for his Test debut, but - if the season so far had not already provided evidence enough - there is good reason to trust the judgment of Kevin Laing and Lourens Hendricks about this mess of curly hair sitting on a bright, eager young prospect.
A third-generation Plough Islander and another of New Dalmatia's seemingly endless reserve of promising young players this decade, Rory Peter Aliyev was born in Highrock to parents of Soviet Kazakh and Scottish descent. He only made his debut in non-school cricket in September 2017, when he scored 132 for the Highrock Athletic Club's second XI against Tendales; by the start of the 2018 season, he had fought for a place in the New Dalmatia Cricket Board's Sutcliffe Shield side. Normally batting at three or four, Aliyev scored 312 runs at 44.57, and having already made four appearances for the Young Foxes, was a late inclusion in Laing's team's full squad for last year's 20-over world championships, the logic being that his strike rates would be of benefit in this ultra-compressed form of the game.
By now already being talked of as a wunderkind, his international debut was less impressive; he was caught (dubiously) at slip second ball against Mattijana without scoring - and he only averaged 18.63 in Ko-oren in what he admits was an "inconsistent, and contradictory and baffling at times" tournament - even aged 19, Aliyev can never be accused of lacking in the breadth of his vocabulary - but that included an excellent unbeaten 61 against Elejamie, and he is understood to have impressed Hendricks and the national team selectors during the tour and subsequent winter training camps. Hendricks describes him as "A proper old head on young shoulders, y'know? He has this pragmatism about him that makes him so good at the limited overs games, and I don't need to teach or tell him anything twice".
Indeed, Aliyev has a thirst for knowledge that transcends his sport; a self-taught computer programmer and apprentice electronics engineer outside cricket, inside it his arsenal includes an exceedingly wide variety of shots from drives to cuts to switch hits, and he has spent "countless evenings and mornings, I would wear out tapes to the stage of tearing" analysing and absorbing the techniques of players from the Plough Islands and beyond.
Aliyev still lives with his family in Highrock, and it is hoped that this Test will give him valuable experience on home soil ahead of the upcoming one-day series, in which he is expected to play a key role.

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR FOURTH TEST AGAINST KO-OREN

      PLAYER            BAT   BOW
G     Holt              LHB      
MG    Davy              RHB   RLB
SLC   Weaver            RHB   RLB
RP    Aliyev            RHB      
KCT   Laing (c)         RHB   RMD
AC    Leggett           RHB   RLB
OD    Fedorov           LHB      
IT    Lebed (w)         LHB      
S     Ashe              RHB   ROB
CG    McCarthy          RHB   RFM
NA    Salisbury         LHB   SLA

DECEMBER PARK (PITCH MODIFIER -2)

[NS Global Cricket Federation]

Matchday 15

GCF Test no. 709
Match Report: Ko-oren in The Plough Islands (4 of 4)
Ko-oren bat first
The Plough Islands 436 (107.1 overs),
Ko-oren 306 (139.5 overs), 476/8 (144.0 overs)
Drawn
The Plough Islands win series 1-0 (3 drawn)

GCF Test no. 710
Match Report: Eastfield Lodge in Darmen (3 of 3)
Darmen bat first
Darmen 285 (103.1 overs), 212/6 (68.1 overs)
Eastfield Lodge 510/8d (226.4 overs),
Drawn
Darmen win series 1-0 (2 drawn)

GCF Test no. 711
Match Report: Ethane in Eura (3 of 3)
Ethane bat first
Eura 376 (103.0 overs), 9/0 (3.3 overs)
Ethane 183 (52.2 overs), 201 (42.0 overs)
Eura win by 10 wickets
Series drawn 1-1 (1 drawn)

GCF Test no. 712
Match Report: Teusland in Liventia (2 of 2)
Liventia bat first
Liventia 467/7d (194.2 overs),
Teusland 158 (60.1 overs), 177 (89.0 overs)
Liventia win by an innings and 132 runs
Liventia win series 1-0 (1 drawn)

Updated Test Rankings

Full Members                       Score  Pts/MP   Adjusted
1 Ethane			 FM  122 (3193/26)  111.40
2 Liventia			 FM  120 (5671/47)  110.32
3 Eura				 FM  108 (3808/35)  104.40
4 Darmen			 FM  107 (4857/45)  103.97
5 Teusland                       FM   99 (983/10)    99.15
6 Eastfield Lodge		 FM   98 (3425/35)   98.93
7 Ko-oren			 FM   97 (3466/36)   98.14
8 The Plough Islands		 FM   95 (2920/31)   97.10
9 Apox				 FM   93 (3698/40)   96.23

Associate Members
1 Sajnur                         AS   73 (510/7)     91.43
2 Elejamie			 AS   63 (567/9)     86.50

Affiliate Members
1 Damukuni                       AF  151 (1061/7)   120.50
2 The Busoga Islands             AF  150 (450/3)    120.00
3 Pratapgadh                     AF   60 (240/4)     85.00

Inactive Members
1 Mattijana	              IN/FM  120 (2400/20)  110.00
2 Barunia		      IN/FM  105 (2944/28)  102.57
3 Sargossa		      IN/AS   87 (603/7)     98.00
4 Northwest Kalactin	      IN/AF  104 (728/7)     97.00
5 The Kiaser Colonies	      IN/FM   87 (1400/16)   93.75
6 Lisander		      IN/FM   73 (883/12)    86.79
7 Tobiasia		      IN/FM   67 (1289/19)   83.92
8 Qasden		      IN/AS   55 (165/3)     83.00

Final League Table

                        Pl  W  L  D  T  Ld  Lv  Pts IW  Avg
1   The Busoga Islands   2  2  0  0  0   2   0   40  0  20.0*
2   Damukuni             5  4  1  0  0   3   0   76  1  16.2*
3   The Plough Islands  12  6  2  4  0   8   1  150  3  15.5
5   Liventia            12  5  3  3  1   7   0  132  2  13.0
4   Ethane              10  5  3  2  0   3   0  102  2  12.2
6   Darmen              13  5  3  4  1   4   0  125  1  10.6
8   Pratapgadh           3  1  1  1  0   2   0   29  0   9.7*
7   Teusland             7  3  3  1  0   3   0   65  0   9.3
9   Ko-oren             12  3  4  5  0   5   0   93  1   8.8
11  Eura                11  2  4  5  0   7   0   85  1   8.7
10  Apox                10  3  5  2  0   3   1   72  0   7.2
12  Sajnur               5  1  3  1  0   1   0   25  0   5.0*
13  Eastfield Lodge      9  0  6  3  0   6   0   39  0   4.3
14  Elejamie             3  0  2  1  0   1   0    9  0   3.0*

                        Pl  W  L  D  T  Ld  Lv  Pts IW  Avg
1   The Plough Islands  12  6  2  4  0   8   1  150  3  15.5
2   Liventia            12  5  3  3  1   7   0  132  2  13.0
3   Ethane              10  5  3  2  0   3   0  102  2  12.2
4   Darmen              13  5  3  4  1   4   0  125  1  10.6
5   Teusland             7  3  3  1  0   3   0   65  0   9.3
6   Ko-oren             12  3  4  5  0   5   0   93  1   8.8
7   Eura                11  2  4  5  0   7   0   85  1   8.7
8   Apox                10  3  5  2  0   3   1   72  0   7.2
9   Eastfield Lodge      9  0  6  3  0   6   0   39  0   4.3

Congratulations to The Plough Islands on being Season 10's test champions!

[The Plough Islands]

Well, that's certainly a thing that's happened - after what was a bit of an unfortunate debut season in some ways, to win six Tests and finish top (of a slightly artificial table) is not what I was expecting, especially as some of my RPs haven't been the best - I've been really ill this week so my energy has just been sapped by trying to keep up with work, and with mine and Ko-oren's ODI series coming up, this might be all I can manage for the Test.
I've said it already, but many thanks to Siovanija and Teusland, Elejamie, Apox, and Ko-oren for being great opponents, Apox and Liventia for their excellent hosting, and everyone else who's taken part - it's been a joy to read all the RPs. I do hope you'll have us back next year - the Foxes have a reputation to uphold now...

There will be a season review coming up after the ODIs, but that'll be a while off - it might be in this thread or the Polaris Trophy one. But, suffice to say, it's been brilliant, and I've enjoyed it very much

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