Cricket - GCF World Test Challenge 12 (everything)

[Gruenberg]

(Provisional) match details as posted on the GruenCric website.

The Sarian 480-5 dec. (180.1 overs)
                                              R    B   4/6
LM Snaijer                 lbw b Grovan      28  (76)  4/-
MDP Spritzen               c & b Grovan     193 (493) 27/2
IW Kijeur                  lbw b Qilairana    6  (21)  1/-
MM DeSaari+     c Uvaevaluvae+ b Qilairana   70 (210)  9/-
ADJ Ruitdekker* NOT OUT                     100 (186) 14/4     
ME Lijnuun      c Tumcoweiss   b Yowoax      60  (86)  9/-
WH Hendriks     NOT OUT                       4  (12)  1/-
Did not bat: ML Goedsmid, OJT Abaal, FA Stormdroop, MK Kloeten
EXTRAS (9b, 7lb, 3nb)                        13

FoW: 1: 69 (Snaijer, 25.5 overs); 2: 81 (Kijeur, 33.2 overs); 3: 260 (DeSaari, 114.2 overs); 4: 327 (Spritzen, 148.3 overs); 5: 465 (Lijnuun, 176.1 overs)

             O    M    R    W
Fizbin      31.1  8   91    0
Grovan      33   10   94    2
Tumcoweiss  23    7   48    0
Qilairana   49   12  125    2
Yowoax      41   13  102    1
Broimbles    3    2    4    0

Gruenberg 231 all out (79.2 overs)
                                            R    B   4/6
PA Deisler*      c Lijnuun    b Kloeten    67 (112)  8/-
CRFQ Hmnff       c DeSaari+   b Abaal       7  (12)  -/-
PM Sthwlorq      c DeSaari+   b Kloeten     8  (22)  1/-
EME Broimbles             lbw b Abaal      34  (98)  6/-
NQX Honk                  lbw b Stormdoop  16  (43)  1/-
SIT Qilairana             lbw b Kloeten     8  (23)  -/-
HAYW Tumcoweiss           lbw b Goedsmid   19  (34)  3/-
KZY Uvaevaluvae+ c DeSaari+   b Kloeten    48 (109)  6/-
BPGV Grovan      c Spritzen   b Goedsmid   13  (11)  1/1
LCAS Yowoax      c Ruitdekker b Kloeten     0   (2)  -/-
PPPPPPP Fizbin   NOT OUT                    2  (19)  -/-
EXTRAS (1lb, 1wb, 7nb)                      9

I accidentally deleted the FoW and can't recover it. Just pretend there are some pretty and deeply meaningful numbers here.

            O    M    R    W
Kloeten    23.2  6   52    5
Abaal      17    5   42    2
Hendriks   13    2   41    0
Stormdoop  16    3   55    1
Goedsmid   10    0   40    2

Gruenberg 424-8 (109 overs)
                                            R    B   4/6
PA Deisler*      c Ruitdekker b Kloeten    39  (51)  4/-
CRFQ Hmnff                c & b Hendriks   56 (116)  7/-
PM Sthwlorq                   b Goedsmid    5  (18)  -/-
EME Broimbles    c DeSaari+   b Kloeten   111 (197) 10/-
NQX Honk         c Spritzen   b Stormdoop   5  (20)  1/-
HAYW Tumcoweiss  c Ruitdekker b Hendriks   29  (32)  5/-
SIT Qilairana    c DeSaari+   b Goedsmid  125 (132) 18/1
KZY Uvaevaluvae+          lbw b Kloeten     7  (15)  1/-
BPGV Grovan      NOT OUT                   31  (70)  3/-
LCAS Yowoax      NOT OUT                    2   (4)  -/-
Did not bat: PPPPPPP Fizbin
EXTRAS (1lb, 1wb, 7nb)                      9

FoW: 1: 20 (Hmnff, 3.4 overs); 2: 73 (Sthwlorq, 19.4 overs); 3: 133 (Hmnff, 42.2 overs); 4: 149 (Honk, 48.6 overs); 5: 185 (Tumcoweiss, 56.4 overs); 6: 317 (Broimbles, 84.3 overs); 7: 329 (Uvaevaluvae, 88.4 overs); 8: 416 (Qilairana, 107.2 overs)

            O    M    R    W
Kloeten    20    3   80    3
Abaal      19    5   50    0
Hendriks   21    4   94    2
Stormdoop  22    4   71    1
Goedsmid   24    0  105    2
Ruitdekker  3    1   13    0

Day 1
1st wicket: 50 in 113 balls (Spritzen 34, Snaijer 16)
Lunch: The Sarian 69-1, 25.5 overs (Spritzen 40)
MDP Spritzen: 50 in 133 balls, 7x4 (The Sarian 103-2)
Tea: The Sarian 127-2, 55 overs (Spritzen 59, DeSaari 30)
3rd wicket: 50 in 135 balls (DeSaari 34, Spritzen 14)
New ball taken at 80.0 overs (The Sarian 180-2)
3rd wicket: 100 in 290 balls (DeSaari 49, Spritzen 48)
MDP Spritzen: 100 in 274 balls, 13x4 1x6 (The Sarian 193-2)
MM DeSaari: 50 in 143 balls, 6x4 (The Sarian 213-2)
Stumps: The Sarian 213-2, 90 overs (Spritzen 121, DeSaari 50)
Day 2
3rd wicket: 150 in 373 balls (Spritzen 87, DeSaari 57)
MDP Spritzen: 150 in 388 balls, 19x4 2x6 (The Sarian 263-3)
Lunch: The Sarian 265-3, 117 overs (Spritzen 151, Ruitdekker 2)
4th wicket: 50 in 139 balls (Spritzen 34, Ruitdekker 16)
Tea: The Sarian 331-3, 150 overs (Ruitdekker 21, Lijnuun 4)
New ball taken at 160.0 overs (The Sarian 361-4)
5th wicket: 50 in 97 balls (Ruitdekker 27, Lijnuun 20)
ADJ Ruitdekker: 50 in 145 balls, 8x4 (The Sarian 382-4)
5th wicket: 100 in 134 balls (Ruitdekker 56, Lijnuun 43)
ME Lijnuun: 50 in 71 balls, 10x4 (The Sarian 438-4)
Stumps: The Sarian 474-4, 180 overs (ADJ Ruitdekker 94, WH Hendriks 4)
Day 3
ADJ Ruitdekker: 100 in 186 balls, 14x4 1x6 (The Sarian 480-5)
Rain stopped play: Gruenberg 80-2, 24 overs (Deisler 47, Broimbles 16)
Lunch taken
PA Deisler: 50 in 70 balls, 7x4 (Gruenberg 83-2)
3rd wicket: 50 in 107 balls (Deisler 32, Broimbles 16)
Rain stopped play: Gruenberg 132-4, 42.2 overs (Honk 8, Qilairana 2)
Tea taken
Stumps called
Day 4
Start delayed by rain
Lunch: Gruenberg 166-6, 57 overs (Uvaevaluvae 11, Tumcoweiss 8)
7th wicket: 50 in 93 balls (Uvaevaluvae 31, Tumcoweiss 19)
Tea: Gruenberg 37-0, 9 overs (Deisler 26, Hmnff 10)
1st wicket: 50 in 73 balls (Deisler 32, Hmnff 20)
Rain stopped play: Gruenberg 86-2, 25 overs (Hmnff 34, Broimbles 8)
Stumps called
Day 5
CRFQ Hmnff: 50 in 105 balls, 6x4 (Gruenberg 121-2)
3rd wicket: 50 in 123 balls (Broimbles 27, Hmnff 21)
Lunch: Gruenerg 154-4, 52 overs (Broimbles 45, Tumcoweiss 0)
EME Broimbles: 50 in 114 balls, 3x4 (Gruenberg 210-5)
6th wicket: 50 in 54 balls (Qilairana 29, Broimbles 22)
SIT Qilairana: 50 in 47 balls, 6x4 1x6 (Gruenberg 278-5)
6th wicket: 100 in 123 balls (Qilairana 58, Broimbles 43)
New ball taken at 80.0 overs (Gruenberg 303-5)
EME Broimbles: 100 in 186 balls, 9x4 (Gruenberg 307-5)
Tea: Gruenberg 316-5, 83 overs (Broimbles 110, Qilairana 67)
SIT Qilairana: 100 in 106 balls, 14x4 1x6 (Gruenberg 377-7)
8th wicket: 50 in 60 balls (Qilairana 29, Grovan 18)

Match result: Drawn

[Milchama]

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Sports Section

Milchama bat slowly and patiently on nervy first day

EMBERTON, KRYTENIA - The Milchama Warriors started playing in their first road game in cricket history yesterday in Emberton, Krytenia at the historic Emberton Cricket Ground. As luck would have it the Warriors started in a winning fashion as Milchama won the toss and chose to bat. Captain Hayden March saying, "We feel like we can handle our nerves better at the crease than in the field." Emberton traditionally plays a neutral wicket, favoring neither batter nor bowler, and even with some ominous weather in the forecast for days 3 and 4 the Warriors felt good about their chances. March's choice not too crazy for a team that has traditionally batted very well.

That brought up the two Milchamian openers to the crease Daniel Ross and Philip de Franches. And they waited and waited and waited. While Krytenia attempted to bowl spin, pace, really anything Ross and De Franches had a plan and that plan was to block. While both would occasionally take singles and Ross seemed to hit the odd ball out at lunch Milchama had scored 55 runs in 30 overs. While neither Ross nor De Franches looked like getting out, neither of them were really doing much to move the scoreboard. Many have criticized the blocking plan as both openers, but especially, De Franches, have been known for some pretty aggressive knocks over the years in First Class games in Milchama. De Franches most famously hitting a 58 ball hundred against the Old Pagans 2 years ago. However, that was clearly not the plan today.

After lunch the Warriors started to try some things and, well, one could understand this blocking strategy. De Franches attempted to charge Martyn Mirandino the first over after lunch only to miss the ball and get stumped by wicket-keeper Kosta. De Franches out for 24. Three overs later Hayden March tried to sky one off Krytenian captain Saxon but was caught at Deep Square Leg. March was gone for 10 from only 8 balls. So suddenly, despite not losing any wickets before lunch, Milchama looked like a T20 side scoring 20 running but losing two wickets in the five overs after lunch. March seemed to had found the error of his ways as Carney came in and immediately settled down. Carney, of course, the man on form who scored 50s in both of his innings against Sylestone before the World Baseball Classic a few months ago. Carney and Ross again turned to accumulation mode and this meant more blocking. If this was supposed to be an advertisement for test cricket in Milchama it was not really working.

Carney and Ross did manage a 50 partnership in the next 40 minutes but Ross was brought down by an excellent ball from Udall that swung in and dislodged the stumps claiming Ross at 58. Congratulations to Daniel Ross for getting the first half-century on opposition soil. A solid innings from Ross and one that can definitely be built on. Two balls later it was Carney's turn getting cut down by another Udall corker that he edged to second slip. So Carney was out and Milchama was at 131-4. Now came the dreaded middle order. As most who had been following the saga of team selection knew the middle order has been one of the most contested places in the Milchama batting lineup. Cohen, Carpenter, and Guerin had all shown flashes of brilliance but always seemed just as likely to get a duck as a hundred. Nobody really knew what lay in store when any of them came to the crease. The answer was hundred. Cohen hitting his first ball for 4 and Carpenter returning the favor in the next over.

The boundaries were more of an exception though as Cohen and Carpenter continually picked up singles until tea accumulating another 40 runs to make it 171-4 at tea. After tea the show really got going. Milchama would score 100 runs but lose 5 wickets in the last session. Cohen getting out first to Hill on a beautiful caught and bowled for 30. Guerin was next getting out to Udall again on a feather to the wicket keeper for 8. That brought out the bowlers. While Tanya Pehrson has proven she can bat a bit. The key word there is "a bit" and that proved to be the case today. Krytenia's tough bowling forced Pehrson to make a lot of mistakes as she kept missing on balls that were too good and missed the stumps or having balls just fall in front of fielders who just barely blocking something. However, she did do the one thing you ask for batters, stay not out. Staying not out allowed Davy Carpenter to do his thing and man was it good.

Carpenter was the other glue of the innings. While he only had 18 runs when Cohen got out, Carpenter got his eye in and started to shepherd the lower order. First, he made sure Pehrson was only facing, max, 2 balls an over. He did this through some defensive but also some great offensive batting. For example, putting Saxon to the sword in the 76th over hitting 2 fours and a six in the first 4 balls. Generally, though, the great play with Carpenter was the tight single to square leg or mid off depending on where the field was. When those were not available, the single behind to point seemingly becoming the third option. For the next hour Carpenter and Pehrson would make 82 runs together, Carpenter making 68 of them for a beautiful partnership. Krytenia, of course, was not out of the game. Seemingly every time Pehrson was up the bowlers were in the game and, of course, even if Carpenter was excellently shielding the strike he could not do so every over. Over the course of the hour Pehrson would face 30 balls. The good times could not last as Pehrson was dragged onto her stump by Lovatovic for 15. Milchama at 262-6. After Pehrson the batting can be light and boy was it ever. Prentice and Woods falling in quick succession leaving the Warriors at 271-9 over night.

The key to the next day is Carpenter on 88*, can he continue what he did with Pehrson over to number 11 Benny Huant? If so, Milchama has a decent chance for their first hundred on foreign soil and a score at least over 300. If not, then the tactics of the morning session and the time period after lunch have to be questioned. Scoring at under at 2 an over in modern cricket is really ridiculous and while it was nice to save wickets the reckless nature of De Frenches and March's dismissal were absolutely abysmal. March especially throwing their wicket away when some patience was called for to stabilize the side. Either way, it was a decent first day and we're excited to see what the second day has in store for Milchama.

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

(Provisional) match details as posted on the cric.unc website.

Garbelia 179 all out (72.4 overs)
                                      R    B   4/6
Batter 1              lbw b Roberts  23  (64)  3/-
Batter 2  c Harper        b Roberts   0   (7)  -/-
Batter 3                  b al-Huq   10  (31)  2/-
Batter 4                  b Roberts  28  (58)  4/-
Batter 5              lbw b Roberts   5  (13)  1/-
Batter 6              lbw b al-Huq    9  (41)  1/-
Batter 7  c Seelalankara+ b al-Huq    8  (33)  1/-
Batter 8                  b al-Huq   14  (30)  1/1
Batter 9              lbw b Roberts  50  (95)  3/-
Batter 10 c Seelalankara+ b Roberts  10  (51)  1/-
Batter 11 NOT OUT                     7  (14)  -/-
EXTRAS (2b, 12lb, 1nb)               15

FoW: 1: 6 (Batter 2, 3.1 overs); 2: 24 (Batter 3, 11.6 overs); 3: 46 (Batter 1, 20.4 overs); 4: 60 (Batter 5, 24.5 overs); 5: 76 (Batter 4, 31.5 overs); 6: 83 (Batter 6, 39.1 overs); 7: 89 (Batter 7, 41.6 overs); 8: 113 (Batter 8, 49.1 overs); 9: 159 (Batter 10, 67.3 overs); 10: 179 (Batter 9, 72.4 overs)

                O    M    R    W
Cameron        15    3   29    0
Roberts        17.4  3   38    6
al-Huq         20    5   54    4
Mntimande      11    4   32    0
Van Jaarsveld   9    3   12    0

Uncertainty 243 all out (76.3 overs)
                                                      R    B   4/6
APR McEwan         c backward point b Bowler 2        8  (30)  -/-
OG Perry           c 2nd slip       b Bowler 1        2   (7)  -/-
JOW Harper*                     lbw b Bowler 2       50  (59)  8/-
JDC Van Jaarsveld               lbw b Bowler 1        3  (17)  -/-
PV Joshi           NOT OUT                           92 (193)  8/-
NW Miller          c wicket-keeper+ b Bowler 4       13  (28)  -/-
RHS Seelalankara+  c 1st slip       b Bowler 5       31  (65)  1/-
DJ Roberts         run out (sweeper cover/Bowler 3)   2   (4)  -/-
Faraj al-Huq                    lbw b Bowler 3        8  (17)  -/-
SE Cameron                          b Bowler 1       23  (42)  5/-
VM Mntimande       c wicket-keeper+ b Bowler 1        0   (1)  -/-
EXTRAS (4b, 2lb, 1wb, 4nb)                           11

FoW: 1: 5 (Perry, 4.6 overs); 2: 20 (McEwan, 9.1 overs); 3: 54 (Van Jaarsveld, 17.1 overs); 4: 68 (Harper, 20.1 overs); 5: 89 (Miller, 29.5 overs); 6: 167 (Seelalankara, 49.5 overs); 7: 169 (Roberts, 52.2 overs); 8: 190 (al-Huq, 63.1 overs); 9: 243 (Cameron, 76.2 overs); 10: 243 (Mntimande, 76.3 overs)

           O    M    R    W
Bowler 1  16.3  1   53    4
Bowler 2  21    4   62    2
Bowler 3  15    3   55    1
Bowler 4  12    0   47    1
Bowler 5  12    4   20    1

Garbelia 406 all out (107.4 overs)
                                            R    B   4/6
Batter 1  c Harper        b Cameron        16  (32)  2/-
Batter 2              lbw b Cameron        26  (62)  4/-
Batter 3  c Seelalankara+ b Roberts        75 (104) 11/-
Batter 4  c Harper        b al-Huq         63 (116)  6/-
Batter 5              lbw b Cameron        81 (161)  8/-
Batter 6              lbw b Van Jaarsveld  43  (70)  6/-
Batter 7                  b Cameron        22  (51)  2/-
Batter 8                  b Van Jaarseld    8  (13)  1/-
Batter 9              c & b Harper         20  (19)  3/-
Batter 10 c Seelalankara+ b Cameron        19  (18)  2/-
Batter 11 NOT OUT                           8   (8)  1/-
EXTRAS (5b, 7lb, 5wb, 8nb)                 25

FoW: 1: 30 (Batter 1, 8.1 overs); 2: 79 (Batter 2, 24.5 overs); 3: 142 (Batter 3, 41.3 overs); 4: 240 (Batter 4, 68.1 overs); 5: 313 (Batter 5, 84.1 overs); 6: 324 (Batter 6, 91.5 overs); 7: 343 (Batter 8, 95.4 overs); 8: 371 (Batter 9, 100.2 overs); 9: 399 (Batter 10, 105.6 overs); 10: 406 (Batter 7, 107.4 overs)

                O    M    R    W
Cameron        19.4  2   62    5
Roberts        22    4   88    1
Mntimande      16    0   88    0
Van Jaarsveld  22    5   62    2
al-Huq         23    2   69    1
Harper          5    0   25    1

Uncertainty 344-3 (116.5 overs)
                                                 R    B   4/6
APR McEwan                      lbw b Bowler 4   8  (30)  1/-      
OG Perry           c backward point b Bowler 2  32  (72)  5/-
JOW Harper*        c short leg      b Bowler 3  82 (189) 10/-
JDC Van Jaarsveld  NOT OUT                     142 (250) 11/4
PV Joshi           NOT OUT                      71 (160)  8/-
Did not bat: NW Miller, RHS Seelalankara+, DJ Roberts, Faraj al-Huq, SE Cameron, VM Mntimande
EXTRAS (2lb, 5wb, 2nb)                           9

FoW: 1: 30 (McEwan, 10.1 overs); 2: 60 (Perry, 25.6 overs); 3: 174 (Harper, 68.3 overs)

           O    M    R    W
Bowler 1  20    2   68    0
Bowler 2  20    6   82    1
Bowler 3  27    5   69    1
Bowler 4  23.3  8   58    1
Bowler 5  20    3   51    0
Bowler 6   6    2   14    0

Day 1
Lunch: Garbelia 74-4, 31 overs (Batter 4 26, Batter 6 6)
Tea: Garbelia 132-8, 55 overs (Batter 9 25, Batter 10 2)
Batter 9: 50 in 94 balls, 3x4 (Garbelia 178-9)
Close of play: Uncertainty 45-2, 15 overs (Harper 32, Van Jaarsveld 2)
Day 2
JOW Harper: 50 in 58 balls, 8x4 (Uncertainty 68-3)
6th wicket: 50 in 54 balls (Joshi 30, Seelalankara 19)
Lunch: Uncertainty 146-5, 41 overs (Joshi 44, Seelalankara 22)
PV Joshi: 50 in 92 balls, 4x4 (Uncertainty 165-5)
Tea: Uncertainty 206-8, 68 overs (Joshi 70, Cameron 9)
9th wicket: 50 in 79 balls (Joshi 27, Cameron 23)
Bad light stopped play: Garbelia 72-1, 20 overs (Batter 3 30, Batter 2 23)
Day 3
Batter 3: 50 in 70 balls, 8x4 (Garbelia 101-2)
3rd wicket: 50 in 86 balls (Batter 3 34, Batter 4 19)
Lunch: Garbelia 178-3, 49 overs (Batter 4 36, Batter 5 16)
4th wicket: 50 in 72 balls (Batter 4 23, Batter 5 23)
Batter 4: 50 in 87 balls, 5x4 (Garbelia 212-3)
Batter 5: 50 in 110 balls, 5x4 (Garbelia 246-4)
Tea: Garbelia 270-4, 76 overs (Batter 5 64, Batter 6 12)
New ball taken at 80.0 overs (Garbelia 287-4)
5th wicket: 50 in 78 balls (Batter 6 29, Batter 5 22)
Rain stopped play: Garbelia 406-9, 107.2 overs (Batter 7 22, Batter 11 8)
Day 4
Lunch: Uncertainty 60-2, 26 overs (Harper 19)
3rd wicket: 50 in 102 balls (Harper 29, Van Jaarsveld 22)
JOW Harper: 50 in 113 balls, 8x4 (Uncertainty 119-2)
Tea: Uncertainty 148-2, 55 overs (Harper 71, Van Jaarsveld 35)
3rd wicket: 100 in 224 balls (Harper 57, Van Jaarsveld 42)
JDC Van Jaarsveld: 50 in 114 balls, 3x4 (Uncertainty 170-2)
New ball taken at 81.0 overs (Uncertainty 218-3)
4th wicket: 50 in 84 balls (Joshi 26, Van Jaarsveld 25)
Close of play: Uncertainty 240-3, 88 overs (Van Jaarsveld 89, Joshi 27)
Day 5
JDC Van Jaarsveld: 100 in 207 balls, 10x4 1x6 (Uncertainty 267-3)
4th wicket: 100 in 181 balls (Van Jaarsveld 60, Joshi 41)
PV Joshi: 50 in 108 balls, 6x4 1x6 (Uncertainty 287-3)
4th wicket: 150 in 253 balls (Van Jaarsveld 77, Joshi 67)

Match result: Uncertainty win by 7 wickets

[Milchama]

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Sports Section

Rain after Tea Spoils Krytie Party

EMBERTON, KRYTENIA - On the start of Day 2 Milchama were 271-9 with Davy Carpenter on 88*. The key, of course, was could Carpenter farm the strike effectively to keep Huant from being attacked from a determined and very good Krytenian attack. The answer was no. Despite Carpenter picking up four runs from the first ball of the day, eventually Huant was asked to bat for an entire over in the 95th over and failed miserably. He stopped one ball and then Lovatovic delivered a vicious inswinger past Huant that hit off stump to strand Carpenter on 96* and end the Milchamian innings at 279.

While 279 looked to be a lowerish score, it did not seem to be an indefensible one and many have concluded that the Milchamian fielding is the strength of the team. While the bowlers are solid, as a baseball playing nation, Milchama actually teaches fielders how to field and does actual repetitive drills with them over time to improve their fielding. Moreover, since most members of the cricket team played some baseball they also had to field more balls in game situations than the average cricketer making the Warriors one of the best fielding teams in international cricket before a ball is bowled. The confidence in the fielding unit was backed up in Milchama's test against Sylestone where the Warriors took 2 incredible catches and generally made life miserable for the Sylestonians.

Out the bowling unit went and Milchama went to the field. It seemed pretty clear that Krytenia's plan to avoid the Warriors fielding was to hit over the field. Tatton hit a 6 in the first over and Carlton hit one in the second. The risky stuff paid off as the Krytenians had a 50 partnership inside 10 overs and a hundred partnership inside 20. With the pacers getting hit hard and the spinners, somehow, getting hit harder, Milchama turned to part timer Ryan Cohen to hopefully get anything. And well, it worked. Cohen got a beautifully turning delivery that got Tatton to miss the middle and hit a pop up between cover and deep cover (basically a pop up to the first baseman) and was caught by a grateful De Frenches. Krytenia at 110-1 as Tratton departed for a well hit 58.

As soon as Tratton got out the field seemed to change. Not only did Milchama seem to get some energy but also ominous clouds started to roll over the field and the lights came on in Emberton. Those ominous clouds did help the pace bowling. March getting Fenn on 2 and then Watling on 5. Taylor managed to stem the tide and steady the play until lunch where Krytenia were 141-3. Probably a bit ahead but the late Milchamian wickets giving the Warriors some hope of an upset.

The upset hopes continued as in the second over after lunch March struck again getting Taylor to play at a ball just off 4th stump to the slips where Carney made a great low catch to get him out. Taylor's 14 important but still not enough. Now Krytenia were officially teetering with 4 wickets for 34 runs and out came wicket keeper Kosta. Kosta had a clear goal, steady the ship. And boy did he ever. The first ball Kosta faced went for 4. The second also went for 4. The third was crushed but right at Huant at deep cover so it was only 1. The 4th went for 6. And to say it was only 6 was to underestimate the power of the hit. The ball would have been a baseball home run as it went 325 feet and cleared the East Stands. The game was paused for 6 minutes while they located the ball in the parking lot, then realized it wouldn't work as a ball, and Milchama were forced to pick a new ball.

After that auspicious start the Kosta/Carlton partnership really did blossom. Carlton playing the anchor role, as he had for the entire innings, and Kosta playing the basher role giving Krytenia some real bite for the next 45 minutes as they combined for 84 glorious runs with Carlton getting his well deserved hundred and Kosta getting to 43. That brought up Ryan Cohen who again broke up a set partnership, this time getting Kosta to hole out to long on and ending his innings on 43. With Krytenia at 228-5 it was anybody's contest.

After that partnership the wickets came regularly for Milchama but the runs regularly for Krytenia as well. Saxon getting 15, Udall getting 12, Mirandino getting 8 before falling. Meanwhile, Carlton was still locking down an end on the other side. That was until Bonnie Woods produced a spectacular ball that cut from between middle and leg to just edge of outside stump and harrumphed the bail. It took a worldie to get Carlton out but Woods produced one and it moved Krytenia to 321-9. Carlton finally out with an incredible 143.

Carlton's out brought an early tea and Milchama used the time to strategize which they almost did perfectly. Lovatovic edged one between slip and gully for 4 and then a rare drop from Prentice gave him two more. Finally, the Warriors got out of the innings as a mistaken run call from Hill got him tripped up and an easy throw from Carney over to Guerin ended the Krytenian innings at 328 from only 57 overs. A bruising and quick batting display but also one that crucially left the Krytenians up 49 runs after the first innings.

However, the Warriors were ready to go to make up that deficit and then some. However, just as Milchama were about to come out the weather intervened. A large rain storm that was threatening all day, remember the ominous clouds, hit Emberton and started poring for the next hour. With the field soak it was clear that no play was possible and Milchama's second innings would have to wait until Day 3. See you then for more cricket.

[Darmen]

GCF Test 787
Match Report: Sharktail in Darmen (1 of 2) @ Capital Stadium, Scott City
Darmen won the toss, chose to bat first
Darmen 341 (84.5 overs), 408 (84.5 overs)
Sharktail 316 (77.4 overs), 103 (27.0 overs)
Darmen win by 330 runs

Darmen 1st Innings
Name                             Runs Balls 4's 6's SR
MS Brice      c Izhan† b Buhairi  19   38    2  0    50.00
S Winter*     lbw b Ajay          56   97    4  1    57.73
T Milligan    lbw b Ajay          61  103    8  0    59.22
E Ready       c Yusof b Kabir     40   65    5  0    61.54
W van der Zee b Yusof             11    6    1  1   183.33
B Bachmann    lbw b Ajay          36   60    3  1    60.00
J Beckett†    not out             55   93    6  0    59.14
K Rosenfeld   c Mahmud b Buhairi  22   24    4  0    91.67
C McAlister   b Ajay               8    7    2  0   114.29
D Myers       c Izhan† b Hisyam   17   11    2  1   154.55
I Snelling    lbw b Ajay           5    5    1  0   100.00
Extras                            11
Total (84.5 overs, 4.02 rpo)     341        38  4

Name      Overs M Runs Wkts Econ.
Yusof R   12.0  0 63   1    5.25
Kabir Z   15.0  0 67   1    4.47
Hisyam H  14.5  1 65   1    4.38
Ajay D    27.0  4 87   5    3.22
Buhairi S 16.0  2 59   2    3.69

Sharktail 1st Innings
Name                                 Runs Balls 4's 6's SR
Fazrunil G  b McAlister                0    1    0  0    0.00
Ahmed A     c Brice b Rosenfeld       23   54    3  0   42.59
Izhan R†    c Beckett† b Snelling     36   78    4  0   46.15
Ajay D*     lbw b Myers              144  159   16  2   90.57
Mahmud Omar b Rosenfeld               24   41    4  0   58.54
Suhaizi N   c Ready b Rosenfeld       23   48    2  1   47.92
Razin F     c Bachmann b McAlister    17   25    2  0   68.00
Buhairi S   c van der Zee b Bachmann  37   52    4  1   71.15
Kabir Z     c Beckett† b Rosenfeld     0    1    0  0    0.00
Hisyam H    not out                    2    5    0  0   40.00
Yusof R     lbw b Myers                0    2    0  0    0.00
Extras                                10
Total (77.4 overs, 4.07 rpo)         316        35  4

Name        Overs M Runs Wkts Econ.
K Rosenfeld 21.0  3 85   4    4.05
C McAlister 18.0  1 83   2    4.61
I Snelling  11.0  1 51   1    4.64
B Bachmann  14.0  1 67   1    4.79
D Myers     13.4  5 30   2    2.20

Darmen 2nd Innings
Name                             Runs Balls 4's 6's SR
MS Brice      lbw b Hisyam        36   70    4  0    51.43
S Winter*     c Fazrunil b Ajay   29   55    4  0    52.73
T Milligan    c Izhan† b Kabir   154  164   19  1    93.90
E Ready       b Yusof             51   62    5  1    82.26
W van der Zee lbw b Ajay          37   30    4  2   123.33
B Bachmann    lbw b Ajay          26   42    4  0    61.90
J Beckett†    st Izhan† b Kabir   20   27    3  0    74.07
K Rosenfeld   c Izhan† b Buhairi  11   15    1  0    73.33
C McAlister   not out             23   34    2  0    67.65
D Myers       b Yusof              3    7    0  0    42.86
I Snelling    c Razin b Ajay       1    3    0  0    33.33
Extras                            17
Total (84.5 overs, 4.81 rpo)     408        46  4

Name      Overs M Runs Wkts Econ.
Yusof R   15.0  2  67  2    4.47
Kabir Z   14.0  0  77  2    5.50
Hisyam H  12.0  0  71  1    5.92
Ajay D    27.5  3 109  4    3.92
Buhairi S 16.0  1  84  1    5.25

Sharktail 2nd Innings
Name                               Runs Balls 4's 6's SR
Fazrunil G c Winter b Bachmann       4   6    0   0    66.67
Ahmed A    lbw b Myers              13  16    1   0    81.25
Izhan R†   c Myers b Rosenfeld      10  27    1   0    37.04
Ajay D*    b Rosenfeld              35  49    3   0    71.43
Mahmud O   c Milligan b McAlister    0   2    0   0     0.00
Suhaizi N  lbw b Myers              17  30    2   0    56.67
Razin F    b Rosenfeld              12  19    1   0    63.16
Buhairi S  c Milligan b Rosenfeld    5   8    0   0    62.50
Kabir Z    c Beckett† b Rosenfeld    0   1    0   0     0.00
Hisyam H   c & b Rosenfeld           0   1    0   0     0.00
Yusof R    not out                   1   3    0   0    33.33
Extras                               6
Total (27.0 overs, 3.81 rpo)       103        8   0

Name        Overs M Runs Wkts Econ.
K Rosenfeld 10.0  2 30   6     3.00
C McAlister  9.0  3 25   1     2.78
I Snelling   1.0  0 17   0    17.00
B Bachmann   3.0  0 18   1     6.00
D Myers      4.0  2 13   2     3.25

Player of the Match: Kieran Rosenfeld (DAR), 21.0-3-85-4 & 10.0-2-30-6

[Krytenia]

Carlton Shines In Stars Victory
Angus Haggerston reports from Emberton

Having cemented their reputation as the Audioslavia of one-day cricket, attention amongst the Krytenian faithful has turned towards the red-ball game as the Stars attempt to climb the greasy pole of the Test rankings. The modern game may be a far cry from the distant days of Babbage batters and quiet applause, but in the five-day format, some things never change. The drama develops gradually, and with some lovely summer storms, it was a question of which of the three sides would win: Krytenia, Milchama, or the weather.

Milchama arrived in the Krytenian capital with a gameplan; worry less about the runs, and more about not losing wickets cheaply. The Warriors' openers, Daniel Ross and Phillip de Franches, came to the crease looking to block anything they didn't fancy...and they didn't fancy much. Captain Lynton Saxon cycled through the bowlers in the morning session, looking for some way to break down the Milchaman wall, but to no avail.

There is a phrase used in first-class cricket here in Krytenia - "scheming over chicken". In other words, if things aren't going well, use the lunch break to change tack and hope the break in rhythm means you catch the opposing team cold. As it turns out, it was the Warriors doing the scheming, and they immediately choked on the bones. De Franches had a rush of blood to the head, and in attacking a Martyn Mirandino delivery succeeded only in getting himself stumped agonisingly close to a half century. His replacement was Hayden March, and Mirandino did for him too, catching him deep off a Saxon delivery for all of ten runs. Back to the drawing board - and the blockhole - for Milchama.

The remainder of the day was attritional, with the Milchaman batsmen happy to tick the runs off in ones and twos in between an ocean of dots, and Saxon realising that changing up the bowling attack served more to disrupt his own team than their opponents. Besides, he had an expert locksmith in pacer Gavin Udall. The Overa bowler found movement to go with his blistering speed, and though Ross claimed his fifty, he could do nothing with a particularly fierce delivery from Udall that sent his off stump cartwheeling. Carney nicked one into the slips later in the same over, and the Milchaman innings was suddenly in danger of coming apart at the seams.

If there's a word to describe the Milchaman middle order, it's "mercurial". It certainly isn't "dull". Ryan Cohen and Davy Carpenter were in no mood to block, and though it was hardly T20 levels of scoring, the runs were ticking over nicely enough to worry Saxon. His turn, then, to contemplate more than his plate over tea.

The solution, as it turned out, was the man whose abilities with spin seemingly give physics the middle finger: Brigham Young Hill. The pride of Port Victoria removed the difficult Carpenter with a well-disguised arm ball that the Milchaman batter could only lollop back into the hands of the bowler. What he couldn't do - what anyone couldn't do for the longest time - was remove Tanya Pehrson. Her stumps led a charmed life as somehow, she managed to not get out despite a string of errors. A nick from Hill that bounced agonisingly in front of Howard Tatton at first slip was typical of how Krytenia somehow failed to get her back in the pavilion. At the other end, meanwhile, Carpenter piled on the runs, looking a real danger as Milchama finally decided to turn on the jets.

Eventually, though, Pehrson would make one mistake too many. An inside edge onto the stumps from a Lovatovic inswinger did the trick, and in the last few overs, Kesem Prentice and Bonnie Woods would follow, with Saxon bowling the former and Hill trapping the latter plumb lbw.

Carpenter started day two in search of his century; unfortunately for him, Benny Haunt couldn't hang on for long enough, and when Lovatovic bowled him in the fifth over of the day, that was that. Milchama's innings ended on a useful 279, close to par on a neutral pitch, and with Carpenter top-scoring on 96 not out.

Krytenia's opening pairing are an interesting pair. Ian Carlton is in his first international match in any format, whilst Howard Tatton's exploits in the fifty-over game are well-known. That short-format experience told early on, as Tatton thumped a glorious six with the third ball of the innings. Not to be outdone, Carlton would also send one to the stands in the following over. Though the Milchaman players are widely regarded as excellent fielders, their inexperience in the tactical nuances of placing said fielders soon told as the Stars' openers sent the ball to the boundary with almost metronomic regularity. That 279 was fast looking like a laughable score as the Krytenians scored like they were in coloured kits. Sadly, though, Tatton wouldn't make it to lunch with his pads on, misjudging the spin of Cohen and holing one to a scrambling Woods, who met it running in from deep cover. Both Ed Fenn and Ryan Watling soon joined him, Fenn getting himself stumped in a similar way to de Franches in the Warriors' first innings for a whole two, and Watling putting one down the throat of mid-on with just five on the board. Lunch came as a blessed relief to the home side as the match threatened to slip away from them.

As it turned out, though, the break did Krytenia little good. Andrew Taylor was the latest to lose his wicket cheaply, though in his defence Carney's catch was world class. With a collapse on the cards, wicketkeeper Wes Kosta came in to steady the ship. The way of doing so? Firing all the ordinance. Kosta provided whatproved to be the shot of the match, getting everything and then some behind a powderpuff Haunt delivery, bouncing off the top of the low-slung East Stand with an audible thunk before crashing through the windscreen of some poor soul'd Tickford Ares in the member's car park. That'll be a fun one to claim on the insurance.

One replacement ball later, and Kosta picked up where he left off. A quickfire forty-three, combined with Carlton patiently adding to his score at the other end, made the Krytenian score look much more healthy by the time Kosta fired one short of the boundary and into the waiting arms of the fielder at long-on. Saxon and Udall were unable to make the most of a Milchama side on the ropes, both out barely into double figures, it was up to Carlton to keep the runs going, with his strike partner given the task of not getting out. This worked for a while, Mirandino defending well, but when he got his stumps rearranged by Pehrson the game looked up. Lovatovic attempted to steady the ship once more, but just as he was getting settled Carlton was sent back to the pavilion by an absolute jaffa from Woods. Lovatovic put on a few more before Hill got himself run out in comical fashion, leaving Krytenia with a small but crucial first innings lead.

It was at this point that the weather came into play. The heavens opened during the changeover, and the rain would not let up completely until the afternoon of day four, washing out five sessions of cricket and threatening to take the result away from both teams. Eventually, though, play was possible, and Milchama attempted to start things in a positive light.

This, in hindsight, was a mistake. De Franches punched one into the gully on just twelve, whilst Ross at least got into the thirties before being undone by a Udall howitzer. Hayden March made up for his first innings debacle, meanwhile, with a calm knock around the ground that threatened to take the game away from the home side. With Jerome Carney steadying things at the other end, the Warriors fought to wrest control of the match once more.

Carney, though, made a fatal error, edging onto his stumps from a Lovatovic delivery, and with Cohen clipping one into Kosta's gloves with the very next ball, the Newland bowler was on a hat-trick. Davy Carpenter, however, was in no mood for charity, and fended the next delivery away for a single. He and March hung on until tea, with the Warriors at least guaranteed to make Krytenia bat again at 76/4. Carpenter wouldn't last the day, though, with Hill foxing him leg before with a sumptuous leg-break. Another shower brought a premature end to the day's proceedings, leaving the game delicately poised.

Sadly for Milchama, the rest of the order couldn't put together a meaningful partnership. Guerin went for single figures, Pehrson at least managed eleven, and Prentice became the second duck of the innings offering no shot to a Saxon screamer. With March succumbing to Mirandino shortly after completing a defiant fifty, the fight went out of the visitors and they ended on 146 with plenty of overs left for Krytenia to score the runs they needed - so long as the weather held.

The clouds above were grey - but a light grey, devoid of rain. Good for swing bowling, but good also for the soft hands and deft touch of Tatton and Carlton. The scoring didn't have to be one-day fast, but the pair were taking no chances, offering shots wherever and whenever possible. Carlton would depart for twenty-seven, edging to third slip, whilst Tatton scored a useful 31 before a Woods delivery grazed his glove and carried back to Guerin. Another shower - this one mercifully short - brought an early lunch as Milchama looked to rip into the rest of the Krytenian batting order.

Sadly for them, Ed Fenn and Ryan Watling were looking to atone for their first innings mishaps. Neither man looked troubled by the Milchaman bowling, and when Watling found the gap for the two runs needed to tick the Krytenian score to the ninety-eight required, both men quietly celebrated a job well done.

Milchama shouldn't look too hard into their post-mortem of this Test; they performed well, but were simply outmached by a tactically superior side. Chalk it down to experience, and learn some lessons for next time. For Krytenia, meanwhile, there are batters in the side still looking for the balance between aggression and patience; it'll be interesting to see what tweaks are made before the two sides meet again in Beckton.

[Eura]

emplor.eur/main/sport/cricket
IT’S EURACIDE…BUT NOT IN A GOOD WAY
Liventia seize thrilling 7-run victory against hapless Euran batting – despite repeat of famous DCCG collapse
Euran cricket correspondent Mary Morston reports from the DCCG

Eura marked their return to test match cricket after a one season absence with a surreal test match defeat against Rushmori rivals Liventia, who survived a calamitous 54-all out innings to bowl Eura out with 7 runs still to chase in less than two days equivalent of play, ensuring Liventia will go six series against Eura without a series defeat.

Long-time cricket fans will remember Eura’s sensational GCF8 victory against Liventia at the very same ground. In that game Eura had conceded a 337-run first innings deficit in the first innings but turned things around with a national record 722-8 declared in the second innings, before the illustrious tourists were demolished for 70 all out. That was Liventia’s worst ever defeat by runs at the time (excluding innings losses). At the time the damage of the defeat was plastered over by a Liventian victory in the final test in Bastion to level the series. But this victory at Directus will go some way further to salving that wound, especially given that the tourists were skittled again, this time for a somehow worse 54 from just 13.4 overs. For Eura it was an excellent performance from the bowling attack but a deeply disappointing outcome for the batting unit, with changes already speculated for the second test as a result.

In the previous historic test here at this wonderful old stadium, the pitch was infamously a flat track until the final day (making Eura’s first innings 191 all out somewhat embarrassing for them too), when it gave in after days of baking sun by rapidly deteriorating into a spinner’s paradise, which hometown man Greg Lark heroically took advantage of to the tune of 8 wickets for 33 runs. However, this time there was no heatwave to level the Directus track. Instead, it had been raining for two days earlier in the week and the pitch was barely ready to play on. ‘Directus has never looked so green’ commented captain Shaun Folkstone on Day 1, a veteran of the famous “Euracide” who sounded unhappy to find such a friendly pitch for bowlers. It was a strange take for a man renowned for his seam bowling and seemed even more strange when he won the toss and chose to bowl anyway.

Day 1

Unfortunately, there is no hiding that this is not the same Euran team of the GCF8 era, or even of GCF10. A big hole has been left by the retirements of Matt Leech, Tom Grant and Tim Carpenter, while other key figures like Tristan Lewis and Alan Royce are long gone. Only aging veterans Liam Tunbridge, Andrew Elland and Greg Lark – the latter two the pivotal figures in that iconic DCCG victory – remain from Eura’s initial foray into test cricket in GCF2, and none of them are quite as good as they were. Folkstone opened the bowling against Finney and Finch and found himself up against it, the 36-year-old generating some movement but not enough pace against the Liventian openers. Finney, now 41 and a living legend of the game, cruised to a rapid half century in just 51 balls as Eura failed to take advantage of the favourable conditions.

Shortly after Finney’s milestone Eura finally had a breakthrough – Oscar Greenwood usually struggles in dry Directus but was Eura’s best bowler in the first session and was duly rewarded with a peach that trapped Finch LBW on 28. He should have had Edwards very early too, but debutant Neil Stroud dropped the Liventian no. 3 after he had punched a foolish shot straight to cover. Stroud’s blushes were spared by Seb Haynes, who teased a shaky looking Edwards with a few swinging balls before catching him out with a full straight ball that thumped into his pads – another LBW. Bérenger came in shortly after and sensibly steadied the ship while the older Finney brother, Max, continued to race ahead at the other end, guiding their side to 130-2 at lunch on Day 1 at over 4 an over, even knocking a six back over the head of Haynes on his way to 82 from 85 balls.

Finney’s unusually rapid acceleration for an opener was brought to an end soon after the lunch break as Greenwood struck again. The batter drove loosely at a ball moving away from him, edging straight to second slip on 88. He understandably thumped the ground in frustration with his bat as a streaky but deserved century eluded him. Finney’s departure triggered a remarkable period of almost-white ball cricket where, for about 15 overs, Liventia continued to find the boundary around the ground and Eura continued to take quick wickets (but also leaked vital extras, Haynes being a particularly bad offender). Bérenger was the only batter failing to put runs on the board quickly and was found out by a sublime inswinger from Greenwood that knocked out his middle stump. He was followed by Daniels edging onto his own stumps against Haynes and Folkstone finally taking a wicket, bouncing du Pont into a pull that dropped neatly for square leg to take an easy catch. But for those three wickets Liventia added a vital 55 runs.

After the fall of the 6th wicket the tourists were only on 198 and yet continued to attack, wisely seeing the writing on the wall that the remaining batters were unlikely to last long and should try to wring as many runs out of their remaining wickets as possible. The pair of Reynolds and MacMaster counterattacked firmly, the latter holding up the non-striker’s end while the former dispatched Eura’s spinners (on to rest the seamers for a few overs) in an expensive spell of 6 boundaries. Eventually Reynolds holed out taking on Neil Stroud on the final ball of an over, lobbing a mistimed slog straight up in the air and back down for wicketkeeper Alec Wright to pouch the catch. It was Stroud’s first test wicket, but the expensive period he’d bowled in had cost Eura dearly. As the Liventian innings hit the 50-over mark they were 236-7. Home captain Folkstone brought himself and Greenwood back on and they cleaned up the tail in just 4.1 overs and at the cost of 17 runs.

Eura marched out to bat for the first time in 4 years and were brutally served an immediate reminder of the Liventian’s class. Cameron Lawson has developed an excellent defensive technique over the years after struggling with it earlier in his career but was undone by the first ball of the innings, an accurate ball over the wicket to start from Kerr that cut in off the seam and snuck between bat and pad, uprooting Lawson’s off stump and sending the away side into pandemonium. Quickly it became abundantly clear that Liventia’s 253 was an above par score on a wicket which truly got the ball dancing. The normally stoic Dodd was beaten all ends up by a Sean Finney ripper within minutes before Euran great Andrew Elland – remember that 271 on this very ground? – edged behind off Finney, leaving Eura on a disastrous 10-3 as tea approached. Their opponents had made 143 at this point.

With his side wobbling badly, Marvin Raleigh had to do steady the ship with some sensible batting. Instead, a rogue swipe at the first ball of Kerr’s fifth over flicked the tip of his bat and flew all the way down to fine leg for a running catch by Daniels. Liventia were in dreamland with Eura 14-4 and the opening bowlers on figures of 4.1-2-5-2 and 4-0-9-2 respectively. 19-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Wright came out to bat for Eura and set about doing his best to rectify that. He ground out a couple of maidens until the opening bowling spells ended (after 10 overs Eura had made just 16 runs) then set about attacking, scoring quickly against MacMaster’s pace and Goudreau’s leg spin. They batted well for a while until Tunbridge tried to clip a slightly short ball off his legs off Finney and found fine leg (again) instead, bringing a lifeline 70 run partnership to an end.

Day 2

Captain Folkstone was expected to maybe make a splash at the crease as Day 2 kicked off, and instead had to walk on 12 after playing all around another Kerr beauty. Local hero Lark swept a couple of boundaries off Goudreau only to hole out on his third attempt. In a moment of a symmetry with Liventia’s own innings, they disposed of Eura’s last three wickets in the same amount of time in the early overs of the second day – 4.1 overs it took them – though Eura scored slightly more quickly in the endgame than their opponents had, racking up 22 before being bowled out for 144. Kerr took a well deserved 5-for. The silver lining for Eura was that Wright was able to knock off a maiden test half-century on debut before falling as the final wicket, reaching the milestone with a glorious six slapped over the cover boundary.

Despite their own failings with that bat in the first innings, Liventia had taken a 109-run lead into the second in a game that now looked as if it could be over in less than half the 5 allotted days. However, a sudden shower of rain emerged as the innings changeover was taking place, which quickly turned into a horrendous torrent. The quick reactions of the ground staff saved the day from being a complete washout, but they were not quick enough to prevent some moisture getting in to the pitch – and another abrupt swing in the weather brought beaming sun and some heat for a few hours in the afternoon. When the game did resume later, late on in the evening session, the pitch was still drying, and the grass was almost sweating; commentators from both countries expressed dismay and/or excitement at the prospect of a rare sticky wicket in the modern professionalised game.

What had been a great wicket for tricky seam and swing bowling had become a damp minefield. For the Liventian’s some déjà vu may have come into play; having to bat out a dozen overs late in the day in Directus on a horrid pitch was something they had tried before with grim results. Despite the light still being good and the moisture available in the pitch, the Euran’s took a gamble and opted for their spin unit, who had been torn to shreds in their short first innings spells. The veteran opener Finney was welcomed to the wicket by a raucous late in the day crowd who had spent the afternoon getting drunk in the covered bars on the concourses, who naturally sensed history could repeat itself. Steely-eyed and no doubt putting such thoughts out of his mind, Finney played out the iconic Lark’s first over without too much trouble. He even nabbed a quick two for his trouble.

Unlike “last time”, Lark’s partner was not an experienced off spinner on this occasion. Uncapped leg break man spin Stroud had been fortunate to take a debut wicket in a difficult 6-over spell in Liventia’s first innings and had a poor time in the field too. Under pressure to perform, the 24-year-old might have been expected to crumble, but instead found within himself the confidence to bounce back. Eura’s selectors must have been raving when they watched the third ball of his opening over – following on from two standard balls spinning away from the right hander Finch – bounced awkwardly on the poorly conditioned pitch and took the batsman by surprise, flicking his glove and sitting up nicely behind the stumps for Wright to take a catch. Edwards came in at number 3, the man who had put up the most resistance in the 70-all out of years ago. He defended Stroud’s first ball nicely, then watched in horror as the next one hit the turf and barely bounced at all, skidding under his bat and onto the stumps.

Stroud’s double wicket maiden was just the start of a torrid few overs that would turn the game on its head. The Liventians came and went under the intimidating glare of an 84,000 strong Euran crowd and wilted against a pitch that was behaving atrociously. Bérenger, Finney, Daniels and Reynolds all made their way back to the pavilion before the close as the ball skewed about all over the place, turning further than Stroud or Lark could have possibly hoped for. Stroud took two more (at one point he was 6 for 4) and the legend Lark did so too. After 9 overs the umpires called time on the day to the Euran’s frustration, but the damage done was massive as Liventia closed on a miserable 25-6.

Day 3

By morning the pitch would be drier and Eura were back into the wickets in front of a roaring full capacity crowd despite the best efforts of du Pont to stabilise the innings and score some runs simultaneously. He would edge out to Lark on 16, before Stroud secured his 5-for in the next over with a ball that slid straight onto Goudreau’s stumps. MacMaster did not last long after and, after Finney took a quick single to bring up Liventia’s score to 54, any hopes of avoiding a humiliation as bad as 70-all out were dashed by Kerr falling for a golden duck to another Stroud ball that span wickedly and clipped off his bails. 54 all out was the final total, coming in a ridiculous 13.4 overs during which Eura used just two bowlers. Lark took fine figures of 4 for 24 but it was Stroud who was the big star this time, having accounted for the top 4 of the Liventian order on the way to figures of 6 for 27.

Such a disaster of an innings must have been an enormous blow for Liventia, but Eura’s first innings deficit meant that this low scoring game could still go either way – the tourists had set Eura a target of 164 to win. They took notes from their hosts in deploying their spinners first but initially failed to reap the rewards; it appeared that Stroud and Lark’s morning wickets had come on a wave of confidence against tail enders, and that conditions were shifting back in favour of the seamers. The older Finney, Goudreau and Reynolds did manage to take Dodd’s wicket as a unit, and kept the run rate relatively low, but the Eurans otherwise started well and reached 50-1 comfortably with lunch in sight, looking set to make a run for an unlikely victory in the pivotal afternoon session.

It was only in the final few overs before lunch that the momentum of the match swung once more as Liventia struck with several wickets in rapid succession. The key impetus was Goudreau’s tactical decision to give up on the spinners attempts to break down the patient openers and switch back to pace, forgoing the immediate logic of the match situation in favour of a risky calculation that the seamers might break through. The reintroduction of Kerr was an obvious choice off the back of his 5 for 22 in the first innings and he bowled a challenging maiden to start, but it was MacMaster who undid the key target Elland with a perfect delivery that the Euran great gave the faintest of edges back to du Pont. By the time lunch arrived Kerr had accounted for Lawson and Raleigh, and suddenly Liventia were on top again.

Eura resumed on 67-4, requiring only 97 win, but not looking very confident about reaching it. There was little confidence to be gained from Wright’s fall on 6 early in the session to a peach of a delivery from SV Finney. They were now 76-5. Experienced Euran captain Folkstone and Tunbridge now began to assemble a key partnership that might have pushed the outcome of the match back in Eura’s direction at the very last. A few fortunate boundaries and some plucky defensive work allowed them to creep up closer on the target as nails were thoroughly chewed around the ground – Folkstone got the crowd going with an awkwardly hit slog down leg that just about made it over the rope for a maximum. Eura had now recovered to 123-5 and were in touching distance of the win. Then, in a moment of madness, Folkstone and Tunbridge set off for a single that was never there and the latter was run out by a yard at the hands of Bérenger, bringing a partnership of 47 to an end.

Only a few minutes later Eura were rocking as Greg Lark, on home turf, was sent back to the pavilion by MacMaster after being pinned by an unexpected yorker for a duck. This was going to be a photo finish; Eura still needed 40 runs, Liventia 3 wickets. Folkstone tried to take the situation by the scruff of the neck with Greenwood looking edgy at the other end and thumped away a succession of boundaries while farming the strike over the next few overs. Then came a moment of magic to finally pivot the game back in a definitive direction. Finney junior, starting a new spell, bowled a succession of testing balls that left Folkstone for dead – though he managed a quick two off one of them – before the penultimate ball of the over, a leg cutter bowled full from around the wicket, flicked Folkstone and went to slip for a diving catch by the bowler’s ecstatic older brother.

The umpire raised his finger and Folkstone reviewed immediately believing it had hit his pad (and figuring the direction of the ball would save him from LBW) but fell to his knees after the decision was upheld, the decision review system finding evidence of a whisker of a nick on the inside edge of his bat before the ball had ricocheted off the pad and towards the slips. The stadium went silent bar some cheerful Liventian’s celebrating the wicket. His 44 off 66 balls had been Eura’s rock and now only a debutant and two bowlers with low batting averages remained. Nevertheless, at 143-8 Eura still only needed a very achievable 21 to win, so Haynes and Greenwood opted to go for it, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to hold out against such high-quality bowling.

The crowd were lifted out of their shocked moratorium on noise by the first ball of the next over from Kerr, which Greenwood creamed away for four through mid-wicket. This really was an innings of two halves in terms of run rate – the 16 overs of spin had only seen 1 wicket and 7 maidens, whereas the 25 overs of pace had featured only 3 maidens but a much greater 7 wickets. Greenwood then followed up that shot with a wafting play and miss, a hit to the body, then a flashing slice that was meant to be a cut shot and somehow found the boundary at third man instead. Once again, the stands erupted with noise. He defended the penultimate ball resolutely, hoping to see out Kerr’s over with Eura down to 13 to win.

Shockingly Kerr picked this time, of all times, to bowl a no ball, which Greenwood flogged away magnificently for four again. Kerr looked mortified but in the end would be thankful he bowled that no-ball; his 7th and final delivery of the over was pitched short, Greenwood tried to dab it down defensively, and instead misjudged the bounce completely. The ball cannoned off his glove and up into the air, falling nicely for MA Finney to take his second catch. Stroud slowly walked out to the middle to face the music with his side still short of 8 to win with the strike rotated back to Haynes. The opportunity was there, surely, for Haynes and Stroud to nab a few singles, then try and crack a four to win it, or at least tie. Stroud had an opportunity to be the hero with both bat and ball.

Fate was not on their side – to the anguish of every Euran watching, SV Finney was back and with his first ball pitched one up that made a sound passing the inside edge of Haynes bat and went straight to du Pont. One last time the decision went against the batsman and out of desperation Haynes used his last review, with no other option available. The ground went silent again as the screens showed the replay. It took a couple of minutes of conferring among the umpires to ensure the bat hadn’t knocked the ground and made a noise in doing so. Gradually it became obvious that the only noise was perfectly synchronised to the ball passing Haynes’ bat, the end of which was just about off the ground. It wasn’t a marginal decision as such – it was without doubt out – but the close call made it tough to take for Haynes, who sank to the ground as the decision was confirmed and the Liventian’s mobbed one another in relieved jubilation.

Against the odds after their second innings implosion, Liventia had won a remarkable victory on the site of one of their most damning defeats. The Liventian press can be expected to focus on that in the next few days and rightly so. Their side produced a world class bowling performance that left the Eurans exposed and unable to capitalise on a match winning situation. However, more sceptical Liventian voices may quickly focus in on the appalling batting collapse of the second as the joy of victory passes; were it not for MA Finney’s aggressive 88 in the first innings, by far the highest individual score of the test, this may have been a true “Euracide” sequel. In this country there will be understandable sorrow at how close Eura came to winning a famous victory, and certainly a degree of frustration too that Eura will now go six tours of and by Liventia without winning a series outright. Eura’s failures with the bat will also be subject to a media inquest. There is at least some positives to focus on, namely the heroics of Stroud and Lark and the breakthrough of Wright.

ARTICLE UPDATE:

Eura have announced one change to their first XI ahead of the 2nd Test against Liventia at the Brigham Oval. Batsman Marvin Raleigh drops out, and is replaced by all-rounder Freddie Howard-King.

2nd Test vs Liventia at Brigham

First XI

Cameron Lawson
Andrew Elland
Liam Tunbridge
Ewan Dodd (Vice captain)
Shaun Folkstone (Captain)
Freddie Howard-King
Alec Wright (Wicketkeeper)
Greg Lark
Oscar Greenwood
Seb Haynes
Neil Stroud

Batting order

1. Cameron Lawson
2. Ewan Dodd
3. Andrew Elland
4. Liam Tunbridge
5. Freddie Howard-King
6. Alec Wright
7. Shaun Folkstone
8. Greg Lark
9. Oscar Greenwood
10. Seb Haynes
11. Neil Stroud

Bowling

Shaun Folkstone – opening bowler 1
Oscar Greenwood – opening bowler 2
Seb Haynes – pace rotation, likely to replace Folkstone/Greenwood after opening spell
Freddie Howard-King – pace rotation, likely to replace Folkstone/Greenwood after opening spell
Greg Lark – spin option 1, likely to be primary strike bowler as pitch wears down
Neil Stroud – spin option 2

FINAL SCORECARD

[Sylestone]

The scorecard at the bottom here has been created collaboratively by The Grearish Union and I.

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First Test: Sylestone vs The Grearish Union @ Chamberley Cricket Ground, Chamberley

Day One

When Luke Tiati of Sylestone and Taylor Kincheloe of The Grearish Union walked out for the toss at the Chamberley Cricket Ground for the first test in the three-match series, 50,000 people were already located in the stadium for the first day of the match, and piling in quickly. As you would expect, Sylestonean supporters outnumbered the Grearish, but the visitors’ fans that were located there was certainly no small number, with many more still to come. When Kincheloe called correctly and opted to bat first, their resounding cheers easily drowned out whatever else was going on in the stadium as the two sides wandered back to prepare for the first innings, to kick off in half an hour’s time.

By the time the Sylestoneans took the field, the crowd was at roughly 78,000 people, with only 8,000 more required until capacity was reached. It got close to that magic 86,000 throughout the day, but never quite hit it, always staying one or two thousand below it as people streamed in and out. Still, when you’re being watched by 80,000 fans of the sport being played around them, it’s pretty difficult to concentrate on anything else on the field, even the game itself.

But Joshua Vilesti and Norbert Pistecial seemed to block it out right from when the umpire called “play”, at 10:30 am in the morning on a warm day in Chamberley. From the opening delivery, each of the opening bowlers got the red ball to swing around, troubling Grearish openers Numbers Benedetto and Eldridge Suprenant to no end. The latter found his form quicker than his partner and hit a couple of nice drives to pitched up deliveries from Joshua Vilesti as he began to find the rhythm he possessed in the last test match between the two teams, where he belted 189 of 204 deliveries in typical one-day style.

It was in the twelfth over of the innings when Numbers Benedetto, on three runs off 22 balls, finally went for one tentative shot too many and edged a swinging delivery from left-armer Norbert Pistecial to Daniel Fomleya at second slip to pick up the first wicket of the match. In previous overs beforehand, the ball wasn’t swinging quite so much, but this one just caught the seam and fooled Benedetto, which was all that was needed. The home side had made a perfect start, restricting runs, and deserved that wicket.

Four overs later, a Talvin Mankira yorker sent debutant Maida Mcleroy’s stumps cartwheeling, with the in-form right-hander still on nought, despite having faced twelve deliveries. Now, with the score two down, another wicket or two, particularly that of Suprenant, would put the hosts right in control of the match.

But Suprenant, joined by yet another debutant in 22-year-old Kelly Clark, continued to eat away at the balls, ticking the strike over to Clark, who appeared to be set at the crease right from the first delivery. As is usual for the CCG, the pitch was playing fast and true for the batters, allowing the youngster to get to 17 in a flash before he was stumped off the bowling of Broughton Hall trying to hit his fourth boundary in 27 balls. By then, the lunch break was looming with the hosts well and truly in control, the score 3-54 with only an over or two remaining. But that wasn’t the thing in most people’s heads at that moment in time, as out-of-form captain Taylor Kincheloe wandered to the crease with her team in absolute strife. Could she redeem herself after a torrid domestic season?

Kincheloe and Suprenant fought it out until the lunch break, where the Grearish reset and came out after the break looking like a completely different team. Suprenant, only on 29 when the break came around, came out of the blocks firing, eager to put his side back in the game. Kincheloe struggled up the other end and was always looking in danger of dismissal, but hung on through pure grit and determination as the Grearish opener passed a well-deserved fifty off 119 balls. A few overs later, the visitors passed 100 as Suprenant looked to really take the game down, especially with Kincheloe beginning to finally find the middle of the bat. But just as the Grearish were moving into a commanding position half an hour out from the tea break, a tossed up delivery from Hall was powerfully driven straight to substitute fielder Alyssa Fihelly, who made no mistake. Suprenant was gone, and the hosts were back on top, with the score 4-133.

With young wicketkeeper Jennefer Gang coming out to bat now, a lot lay on the shoulders of captain Taylor Kincheloe, with a wealth of experience despite being only 24 years of age. She guided her partner through to the tea break and continued to talk to her after it as the two of them began to form a partnership - a much-needed one in the dire situation the Grearish were in. But just as they appeared to move up a gear, Gang skied a hook shot from the reintroduced Joshua Vilesti, right to where Zachary Charlton was able to gobble it up at square leg, leaving Kincheloe out there with the all-rounders and bowlers, five down, with the score only on 191.

Dewayne Goolsby, a renowned hard-hitter of the ball, came out at seven as the lone all-rounder in the side, before the bowlers came in. With Kincheloe batting well, only a few runs shy of a well-deserved fifty and the new ball around the corner, the last two recognised batters in this lineup had to really dig in and bat long, hopefully into the morning, if not longer. And so that was exactly what they did.

Both scored at a reasonable clip, nullifying the effects of the spinners before warding off the shiny, new ball, despite a good barrage of full deliveries from Vilesti and Pistecial. Yet, both players were able to score relatively freely, with Kincheloe finishing with 70 not out and Goolsby with 37 off 69 balls when Pistecial bowled the final delivery of the 90th over of the day. The partnership was now at 65 runs and still going at a good, with honours even after the first day’s play, Grearia 5-256. A couple of early wickets for Sylestone would really break the game open for themselves to run through, while a good partnership from Kincheloe and Goolsby would break the game right open.

Day Two

Unfortunately for Sylestone, it would be the latter. The following day would be another great one for batting, with the pitch looking faster than ever and the grass cut short. Taylor Kincheloe and Dewayne Goolsby would successfully deny the remaining shine on the new ball, playing themselves in, before upping the ante as the session progressed. Goolsby passed fifty for the first time in four innings, and began to catch Kincheloe on runs towards the end of the session.

But it was the out-of-form captain who would pass the century mark first, having fought against a disciplined bowling attack for over 250 deliveries now, and not at one stage giving up. It was an amazing, determined innings from the left-hander, and the Grearish in the stadium loved it. Their star was back in form.

The ball before lunch, Goolsby brought up his own century with a cover-driven boundary off the bowling of Talvin Mankira, finishing off a completely dominant from the Grearish, where they scored a whopping 136 runs in just 29 overs, taking the score from 5-256 overnight to 5-392 by the lunch break. Another session of similar nature, and Sylestone would be completely out of the game.

Kincheloe played out the first over after lunch, but on the first ball of the 121st, the 201-run partnership finally came unstuck. Broughton Hall delivered a topspinner on Goolsby’s legs, enticing the all-rounder into a sweep, but didn’t pick the variation. He top-edged the delivery straight down Vilesti’s throat at deep backward square leg, who made no mistake. Finally, Sylestone had their man, and the score was 6-392 with only Kincheloe remaining as a recognised batter.

Harrison Posner dug in for a little while as Kincheloe began to counter-attack, moving up into the high 140s before her partner drove at a wide delivery from Norbert Pistecial in the 132nd over and was caught behind with the score on 433. His innings of 16 runs may have been small, but it was valuable to the Grearish side - taking their score over 400 and allowing the possibility of a declaration to come.

Two balls later, though, the hosts came one step closer to bowling their opponents out, castling Jacqueline Giorgi with a ball that nipped back between bat and pad to make the score 8-433. Two more quick wickets now, and the hosts would have the momentum going into their first innings, which loomed imminently. It was all down to Taylor Kincheloe to hold off that prospect.

And she did. Heriberto Boger hung around at the other end while the star left-hander brought up her 150, continuing on her merry way. She even spanked a Josh Vilesti delivery for six straight back over his head on the first ball of the 140th over to announce the declaration, the score on 465 and her individual one on 167 not out. It had been a sublime innings by the out-of-form captain, and well and truly announced a return of her former self. A force to be reckoned with.

As for bowling, Norbert Pistecial was the pick of the bowlers, with a tidy 3-68 off his 29 overs, troubling batters with almost every ball he conjured up. Broughton Hall also picked up three wickets with his mystery spin, but conceded 116 runs off his 38 overs along with it. Vilesti ended with 1-74 off 24.1, while the other wicket went to Talvin Mankira, who finished with the expensive figures of 1-82 off 21 overs. Liam Afosha did not pick up a wicket in his 16 overs, of which went for 63 runs, while part-time bowlers Chloe Anderson and Daniel Fomleya failed to be effective.

Luke Tiati and Samuel Creln, Sylestone’s openers, looked solid right from the outset, playing the new ball cautiously but effectively. They left well, defended well and were even looking for runs right from the start of play to put their opponents on the back foot. However, it was the Grearish who would take the first blow, with a momentary brain fade from Creln allowing the ball to take the outside edge of his bat and flying, low and hard, to the right of Eldridge Suprenant. Suprenant took the ball in his non-dominant hand, a classic catch if any, and the visitors had the start they needed.

Batting at three, Daniel Fomleya came out and began to take the game to the bowlers, quickly passing Tiati’s score and going at a solid strike rate of 70-odd. At the ten over mark, the score was on 31, with Tiati on 9 and Fomleya 17 and each looking right at home at the crease.

However, the introduction of Jacqueline Giorgi, the left-arm wrist spinner, brought the thriving partnership to an end in the fifteenth over. With the score on 46, Luke Tiati played and missed at a turning delivery from Giorgi which scraped the off-stump, just enough to dislodge a bail. The opener stood there for a moment, not believing what had just happened, before finally walking off, shaking his head. The Grearish were well on top, and a couple more quick wickets would all but end the game. On the second day.

Fomleya continued on his merry way, with help from Appleby, playing his usual, patient game, never looking like giving up his wicket. The number three batter scored the majority of runs in their mediocre partnership, before the 34-year-old attempted to cut a ball too close to his body, gifting Jennefer Gang a catch behind the sticks and Giorgi her second wicket. At 3-58, Appleby and new batter Zachary Charlton really needed to dig in.

They could not. Seven balls later, with Charlton facing every one of them, Harrison Posner grabbed Grearia’s fourth wicket, bowling the left-hander with a delivery that skidded on, to leave the home side in dire straits. And when Appleby fell, caught at slip, two overs later, home supporters watched on, not able to speak a single word, while the Grearish supporters drowned out everything else in the vicinity of the stadium.

But Liam Afosha and Chloe Anderson dug in, fighting past the drinks break and chugging along at four an over, finally making use of the fast, true nature of the pitch. The two of them pushed the total score past 100, but with Anderson on 28 and Afosha nearing his fifty, the former, the only female in the XI for the opening match, was finally dismissed with the score on 129. What appeared to be a way back for the Sylestoneans was now gone, with a score below 200 on a perfect deck seeming inevitable, as well as a possible, dreaded follow-on.

With only a few overs remaining in the day’s play, Afosha and Norbert Pistecial set about trying to nullify Heriberto Boger and Lyndon Pasternak, Grearia’s best fast bowlers. They scored at a quick rate, but with 13 deliveries remaining, Pistecial was trapped in front by the left-armer Boger, with the ball just clipping the top of middle stump when the replays were played.

The very next delivery, the beginning of the 41st over, Afosha, on 48, edged a jaffa of a delivery from Pasternak through to Gang’s gloves, who made no mistake behind the stumps. In the space of a couple of overs, Sylestone had gone from looking fairly comfortable to on the brink of being bowled out at the end of the day. Could they hold on?

It went from bad to worse when, on the fifth ball of the over and the score still on 141, Josh Vilesti cut a short ball away from his body straight to Boger at point, with little foot movement and the bat slicing from down to up. The left-arm fast bowler fumbled the ball, but caught it on the second chance to ensure the wicket was taken, with seven balls remaining in the day and one wicket required to ensure the Sylestonean first innings would be over in half a day.

Despite Talvin Mankira flicking the final ball of Pasternak’s over through mid-wicket for two, Broughton Hall could not hang on for the final six balls of the day, delivered by Heriberto Boger. He kept out the first two with relative ease, but the third one came in a fraction and Hall, looking to leave, just managed to get his bat to it in a last-second thought. Unfortunately for him, the side, the 60,000 home supporters in the stadium and the millions watching it around the nation on television, it was not enough, as the ball ricocheted back onto middle stump, castling him and ending the Sylestonean innings. All out for 143. On day two, at the Chamberley Cricket Ground.

Not much else could be more disappointing.

Day Three

It was an easy decision for Taylor Kincheloe to make. With her side in the lead by 322 runs after the first innings for each team, putting her opponents back into bat seemed to be the only option from here on. While it was a risky decision at a ground such as the CCG, it seemed to be the correct one. Or so she thought.

The very next day, Luke Tiati played the dominant hand in a strong opening partnership between him and Samuel Creln. The two of them weathered the new ball attack from Heriberto Boger and Lyndon Pasternak before Tiati upped the ante against the spin. Creln hung around at the other end, letting his partner do most of the heavy lifting, but hitting the bad balls, too. Finally, in the 19th over, Harrison Posner got his man with the score on 58, producing a beauty that found the edge of the Sylestonean captain’s bat before the gloves of Jennefer Gang, dismissing him for a well-made 39 off 64 deliveries.

With Tiati’s wicket, Creln upped his own strike rate, scoring the majority of the runs in what was beginning to look like a thriving partnership with Daniel Fomleya. The left-handed opener faced the majority of the deliveries, too, while Fomleya played a support role to get his innings going. A few overs before the lunch break, Creln passed a deserved fifty off 89 balls, with Fomleya only in the low tens.

About 30 minutes after the lunch break, Creln’s knock came to an end at 70, with centurion Dewayne Goolsby bowling the solid opener in the 36th with the score on 128, already closing in on the hosts’ first innings total. Fomleya, on only 15 from 54 balls, looked to up his strike rate with the introduction of patient right-hander Jonah Appleby. The two of them set about their tasks, with Appleby facing the majority of the deliveries, but still scoring at a steady rate. Fomleya scored at a quicker tempo, allowing the run rate to hover around, or just under, three an over for the entirety of the partnership.

Fomleya brought up his half-century off 122 balls with the score on 207, far slower than anyone would have expected following the aggressive nature he had displayed the day before. Yet, it was a fifty anyhow, and with the dire situation the hosts were in, it was a much-needed one, too. But at 2-207 and two set batters at the crease, a Grearish second innings appeared to be likely, even if the run chase was only 100 runs or so.

After the tea break, Appleby also passed his fifty, this one off 119 balls with only four fours and lots of running between wickets, as the gap between overall scores moved below 100, with the Sylestoneans still having eight wickets in hand. Surely, they would be able to avoid utter humiliation from here on out, and actually put the Grearish back into bat.

But the Grearish continued to challenge each batter and finally, with the score on 242, broke the stand of 114 by dismissing Appleby for 58, leg before wicket, to the bowling of Harrison Posner. It was a much needed wicket for the Grearish, who now had 80 runs to play with if they did not want to have to chase again, even if it was only a small total that they would end up chasing.

Zachary Charlton hung around for a while, hitting balls well but not really looking up to his typical technical self. He weathered the first four or five overs of the new ball with Fomleya, moving up into the 70s and 80s at a steady rate, but he came undone when a delivery from Harrison Posner, having come on for Heriberto Boger just 24 balls into the new ball, skidded on. The ball caught the underedge of Charlton’s defending bat and fell straight into the hands of Taylor Kincheloe at slip, taking the fourth wicket with the home side still 51 runs in arrears.

Similar to the day before, Liam Afosha immediately looked to counter-attack right from the first ball of his innings, driving a slightly full delivery from Posner through the covers for two to open his account. With only five overs remaining in the day, though, he ensured that none of his decisions were too rash as the all-rounder played out the day with his vice-captain to keep the score four down by the time stumps were called. At that point, Fomleya was nearing his second century of his career, on 87 not out, while Afosha was 11 not out off 17 deliveries, helping to bring the deficit down to just 42 runs, with the score on 4-290.

Harrison Posner, with figures of 3-81 off 23 overs, had been the pick of the bowlers on the day, taking three of the four wickets to have fallen. After only bowling six overs in the first innings and taking 2-16, he had proved effective once again, bowling a far better line and length than anyone else on the day.

But while the day had been Sylestone’s, the Grearish were still well and truly in front of the match, with a miracle still required if the home side were going to come out with a victory. On what appeared to still be a good batting track heading into the fourth day of the test, another 250 runs were what was really required if Sylestone wanted to even put any sort of pressure on Grearia, before bowling exceedingly well.

Day Four

Liam Afosha immediately took the game to the Grearish bowlers early on the fourth day of the test, scoring at a run a ball for all of the first session of play on a pitch that was only just beginning to show signs of wear. Early in the 99th over of the match, Daniel Fomleya brought up his century off 228 deliveries with a swept boundary off the bowling of Jacqueline Giorgi with the score on 332, a couple of overs after the deficit was finally eliminated. What sort of total could the Sylestoneans now set the Grearish?

Just after the drinks break, Liam Afosha passed a well-made fifty, off only 58 balls. He’d played with serious intent right throughout the innings and thoroughly deserved the half-century, but he knew it would not be enough if his side were to aim for a victory in the match. So he batted on, unafraid to walk down the wicket to the spinners and play unorthodox shots every now and then, all to disrupt the bowlers’ lines and lengths while Fomleya continued to play his technically correct knock at the other end, frustrating each and every bowler Kincheloe threw at him.

The right-hander nearly clocked up his century in the session, too, but fell just short of it by the time lunch rolled around, on 95 off 122 balls and still looking to take his innings up another gear. Fomleya, meanwhile, was cruising along on 130, his highest test score, and still never looking like getting out. The score, 4-427 after 118 overs, almost put the game back in equal balance, although there was still a long way to go. The lead was now 95, and another 100 or 150 runs from now could well and truly put the hosts, somehow, with their noses ahead.

In the second over after the lunch break, Afosha raised his bat for his maiden test ton with a flick of the hip down to fine leg for a single; a pivotal one after coming in with his side still in a deficit. While it hadn’t completely turned the match on its head, it had come close to doing so, and if he could push on to 150 or more, then it could definitely do it. But it had brought the momentum back into Sylestone’s favour, and that was what truly mattered.

Finally, with the score on 483 and Afosha scoring at quicker than a run a ball, the 29-year-old was finally dismissed by Taylor Kincheloe herself, going for his fourth six but not quite timing the ball properly out to mid-wicket, where Numbers Benedetto took a good catch on the boundary, sun directly in his eyes. The crowd sighed as one, but moments later they were standing, giving the all-rounder a deserved standing ovation for his 139 runs in the 212-run stand with his vice-captain.

The departure of Liam Afosha slowed Fomleya’s scoring a fair bit, and by the time Chloe Anderson was dismissed for 8, making the score 6-495, he still had not been able to bring up his 150. With the lead still only at 173 runs, Norbert Pistecial and Fomleya had to try and form a partnership to take it over 200, if not 250.

They did. Fomleya passed 150 and with the help of a fair few extras, continued to up the ante as he raced towards a maiden test double century. Pistecial also scored at a good clip, with the two of them racing along at over nearly six an over right up until the tea break, where the partnership had been worth 86 runs in just 15 overs, with Fomleya on 186 and Pistecial 31. Somehow, despite being 322 runs in arrears at the start of the previous day’s play, Luke Tiati had to think about when a declaration should occur, if the two batters at the crease continued to play the way they were.

With the partnership on 98, the score on 593 and Daniel Fomleya on 191 off 359 balls, the Grearish finally got their man, with the 34-year-old poking a catch straight back to Jacqueline Giorgi, before slumping to the ground in disbelief as the left-arm leg-spinner celebrated her luck. However, Fomleya had done his nation a huge favour, and unless the Grearish could pull off what appeared to be a very difficult run chase, this game would go marked down in history as a fightback from the death that he and Afosha somehow managed to pull off. But either way, it had been a dazzling innings - one that would be hard to beat in the rest of his career.

Ten runs later, Broughton Hall was bowled by a Lyndon Pasternak thunderbolt that sent the spinner’s middle and off stumps flying, leaving the home side at 8-603 in their second innings, with a lead of 281. Pistecial was still hanging around, on 36 not out, but the time for him to start hitting out was fast approaching.

Knowing that a declaration may be on the horizon, Joshua Vilesti and Norbert Pistecial’s partnership was eventually worth a quickfire 18 runs off only 16 balls before, on the first delivery of the 164th over, Pistecial departed for a well-made 46 as Posner captured his fourth wicket of the innings, caught behind by Jennefer Gang. However, the very next ball, the Grearish wicketkeeper missed an opportunity off the edge of the bat of Talvin Mankira, which ran away to the boundary for four runs to deny the debutant a five-wicket haul. One wicket, that was all he needed.

On the final ball of his next over, after Vilesti had tonked him for a towering six earlier in the over, he got it. The left-arm finger spinner tossed the ball up, allowing it to grip in the turf enough to spin past Mankira’s outstretched bat, catching his pad and ricocheting onto the stumps. But the celebration was subdued, for the visitors had thrown away their stranglehold on the match and in two intense days, went from the predators to the prey. The target was 317, a tough task even on the batting friendly deck of the CCG. They had 101 overs to pull it off, so time was not an issue. Could they pull it off and get that win?

Despite both Numbers Benedetto and Eldridge Suprenant looking in good touch in the fading light, the chase took a turn for the worse in just the fifth over of the match, with a mix-up in the middle costing the wicket of Suprenant. Joshua Vilesti bowled a good length delivery that Benedetto pushed into the covers and set off for a run, but Zachary Charlton had swooped in and, spotting Suprenant stranded in the middle of the wicket, fired the ball at the bowlers’ stumps. The ball hit the middle stump with the opener metres out of his ground as Charlton sprang into the air fist pumping. They had got the start they wanted, and Grearia were 1-14.

Maida Mcleroy, a debutant coming off a first innings duck, helped Benedetto bat out the remaining 6.2 overs in the day, going to stumps with the score 1-30 after 11 overs. Benedetto was playing well, on 16 not out off 27 balls, while Mcleroy was three off 20 balls, slowly working her way into what appeared to be a pivotal innings not only in this match, but in her entire career.

Day Five

With the pitch slowly beginning to crack and the Grearish still needing 287 runs to win, Sylestone were easily the favourites heading into the final day’s play at the Chamberley Cricket Ground. A lot now rested on the shoulders of opener Numbers Benedetto, who had made a got start to his innings the following night, and the in-form Maida Mcleroy to make up for her first innings duck. Resuming at 1-30, Benedetto got off to a brisk start before Liam Afosha, bowling the second over of the day, picked up his man with a tossed up off-break that spun past the left-hander’s sweeping bat and into the off stump. With both openers gone and the score only a mediocre 2-39 after 13 overs, it was the Grearish who were now fighting for survival.

With Kelly Clark coming to the crease, Mcleroy decided that she was the one who was going to tick the score along, while the Grearish number four simply settled into his innings. Mcleroy faced the majority of the balls and scored most of the runs in their 16-run partnership, but Clark couldn’t hold up his bit. On the fifth ball of the twentieth over, Talvin Mankira got a delivery to move away from the right-hander and had him edging off to first slip, where Jonah Appleby took a good catch, dismissing Clark for just three off 15 balls. Sylestone were now well on top with the Grearish 3-55, still needing 262 runs to win, but there was still a long way to go. With first innings centurion Taylor Kincheloe walking out to the middle, the hosts knew exactly who their next scalp would have to be if they wanted to get right on top.

But despite threatening bowling from Mankira, Liam Afosha and Broughton Hall, Kincheloe and Mcleroy hung around, scoring at four an over and each looking completely at home at the crease. In the 31st over, the two of them took the score past 100 as Mcleroy honed in on a deserved half-century before the break. However, the game would take one final twist just seven balls before lunch, with Norbert Pistecial coming back into the attack for a couple overs to try and glean a wicket. With Kincheloe on 24 and Mcleroy 49 not out, the left-arm swing bowler delivered a quick yorker to the Grearish captain. She could not get her bat down in time to it as it splattered her middle and off pegs, ending a partnership of 68 from just 17 overs and putting the momentum back in favour of the home side.

Mcleroy passed her fifty from 94 cherries in the final over before lunch with a punch through the covers for two, but she knew that her role in this game would be far larger than some individual half-century. Her side was in strife, still needing another 192 runs to win with only six wickets remaining, at a rate of three an over. Possible, but exceedingly unlikely, particularly with the pitch showing signs of uneven bounce.

That task became even harder when, a few overs after lunch, Jennefer Gang finally got frustrated at being nought off 15 balls and charged down the wicket to Broughton Hall’s mystery spin. Rather surprisingly, she actually connected with the delivery, but it hit the inside edge of her bat, spooning straight to Norbert Pistecial at mid-on, who took a simple catch. At the other end, Mcleroy thumped her bat against her pad, knowing that only one recognised batter remained and a lot of the heavy lifting would be on her shoulders. But that recognised batter was first innings centurion Dewayne Goolsby, a renowned hard-hitter of the ball if he could connect. Could the two of them build a partnership?

Goolsby went hard right from the beginning, scoring at a strike rate of above 70 right from the outset, clearly unafraid to take bowlers on. While Mcleroy was playing classic drives at the other end, Goolsby decided to take the game on, looking in supreme touch. He even charged at Chloe Anderson and put her over the top of long-on for six and in a burst of ten overs, the score had moved from being almost stationary at 5-127, up to 5-170 when drinks were brought out. Mcleroy 75 not out off 140 and Goolsby 25 off 34.

But on the first ball after drinks, disaster struck. Chloe Anderson delivered a tossed-up delivery to Maida Mcleroy, who pushed forward, looking to work it into the gap at mid-wicket for a single or two. However, the ball gripped and spun, catching the inside edge of her bat and popped into the air. Jonah Appleby at short leg had to dive for the ball, but clasped it between two hands just before it touched the ground, emitting a roar of delight as his teammates ran over to him. Now, all they needed was the wicket of Dewayne Goolsby, and the game would be over.

Harrison Posner came out to the crease at number eight but despite his best efforts, struggled to rotate the strike. Over the next seven overs or so, Goolsby only faced seven deliveries, much to the frustration of the 33-year-old, his batting partner, and the Grearish watching the game, whether at home or live. Finally, when Posner hit a single off the second ball of the 59th over, bowled by Broughton Hall, he lost it. Charging down the wicket, the left-hander could only get an edge on a wild swing that Tiati took cleanly behind the stumps, throwing the ball into the air in celebration. With over 40 overs still remaining in the day and all recognised batters dismissed, victory for the hosts seemed to only be a matter of time. With the score for 7-192 chasing 317, they seemed to have pulled off the impossible.

With Jacqueline Giorgi arriving at the crease, it seemed that the Greariosh were just going to try to bat the remaining overs of the day out, a tough task against such a disciplined bowling attack. Posner played slightly more aggressively than Giorgi by nature, but when Norbert Pistecial was reintroduced into the attack just before the tea break, he got his man with a good length delivery that took out off stump. 66.2 overs down now, with still 35 remaining in the day’s play, the Grearish were still 114 runs behind with only two wickets in hand.

Three balls later, it was one. Norbert Pistecial picked up his fourth wicket of the innings, with Giorgi tamely bunting a ball off a leading edge straight back to him to make the score 9-204. Now, it was all down to Heriberto Boger and Lyndon Pasternak, Grearia’s two fast bowlers, to somehow hold on for 35 overs against a quality bowling attack.

They could do so for 12.3 overs. The Grearish opening bowlers fought on past the tea break by the skin of their teeth, barely surviving. Edges fell into gaps or just short of fielders, balls missed the stumps by a hair’s breadth, LBW appeals were denied. But they could not last. Finally, Josh Vilesti delivered the killing blow, a bouncer directly at the head of Lyndon Pasternak, who swatted at it like the red, leather ball was a fly. Luke Tiati took the catch behind the stumps and yelled out in joy and relief. The Grearish were bowled out, in 79.2 overs, for 220. After being sent back in to follow on, Sylestone had come back from the dead and produced a quality three days’ worth of play, ending up with a 96 run win.

It was an amazing performance from the western Esportivan island nation. People at home sat rooted on their couches, not believing the result after day two’s calamity, while over in Grearia they had their heads in their hands. But overall, what a game. What a result. As the home side celebrated after the game, no one in the squad could help but feel that cricket was the true winner of the match.

As was expected, Daniel Fomleya won the player of the match award for his classy 191 that brought his side back from the dead, but by then all eyes were looking forward. Sylestone may have taken out the first match and brought three East-West Cup points home for themselves, but the next match would be a big one. Played at Bolton Oval in Pesfield, the best batting track on the island, a draw seemed to be the most likely outcome. But could the hosts take out the series with another determined win, or will the Grearish be able to put their performance behind them and level up? It is sure to be an enthralling match, and should not be missed.

The Grearish Union 1st Innings
Batter                                         R   B  4s  6s   SR
N Benedetto    c Fomleya b Pistecial           3  23   0   0   13.04
E Suprenant    c sub (Fihelly) b Hall         86 154  10   1   55.84
M Mcleroy      b Mankira                       0  13   0   0    
K Clark        st Tiati b Hall                17  27   3   0   62.96
T Kincheloe    not out                       167 358  23   0   46.65
J Gang         c Charlton b Vilesti           29  71   2   0   40.85
D Goolsby      c Vilesti b Hall              103 158  14   2   65.19
H Posner       c Tiati b Pistecial            16  22   2   0   72.73
J Giorgi       b Pistecial                     0   2   0   0    
H Boger        not out                        10   8   2   0  125
     EXTRAS    (6 b, 15 lb, 12 wd, 1 nb)      34
     TOTAL     for 8 wickets; declared       465   (139.1 ov; 3.34 RPO)
Did not bat: L Pasternak

FOW: 1-19 (N Benedetto, 11.3 overs); 2-27 (M Mcleroy, 15.2 overs); 3-54 (K Clark, 26.4 overs); 4-133 (E Suprenant, 48.4 overs); 5-191 (J Gang, 70.2 overs); 6-392 (D Goolsby, 120.1 overs); 7-433 (H Posner, 131.4 overs); 8-433 (J Giorgi, 131.6 overs)

Sylestone Bowling
Bowler            Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
J Vilesti       24.1   6  74  1   3.07  (1 wd)
N Pistecial       29   8  68  3   2.34  (5 wd)
T Mankira         21   2  82  1    3.9  (3 wd, 1 nb)
B Hall            38  10 116  3   3.05  
L Afosha          16   1  63  0   3.94  (2 wd)
C Anderson         7   0  31  0   4.43  
D Fomleya          4   0  10  0    2.5  (1 wd)

Sylestone 1st Innings
Batter                                         R   B  4s  6s   SR
L Tiati        b Giorgi                       14  43   1   0   32.56
S Creln        c Suprenant b Boger             2   8   0   0   25
D Fomleya      c Gang b Giorgi                33  49   5   0   67.35
J Appleby      c Kincheloe b Posner            5  21   0   0   23.81
Z Charlton     b Posner                        1   7   0   0   14.29
L Afosha       c Gang b Pasternak             48  62   6   1   77.42
C Anderson     c Posner b Giorgi              28  44   4   0   63.64
N Pistecial    lbw b Boger                     5   7   1   0   71.43
B Hall         b Boger                         0   3   0   0    
J Vilesti      c Boger b Pastnerak             0   4   0   0    
T Mankira      not out                         2   1   0   0  200
     EXTRAS    (1 b, 3 lb, 1 wd)               5
     TOTAL     all out                       143   (41.3 ov; 3.46 RPO)
             

FOW: 1-6 (S Creln, 2.5 overs); 2-46 (L Tiati, 14.4 overs); 3-58 (D Fomleya, 18.2 overs); 4-59 (Z Charlton, 19.3 overs); 5-61 (J Appleby, 21.2 overs); 6-129 (C Anderson, 36.5 overs); 7-141 (N Pistecial, 39.6 overs); 8-141 (L Afosha, 40.1 overs); 9-141 (J Vilesti, 40.5 overs); 10-141 (B Hall, 41.3 overs)

The Grearish Union Bowling
Bowler            Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
H Boger         12.3   3  42  3   3.41  
L Pasternak        9   2  24  2   2.67  
J Giorgi          10   1  40  3      4  
H Posner           6   1  16  2   2.67  
D Goolsby          4   0  17  0   4.25  (1wd)

Sylestone 2nd Innings
Batter                                         R   B  4s  6s   SR
L Tiati        c Gang b Posner                39  64   5   0   60.94
S Creln        b Goolsby                      70 122  10   0   57.38
D Fomleya      c & b Giorgi                  191 359  28   1   53.2
J Appleby      lbw b Posner                   58 137   5   0   42.34
Z Charlton     c Kincheloe b Posner           14  26   1   0   53.85
L Afosha       c Benedetto b Kincheloe       139 164  16   3   84.76
C Anderson     c Goolsby b Giorgi              8  23   0   0   34.78
N Pistecial    c Gang b Posner                46  69   8   0   66.67
B Hall         b Pasternak                     2   7   0   0   28.57
J Vilesti      not out                        23  19   2   1  121.05
T Mankira      b Posner                        6  10   1   0   60
     EXTRAS    (11 b, 14 lb, 13 wd, 4 nb)     42
     TOTAL     all out                       638   (166 ov; 3.84 RPO)
             

FOW: 1-58 (L Tiati, 18.2 overs); 2-128 (S Creln, 35.5 overs); 3-242 (J Appleby, 75.1 overs); 4-271 (Z Charlton, 84.3 overs); 5-483 (L Afosha, 132.6 overs); 6-495 (C Anderson, 139.5 overs); 7-593 (D Fomleya, 157.6 overs); 8-603 (B Hall, 160.3 overs); 9-621 (N Pistecial, 163.1 overs); 10-638 (T Mankira, 165.6 overs)

The Grearish Union Bowling
Bowler            Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
H Boger           23   4 102  0   4.43  (6 wd, 1 nb)
L Pasternak       27   8  73  1    2.7  (1 wd)
J Giorgi          38   7 135  2   3.55  
H Posner          43   8 161  5   3.74  (4 wd, 2 nb)
D Goolsby         20   5  67  1   3.35  (1 wd, 1 nb)
T Kincheloe        9   1  41  1   4.56  (1 wd)
E Suprenant        4   0  26  0    6.5  
M Mcleroy          2   0   8  0      4  

The Grearish Union 2nd Innings
Batter                                         R   B  4s  6s   SR
N Benedetto    b Afosha                       20  34   3   0   58.82
E Suprenant    run out (Charlton)              8  19   1   0   42.11
M Mcleroy      c Appleby b Anderson           75 141  11   0   53.19
K Clark        c Appleby b Mankira             3  15   0   0   20
T Kincheloe    b Pistecial                    24  38   4   0   63.16
J Gang         c Hall b Pistecial              0  16   0   0    
D Goolsby      c Tiati b Hall                 38  43   6   1   88.37
H Posner       b Pistecial                    15  68   1   0   22.06
J Giorgi       c & b Pistecial                 3  28   0   0   10.71
H Boger        not out                        11  44   2   0   25
L Pasternak    c Tiati b Vilesti               4  31   0   0   12.9
     EXTRAS    (10 lb, 8 wd, 1 nb)            19
      TOTAL    all out                       220   (79.2 ov; 2.78 RPO)
             

FOW: 1-14 (E Suprenant, 4.4 overs); 2-39 (N Benedetto, 12.6 overs); 3-55 (K Clark, 19.5 overs); 4-123 (T Kincheloe, 36.5 overs); 5-127 (J Gang, 41.3 overs); 6-170 (M Mcleroy, 51.1 overs); 7-192 (D Goolsby, 58.4 overs); 8-203 (H Posner, 66.2 overs); 9-204 (J Giorgi, 66.5 overs); 10-220 (L Pasternak, 79.2 overs)

Sylestone Bowling
Bowler            Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
J Vilesti       13.2   4  29  1    2.2  (1 nb)
N Pistecial       16   5  41  4   2.56  (1 wd)
L Afosha          11   3  35  1   3.18  (2 wd)
T Mankira         11   4  20  1   1.82  (4 wd)
B Hall            19   5  53  1   2.79  
C Anderson         9   2  32  1   3.56  (1 wd)


Venue: Chamberley Cricket Ground, Chamberley, Sylestone
Match number: GCF Test 783
Toss: The Grearish Union won the toss and decided to bat first
Season: GCF World Test Challenge Season 12
Matchdays: Matchweek 1
Player of the Match: D Fomleya (SYL)
Series result: Sylestone lead the series 1-0
Test debut: M Mcleroy (GRU), K Clark (GRU), J Gang (GRU), H Posner (GRU)
Umpires: Unknown
TV Umpire: Unknown
Reserve Umpire: Unknown
Match Referee: Unknown
Match Result: Sylestone win by 96 runs

Starting Lineup vs The Grearish Union @ Bolton Oval, Pesfield

Luke Tiati (c, wk)
Samuel Creln
Daniel Fomleya
Jonah Appleby
Simon Monteane
Liam Afosha
Chloe Anderson
Norbert Pistecial
Broughton Hall
Joshua Vilesti
Talvin Mankira

[Sharktail]

Unsatisfactory 2nd Inning batting caused Sharktail to lose in the opening match of the Sharktail in Darmen series. In the match, Darmen started the match with the first bat which they recorded 341 runs in 84.5 overs. Sharktail went down in the first inning and managed to record 316 runs in 77.4 overs. Darmen who then started the second inning recorded better runs by collecting 408 runs. Sharktail failed to show an interesting action in the second inning when they was only able to survive 27 overs by recording 103 runs, giving Darmen a 1-0 lead in the series.

Sharktail who came in this match as a debutant, if we seen the match statistics and refer to it, Sharktail was able to challenge in the first inning. After the end of the first inning, Sharktail only left behind 25 runs fromDarmen. However, in the second innings, Darmen which played the same number of overs as in inning 1 which was 84.5 but this time more on fire by recording an additional 67 runs to hit more than 400 runs. Unlike Sharktail, they recorded more than 300 runs in first inning but lost 213 runs which is a huge gap.

Overall for player performance, Ajay Deshmukh surely stand out among all player. As Sharktail start the inning with bowling first, he shown why he considered the star player for Sharktail team as he collect 5 wicket from 27 over he bowling. Behind him, Buhairi collect 2 wicket which he also recorded the least runs scored. As the time come for Sharktail bat, once again Ajay stand out among the rest, or should we say he the only one who reached 50s and next record his first 100s. Fazrunil come as opener but one ball is enough to take him out. Same goes to Z Kabir and R Yusof as them three only faced total 4 balls for Darmen to take 3 wicket. Back to bowl, we should able to guest who will come out as top performer as once again, it he again, Ajay. The addition of 4 wicket give him tonight total 9 wicket with 109 runs allowed in 54.5 overs. After that, 27 overs that Darmen totally not given a single chance for Sharktail to breathing as they keep getting a wickets to end this game. Mahmud, Kabir and Hisyam duck out as they get wickets with 0 run. This inning, K Rosenfeld will surely be remembered for all Sharktalian as he take down 6 batter of Sharktail.

Sharktail best performer and captain, Ajay after the match, admit Darmen may be too good for their level. "Lucky enough as we able to get over 300 in first inning but 2nd inning show everything. However, for me i am satisfied. We predict Darmen may only need 1 inning and will win this match by 1 inning, so to drag Darmen to play both inning is quite good enough. Ofcourse if possible, the second match in this series we will win it."

Sharktail in Darmen 2nd match line up:

Faris E
Ahmed A
Izhan R†
Ajay D*
Rizqi M
Suhaizi N
Razin F
Buhairi S
Kabir Z
Zahiri E
Yusof R

[The Plough Islands]

And it's done! This took quite a while to do for various reasons - predominantly work and doctor's appointments - but hopefully it passes muster. (and please get in touch if you spot anything that you can't make sense of!) I'm very much enjoying the RPs that everyone else has been doing for their matches, though; there's some very good cricket being played and we look to have a few new associate members already!

---

LITTLE SIGN OF DECAY AS FOXES OVERCOME LICENTIAN ISLES
by Denis Wormwood, Sporting Correspondent, in Foxdale

The conditions this morning at the Foxdale Sports Club may have been dark and damp, but the weather around Kevin Laing's Plough Islands team metaphorically remained clear and crisp as they began the fourth day of the Test in a very good position against the Licentian Isles. The events of the previous days had shown that the Foxes had made it through a yearlong barren spell of no Test cricket while losing little of their sharpness or aptitude for the longest form of the game, and with Jonathan Iddon taking 4-38 in skittling the visitors for just 185 the previous evening, there was a buoyant mood within and without the pavilion.
Jonathan Harris' team were never going to make it easy for the hosts, but with a target of 59 there was anticipation hanging in the Foxdale air as well as mist and diesel, with the Plough Islanders present confident that Ilya Postukhov and Andrew Barrett would see them to a victory before lunch. After the fog had cleared, the Foxes began their chase, with Postukhov settling quickly in on his home ground and playing with the fluency and the security of a player in his thirtieth, rather than first, Test match. Barrett began with similar confidence, only to be undone almost immediately; just as he had in the first innings, he misjudged an excellent yorker from Marsaili MacIndoe, with the Licentian right-armer finding the gap between bat and ground to send the bails flying.
Postukhov, though, kept going, and was soon trading singles with Shauna Weaver as the Swift all-rounder made relatively easy work of the Licentian bowling attack. The partnership soon brought the Foxes to within one shot of the target, but there was one final bump in the road, as Owen Clarke stretched to retrieve a paddled shot at square leg and in one fluid movement managed a direct hit on the stumps at the striker's end, beating Postukhov's dive back and denying the Bradford opener the chance to stay until the end of what had been an otherwise excellent debut. Audrey Leggett came in next, possibly in an effort by Laing and coach Lourens Hendricks to wrap the game up before the darker band of cloud out to sea rolled over Foxdale, and the goat farmer did so immediately, hoicking Lorne through midwicket to bring the scores level before spearing her back down the ground to complete the chase.
Four days previously, the outcome had seemed much less certain; after the familiar yet somehow unpracticed ceremonies of welcoming the Licentians, the anthems being played, and Postukhov receiving his Test cap, the early wickets of Licentian opener Ruaraidh Parker (a thick edge from Naomi Salisbury falling for Barrett in the slips) and Tobias van Leeuwen (trapped lbw by Andrew Baxter) were greeted, amidst the cheers, with a fear that perhaps too much cricket had been played on the Foxdale Sports Club pitch to provide a decent game. Those concerns were alleviated somewhat as remaining opener Emilia Lynch and the stylish right-hander Boisil Dallas were able to dig themselves in and demonstrate that it was possible to play the surface, with Lynch in particular underlining this by dispatching Iddon for consecutive boundaries.
Laing, though, persisted with Baxter from the pavilion end, and he had a breakthrough soon enough; Dallas came forward to defend a ball that threaded between his arms and clipped the top of off stump, and he was gone for 22 runs. This was the last time the game would go the way of the Foxes for a while; new batter Clarke had made note of how tricky the surface was to bat on and came prepared, and almost immediately the chances dried up and the runs began to flow a little more freely as the Licentian pair began to assert themselves on the game. Despite the best efforts of Salisbury, Iddon, Sarah Ashe, and even Weaver and Leggett, there was little that the Plough Islands could do but contain what proved a strong pairing for the tourists, with Clarke playing visibly with freedom and gaps in the field being ruthlessly exploited. Lynch brought up a well-fought half century just before tea, threading Ashe backwards of square for two, but the New Hibernian was increasingly experimenting with different lengths and it was one of her fuller deliveries, with almost no spin, that took a heavy deflection off the opener's bat before breaking the wicket, and the visitors' longest partnership was finally broken.
This stopped the visitors' momentum almost dead in its tracks, and the rest of the first day became a case of Clarke trying to hold back the rising tide; his partners rarely lasted long, with only captain Harris (24) making it to two figures after Lynch's dismissal. The Licentians lost their last six wickets for 56 runs as the Foxes turned the screw, with Leggett's gentle leg breaks proving surprisingly clinical in squeezing the resistance from the tail, and Salisbury returning on the morning of the second day to finally remove Clarke (who nicked behind on 60) and MacIndoe to leave the visitors on 193.
Slightly predictably, the Plough Islanders settled a lot quicker on what was, for many of them, a familiar enough environment; though it was the Redcliff opener Barrett, rather than the Foxdale-raised Postukhov, who defined the early tone of the hosts' reply with a thunderous six back over MacIndoe's head. She had her revenge, though, sneaking the last ball of the same over underneath the toe of Barrett's bat to peg back the Foxes, but next batter in Weaver showed only the slightest bit more caution while keeping up the run rate, forcing Harris to try his alternate bowlers out early on in the innings. All the while, Postukhov was being quietly impressive with his choice of shots and judgment in leaving the ball when it needed to be; to the extent that there had been disquiet about the first two spots in the batting order, the postman was making a good claim for at least one of them.
Unfortunately for the Foxes, Postukhov fell early on the morning of day three, mistiming a pull shot to Harris and sending a top edge straight into the gloves of Stewart. Weaver, though, pressed on, and the Licentians appeared short of ideas for containing her. A fielding mixup between Stewart and van Leeuwen saw four overthrows and Weaver's half century come up, and through a period of relative pressure from the visitors - captain Laing was trapped lbw on 23 just as he had started to open up, and then the very next over Leggett tripped at the non-striker's end and was run out without scoring - she held down her end without ever seeming troubled. With the immovable Alec Fedorov now in at the other end, picking his moments very carefully and meeting most of Swan's and MacIndoe's efforts with a straight blade, they added 75 runs for the fifth wicket in what proved a painful session for the Licentians.
Finally, Weaver made a mistake; the Swift right-hander scooped the ball straight towards de Leeuw at long off, but her 84 had already set up the Plough Islands for a first-innings lead, and it fell to Fedorov to guide the tail and ensure that was as big as possible. Lorne, who had been struggling for a breakthrough before taking the wicket of Weaver, kept the pressure up on the Licentian side, and the offspinner would ultimately finish with by far the tourists' best bowling figures, but it was rather late to stop the Foxes' progress. Wicketkeeper Lebed (35) contributed the bulk of a 49 run partnership with Fedorov before finding Clarke on the boundary; Ashe (7) edged Lorne behind off a delivery that went straight on; quick cameos from Iddon (18) and Baxter (12) stretched the lead out even further.
Ultimately Fedorov, lbw to Licentian captain Harris, was the last man out, but his 170-ball 62 had left the tourists with an upriver struggle to stay in the game, and things did not improve when Lynch failed to notice Salisbury fielding her own bowling and was run out just twenty minutes into the fourth day. Two overs later, van Leeuwen followed in a similar manner - the Licentian number three having a match to forget as he slipped while trying to get back into his crease - and things generally failed to improve for Harris' team.
Like in the first innings, the visitors had some good partnerships (Parker and Dallas adding 54 for the third wicket) but were unable to weather the home attack for long enough consistently enough to put serious runs on the board, and after Parker flicked a Salisbury arm ball straight at Weaver and left for 47, the gradual loss of wickets became a haemorrhage. That they stretched the match to a fourth innings was thanks to the limited-overs inspired shotmaking of Dallas, who ultimately made the highest score of any Licentian all match with 70, and a heroic unbeaten 33 from the captain himself, but in the late evening humidity the Foxes found the conditions perfectly to their liking, setting up the short hike to victory today.
The Plough Islander celebrations at the result were coloured slightly by relief that the return to the longest form of the game had been a successful one, which Laing made clear; "Sixteen months is a long time to go without Test cricket...even with the Harrison Cup and the World Trophy and the cricket we have been playing, there is nothing that tests you in the same way, that requires the same sustained concentration and application over four or five days". While his own contributions had been "a little rusty, I think, I certainly had a lot more time not actively playing to concentrate!", he was quick to praise Postukhov and Iddon as playing "almost like their last Test was last week, especially considering Jonathan has not played representatively since last May and Ilya not at all". Postukhov was happy to take the plaudits - "is that not what you dream of, after all, playing your first Test and everyone telling you you have put in a great performance?" - but the Bradford opener was a little more reserved about his debut; "I would have wanted to get a milestone in - score a half century or a century, something a little more statistically impressive, or just had the chance to get settled and bat out more than a few sessions. But my nerves just went away and playing out there in a Test felt very comfortable, and hopefully I will get the chance to play a few more!".
That chance will likely come in the second and last Test of this series, as the thoughts of the Foxes and those that follow them shift to Southport next Wednesday. The Test season has only just begun and there is little time for Laing's team to rest, but they can do so easily with a sense that the task of getting back on form has been mostly fulfilled, and - from an ideological point of view - that collective proletarian endeavour has once more triumphed in a world where cricket is often an elite pastime. With the support of a hundred and forty thousand of their comrades, the entire Plough Islands will be hoping that the team can deliver a similar performance on New Hibernia.

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR SEC'D TEST AGAINST LIC. IS.

      PLAYER            BAT   BOW
II    Postukhov         RHB      
MG    Davy              RHB   RLB
SLC   Weaver            RHB   RLB
KCT   Laing (c)         RHB   RMD
AC    Leggett           RHB   RLB
OD    Fedorov           LHB      
IT    Lebed (w)         LHB      
S     Ashe              RHB   ROB
JPE   Iddon             RHB   RLB
A     Baxter            RHB   RFS
NA    Salisbury         LHB   SLA

SOUTHPORT ATHLETIC CLUB (P.M: -3)

SOUTHPORT ATHLETIC CLUB, SOUTHPORT
Crabble End (north), New Pavilion End (south) ☭ ~7 500 capacity ☭ -3 to -4 style modifiers (first-class)

Of the six grounds that have hosted Test matches in the Plough Islands, the Southport Athletic Club is by far the newest, having been completely reconstructed during the middle part of the last decade. The dominant feature of the new ground is the new pavilion; an otherwise functional structure that seats almost two thousand people, it is hidden beneath a dramatic, modernist canopy of translucent synthetic fabric suspended from reinforced concrete and recycled mast supports. The almost organic structure is the result of the design committee's brief for something that would be distinctive, but reflect the values of this hardy, tightly knit, most southern of the Plough Islands, symbolised by the complex interlinking of the steel columns.
In inclement weather, most of the crowd seek shelter under the pavilion canopy, but when the conditions permit, spectators can find a place on the wooden benches set into the natural depression that frames the ground on three sides, with the slope gently blending into the outfield so the boundary rope is the only indicator of where one starts and the other begins. Bystanders can therefore physically get closer to the players than they can at more formally constituted grounds, and players that have experienced the old and new Southport tell of a more intimate and personal atmosphere, with fielders at fine leg able to carry on conversations during the over.
Despite this, the feeling is still of a very open, almost rural, ground, with the pavilion shielding the town and coast from view and the lack of other structures giving the impression of an oval suspended in an endless, grey sky, particularly in the mornings and evenings as the mist closes in and disperses. This relative exposure tends to result in players being exposed to higher winds, and consequently fewer delays due to fog and rain, but in most other respects it plays like a typical Plough Islander ground - slowly, though evenly, and with lots of grip available for spin bowlers to exploit.
The ground had to wait to host its first Test, but New Hibernians were rewarded with one of the most comprehensive Test victories yet achieved as the Plough Islands beat Elejamie by an innings and 56 runs; more recently it saw Sajnur grasp victory while nine wickets down in a Test that saw many changes of momentum inside just over three days. In as much as the quality of cricket can be used to judge a ground, Southport has rarely produced dull matches.

[The Licentian Isles]

“… And now on LBC Sport Radio, we go to coverage of the cricket, as the return of the Licentian Isles to first class cricket has hit an immediate obstacle in the shape of an impressive Plough Islands side. Jason Cowie is in Foxdale with this report.”

“Thanks Erin. Indeed, despite early hopes of a strong performance led by opener Emilia Lynch on the first morning, the hosts have shown their class here at the Foxdale Sports Club as they run out winners by 8 wickets in the first test of the two these nations will play this season. In coming up against the second best side in the GCF at the start of this season, the Isles were always going to face a challenge, but Jonathan Harris’ side showed well on the first morning before crumbling in the later part of the day.

“You would have been forgiven for expecting a drubbing in the early stages though, especially after Ruaraidh Parker, Lynch’s partner in the opening duo, was taken early by Andrew Barrett off Naomi Salibury. Despite Tobias van Leeuwen falling himself for only 1 run swiftly afterwards, we then saw the best partnership of the whole test from the Licentians, as Lynch was joined by Boisil Dallas. The Isles then got their first sustained period of success at the crease, with Dallas’ outing for 22 only introducing Owen Clarke, who seemed even happier with the surface in Foxdale.

“Clarke and Lynch would both score half-centuries with Lynch the first to do so before finally being removed by Sarah Ashe. Clarke’s exploits lasted until the second morning, where he was out for 60, and with only Harris reaching double figure run totals after Lynch’s dismissal, it was perhaps inevitable that the Isles would lose their whole side for under 200 runs.

“With the Plough Islands taking up their bats, it looked like a long few days could be ahead for the Licentians, with Marsaili MacIndoe’s expert removal of Andrew Barrett not settling cyan-and-gold nerves too much. Ilya Postukhov and Shauna Weaver made an impressive pair, and fielding errors on the third morning just after the postman’s removal from Calum Stewart and Tobias van Leeuwen resulted in some easy runs for the hosts. There are also rumours that both men may see the axe for the second test. Though the Licentians managed to take two wickets in as many overs, Weaver was then joined by Alec Fedorov, whose arrival did not bode well for the tourists. Fedorov would last until the end of the innings, whereby the hosts had reached 320 for their troubles.

“Things didn’t start well in the second innings for the Isles, as Lynch followed a good first innings with a mistake that saw her run out for ten, and van Leeuwen swiftly followed her out for less. Boisil Dallas once again impressed on his arrival with some well placed shots to the boundary, reaching the highest total of any Licentian with 70, while Parker fell just 3 runs short of a half century of his own. Despite a valiant 33 from the captain Harris, the Isles would fall all out for less than their first innings score, meaning that the hosts only needed to chase 59 to win the first test.

“In the end, despite an impressive ball from MacIndoe to get out opener Barrett for only 3 in the hosts’ second inning with the bat, it didn’t take long for the hosts to claim victory. Postukhov and Weaver impressed as they did in the first, and overall the Isles looked very much out-classed. However, Jonathan Harris could take away some positives, in the bowling of Marsaili MacIndoe, and the batting of Boisil Dallas, with Parker, Lynch, and Clarke all strong but inconsistent. The collapse in the middle order means that we are likely to see changes for the second test in Southport. Overall though, Licentians should expect much of the same against a very strong host side. Jason Cowie, reporting from Foxdale, the Plough Islands.”

“Thanks Jason, and a note to our listeners that you can get live test match coverage on lbc.co.li/cricket throughout the series against the Plough Islands, and the rest of the test cricket season. Next, let’s go to the final day of the National Hockey Championship, where…”

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Team for the Second Test in the Plough Islands:
R. Parker
E. Lynch
B. Dallas
O. Clarke
M. Hall
J. Harris (C)
C. MacLean (wk)
M. Lorne
A. Elliott
R. Swan
M. MacIndoe

[Ethane]

Slowing pitch, dogged batting ends Ethane's hopes for a win.

Lisander managed to drag the test to a draw at the end of day 5 after some impressive batting to keep wickets in hand. They were set a total of 449 runs to win after Ethane scored 446 runs in their second innings building on to the 32 run margin they had after the first innings.

It looked a difficult target to make, with Lisander having only scored 275 in the first innings. A draw looked far away as well, with over a day and a half of play still to go in the test match.

They started their second innings doggedly, trying initially to make the most of their wickets in hand to post a good score early on, knowing that if they could quickly get runs on the board they could be in with a chance of victory. Lisander struggled to really get going though, with the pitch having slowed by day three. Thomas Burns opened up the bowling for Ethane and held the run-rate down to around 3 an over, while Lisander were pushing upwards, trying to reach nearly a run a ball.

They had to do this, with risk of rain on the final day and such a large target to reach. Wickets fell quite early on in the innings for Lisander though, leaving the lower order a much more challenging task. Thomas Burns picked up a wicket in the 4th over, catching a slight edge on the off-side which carried to second slip. With a switch up in bowlers, Adam Loughton also tricked the Lisander batter into a terrible leave, which let the ball swing in and catch the middle of leg-stump. This left them at 22/2 after 7 overs, the run-rate slowing even further after a couple of overs.

The middle order batted well for Lisander, bringing the run-rate up a notch and avoiding the loss of wickets. James Hart bowled a prolonged spell but was unable to really find any breakthroughs. At the end of the day, play was stopped due to poor light with some grey clouds rolling in bringing the threat of rain with them. At the end of the day, after 60 overs Lisander were 154/2, scoring at around 2.5 runs an over. The partnership between 2nd and 4th in the batting order had reached 132 off 53 overs - the sort of break through the batting team needed to give themselves a chance of a win or draw.

The final day started with rain, which was not ideal for either team. It meant that Lisander didn't have the time they needed to push for the win - that they knew they could do if they pushed. And Ethane were running out of time to take the remaining 8 wickets to win the game. About 30 overs was lost from the final day, with the weather drying up for the afternoon session. A few wickets fell quickly, with Hillock taking both of them in a magnificent 3 over spell. At this point, Lisander knew the win was probably out of reach, and retreated into their defensive shell.

And defend they did. The run rate dried up, but it became a lot harder to get wickets. Lisander were playing for the draw. Umbridge brought Hart and Hillock on with pace, hoping to intimidate the batters and pick up wickets with variations in speed. It caught a few batters out, but whatever Umbridge tried was not quick enough. The lower middle order was able to hang on for a draw, the rain and the dogged defence playing a key part in denying the visitors the victory.

Team for the second test against Lisander
1 - Dammelhead
2 - Lynch
3 - Welch
4 - Umbridge
5 - Elizabeth
6 - Loughton
7 - Farther
8 - Petersen
9 - Hillock
10 - Burns
11 - Sihf

[Gruenberg]

Article posted on the GruenCric website.

Test cricket returns! …with the stalest of draws

70 runs still in arrears and 5 wickets down, Gruenberg looked set for a humiliating innings defeat in their long-anticipated return to the Test cricket calendar. But Salajaff Qilairana struck a classically flowing century, the second of his interrupted Test career and a very timely reminder of his batting credentials, to take the visitors to The Sarian’s Bondstad Oval to safety. And once that had been achieved, the match was cast in a different light: not as a thrilling escape snatched from the jaws of defeat, but rather as a fairly turgid affair in which only a brief flutter of nerves from the Gruenberger bats had promised to turn what was always set to be such a churn into a potential result. An unyieldingly flat pitch failed to break up on the fifth day, and time lost to rain – a little under 110 overs were all that was possible on the third and fourth days – plus a curiously sedate first innings from the hosts all conspired to produce a match of less than thrilling drama.

The optimism surrounded the Gruenberger return to Test cricket lasted for about as long as the coin flipped by Anders Ruitdekker hung in the air: once it landed, and confirmed Pitkin Deisler had called wrong, the smiles disappeared. In glorious sunshine, The Sarian had won the toss on a batting paradise. The smiles returned only at lunch, when Brigveger Grovan struck to catch Lucie Snaijer in front. Qilairana, picked ahead of specialist spinner Quouodan Skejjibox in a move that clearly signalled Deisler’s defensive intentions, then bowled a tight line to Innocent Kijeur, eventually beating him on the inside edge. But Max Spritzen and Marscha DeSaari then began the consolidation.

The young Spritzen did not seem overawed by the occasion, but Grovan and iiPiqup Fizbin soon discovered that a tight line into his pads kept him well contained, refusing to feed him outside off stump, while DeSaari was particularly restrained. Once Deisler went defensive – with deep cover posted – the two were content to amble the odd single in between studious blocking of Gruenberg’s three spinners: Qilairana, extracting bounce if not significant turn, was the pick, while Lemonzesty Yowoax and Hraff’ Tumcoweiss both took up conservative lines, bowling over the wicket and being padded away all afternoon. Spritzen brought up his hundred with the only six of the day, one of the few times he used his feet to the spinners; DeSaari her fifty with a sweep as she remained stubbornly crease-bound.

The new day brought little relief: still an unflagging sun poured down scorn on Gruenberg’s bowling lineup, which contained but could not find an effective breakthrough until Qilairana got one to bounce, DeSaari glove it round off her ribs for a sharp catch by Kahunk Uvaevaluvae. But he later spilled a more straightforward catch when a tiring Spritzen swiped at a Grovan outswinger; it took Grovan himself to rob the opener 7 short of a deserved, if slightly arduous, double century, catching a return drive in the crook of his elbow and holding on as he tumbled to the ground. Gruenberger players, not always known for their sportsmanship, applauded the batsman off – and then resigned themselves to the fact that The Sarian still had six wickets left.

Acceleration came, at long last, through captain Ruitdekker, who had added a cautious 20 off 90 when Spritzen fell but would add another 80 off his next 90; Melinde Lijnuun, picking off the straight Gruenberger line with crisp flicks and driving the left-arm spinners through the covers with lovely flourishes, chipped in with 60 off 86. They added 138 runs in the final session before Yowoax, who had bowled 40 increasingly worrisome wicketless overs, finally picked up a cheap gimme as Lijnuun top-edged a sweep to Tumcoweiss. Deisler’s sense of sportsmanship was harder to find as, with Ruitdekker’s loyalties split between a need for a declaration and his own impending century, he set highly defensive fields and had his bowlers bowl a negative line. A frustrated Ruitdekker went in at stumps on 94 faced with a tough decision. The Sarian had batted for two days, relatively untroubled, yet failed to post 500 runs: on a flat pitch, with whispers of rain to come, how much longer could they afford to bat?

One ball, it turned out, was the answer. The next morning, Ruitdekker took guard against Fizbin, sized up a loosener and drove it into the Senaat End stands, and promptly turned around and ran off, having completed his century. Rather than an act of individual selfishness, the one ball declaration seemed designed to throw off the Gruenberger openers, who had been anticipated spending a morning relaxing in the slips before being pressed into action. Compoundinterest Hmnff never settled, and though Deisler looked fluent at the other end, Pitkin Deisler would look fluent batting upside down in a hailstorm. Playing what could be his last test, Oli Abaal sent one across Hmnff that DeSaari, at full stretch, caught one handed; Plumbert Sthwlorq offered a more straightforward edge off Martine Kloeten thereafter, before Deisler and Ettexinor Broimbles, who strode to the wicket with Benny Enchante-sized expectations on his shoulders, settled into a comfortable partnership. Kloeten, who was the pick of the bowlers, and Abaal then both struck again, Deisler 33 short of the return Test century he so obviously wanted as he looped a leading edge to point, Broimbles carelessly playing across an in-ducker after getting bottled up by Filip Stormdroop’s exacting line. But then the rain came.

It was the decisive point of the match, swinging a probable draw into a near certain one. Periodic spells of brightness prompted visits to the middle and promises of impending restarts, only for dark clouds to draw in once more. Tea was taken, play extended and extended again, but eventually not one more ball would be bowled. Nor had the rain completely blown through: the next morning, hopes of an early start to make up time were dashed by a further quick shower. Once play resumed, Kloeten put the team on her back, and decided it was time to make an impact. Bowling fast and tight, targeting the Gruenberger weaknesss against the short ball, she shook up Qilairana with a savage bouncer then took out his left toe, and battered debutant Nurples Honk into submission before he lamely swiped past a Stormdroop off-cutter. Only the experienced Uvaevaluvae showed any real resolve, as Gruenberg wilted for 231.

It was The Sarian’s only chance of winning: bowl the visitors out cheap, and then do it again. This time, though, Hmnff showed his mettle, with a patient fifty to see Gruenberg through to the close. Deisler was angry at himself for a routine edge after looking fluent again, and Sthwlorq became the first returning player to put his place in jeopardy when he went cheaply again. After his first innings 30 confirmed all the worst fears about him, Broimbles was under even more pressure, and when Hmnff was smartly caught by Wilfrid Hendriks off his own bowling, Honk lamely flapped Stormdroop to cover, and Tumcoweiss, after some spirited aggression against the spin of Magdalene Goedsmid, edged to slip, Gruenberg teetered on the brink.

But Broimbles was too good, Qilairana too lucky – he was dropped, twice, and survived a marginal LBW shout. Goedsmid’s spin, meant to be the deciding factor on Day 5, failed to produce results as the two batsmen restrained the impulse to hit spinners out of the attack that has been a Gruenberger failing so often in the past, and instead merely milked her for singles. For Broimbles, a first Test century was greeted with a weary acknowledgement of a job not yet done, but Qilairana could afford to be more bombastic in his own celebrations as he carted Hendriks through the covers. Kloeten got her man in Broimbles, Qilairana finally overplayed his hand to Goedsmid, and Uvaevaluvae was ripped out by a Kloeten yorker – but with more time lost to rain and bad light, the game trickled to an uninspiring draw.

For Gruenberg, the chief dilemma will be over their spinners, because the Archipelbuurt in Haaglanden, home of one the most hideous pavilions in world cricket,* is seen as favouring spin. Tumcoweiss did little to suggest he was yet capable of Test wickets, but with Yowoax also disappointing, bringing in Skejjibox would render the attack very same-y, while Tyrkkekkekklukkekklukekk would be a gamble. Both Sthwlorq and Honk seem likely to receive second chances, but one of Chthchibvuel Thchthaarheq or Zambuimmi Hengtridan Jr. could get a cap if the aim is to bolster the batting and play Qilairana as the sole all-rounder. The first Test draw makes the second a straight shoot-out for the series – but will Deisler’s conservative instincts prevent any bold gambits to try to seize the advantage?

* Gruenberger and The Sarian opinions on architecture are quite far apart.

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Series of matchday reports from (? Somewhere?) in Garbelia.

GARBELIA (UPA)—Devon Roberts ripped through the Garbelery batting lineup on a dramatic introduction to Test cricket for Uncertainty as the visitors bowled out the hosts of their first ever Test for 179. Bowling with pace and aggression, Roberts’s mixture of steepling bouncers and probing yorkers discombombulated one Garbeli batter after another, reducing them to 74–4 at lunch and 132–8 at tea. He finished with figures of 6–38 and led the team off after seeing out the first innings before the second new ball; lone resistance from Garbelia’s number 9 batter produced the sole innings of note in response. Faraj al-Huq’s 4–54 perhaps flattered him: he failed to find significant turn, but benefited from Seth Cameron’s tight economy and Roberts’s unrelenting pressure, leading to wickets at his end as concentration lapsed. An uncertain start in response from Alex McEwan and Oscar Perry, both of whom fell cheaply to the Garbelery openers, meant the day ended on a slightly down note for the visitors.

GARBELIA (UPA)—Uncertainty failed to capitalise on their first innings bowling performance with an indecisive batting show of their own. A lead of 64 was cancelled out for the loss of just one wicket by the close of play after Garbelia responded well to their first day disappointment, rebounding to produce disciplined bowling and excellent fielding. Captain Jack Harper’s breezy 50 felt like a missed opportunity after he misread an in-swinger. Pranav Joshi, after white ball disappointments over the last year, stepped up with sumptuous class and not a little arrogance to the spinners, but his unbeaten 92 was a lone hand and he was left short of a deserving century as the tail collapsed around him. Only Seth Cameron showed much fortitude as Garbelia’s seamers shared the wickets around. Cameron then dismissed the Garbelery opener, well caught at 2nd slip by Harper, but Garbelia ended the day with a lead of 8 to essentially cancel out the first two days’ work.

GARBELIA (UPA)—Garbelia have turned the 1st Test on his head with a determined and resilient batting display, adding 334 runs before rain called an early halt to a demoralising day in the field for Uncertainty. Devon Roberts failed to show the same spark he had in the first innings, while Faraj al-Huq was a disappointment, frequently failing to land his leg-break and finding little rough to work with. A careless drop by Sachith Seelalankara opened the door to the Garbelery middle order to add 234 runs for the loss of just three wickets, and although no one batter made a hundred, a string of attractive fifties highlighted the lack of penetration from all but Seth Cameron. Jacques Van Jaarsveld shook things up towards the close with a fiery spell, but was possibly guilty of being underbowled by Jack Harper, who kept persisting with the shockingly wayward Vusumuzi Mntimande, whose combined golden duck and 29 overs for 120 runs amounts to one of the worst Test debuts ever. Facing a deficit of 342 runs and still needing one wicket, Uncertainty face an improbable chase with too much time left in the game to bat for a draw.

GARBELIA (UPA)—Uncertainty’s first ever Test will go to an exciting fifth day with a result all but guaranteed barring the intervention of weather: needing 143 runs to win with 7 wickets in hand, the game is deftly poised. From 60–2, Uncertainty recovered to 174–3, and ended the day on 240, thanks to a calm innings from captain Jack Harper, who shook off his first innings impetuousness to commit to a serious, grafting effort. That conservatism may have cost him a hundred as he slowed in the 80s and fell to a controversial catch, scooped just off – or just on, depending on one’s perspective – the ground by the short paw fielder. He and Jacques Van Jaarsveld had added 114, and the big all-rounder ended the day unbeaten on 89. They were two contrasting innings: Harper used his feet well but rarely hit out, while Van Jaarsveld’s shoelaces appeared tied to the spinners, but thrashed them with several powerful blows all the same. Pranav Joshi, unbeaten on 27, once more looked in superlative touch, but on a decaying fifth day wicket, a chase still requiring over 100 runs is far from assured, especially given the lower order brittleness exposed in the first innings.

GARBELIA (UPA)—Uncertainty have claimed an historic win in their first ever Test. An astonishing chase of 343 was made to look easy on the fifth day by Jacques Van Jaarsveld, who finished unbeaten on 142 in a titanic batting effort. Uncertain fans had endured a nervous night contemplating a difficult chase in the morning, but Van Jaarsveld appeared to have rested his head well. He came out swinging, bludgeoning four sixes on his way to Uncertainty’s first ever Test century: while it is to be hoped more will follow, few will ever have such import. Pranav Joshi’s lustrous 71* looked positively pedestrian by comparison as he happily nurdled singles to give the big-hitting all-rounder the strike. The Garbelery attack looked bereft of options, and while Van Jaarsveld was never truly comfortable against spin, he hit with such power as to force the seamers back into the attack, against whom he looked far more assured. A potentially rocky chase was over before lunch as Uncertainty’s travelling fans, the Clinically Insane Navy, celebrated the seven wicket win.

[TJUN-ia]

Name: TJUN-ia
Trigram: TJU
National Cricket Board: TJUN-ia Board of Cricket (TBC)
Nickname: Jaguars (official)/Jags (short form)/Bowlin' Jags (who knows)
Test Colours: White with Blue (home)/Orange (away) Helmets
ODI Colours: Light Blue with Orange Accents
T20 Colours: Light Blue with Orange Stripes on front and sleeves
Red Ball Head Coach: Joseph Smith III (40, NAU)
White Ball Head Coach: Virat Indushapa (35, CEA)

Welcome back to TJUN-ia Cricket and finally, we come to the 3rd and final format of the GCF schedule (for now, at least). Our ODI debut was legendary but Virat Indushapa's first T20 certainly wasn't the best start at all. Test cricket, however, will be totally different ball game, spread out over 5 days (at most) and a literal game of attrition and mind games from ball 1 onwards, so some specialist needs were required in order to make this step up. Joseph Smith III is now in as the Bowlin' Jags' Red Ball HC, a tactician known for trying to get the very best out of his players no matter the scenario - which will be needed in a game as long as this. Jason Walkins has been elected as captain for the tests we must play, which currently stand at only Gruenberg at home and Garbelia away. No one is expecting much for this debut campaign in this, the most traditional of all formats, but any little helps in developing the sport across all forms.

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PLAYERS
Number: Name (Position, Age, Handedness, Region)
BATTING LINE-UP
#01 Jason Walkins (Batter, 23, R, NAU) (Test C)
#02 Logan McGarra (Batter, 22, R, UO)
#03 Roger Ntini (All-Rounder, 24, L, AU) (T20 C)
#04 Chase Helton (Batter, 21, R, CU)
#05 Rohit Rajpore (All-Rounder, 20, R, CEA)
#06 Esteban Soto (Bowler, 21, R, UAC)
#07 Zawar Ahmed (Batter, 24, R, ArU)
#08 Gabriel Miziara (Wicket-Keeper, 23, L, UAS)
#09 Joseph Gregorson (Batter, 25, L, JB TJUN-ia) (ODI C)
#10 Peter Kylasov (Bowler, 24, R, CSTO)
#11 Ahmed Ali (Bowler, 22, L, CEA)

RESERVES
#12 Wille Mutombodzi (Batter, 20, R, AU)
#13 Chris Parker (All-Rounder, 21, L, CU)
#14 Kane Nukunuku (Bowler, 20, R, UO)
#15 James Laughlin (Wicket-Keeper, 21, R, NAU)

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HOME GROUND
Name: "The Trent Zone"
Location: Notts, NAU Zone
Capacity: 18,000


Based on a stadium well known to the Secretary-General, The Trent Zone has wacky dimensions and that allows it to produce very chaotic games of cricket from time to time. No wonder the locals prefer to call the ground "The Trent Zone" instead of its actual name of "Sherwood Pines Cricket Ground", as anything usually goes here in this place!

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SCHEDULE

MD3-4: vs Gruenburg - "The Trent Zone", Notts
MD5 & 7: @Garbelia

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PERMISSIONS
No violence against the players, but godmodding will be allowed (I like fun ).
As TJUN-ia is a nation built on the notions of equality for all, "Mankading" shall not be used by the TJUN-ian team.
Style Modifier: 0

[The Grearish Union]

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

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A black dolphins side that was led by the inspiring, but severely out-of-form Taylor Kincheloe travelled to Chamberley with a glimmer of hope to outperform expectations that preceded them. It was a difficult task, but not one that was impossible by any stretch of the imagination. Having chosen to go with all four debutantes Mcleroy, Clark, Gang and Posner - all of was already asking for trouble against quite an experienced Sylestone lineup — Kincheloe had to lead from the front no matter how ugly the situation turned in the match. Domestic performances in the Letterman Trophy were of no comfort to the stylish 24-year-old batter as she failed to impress with her strokeplaying in most matches.

Selection via a ‘captaincy’ quota is what her inclusion in the very meritocratic Grearish cricket system was called, and no matter how many picturesque cover drives the left hander pierces through the covers in the upcoming tests, big runs would be what she needs and big runs she’ll have to get. This would naturally bring us to our next question, that is, if Kincheloe can be retained in the team based on leadership grounds despite torrid performances in the domestic circuit - what logic would there be in dropping Osvaldo Cullison from such a squad despite his experience and proven quality? Is form then an excuse to drop unfavourable personnel from the setup in this increasingly ‘meritocratic’ Grearish cricket system?

Answers to those questions were searched for keenly in the first test vs Sylestone in Chamberley. Three East-West Cup points were up for grabs in the first test, and this is only the third such test in the three seasons that the Cup is now running for. A couple of test wins here would put the black dolphins in a position to virtually secure a Cup win for the third time straight. All of the speculation was to be put to an end in these five days — Kincheloe wins the toss and puts the visitors into bat at the CCG. Before you know it, Kincheloe has strung together a magnificent innings of an unbeaten 167 with 23 fours which mostly pierced the packed off-side field in glamorous cover drives. Where was the speculation about her form now? Where were all the critics who weren’t sure about how she’d perform? Goolsby played a wonderful century knock to help Grearia to an intimidating 465 for the loss of 8 wickets when Kincheloe decided to tuck her bat under her arm and send the home team into bat.

Sublime captaincy, it was, in the 1st Sylestonean innings: proving precisely the reason why she was selected in the national side in the first place. Efficient bowling changes throughout the innings did not allow the Sylestoneans any room to settle down into the match, and if it weren’t for Fomleya and Afosha’s handy knocks in the middle, it could have been a desperately embarrassing affair for the hosts’ batting lineup. Cricket Grearia therefore made the correct call, and a very impactful one at that. In making this correct decision, however, Cricket Grearia faces a kind of double-edged sword. While on the one hand people might be hailing the national board for making such an effective (and possibly far-sighted) call, a large section of sceptics believe it is unfair for Kincheloe to be granted opportunities that she clearly did not deserve – at least not according to the dangerous precedent set by the governing body.

Sylestone were wrapped up for 143 in under 50 overs only to be sent in to bat again. A 322-run lead is no joke, and it must have been a no-brainer for Kincheloe to hit the nail on the head and get the business done and over with. At the end of the third day, the Grearish were still in control at stumps – before Fomleya happened.

The average Grearish fan might have even switched the telly off at home and gone out with the mates for some backyard cricket – there’s no way not to win this match! The very sad part about it, is that the average fan had no real idea of what a fantastic game-changer Daniel Fomleya could be. A devastating 191 broke the back of the Grearish attack accompanied by well-rounded innings from Afosha (139), Creln (70) and Appleby (58). Just the four of them scored as much as the Grearish batting lineup did in the first innings, and by the end of the day, had lost Suprenant with the score at 30 for 1, after Sylestone put up a mammoth 658 and the black dolphins had batted for 11 overs. With a huge target of 287 set for the Grearish to chase down, and cracks and foot-marks developing on the surface on the final day it was suddenly Sylestone’s game to take home. Grearia was far, far away from home with 287 required in 90 overs with 9 wickets in hand. The chase wasn’t out of the question, still!

The final day came upon everyone like the finale of an epic drama. A seemingly unassailable target was turned to nothing and the perceived favourites were now out there trying to make a match out of it all. The wicket of Kincheloe in the penultimate over before lunch, however, changed everything. You had to feel for her, after having marshalled the troops and being on the field for the best part of three whole days, her tired hands couldn’t deal with the vicious Pistecial yorker and the inspiring leader had to get back to the dressing room as the Grearish public let out a collective groan at the fall of their skipper and the eventuality of staring into the jaws of defeat.

By the end of the day, the scoreboard showed a loss by 96 runs. The game was easily called the greatest East-West test ever played, and Kincheloe went first to a post-match presentation party as the losing captain after being reduced from hero to not-quite-so-much-a-hero in a span of 3 days. Yet, she was inspirational nonetheless.

“I think the team did a wonderful job out there. We couldn’t have done much better in terms of our performances, but massive props to the Sylestoneans, especially Daniel - what a knock from him - to turn a game on its head like that requires some special talent. We take away a lot of positives from this game, quite a few of the players found themselves within the runs and Posner got himself a wonderful 5-for on debut. So yeah, looking forward to the next one!” she said, ever so charismatically as she went back to stand boldly in front of her visibly disappointed team. She isn’t one to shy away from responsibilities. No wonder CG puts so much faith in her.

The Grearish Union team selection in (provisional) batting order for the second test v Sylestone @ Bolton Oval, Pesfield
Numbers Benedetto
Elridge Suprenant
Maida Mcleroy
Kerry Clark
Taylor Kincheloe (C)
Logan Murdoch (WK) (replacing Gang)
Dewayne Goolsby
Harrison Posner
Jacqueline Giorgi
Faith Daniele (replacing Boger)
Lyndon Pasternak

[Milchama]

OOC: This is based on the Guardian OBO that they do for English test cricket.

IC:

Day 3 of 5:
1st Over Milchama 0-0 11:32 am
Still raining here in Emberton. Let's see some emails. Here is Vinny in Swooton:
"I thought cricket was supposed to be different than baseball but it seems pretty similar right about now."

I totally understand Vinny! But you know some things are the same with all bat and ball sports and we all know that rain delays are among them. If you have any good rain dances let me know.


1st Over Milchama 0-0 11:53 am
Davis McJarvis has emailed in from Karakorum:
"The plains are known for some spectacular rain dances. Of course they won't do much to stop the rain, which seems like what you're looking for, as they are all to encourage rain for a good harvest so the animals can eat during the winter"

You know that was silly of me. I obviously want anti-rain dances. So I guess sun dances? Does anybody have sun dances. Also, since we're Morid Ha'Tal season clearly that's about dew and not about rain itself. So maybe we can do (haha?) more of that.


1st Over Milchama 0-0 12:18 pm
Mariuss has written in from Ruskya:
"I know that Judaism is really into rain dances but I don't know any sun dances or anti-rain dances. Being a desert cultures seems to really limit our opportunities for trying to stop rain as we are always looking for more"

Yeah, in general, that's definitely true but there are other cultures in Milchama and you never know. Basically, I want to see some cricket which means we need to stop this rain in Emberton. If anybody has any ideas please let me know.

1st Over Milchama 0-0 12:42 pm
It's not looking good on the pitch as it continues a steady drizzle. The umpires came out for a quick inspection about 3 minutes ago and immediately turned around to keep them out. It looks like the players might take an early lunch.

Meanwhile Katie has written in from Emberton, ooh my a Krytenian over here! to say a few things:
"It's not looking good. The forecast says 55% of rain all day and all night. I can't really expect it to dry out because that's how Emberton is this time of year. As for rain dances, I know there are a few tropical locations that are known for trying to stop monsoon season but I don't think that will work in a place like Krytenia. It's a little too cold up here for large monsoons all the time."

Well that's good to know about Krytenian weather but bad to know about our chances of playing today. On TV they're showing an interview with Hayden March about Milchama's first foreign tour. March can be an interesting man sometimes but when he wants to be boring, oh boy can he be and this is one of those boring interviews. In fairness to Hayden, it's hard to say anything about traveling "Why yes we are going to another country. Yes we will try hard. No we don't know exactly what it's going to be like" Let him analyze some Krytenian cricket, give us something we can use!

1st Over Milchama 0-0 12:46 pm
LUNCH! See you after the break in 40 minutes.

1st Over Milchama 0-0 1:31 pm

Well our anti-rain dances don't seem to be working much. Whatever people are doing it's not really working. Still raining here in Emberton and does not show much sign of abating. Yesterday did have ominous clouds floating around but nobody really expected it to be this bad, even with the forecast. It's looking increasingly likely that there will be no cricket today.

1st Over Milchama 0-0 2:08 pm

Any good trivia questions? I'd say try to keep them cricket related but if we stray a bit that's fine.

1st Over Milchama 0-0 2:12 pm

Miller writes in:
Who is the first Milchamian to play in international sports post-Isolation?

Now that's a good one. I'll let a few others get at it before taking a crack myself.

1st Over Milchama 0-0 2:18 pm
Gormes answers:
Not sure if it counts but I think the AOCAF football team would be first.

David Ben Davidson answered:
I think it's whoever first participated in the AOlympics. I didn't look up which sport went first. It's either that or AOCAF.

Marsha Hess said:
I know it's tennis but I don't remember who in tennis.

Marsha came closest! It was Morriah Stevens in the Salvador Hills Open in the Gearish Union. Yep, remember we almost have international tennis and while we don't RP it still exists. We should RP that but you know it's hard and it'll probably fall off the list soon but Stevens will continue to be the answer to a tough trivia questions.

1st Over Milchama 0-0 4:26 pm

And that's it! The umpires have called it for today. With a wet outfield, continuing rain, and no sign of stopping there was no reason to delay the inevitable. The forecast looks better for tomorrow and see you then to see if Milchama can build back from a 49 run first innings deficit.

[Bollonich]

A difficult loss, bright sparks of talent

The Bollonischian cricketers, travelling to Ko-oren knew that they were one of the best. Us? We were unknown in the multiverse of cricket. Our appearance in the T20 World Cup shone some light on our capabilities but whether the same success would be translated to our Test squad was yet to be seen. The test squad travelling to Ko-oren contained both some fresh as well as old faces. The team led by Quentin Cristopher headed out onto the ground to face Ko-oren. The toss had been in favour of the Ko-orenites as they won the toss and naturally decided the bat first. The pitch at the Greencaster Oval was a fairly neutral one as the toss would mean rather less than it would in other places however this was still a major advantage. The opening partnership of Twaddle and Lyness took to the crease which only lasted 29 balls and 14 runs before Lyness was sent back to the pavilion with a rocket of a delivery from Letty Horne. Lyness failed to judge the in swing of the delivery, completely missing it and in the end it was a straightforward decision for umpire Adella Statham. White who came out to bat held onto a good partnership with Twaddle on the other end. Their 50+ runs partnership was a solid one, broken by the experienced Waterson as she dismissed both batsmen in a period of two overs of her spell. These provided vital breakthroughs for the side, however the main onslaught was yet to come. The small period of hope was drained away by the major slogging that the team had to endure from the middle of the first season to the beginning of the third. Wickets had dried up and the game was being dominated by Ko-orenite batsmen. Illres narrowly missed out on a century as Stanway did was Illres couldn’t overcoming the nerves and scoring a fabulous century. With 8 to 9 overs remaining for the first day, Ko-oren had been bowled out for 381. This was a decent total, but given that we had managed to bowl them out in the first day itself, these last few overs would be tricky. But this also provided us with ample amount of time to close down the deficit by a lot. The conditions played out exactly as we would’ve expected them to, with the sun setting and slightly more damper conditions the floodlights were on. And the struggles for our batting begun, we managed to lose both of our openers Merritt and Allard in the first 5 overs. Following stumps we weren’t looking too good having lost 2 wickets in the initial moments.

We started day 2 more positively as Andrews and Haggard were pretty solid towards the initial portions of the day playing most of the dangers of the new ball. Following Andrew’s dismissal it was Abraham who came out to bat and provided good support to Haggard. The two of them put up a good partnership with some sublime shots. The danger however hadn’t been averted as we were again in a difficult position heading into lunch having lost Haggard. Quentin held around for a while before the eventual crumbling of the entire battling line up. The main protagonist involved in this for Ko-oren was the off spinner Douglas. Sherburn had shown earlier yesterday that there was quite a lot of spin in the pitch, and with cracks opening up this only got better for Douglas who picked up four wickets in the decimation of the Bollonischian batting lineup. With us only halfway into the second session, we were already coming out to bowl. Our first innings batting performance had been simply put cataclysmic. Ko-oren had secured a lead of 192 runs which was massive heading in the long run as Ko-oren’s batters just needed to do the bare minimum now. Twaddle and Lyness the opening pair, unlike last time actually were playing relatively well. Twaddle was looking strong from a batting perspective as the bowlers struggled to create any sort of breakthrough. We picked up our first wicket following the tea break as it was Lyness who fell prey to a clever out swinger by Waterson picking up the nick and heading straight into the waiting palms of Cristopher. This wicker however barely halted the Ko-orenite batting. Twaddle continued to look strong and White was solid in defense. We had no answer for them. That was until Horne pulled out something special once again from her bag of tricks picking another very important wicket which we knew would be crucial heading into Day 3. By the end of Day 2 it was Ko-oren firmly on top with a good scoring rate and wickets in hand and a huge lead on top of that.

The start of Day 3 was quite rubbish to be completely honest. Wickets didn’t look to be falling despite the bowlers getting close multiple times and with an old ball it didn’t seem to be doing much. And just as things were starting to go our way with two back to back wickets, it went horribly wrong. The heavens opened up and what you never want to see from cricket field happened. The rain come pouring down on Day 3 as play had to be called off. The conditions grew gloomy and what had been Overcast for so long finally translated to rain. It continued to rain for mostly the rest of the day with it finally stopping towards the end of the third session. And to the delight of the home fans we managed to get some play in the day. Ko-oren continued their strong batting show in the short time they got to bat as Douglas and Twaddle looked set for a big partnership. The ended with conditions and the score looking gloomy for us as the forecast was to bring more bad news upon us.

Day 4 didn’t even get off to a start as the rain that was saw on day 3 carried over into Day 4. Whether we would get sufficient play to decide the match was now becoming a question. Luckily for all spectators we did get cricketing action and quality cricketing action at that. The Ko-orenites batted through the remaining part of the second session scoring 308 before eventually declaring with 5 wickets fallen setting a target of 501 for us to chase down. This was a huge total for any team to chase and especially on the last day of the pitch. The pitch however hadn’t seen too many overs of cricket and it was still in good shape. The fact that the pitch was still looking good was clearly visible in the fact that we didn’t lose a single wicket in the third session of day 4 heading into day 5 with all 10 wickets in our hand and 90 less runs to chase down.

Day 5 started off with a bang for Ko-oren as they picked up Merritt’s wicket in an unlucky mix up which would definitely come back to bite us. Allard was soon to follow with the batting lineup appearing to do what they did in the first innings. Andrews helped the scoreboard tick along yet failing to manage to stick around for a longish time. The onus seemed to be set on some of the lower order batters. Haggard and Abraham’s partnership was a strong one however Abraham just like Andrews let Haggard down. 4 Wickets had fallen and the distance from the target was greater than the distance to the target. We were struggling, and that’s when Cristopher put in a true captain’s performance guiding the team towards the target and a big score. But this wasn’t enough, it couldn’t be enough. Our failures in the first innings would most definitely affect the outcome of the match and the face that we scored 399 runs in the second innings could not reverse that. This was a tough loss for us to accept but we will need to take this in our stride and attempt to get a better result against Ko-oren next time around.

Ko-oren 1st Innings
Batter                                          R   B  4s  6s   SR
R Twaddle         c Merritt b Waterson         42  67   7   0   62.69
A Lyness          lbw b Horne                   6  13   0   0   46.15
E White           c Christopher b Waterson     38  45   5   1   84.44
I yChaegrheodd    b Sherburn                   96 101  11   1   95.05
D Stanway         c Allard b Rowe             105 152  15   0   69.08
A Douglas         c Cristopher b Sherburn      25  49   3   0   51.02
F Meredith        b Rowe                        3  17   0   0   17.65
A Maitland        lbw b Waterson               11  21   1   0   52.38
R Lincoln         c Rowe b Derrick              6   7   1   0   85.71
Z Fox             c Haggard b Waterson         12  16   2   0   75
H Marsden         not out                       2   2   0   0  100
      EXTRAS      (7 b, 25 lb, 2 wd, 1 nb)     35
       TOTAL      all out                     381   (81.3 ov; 4.69 RPO)
                

FOW: 1-14 (A Lyness, 4.5 overs); 2-82 (E White, 15.6 overs); 3-86 (R Twaddle, 17.4 overs); 4-254 (I yChaegrheodd, 50.6 overs); 5-308 (A Douglas, 65.5 overs); 6-314 (D Stanway, 67.3 overs); 7-318 (F Meredith, 70.5 overs); 8-330 (A Maitland, 72.5 overs); 9-372 (R Lincoln, 79.2 overs); 10-381 (Z Fox, 81.3 overs)

Bollonich Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
L Horne            17.3   4  97  1   5.61  (1 nb)
N Waterson           20   8  78  4    3.9  
T Rowe               14   2  71  2   5.07  (1 wd)
X Sherburn           23  10  99  2    4.3  
L Derrick             7   1  36  1   5.14  (1 wd)

Bollonich 1st Innings
Batter                                          R   B  4s  6s   SR
G Merritt         c Meredith b Fox              0   6   0   0    
L Allard          lbw Marsden                   2  13   0   0   15.38
M Andrews         c Lyness b Maitland          37  61   6   0   60.66
G Haggard         b Douglas                    51  85   5   1   60
W Abraham         c Meredith b Lincoln         44  77   8   0   57.14
Q Christopher     c Stanway b Douglas          26  38   4   0   68.42
L Derrick         lbw Marsden                   3   8   0   0   37.5
T Rowe            lbw Douglas                   3   4   0   0   75
N Waterson        c Twaddle b Douglas           5   6   1   0   83.33
L Horne           not out                       0   1   0   0    
X Sherburn        b Fox                         2   2   0   0  100
      EXTRAS      (2 b, 9 lb, 3 wd, 2 nb)      16
       TOTAL      all out                     189   (49.5 ov; 3.82 RPO)
                

FOW: 1-0 (G Merritt, 0.6 overs); 44233 (L Allard, 4.4 overs); 3-62 (M Andrews, 20.4 overs); 4-130 (G Haggard, 36.2 overs); 5-174 (Q Christopher, 46.3 overs); 6-179 (W Abraham, 47.4 overs); 7-180 (L Derrick, 48.2 overs); 8-185 (T Rowe, 48.5 overs); 9-187 (N Waterson, 49.3 overs); 10-189 (X Sherburn, 49.5 overs)

Ko-oren Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
Z Fox                12   2  49  2   4.08  {1 nb)
H Marsden          10.5   3  31  2   2.95  
A Maitland            8   1  35  1   4.38  
A Douglas            15   5  52  4   3.47  (2 wd)
R Lincoln             4   0  22  1    5.5  (1wd, 1 nb)

Ko-oren 2nd Innings
Batter                                          R   B  4s  6s   SR
R Twaddle         b Sherburn                  117 235  13   2   49.79
A Lyness          c Cristopher b Waterson      34  63   4   0   53.97
E White           c Merrittt b Horne           12  36   0   1   33.33
I yChaegrheodd    lbw Rowe                     29  55   4   0   52.73
D Stanway         b Waterson                    3   8   0   0   37.5
A Douglas         not out                      81 192   9   1   42.19
      EXTRAS      (9 b, 16 lb, 3 wd, 4 nb)     32
       TOTAL      for 5 wickets; declared     308   (97.3 ov; 3.17 RPO)
Did not bat:    A Maitland, R Lincoln, Z Fox, H Marsden

FOW: 1-71 (A Lyness, 22.5 overs); 2-111 (E White, 35.6 overs); 3-153 (I yChaegrheodd, 51.2 overs); 4-161 (D Stanway, 53.4 overs); 5-308 (R Twaddle, 97.3 overs)

Bollonich Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
L Horne              23   7  74  1   3.22  (2 nb)
N Waterson         25.3   9  86  2    3.4  
T Rowe               16   4  61  1   3.81  (1 nb, 1 wd)
X Sherburn           28  10  79  1   2.82  (1 nb, 1 wd)
L Derrick             5   2   8  0    1.6  (1 wd)

Bollonich 2nd Innings
Batter                                          R   B  4s  6s   SR
G Merritt         run out (White)              58 114   8   0   50.88
L Allard          lbw Fox                      42  97   4   1   43.3
M Andrews         c Meredith b Marsden         17  21   2   0   80.95
G Haggard         lbw Douglas                 124 266  15   1   46.62
W Abraham         c yChaegrheodd b Lincoln     29  43   3   0   67.44
Q Christopher     b Lincoln                    75 161  10   2   46.58
L Derrick         c Meredith b Douglas         18  35   1   1   51.43
T Rowe            b Douglas                     4  14   0   0   28.57
N Waterson        lbw Douglas                   2   8   0   0   25
L Horne           c Twaddle b Fox               1   6   0   0   16.67
X Sherburn        not out                       2  10   0   0   20
      EXTRAS      (7 b, 13 lb, 3 wd, 4 nb)     27
       TOTAL      all out                     399   (128.3 ov; 3.11 RPO)
                

FOW: 1-96 (G Merritt, 33.4 overs); 2-109 (L Allard, 35.5 overs); 3-141 (M Andrews, 42.3 overs); 4-200 (W Abraham, 57.2 overs); 5-362 (G Haggard, 101.6 overs); 6-391 (Q Cristopher, 114.1 overs); 7-391 (L Derrick, 114.2 overs); 8-395 (N Waterson, 123.3 overs); 9-397 (T Rowe, 126.1 overs); 10-399 (L Horne, 128.3 overs)

Ko-oren Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
Z Fox                32  11  98  2   3.06  (2 nb)
H Marsden            28   8  87  1   3.11  (1 wd)
A Maitland           24   9  56  0   2.33  (1 nb, 1wd)
A Douglas          43.3  14 102  4   2.36  (1 wd)
R Lincoln            18   4  56  2   3.11  (1 nb)


Venue: Greencaster Oval, Greencaster, Surbourneshire, Ko-oren
Match number: GCF Test 781
Toss: Ko-oren won the toss and decided to bat first
Season: GCF World Test Challenge Season 12
Matchdays: Matchweek 1
Player of the Match: Arnold Douglas (KOR)
Series result: Ko-oren lead the series 1-0
Umpires: Adella Statham, Edith Barnes
TV Umpire: Greta Putnam
Reserve Umpire: Tori Bonson
Match Referee: Ophelia Mayes
Match Result: Ko-oren win by 101 runs

[Liventia]

(This post doubles as the RP cutoff)

Record failure at crease masked by record-breaking win
DIRECTUS— The Directus County Cricket Ground holds nightmare memories for Liventia. The site of the infamous 'Euracide' Test in season 8, when Liventia threw away a first-innings lead of 337 to lose by 315 runs as Eura piled up 722 following on (a Liventian record for runs allowed), is where Liventia collapsed for 70 runs in their second innings back then to set their record lowest completed innings total.

That's a record that's just been broken… at the Directus County Cricket Ground. With Brendon du Pont top-scoring in Liventia's second innings of just 54 – the second-lowest total in a Test match involving Liventia, behind only Darmen's 48 last season in a Test match Liventia also contrived to lose – everything was on the cards for a repeat of Euracide.

Except, this time, the tourists somehow eked out a win by just seven runs. It was their second-smallest margin of victory by runs in a Test match, with the previous narrowest win (18 runs) also coming against the same opponents two seasons ago.

Max Finney, the ever-present in every Liventian Test season who seemingly shows no sign of slowing down aged 41 (although he has announced this will be his farewell season), top-scored in the match with his first-innings 88. He has seen pretty much everything in Liventian cricket history first-hand, including scoring three Test double-centuries, the only Liventian with more than one.

With a series draw at least guaranteed to keep up an unbeaten run in series stretching back to Season 2, Liventia will head home to host Lisander and Alice Bay in their next series, with Finney likely to sit out.

Liventia Test records
Top 5 innings wins
Innings and 225 runs v Apox, season 8
Innings and 182 runs v Elejamie, season 7
Innings and 143 runs v Eura, season 4
Innings and 132 runs v Teusland, season 10
Innings and 116 runs v Saugeais, season 3

All wins by 10 wickets (fourth innings totals)
71/0 (21.1) v Ethane, season 7
44/0 (11.5) v The Babbage Islands, season 6
5/0 (0.2) v Schiavonia, season 5
2/0 (0.4) v Ethane, season 7

Top 5 win margins by runs
221 runs v Elejamie, season 7
210 runs v Schiavonia, season 5
200 runs v Cotdelapoms, season 2
196 runs v Eura, season 8
194 runs v Apox, season 8

Wins by 20 runs or fewer
7 runs v Eura, season 12
18 runs v Eura, season 9

Top 5 innings defeats
Innings and 178 runs v Wray, season 4
Innings and 149 runs v Ko-oren, season 10
Innings and 93 runs v Apox, season 4
Innings and 30 runs v Wray, season 7
Innings and 19 runs v Eastfield Lodge, season 3
Innings and 19 runs v Mattijana, season 9

Top 5 margins of defeat by runs
315 runs v Eura, season 8
185 runs v Eura, season 4
156 runs v Gruenberg, season 2
117 runs v Eastfield Lodge, season 8
116 runs v Darmen, season 10

Tied matches
396 & 239 v Darmen 436 & 199, season 10

Top 5 highest totals scored
724/6 dec (269.1) v Wray, season 5
720/6 dec (149.3) v The Babbage Islands, season 6
685/9 dec (158.0) v Eura, season 4
656/5 dec (204.4) v Chelta, season 5
629/4 dec (182.1) v Mattijana, season 7
* 627 (185.5) v Teusland, season 11 - highest all-out total

Top 5 lowest totals scored (completed innings, excluding chases)
54 (13.4) v Eura, season 12
70 (19.0) v Eura, season 8
73 (22.1) v Ko-oren, season 10
100 (33.2) v Wray, season 5
102 (29.4) v Eastfield Lodge, season 3

Top 5 highest fourth-innings totals scored
408/9 (137.3) v Ko-oren, chased, season 11
359/3 (115.0) v Eura, chased, season 2
358/4 (119.5) v Eura, chased, season 4
357/6 (91.3) v Barunia, chased, season 9
353/8 (100.0) v Eastfield Lodge, drawn, season 3

Top 5 highest totals allowed
722/8 dec (156.5) v Eura, season 8
658/8 dec (171.5) v Ko-oren, season 10
648/8 dec (148.2) v Wray, season 7
646/5 dec (141.0) v The Babbage Islands, season 2
644/6 dec (184.0) v Apox, season 4

Top 5 lowest all-out totals, opposition
48 (11.0) v Darmen, season 11
82 (37.0) v Apox, season 8
97 (31.2) v Barunia, season 6
104 (45.3) v Eura, season 10
108 (46.1) v Gruenberg, season 5

Double centuries or better (recorded)
JCA Quinn 287* (676) v Gruenberg, season 5
MA Finney 254 (342) v Eura, season 4
AJ Cunningham 254 (412) v Wray, season 5
GP Goudreau 250* (392) v Eura, season 4
MA Finney 224 (412) v Chelta, season 5
DA Hennessey 214 (241) v Wray, season 7
MA Finney 211* (590) v Saugeais, season 3

(Liventia to play an unchanged side in the second Test vs Eura.)

[Liventia]

Matchweek 2

GCF Test 789
Match Report: Gruenberg in The Sarian
The Sarian bat first
The Sarian 298 (78.0 overs), 349 (94.3 overs)
Gruenberg 411 (98.2 overs), 237/6 (39.3 overs)
Gruenberg win by 4 wickets
Series: Gruenberg 1–0 (1 drawn)

GCF Test 790
Match Report: Bollonich in Ko-oren
Ko-oren bat first
Ko-oren 526/7d (118.1 overs), 240 (60.1 overs)
Bollonich 502 (146.4 overs), 224/5 (68.4 overs)
Drawn
Series: Ko-oren 1–0 (1 drawn)

GCF Test 791
Match Report: The Licentian Isles in The Plough Islands
The Licentian Isles bat first
The Plough Islands 240 (66.5 overs), 224 (96.0 overs)
The Licentian Isles 149 (45.3 overs), 335 (113.1 overs)
The Plough Islands lose by 20 runs
Series: Drawn 1–1

GCF Test 792
Match Report: The Grearish Union in Sylestone
Sylestone bat first
Sylestone 357 (78.3 overs), 184 (41.0 overs)
The Grearish Union 344 (87.1 overs), 198/8 (71.0 overs)
The Grearish Union win by 2 wickets

GCF Test 793
Match Report: Ethane in Lisander
Lisander bat first
Lisander 219 (74.4 overs), 251 (67.3 overs)
Ethane 431/9d (93.4 overs), 40/1 (10.2 overs)
Ethane win by 9 wickets
Series: Ethane 1–0 (1 drawn)

GCF Test 794
Match Report: Liventia in Eura
Liventia bat first
Eura 196 (62.1 overs), 249/5 (77.1 overs)
Liventia 265 (128.1 overs), 179 (48.5 overs)
Eura win by 5 wickets
Series: Drawn 1–1

GCF Test 795
Match Report: Milchama in Krytenia
Krytenia bat first
Krytenia 459/8d (128.0 overs), 199 (42.1 overs)
Milchama 377 (78.4 overs), 282/8 (91.0 overs)
Milchama win by 2 wickets
Series: Drawn 1–1

GCF Test 796
Match Report: Sharktail in Darmen
Sharktail bat first
Darmen 550 (124.4 overs), 77/2 (20.0 overs)
Sharktail 484/7d (126.4 overs), 142 (48.1 overs)
Darmen win by 8 wickets
Series: Darmen 2–0

GCF Test 797
Match Report: Uncertainty in Garbelia
Uncertainty bat first
Garbelia 156 (52.5 overs), 129 (41.0 overs)
Uncertainty 261 (76.0 overs), 383/5d (81.3 overs)
Garbelia lose by 359 runs
Series: Uncertainty 2–0

League standings

                         Pl  W  L  D  T  Ld  Lv  Pts BP  Avg
 1 Darmen                 2  2  0  0  0   2   0   40  0 20.0
   Uncertainty            2  2  0  0  0   2   0   40  0 20.0
 3 Ethane                 2  1  0  1  0   2   0   29  0 14.5
   Ko-oren                2  1  0  1  0   2   0   29  0 14.5
 5 Gruenberg              2  1  0  1  0   1   0   25  0 12.5
 6 Krytenia               2  1  1  0  0   2   0   24  0 12.0
   Liventia               2  1  1  0  0   2   0   24  0 12.0
   The Plough Islands     2  1  1  0  0   2   0   24  0 12.0
 9 Sylestone              2  1  1  0  0   0   0   20  0 10.0
   The Grearish Union     2  1  1  0  0   1   0   20  0 10.0
11 Eura                   2  1  1  0  0   0   0   16  0  8.0
   Milchama               2  1  1  0  0   0   0   16  0  8.0
   The Licentian Isles    2  1  1  0  0   0   0   16  0  8.0
14 The Sarian             2  0  1  1  0   1   0    9  0  4.5
15 Bollonich              2  0  1  1  0   0   0    5  0  2.5
   Lisander               2  0  1  1  0   0   0    5  0  2.5
17 Garbelia               2  0  2  0  0   0   0    0  0  0.0
   Sharktail              2  0  2  0  0   0   0    0  0  0.0

New Test ranks

Full Members                       Score  Pts/MP  Adjusted
 1 Darmen			 FM  122 (4523/37)  111.12
 2 Ethane			 FM  118 (2481/21)  109.07
 3 The Plough Islands		 FM  116 (3498/30)  108.30
 4 Liventia			 FM  111 (3905/35)  105.79
 5 Ko-oren			 FM  110 (3964/36)  105.06
 6 Eura				 FM  101 (1725/17)  100.74
 7 Lisander			 FM   86 (1204/14)   93.00
 8 Sajnur			 FM   70 (983/14)    85.11

Associate Members
 1 Uncertainty			 AS  130 (390/3)    110.00
 2 The Licentian Isles		 AS  120 (360/3)    105.00
 3 Gruenberg                     AS  113 (340/3)    101.00
 4 Sylestone			 AS   93 (372/4)    101.00
 5 Bollonich                     AS   75 (227/3)     93.00
 6 The Grearish Union		 AS   66 (264/4)     88.00
 7 Krytenia			 AS   59 (356/6)     85.00
 8 Milchama                      AS   40 (120/3)     75.00

Affiliate Members
 1 Damukuni                      AF  148 (1783/12)  119.00
 2 Busoga Islands		 AF  111 (890/8)    100.00
 3 The Sherpa Empire             AF   94 (282/3)    102.00
 4 Northwest Kalactin		 AF   82 (741/9)     97.00
 5 Sharktail                     AF   70 (210/3)     90.00
 6 The Sarian                    AF   46 (140/3)     79.00
 7 Garbelia                      AF   30 (90/3)      70.00

Inactive Members/CTE
 1 Teusland		      IN/FM  112 (2478/22)  106.32
 2 Apox			      IN/FM   91 (1825/20)   95.63
 3 Jeckland		      IN/FM   85 (856/10)    92.80
 4 Pratapgadh		      IN/FM   63 (1148/18)   81.89
 5 Elejamie		      IN/FM   61 (615/10)    80.75
 6 Eastfield Lodge	      IN/FM   57 (1561/27)   78.91
 7 New Lunenburg	      CE/AS  136 (816/6)    113.00

Ranking notes: Full Members without matches scheduled moved to Inactive
Bollonich, Milchama, and Uncertainty bypass Affiliate status and gain Associate status and have no more scheduling limits
Garbelia, The Sarian, and Sharktail added to Affiliate Members

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

(Provisional) match details as posted on the cric.unc website.

Uncertainty 261 all out (76 overs)
                                                 R    B   4/6
APR McEwan                      lbw b Bowler 2   8  (15)  2/-
OG Perry          c point           b Bowler 4  26  (60)  1/-
JOW Harper*       c 2nd slip        b Bowler 2   6  (15)  1/-
JDC Van Jaarsveld                   b Bowler 3  45  (75)  6/-
PV Joshi          c short midwicket b Bowler 1   2   (4)  -/-
NW Miller         NOT OUT                       97 (166) 12/-
RHS Seelalankara+ st wicket-keeper+ b Bowler 4  18  (33)  4/-
Naseem Latif                    lbw b Bowler 2  25  (67)  2/-
DJ Roberts        c wicket-keeper+  b Bowler 2  10  (10)  1/- 
SE Cameron        c wicket-keeper+  b Bowler 5   5  (14)  1/- 
Mehrab Hussaini   c wicket-keeper+  b Bowler 1   0   (2)  -/-
EXTRAS (7lb, 7wb, 5nb)                          19

FoW: 1: 10 (McEwan, 3.5 overs); 2: 22 (Harper, 7.5 overs); 3: 73 (Perry, 23.1 overs); 4: 86 (Joshi, 25.3 overs); 5: 102 (Van Jaarsveld, 30.4 overs); 6: 122 (Seelalankara, 38.5 overs); 7: 213 (Naseem Latif, 67.5 overs); 8: 230 (Roberts, 69.5 overs); 9: 256 (Cameron, 74.6 overs); 10: 261 (Mehrab Hussaini, 75.6 overs)

           O    M    R    W
Bowler 1  18    4   66    2
Bowler 2  17    3   54    4
Bowler 3  13    4   48    1
Bowler 4  15    3   41    2
Bowler 5  10    1   33    1
Bowler 6   3    0    7    0

Garbelia 156 all out (52.5 overs)
                                              R    B   4/6
Batter 1              lbw b Roberts          43 (109)  5/1
Batter 2  c Seelalankara+ b Cameron           0   (1)  -/-
Batter 3              lbw b Cameron           5   (8)  1/-
Batter 4  c Harper        b Roberts          19  (30)  4/-
Batter 5              lbw b Cameron           3  (22)  -/-
Batter 6  c Seelalankara+ b Van Jaarsveld     9  (51)  1/-
Batter 7  c Roberts       b Cameron          32  (58)  5/1
Batter 8  c Seelalankara+ b Cameron           1  (23)  -/-
Batter 9  c Roberts       b Mehrab Hussaini   4   (7)  1/-
Batter 10 c Seelalankara+ b Cameron          10  (11)  1/-
Batter 11 NOT OUT                             5   (3)  1/-
EXTRAS (19lb, 6nb)                           25

FoW: 1: 6 (Batter 2, 1.3 overs); 2: 12 (Batter 3, 3.3 overs); 3: 46 (Batter 4, 12.3 overs); 4: 53 (Batter 5, 16.6 overs); 5: 97 (Batter 6, 35.2 overs); 6: 105 (Batter 1, 36.6 overs); 7: 129 (Batter 8, 48.3 overs); 8: 136 (Batter 7, 50.1 overs); 9: 143 (Batter 9, 51.3 overs); 10: 156 (Batter 10, 52.5 overs)

                  O    M    R    W
Roberts          13    2   37    2
Cameron          16.5  3   41    6
Mehrab Hussaini  12    1   34    1
Van Jaarsveld    10    3   24    1
Harper            1    0    1    0

Uncertainty 383-5 dec. (81.3 overs)
                                                R    B   4/6
APR McEwan        c 1st slip       b Bowler 3  49  (87)  7/-
OG Perry          c wicket-keeper+ b Bowler 4  15  (26)  1/-
JOW Harper*       NOT OUT                     201 (209) 23/4
JDC Van Jaarsveld              lbw b Bowler 3  34  (44)  6/-
PV Joshi                       lbw b Bowler 5  54  (95)  6/-
NW Miller         c wicket-keeper+ b Bowler 4   6   (9)  -/-
RHS Seelalankara+ NOT OUT                      15  (19)  -/1
Did not bat: Naseem Latif, DJ Roberts, SE Cameron, Mehrab Hussaini
EXTRAS (2lb, 7wb)                               9

FoW: 1: 39 (Perry, 10.2 overs); 2: 142 (McEwan, 26.6 overs); 3: 212 (Van Jaarsveld, 38.5 overs); 4: 341 (Joshi, 68.5 overs); 5: 350 (Miller, 73.2 overs)

           O    M    R    W
Bowler 1   9    1   35    0
Bowler 2   7    0   39    0
Bowler 3  11    1   54    2
Bowler 4  27.3  1  143    2
Bowler 5  27    1  110    1

Garbelia 129 all out (41 overs)
                                              R    B   4/6
Batter 1  c Seelalankara+   b Van Jaarsveld  39  (66)  8/-
Batter 2  c Mehrab Hussaini b Roberts         0   (1)  -/-
Batter 3  NOT OUT                            62 (114)  7/1
Batter 4  c Seelalankara+   b Van Jaarsveld   0   (3)  -/-
Batter 5  c Joshi           b Van Jaarsveld   1   (7)  -/-
Batter 6  run out (Perry)                     0   (9)  -/-
Batter 7                lbw b Van Jaarsveld   8  (18)  2/-
Batter 8                    b Van Jaarsveld   0   (1)  -/-
Batter 9                lbw b Cameron        17  (22)  2/-
Batter 10 c Van Jaarsveld   b Cameron         0   (1)  -/-
Batter 11 c Seelalankara+   b Cameron         0   (4)  -/-
EXTRAS (2wb)                                  2

FoW: 1: 0 (Batter 2, 1.1 overs); 2: 67 (Batter 1, 23.1 overs); 3: 67 (Batter 4, 23.4 overs); 4: 73 (Batter 5, 25.3 overs); 5: 82 (Batter 6, 29.1 overs); 6: 96 (Batter 7, 33.5 overs); 7: 96 (Batter 8, 33.6 overs); 8: 129 (Batter 9, 40.1 overs); 9: (Batter 10, 40.2 overs); 10: (Batter 11, 41.0 overs)

                  O    M    R    W
Cameron          15    6   46    3
Roberts           5.4  1   16    1
Mehrab Hussaini   9    1   30    0
Van Jaarsveld    11    2   37    5
Naseem Latif      0.2  0    0    0

Day 1
3rd wicket: 50 in 88 balls (Van Jaarsveld 29, Perry 18)
Lunch: Uncertainty 86-4, 25.3 overs (Van Jaarsveld 35)
Tea: Uncertainty 171-6, 55 overs (Miller 40, Naseem Latif 16)
7th wicket: 50 in 102 balls (Miller 29, Naseem Latif 17)
NW Miller: 50 in 120 balls, 4x4 (Uncertainty 192-6)
Stumps: Garbelia 27-2, 7 overs (Batter 1 13, Batter 4 4)
Day 2
Lunch: Garbelia 97-4, 35 overs (Batter 1 43, Batter 6 9)
Rain stopped play
Tea called
Play abandoned owing to wet ground (Garbelia 97-4, 35 overs)
Day 3
Lunch: Uncertainty 39-0, 10 overs (McEwan 17, Perry 15)
2nd wicket: 50 in 36 balls (Harper 36, McEwan 15)
JOW Harper: 50 in 29 balls, 8x4 1x6 (Uncertainty 106-1)
2nd wicket: 100 in 98 balls (Harper 70, McEwan 32)
3rd wicket: 50 in 40 balls (Harper 26, Van Jaarsveld 24)
JOW Harper: 100 in 74 balls, 16x4 2x6 (Uncertainty 209-2)
Tea: Uncertainty 236-3, 43 overs (Harper 122, Joshi 8)
4th wicket: 50 in 61 balls (Harper 29, Joshi 23)
JOW Harper: 150 in 119 balls, 21x4 2x6 (Uncertainty 288-3)
4th wicket: 100 in 133 balls (Harper 57, Joshi 43)
PV Joshi: 50 in 79 balls, 5x4 (Uncertainty 323-3)
Stumps: Uncertainty 349-4, 73 overs (Harper 182, Miller 6)
Day 4
JOW Harper: 200 in 209 balls, 23x4 4x6 (Uncertainty 383-5)
2nd wicket: 50 in 83 balls (Batter 1 36, Batter 3 16)
Lunch: Garbelia 65-1, 20 overs (Batter 1 38, Batter 3 27)
Batter 3: 50 in 102 balls, 6x4 1x6 (Garbelia 102-7)

Match result: Uncertainty win by 359 runs
Series esult: Uncertainty win 2-0

[Gruenberg]

(Provisional) match details as posted on the GruenCric website.

The Sarian 298 all out (78 overs)
                                             R    B   4/6
LM Snaijer      c Uvaevaluvae+ b Renkauer    8  (19)  2/-
MDP Spritzen    c Uvaevaluvae+ b Grovan     83 (127) 13/-
IW Kijeur                  lbw b Grovan      0   (7)  -/-
MM DeSaari+     c Uvaevaluvae+ b Yowoax     38  (61)  7/-
ADJ Ruitdekker* c Broimbles    b Yowoax      8  (10)  1/-
ME Lijnuun      c Deisler      b Yowoax     38  (52)  6/-
WH Hendriks                    b Grovan     66  (92)  5/2
ML Goedsmid                    b Qilairana   5   (8)  1/-
WH Smit                    c & b Yowoax      0   (2)  -/-
FA Stormdroop              c & b Yowoax     16  (29)  2/-
MK Kloeten      NOT OUT                     21  (64)  2/-
EXTRAS (4b, 7lb, 1wb, 3nb)                  15

FoW: 1: 26 (Snaijer, 6.1 overs); 2: 29 (Kijeur, 7.6 overs); 3: 100 (DeSaari, 26.4 overs); 4: 116 (Ruitdekker, 30.4 overs); 5: 178 (Spritzen, 43.4 overs); 6: 196 (Lijnuun, 46.5 overs); 7: 204 (Goedsmid, 49.6 overs); 8: 205 (Smit, 50.3 overs); 9: 225 (Stormdroop, 56.4 overs); 10: 298 (Hendriks, 77.6 overs)

             O    M    R    W
Fizbin      11    3   40    0
Grovan      16    2   57    3
Renkauer    12    4   44    1
Yowoax      22    1   80    5
Qilairana   17    0   66    1

Gruenberg 411 all out (98.2 overs)
                                               R    B   4/6
PA Deisler*                 lbw b Kloeten      2   (6)  -/-
CRFQ Hmnff         c DeSaari+   b Hendriks    11  (19)  2/-
NQX Honk           c Lijnuun    b Stormdroop  26  (32)  5/-
EME Broimbles               lbw b Hendriks    23  (57)  4/-
CCLOG Thchthaarheq c Snaijer    b Smit        41  (88)  5/-     
SIT Qilairana      c Ruitdekker b Kloeten     23  (38)  3/-
KZY Uvaevaluvae+   c Ruitdekker b Kloeten     73  (95) 11/-
BPGV Grovan        c Goedsmid   b Stormdroop  37  (62)  4/-
TIMTAM Renkauer    c DeSaari+   b Smit        66 (108)  6/2
LCAS Yowoax                     b Smit        90  (84)  9/5
PPPPPPP Fizbin     NOT OUT                     2   (4)  -/-
EXTRAS (4b, 6lb, 4wb, 3nb)                    17

FoW: 1: 2 (Deisler, 0.6 overs); 2: 25 (Hmnff, 7.3 overs); 3: 43 (Honk, 10.5 overs); 4: 95 (Broimbles, 28.5 overs); 5: 125 (Thchthaarheq, 38.1 overs); 6: 150 (Qilairana, 41.5 overs); 7: 213 (Grovan, 60.2 overs); 8: 273 (Uvaevaluvae, 71.6 overs); 9: 386 (Renkauer, 96.2 overs); 10: 411 (Yowoax, 98.2 overs)

            O    M    R    W
Kloeten    25    3  104    3
Hendriks   25    4  100    2
Stormdoop  16    1   68    2
Smit       18.2  3   75    3
Goedsmid   14    2   54    0

The Sarian 349 all out (94.3 overs)
                                             R    B   4/6
LM Snaijer      c Deisler      b Grovan     11  (13)  2/- 
MDP Spritzen                   b Qilairana  11  (50)  1/-
IW Kijeur       c Uvaevaluvae+ b Grovan    145 (237) 19/1
MM DeSaari+     c Hmnff        b Qilairana   0   (7)  -/-
ADJ Ruitdekker* c Deisler      b Renkauer   28  (60)  4/-
ME Lijnuun      c Uvaevaluvae+ b Yowoax     26  (43)  3/1
WH Hendriks     c Hmnff        b Yowoax     90 (100) 12/3
ML Goedsmid     c Hmnff        b Yowoax      2   (8)  -/-
WH Smit         c Uvaevaluvae+ b Grovan      4  (23)  1/-
FA Stormdroop   c Uvaevaluvae+ b Fizbin      6  (21)  1/-
MK Kloeten      NOT OUT                      4   (5)  1/-
EXTRAS (6b, 16lb)                           22

FoW: 1: 12 (Snaijer, 4.3 overs); 2: 54 (Spritzen, 15.5 overs); 3: 62 (DeSaari, 17.6 overs); 4: 125 (Ruitdekker, 36.1 overs); 5: 197 (Lijnuun, 50.4 overs); 6: 330 (Hendriks, 81.4 overs); 7: 334 (Goedsmid, 85.5 overs); 8: 334 (Kijeur, 86.3 overs); 9: 345 (Stormdroop, 93.1 overs); 10: 349 (Smit, 94.3 overs)

             O    M    R    W
Grovan      23.3 11   52    4
Fizbin      14    0   53    1
Qilairana   17    2   69    2
Yowoax      22    3   85    3
Renkauer    12    2   51    1
Broimbles    6    1   17    0

Gruenberg 237-6 (39.3 overs)
                                                   R    B   4/6
PA Deisler*        run out (Ruitdekker/DeSaari+)   9  (14)  2/-
CRFQ Hmnff         run out (Kijeur)               31  (21)  4/-
NQX Honk           c Lijnuun   b Stormdroop       62  (71) 10/-
EME Broimbles              lbw b Goedsmid         14  (31)  1/-
CCLOG Thchthaarheq st DeSaari+ b Goedsmid         35  (42)  2/1
SIT Qilairana      NOT OUT                        57  (29)  6/3
KZY Uvaevaluvae+   c Kijeur    b Smid             23  (28)  2/1
BPGV Grovan        NOT OUT                         5   (3)  -/-
Did not bat: TIMTAM Renkauer, LCAS Yowoax, PPPPPPP Fizbin
EXTRAS (1b, 2nb)                                   3

FoW: 1: 23 (Deisler, 3.6 overs); 2: 45 (Hmnff, 6.4 overs); 3: 95 (Broimbles, 17.6 overs); 4: 138 (Honk, 26.2 overs); 5: 163 (Thchthaarheq, 31.3 overs); 6: 210 (Uvaevaluvae, 37.5 overs)

            O    M    R    W
Kloeten     5    0   49    0
Goedsmid   17    2   92    2
Stormdoop   8    0   46    1
Hendriks    4    0   29    0
Smit        5.3  0   22    1

Day 1
3rd wicket: 50 in 82 balls (DeSaari 33, Spritzen 19)
Lunch: The Sarian 100-2, 26 overs (Spritzen 47, DeSaari 38)
MDP Spritzen: 50 in 80 balls, 8x4 (The Sarian 107-3)
5th wicket: 50 in 52 balls (Spritzen 27, Lijnuun 22)
Tea: The Sarian 222-8, 54 overs (Hendriks 16, Stormdroop 15)
10th wicket: 50 in 69 balls (Hendriks 31, Kloeten 19)
WH Hendriks: 50 in 58 balls, 4x4 1x6 (The Sarian 278-9)
Stumps called at change of innings owing to bad light
Day 2
Start delayed by wet pitch
4th wicket: 50 in 104 balls (Thchthaarheq 28, Broimbles 19)
Lunch: Gruenberg 95-4, 28.5 overs (Thchthaarheq 28)
7th wicket: 50 in 78 balls (Grovan 25, Uvaevaluvae 20)
Tea: Gruenberg 213-6, 59 overs (Uvaevaluvae 39, Grovan 37)
KZY Uvaevaluvae: 50 in 68 balls, 7x4 (Gruenberg 232-7)
8th wicket: 50 in 41 balls (Uvaevaluvae 32, Renkauer 14)
New ball taken at 80.0 overs (Gruenberg 293-8)
9th wicket: 50 in 92 balls (Yowoax 34, Renkauer 18)
Close of play: Gruenberg 327-8, 89 overs (Renkauer 40, Yowoax 35)
Day 3
LCAS Yowoax: 50 in 66 balls, 7x4 1x6 (Gruenberg 352-8)
TIMTAM Renkauer: 50 in 98 balls, 5x4 1x6 (Gruenberg 362-8)
9th wicket: 100 in 132 balls (Yowoax 57, Renkauer 43)
Lunch: The Sarian 54-2, 15.5 overs (Kijeur 31)
IW Kijeur: 50 in 52 balls, 9x4 (The Sarian 85-3)
4th wicket: 50 in 107 balls (Kijeur 32, Ruitdekker 19)
Tea: The Sarian 163-4, 43 overs (Kijeur 98, Lijnuun 6)
IW Kijeur: 100 in 115 balls, 16x4 1x6 (The Sarian 171-4)
5th wicket: 50 in 60 balls (Kijeur 37, Lijnuun 13)
6th wicket: 50 in 74 balls (Hendriks 32, Kijeur 14)
WH Hendriks: 50 in 59 balls, 8x4 (The Sarian 274-5)
6th wicket: 100 in 139 balls (Hendriks 74, Kijeur 23)
Close of play: The Sarian 311-5, 77 overs (Kijeur 136, Hendriks 82)
Day 4
New ball taken at 86.0 overs (The Sarian 334-8)
Lunch: Gruenberg 58-2, 9 overs (Honk 12, Broimbles 5)
3rd wicket: 50 in 69 balls (Honk 34, Broimbles 14)
NQX Honk: 50 in 57 balls, 8x4 (Gruenberg 127-3)
Tea: Gruenberg 189-5, 35 overs (Qilairana 22, Uvaevaluvae 13)
SIT Qilairana: 50 in 27 balls, 6x4 2x6 (Gruenberg 229-6)

Match result: Gruenberg win by 4 wickets
Series result: Gruenberg win 1-0

[Liventia]

Visit of Lisander in doubt after CBA claims communications breakdown
NEVEREND— Just days ahead of the planned opening day's play between Liventia and Lisander at Lewes Park in Neverend, reports have surfaced that the entire tour might be cancelled at short notice after the host governing body Cricketing Board of Authority said there had been no word on the arrival of the touring party, or who it might be made up of.

Officials at the CBA are understood to be scrambling for a last-minute replacement for the two-match Test series, due to take place at Lewes Park as well as The Bastion Dover Cricket Ground, after "a sustained breakdown in communication from the Lisander and Alice Bay Cricket Board," a spokesman said in a short statement.

One possibility could be the newly-approved Uncertainty Cricket Board, which earned Associate membership of the Global Cricket Federation with a 2–0 series win over Garbelia.

"The CBA remains steadfast in its attempts to contact our partners at the Lisander and Alice Bay Cricket Board," the spokesman added, "but we are also in discussions with other parties over an emergency tour to ensure our home season can proceed as planned and we will be able to provide our fans in Neverend and Dover with the top-level five-day cricket they expect."

This is the second Test season running in which Liventia are due to play Lisander, although last season's tour by the Red-and-Gold to foreign shores was met with similar concern after the then-hosts did not announce a team.

Liventia squad for first Test v Lisander: SHA Keller (debut), PD Finch, DHJ Edwards, PJA Bérenger, PJ Trouvé, RL Quentin, BAR du Pont (wk), MEP Goudreau, JPK Adams, BL Kerr, GJD Huws

[Lisander]

Lisander & Alice Bay Cricket Board
The Roster

Due to an internet network outage at the LCB headquarters in Cap Navarre, caused by a truck driving into a wrong lane and ripping out several internet cables, the confirmation message of the roster that will go to Neverend to face Liventia at Lewes Park ended up in an outbox without being sent.

At this point, with communications restored, LCB apologizes for the inconvenience and sends best wishes.

Sincerely,

Spencer Laurie
Lisander & Alice Bay Cricket Team Selector
Andreas Lisen-Korman
LCB President

Bowlers

Heron Almsford
Bowler
Bat: Right
Bowl: Right arm fast

Juliano Monteiro
Bowler
Bat: Right
Bowl: Left arm medium fast

Ramit Narayanan
Bowler
Bat: Right
Bowl: Left arm medium fast

Geraldo di Tommaso
Bowler
Bat: Left
Bowl: Left arm fast

Frederico Boni
Bowler
Bat: Right
Bowl: Right arm offbreak

Batters

Luke Hansard
Top order batter
Bat: Right
Bowl: Right arm offbreak

Otto Bayne
Top order batter
Bat: Right
Bowl: Right arm offbreak

Daniel Sevigny
Top order batter
Bat: Right
Bowl: Right arm offbreak

Matthew Glamorgan
Middle Order Batter
Bat: Right
Bowl: Right arm offbreak

WKs / Allrounders

Scott Hansen
Wicketkeeper batter
Bat: Right
Bowl: Right arm fast

Mario L'Avante
Wicketkeeper batter
Bat: Left
Bowl: Right arm offbreak

Adrian Lienert-Motta
Wicketkeeper batter
Bat: Left
Bowl: Left arm offbreak

Liam Palmer
Allrounder
Bat: Right
Bowl: Right arm medium

Thomas Carlton
Allrounder
Bat: Right
Bowl: Left arm medium fast

I'm really sorry for the delay, but here's the roster for the series at Liventia.
RP permissions: Feel free to write anything.

[Milchama]

New Sparta Report-News-Times-Post-Wisden-Wisdom-Almanac-Picayune-Guardian-Herald-Echo-Telegraph-Review

Sports Section

Milchama in Trouble as Day 5 Arrives

The weather played its part again in this test. Day 1 being subsumed by rain all across Beckton which led to the cancellation of Day 1. The meteorologists said that after that Thursday it should be pretty clear and so far they've been right. It was sunny skies on Day 2 and since then there really hasn't been more than a handful of clouds in the sky.

In general, though, that meant the test was only 4 days instead of the usual 5 days and even with some extra overs it wasn't going to matter. First off, because so far, they haven't played any extra overs due to sketchy lighting as Admirals Park does not have flood lights and neither side has seemed particularly willing to get on with it for the extras. But even in the four day format that this test is functionally in it has been all Krytenia all the time. After the first test where Krytenia dominated and it took a rain storm to make it 5 days, this test looks to be going about the same way.

Krytenia declared at 459 for 8 and basically declared because Lynton Saxon got his century and, well, at some point the Warriors needed to bat. Yes Milchama batted out the third day but only scoring 300 runs was not particularly threatening to Krytenia's first innings total. It was clear the Stars were in charge and there was not much the Warriors could do about it. Especially because Davy Carpenter was bowled out on the last ball of Day 3 meaning that Milchama's best batter left was gone. This test again shaping up to be all Krytenia, all the time.

Today started with Milchama on 300 for 7. It was Bethany Guerin on 37 and Kesem Prentice, newly up to the crease, who were the big partnership. While Prentice is not a batter, something that is very true for all the Warrior bowlers, she at least can do a little bit unlike Woods and Huant who are very clearly there to bowl and any runs they get are bonuses. The question for the Warriors was whether Guerin and Prentice could do enough to stop the inevitable Krytenian pressure.

Of the two batswomen, the key was always going to be Guerin. She's an incredible defensive wicketkeeper and looks the part every time with the glove. However, the bat has been another story. She's been out of form recently and her scores so far in first class cricket show it. 15, 20, 12, and then 8 and 5 in the first test. There had been some whispers of her spot being in jeopardy and she needed an innings, at least, to prove her quality with the bat. Yes, she started the day with 37 but that wouldn't do when Milchama was still 159 runs behind and moving into the tail. She needed a real innings, something that could change the game and bring the Warriors total to a competitive score. Well today she proved her quality. It started with the second ball where Hill threw a loosener that she smacked down the ground for 4. One ball later and she took another loose delivery for two.

That first over was not a fluke as Guerin continued to pile in the runs. A 4 in the second over off Mirandino, a beautiful cover drive 3 overs later when Krytenia turned to seam, and her shot of the match a straight drive that was clocked at 110 mph exit velocity as it ricocheted down for 4. Meanwhile, her partnership with Prentice was going along nicely. Guerin's cool meant that she was doing a fantastic job farming the strike and preventing Prentice from seeing too many balls. It also helped that Prentice was getting in on the act of her partner. Showing off a nice cover drive for 4 against captain Saxon.

The tail starting to wag and a partnership absolutely brewing meant some troubles for Saxon. While Krytenia is known for their strategy of "scheming over chicken" and had proved it with multiple wickets in and around breaks the game was threatening to get away from them. After the incredible 104 from March and another nice 57 from Carpenter, the man is in some serious form right now, the Milchamian innings were looking good but Carpenter getting out on the last ball of Day 3 it looked like Krytenia were going to settle things down with a healthy first innings lead. Guerin and Prentice had other ideas.

Then it all came undone. After a wonderful 53 run partnership from 18 overs, it was finger spinner Mirandino who did the damage, getting Prentice to miss a slow one that completely missed her bat before she was stumped by Kosta to end the stand. Guerin was still in though and on a really nice 62 she needed a partner to keep going. Bonnie Woods was almost that partner. Guerin was continuing to farm the strike but, with the field back on the first four deliveries of every over, was having trouble getting 2s and 4s to keep up the run rate. Woods, for her part, was forced to block out two overs and did a fantastic job. She even got herself a 4 on an edge that went between gully and 3rd slip to find the boundary.

Finally, the Stars pressure got to Guerin as she attempted to hit a fantastic 6 over long on only to pop it up into the waiting hands of Edward Fenn and ending her innings on 68. A great performance from the wicket keeper and almost certainly means she'll keep her place when Milchama comes home to play Bollonich. After that the tail end of Milchama stuck around for a dogged four over performance from which Milchama got an additional 10 runs. And while we can praise Huant and Woods for sticking in for so long they were eventually undone by the bowling and Milchama was all out for 377, 82 runs behind a superior Krytenian side.

This result is, more or less, how the series has been so far for the Warriors. Milchama has been slightly worse than Krytenia at every facet of the game. The bowling has not been as crisp, the batting not quite sturdy or effective, the fielding not quite to the standards we expect from Milchama. Being outplayed on the first tour of a foreign country is unsurprising and it seemed like that would be that for Milchama. That was especially true of the bowling, while the fielding hasn't been to the incredible standards we expect it hasn't been bad either, but the bowling has been wrong. Krytenia's worst innings was their 98/2 in the second innings of the first test and that was because it could have been 98/0.

So when Krytenia got to batting after lunch it seemed like the only question was when the declaration would happen so that they would have enough juice to get out Milchama. Nobody told the Warriors. An exhilarating bowling run put Milchama back with a shout in this test.

First test hero Carlton was taken out in the 3rd over by a vicious inswinger from Woods. Then Huant got Tatton leg before 4 overs later. Pehrson forced an edge from Watling in 12th over and suddenly Krytenia were 38-3 and in serious trouble. It would be up to Fenn and Taylor to rebuild and they did a bit. Getting another 35 runs before Taylor feathered one back to Guerin to go for 16. And that was how it went for the rest of the innings. Krytenia attempting to put something together Milchama taking regular wickets to stop the flow of runs. The 35 run stand between Fenn and Taylor being the largest of the innings.

Then the light went away and kept going away. While it did not threaten to rain the lack of light meant that they might not finish the 90 overs in all of Day 4. That brought extra urgency to both the Stars and the Warriors and it was Milchama who capitalized. Just like the beginning of the innings, Krytenia's last 4 wickets went for 45 runs leading them to 199 all out.

That brings us to Day 5. On a deteriorating pitch, with a weird breeze, and bad light Milchama need to score 281 runs to win the test. Frankly, I don't think the Warriors have it in them but they do have all day to bat and if they can repeat some individual performances it is not out of the question for Milchama to get its first test victory on foreign soil. We'll see you tomorrow for a hopeful doozy of an ending.