Malta Tour 2004

At Easter 2004 (7th-14th April), Brooklands CC Academy went on tour to Malta.

Below is a diary of the tour and scorecards and match reports for each game, followed by some tour photos. Click on the links below to move quickly to each section:

Game 1 vs Marsa CC

Game 2 vs Marsa CC

Game 3 vs St. George's School, Surrey

Game 4 vs Marsa CC

Tour Summary

Photos

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Game 1 vs Marsa CC

Played at the Marsa Sports Club (Malta) on Thursday 08/04/04, starting at Noon.

40 overs per side.

No toss was made as Marsa invited Brooklands to bat.

Innings of Brooklands CC

1	C. Hart	ct.	b Swift	36
2	A Platt	ct.	b. Glynn	31
3	A Bolton*	ct. Grima	b. Glynn	2
4	R Holloway	ct. Grima	b. Glynn	0
5	T Holloway		b. Hewitt	4
6	P Vesey	ct.	b. Hewitt	31
7	P Roberts+	ct.	b. Caruana	35
8	A Batty	st. Grima	b. Glynn	22
9	M Stanniforth	ct.	b. Faroga	9
10	T Mitchell	Not Out		9
11	C Howie	Not Out		3
Extras: nb 1, w 17, b 2, lb 5. 21				21
Total in 40 overs				207 for 9 wkts

Bowling figures of Marsa CC

		Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
1	A Swift	8	2	32	1
2	J Callus	8	0	57	0
3	W Glynn	3	0	19	4
4	G Hewitt	8	1	31	2
5	M Caruana	8	1	32	1
6	D Willis	3	0	11	0
7	S Krishna	1	0	8	0
8	J Faroga	1	0	5	1

Innings of Marsa CC

1	J Callus	ct. Mitchell	b. Vesey	8
2	J Grima	lbw	b. Bolton	19
3	R Krishna	ct. Sub (Halkon)	b. T Holloway	8
4	S Krishna	ct and bwld	T Holloway	0
5	D Willis	ct. Mitchell	b. T Holloway	7
6	E Glynn	lbw	b. Mitchell	4
7	G Hewitt	ct. Howie	b. T Holloway	1
8	M Caruana	ct. Hart	b. Staniforth	18
9	A Swift	ct. Sub (Halkon)	b. Vesey	13
10	J Faroga		b. Vesey	0
11	W Glynn	Not Out		0
Extras: nb 2, w 44, b 2, lb 1.				49
Total in 35.1 overs				127 all out

FOW: 1/29, 2/54, 3/55, 4/71, 5/72, 6/76, 7/105, 8/125, 9/126, 10/127

Bowling figures of Brooklands CC

		Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
1	P Vesey	6	0	24	3
2	A Batty	4	0	18	0
3	T Mitchell	2.1	0	20	1
4	A Bolton	8	2	17	1
5	T Holloway	8	3	24	4
6	C Howie	4	1	8	0
7	M Staniforth	3	0	13	1

Brooklands won by 80 runs to lead the 3 match series 1 – 0.

MOM (awarded by Marsa CC): Pat Roberts for a well made 37 on debut. Coming in at 84/5 he was involved in two big partnerships, enabling the team to get up to 207.
 

Match report:

Having arrived at our accommodation at 2.30am this game starting at Noon was always going to be a test for Brooklands. We arrived at the ground to find a totally new experience awaiting the lads. The pitch was basically a piece of Astroturf lay over and stuck down to a concrete playing area. The Astroturf though was not an exact fit which meant that where the grass ended there were a couple of feet of concrete before the Astroturf on either side of the pitch. It had a novel look to it but looked as if it would play well. The outfield resembled a potato field; it was dry, bumpy, long and full of weeds. Fielding on it would be a novel experience!

On arrival we searched out the Marsa captain for the day, Michael Caruana, who promptly invited us to bat without having tossed a coin. It was always our intention to bat had we won the toss so we gladly accepted and got ready to play.

We had a very simple plan, we had to first have a look at the bowling on offer, we had to play within our limitations and most importantly we had to run well. Antony Platt and Chris Hart opened the innings for us and carried out 2 parts of the game plan superbly, they certainly didn’t take long to look at the bowling! After 11 overs we were 69 for 0, a flyer by anybodies standards. Chris played in his usual manner scoring rapidly and thrashing anything short and wide, Antony was a little more watchful but was severe on anything short and played a couple of lovely on drives. This start should have provided the platform for a huge score but over the next 7 overs we shot ourselves in the foot losing 5 wickets for a further 15 runs. Wally Glynn was the main perpetrator of our collapse. Wally is a world record holder; he holds the record for being the oldest international cricketer (on debut) in the history of the game. He made his debut aged 65 for Malta against Greece in a European Cricket Federation game some 7 years ago, he bowled what can best be described as loopy off spin (think lobbing hand grenades!) and took 3 of the wickets to fall. Antony Platt (31), Antony Bolton (2) and Rob Holloway (0) can all tell there grandchildren that they were dismissed by the oldest international cricketer in the world…. Chris Hart was also dismissed, pulling a ball that wasn’t there to be pulled, for 36 by Alan Swift an ex pat from Lancashire who had Saddleworth league experience, and Tom Holloway (4) missed a straight one to leave us reeling at 84 for 5 after 18 overs.
What we needed more than anything at this point was consolidation, we had 22 overs left to bat and needed to post in excess of 160 just to be competitive. What followed proved to us all what a talented bunch of players we have at Brooklands. Paul Vesey and Pat Roberts (on debut) added 46 for the 6th wicket in 12 overs. Paul nudged and nurdled 31 in his 16 over stay at the crease and batted in his usual unorthodox fashion frustrating the hell out of the Marsa bowlers. Pat was technically very sound and he plays leg side particularly well, both ran well and when Paul was dismissed with the score on 130/6 we were back in with a shout of getting up to a decent score. Andy Batty joined Pat and for the 7th wicket they added another 50 runs. Anyone who has seen Andy bat will understand why these 50 runs were added in just 6 overs. Andy has worked incredibly hard at his batting and a couple of rasping cover drives was a testament to this. Andy was out for a rapid 22 with the score at 180/7. Patrick meanwhile continued to work hard to accumulate his runs. Pat has just joined us from Grappenhall and wanted to make an impression on debut. The Cheshire under 14s wicket keeper batted superbly through heat exhaustion and dehydration, which would later stop him from keeping, and all on the sideline were willing him on to a fifty. Unfortunately though just after Andy departed Pat followed for a well made 35 and a deserved standing ovation. This left us on 180/8 with 4 overs left. Mat Staniforth, Tom Mitchell and Craig Howie managed to carry us through to 207/9 in our allotted 40 overs. The last 4 wickets added 123 in 22 overs. Wally Glynn ended up with 4 for 19 and was the pick of the Marsa bowlers although Alan Swift bowled his medium pacers well and Michael Caruana impressed with his leg spinners.

Marsa began there chase needing to score at 5.2rpo to win the game. They got off to a decent start. Jack Callus, a left handed Australian bar tender, opened with John Grima, a Maltese country and western singer, and had reached 34/0 in 8 overs against the Brooklands opening attack of Vesey and Batty (4 – 0 – 18 – 0). Paul Vesey continued to bowl well and eventually forced Callus to offer a catch just behind square. Tom Mitchell caught well. This, as the events of the next couple of games would prove, turned out to be a big wicket. By the end of the 12th over Marsa had reached 52 for 1, still very much in with a shout of winning needing a further 156 runs in 28 overs at 5.57rpo. Then skipper Anthony Bolton pulled off a master stroke by introducing Tom Holloway into the attack. Over the next 16 overs Tom and Anthony squeezed the life out of Marsa. Tom’s 8 overs of underrated top spin yielded figures of 4/24 as he worked his way through the Marsa middle order, Anthony returned 1/17 from his 8 overs of gentle away swing and by the time both lads had bowled out the score had reached 90/6 from 25 overs. It became apparent during Wally’s first innings spell that if you took the pace off the ball and bowled to a well set field it was difficult to score, Anthony and Tom carried out this plan superbly. This basically meant that Brooklands only had to keep doing the basics well and they would secure victory in the opening match. Craig Howie (4 – 1 – 8 – 0) and Mat Stanniforth (3 – 0 – 13 – 1) bowled steadily whilst being supported by excellent fielding to keep Marsa under wraps. Paul Vesey was brought back into the attack in the 33rd over with the score on 116/9 and by the time he had finished the 2nd over of this spell he had taken 2 more wickets to leave Marsa on the brink at 127/9 after 35 overs. Paul bowled well to finish with figures of 6 – 0 – 24 – 3 which coupled with his 31 with the bat rounded off a great all round game for him. Special mention though must go to Tom Mitchell. Tom fell victim to ‘Wally’s wides’! At the start of the game Wally, who as well as being the oldest international cricketer is also an umpire who has stood in European championship games, explained the ‘local rules’. These local rules meant that any ball missing leg stump, whether inside or outside the batsman and many that beat the bat on the outside/under edge would be called wide. Wally was extremely penal in the execution of this rule much to the detriment of Tom who in his very first over bowled 8 wides, in his second over he bowled a further 3 wides before Anthony withdrew him from the attack. With Marsa 9 down he was recalled and with the 1st ball of his second spell took the final wicket, much to his and everybody else’s relief. Tom’s final figures were 2.1 – 0 – 20 – 1.

Brooklands then had bowled out Marsa for 127 in the 36th over of there run chase to give us a convincing 80 run win on our first game on tour. We showed great depth in our batting although the middle order didn’t really take advantage of the start we got. The lower middle order did superbly well proving that we are producing all round cricketers from our junior system. Special mention to Pat Roberts who impressed all on his debut with his batting and his winner’s attitude. The bowlers were very steady. Tom Holloway was the pick with his top spinners, Anthony Bolton provided valuable support and Paul Vesey provided a cutting edge. When batting we ran very well turnings one’s into two’s and two’s into three’s and in the field we were quite superb with the whole team contributing. The standard of fielding was maintained throughout a blazing hot day on a difficult outfield where basically you had to get your body behind everything. A very pleasing team performance that gets us off to a winning start. Slight criticism can be aimed at the batsmen who got to 30 but didn’t take it on, and also to the bowlers who top scored with 49 extras including 44 wides. However of these 44 wides I would suggest that less that a ¼ were genuine wides and we just really fell victim to ‘Wally’s wides’. With a practice game tomorrow the lads should be raring to go for the second game of our three match series which takes place on Saturday. Going into this game we hold a 1 – 0 lead and will be looking to clinch the series by close of play Saturday.
 

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Game 2 vs Marsa CC

Played at the Marsa Sports Club (Malta) on Saturday 10/04/04, starting at Noon.

40 overs per side.

No toss was made as Marsa invited Brooklands to bat.

Innings of Brooklands CC

1	C Hart*	ct Callus	b Hewitt	33
2	D Halkon	Run Out		97
3	A Bolton	st Grima	b Farrugia	35
4	A Hart	Not Out		55
5	T Holloway	Run Out		10
6	M Higginbottom	Not Out		5
7	P Garnett
8	R Wood+
9	M Beardsley
10	P Bolton
11	M Guy
Extras: nb 4, w 18, b 5, lb 2				29
Total in 40 overs				264 for 4 wkts

FOW: 1/64 (C Hart), 2/189 (Halkon), 3/191 (A Bolton), 4/240 (Holloway.

Bowling figures of Marsa CC

		Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
1	A Swift	4	0	28	0
2	J Callus	5	0	37	0
3	G Hewitt	8	0	29	1
4	M Caruana	8	0	40	0
5	A Spitteri	7	0	48	0
6	S Krishna	3	0	30	0
7	J Farrugia	5	0	48	1

Innings of Marsa CC

1	J Callus		b Higginbottom	79
2	A Spitteri		b Holloway	31
3	M Caruana	Run Out		25
4	S Krishna	st Wood	b Beardsley	6
5	R Krishna	ct	b Beardsley	0
6	J Grima	ct	b Beardsley	0
7	A Swift	Not Out		10
8	G Hewitt	Not Out		9
9	J Farrugia
10	E Glynn
11	W Glynn
Extras: nb 2, w 33, b 2, lb 4				41
Total in 35.1 overs				201 for 6 wkts

FOW: 1/73, 2/149, 3/167, 4/167, 5/167, 6/172

Bowling figures of Brooklands CC

		Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
1	M Guy	8	0	38	0
2	M Higginbottom	8	2	25	1
3	A Bolton	2	0	12	0
4	P Bolton	3	0	17	0
5	T Holloway	3	0	29	1
6	P Garnett	8	0	45	0
7	M Beardsley	8	0	27	3

Brooklands won by 63 runs to lead the 3 match series 2 – 0.

MOM (awarded by Marsa CC): Chris Hart, for a quick fire 33, good captaincy and the match turning run out of Caruana.

Match report:

The third full day of tour saw us playing our second competitive game. After Thursdays game we had a lively evening spent in and around Sliema. Friday morning saw us back at the Marsa ground in searing heat to play 10 overs per side practice game. In the afternoon and evening we spent our time doffing our hat to some of the religious ceremonies that take place on the island, it was after all Good Friday.

Another Noon start saw us up and out of the hotel and at the ground for eleven ish. The Brooklands side showed 8 changes from the team that played on Thursday. With such a big squad this was likely to happen every game, and 2 games into our tour we had used 19 of the 21 players available to us! Chris Hart was to take over the captaincy with Rob Wood taking over wicket keeping duties. It was another hot day for us with a howling wind circling around the ground. This meant that at certain times during the day we were playing through what felt and looked like dust and sand storms, interesting!

I can’t remember if we tossed up but we ended up batting first, so it’s either well done Chris for winning the toss or thanks to Marsa for inviting us to bat. Our game plan with the bat was to be exactly the same as the previous game, run well, put the bad ball away, but with more emphasis on partnerships forming at the top of the order. We also needed someone to make an innings of substance around which the rest of the team could bat; we definitely didn’t want to be 84 for 5 again. Captain Chris and Danny Halkon opened the innings for us this time. Against the same opening attack as in game 1 we raced to 64 for 0 in 9 overs before Chris was caught at midwicket pulling at a ball on the 5th ball of Hewitt’s first over. Gordon Hewitt bowled slow medium lobby stuff and Chris just couldn’t resist, he had however made 33 (to go with his 36 in games 1) and had again helped us get off to the best possible start. Danny all the while was steadily accumulating and looking solid. The fall of wicket brought Anthony Bolton to the crease. We didn’t lose another wicket for 23 overs as Danny and Anthony took the attack to Marsa. The partnership yielded 125 runs in 23 overs at a rate of 5.43rpo. Having referred to the scorebook neither Danny nor Anthony hit a lot of boundaries (probably due to the state of the outfield) but ran superbly. There willingness to run brought about the downfall of the second wicket. The score had reached 189 for 1 in 31 and a bit overs, Danny was closing in on a maiden ‘first class’ hundred on 97 not out, whilst Anthony, who was on strike, had nudged and nurdled his way to 35. Anthony took strike and hit the ball to the left of the bowler and called Danny for a sharp single, Danny had got about a third of the way down the pitch before Anthony had a change of heart and sent Danny back. The bowler picked up cleanly and threw the stumps down at the non strikers end with Danny stranded agonizingly 3 runs short of a landmark. The rest of the team and squad had gathered in front of the pavilion to applaud Danny to his hundred but instead had to clap off a sorely disappointed young cricketer. To both boys credit though they were putting the needs of the team ahead of each others personal ambitions, a sentiment to be applauded, and everyone knows that Danny will get lots of hundreds its just a matter of time. 189 for 2 soon became 191 for 3 and Anthony was out stumped off the bowling off Farrugia for a well made 35. So with 7 overs of the innings to go we were well set at 195 for 3 with 2 new batsmen A J Hart and Tom Holloway at the crease.

The next 7 overs resulted in an incredible 69 runs being scored. Quite simply A J went ballistic! He scored 55 not out of what can only of been about 30 balls he and Tom Holloway, who made 10, added 49 in 5 overs with A J and Mike Higginbottom (5 not out) adding another 20 in the last couple of overs. A J’s innings was full of a vast array of orthodox, and not so orthodox, cricket shots. He swept imperiously hitting it hard and into the floor. He managed a couple of slog sweeps which although not very easy on the eye were hugely effective. He also played the cut well and got away with his ‘lean back’ drive a couple of times. Danny and Anthony had laid a great foundation and when AJ walked in with 7 or so overs left the field was back and knackered. AJ took full advantage of this and helped himself to a first Brooklands 50 in senior cricket. Tom and Mikes contribution can’t be underestimated either as they did a lot of hard work running with AJ and manipulating the field when they were on strike.

So at tea Brooklands had made 264 for 4 in there allotted 40 overs. It was a privilege to watch a superb TEAM batting performance. Yes we saw top knocks from Danny and AJ but everybody who batted contributed in one way or another. Marsa then required 265 to win in 40 overs at a run rate of 6.62 rpo.

Tea was taken in the lovely Marsa sports club. Our lads were suitably thrilled with what they had achieved and looking forward to defending there total. You could sense though a feeling of tiredness both from the lads who had batted and the team as a whole as 3 nights of not much sleep began to take its toll. Although I personally didn’t sense it there may have been a feeling of ‘we’ve got enough here’ which carried over into the way we bowled in our first 20 overs.

The Australian bar tender, Callus, again opened the innings with another Australian, Angelo Spitteri. Matty Guy and Mike Higginbottom opened the attack and did so with varying degrees of success. We didn’t manage to get a crucial early breakthrough though. Matty’s first 4 overs cost 29 runs including a healthy quota of wides whereas Higgi, who is a little slower though the air, conceded 10 off his first three. So 7 overs in and Marsa had got off to a steady if unspectacular start and were 43 for 0, still needing 222 to win in 33 overs at 6.72 rpo. Over the next 13 overs pre drinks break Marsa added 91 runs. When drinks arrived they had reached 134 for 1 in 20 overs, they were scoring at 6.7 rpo were ahead of the rate and would have fancied there chances at this stage. Tom Holloway had taken the only wicket to fall, that of Spitteri (31), but his 3 overs had cost 29 runs, ouch! Anthony Bolton had bowled 2 overs for 12 before leaving the field due to injury/tiredness/hangover and Paul Bolton had got through 3 overs for 17. Jacques Callus was still not out and had been joined by Michael Caruana. These two had added 61 in 9 overs since the wicket of Spitteri fell with the score on 73. Drinks were taken on to the field where a rather lively discussion ensued out in the middle! Coach Staley didn’t mince his words in expressing his disappointment with the lack of control shown by our seam bowlers, as well as commenting on the lethargic approach of some of our fielders. If we didn’t break through soon we would have scored 264 in 40 overs and lost.

Mathew Beardsley was immediately introduced into the attack to partner Paul Garnett who had started his spell with a few overs before drinks. Chris set the field back and with the pace being taken off the ball by the 2 spinners encouraged the two batsmen to take us on. The plan worked immediately. With score on 149 for 1 Chris Hart ran out Michael Caruana with a super pick up, throw and direct hit from inside the ring. On such things games are turned and Caruana made his way back to the dressing room having made 25. Callus though was still at the other end and looking dangerous. Would the Marsa middle order be able to support him in the way that we had supported Danny and AJ in our innings? The 27th over proved to be the decisive over of the game. Mathew Beardsley, who had come on tour with something to prove, took 3 wickets in one superb over to end any realistic chance Marsa had of winning the game. The score had progressed to 167 for 2 by now with Marsa still needing 98 to win in 14 overs. Beardo though had other ideas dismissing S Krishna, R Krishna and J Grima in the space of 6 balls. Rob Wood, who was as steady and proficient as ever behind the stumps, completed a stumping to dismiss S Krishna whilst R Krishna and J Grima were both caught. The standard of our fielding and noise levels had risen considerably since drinks! Mathew bowled his 8 overs straight through and recorded the excellent figures of 8 – 0 – 27 – 3. The wicket seemed ideal for his leg spinners which turned and bounced on a receptive surface. Well done Mathew. Callus however still stood at the other end and watched this collapse. Undoubtedly the balance was tilting in our favour but to be as sure as we could of winning we had to get Callus out. Step up Mike Higginbottom. The Beardsley and Garnett (8 – 0 – 45 – 0) partnership had bowled us back into the game but with PG’s steady spell over with it was time for a bowling change. Higgi came on to replace PG and with the 4th ball of his second spell he took the prize wicket of wicket of Callus who had made 79. The feeling on the boundary now was that if we kept doing our disciplines well we should secure our second, series clinching, victory.

With just 12 overs left Marsa required 89. They managed only 26 more runs in the final 12 overs meaning that when stumps were drawn at the end of the game Marsa had stumbled to 201 for 6. The final 20 overs had cost us just 67 runs and we had taken 5 wickets, compare that to the 134 for 1 in the first 20 and it represents quite a comeback. Mathew Beardsley was the star bowling performer on the day but we shouldn’t forget the run out by Chris Hart which surprisingly won him the man of the match award (he’ll admit that himself). Maybe the fact that he ran out the guy who made the presentation had some bearing on it! Nor should we forget Mike Higginbottom (8 – 2 – 25 – 1) who bowled a tight first spell and then got the crucial wicket of Callus early in his second spell. Matty Guy recovered well late on for his 8 – 0 – 38 – 0 but the 8 overs bowled between Anthony Bolton, Paul Bolton and Tom Holloway went for 58 runs. Mention here as well for PG whose 8 overs cost 45 runs but were bowled either side of drinks when there was some severe treatment being handed out. He bowled with good control and discipline and showed himself to be cool under pressure.

All in all then a good day. The batting functioned well, better in fact, than could have been expected. We struggled early on with the ball but recovered well after our slow bowlers had salvaged a situation. We again bowled far too many wides, some of which as explained in the previous match report were penal, but some just highlighting a basic lack of control by some of our more senior bowlers. We fielded in two halves. In the first half we looked lethargic and not really up for it thinking we had enough. In the second half we raised are standards when it mattered and got a crucial wicket with a run out and generally looked more aggressive and vibrant. We made are way back to the hotel content with a good days work. We have a non cricket day lined up tomorrow before our next game against the public school boys from St Georges from Surrey on Monday. Our first overseas tour has seen us record a win in an international tournament. After 2 games of a 3 match tournament we lead Marsa CC by 2 – 0.

Saturday night saw the troops in and around Sliema. Sunday was a designated day of rest, so the management team were a little more lenient in there curfew setting.

Sunday saw a squad expedition to the beach. We travelled on Maltese buses to Golden Bay on the road to Melieha and met up with the St Paul’s bay party (Helen and Kate Higgi, Nettie and Emma) on the way. Golden Bay is the biggest of the few sandy beaches in Malta. We arrived quite early and immediately took on all comers at beach football. We fought them on the beaches and won! A crack unit decided to brave the Banana boats. Tom and Mike Hozzer, Kate Higgi, Matty Guy and Platty were silly enough to get on one with me and the site of 3 of them retrieving me from the ocean on 3 occasions must have been a site to behold! Sunday was a smashing day and just what the tour needed. The group spent the whole day together relaxing and recuperating after 3 days of non stop cricket. Its events like these that help build the incredible team spirit we have within the group. Tom Coonihan’s drawing needs some work though….
 

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Match 3 vs St. George's School, Surrey

Played at the Marsa Sports Club (Malta) on Monday 12/04/04, starting at Noon.

90 over game, team batting first could bat a maximum of 48 overs.

St George’s school won the toss and elected to bat.

Innings of St George’s school

1	Hardman	ct Wood	b Guy	3
2	Willis	Run Out		47
3	Doran		b Higginbottom	2
4	Ford	Run Out		83
5	Grant	Run Out		17
6	Seymour	Run Out		8
7	McGahon	Not Out		9
8	Grey	Run Out		1
9	Rowlands
10	Pope
11	Simonis
Extras: nb 1, w 34, b 4, lb 6.				45
Total in 48 overs				215 for 7 wkts

FOW: 1/15, 2/28, 3/99, 4/145, 5/171, 6/213, 7/215

Bowling figures of Brooklands CC

		Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
1	M Guy	8	0	29	1
2	M Higginbottom	8	1	41	1
3	T Coonihan	8	0	33	0
4	P Bolton	8	1	35	0
5	M Beardsley	8	0	35	0
6	T Holloway	8	0	32	0

Innings of Brooklands CC

1	D Madden*	Not Out		97
2	T Holloway		b Rowlands	20
3	R Holloway	ct McGahon	b Rowlands	26
4	A Platt	ct Doran	b Grant	24
5	R Wood+	Not Out		3
6	M Higginbottom
7	A Hart
8	M Beardsley
9	M Guy
10	P Bolton
11	T Coonihan
Extras: nb 1, w 42, b 1, lb 2.				46
Total in 41.4 overs				216 for 3 wkts

FOW: 1/55 (T Holloway), 2/173 (R Holloway), 3/206 (Platt)

Bowling figures of St Georges School

		Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
1	McGahon	8	0	47	0
2	Grant	7.4	1	26	1
3	Rowlands	7	0	40	2
4	Pope	8	1	26	0
5	Seymour	4	0	21	0
6	Simonis	5	0	36	0
7	Grey	2	0	13	0

Brooklands won by 7 wickets with 2 balls to spare.

MOM (awarded by St Georges school): Dave Madden, for a captains innings of 97* which provided the backbone of the Brooklands chase, and for handling the side well in the field.
 

Match report:

Game 3 of our tour saw us entertaining St Georges school from Surrey. This was to be our only game not against Marsa and against a team of similar age. Lots of tittering ensued as the St Georges teams turned up well and truly blazered!

Dave Madden was our captain for the day. Just a fortnight after a hernia operation, and having missed the first two games, Dave was to lead the team in a 90 over game. St Georges were insistent on not playing 40 overs per side so we agreed to a 90 over game with the side batting first being allowed to bat for 48 overs. Bowlers though could still only bowl 8 over spells. The Brooklands team again showed 4 changes from Saturdays with Tom Coonihan coming in for a first game after his injury problems.

St Georges had played Marsa on Easter Sunday and lost so we were unsure what to expect from them. At the toss St Georges called correctly and decided to have bat. In a game where they would have to bowl us out to win this was an interesting decision.

Hardman and Willis opened the batting for St Georges and having added 15 runs were separated as Wood took a catch behind of the bowling of Matt Guy. Matty was opening the bowling with Mike Higgi and applied the brakes very well. Doran was out in the 10th over clean bowled by Higgi at which point the score read 28 for 2. This represented a great start for Brooklands and put us on top early in the game. Matt and Higgi were replaced by Paul Bolton and Tom Coonihan both bowled quite steadily for the next 10 overs without another wicket falling. After 20 overs Willis in partnership with the new batsman Ford had pushed the score along to 68 for 2 and a St Georges recovery was well underway. Brooklands were working hard in the field but were finding, as they had in every other game wickets were hard to come by on this surface. The spin twins of Beardsley and Tom Holloway were introduced into the attack at the end of the 21st over. A period of attritional cricket followed. Captain Madden was happy to keep the field tight and allow St Georges to just tick the score board over at no great rate, whilst St Georges were in no hurry to try and force the pace. In the 29th over the opener Willis who had batted a long time for 47 was run out by Paul Bolton with the score on 99. Beardo (8 – 0 – 35 – 0) and Tom (8 – 0 – 32 – 0) both bowled there spells straight through and by the end of the 37th over St Georges had reached 145 for 3. There number 4 bat, Ford, was still going strong and was becoming a thorn in our side but Brooklands were still fairly happy at this stage. The burning question really was how long would St Georges bat the full 48 overs, leaving us 42 to chase, OR bat 45 and leave us 45. Paul Bolton (8 – 1 – 35 – 0) and Tom Coonihan (8 – 0 – 33 – 0) were re introduced to the attack and it soon paid dividends. With the score on 145 Grant was run out by a throw by wicket keeper Wood. 147 for 4 after 38 overs. In the 43rd over Seymour was run out by Higgi leaving the score at 171 for 5. Matt Guy (8 – 0 – 29 – 1) and Mike Higgi (8 – 1 – 41 – 1) were brought back into the attack to bowl what turned out to be the last 5 overs. After 46 overs St Georges had reached 191 for 5 by the end of the 47th they were 208 for 5 as Mike Higgi was despatched for a couple of sixes as Ford swung from the hip. Matt Guy, who was the pick of the bowlers, bowled the final over in which Ford was run out by Tom Holloway for an excellent 83 and Grey was run out for 1 leaving McGahon 9 not out.

St Georges then had tried to ‘bat us out of the game’. They had used up all 48 overs and scored 215 for 7 at 4.47rpo. Brooklands had stuck to there task well. Dave Madden led the side diligently and used his bowlers well. The fielding did not let him down as Brooklands ran 5 players out and aside from Ford’s hitting in the penultimate over had been pretty much in control all the way threw. In the previous 2 games we had played here we had scored 471 runs at 5.88 rpo. Today we needed to score at 5.14rpo to secure victory. To win we simply had to knock off the runs. St Georges had to bowl us out to win and if neither of those happened it would be a drawn game. Brooklands, obviously, were setting there stall out to win.

Dave Madden and Tom Holloway were to open the innings for Brooklands. This was to be the first time we had been asked to chase a target on this tour. We needed to structure our chase. We didn’t want to lose wickets early on, we didn’t want to fall to far behind the run rate and we needed to keep wickets in hand for the late chase if needs be. More than anything we needed some one around who the rest of the team could bat around. Dave Madden was that man. We got off to the best possible start Tom Holloway (20) added 55 for the first wicket in 13 overs with Dave. That brought Rob Holloway to the crease. We had 29 overs left to score 161 runs at 5.55rpo. The next 10 overs or so would dictate our game plan. A flurry of wickets and we might have to settle for a draw, if we carried on just ticking the board over whilst not letting the run rate run away from us we would have a great platform to push on for victory. Dave and Rob batted superbly in partnership. Both ran well and picked the bad ball to put away. This was a signature innings for Rob. He’s very pugnacious and brutal on anything slightly short of a length either side of the wicket. Dave did what Dave does best; he manipulated the field, drove crisply and hit over the top of the in field a couple of times. He looked in total control of everything he did. The partnership was broken in the 34th over when Rob was caught of the bowling of Rowland’s. They had added 118 in 21 overs to which Rob’s contribution was 26 runs of the highest calibre. When Rob departed Brooklands were 173 for 2 in 34 overs. We had 8 overs left then to score 43 runs. Anthony Platt was coming to the crease with an assortment of batting talent padding up and ready to go if needs be. Put simply though if Dave batted all the way through we would win. He was well passed 50 at this point and looking in complete control. The following 4 overs yielded 17 runs leaving us on 191 for 2 with 4 overs left. This left us 25 to win in 24 balls, it was getting quite tight again although one result was definitely out of the picture, St Georges weren’t going to beat us! At this point Platty ignored months of hard work and coaching by planting a six and a four though the leg side having hit across the line of the ball. Well done Ant! Soon after he was out for 24 and we needed 11 runs from 12 balls to win with Dave Madden still there having been joined by Rob Wood. 7 runs came from the next over meaning with an over left we needed 4 to win. Dave Madden duly saw us home with 2 balls to spare. He needs to improve his counting though as he finished on 97*.

So a third straight victory for the Brooklands tourists. This was a game which I felt we controlled all the way through. St Georges had tried in vain to bat us out of the game by batting there full 48 overs and leaving us just 42 overs to chase. They didn’t field overly well and we had them distinctly rattled on a few occasions. There heads dropped more and more as we chased the total down and they were a little creative at times with there judgement on where the boundary wall was! Brooklands though again put in a thoroughly professional performance. The bowling was disciplined on this difficult service where any width is punished. We continued to field well, 5 run outs, and our spirit on the field was superb. Praise has to go to Dave Madden for the way in which he structured the chase. These was an innings from the top drawer like Danny’s on Saturday and without his knock we may well have struggled. As with any team game though he couldn’t of achieved it without valuable support from Tom and Rob Holloway both of whom were involved in partnerships with Dave. Platty gave the innings a bit of impetus towards the end when it could of slipped away and Rob Wood’s 3* was simply breathtaking! Another high point of the day was Mike Holloway’s joy at beating the ‘blazers’! Go Mike, go on son….

Tomorrow we will looking to finish our tour on a high note by beating Marsa and returning home undefeated.

We celebrated our victory in fine style on Monday evening. Jo Holloway’s parents were kind enough to invite us over to a barbecue at there house in St Julian’s bay. A truly fantastic time was had by all, all though how no one smashed there head in the pool I will never now. The group were lucky enough to also be able to celebrate Georgina’s birthday with her at the barbecue and the boy’s rendition of ‘Happy Birthday to you’ was different to say the least. The tour was coming to its end and this was a wonderful way to celebrate the successes of our first overseas venture. Mike and Jo were magnificent to us whilst we were out there and the barbecue was the cherry on the cake. The boy’s, coaches’ wives girlfriends and daughters had a great time and can’t wait to do it all again.

So back to the hotel for a late ish night before our final game tomorrow. Everyone associated with the tour wanted to go home with another win under our belt. We hadn’t lost for 6 games whilst on tour now stretching back to the Taunton tour if 2002. Our team spirit was second to none, the quality in our side was beyond doubt and the boy’s attitude towards Brooklands and cricket was a breath of fresh air.

We had breakfast on Tuesday morning and prepared to depart for the game. As ever coach Staley try’s to locate a newspaper and to his immense surprise opens the paper to find that Brooklands CC have achieved fame at last
 

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Match 4 vs Marsa CC

Played at the Marsa Sports Club (Malta) on Tuesday 13/04/04, starting at Noon.

40 overs per side.

No toss was made as Marsa invited Brooklands to bat.

Innings of Brooklands CC

1	A Platt*	ct	b Krishna	26
2	D Halkon	Not Out		130
3	M Higginbottom	st	b Callus	24
4	R Holloway	Run Out		0
5	P Garnett	st	b Callus	2
6	P Roberts+	Run Out		2
7	P Vesey	ct	b Sudip	8
8	A Batty	ct	b Sudip	0
9	T Mitchell	Not Out		11
10	T Coonihan
11	C Howie
Extras: nb 3, w 16, b 0, lb 0.				19
Total in 40 overs				222 for 7 wkts

FOW: 1/47 (Platt), 2/120 (Higginbottom), 3/120 (R Holloway), 4/130 (Garnett), 5/136 (Roberts), 6/172 (Vesey), 7/179 (Batty)

Bowling figures of Marsa CC

		Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
1	A Swift	8	0	48	0
2	K Krishna	5	0	28	1
3	J Callus	8	0	29	2
4	T Wheeler	8	0	49	0
5	D Willis	4	0	25	0
6	G Harris	0.5	0	3	0
7	F Spitteri	3.1	0	20	0
8	Sudip	3	0	20	2

Innings of Marsa CC

1	F Spitteri	ct Roberts	b Vesey	18
2	J Callus	ct Higginbottom	b Garnett	67
3	J Grima		b Vesey	0
4	T Wheeler	LBW	b Mitchell	4
5	J Farrugia	ct Higginbottom	b Coonihan	3
6	D Willis	ct Roberts	b Batty	15
7	A Swift	ct Platt	b Garnett	7
8	K Krishna	ct Platt	b Garnett	4
9	J Farrugia	ct R Holloway	b Garnett	1
10	E Glynn	Not Out		0
11	W Glynn	st Roberts	b Halkon	11
Extras: nb 13, w 35, b 0, lb 0.				48
Total in 39.3 overs				182 all out

FOW: 1/33, 2/38, 3/70, 4/107, 5/120, 6/137, 7/142, 8/148, 9/159, 10/182.

Bowling figures of Brooklands CC

		Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
1	A Batty	8	0	52	1
2	P Vesey	5	1	10	2
3	T Coonihan	6	0	37	1
4	T Mitchell	5	0	35	1
5	C Howie	6	0	25	0
6	P Garnett	8	2	14	4
7	R Holloway	1	0	5	0