"For when the One Great Scorer comes
To write against your name,
He marks - not that you won or lost -
But how you played the Game."
The verse was penned by Grantland Rice, a
renowned American sportswriter from the
1920s, but he would have had a tough task
convincing the ANZA Champs of his point,
following June 17’s victory over Horizon at
Ceylon Cricket Club.
In a season of near – and not so near –
misses, the jubilation that followed John
Dick’s match deciding four through midwicket
highlighted what the first win of the season
meant to the players. The manner of the
victory – finally settled with one ball to
spare – made it taste that much sweeter.
The omens were good from the
start of play. Pace bowler Feroze Sukh got
Champs off to a flyer with a hostile spell,
starting with three maidens that included
his first wicket of the season – a sharp
caught and bowled. He ended with 2 for 20
off his seven overs; a fine effort given his
claims of ‘food poisoning’, which strangely
followed the consumption of two bottles of
red on Friday night. |
Good individual
spells have been a feature of the season,
but on this occasion Feroze was
well-supported by all the bowlers. Special
mention in this regard goes to Munib Madni,
the most consistent bowler all year, and
debutant Dave Goodwin, the spinning
all-rounder who impressed all with his spell
of 2 for 26.
The amount of runs in the extras column has
been the bane of skipper Geoff Forday’s
season, but was kept to just 20 freebies on
Saturday – which would prove crucial to the
outcome. Ground fielding was also much
improved, with sharp catches taken by Wayne
Forday, Malcolm Carradus and John Dick.
Not wishing to make it easy, Champs allowed
Horizon the sniff of the chance following
drinks, and their final total of 170 was at
least 30 more than looked possible when they
were six down for less than 70.
Despite that, there was a quiet confidence
that Champs could knock off the total. This
took an immediate knock during their reply,
when a Boycott-esque mix-up saw Steve
Limbrick run-out without facing a ball.
Thankfully, the in-form Carradus did not
share the nerves of his team-mates, striding
to the wicket with the assurance that three
successive half-centuries can bring. Pacing
his innings superbly, he went on to make a
fourth fifty in a row, ending up with 65.
Carradus was ably supported by Sukh (16),
Enos (30) and an excellent cameo of 27 from
18 balls by Goodwin, and put CHAMPS into a
winning position.
Once the last ‘frontline’ batsman Goodwin
fell with 15 runs still needed and two overs
to go, the result once again hung in the
balance. But some determined running between
the wickets by John Dick and Rob Davies
brought the required total down to three
with just two remaining.
Rather than extend the drama further, Dick
pounced on a shorter delivery on the
penultimate ball, smashing the winning
boundary and ensuring his place in ANZA
CHAMPS folklore.
The finest shot of his ‘career’ sparked
celebrations that went on for several hours.
While there was some lively debate over man
of the match candidates, as skipper Forday
rightly noted, the win was a genuine team
effort and just reward for everyone who has
worn the CHAMPs shirt this season.
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Score
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Snaps
By Rob Davies |
