When Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, and Ireland decided to stay neutral in the conflict, it didn't prevent quite a lot of passive cooperation between the two countries. Britain appreciated the need for weather information from Ireland, lying upstream in the prevailing westerlies, and sent over a meteorologist, Hubert Lamb, to work with the Irish Met Service, formed in 1936.
This allowed Lamb, a Quaker, to satisfy his conscientious objection to the war while still making himself useful. He stayed in Ireland well past 1945, starting much of his life's main work on the impact of weather and climate on history and society. In the 1960s he set up the Climatic Research Unit at the then new University of East Anglia, recently in the news for supposedly making up climate change claims. (They didn't.)
What's this got to do with Irish cricket? Sunday was St. Swithin's day, and folklore tells us that if it rains on St. Swithin's day, it will continue to rain for forty days thereafter. Lamb investigated the records to see if there were any truth in this and, lo and behold, there is! From mid July through to early September Ireland and Britain tend to have long spells of the same sort of weather, more often warm and dry, but not infrequently cool and wet (hence the St. Swithin's day connection).
What's different about this year is that the cool, wet weather has persisted since May, normally the period with the most changeable weather. I'm pleased to announce that apart from one shower it did not rain on Sunday at the Vineyard, Milverton, where The Hills met YMCA in a rearranged Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup. Does this augur well for the rest of the season? You know not to trust my predictions!
YMCA were severely depleted, missing Trent Johnston (injury), Reinhardt Strydom (holidays), Shammy Ahmed (injury), Rob Garth and Carl Hosford (don't know), four medium pace bowlers apart from the batting skills. In came medium pacers Umar Jehangir and Rajesh Chawla, all rounder Jack Tector and batsmen Ryan Hohn and David Streek. The Hills didn't select Joseph Clinton and played Howard McDonnell.
Alan Lewis won the toss and decided to bat. Simmi Singh opened with Lee Cole, and edged Max Sorensen uppishly past second slip. In Sorensen's second over he was superbly square cut for four by Cole. In his third he was clipped for four through mid wicket by Singh, who was then dropped by Cormac McLoughlin.
We then had the short sharp shower, and on resumption Cole played another fine square cut, this time off Nazeer. Another square cut threaded its way between two gully fielders, but in the ninth over Cole, 14, played down the wrong line and was bowled by Sorensen. The next ball cut back off the seam to rattle Sameer Dutt's stumps, and it was 27-2.
Luke Clinton replaced Nazeer from the pavilion end, and was driven to the mid off boundary by Singh past the despairing lunge of the skipper. Tomas Murphy came on at the Blackhills end and immediately had Singh, 16, lbw, much to Simmi's surprise. Murphy continued to make a thorough nuisance of himself with bounce and seam movement.
He bowled Alan Lewis for 6 and in his fifth over David Streek for 2 to reduce YM to 58-5. Max Sorensen came back for a couple of overs from the pavilion end before drinks, but Albert van der Merwe and Jack Tector resisted well. After drinks Jonno Andrews threw up some pies for Albie to take a brace of sixes and a brace of fours, thirty runs being added in five overs.
Naz brought himself back, but the partnership flourished, Tector striking a couple of boundaries, and reached 62 when Murphy returned, got some extra bounce, and van der Merwe nicked off for 41. Tector then showed his inexperience by slogging Mark Dwyer straight to Sorensen at mid wicket, and it was 122-7.
Yaqoob Ali decided to have a go, putting Dwyer into the beech trees and then driving Sorensen high to the car park. It will not surprise you to learn that the next delivery was far from a driving length. Ryan Hohn was taking his ones and twos, and when the Yak was run out going for a non-existent second, the pair had added 27 in 7 overs.
Luke Clinton dispatched Jehangir lbw, Chawla was run out looking for another second run that wasn't there, Hohn was left on 15*, and YMCA had scored 157 all out off 47.3 overs. Murphy had the excellent figures of 4/14 off his 10, and Sorensen 2/24.
The Hills set off in pursuit of the very undemanding target with Jonno Andrews in a particularly frisky mood. He pulled Umar Jehangir back over the bowler's head for 2, then to fine leg for 4 before cover driving Rajesh Chawla for 4. Lewis withdrew both medium pacers after two overs apiece and replaced them with spinners Simmi Singh and Yaqoob Ali.
The score reached 37 in the 10th over when Daryll Calder ran himself out for 4. In the 13th over Andrews had a waft and was bowled by Singh for 26 out of 42. Mike Baumgart couldn't hit the ball out of his way, but Nazeer progressed smoothly to 12, pulling van der Merwe for 4. Then Baumgart, desperate for a single, called Naz through. He wouldn't have made it twenty years ago, and he didn't now.
The score advanced to 63-3, Sorensen on 7 and Baumgart still on 0, when Max swished at a ball from Singh outside off stump which deflected to David Streek at slip who held the catch which he and Singh claimed. When umpire Gordon Black lifted the finger Max took a long time to remove himself.
The next over, Baumgart's 14th at the crease, he played a nice square cut for two. When Singh had finished his ten overs, Sameer Dutt replaced him from the Blackhills end. Sameer always looks as if he's chucking the ball, but every picture I've ever taken shows the arm straight. He bowled Baumgart for 3, two scoring strokes from 48 balls faced, and next ball had Klaas Pretorius lbw.
The Wilberries were now 69-6 in the 29th over, and in a bit of doggie doo-dah. Murphy and Dwyer batted carefully and patiently. A slog sweep for 6 and a Harrow cut for 4 apart, it was all ones and twos as 36 were added by the end of the 40th over, leaving 54 more to win. In the 45th over Dwyer was caught for 17 off Chawla, with 32 still needed.
The next three overs produced 2, 4 and 6 runs, leaving 20 to be got off two. Cormac McLoughlin suddenly opened his shoulders and hit Chawla for a straight six to leave 9 needed off the last over. Eight would do, because The Hills had lost only seven wickets. Three singles were followed by a dot ball and then another single.
The last ball from the Yak was short outside off stump. McLoughlin rocked onto the back foot and steered it wide of the diving Lewis to the extra cover boundary. The home crowd breathed sighs of relief. Murphy was unbeaten on 41, McLoughlin on 18. Singh took 2/18 and Dutt 2/28.
Hope Kerr, widow of Bob Kerr, was there to witness the denouement and then to participate in the draw for the semi finals. The Hills must travel to The Lawn, Waringstown, on August 4th, while Merrion must visit The Holm, Donemana. We'll do well to have one LCU team in the final, and the odds against two must be long indeed. As Carole King sang, "It might as well rain until September."
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Cheers,
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Stu.
wwww.studaultrey.com
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Source: http://www.cover-point.com/post/Irish-Senior-Cup-The-Hills-v-YMCA-Match-Report.aspx
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