North Nowra Cambewarra U11 Blues headed down south on the weekend to play the mighty Ulladulla Gold team. After an hour-long trip in the car, we arrived to find the pitch was already in use. We rudely muscled our way onto the field, brushing aside those in our way. No hard feelings we thought, however we had to endure their wrath all day, being aggressively swooped and harassed as those rascal bunch of Plovers were determined to seek revenge on us.
The toss went our way. Our captain courageous, Harry won the toss but could not decide whether to bat or bowl, so the decision was delegated to Jacob the emergency deputy captain who also couldn’t decide. Jack Walsh piped up with “We’ll field”, so that is exactly what we did. We fielded. Thanks Jack for making a decision!
This game was unusual in another way. It was sugar free. Only 8 of our players took to the field. Tully and Jacob ran to their fielding positions with their helmets on, but after discussion with the coach, decided to man-up and face their fears of the swooping birds without the head gear.
Now, in the spirit of reporting the absolute truth, I’d have to say we bowled rather waywardly (if that word even exists?). Some of our players bowled like loose cannons. Others bowled like they were shooting off their cannons for the first time! We seemed to spray our balls everywhere, and as a result took very few wickets. Jack Walsh and Alexander perhaps the only bowlers measuring up to their normal standards, bowling tight and conceding few runs. For everyone else, don’t worry boys. Even the Australian Cricket team has a bad day (or year, just remember Kim Hughes vs. West Indies without the tears).
Our batting…. The first delivery started with a suicide run from Toby and Harry, which turned into 3 runs due to two over-throws. Micah and Jacob got bogged down with some awesome bowling from the opposition. The Gold’s continued their great bowling, making hard work for our next batters – Cameron and Tully. The game was in the balance when Jack Walsh and Alex came to the crease. We needed a Michael Bevan moment which Jack Walsh provided, making a gusty top score of 26 (with good support from Alex). If you don’t know who Michael Bevan is, then you were likely still in nappies or perhaps were nothing more than the twinkle in someone’s eye at this point in history. In which case, I suggest you consult YouTube, and steer well clear of the comments section!
After the match, everyone remained very, very cool. We wiped beads of sweat from our brows awaiting the announcement of what would be a close result. The suspense was unbearable. Parents were frantically sending SMS messages (and wishing they knew how to twitter). Speculating, pacing back and forth. The coach’s reputation was firmly on the line. Finally, the score was leaked and minutes later officially confirmed. North Nowra Cambewarra Blues scored 9/105 defeating the Ulladulla Golds 5/83.