Rangers Ramjets Vs Mustang Sallys
November 1st 2008
State Shield
REPORTS
PAGE
Once Upon a Time at Balmoral
It was a bright beautiful sunny morning as the boy from Fairy Street arose with anticipation shinning in his eyes. For seven long sleeps he had been waiting for this day, a chance to avenge the wrongs of last week�s defeat at the hands on the infamous Ned Flanders XI. Beginning his morning rituals before any game of Cricket, Peter decided to make sure he know what ground to go to for the game. Although confident that it was at Kianawa grounds, the habit of checking proved to be the best thing he could have done. Unsure how the mix up had occurred, he discovered that the game was actually to be held at Balmoral High School instead of the much anticipated Kianawa grounds. Quickly dashing to the phone, and after not being able to get hold of the multitudes of people necessary, finally President Sandor Harris answered with his normal chirpiness, �Hey Pete, how ya doin?� Replying, Pete said, �Ok, how are you?� Getting straight to the point, Peter asked Shandy about the grounds only to discover that Captain Shandy, as he�s usually referred to, was unsure about the grounds situation. So once again Pete was on the phone to whoever he could find to uncover the mystery of which ground was the game at. After no success with that, Shandy was once again on the phone and a quick executive decision made. To Balmoral it was and hope for the best.
After a twenty minute drive, Pete arrived at the field to find the Middis boys already there and with a sigh of relief, dropped his gear down. Impatient to be on the field, the markers where placed with an OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) precision exactly 21 steps apart. The stumps where next to go into the ground, each one exactly 2 inches apart with the off stump bail being lodged as low in the stump as possible to make it safer for the batsman. With nothing else to do till the game started the nets where soon in use for the boys waiting on the Mustang Sally�s to arrive. With plenty of talk and excitement amongst them, the Ramjets headed onto the field for some pre-game fielding practice. The casual nature of the session masking the hunger and passion of the boys as they waited for the customary coin toss. As if the God�s were smiling on them today, Gary, the teams Captain, won his first coin toss and sent his boys into bat. Padded up, out strode Aaron and Dallin to the crease ready to start the innings for us.
Unfortunately, like most well laid plans, Dallin must have misread the script and was out for a duck. The enthusiasm of the team was noticeably dimmed by this. The Ramjets however proved that even an early wicket is nothing to worry about. Michael Middis strode to the crease and with his unusual patience in one so young, put on a good second wicket partnership with his Brother Aaron. Alas, all good things must come to an end and Michael was dismissed only to be replaced at the crease by our very own super survivor and one of Australia�s servicemen, Jamie Sweet. However, today was not his day either, he son fell to the Sally�s unusual combination of medium puss and medium puss. With what was now starting to look a bit shaky of a start, the Captain stepped in to fill the ranks. �Consolidate till drinks�, was the call from Peter. Gary looked back and said, �Yeah.� However, the difference between what Peter said and what Gary did is now in the stats as a remarkable 50 odd runs with minimal running and a plethora of big hits racing to and over the boundary.
Possibly overshadowed in all of this was Aarons innings, slow by the Middis boys standards, Aaron was compiling his own half century. With a couple of lives thrown in maybe, but that is the nature of cricket and Aaron made the Sally�s pay for the dropped chances by upping the ante to stay in touch with his brother. Drinks soon rescued the Mustangs from the Middis onslaught and the Ramjets where now feeling a bit more positive about how the innings would turn out. Congratulations, back slapping, love tapping and celebrations would ensuing amongst the Ramjets, while the Sally�s where quiet and subdued. The Drinks break proved to be Gary�s undoing and was soon out afterwards. Coming out to replace him, Peter was feeling very nervous. This would be his first innings at the crease for the Ramjets and after watching the display of big hitting and knowing he would be expected to continue that, he carefully watched the remaining balls of the supposedly fearsome Benny Shaw go through to the keeper. Perhaps it was the nervousness of his batting partner or the unexpected turn from the spinner that undid Aaron, but he was now back in the dressing rooms with a new personal highest score of 70 odd. A well grafted knock and valuable as well, big congrats to Aaron by his team as he joined them on the side.
Dale Van Damme Biceps Stevenson was off the mark quickly leaving peter to face the spinner. Perhaps being sick all week could be used to justify his lack of footwork, but out is still out. Caught behind off a good pitched leg spinner that actually turned, peter was back in the shed for a duck. What once promised to be a glorious day now seemed to be very dull indeed. It was very soon after that that the clouds started to gather, I wonder if Peter�s mood was controlling the weather�. The tail of the Ramjets failed to wag enough to break the 200 mark falling short at 193/194? Some good shots by Amilla and Chris helped, but in the end, that magical number was just out of reach. Something for the Ranger�s History page, Cody managed to get himself a hatrick of ducks, 3 from 3. So the Ramjets innings was over and the atmosphere was positive. Questions like, �Is that enough?�, weren�t common, supplanted by comments like, �That�s defendable� and �It should be enough�. Dallin who seems to have a fetish for the shiny red ball was back from his wanderings and lead the boys out to the middle to discuss fielding positions with Gary. As expected after the warm up session, Dallin said to Peter, �Fine Leg to Fine Leg�, as punishment for sloppy work in the slips.
Feeling good, the boys were Gee�d up and talkative. Clintoff was unusually quiet if previous reports are to be believed, not even a clap from him. Mr Economy (Dale), as captain shandy calls him, was handed the ball and strode to the top of his run up, an imposing figure as always. Perhaps today it was someone else�s turn to do the work with the ball as both Dale and Jamie had trouble controlling the pill. A few loose balls here and there that were punished and the Ramjets were soon a bit quiet. It seemed the Mustang�s were not prepared to lay down and die and chased the total set them with fire. Many of the runs coming from edges and luck, I can only assume the bowlers frustration resulted in new bowlers sooner than expected. As a batting partnership they were successful so the ball was handed to Azza and Gaza to have a crack with. Although wickets did fall, it was tough going for the boys and the runs were adding up. Somewhere amongst all of this, Luke Cohen made his way to the crease. Considered the inform batsman of the association so far this season, the Ramjets stepped up a gear in the field. No-one can fault the commitment of the boys in the field as they chased everything and made the Sally�s do a lot of running on a slow outfield. Suddenly there was ball in the air and the closest person to it was none other than Peter himself. With silence in the air as everyone held their breath, Peter raced around, with a prayed to the cricket gods in his heart, whispering over and over, �Proper technique, hands up, proper technique, hands up, no pressure�..�. The first contact was on the wrist, the second on the fingertips of the right hand, turning sideways and finally grasping it safely, the batsman was out. Peter�s excitement was clear as he threw the ball in the air yelling out with relief more than anything. That was not the only fumbled catch of the day, but probably the most relieved person as he finally started a Rangers season with a positive catching score.
Thrown the ball soon after this, Peter was determined to make up for a bad effort with the bat and bowled seven over�s straight. What proved to be a good spell with mostly tight bowling and Gary returning the favour with a catch down at Mid on, things were looking good. What surprised everyone was the number of times that the feared Luke Cohen was unable to play his bowling. A number of good balls that were very close to taking the edge before going through to the keeper. With some great work in the field, Luke was out for 49 and Ramjets where closing in on victory. A run out, some good catching and glovework, this game had become a nailbiter with the Sally�s needing 19 runs from 19 balls. In the second last over it down to one wicket left for the sally�s. The ball is handed to Jamie for the finally over, that Mustang�s need 7 to win, the clouds are gathering, rain is threatening. Lightning wouldn�t have been astray with the tension in the air, thick enough to cut with a knife. Second ball of the over goes for four even with the superman dives from the fine leg fieldsman who was literally horizontal to the ground on one occasion. With three balls to spare, the Sally win with a shot through square leg for four more. Devastation fills the ranks of the Ramjet�s as they go down to the Sally�s for their first win of the season in what was an incredible hard fought match. The Ramjets where at 120% in the field and there was plenty of determination in the batting, but on the day it proved be the Mustang sally�s day. Like the true sportsman they are, the Ramjet�s were quick to congratulate the Sally�s on a very tight finish in a game that had everything. Azza proved to be the man of the day for the Ramjets with a good all-round performance taking 3 wickets on top of his 70 run innings. Gary wasn�t far behind and any number of players after that could have taking points home for the part. In what turned out to be a heartbreaker for the Ramjet�s, there are plenty of positives to take from it.
And so the day goes that the Ramjets fell short in the end. Peter wearily turned from the field where the sun once shone brightly and headed for home. Feeling for his teammates, knowing they would be hurting as he was, he vowed to do everything in his power to make sure that next Saturday, the Ramjets would be smiling at the end of the day.
The End.