Ground Dog Afternoon at Iggies

The scene for a cricket match is often set days before, and in the case of the Mad Dogs' visit to St Ignatius College this was certainly the case. Two days of heavy rain and thunder storms meant that despite predictions for a hot day for this fixture, the start was delayed by an hour to allow the ground to dry out. While the pitch itself was lovingly looked after, the outfield was still wet and as a result stodgy and slow. As the temperature quickly rose, you could feel the humidity in the air. From the outset it was clear the day would be owned by bowlers, and batsmen would struggle to accrue boundaries without putting some real umph into their swing.

But beyond a likelihood of low scores, there was no way of knowing just how strange the day would turn out.

Usually we play two back-to-back Twenty/20s but on this occasion both teams knew they would be bleeding players mid-afternoon, so we agreed to play a second fixture against an Iggies father-and-son team. The Dogs would swell our ranks with some "Mad Pups" also, albeit somewhat younger.

The Ground at Riverview certainly was a treat for all concerned. Even the Iggies' Old Boys XI we played first didn't get to play on this ground that often. (The ground was overlooked by the school's own observatory!) Professionally managed the pitch was ennobled by a large electronic screen to celebrate the Centenary of this privileged establishment institution. Unusually I was opening the batting and as I walked out to face the first ball of the day it filled me for one with, at once, both nervousness and excitement to see my name "in lights". I'm sure it did the same for others too. As the day went on, the opportunity to add some humour to the way batsmen were called out on it certainly characterised the day.

The Iggies bowlers took a few early, cheap scalps before first a Billy Cutler 12 followed by a Sean Garvey and Brendan Parry partnership of 36 took our total to something approaching respectable. In fact their aggressive running produced some amusing pictures as they dived into safety following risky singles. But the partnership ended when, as Sean pulled a fabulous 4 towards the pavilion, he sadly stood on his stumps as he played it. This underlined how damp-under-foot conditions also played a part in things.

A rare appearance from a hefty-hitting Jon Gill was good to see until he was bowled. He was followed up by an Ed Watson innings returning after a long break since Cairns and put 25 runs on in rapid fire batting. One of the more remarkable things in Mad Dogs history then followed when a thumping six from Ed was actually caught mid air by a flying Iggie's fielder, "Dr. Bill"; but was rendered irrelevant by the fact he took it over the rope. His failure to take the wicket did not detract from the applause for the catch. No one who saw it will forget it.

We had 16 players confirmed for this fixture but in a sad state of affairs that bodes poorly for 2016 we only fielded 10 of those. So the Iggies kindly leant us another batsman: "Boggo", who put on a very helpful 18 for us.

The Dogs were also aided by another Iggies player, Dr Bill, who's 16 over innings yielded only 16 runs. His contribution was so much appreciated that Wicket Keeper Billy Cutler even asked the team if he should run him out when gifted that opportunity with Dr Bill wrong-footed at the wrong end of the pitch. Nevertheless, Iggies kept pace with our target of 121, on 59 at the 10 over mark. Despite bleeding 17 runs in just one over, we still managed to keep the run chase under control. Keith Saunders andMarcus "Marooq" Timpson in particular strangled the Iggies run rate with dot balls and wickets to create a nail biting finale. Amazingly it came down just one run needed off the last ball. Sadly they got that run and won by 4 wickets.

Never before had we had such a breathtaking climax to a Mad Dogs match. We certainly never thought it could happen again...

The tension of the final over and the oppressive humidity lefts our enthusiasm for another match quite depleted. Can we even be bothered? We opted to bat first on the basis that given the number of fairly useful looking teenagers on the Iggie's side our likely small total would be eclipsed quickly and we could get on the beers early. That's what we thought anyway.

But that was not how it turned out.

We were 17 for 2 after 7 overs! Not only was our run rate slow but the over rate was pretty lethargic too. But very quickly the match seemed to turn. While we managed only 102 thanks to big innings from Watson, Cutler and Saunders jnr, it was more than we expected given the slow outfield, very youthful bowling attack and oppressive climate. And our bowling attack had more teeth in it than we thought. Iggie father-and-son batting partnerships stood firm against our own "Pup-peppered" bowling attack (particular kudos to Oliver Saunders). While Iggies accrued runs, it was perhaps not as quick as they had hoped. Once again, however, at the halfway point, they were at only 45 for 3- and basically on par.

So yes, you guessed it, in a weird Groundhog Day experience it came down to the last over again! And yes, Iggies prevailed again, but only just. No one could believe we were here again in the same day and the bizarre sense of déjà vu was actually quite distracting. The match was won on the penultimate ball this time around. The tight nature of both matches was very, very strange particularly considering the way the Dogs seemed to have thrown both matches away.

The day was very memorable for many reasons however, but perhaps for some it won't be the tight nature of the outcome but more the inter-generational spirit the second match was conducted. Today more than before it seemed it was the taking part that counted more than the winning.

The day also set the scene wonderfully for what is expected to be an even more memorable and special event when both teams meet again the following Thursday at the hallowed SCG.

More pictures here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/513wll9tuzhatbl/AAAUwZuXo1Kqk0tq1PrT8pnAa?dl=0