Tag: Manuka Oval

An English Side “Win” In Australia

A look at the second and final day of The Prime Minister’s XI v An England XI at Manuka Oval, Canberra and a large photo gallery.

This post looks back the second and final day of the match at Manuka Oval, Canberra between The Prime Minister’s XI and An English XI. The reason for the quote marks in the title should become apparent during the rest of the post.

A BATTING DAY

An England XI resumed overnight on 30-0 in reply to the Prime Minister’s XIs 308-8 declared. Tom Haines and Emilio Gay continued to bat well, with Gay in particular impressing. Their stand was only broken when soreness in the hamstring area induced Gay to retire hurt (this after all is not a match that counts towards anyone’s career record). The only disappointment of the day followed, when one of the most overhyped young talents in the game, Jacob Bethell, contributed a mere 16 before getting out. That brought James Rew, who at the age of 21 already has 11 first class hundreds to his name (11 more than Bethell’s current tally, and he scored his tenth FC century at a younger age than anyone since Denis Compton) to the crease. Rew never really looked other than the high class player his record shows him to be (and according to his county, Somerset, his younger brother Thomas, also playing in this match, is even better), and although Haines fell for a fine 77, Asa Tribe, a Jersey born Glamorgan batter who has also played for his native Island, joined Rew and also played well. By this stage it was obvious that only two questions remained to be resolved – would the English side go ahead on first innings, and would Rew reach three figures? The answers proved to be ‘yes’ and ‘no’. Rew and Tribe were still together when An England XI moved to 309-2, Rew 93 not out, Tribe 53 not out, and immediately declared, which was followed equally quickly by handshakes on the final result. An England XI thus won on first innings, and secured for themselves such credit as could be taken from a match of this nature. However it is not properly speaking a win, since by the stated playing conditions (as opposed to the agreement that the sides had clearly come to) this was supposed to a be a two innings match, and neither side officially forfeited an innings, and therefore it is officially a drawn match. Various bowlers had moments for the English side, and Gay, Haines, J Rew and Tribe all impressed with the bat. One of the first two named should have good chances of swift elevation, with Crawley surely close to exhausting even his super-feline stock of test lives, and while Rew have may longer to wait England should be looking for ways to include him.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…

I am not entirely sure as to the species of this magnificent raptor which I saw flying overhead earlier this afternoon, but I have had a suggestion of buzzard for it. Update I have just been told that it is a Red Kite.

A Pink Ball Warm Up

A look at events at the Manuka Oval, Canberra, where The Prime Minister’s XI have been taking on ‘An England XI’ on day one of a two-day pink ball day-night match.

A two-day match of sorts, between ‘The Prime Minister’s XI’ and ‘An England XI’ got underway at Manuka Oval, Canberra early in the afternoon local time. It is a pink ball day-night match. The ‘of sorts’ in the first sentence relates to the fact that in spite of their official teams both teams will use more than 11 players in the course of the match.

A LIMITED LOOK AHEAD

None of the players involved in the test match are involved in this game – England have a shadow squad, dubbed ‘The Lions’ in Australia and it was from them that their team was picked, while the Prime Minister’s side is a combination of promising youngsters and old stagers (the oldest being 41 year old Peter Siddle). However, there was news about Mark Wood that suggested an extra fast bowler would be summoned to Brisbane.

HOW THE PLAY WENT

The Prime Minister’s XI won the toss and batted first (incidentally Mr Albanese was not present in person to watch his side – he had a very important commitment elsewhere). Matt Potts bowled a good early spell, but gained no reward. Josh Hull, a 6’7″ left arm pacer picked on account of his physical attributes rather than his playing record, which is rather modest, bowled a spell in which he pounded the ball in short to a field set for that type of bowling, which failed to impress anyone. Sam Konstas gave his wicket away for 36, giving Potts a catch of part time medium pacer Tom Haines, when no one else had made any impression on him. Thereafter Campbell Kellaway and Nathan McSweeney batted well together. Kellaway missed out on a century, going to a catch by Tom Haines off left arm spinner Tom Hartley for 82 to make it 130-2. That brought 19 year old Oliver Peake to the crease, and he also batted well, helping McSweeney to add a further 91 for the third wicket. McSweeney was the one to go, being well caught by Ben Kellaway (an allrounder, who in the manner of Jemma Barsby can bowl both off spin and left arm orthodox spin) off Potts. It was also Potts who got Peake, shortly after the youngster had reached a fine 50. Thereafter wickets fell more rapidly as the Prime Minister’s XI hustled towards a declaration. This eventually came at 308-8, and left An England XI five overs to see out against the new ball under the lights. Tom Haines and Emilio Gay did this well enough, reaching 30-0 in the process. It was an intriguing day, and we will see what tomorrow brings. Tongue’s pace will almost certainly tell in his favour when it comes to summoning a replacement for Wood to Brisbane, but I finish this section by emphasising that Potts was definitely the better bowler today.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…