Gaieties 5 July 2023

Manager Alex Wildman

Match Drawn Scores Level

SOA 203 for 6 dec (Ed Wildman 36, Will Owens 28*)

Gaieties 203 for 6 (JJ Smith  3-40)

The early July fixture against Gaeities has seen some very close finishes in recent years with last ball wins and both teams clinging on for a draw. This year’s excellent match which saw 406 runs equally shared by the teams over 69 overs was a suitable addition to the list.

On a hot day with a flat Queens College wicket, your skipper duly lost the toss and Gaeities unsurprisingly elected to bat. Ed Wildman opened up for SOA, an 11 over spell in which he was unfortunate not to take a wicket. James Connolly, having driven from London for the game, came off far worse aggravating a severe shoulder injury second ball of his spell and unable to continue. Sam Cross stepped up to finish the over and bowl a further 7.4 claiming the wicket of Burrows the Gaeities opener, caught behind. JJ Smith was the pick of the SOA attack, cleverly restraining his natural turn he claimed 3 wickets including the prize scalp of familiar looking Australian Gaeitie de Bhal, bowled on 49. Shomit Dutta batted well for 40, notably dropped by the skipper and Dan Edwards 6 overs saw Sen caught for 48. As Craig Foster was 2 balls into his second spell the declaration came at 203 for 6 after 36.2 overs. 

Shiraz Hussein and Sam Cross put on an excellent 55 run partnership for the first wicket, Sam’s departure for 26 brought Tom Welch to the crease. The wickets of Conolly and Alex Ross fell soon after Shiraz was bowled for 21. When Tom was bowled for a gritty 26, Will Owens on debut was joined by Ed Wildman. These two pushed the boundary count along well in an excellent and much needed partnership of 40 which saw the scoring rate accelerate to keep the game alive. When Ed was bowled for 36 his father the skipper endeavoured to support Will in his push for victory. On strike and needing 2 off the last ball, Will’s 28 not out was one short of taking us to a win.

The teams were well marshalled by Bob Belcher umpiring and we are also grateful to Andrew Moss for scoring the game. As ever our thanks to Danny the groundsman at Queens for making us so welcome.