Serving with Heroes!

This week Marist took on top of the table St Albans. A lovely bunch of chaps that we quite enjoy playing.

To get the story rolling St Albans took 180 minutes to score a sleepy 170/9 s from their 40 overs. Top bowling efforts by Dirty, Ski and Hopeless saw each of them rewarded with three wickets for their efforts.

In reply Marist started slowly. Paua dished out an early lesson on how to bowl slow on a hard fast wicket and Marist inexplicably found themselves 22/3 after a dozen overs. The rot had only just begun. Chewbacca must have thought all his Christmases had come at once when his mid week theory of "pitching the ball outside off" finally paid dividends and Mr. Cricket skied one through to the keeper. Wookie cries of delight escorted Mr Cricket from the field and Marist were 40/4. Gritty batting from Big Little Bones and some new found form of Teflon combined to produce a solid middle order partnership and move the score through to 5/92. Dirty and BLB stepped up the intensity steering the Marist juggernaut within striking distance of the St Albans total. Having hit his first 6 of recent times, Bones momentarily lost his concentration and spooned one back to the bowler much to his own (and his bat makers) disgust. Moments later Dirty was caught in the covers and Marist was reeling at 134/7.

Enter our hero.

Requiring 37 runs from 5 overs Unco stepped to the crease with defiance in his eyes. His ambitious words signaling his intentions... "I want to be a hero". Partnered with Junior and alternating the strike the two juniors kept the runs flowing at a run a ball through to the ultimate over where they launched the final assault. Requiring 14 runs from 6 balls the hopes and aspirations of a team lay in their hands. The only thing that could stop them now was the Paua.

Three balls later and still 10 runs shy of the total things weren't looking so good. Not to be outdone Unco decided to take the game back to Paua. Showing all the experience of a middle aged batting legend who lives with his sister in Hornby, Unco danced across his stumps and drop kicked the next ball down the leg side and over the head of an out of position Marilyn Manson one bounce for four. Yee ha the crowd yelled. Excited about what he had just done the head went back on the next shot and the bat flailed past the ball setting up the most exciting finish in the history of the game... six runs to win.... one ball remaining.

With Chewie's mid-week master-plan bouncing around in his head Paua steamed in for the final delivery of the match. True to plan he pitched a swinging delivery outside off and short off a length. With eyes wide shut and feet rooted to the ground Unco made his final stand collecting the ball and delivering it over the rope and out of the park. With bat pointed in conquest and ball still mid-air he yelled "this one's for you red hat!".. and the game was won.

Overwhelmed with all that she had seen, our single die-hard spectator proclaimed this match has bee "more exciting than a real game of cricket." And she was not wrong. It was a marvelous day for Marist cricket.

As is the custom with such auspicious victories such as this one the team celebrated in true style. Copious amounts of "poor man's" screwdriver flowed throughout the night.

Congrats to Unco on a match winning performance and congrats to Hoffa and Anna on their engagement.

Love Trig.

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