UK and Ireland Tour – Part 2

After 7 games of varying length across 11 days, the final match reports from the Randwick Petersham Cricket Club Tour of England and Ireland are in, as the young squad embarked on a hectic adventure into the unknown that is cricket in Ireland.

After 7 games of varying length across 11 days, the final match reports from the Randwick Petersham Cricket Club Tour of England and Ireland are in, as the young squad embarked on a hectic adventure into the unknown that is cricket in Ireland.

Match Report: Game 4 vs Leinster Cricket Club Monday 10th July (40 over match)

Result – Leinster Cricket Club 4/169 (Kashyap 2/24 off 5 overs) def. Randwick Petersham 9/168 (Crawford 62, Kashyap 26) by 6 wickets

Randwick Petersham Cricket began the second leg of the tour with a disappointing loss against Leinster Cricket Club. Randy Petes, captained by JRAL Stewart, batted first and scored 9/168 from their 40 overs. This wasn’t enough, but there were some shining lights with Neale ‘Cindy’ Crawford scoring a composed 62. Pratulya Kashyap (PK) chimed in with an impressive 26 after a move up the order.

When the hosts went out to bat, the game was all but over within a few overs due to quick runs and a plethora of dropped catches. Sam Boyns toiled hard at the beginning taking 1/22, as did PK with two wickets, but the poor performance in the field let the side down, as Leinster chased down the Randy Petes score within 25 overs for a convincing win. Leinster youngster Pat Lynch was particularly impressive with his first hundred in cricket, coming back from a blow to the helmet and making use of the chances on offer.

Match Report: Game 5 vs Merrion Cricket Club Tuesday 11th July (30 over match)

Result – Merrion Cricket Club 5/185 (Fox 2/29 off 6 overs) tied with Randwick Petersham 7/185 (Mullins 79, Fox 38)

The second match of the Irish campaign saw another nail-biting final ball tie, this time against Merrion Cricket Club. The visitors, led by Tom Holland, bowled first. Hayden Fox was the pick of the bowlers with 2/29 from his 6 overs. The rest were shared, and we were even witness to part-timers Damo Sidney (1/27) and Tommy Holland (0/12) showing us their ‘jack of all trades’ abilities, as well as the return to the bowling crease of Denis Hinds, who has adopted the name O’Grouch for the Irish leg. The home side finished with a score of 5/185 after the 30 overs.

Randy Petes got off to a rather slow start with the bat, but once Hayden Fox (38) joined Kel Mullins (79) at the crease, the game was back in reach. The youngsters put on a partnership of 96 before Foxy departed. A few vital contributions left us with 3 runs to get off the final ball, before Tyso again failed to make it back for the last run, leaving the scores tied at 185 apiece. Another exciting game but one that could have been won if it weren’t for some sloppy fielding by the Randy Petes.

Match Report: Game 6 vs Malahide Cricket Club Wednesday 12th July (T20)

Result – Malahide Cricket Club 0/145 (with 3 retired) def. Randwick Petersham 144 (Holland 32, Mellick 25) by 10 wickets

Jeremy Jastrzab was in charge in this penultimate fixture, and it was the first time that most of the Randy Petes had played with a pink ball. The visitors batted first and had an exceptionally slow start for a T20 match. Middle order contributions from Tom Holland (32), UNSW import Josh Mellick (25) and Foxy (23) set up a defendable score of 144 from the 20 overs. This innings also saw the biggest BBQ of the tour when PK aka George Foreman Grillmaster ran out LJ O’Loughlin. Those final few runs probably wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.

Malahide batted next and it was over before it even began. The hosts got off to a blistering start scoring 105 runs from the first 8 overs of their innings. Foxy (110m) and Lj (101m) were hit for two of the biggest sixes in the history of the ground. The hosts retired their openers and their number three to try and make Randy Petes look a bit better, but they still managed to chase down the 145 target within 14 overs and without losing a wicket.
Not the best performance ever, but as Tom Holland put it “maybe next time, champ”. Regardless of the result, the young squad had the privilege of playing on the same pitch as an official one day international – Ireland vs New Zealand on 21 May 2017.

Match Report: Game 7 vs Pembroke Cricket Club Thursday 13th July (T20)

Result – Randwick Petersham 5/129 (Sidney 36) def. Pembroke Cricket Club 128 (Kashyap 3/10 off 2.1 overs, Mellick 2/15 off 2 overs, Liam O’Loughlin 2/17 off 3 overs, Paul O’Loughlin 2/19 off 2 overs) by 5 wickets

A couple of familiar faces opened the batting for the hosts in the final fixture, with Randy Petes’ own Paul Lawson and Dale McDonough looking to set the tone early. Foxy (1/15) managed to put his love for Dale behind him and jagged the first pole. Lawson however made a solid 37, but a really strong bowling and fielding performance allowed Randy Petes to restrict the hosts to 128.

The bowling performance was outstanding from the Randy Petes in the final match. Mitch ‘Pooey’ O’Loughlin (0/11), Mr. 110 aka LJ (2/17), Money Mellick (2/15) and the old man Paul ‘Triggers’ O’Loughlin (2/19) all bowled well, as did PK (3/10) who cleaned up the tail and was at one stage on a hat-trick. The highlight was split between a father/son combo where off his father’s bowling, LJ actually managed to catch a ball on the boundary and a caught and bowled from PK where nobody believes he actually saw the ball and he just swallowed it.

The batting got off to a flyer with Damo scoring a quick (only way he scores runs) 36 which set the tone for a successful run chase. Tommy, Jezza and Spesh Boyns all chipped in with scores in the 20s as the RP’s won by five wickets as John Stewart (7*) was fittingly out there to hit the winning runs and sign off the tour with a victory.

The Randy Petes finish the tour with 2 wins, 2 ties and 3 losses and coupled with the camaraderie off the field and the friendships forged and cemented in England and Ireland have made this tour a great success. Many thanks to the hospitality and assistance of the Boyns’ family (Margaret, Alan, Sam and Ryan), Valerie Crompton (assisting with accommodation in England), Peter Johnston, JP O’Dwyer and Stephen Tonge (Leinster), Dom Joyce (Merrion), Peter Chase, Gary Stewart and Philip Roche (Malahide) and Dale McDonagh, Paul Lawson, Sean Smith (Pembroke) for adding to this success and the special memories that each touring member will take away from the 19 days.

Liam O’Loughlin