Match Reports

Saturday 21st June 2003

Newcastle 1st XI vs Durham Academy (Away & the Riverside)

Once again Newcastle 1st XI were fortunate enough to play Durham Cricket Academy at The Riverside. Fortune also fell on Ritzy who was able to name an unchanged side to the one that beat Sunderland the previous week. He again won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that looked hard and good. Ritz reshuffled the order, promoting the 'dolphin-trainer' to the number 1 slot, “Stressed Eric Ritzema” dropping down to number 5. However the first delivery showed indications that the pitch may not be as hard and quick as first thought when a ball that was pitched ½ way down went past Ryan’s ducking nose when it should have cleared him by yards!

Ryan & Matty made steady progress before Hyndo chipped one to mid-wicket for (12), bringing in Big Will. Ryan and Will started to build a solid partnership and Ryan started to enjoy himself hitting a big six and then 3 consecutive fours in on over. We were looking well set at lunch at 111 for 1 in 34 overs. However the lunch interval, and the introduction of the Academy's young leggie, changed the course of the innings and within 10 overs of resumption we had struggled to 145/5, losing Ryan 71, Big Will 27, Kingers 9 & Ritzy 5. The Newcastle lower order managed to move the score towards 200 and we ended up on 191 for 9 with Joel scoring 22.

The Academy started confidently with a couple of boundaries and we were not helped when Mad Dog tweaked his hamstring and couldn’t bowl. The Academy where well placed at Tea at 45 for 1 with Joel claiming his first Newcastle wicket just before the interval. The interval seemed to have the same affect on the Academy lads as ours earlier, as they lost a flurry of quick wickets, the 'overs-thief' taking a couple of quick wickets and Joel claiming another couple. However, the Academy continued to bat positively and kept accumulating runs before the reintroduction of 'Angry' Alex stemmed the flow of runs again and three quick wickets meant that the Academy needed 40 runs for the win with two wickets in hand. The Academy continued to go for the win when many sides may have blocked for the draw and after Jonny B ran out their number 10 20 runs were still needed for victory. The final pair chanced their arm and won with 3 balls to spare and one wicket in tact.

The disappointment was clear for all to see in the Newcastle dressing room afterwards. However the positive approach of the Academy lower order is to be saluted. All is not lost, and the Newcastle team can take a lot of positives from this game that went right down to the wire. We must try to build on the performances of the last couple of weeks against two of the better sides and look for a win at Tynemouth in the ½ way fixture next week.