Pirates of the St Lawrence versus McGill
Saturday 4 June 2011

The youngest Pirate team in history fought valiantly against the might of McGill’s Red Army at The Candy Fields on Saturday, only to find themselves at the wrong end of a second consecutive 100-run massacre. Fielding a lineup which included six Brits, an Irishman, and five Black Cap debutants was not enough to reverse the season’s fortunes, although the Pirates could take credit for their courage against seasoned premier-grade pros.

Wisden and Roche were once again sphincter tight in their opening overs, beating the bat and themselves repeatedly. Wisden struck with his first delivery when the batsman helped the ball off the full face of the blade down leg and into the hands keeper MS. No one within a square mile could believe the batsman remained unmoved. But justice was served three balls later via a blistering catch by Royle on the squareleg boundary.

Exploiting their height, Robinson and former Surrey Under-12’s star Brodie beat both edges of the bat, making McGill labour to 73 for 3. The score could easily have been 81 for 5, as Bell induced two false drives in his first over, the ball lollipopping to extra cover, only for the fielder to slip. On the third occasion, MS, shedding the gloves, moved swiftly and clung on with his fingertips.

Coming in at 101 for 4, Omar, in his final innings before emigrating to Dubai, upped the ante, scampering singles and scything over the leg side fence. But then The Curse of The Candy Fields manifested once more, with Dom Lemoine clinging onto a meteor at cow corner.

UAE internationalist Shoaib and talisman Ali threw the long handle in a quick-time stand of 63. Mulligan, taking the pace off his offbreaks, and backed by superb fielding, stemmed the assault. He picked up Ali thanks to a steepling catch by Robinson hovering on the edge of the enchanted forest.

Pathologist Dave Shustik, after some late innings fireworks, signed the death warrant for Atin, yorking him on the final ball of the innings.

A target of 226 appeared do-able on a concrete Candy Fields track with three left-handers on board, including the dangerous Dom Lemoine. Brodie sent three crisp square drives to the fence, but thereafter boundaries were harder to find than balls in the hayfield. If this had been a Test match, perhaps the Pirates would have prevailed.

McGill’s attack sent down over after over of disciplined pace, line and length – usually a foot down the leg side, strangling the Pirate reply.

Both Dans, hovering mid pitch, fell victims to run outs after misfields, scrambling back to their own ends. Krishnan (yet again) was unfortunate to be given out lbw to a googly that looked to be going over the stumps. Bell, after a stadium emptying start, sliced high to cover attempting to meet the required run rate of nine an over.

Memories of chasing down Ottawa were momentarily rekindled as Roche and MS drove high and handsomely over the infield to the fence. But it all ended when they skied to the covers and McGill’s fielders, like their bowlers, made no mistake.

Ordered to score at three a ball, the impressive Royle became the latest member of the Duck on Debut Club. The tail, with 12 overs to go, batted pleasantly in the sun while hopes of forcing the Red Army into retreat faded with Spring.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus McGill
Saturday 4 June 2011
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 40 overs per side
Weather conditions: Astonishing after the flooding of recent weeks
Result: McGill won by 102 runs

McGill Innings

Yousaf Manoo ct Royle b Wisden 1
Saif b Robinson 21 (3×4)
Amsal Khan (c/wk) ct Royle b Brodie 28 (2×4, 1×6)
Shoaib ct Robinson b Mulligan 51 (4×4)
Ammal ct Singh b Bell 8
Omar Hyat ct Lemoine b Bell 9 (1×6)
Ali not out 57 (4×4, 4×6)
Atin b Shustik 26 (3×4)
Rameez DNB
Hashim DNB
Sanyl DNB

Extras 24 (Byes 7, Leg Byes 0, No Balls 0, Wides 17)
Total 225 for 7 in 40 overs

FoW (1-4, 2-49, 3-73, 4-101, 5-118, 6-181, 7-225)

Bowling

Phil Roche 6 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets, 18 runs
Tom Wisden 4 overs, 1 wicket, 15 runs
Daniel Robinson 3 overs, 1 wicket, 19 runs
Daniel Brodie 7 overs, 1 wicket, 25 runs
Simon Royle 3 overs, 0 wickets, 13 runs
Angus Bell 8 overs, 2 wickets, 41 runs
M Singh 2 overs, 0 wickets, 15 runs
Dominque Lemoine 1 over, 0 wickets, 28 runs
Samuel Mulligan 2 overs, 1 wicket, 16 runs
David Shustik 2 overs, 1 wicket, 31 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Daniel Brodie run out (Hyat) 18 (3×4, 22 balls)
Daniel Robinson run out (Hyat) 16 (1×6, 60 balls)
Sundar Krishnan lbw Ali 0 (14 balls)
Angus Bell (c) ct Ali b Sanyl 8 (1×4, 32 balls)
Phil Roche (wk) ct Atin b Omar 16 (2×4, 24 balls)
M Singh (wk) ct Atin b Rameez 24 (3×4, 28 balls)
Simon Royle ct Amsal b Sanyl 0 (4 balls)
Dominique Lemoine c&b Ali 5 (1×4, 7 balls)
Samuel Mulligan run out (Guy in grey T-shirt) 2 (11 balls)
Tom Wisden not out 1 (9 balls)
David Shustik b Ali 1 (5 balls)

Extras 32 (Byes 4, Leg Byes 3, No Balls 2, Wides 23)
Total 123 for 10 in 35.3 overs

FoW (1-23, 2-42, 3-55, 4-71, 5-96, 6- 111, 7-114, 8-117, 9-119, 10-123)

Bowling

Atin 5 overs, 0 wickets, 23 runs
Hashim 5 overs, 0 wickets, 10 runs
Sanyl 5 overs, 1 maiden, 2 wickets, 18 runs
Omar Hyat 7 overs, 3 maidens, 1 wicket, 14 runs
Ali 4.3 overs, 1 maiden, 3 wickets, 11 runs
Shoaib 5 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets, 16 runs
Rameez 4 overs, 0 wickets, 24 runs