Transplant Australia David Hookes Memorial

Australia v GBTCC

 Adelaide Oval No 2 - 25th - 26th September 2004
2 Day Game - 80 overs per day - Max 50 overs per innings

The first game of the inaugural series between the transplant cricketers of Australia and Great Britain took place in the magnificent surroundings of The Adelaide Oval #2.   This perfect setting and idyllic ground is adjacent to the Test ground.   The wicket is prepared by the Test Match groundsman and his staff and is used by the cricketers of South Australia, who include in their number the likes of Greg Blewett and Michael Clarke.

We had a practice session in the nets the day before to see who was in form, or not as the case may be.   I have to report that the nets were so much better than anything else I have ever seen or played on back in England and that I felt in good nick with the bat (honestly).   We got back to our HQ and had a team meeting to decide on the batting order and what we would do if we won the toss.   We would bowl first if the coin came down in our favour.

We lost the toss and the Australians did what we would have done, they asked us to bat first.   I was to open the innings with Dave Parker and our first objective was not to give our wicket away cheaply and see what happens.

We made a promising start with Dave batting very well and scoring freely and I did my best Geoff Boycott impression and batted for 35 minutes faced 28 balls and scored 5 runs in an opening stand of 24.   I became the first victim in the series and looking back feel honoured to be part of that historic statistic, although I was a bit upset at the time.

Also part of that historic moment were Murray Rose who caught my pathetic prod outside off stump from the bowling of John Wulff.   John would end up as the class bowler in the series, which will become apparent by the time I finish my reports.

GBTCC - 1st Innings

*Doug Choat was injured before start of play and could not bat.   His place in the line up was taken by non transplantee Joey Ormsby - a subject I will discuss later in my report.

Bowling:

Dave Parker and Gareth Pollard threatened to take the game from the Aussies, but didn't, thanks mainly to good bowling and dubious shot selection but with double digit contributions from Colin Mitchell and Andy Knox we managed some sort of score.  

Australia -1st Innings

Bowling:

The first three Aussie batsman put them in a fantastic position from which they should have taken control of the game.   However our mysterious spinner from St Albans, aka  Colin Mitchell, came on and turned the game upside down down under.   5 for 28 from 8 overs is pretty special.   Gareth Pollard (captain) bowled non stop from the other end and also had excellent figures.

GBTCC - 2nd Innings

*Sub, Joey Ormsby, scored a vital 16 runs after being somehow promoted in the batting line up.   I will return to this situation later.

Bowling:

 We got off to a good start but came unstuck in the middle order, but thanks to a gritty and at times entertaining knock by our veteran 'keeper Derek Johnson ably assisted by Nock Pomone and Ian (not out) Hillier we set the Aussies a stiff target.   As we had batted our full 50 overs  Australia needed to score their runs in 36 overs - a tough ask if we could get early wickets.

John Wulff bowled magnificently to take 10 wickets in the match and keep the Aussies in the game - just.

Australia - 2nd Innings

Bowling:

Alistair Hedderwick made the breakthrough just as it looked like Nick Harris (captain) and his boys were cruising.   Al took 3 wickets in quick succession, Andy Knox got the dangerous Dave Elysee and was promptly taken out of the attack!    Colin Mitchell, the 5 wicket hero from the first innings, got a wicket with his first delivery after coming on to bowl far too late in the innings.   Once again Gareth Pollard (captain) bowled half of the allotted overs and eventually came in with another 3 wicket haul.

The match was declared a draw with the Australians hanging on by their finger tips.

Men of the match - Derek Johnson (GBTCC) / John Wulff (Australia)

Umpires: Bob Pritchard (Aus) & Bill Dow (Eng)

Official Scorer: Rita Artis (South Australia)

Summary:

If the Aussies are reading this I would be obliged with the names of your catchers, likewise ours please Colin / Al.   If you made a catch let me know and I will insert it asap.

If you have any comments to make on my appraisal of the events above, feel free to let the world know what you think by leaving your comments in my 'Guest Book'.

Game 2 / Game 3 / Game 4 /Averages / Tour report

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This site was last updated 07/03/07