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Only Game of Season 2011/12
Saturday 7th January 2012
Conditions: Fine and Mild
Toss: Hutt Valley (elected to field)
Result: Hutt Valley won by 2 Wickets
Man of the Match: Sam Williams
Saturday 7th January 2012
Conditions: Fine and Mild
Toss: Hutt Valley (elected to field)
Result: Hutt Valley won by 2 Wickets
Man of the Match: Sam Williams
"A low-scoring match with the pitch doing plenty and no player getting to fifty. But when it counted, the Hutt steadied and sealed a see-saw affair by just a couple of wickets."
The catchline for this season's Haywards Shield was "Let your cricket do the talking". After eight seasons, both Porirua and the Hutt Valley were all square on four series wins each. It was time to put up or shut up. Time to sort the men from the boys. Time to sort the wheat from the chaff. Time to stand up, or sit down. Like the Seige of Harfleur almost 600 years ago and half a world away, it was time to enter once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.
Luke Williams was leading a team with two debutantes in the lineup, being Marcus Barnden and Bryan Walters. Porirua was fielding a much more experienced side, and welcomed back four players from European duties - Michael Lees and Paul Spencer having both missed one season each, Sam Denman turning out in his trademark lycra for the first time since 2008/09, and Ryan Harper appearing for his second cap for Porirua - his only other to date being his man of the match display all the way back in 2007/08.
The Hutt continued their remarkable ability to predict the fall of the coin - the mantra goes "you always field in Haywards Shield" - and so it was this time. Porirua put in to bat. Rose put in to face. Sam Williams put in to bowl. Ball put on a good length. Bat prod uncertainly at said ball. Ball unmistakably snicking the bat and careening into the auto-wickie board for Rose to be dismissed for a golden duck. Dream start for the Hutt Valley: achieved. It was a portent for a day to be dominated by the bowlers.
Denman, in at first drop, gave Porirua the kickstart the blue-and-golds needed, racing to take 16 off Barnden's first over in the Haywards Shield. Despite the loss of both Lees and Spencer, the two most accomplished batsmen in the Porirua lineup were now at the crease and ready to make big scores. Little did anyone know what was to follow.
Eu-Ving Au, not playing due to injury, was umpiring for the day. Now, historians will forever question the wisdom of giving the umpire's hat to a bespectacled Malaysian (a people famous for many great things, but not their cricket) with a patchy knowledge (at best) of the LBW rules. In decades to come, they may even pontificate as to how proceedings may have panned out differently had the match been controlled by an arbiter with an understanding of the rules more in keeping with the tradition of how the grand old game of cricket is usually played.
Au's interpretation of the LBW rule essentially meant any delivery touching any part of the leg was likely to be given out. First Denman was cruelly sawn off in his prime thanks to a delivery from Sam Williams - a dismissal that even the Hutt players were incredulous over. Harper had a lot to live up to, averaging 91 before this game commenced, but he too fell prey to the itchy finger of Au with an LBW - Walters grabbing the prized scalp. Porirua all out for a measly 66 runs.
Any suggestion of bias on the part of having an experienced Hutt campaigner as umpire was quickly extinguished when the Valley began their own dig with the bat. Harper grabbed two wickets in his first over, both LBW. A statistic that says it all: over the previous 17 Haywards Shield matches played, there had been a total of 9 LBW's. In this game alone there were 4. At least Au was consistent in his interpretation!
Claiming these two wickets sent a shudder through the Hutt lineup. Next Barnden was removed, courtesy of a lovely piece of bowling by Lees to knock over the castle, and Rose kept the pressure on by dismissing the other newcomer, Walters, with the faintest of caught-behinds.
Sam Williams remained as the last man standing - with no other batsman reaching double figures in the innings, his task would be to restore a modicum of respectability to the Hutt total. The ball was keeping low and swinging all over the place - runs would have to be hard-earned. His resolve was apparent when he showed restraint in paying respect to good bowling when it came from Rose, Spencer and Harper. Denman was having all sorts of trouble getting his length right - sending his customary few deliveries spiraling over the auto-wickie board on the full - but eventually he got one right to clean bowl Sam Williams for a well-struck 35.
Remarkably, Porirua had eeked out an 11 run lead on the first innings. Although it wasn't pretty, the largest crowd ever in attendance at the Rose Bowl was being treated to a scrap of titanic proportions. Could Porirua capitalise on their recovery? Rose again faced Sam Williams, staring down the barrel of a king pair. He avoided the ignominy, and even managed to get off strike with a leg-bye (and breathed a sigh of relief when that was not given "out" by Au). One boundary was all he could muster for the cause, though - dismissed for 4 after skying one from Barnden to the safe pair of hands of the Hutt skipper.
Lees was determined to put on a good show for his Aussie girlfriend Hayley, in attendance for her first Haywards Shield match ("and she's a Victorian!"). Denman, too, was looking to make his mark - with his life now in the UK, appearances for his beloved Porirua side were to be treasured indeed. The two men who had been friends since they were young children laid the foundations of a meaningful partnership over the next few overs, accumulating runs with panache and flair. However, with the partnership on 36 and just as things were looking promising, Sam Williams came up with an exigent delivery that Lees could only poke at. Spencer followed in short order. Harper was able to keep out the hat trick ball, but soon the entire innings was at its close with Barnden mopping up both the remaining wickets with a caught-and-bowled into his armpit to send Denman on his way, and a catch to Johnson to dismiss Harper for a duck - Barnden finishing with an outstanding return of three wickets for four runs. The last four Porirua wickets had fallen for no runs.
So the Hutt's target would be 53. On any other day this target would not look particularly challenging, but the Hutt were keenly aware how tough the going had been for the batsmen today - no player had been able to stamp his authority on the match with the willow in hand, so it would be a case of fighting tooth and nail for every run.
Porirua got into their huddle. Many thought this would be to fire up the troops, but in fact the serious matter at hand was to discuss whether the government should return to the gold standard. The men from the west side of the Haywards think it should, and were all agreed - and importantly, no dissenting opinion was rendered from any of the watching female spectators.
Fired up from these discussions, Harper took up the attack. Luke Williams showed a captain's courage by going for the jugular right from ball one, spanking a six and flogging a four to take almost 20% of the runs off the total with two lusty blows in the space of three balls - but when he tried to carry on the onslaught, the ball was skied to the waiting hands of Denman at long-on. Johnson was gone the very next ball - joining Rose and Spencer in the golden duck club for the day by chipping one to Lees at midwicket. Suddenly, things were looking decidedly dicey for the Hutt.
Harper stepped up for the hat-trick delivery to Walters. Charging in like a bull to a red rag, he sent down a thunderbolt which struck Walters flush on his legs - Harper at once screamed his appeal to the umpire, begging for an LBW, but that itchy finger of Au's had been put away for the day, and perhaps the most legitimate LBW shout of the day went unrewarded.
Denman had now found his length. The two men on debut for the Hutt were at the crease and in survival mode. Catches win matches, so they say - and with all the momentum with Porirua, Rose grassed one. A regulation catch - hit firmly for sure, but straight to him. This could have very well been the decisive point of the game.
Soon, Rose was to bowl with the game still finely in the balance. Smarting from the dropped catch a couple of overs earlier, he now lined up at the bowling crease to face Walters, his current flatmate. The first ball was well-bowled, but swatted away by Walters for six. The second ball was a slow half-tracker, easily dispatched for six more. Striving for a wicket, the next ball was a full toss, expertly cleared to the fence for a four. But things were about to go from bad to worse - by now, Rose has a serious case of the yips and proceeded to bowl three wides in a row - wides which gifted the Hutt even more runs towards their target. Eventually Rose had to revert to bowling off a deliberate short run-up just to try to finish the over. Walters smashed one of these to the fence for another six. With two balls still to bowl, Rose's over was 664www6 and surely wishing the ground would open up and swallow him whole. He bowled another two wides before finally lobbing down a couple of fair balls to end it. In just one over, Walters had heroically turned the tide and got the Hutt to within touching distance of victory.
With now only a few runs left to defend, Spencer was on a hiding to nothing - but that didn't stop him from removing Barnden to reduce the margin to two wickets, a margin more in keeping with what had been a close, competitive affair. The next ball, Sam Williams hit a six off the first delivery he faced in the innings to return the Haywards Shield to the Hutt, and put the icing on his own personal status as the man-of-the-match.
Memories for players and supporters are important because they provide context and give each encounter meaning and significance. Sport is about losing as much as winning, the experience of the first sweetening the experience of the second. Great memories reinforce the reasons for playing; sour ones provid the motivation need to ensure that the contest is ongoing, for it is in the dark moments that some kind of rejuvenation must be planned, and it is this feeling that Porirua must take away from the contest.
But for the Hutt Valley it was no time to reflect, rather it was a time to enjoy. To hell with cold explanations and cool analysis, it was time to soak in the kind of experience granted to few. In top-class sport, it is the fractions that count, and the fractions throughout this match went to the Hutt Valley - and it is they who will enter next summer, the 10 year anniversary of the Haywards Shield - as the reigning champions.
Luke Williams was leading a team with two debutantes in the lineup, being Marcus Barnden and Bryan Walters. Porirua was fielding a much more experienced side, and welcomed back four players from European duties - Michael Lees and Paul Spencer having both missed one season each, Sam Denman turning out in his trademark lycra for the first time since 2008/09, and Ryan Harper appearing for his second cap for Porirua - his only other to date being his man of the match display all the way back in 2007/08.
The Hutt continued their remarkable ability to predict the fall of the coin - the mantra goes "you always field in Haywards Shield" - and so it was this time. Porirua put in to bat. Rose put in to face. Sam Williams put in to bowl. Ball put on a good length. Bat prod uncertainly at said ball. Ball unmistakably snicking the bat and careening into the auto-wickie board for Rose to be dismissed for a golden duck. Dream start for the Hutt Valley: achieved. It was a portent for a day to be dominated by the bowlers.
Denman, in at first drop, gave Porirua the kickstart the blue-and-golds needed, racing to take 16 off Barnden's first over in the Haywards Shield. Despite the loss of both Lees and Spencer, the two most accomplished batsmen in the Porirua lineup were now at the crease and ready to make big scores. Little did anyone know what was to follow.
Eu-Ving Au, not playing due to injury, was umpiring for the day. Now, historians will forever question the wisdom of giving the umpire's hat to a bespectacled Malaysian (a people famous for many great things, but not their cricket) with a patchy knowledge (at best) of the LBW rules. In decades to come, they may even pontificate as to how proceedings may have panned out differently had the match been controlled by an arbiter with an understanding of the rules more in keeping with the tradition of how the grand old game of cricket is usually played.
Au's interpretation of the LBW rule essentially meant any delivery touching any part of the leg was likely to be given out. First Denman was cruelly sawn off in his prime thanks to a delivery from Sam Williams - a dismissal that even the Hutt players were incredulous over. Harper had a lot to live up to, averaging 91 before this game commenced, but he too fell prey to the itchy finger of Au with an LBW - Walters grabbing the prized scalp. Porirua all out for a measly 66 runs.
Any suggestion of bias on the part of having an experienced Hutt campaigner as umpire was quickly extinguished when the Valley began their own dig with the bat. Harper grabbed two wickets in his first over, both LBW. A statistic that says it all: over the previous 17 Haywards Shield matches played, there had been a total of 9 LBW's. In this game alone there were 4. At least Au was consistent in his interpretation!
Claiming these two wickets sent a shudder through the Hutt lineup. Next Barnden was removed, courtesy of a lovely piece of bowling by Lees to knock over the castle, and Rose kept the pressure on by dismissing the other newcomer, Walters, with the faintest of caught-behinds.
Sam Williams remained as the last man standing - with no other batsman reaching double figures in the innings, his task would be to restore a modicum of respectability to the Hutt total. The ball was keeping low and swinging all over the place - runs would have to be hard-earned. His resolve was apparent when he showed restraint in paying respect to good bowling when it came from Rose, Spencer and Harper. Denman was having all sorts of trouble getting his length right - sending his customary few deliveries spiraling over the auto-wickie board on the full - but eventually he got one right to clean bowl Sam Williams for a well-struck 35.
Remarkably, Porirua had eeked out an 11 run lead on the first innings. Although it wasn't pretty, the largest crowd ever in attendance at the Rose Bowl was being treated to a scrap of titanic proportions. Could Porirua capitalise on their recovery? Rose again faced Sam Williams, staring down the barrel of a king pair. He avoided the ignominy, and even managed to get off strike with a leg-bye (and breathed a sigh of relief when that was not given "out" by Au). One boundary was all he could muster for the cause, though - dismissed for 4 after skying one from Barnden to the safe pair of hands of the Hutt skipper.
Lees was determined to put on a good show for his Aussie girlfriend Hayley, in attendance for her first Haywards Shield match ("and she's a Victorian!"). Denman, too, was looking to make his mark - with his life now in the UK, appearances for his beloved Porirua side were to be treasured indeed. The two men who had been friends since they were young children laid the foundations of a meaningful partnership over the next few overs, accumulating runs with panache and flair. However, with the partnership on 36 and just as things were looking promising, Sam Williams came up with an exigent delivery that Lees could only poke at. Spencer followed in short order. Harper was able to keep out the hat trick ball, but soon the entire innings was at its close with Barnden mopping up both the remaining wickets with a caught-and-bowled into his armpit to send Denman on his way, and a catch to Johnson to dismiss Harper for a duck - Barnden finishing with an outstanding return of three wickets for four runs. The last four Porirua wickets had fallen for no runs.
So the Hutt's target would be 53. On any other day this target would not look particularly challenging, but the Hutt were keenly aware how tough the going had been for the batsmen today - no player had been able to stamp his authority on the match with the willow in hand, so it would be a case of fighting tooth and nail for every run.
Porirua got into their huddle. Many thought this would be to fire up the troops, but in fact the serious matter at hand was to discuss whether the government should return to the gold standard. The men from the west side of the Haywards think it should, and were all agreed - and importantly, no dissenting opinion was rendered from any of the watching female spectators.
Fired up from these discussions, Harper took up the attack. Luke Williams showed a captain's courage by going for the jugular right from ball one, spanking a six and flogging a four to take almost 20% of the runs off the total with two lusty blows in the space of three balls - but when he tried to carry on the onslaught, the ball was skied to the waiting hands of Denman at long-on. Johnson was gone the very next ball - joining Rose and Spencer in the golden duck club for the day by chipping one to Lees at midwicket. Suddenly, things were looking decidedly dicey for the Hutt.
Harper stepped up for the hat-trick delivery to Walters. Charging in like a bull to a red rag, he sent down a thunderbolt which struck Walters flush on his legs - Harper at once screamed his appeal to the umpire, begging for an LBW, but that itchy finger of Au's had been put away for the day, and perhaps the most legitimate LBW shout of the day went unrewarded.
Denman had now found his length. The two men on debut for the Hutt were at the crease and in survival mode. Catches win matches, so they say - and with all the momentum with Porirua, Rose grassed one. A regulation catch - hit firmly for sure, but straight to him. This could have very well been the decisive point of the game.
Soon, Rose was to bowl with the game still finely in the balance. Smarting from the dropped catch a couple of overs earlier, he now lined up at the bowling crease to face Walters, his current flatmate. The first ball was well-bowled, but swatted away by Walters for six. The second ball was a slow half-tracker, easily dispatched for six more. Striving for a wicket, the next ball was a full toss, expertly cleared to the fence for a four. But things were about to go from bad to worse - by now, Rose has a serious case of the yips and proceeded to bowl three wides in a row - wides which gifted the Hutt even more runs towards their target. Eventually Rose had to revert to bowling off a deliberate short run-up just to try to finish the over. Walters smashed one of these to the fence for another six. With two balls still to bowl, Rose's over was 664www6 and surely wishing the ground would open up and swallow him whole. He bowled another two wides before finally lobbing down a couple of fair balls to end it. In just one over, Walters had heroically turned the tide and got the Hutt to within touching distance of victory.
With now only a few runs left to defend, Spencer was on a hiding to nothing - but that didn't stop him from removing Barnden to reduce the margin to two wickets, a margin more in keeping with what had been a close, competitive affair. The next ball, Sam Williams hit a six off the first delivery he faced in the innings to return the Haywards Shield to the Hutt, and put the icing on his own personal status as the man-of-the-match.
Memories for players and supporters are important because they provide context and give each encounter meaning and significance. Sport is about losing as much as winning, the experience of the first sweetening the experience of the second. Great memories reinforce the reasons for playing; sour ones provid the motivation need to ensure that the contest is ongoing, for it is in the dark moments that some kind of rejuvenation must be planned, and it is this feeling that Porirua must take away from the contest.
But for the Hutt Valley it was no time to reflect, rather it was a time to enjoy. To hell with cold explanations and cool analysis, it was time to soak in the kind of experience granted to few. In top-class sport, it is the fractions that count, and the fractions throughout this match went to the Hutt Valley - and it is they who will enter next summer, the 10 year anniversary of the Haywards Shield - as the reigning champions.
