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And so to the Final, our second in two seasons and, after last year’s capitulation, we were keen to win this one – especially given the opponents were Artarmon Maestros, captained by our old mate Chirag the chucker and non-walker (important to remind readers of this given what was to come…..).
We lost the toss and, strangely on a beautiful day at a big oval, they fielded. With a strong batting line-up (including all four century makers this season) we would have batted first anyway. Big Show and Cagey opened, cheered on a big crowd including Mrs Cagey, Gelo, Claire & JoJo, Ray, Dylan & my dog. Macca, Ben Frawls and Shero’s dad were to swell the spectator ranks later – thanks all.
But we didn’t start well…. Now whilst it’s great to have official umpires for the Finals (2 of them actually for the GF), it doesn’t necessarily mean the quality of the umpiring is any better, just hopefully consistent and fair, the same for both sides. My suspicions of one umpire were aroused when he accused me of being from Yorkshire (apparently he thought I sounded like Michael Parkinson)…... I hope his eyesight is better than his hearing I thought. Seemingly not. Dead though Parky sadly now is, I’m sure looking down he would not have thought Cagey out in the first over, ‘caught’ behind to one he missed by some distance. The volume of the appealing (to be a constant theme in our innings) might have impacted old bloke umpire and up went his finger, faster than we thought he was physically capable. To be fair, Maestros were bowling well and with the outfield not as quick as it looked from a distance, progress was difficult. Nevertheless we reached 40odd for 1 (12 overs), with Big Show (21) leading the way, including a big six from a characteristic pull shot before being caught trying to repeat the shot a few balls later. Riordo was also looking good (as he has all season) but then a typical Taronga finals wobble saw us collapse to 66-6 (after 22 overs) – a flurry of wickets either side of drinks seeing the back of Riordo (23), Yogesh (5), Romo (2) – all bowled by the same guy - and Sharpy LBW for a first ball duck. (But at least the umpires will be consistent we said). Needless to say the mood in the camp at that point was not great.
AB joined Nirav in the middle to a very noisy reception, plenty of chirping with Maestros bragging they had the game in the bag. But there were still 13 overs to go and we said, if we can get to 110 or 120 ….GF scoreboard pressure, we always bowl well in Finals, we’re owed a couple of decisions from the umpires etc etc - you never know. After a period of consolidation, scoring at 3.5 runs an over, we reached 93 without further loss with 5 overs to go. 5ish an over from here gets us to 120. What followed however was likely the greatest knock in a Finals match by a Taronga player (Shero certainly thought so when he later raised it on the WhatsApp chat). Fired up by constant chirping from the fielders and regular rebuke from old mate umpire for taking his time (seriously ….?), Nirav went mad, hitting 6 fours and 5 huge sixes in pummelling 65 off the last 5 overs. An incredible effort. In those last few overs the team’s expectations on a total were regularly corrected from 120 to 130, oooh 140 is on here, maybe we can get 150? In the end we finished on 159-6, an unbroken seventh wicket partnership of 93 – with Nirav a magnificent 82no and the bloke at the other end, with the best seat in the house to watch the fireworks, 13no. We had the momentum in the game …… and Maestros were not quite as chirpy as they’d been 5 overs earlier …..
But we had to bowl well and take our catches. A cricketing cliché but true. We knew Maestros had some good hitters – especially the skipper, who strangely hadn’t bowled in our innings. (Some thought, more than a touch conspiratorially, that it was something to do with neutral umpires and his ‘unique’ bowling action…). Our opening spell was just what we ordered with both Romo and Stu bowling beautifully, Stu taking 2-25 (finally some deserved wickets!) and Romo 0-17 (unlucky as in the SF not to grab 2 or 3). Maestros were 12-2 off 9 overs and one batsman was overheard offering this advice to his partner - “mate – just close your eyes and swing …!”. They recovered to reach 42-2 off 15 overs – identical to where we were at that stage actually…. But enter Shero. In a beautiful spell of 7 overs he took 5-12 – which included a couple of lovely catches – one from Ray (sub-fielding for Riordo) diving to his left and one from Sharpy low-down (difficult for old blokes those) plus a couple of LBWs (gotta love those neutral umpires). AB at the other end (1-14) played second fiddle for the second time that afternoon. “AB was Lock to my Laker”, said Shero in the Diddy after the game (definitely one for the old cricket tragics that one). With wickets falling regularly, the cry from Raj after each wicket got louder and louder…. “Bumshakalakar …Another one goes. Bumshakalakar” !
In the middle of Shero’s spell was an incident that warrants specific attention. It wasn’t a game changer (they were in deep trouble at 50-6 after 20 overs) but it certainly hastened our path to victory!. At number 7, out walked skipper Chirag, not our favourite player on the circuit given his previous displays of ‘sportsmanship’ with us, but someone who can take a game away from you. Sharpy, fielding at short midwicket had noticed after a few deliveries how Chirag arrogantly stood out of his crease before and after playing the ball. When he hit the next ball from Shero straight to Sharpy, Sharpy threw it at the stumps and just missed…. There were a few oohs and ahhs and heads in hands, but then ever-alert Big Show seeing our mate was still out of his crease, threw and hit the stumps “HOWZAT??!!” Confusion then followed ….. Chirag was out of his ground but was claiming it was a dead ball (similar bollocks to ‘it was a bump ball’ when he was clearly out in the earlier fixture). The umpires conferred and the finger went up. GONE!! Chirag and his mate at the other end (who ironically had been the ‘umpire’ in the earlier fixture) went mental, screaming at me to call him back, claiming a ‘lack of sportsmanship’ 😁 and at one point threatening to walk off and take no further part in the game…. In the end order was restored by the umpires but my it was an enjoyable moment of karma. (The only thing missing was having Jacko on the pitch, he'd have loved the moment). The game restarted and we wrapped up the innings – including a wicket for Sharpy (not often would he have taken more wickets than scored runs in a game …). Maestros were all out for 75.
The silliness carried on after the game with most of the Maestros players refusing to shake hands and continuing to have a go at some of our guys but the simple matter was Chirag was clearly out, (and neutral umpires had given it out). Victory by 84 runs. Grand final winners!
And so another season ends – this time with a sweet victory. Well done to Riordo, Nirav, Yogesh and Sharpy for the runs this season and to Raj, Nirav, Romo, Ray, Shero and myself for the wickets, Big Show’s wicket keeping and to Stu for coming out of retirement (again) and getting important wickets in the GF !! I’d also like to thank everyone else who’s played this year – including those blokes who helped us get through the first half of the season when times were tough (the likes of Nikhan, Sam and Dhruv) plus a big shout out to Gelo and Ray, who didn’t make the GF team but were there at the ground and in the Diddy celebrating afterwards. A double celebration actually, as the B Grade OICC team also won their GF. Well done Mr President for that!