On a perfectly warm Autumnal afternoon, 22 players were grateful that the
match cancelled 9 days previously had been rescheduled with a little help
from various friends following the cessation of some other clubs' Summer
programmes.
On a day of debuts & firsts, John Baglivi lead out a Pacific XI for the 1st
time in 7 years, which included 10 changes from the 2000 match which Flying
Wickets won by 2 wickets. Getting to know his line up was John's first
priority however with an average of less than 5 games per player this
season.
Marcel Boonaert - probably the bowling finds of the season - had to keep
wicket due to injury.
Another opening partnership was tried Matt Holliday (3) & Paul Alexander (4), the latter playing his 1st game of the season.
Richard Bielby (33) (Graces CC/Foreign & Commonwealth CC) impressed with
bat & ball & Joe Cannon (2) (Victoria Lounge CC) took what John described
as a totally blinding catch at gully to dismiss the FW opener Ratunga (0) off DeKeller then later took a wicket with his 1st ball - the 1st time
this had been done since 1997 & only the 5th time this has occurred, when
the Captain caught Rathod (17) at the long on boundary as FW accelerated
towards a declaration.
WICKET WITH FIRST BALL FOR PACIFIC
Senna Gooneratny v Scala Cinema 31.7.83
(Senna may have bowled in one previous match)
Chris Turner v Our Price 26.4.87
(Chris took wickets with his only two balls in this match)
Andrew Wood v Bramhall 26.5.92
(A Bramhall player - his only appearance for Pacific)
Evan Gard v Weston Colville 14.9.97
(A Balsham player - his only appearance for Pacific)
Joe Cannon v Flying Wickets 22.9.01
Lucius Faisal bowled very well and got deserved breakthroughs (stunning gully catch
by Joe Cannon for the 1st wicket) in finishing on 2 for 28 off
10.
FW built their innings around South African Guy Wiehahn (75 ) who played
impressively especially off the back foot before he was dismissed chasing a
wider ball to his fellow countrymen - bowled Rees, caught Boonaert.
Following the tea interval, another opening pairing played themselves in
with a degree of greater caution which subsequently left the middle & lower
order with more than the 5 an over P had required from the start. Wickets
fell to the chase & with the FW opening pair bowling 30 overs without
change, FW sought to secure a position they could not lose from before
seeking out the win.
The win however, was only wicket away as captain John
Baglivi (again) & left hander Shayne Rees took the side home to safety with
6 overs left. Both Captains John Baglivi & Jeremy Moores agreed that honours
were even before the Wickets set off for their winter break in Dulwich.
Meanwhile, Pacific cross the Thames again next weekend to play in the 28th
fixture against Crossbats - having drawn the home match in Oxford back in
July.
FW: 199-8 dec G Wiehahn 75 L Faisal 10-2-28-2 J Baglivi 8-1-25-2
P: 137 -9. R Bielby 33 Jones 15-7-20-4
