The build up to the “Ashes Series for Deaf Ceicketers”
On the 26th and 27th April 2008 twenty three of the best deaf and hearing impaired cricketers from all over the country, took part in a match at Campbell Park, Milton Keynes for a North of England versus the South of England two day game under the auspices of ECAD (England Cricket Association for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired).
CAMPBELL PARK, MILTON KEYNES
The players came from as far north as Northumberland and as far south as Devon and the vast majority had travelled to Milton Keynes the evening before, staying at a local hotel, to be fresh for the match. The two day game was seen as a vital build up for the Test Matches that will take place in July when the Deaf Australian team will travel to England to compete against England Deaf team for the “Ashes Series for Deaf Cricketers”. The match was an ideal opportunity for players established in the squad to cement their places in the team and for emerging players in the development squad to push their case for inclusion in the squad. Saturday 26th was a fine day right from the start and the superb facilities and ground were a fitting setting for such an important match. Considering the weather that had preceded the match, the ground was in superb condition and the wicket was excellent although it was bound to be slow and give some assistance to the bowlers. The North was managed by Blyth Duncan Snr, the ECAD Assistant Coach and captained by Nigel Davenport whilst the South was managed by Jeff Levick, the ECAD Team Manager and captained by Umesh Valjee, the current England captain. This enabled the ECAD Head Coach, Ron Young to take an unbiased overview of the whole proceedings. The two day game had been organized to give preparation, especially for the younger players who had never played the longer version of the game, for the 3 day Test Matches to be played later in the summer.
Following a strenuous warm up and practice, Umesh Valjee won the toss and decided to insert the North hoping to take early wickets in the North’s batting line up. Mike Kelly who was to keep wicket for the south unfortunately had an accident when the ball struck him on the nose. He was unable to keep and after a few overs, Johnathan Neal took his place and kept well throughout the rest of the game. The North opened with the regular England opening batsmen, Chris Hughes and Ben Young.
Progress was slow, although there were some good quick singles take, due to some very tight and good bowling from the South’s opening bowlers. Two current England internationals opened the bowling, Mohammad Farooq at one end and Mark Woodman, the former opening bowler for Devon. The pressure exerted by Woodman eventually lead to Hughes trying to hit over the top only to be caught by Matt Everett with the score at 10. Young was joined by Andy Wood, another current international, and batting very steadily they added a further 48 runs before Young was adjudged LBW to change bowler Mike O’Mahony, one of the longest serving members of the England team.
Wood was joined by the North captain, Nigel Davenport. The pair batted sensibly through to just before lunch when Andy Wood retired. One of the new young stars of the England Team, James Dixon joined Davenport and together with a combination of good running and some excellent hitting started the acceleration of the innings. Davenport scored an excellent 50 and Dixon was run out by an excellent piece of fielding from Neil Magdani, one of the young development players. Davenport declared the innings on 180 for 3 after 58 overs shortly before tea. Woodman had bowled an excellent 2 spells of 15 overs 5 maidens 1 for 27 closely followed by O’Mahony who bowled 12 overs 1 for 29. Andy Shayegan, Saul Allison and Daniel Webster from the development squad also bowled very credibly.
Matt Everett, another one of the new young stars in the squad, unfortunately tweaked a hamstring when attempting to take a catch and was unable to open the inningsfor the South. Chris Hughes was therefore asked to open the batting with Umesh Valjee the captain of the South. Moazzam Rashid, again one of the new young squad members, opened the bowling for the North. After a nervous start, the young, quick, left arm over the wicket bowler, caused problems with his pace and bounce and bowled really well in his first spell without any luck. At the other end Darrell Sykes bowled his usual excellent line and length at a lively pace throughout. Chris Hughes had retired after a useful knock to get him into form for the “Ashes Series” and Mike O’Mahony joined Valjee just as the bowlers had been changed.
Liam Backhurst, a young development bowler from the North East had just been introduced. He had worked very hard on bowling a tight line and length during the winter and he was delighted to have O’Mahony caught by Davenport in the slips. He continued to bowl an exceptional spell that evening and finished the day 5 overs 1 maiden 1wk for 11 runs. At the other end, Valjee had batted in his own elegant style until he had reached 42. He then played an uncharacteristic shot across the line and was out caught by a good diving catch by Dixon at wide mid off from the bowling of Blyth Duncan Jnr. James Dixon became the next bowling partner of Duncan Jnr and together they bowled well in tandem applying real pressure on the batsmen. Neil Magdani batted a long time for 6 before he was LBW to Duncan Jnr. Stefan Pichowski and Mike Kelly quickly fell to James Dixon and the South ended the day 84 for 5. with Duncan Jnr 8 overs 4 maidens 2 wks for 16 runs and Dixon 7 overs 1 maiden 2 for15. Definitely the North’s day.
The weather forecast for the next day was not good throughout the country and the ground staff indicated that if any substantial rain fell overnight, there would be very little chance of further play. Arrangements were therefore made to train indoors if the day was a washout. However the South’s Team Manager, Jeff Levick was very upbeat and thought the South would give the North a run for their money if play took place the next day.
Fortunately the next day, there had been no rain overnight and although it was overcast after warmups, the match got underway. The wicket had sweated a little overnight and Davenport was confident that his bowlers would bowl the South out cheaply. However thanks to some luck and some good batting from Saul Allison, one of the young development players who made 36 and Mike O’Mahony who made 26 not out before retiring, the South made a credible 161 which was good considering the position they had found themselves. A sixteen year old from the Southampton area, James Higgins on his first bowl for the team bowled well 3 overs 0 for 6.
The North decided to try and make some quick runs and set the South a target with a view to try and push for a result. Davenport decided to give some of the younger development squad a chance to prove themselves and changed the batting order quite substantially. Unfortunately the move backfired and Woodman using all his experience and getting the most out of the wicket cleaned out the top order finishing with figures of 5 overs 5 maidens 3 wks for 0 runs. Blyth Duncan Jnr batted very sensibly for 38 off 84 balls but could not find partners to stick with him especially when Stefan Pichowski, the left arm spinner was introduced. He bowled 7.2 overs 3 maidens 5wks for 11 runs. He was superbly supported by Andy Shayegan who took 4 excellent catches – 3 in the deep and one in the gully region. “Buckets” as he is now known can be very proud of his first match for ECAD. The end result was that the North were bowled out just before tea for a miserly 75 leaving the South 30 overs to make 95 to win the match.
The wicket had lost any early devilment and the South batted very sensibly after tea to knock off the winning runs for the loss of three wickets with just over 2 and half overs to spare. Mike O’Mahony looking very dominant making 47, well supported by Daniel Webster (17) and Neil Magdani (17). The two days proved very useful preparation for the forthcoming Test Matches and Ron Young, the Head Coach was very impressed with everyone’s commitment, the intensity of the cricket and the overall standard of the play and is sure that there is now a real future for deaf cricket in this country.
Huge thanks have to be offered to Mr. and Mrs. Hildreth who manage the facility at Campbell Park for the way they looked after us all, the catering staff who served up terrific lunches and teas, the umpires and scorers who did a terrific job and of course the ground staff who prepared such a great pitch for the match to take place. Once again thanks to the two girls in the team, Sula Gleeson, our interpreter and Lucy Ridng, our secretary. Where would we be without their great help.