Pembroke-en hearted as Kear sees Balbriggan through
On 21st June Balbriggan's long delayed Storm Trophy quarter final against Pembroke II finally went ahead, albeit in the shorter 20 overs format.
On the longest day of the year and one of the wettest, the teams finally took to the field, or more like marshland, to commence battle. Having won the toss, captain Paddy Martin opts for Balbriggan to bat first on a damp wicket and a very wet square and outfield.
Barry Archer took guard and prepared himself to face the first ball with S Anwar at the non-strikers end. The pair put on 23 for the first wicket when Archer top edged one and was out, caught. Anwar went on to hit a superb 38 off 32 balls when he finally fell, bowled, by J Walia.
Gavin Morgan had already come and gone, for 6 runs in the unluckiest way cricket can conjure up. He was adjudged, run-out, when Anwar smashed one straight down the ground only to see the ball deflected onto his stumps by bowler Danny Barclay. 55 for 2 at that stage.
Enter Man of the Match, Roger Kear. His innings of 64 runs off just 42 balls was one of the most aggressive, yet fluent, seen on the ground for a long time. He hit the ball to the four corners of the ground and beyond. His four 6's and four 4's had us in raptures. His partner during most of his innings, Adrian Harper had us in knots as he tried to make two runs from every single, only to be given the Kear stare on more than one occasion, followed by the Kear roar, "NOOOOOO".
Despite this Harper added a very useful 20 to the score before he too was out, bowled by Whaley, with the score having reached 141 for 4. The teams had been in and out a couple of times for short rain breaks but it didn't seem to affect their concentration or batting performance. Indeed in the case of Roger Kear the rain seemed to spur him on and when he finally fell off the 3rd ball of the final over, having helped take the score to 147 it was from a combination of hitting out and tiredness that saw him caught just inside the boundary. Sean Malone scored 4 to give Balbriggan a very competitive 147 for 6 at the close of their innings.
By the time Pembroke opened their innings the square looked like a battle field with chunks of grass and mud strewn around and wheel marks from the covers clearly visible from the boundary.
Their opening pair of R O'Loughlin and J Balbirnie put on 43 before Balbirnie was caught and bowled by, yes, you've guessed it, that man Kear. What an impact he was having on this game. However, it was the rain that would eventually have the biggest impact. The teams were forced to play through it at times and come off two or three time more before finally having to abandon it altogether. But not before man of the match Kear had taken two further wickets to give him match figure of 22 for 3 off his four overs. What a pity neither his batting nor bowling figures will count in the seasons averages. As I said the match was abandoned at 8:45pm with Pembroke staring defeat in the face on 82 for five with just 4 balls remaining in the 16th over.
The teams would have to sit around until 9:15pm, the cut off time, and mentally prepare for the dreaded bowl-out. The Balbriggan team was about to step into their second bowl-out in two years, having lost 1-0 to Clontarf in the semi final of this cup in 2009. Would it be a repeat of that score? We prayed not.
9:25pm, let the bowl-out begin. Balbriggan to bowl first. Nervous looks on all 22 faces and similar looks on the faces of those around the new makeshift perimeter, just outside the square.
Skipper Paddy Martin steps into the breach. A short run up, the ball is bowled, would it hit the stumps? No! It misses and Balbriggan heads droop a bit. But he was not to be alone, as one by one both teams sent their players forward to hit those 3 stumps and one by one they failed. "What is going on "I hear someone close by whisper. "Surely they can hit them" but one by one they continue to miss until all 22 players have tried and failed.
Sudden death, those two words we didn't want to hear. If Balbriggan miss and Pembroke hit its all over. Paddy Martin steps up, he bowls, but once again the stumps stand erect. Pembroke miss, Balbriggan miss, Pembroke miss again. 26 attempts to hit the stumps and 26 times the bails do not fall. Kear takes the ball. As every bowler does he rubs the ball on his now muddy trousers. He takes a few paces back and starts his advance. His arm rises above his head, the ball is released, it floats through the air and almost disappears against the by now black skyline. It pitches about a meter short of the stumps, straightens and "bang" the stumps are uprooted and the bails fly over the wicket keepers head.
All 10 of the engrossed Balbriggan side jump and scream with delight as do most of the onlookers. "Is that it" someone asks me with a huge smile on his face, "no" I said, Pembroke have one ball to equalise. "Sxxx" was the immediate response. We hold our breath as the ball is handed to what could be the most hated man on the pitch as far as Balbriggan is concerned. He steps up, looks at what must seem like three match sticks standing 22 yards away, runs up, sends the red leather missile on its way and with all eyes transfixed on the stumps, afraid to blink in case they don't see it, the ball bounces and sails past the stumps. They stand tall and unbroken.
The crowd erupts, the Balbriggan players to a man mob Mr KEAR, the legend, the hero, the unflinching, the modest, the bleedin' superman. Smiles and congratulations all round the Balbriggan camp and despair and disappointment in the Pembroke camp. "Justice, the best team won" the man to my immediate left tells me and who am I to argue. Balbriggan is in the semi-final for the 3rd year running and as holders their hands are still firmly gripping the handles of the Senior II cup.
A special thanks must go to umpires M Russell and D Walsh who did their best to keep the match going as long as possible, but as Mr Russell said to me during one of the rain breaks, even God must hate umpires. I wouldn't go that far Martin, hate is a very strong word. Dislike would be more like it.
A special thanks to Pembroke who played their part under very difficult circumstances. Their sportsmanship deserves to be mentioned.
Finally, to those of you who say cricket is boring, why not learn the rudiments of the game go to a match somewhere, and perhaps witness a classic, close game, and have your mind changed.
Roll on the semi-final.
Slan
Gemmell
Reproduced with kind permission of Balbriggan CC
