Middlesex CCC
England have good Ballance despite some Beer
Main Stand Traeger Park
By Rogers and Out
January 18 2014
Rogers & Out provides a report with some great pictures from Chairman's X1 v England in Alice Springs. We read about sniffer dogs on arrival, insight into the local geography, comments on Englands cricket fortunes and grog served in " grog free" area at the "Oval". Well these are called Beer matches.
Chairman's XI v England - Alice Springs - Day One
Our initial intention, when planning our trip to Australia, was to take in both the Brisbane and Adelaide test matches, but due to a change of dates, it was only possible to get to the match in Queensland’s capital. However, a few months before we were due to depart, I discovered that the practice match against the Chairman’s XI had been moved from Canberra to Alice Springs. The date of this match meant that we could get to the first of the two days, so the last three days of our holiday were spent in the Northern Territory.
We flew from Brisbane to Alice Springs via Cairns and when we disembarked from our flight in Alice, the heat was such that you could feel it burning your face immediately. Brisbane’s temperatures had been in the high twenties/low thirties. Alice Springs was generally in the high thirties. After checking in to our hotel, we took a taxi into town to try to secure some grandstand tickets for the match, but they had sold out. We were told that seating in the shade would be available on the day at $10 per ticket, so we retired to the Todd Tavern for some cold refreshment.
Alice Springs is a town quite unlike any other I have visited. Miles from anywhere with a population of any size, it has the feel of a frontier town. There are 29,000 inhabitants, of which around 20% are said to be of indigenous origin. The Todd River runs through the town but it rarely contains any water due to the dry climate.
The not so mighty Todd River
The hotel receptionist had told us to be vigilant and not to answer any knock on the door without first checking with reception. We were soon greeted with the sight of police with a sniffer dog in the hotel, and there was an odd atmosphere about the whole town. For the second day of our visit, we’d booked a coach trip to Uluru (Ayers Rock) which turned out to be excellent, although it was a very long day as it is around 300 miles away from Alice Springs. Strangely enough, it rained pretty much all the way down to Uluru.
The match at the Traeger Park Oval started the next day, and we set off early to ensure that we secured seats in the shade. Traeger Park is a stadium with a capacity of around 10,000 and has the feel of a county outground, with a scenic backdrop of the McDonnell Range of mountains. It is more commonly used to host Australian Rules football.
You don't get backdrops like that at Uxbridge
England had selected a second string side, with Ian Bell as captain. This was the opportunity for Steven Finn or Boyd Rankin to impress and perhaps replace Chris Tremlett in Adelaide, although it appeared more likely that Tim Bresnan would step in after his good performance for the Performance side against Queensland Seconds. Monty Panesar was also playing alongside Graeme Swann, but the big talking point was which of Gary Ballance, Jon Bairstow or Ben Stokes would come into the test team after Jonathan Trott’s return home.
There were around 50 or so Barmy Army present at the game, with a stirring rendition of ‘Jerusalem’ at the start of proceedings. I understand they played a cricket match against an indigenous team the day before for charity and ended up losing.
Before start of play, we were treated to England warming up, and Monty provided great entertainment trying to keep up with Jimmy Anderson in the sprints. Usain Bolt he certainly is not. The Chairman’s XI, captained by spinner Mike Beer, did not have many players with much first class experience. They won the toss and elected to field, with the pacy Josh Lalor opening the bowling from the appropriately named Speed Street end to Michael Carberry. Left handed Lalor, who is of indigenous origin, caused both Carberry and Root problems, and he had Carberry sharply caught at midwicket by Marcus Harris for 6 with the score on 14/1.
Joe Root was playing quite skittishly, with several edges running through the slip cordon, and the stadium announcer was mocking his frequent requests for a drink. He eventually found Michael Hill in the gully off the bowling of Jayde Herrick for 22, leaving England on 35/2. The announcer couldn’t resist another jibe at Root on his dismissal. “You can have as many drinks as you like now, Joe” he opined, as Root trudged off.
Talking of drinks, we were dismayed to see a sign stating ‘The Oval – Grog Free’ on the perimeter fence. However, on reaching the refreshment hut, there was a choice of Carlton Mild, Carlton Cold (both pretty mediocre) and Strongbow, so ‘grog’ presumably refers to wine and spirits. Alas, once again, Mrs RaO had to endure a day without wine, although I think she preferred Strongbow to XXXX.
One for the Oxymorons thread
Ballance and the non-wicket-keeping Matt Prior were now at the crease, with the man from Zimbabwe keen to make a large score and stake his claim for a place in the team for Adelaide. Prior too was eager to improve on a poor run with the bat, but despite a couple of stylish boundaries, he edged Simon Mackin to 16 year old ‘keeper Jake Doran for 19.
Another contender for a start in Adelaide, Ben Stokes, joined Ballance in the middle and was much more prepared to play strokes than his more conservative colleague. His breezy innings of 28 from 54 balls was ended when Hill took an excellent catch at short leg off Alex Keath, leaving England on 105/4. Captain Ian Bell came in at number six and Ballance started to play a few more shots. Ballance reached a painstaking half century, when disaster struck. A momentary hesitation when running a quick single to mid on resulted in him being run out for 55, which had taken 134 balls. Bell did not last too much longer, unnecessarily playing at a Mackin delivery, and Doran took his second catch leaving England rather embarassingly placed on 149/6.
Jonny Bairstow and Graeme Swann started to repair some of damage, and quickly built a 49 run partnership before Swann was caught in the deep by Hill off James Muirhead for 29. England declared on 212/7 soon after, with Bairstow unbeaten on 31. This left England ten overs to bowl at the Chairman’s XI openers.
Boyd Rankin opened from the Speed Street end with Steven Finn operating from the Traeger Avenue end, bowling to openers Steven Cazzulino and Mike Hill. They both caused the batsmen problems with their pace, with Finny in particular unlucky to see a couple of edges not go to hand. The Chairman’s XI ended the day on 16/0 and the game looked destined for aninevitable draw with only one more day of play to go.
We decided to walk back to the hotel as the heat of the day had lessened, and crossed the not so mighty Todd River to get there. We were to fly home via Brisbane the next day.
As expected, the match ended in a draw the next day, with the Chairman’s XI making 254/8 declared, and England ending up on 47/1 at the close. Graeme Swann took 4 wickets, Monty Panesar 3 and Boyd Rankin one. Apparently, both Rankin and Finn did their chances of selection for Adelaide no good at all with a series of short, wide deliveries that the hosts were able to deal with comfortably, so Bresnan looks favourite for the Second Test place. Despite Ballance’s half century, I’d be more inclined to select Stokes on the grounds that he can also help share the bowling load.
One final note. The stadium announcer, David Nixon, who had aspirations to comedy (given his performance the day before), was sacked as he apparently announced Monty Panesar’s turn to bowl in a mock Indian accent.
Overall, it had been a terrific trip, despite England’s below par performances. Australia is a great country to visit and I’m looking forward to going again in the near future.
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon18/01/2014 19:04
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014:02:05:18:12:28 by BarmierKev.
The Ghan Railway passes through ASP I believe.
Quote:Seaxe_Man
The Ghan Railway passes through ASP I believe.
Indeed it does SM. We saw the track but never got to see the train itself as I think it only operates a couple of times per week.
It looks a great journey from Adelaide to Darwin (or vice versa) and apparently takes three days. I'd very much like to go on it if I go over again. Might give cricket a miss next time !
