'WHEN YOU DROP AN ACE, THEY'LL SCORE ONE-FIFTY'

October 7, 2017. When TWD settled on a season opener to cover, Suburbs New Lynn were set to host North Shore at their season-long home of Eastdale Reserve. Not only did the match offer the most intrigue, with it being Suburbs’ first since last season’s final-day relegation and Shore considered their biggest promotion rivals, it also paid homage to Enzo Giordani’s (of in-the-back-of-the.net fame) footballing tradition of attending the home opener of the nearest local club to his house.

That all changed mid-week when North Shore were asked to host the game at Vauxhall Road. Devonport called; the intrigue still remained with rumours that Martin Guptill might suit up for his beloved Suburbs. They were merely rumours, but the Westies still travelled with a strong squad.

It’s cold, overcast and we – I’ve been joined by long-time teammate and former North Shore leggie Sheahan Huri – are running a little late. The first ball we see, at the start of the fourth over, is a sumptuous straight-drive from Jonny Bassett-Graham. Sheahan recognises the batsman immediately.

Club cricket in early October is a funny old thing. Ten overs in and we are reminded why; two shelled chances, two batsmen playing confidently through the line and a fielding side with few answers. Michael Barry gets down and sweeps hard straight to square leg. The ball bursts through the fielder’s hands and away to the boundary. A few overs later, Bassett-Graham is beaten in flight and chips a tough chance to mid-off. That too goes down and both openers are given lives. Ironically the first wicket eventually falls to a superb piece of fielding when Graeme Beghin throws down the stumps from mid-off catching Bassett-Graham short of his ground.

Early season uncertainty and unavailability forces teams into trying different styles and strategies. North Shore came in with two genuine seam options. It left captain Beghin with a lot of spin to bowl. With set batsmen in Barry and Indian import Raj Majithia, the singles came easy. While the scoring slowed, Suburbs kept wickets in hand; a score in excess of 350 appeared rather likely.

Barry raced through the seventies and eighties launching several big bombs before offering a relatively simple caught and bowled opportunity on 93. As often happens after a reprieve so close to such a significant milestone, he momentarily took his foot off the gas and edged his way to a few-frills hundred.

Tim Duncraft made brief in-roads to stem the flow before the final onslaught. He picked up returning skipper Victor Davies and castled James Parslow, but the dying overs were underlined by Barry clearing the North Shore Rugby Football Club with a monstrous six. He finished on 152* as players and supporters gathered to applaud his efforts as the players came from the field. There was an ease to which the all-rounder found gaps and put pressure back on the Shore bowlers.

While Suburbs had the runs on the board – 308/5 – North Shore will have been upbeat about the how the final fifteen overs played out. The beauty of bowling first is that no matter how badly the first innings may go, the chase always provides a second chance. Positive field sets and the extra bounce of debutant Eli Meenhorst put North Shore in trouble early and often. Meenhorst, who is said to have trained with several different clubs – including North Shore – during the pre-season, struck in his first, second and fourth overs to reduce the Devonport lads to 29/5. Game effectively over. Suburbs remained clinical throughout before Davies offered his young upstart the tail and a chance for a five-for.

The game ended with two James Parslow catches – one running back from mid-off and the other running and diving to his right – as Meenhorst picked up his fourth and fifth wickets to seal a convincing 210 run victory.

First blood to Suburbs, but these sides will meet again (twice) with much more at stake. The Tom Hellaby and the race for promotion begins in a fortnight.