BACK TO SCHOOL: KINGS SNEAK HOME

February 27, 2018. Coloured clothing. White balls. Numbered kit. School cricket has come a long way since I left the curcuit more than a decade ago. While so much has changed, at least the high-school haircuts remain. After some weekly Saturday morning indecision and consultation, I decided to go full grassroots and see what Mount Albert Grammar and King's College had to offer.

Besides a squared-off boundary, the Mount Albert facilities were as impressive as I remembered. The school was a hive of activity with cultural groups singing and drumming throughout the morning as the home side won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Joshua Oliver hit the pads first up and immediatedly asked questions of the umpire. It didn’t take long to settle in to familiar high school cricket – the fielders full of chirp and the bowlers concentrating on accuracy.

Sharp fielding and the testing left arm orthodox of Umang Patel set the tone for a tight start. When it was time to capitalise on their own good work, Mount Albert’s standard slipped briefly. A full-toss swatted awkwardly to mid-on went down before a high throw from cover was enough for a run-out opportunity to pass by.

The reprieve didn’t last long as Matthew Kelsall swooped on a chance at square leg. Diving underarm flick. Direct hit. Out. A gem was then offered as one of the Mount Albert fielders claimed it as a team wicket. The first boundary, a short ball pulled at a catchable height through the ring, came in the tenth over as Tom Simmonds got into his work.

The odd misfield crept in and Mount Albert coach Tony Sail encouraged his side to keep bowling straight. The fifteen over peaked my interest as I thought I may have been witness to fake fielding. Mount Albert, however, had been penalised for not informing the umpires of a substitute fielder. Rather non-eventful in the end, but something Sail had admitted to have never seen before.

At times Simmonds was a little handsy, but when he waited for the ball he looked a classy player. He latched on to length accessing the mid-wicket boundary before punishing a short and wide delivery through the vacant point area. Kelsall beat the outside edge and then put down a tough return catch.

Benjamin Seavill kept the batsmen thinking during his initial six-over burst and was eventually rewarded for his miserly efforts clutching on to Simmonds’ attempt to hit down the ground. Maximus Soares started with some all-sorts, but his first over did include the dropping of Thorn Parkes at short fine-leg early in the left-hander’s innings. Just as Dimithri Gallage began chancing his arm, he was wonderfully yorked by the around-the-wicket off-spin of Soares.

Kings couldn’t find the boundary regularly and quick – and at times reckless – singles had to suffice. After minor contributions, Patel trapped both Will Paranthoine and George Cory-Wright in front. Parkes was brilliantly run out by Nathan Cook who miraculously dived from a straight extra cover. It was the result of risky singles and it wasn’t to be the last. King's crumbled to 150/6 courtesy of another mix-up.

The seventh wicket followed and the idea of bowling Kings out must have gone through Mount Albert minds. Aiden Fraser and Hayden Dickson soaked up the pressure. The pair saw King's through to 205/7 with Dickson hitting a sumptuous six onto the entrance of the gymnasium.

It was always going to be a tricky chase on a slowing wicket. Charles Cleal started King's defence with a ten ball over – three wides and a no ball. HDickson added a no ball of his own to the early extras tally, but more than made up for it when a full toss crashed into Cook’s front pad. King's used four different bowlers in the first five overs as coach Dipak Patel tried to let his captain know his bowlers may have been at the wrong ends.

Archie Shaw became HDickson’s second victim edging a flayed drive. First slip Cory-Wright parried the ball from above his head. He then dived and outstretched his right hand to grab King's second. It was a messy start, but King's did have two wickets inside six overs.

The Mount Albert reply was assisted by a spate of extras – 16 in the first ten overs. While four free hits went unpunished, Jesse Gage and Keertivaasan Prakash slowly chipped away at the total. Gage’s slow departure from the crease will suggest he considered himself unlucky to have been caught at point. CDickson, with no time to think about self-preservation, dived forward to spectacularly scoop up a well-hit half-chance.

King's had done well to push the run-rate up. Prakash was particularly patient outside the off-stump. He looked square at every opportunity, but showed he was more than capable when the bowler got too straight. Soares survived an early stumping opportunity and Sail took the moment to urge his batsmen to just bat and he had a point; with seven wickets in hand, that was all that Mount Albert required.

Hari Kukreja, Hugo Hill and CDickson combined as singles and twos came through the middle overs. The big overs and the boundaries, however, never came. The spinners bowled twenty overs for 63 – and this effort included ten wides between them – while CDickson’s wobblers were equally as economical. The slow vigils of Prakash and Soares eventually ended, Gallage ran around the ball and hit the one stump he had to aim at from backward point to remove Kush Warule and the run-rate started to blow out. 85 runs required. 13 overs to bat. 4 wickets in hand.

The flurry of wickets meant Oliver and Kelsall had no choice but to take their time. Both were new to the crease and King's brought back HDickson to sneak a few overs through. All was going to plan for King's until a pair of beamers added spice to what appeared to be a fizzing affair. HDickson was removed from the crease, but not before 12 runs came off the 44th over.

Needing 51 off 36, only extras and Oliver’s clever gapping kept Mount Albert afloat. Kelsall hit a straight six, but he struggled to tick the strike over regularly. Soon, Mount Albert needed 24 off 12 balls. Kukreja did not concede a boundary at the death; his last over, the 49th, only gave up seven giving Simmonds 17 to defend.

Three twos kicked off the final over. Over cover. Through mid-wicket. To a diving deep-square. With boundaries needed, Oliver heaved across the line and his top edge was caught by keeper Paranthoine running around to short third man. The game was still on with 11 needed off 2 deliveries, but Simmonds snuck them both through to the keeper and King's held on for a ten-run victory.