The curtain was finally brought down on the 2016 cricket season at the Oyster Oval today, as Midleton’s Second XI traveled to play North Kerry in the MCU Division 2.
Midleton traveled with only 9 players, as the excesses of a six month campaign started to show, but North Kerry were also struggling for players with a number of regulars unavailable. Though the rain had held off, the yellow wind warning for the west coast had, for once, proven to be extremely accurate, and a number of Midleton players found their urine caught in a vortex of wind, causing a random and damaging pre-game flow. Mine ended up on my face, possibly explaining why Met Eireann chose to refer to it as a yellow warning.
Captain Kieran O’Reilly won the toss, and elected to field. Openers Atif Jameel (into the wind) and Danish Iqbal (with the wind) both worked hard against the conditions, but Danish finally made the breakthrough, taking the wicket of Garzinski. Ali Kalota and Luke O’Reilly worked the hard yards, but it was to be the introduction of the Nottingham Nightmare Pete Thackeray that would turn the game on it’s head, as the mercurial bowler posted figures of 4/20 off of his 6 overs to destroy the middle order. Kieran O’Reilly’s spin took a further three wickets with Danish returning with a wicket to see out the host’s innings on 153.
The strong winds finally brought the rain to Kerry as Midleton went out to bat, and the horrendous conditions combined with the sublime batting of O’Reilly and Dave McDonnell soon demotivated the hosts. Dave hit his 50 with a four, followed shortly after by O’Reilly, again with a boundary. Despite some solid bowling from the hosts, it just wasn’t to be their day, as Dave (73) and Kieran (60) saw the visitors home.
To the hosts; our sincere thanks for the hospitality and always a pleasure. To the visitors; it’s been emotional. To Grainne who delivered the most wonderful sponge cakes during the Midleton innings; we want the recipe.
