Greenies Ones staggered to a disappointing defeat at the hands of the unfancied Paramount side on Sunday at JPO.

Ones had struggled to name a side this week with Rupert leaving for the season and Josh and Hector out with work commitments.  Steve Smith backed up from the Toos game the day before and Big John and Jimmy were drafted in.

The toss was always going to be vital and it didn’t go our way.  Having to chase a total after fielding 50 overs in the heat is a demanding task and the JPO pitch wears and suffers low bounce as the afternoon goes on.  

The Greenies then took to the field with 8 players for a variety of reasons. Wrendon arrived at the ground without his Green Dreams. A mix-up sent Tom driving around the island looking for the team kit. Jimmy failed to turn up at all and we were left to play a crunch match with 10 men.

Much was written and talked about the club's new winning attitude and desire to be competitive but it wasn’t in evidence as the clubs undermanned top grade kicked off their season. 

Ledger and Sean opened the bowling in an attacking fashion and troubled the batsmen with good movement. Despite their best efforts we were unable to stop the runs with only eight players that had to include two catching fielders and as a result Paramount were given a 30 run head start.  

Greenies fought hard and with the dismissal of dangerman Deano we were well on top.  With a full strength bowling attack we may have been able to put Paramount away but they began to show signs that they we were going to have to fight for it.  A poor 4 or 5 over spell after the drinks break saw the direction of the game change. A fired up Tom Stephens then claimed a wicket in his first over to a Sean Cameron catch.

Skipper Watson dropped a tough chance next ball.  The batsman capitalising to go on to score 40 odd and he an Jonty put together a telling partnership. They hit some big sixes and defended well when we required but we failed to execute a series of close runouts and other half chances.  Some close umpiring calls also didn’t go our way. 

The fielding highlight was definitely the bowling of Faisal on debut.  He picked up 4 wickets and constantly troubled the batsman with variations in spin and pace.  Big John also gave his all and affected two runouts. Paramount breezed past 200 which is the target when batting first in these games. Chasing the total down was a big ask after fielding 50 overs in the heat but still gettable if batsman were to post a couple of big scores.



















We threatened at times to chase the total down but ended up falling well short.  The batting reflected the fielding and bowling in that while we tried hard and fought to the death we just lacked the bit of extra magic to get the points.














Highlights of the day included Ledger and Cameron up to the task with the new ball. Faisal took up the challenge of playing first team cricket and his bowling in this match showed that he will play a key role in the team’s season. The innings of Chris Smith and Ledger also showed that with better support from the top order the team has the batting depth to post a large total.

With two front-line bowlers out and playing with only ten men, any team in the competition would struggle to win a game unless they produced a five star performance.  We just didn’t produce on the day against a weak opposition.

The fine session as always was in held in good spirits but the skipper was forced to hand over the reigns for the final few minutes while he engaged in a lengthy spew session out the front of the stand. Big John also showed he would take some beating in a sculling competition. A separate non-alcoholic fine bottle though has become a priority.Thanks also to Ivan for sub-fielding and scoring, a great display of club spirit as always.

MOTM  - Ledger for a top innings.
COTD   - Wrendon, 3 overs for 30 and turning up late.
Play of the day  - Big John’s runouts.
J Michael Outlet Award - Scott Watson for 1980s Okanui shorts and fielding in an Akubra hat.