Charity Test Match a great success in Phoenix Park

Cricket and history are almost inseparable. It is a game full of history and tradition and we treasure its names and statistics and its memories of sun-drenched Sundays out on the field. At least that is the way we remember them! History continues to be made in Ireland, with the country playing its first ever Test Match last year and this year playing England at Lords. 

Few people know, though, that another “Test Match” was played to celebrate Ireland's accession to the hallowed ranks of Test status last year. Fittingly it was held in the Phoenix Park, where the first reported cricket was played in Ireland in 1792. The Test was held again this year at Civil Service, a club playing in the Park since 1863 and which hosted this two day game  played not just for fun (though there was plenty of that) and pride but to raise money for homeless charities, this year being Focus Ireland.

John Egan, captain of Chapelizod – a place not short of history itself- was the person who came up with the idea, and was supported by Tony Connell of Civil Service . The criteria for selection of the two teams remains shrouded in secrecy and fog and implementation probably owes as much to chance as strategy. 

Broadly, players at (roughly) the mid to lower level of Cricket Leinster league standard were asked from across a broad range of clubs, including players from country teams. All had to love cricket enough to give up a full weekend in its service! With the help of captains Mark Topping (Ireland) and Peter Auret (Zimbabwe) of the Rest of the World (“ROW”), the two teams were assembled: one from each of 11 different teams in Ireland and one from each of 11 cricket playing countries for ROW, though there were one or two dodgy accents around! 

There was much ceremony beforehand, with cricket whites and a cap (yes, a cap!) presented to each team by David O’Connor of Cricket Ireland and many, many photographs taken. 

The Saturday was fine, if a bit chilly, and the 100 overs targeted for the day's play were achieved, though there was a lot of nervousness about Sunday’s weather.  ROW won the toss and elected to bat . And bat they did, through a long, hard day for the Ireland fielders. The score card tells the story in all its grimness, from the Irish perspective anyway. 

The first wicket fell in the 36th over for an incredible 196 runs. It was a stunning partnership between Roni, who got his century, and Anudeep. The wicket was fitting reward for Alan Parkinson’s tenacious bowling and his 1 for 31 off 11 overs was easily the best of the bowling figures. 

Truth to tell, though, there no poor bowling figures, just rather good batting ones! Every wicket taken was hard work, but even those not taking wickets turned in respectable figures. India’s Anudeep hit 80 and Afghanistan’s Bashir a quickfire 62 before ROW declared on 328 for 5 after 60 overs, much to the relief of the tired Irish fielders.

Ireland then had to face 40 overs before stumps- and it did not go very well. Captain Mark “Dream” Topping opened with Stephen “The Rock” Saunderson, the latter out for a stoic 2 in the 12th over. At close of play Ireland faced disaster having scored 122 for 7, with the Captain’s 57 being by far the outstanding score. Roni was again a major problem for Ireland, taking 1 for 7 off his first 6 over spell. Anudeep was another problem: a double wicket maiden on his second over knocked a hole in the batting line-up before the end of play.

The weather on day 2 looked dubious, the forecast  poor. However the game continued- sometimes through heavy drizzle. News on the Ireland front was better than the weather front and an excellent showing by the tail, notably Paddy Byrne of Lismore’s 39 not out and Willie (“7 teams”) Barr’s 28, which took the team to an unexpected 250 all out from 74 overs. 

The follow-on was averted- though there was some discussion as to whether there could or should be one. Anudeep’s 4 wickets, all bowled, were got cheaply, for 24, whilst his batting partner Roni bowled a mesmerising variety of styles that caused batsmen all sorts of problems. Meanwhile Harri bowled accurately and economically and Bashir showed that Afghans can bowl just as well as they can bat.

At this stage a draw looked likely, given the batting strength of ROW. However, cricket is a funny game and, taking 2 wickets with the first 2 balls of the innings, Mark Topping changed the flow of the game. Suddenly the pressure was on ROW who were 1 for 3 at lunch.  There was resistance from the middle order, notably Roni’s 24, but using a remarkably tight combination of just 3 bowlers ROW were demolished for just 80 runs. In less than 8 overs Topping took an amazing haul of 6 wickets for 30, whilst Parkinson took 3 for 21 in a brilliantly bowled 11 overs. ROW scored 88 All Out In 22.4 Overs. 

Now the advantage had swung to Ireland who had to score 167 off 46 overs - or before the rain really came down. Earlier Ireland had hoped for rain, now ROW prayed for it! But again Roni was the key for ROW and his 4 for 18 off 11 overs swung the advantage to ROW and with Ireland reeling at 86 for 6 in 23 overs, with Bashir chipping in a well bowled 2 for 10, rain finally stopped play.

Last year ROW won convincingly by 7 wickets. This year a wildly see-sawing game could have gone either way, although it was Ireland who were more relieved by the rain finally! ROW, captained so well by Peter Auret, held on to the trophy but the real winners were Focus Ireland who benefitted to the tune of close to €2500 thanks to the huge effort put in by John Egan and Tony Connell. 

Thanks were due to the good humoured umpires Jeremy, Sujay and Amit, who tried their hardest to get the game through to a result despite persistent rain and to Civil Service for the use of their facilities. A special thanks to the sponsors of the excellent  kit for the two teams-  keep the gear clean and safe for the 2020 Test lads! 

The sponsors to be thanked are: 

• Cricket Leinster
• O’Neills Sports
• Dublin City Council
• Andy Wooten (Tiflex)
• cricketcap.co.uk
• Massey’s Marketplace 
• The Bridge Inn, Chapelizod
• The Mullingar House, Chapelizod
• The Villager, Chapelizod