Blake Nixon is one of those priceless commodities who make sporting organisations tick……
Cheery, talkative, thoughtful, supportive……he’s the consummate team-man……… and his love of cricket knows no bounds….even though he’d admit he wasn’t near the front of the queue when ability was handed out……
I’ve followed his progress for the last 11 years, since he began as a bottom-age Under 16er at the W. J. Findlay Oval…..and have egged him on in the 46 A-Grade WDCA games he’s managed since.
Despite his self-assuredness I’m convinced he’s still trying to comprehend the events of the past fortnight which have cast him in the role of a cool-headed, conquering cricket hero…….
***
When Blake strode to the crease in last weekend’s Semi-Final, Rovers-United-Bruck were in precarious straits, having limped to 9/87 chasing Ovens Valley’s total of 121.
He was unperturbe, as he and the impregnable Josh O’Donohue eked out the 35 runs which landed the Hawks into a second successive Grand Final clash against Wangaratta-Magpies…….
Again, on Saturday, as the tensions of a dramatic day’s play reached a crescendo, he was handed the nightwatchman’s role……The clock had just ticked past 6pm….the ‘Pies, having captured a couple of late wickets, had roared back into contention……
At 4/41 in response to a modest 84 the game was on a knife’s edge, particularly with the ball asserting so much of an ascendency over the bat…….
Deep down, Hawk fans possibly harboured the thought of the situation worsening…..of the pressure becoming insurmountable for the genuine tail-ender……..
***
I’ve seen 60 or more WDCA Grand Finals and each one seems to write its own script……sides galloping along to a huge first innings total and putting the result beyond doubt……or fighting back from near disaster to clinch the game…….Rain interfering with proceedings in many situations….and, on one occasion, vandals tampering with the wicket overnight……
‘Runs on the Board’ is one time-tested surety…..A paltry score of 120 can be worth 220 when the bowling side tightens the screws and the scoring-rate slows to a trickle…….
And so it transpired in this clash between the two arch-rivals who have staged several riveting battles over the past three years…….
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It began in sensational fashion when Wang-Magpies left-hander Cooper Matheson uppishly drove the opening delivery of the game from Brady Bartlett and was snapped up at square-leg.
Next over, his partner, Jarryd Wallace, was bowled by Paddy McNamara, then skipper Jack Davies edged one to slip shortly after to have the home team reeling at 3/5.
The immediate future of the game rested in the hands of Pranav Menon – the competition’s outstanding player – who has been required on more than one occasion this season to extricate his side from a bog.
He looked in command and played several classy leg-side shots in a developing partnership with Fraser Ellis, before McNamara enticed Ellis to nick one to the ever-alert Koot Pienaar – 4/29.
Whilst ‘Prav’ was at the crease you had the feeling that he’d guide the Pies out of trouble.
Things were moving slowly, however, and at one stage the miserly Hawk pacemen wheeled down nine maidens in 11 overs.
The Hawks rejoiced when Menon, who’d batted pensively but managed to continually find the gaps in the field during his knock of 30, was snapped up in slip off speedster Bartlett, to give Pienaar his third catch of the innings.
What a magnificent season the former Prahran all-rounder has enjoyed…..His season aggregate of 695 runs places him equal 11th in that category, in the competition’s 130-year history.
It was, thereafter, left to Nick Bonwick to mount a rescue mission for the faltering Wang-Magpies…..
The aggressive right-hander had not enjoyed the greatest run of form in the post-Christmas period but looked completely at home.
He’d seen two partners depart and had been seeking to lift the run-rate as he moved to 22…..when tragedy struck……. a Blake Nixon throw caught ‘Bonners’ out of his ground – 9/84.
Experienced medium-pacer Jacob Schonafinger dismissed Zac Guilfoyle to wrap up the innings which gave him the tidy figures of 3/12 (and his 35th career wicket in 11 finals matches).
The consistent Bartlett chimed in with 4/34, whilst Paddy McNamara’s 14 overs were characteristically inexpensive in yielding 2/27.
***
The staggering dominance of bat over ball – to this stage – in the finals series had seen 49 wickets fall for 509 runs, off 290 overs…….With those figures in mind, you knew that the Hawks’ pursuit of 84 was going to be full of pitfalls.
The respective camps were in full voice as solidly-built left-armer Chris Clement, who had taken 42 wickets in an extremely productive season, ran in to bowl to makeshift opener Jeremy Wilson.
Even a tentative defensive shot was greeted with a loud cheer….a play-and-miss drew oohs and aahs from the largish Magpie contingent in the Richardson Stand.
Luke Whitten was first to go when Clement bowled him neck and crop…..Game On !
Shortly after, Wilson straight drove Matt Guilfoyle with force and was snapped up by Nick Pell at mid-off…..at 2/11 the Pie camp was in raptures….
The Hawks’ skipper McNamara, bearing an old head on his 20 year-old shoulders, joined O’Donohue at the crease and, for the next 19 overs, the youngsters proceeded to restore their side’s fortunes…..albeit at a snail’s pace.
O’Donohue is the master of the ‘leave’ and, as he did in his match-winning knock the previous week, was circumspect in his defensive play.
McNamara looked completely comfortable and nudged leg-side shots into the gaps….A pull-shot for 4 off spinner Menon brought raucous applause from the Past Players’ Pavilion.
The Hawk pair had steadily added 22 when disaster struck…….O’Donohue called his partner through for a quick single and was caught short – 3/33.
The swashbuckling South African, Koot Pienaar, arrived…….a man who doesn’t die wondering when he’s at the crease. Whilst every run scored, or wicket taken, seemed to be changing the shape of the game, this fellow had the capability of turning it on its head in the 20 minutes or so that was left in the day’s play.
Alas, he pranced down the crease to Fraser Ellis, skied an attempted lofted straight drive and was caught at mid-on for 2….It was 4/41 and the pendulum had swung the ‘Pies way………
There was much to ruminate on for the Hawks when stumps were drawn……Firstly, that night-watchman Nixon had the defensive mind-set to successfully resist the pressure of the situation; and that McNamara was undaunted by the situation and batting comfortably.
For the Magpies, there was the sentiment that an early wicket could produce an avalanche, and that they could swarm all over their shaky opponents……..
***
The first hour of Sunday’s play would surely tell the tale……
44 runs required….6 wickets to fall…..it was anybody’s game……
But as the overs passed by, the resolute pair at the crease became increasingly untroubled by the accuracy of the bowling…..Seven runs came in the first seven overs; 15 in the next seven; suddenly there were just 20-odd to get.
Nixon knew his limitations and defended stoutly; his only blemish being a near-chance when Menon, at point, dived but failed to grasp the catch.
He was magnificent in his defiance, but so was McNamara who was producing the innings of his career.
Fraser Ellis, with his rhythmic action and pinpoint accuracy, looked by far the most impressive of the pacemen; Gathercole was on the spot, as always, but Clement, tipped as the danger man, appeared to be a little off-song.
As the total whittled down into single figures, the death-knell for the Pies was eventually sounded by Nixon, who cast aside his straight-laced defence to nonchalantly smack a Zac Guilfoyle delivery over his head for the winning boundary.
He finished with 19 off 108 balls and the eternal respect of the doubting Thomases. McNamara clinched Man-of-the-Match honours with an inspirational 40 not out off 134 balls……..
In years to come, the result – Rovers-United 4/87 d Wangaratta-Magpies 84, will look like a relatively effortless premiership triumph…….But those in attendance will verify that it was a tense, energy-sapping affair……
This story appeared first on KB Hill’s website On Reflection and is used here with permission. All photos sourced from KB Hill’s resources unless otherwise acknowledged.
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Well played, KB. You capture the tension beautifully, especially the grind on the last day to just eke away carefully before finishing it off with a lusty blow.