thefinalword

A week of incredible wins

Added 2024-01-31 04:41:21 +0000 UTC

West Indies via Shamar Joseph in Brisbane. England from 190 behind in Hyderabad. South Africa's women beating Australia for the first time. And most of all, The FInal Word XI becoming The Final Word XVII and making it three wins in a row in our January 26 game at Birchgrove against the Newtown Browns.

The full match report is at the end of this post. And the second innings from the 13th over is watchable on the stream above.

One more victory: this Wednesday email is actually going out on Wednesday, worldwide. Except maybe the USA where it's probably Tuesday night. We do what we can.

And what a busy week it was on TFW! Double Daily shows going out from Brisbane and Hyderabad. Adam had Cam Ponsonby, Geoff had Bharat, plus Vithushan Ehantharajah popped in here and there, and Adam White made his Final Word host debut.

There's probably no need to link to every episode, so here is the Brisbane preview and the Hyderabad preview, and you can follow your podcast apps from there. If you want the videos, try the Tube channel.

Now for the weekly show...

One of Test cricket's wonderful days

Season 15, Episode 22: After two of the best Test matches we've seen, finishing within a couple of hours of one another last Sunday, it's nice for Geoff and Adam to exhale and have the chat about it that we didn't get to have. Pat Cummins took a broad view of the significance of the West Indies win, which predictably annoyed some people, while others are annoyed at England doing things the way England currently does - and the fact that it worked. Otherwise, South Africa's women beat Australia for the first time in any format, though they lost the T20 series 2-1. The Big Bash finished last week with Josh Brown going nuts, there are Australian white-ball squads out with several points of interest, and Australia's Inclusivity Championships were played around the same time as England's physical disability team finally began their much-postponed tour of India.

Your Nerd Pledge for this week:

2.76 - Joshua Timmins

Here's the audio link for that one.

Best of friends, shopping buddies: Bharat and Shamar

Story Time 167 – Test cricket's greatest passenger

It's Story Time, our weekly walk through cricket history via your listener quiz challenges. A revisit special this weekend as we round up some incorrect numbers from episodes past. Investigations at Essex, the record for five-wicket hauls, some stylish pointless sixes, who was involved in the most number of weird dismissals, and which player did bloody nothing for nobody?

Your Nerd Pledge revisits this week:

7.71 - Claire Danny Daniel

2.43 - Jonathon Potton

4.10 - Sam Chappel

14.00 - Debashish Biswas

2.05 - Tim Henry

4.50 - Aravind

1.70 - Chris Dobbins

1.00 - Srikanth Agaram

Story Time audio is here.

The Final Word XVII v The Newtown Browns

Yes, we ended up with 17 players this year, such was the enthusiasm for the game. In the end 13 batted and 15 bowled. The Browns had a dozen players, though injury knocked out one during the warm-up and others battled during the game. But thanks to their versatility of approach, captains Geoff Lemon and Peter Lewis were able to figure out ways to accommodate everyone on the fly.

Birchgrove looked a treat, with the Harbour Bridge looming in the background and the water sparkling invitingly. TFW won the toss and batted, with the innings becoming 34 overs with some strategic retirements so that everybody who wanted a hit got one. Our structure the last two years has involved Jono Haylen at No3 after his son Louis and our wicketkeeper Raman opened. This year Jono and Louis were at the servo getting ice when the game began, so perennial TFW problem solver Glenn Finkelde moved up to open with Geoff in at three.

Glenn and Raman withstood some sharp opening bowling from Young Henry and reached the retirement score of 25, while Geoff didn't waste anyone's time before being caught at point for a couple from the bowling of someone who turned out to be a turncoat Final Nerd, Harry Tognetti. Jono walked in and whacked his first ball for four with a mighty pull shot.

It was damn hot out there, humid as the harbour with the temperature reaching the mid 30s. The field was huge, and the grass was long. This meant that while it was hard work for the bowlers, it was also tough batting. Boundaries were hard to come by, and everything had to be run. Twos and even threes were frequent and taxing.

Everyone enjoyed Jono and Louis batting together for the first time in these games and putting on 33, both at the point of exhaustion when Louis sportingly walked for an edge after being given not out on 18, then Jono lost his middle stump one run away from retirement. But it was the 21st over and we had a solid 105 on the board with two retirees in hand.

Then came another great TFW pairing: Father of Nerd Pledge Phillip Meng batting with Nerd Pledge exemplar, Rob O'Neill. Rob lost his poles, a second wicket from spin for the Browns' best bowler, Mark "Pigeon" McGrath, fizzing down off breaks from around the wicket. Mike Wood hit a catch from Owen Williams on 4, but Phil Meng batted through more than seven overs for his 21 before retiring himself.

That saw Sarah Berman come off the scorer's bench, an innings highlighted by a stylish dab behind point, as she supported Geoff "Gaspanic" Quinn for five overs in a partnership of 19. They retired together with three overs to go - overs that made all the difference, as Terry Hogan, Thom Kelly and Andy Caseley hared up and down between the wickets, adding 21 in 18 balls at the cost of Thom's run out.

With 175 to defend, The Dubs were confident, though the Browns got off to a fast start. Louis gave away nothing from his first two overs, but a building gale saw Paul Batfay miss a couple of his looping yorkers, while Mike's slow Bumrah impression got some tap, with Young Henry opening the batting as well as bowling for the Browns and retiring after two fours and a six off 20 balls.

But the left-arm spinners closed up the scoring, Steggz picking up the first wicket of Naiba Heys for a duck thanks to Raman's brilliant catch running around the stumps towards short leg, while Jono bowled three parsimonious overs for only 10 runs.

That brought drinks, and after the break TFW really turned the screws. Raman took off the gloves to bowl two overs of heat for 2 runs, then our raft of spinners did their work. Frankie Maynard-Caseley, ABS, Sarah, Phil Meng and Terry all bowled their slows, while Pete Lewis did his best to belt some runs and Dan Hay struggled to turn over the strike. Pigeon had retired on 27 but his strike rate hadn't hurt us. Catching was a problem, Frankie and Sarah both having chances shelled, but perhaps it worked for TFW as the run rate stalled.

Andy was a revelation, claiming to have never bowled before in a match, then sending down a slinging over of pace despite having no front arm. It was a maiden, prompting Dan to retire in despair, then Andy's second over had Pete caught at point. Welcome to the big time.

22 overs bowled, 12 to go, the score at 97 for 2, meaning the Browns needed 78 from 72. On this ground, we felt confident. But the wicket brought together 'Maxi' Raffan and AA, an aggressive lefty paired with Maxi the right-hander, and things started to slip out of TFW's control.

Mike bowled a tidy over, but boundaries followed from Gaspanic Thom. Glenn Finkelede, a TFW banker with the ball, got some tap. Speed between the wickets was turning ones into twos. AA reached 26 from 19, although he then coughed up a catch, Jono taking a blinder diving forward at mid on while Louis almost crashed into him from midwicket. Maxi wouldn't stop though, belting Glenn for four and Louis for six, while hustling twos with Harry Tognetti.

Our best bowlers were being smacked. A partnership of 26 followed one of 37. Four overs to go, only 15 runs left to defend. TFW were facing out first Birchgrove defeat. The wildcard though was that having reached 29 from 22 balls, Maxi had to retire. Just as several TFW batters had done after hitting their stride.

We turned to Steggz, for his fourth and last over permitted under the bowling cap. He sent down a beauty, giving up only a single and a two to Harry and new batter Tim. The equation was 12 to win from 18 balls. Still the Brown's game. The fielding conference was long and animated. Who should bowl? Geoff told Raman to get the gloves off. It was keeper or nothing.

Raman produced a stunner. Left arm fierce, over the wicket to angle across the right-handers, wide outside off, swishing past Tim's attempted drives again and again. He gave up a strategic single from the last ball, the equation now 11 from 12. Louis backed him up: a two, then Tim's middle stump. Owen Williams scrambled a bye on a Steggz fumble with the gloves, Harry missed one ball, then whacked two down the ground.

Six runs required from six balls. Now it was tight, but a single good shot could all but decide the game.

Not from Raman though. Another play and miss from Owen, then another. The third he hit straight back at the bowler and ran anyway, Raman electing not to risk overthrows. Five required from three. The Browns were getting nervous, you can hear them on the hill if you watch the video stream. Harry took strike on 12, and missed a huge swing. Five from two balls.

Owen ran as soon as the next one left the hand. Right move. Harry wasn't on the same page, turning to watch Steggz take the ball. He eventually attempted the bye but the ball was back with Raman, who tipped the bails off. No run, wicket, and five needed from one ball. Four for the tie.

TFW dropped back the field, five outside the circle. No boundary was the cry. Another family duo teamed up, with Bruce Williams joining his son. Owen's slice through backward point got the Browns one, then two, but that was all. The ball was back over the stumps, and The Final Word had prevailed.

It was a high adrenaline finish, and the third close game out of three. Afterwards we all gathered for a chat, some back-patting, a few forms of refreshment, and the traditional Running of the Bull Sharks, where the players dunk themselves in Sydney Harbour.

Sarah did the scoring with assistance from Frankie and Rob, Keith Bannerman set up the streaming and commentary, which was helmed by Aditya from the couch on the hill. Jono supplied the eskies full of life-saving liquids. Paul did the lunch run for the 35 banh mi that were required. Deb and Pete Langstaff led the spectating duties, Mike Edelstein representing the UK Nerds. Special mentions to Terry, who drove from Port Macquarie, while Phil, Rob and Glenn travelled from interstate.

The best day in our TFW calendar is done for another year. Thanks to Pete and his team as always. Come by next time.