09/05/04
New Zealand 'A' 367 & 331/5d
Australia 'A' 346 & 303/9
New Zealand 'A' draw with Australia 'A'
Man of the match: MTG Elliott
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Cricket Web Blue 251 & 291
India A 194 & 349/8
India A won by 2 wickets
Man of the match: AM Salvi
Coach's Comments:
A near thing for the Blues behind an amazing spin bowling effort by Tom 'Ginger' Halsey. The key here was not the bowling so much, as they the bowlers tried extremlely hard. It was the batting. Just about all the batsmen got starts and none carried on to a century. Most encouraging was the return to form of Jamee999 with a couple of gritty innings. Not a bad loss, but a loss all the same.
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South Africa 'A' 245 & 248
Cricket Web Red 203 & 291/8
Cricket Web Red won by 2 wickets
Man of the match: Craig
Coach's Comments:
A thrilling match with many twists and turns. South Africa A collapsing somewhat from 101/1 to 245 all out (Muhaffy, Khan Jr. and Dave bowling admirably), then starts with no big runs in the Reds first knock, collapsing from 125/2 to 203 all out. With SA A back on top, the Reds then fought back to knock their hosts back from 219/5 to 248 allout and set a target of 291 to win. The chase was a tension-filled effort. Craig and Eyes put on another fine opening partnership, but then a minor collapse and the score slipped to 157/4. Craig played the starring role with a brilliant century, but when he was dismissed, the score looked shaky. Solid innings from Markus and Khan Jr. proved crucial in the end and the Dave hung around long enough to assist in victory. Great win! It's a hard-fought win like this that gets teams charged up.
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Zimbabwe XI 416 & 223/8d
England 'A' 281 & 294/9
England 'A' draw with Zimbabwe XI
Man of the match: A Flower
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Veterans XI 265 & 160
Cricket Web Green 200 & 158
Veterans XI won by 67 runs
Man of the match: Wasim Akram
Coach's Comments:
Undermined twice by expert swing bowling from the old guys. The bowlers worked hard and Xavier Rose was outstanding yet again, with new career figures. With the bat, however, only Jason Toogood showed any competency against quality bowling from Wasim, Botham and company. Clearly more training is needed batting-wise.