ASHES REPORT 2005
MCC vs Munich Australians, Ashes, 02 July 2005, English Garden.
Toss: MCC
The day dawned grey, All Blacks had gone 2-0 up in the rugby vs the Lions, rain was present and the whole weather situation looked nasty. A two hour delay, and a match reduced to 30 overs, finally saw the players take the field at 2pm. Winning the toss MCC skipper Kiwi had no hesitation in batting first, despite overhead the conditions. The Aussies struck early via Julios Khan – trapping the veteran Douglas Giles lbw, 6 foot high and 3 foot sliding down leg – but a good fast scoring partnership between Parry and Lovell set the innings on its way, Parry out for quick 30. Lovell and Sear then set about their work, Lovell happy to play second fiddle to Sear – who was seeing the ball like a hot air balloon at the end – and both found scoring boundaries easy. Sear finally departed for a whirlwind 59, while Lovell carried his bat with an excellent 75 not out. MCC ended up with a commanding 191/4 off 30 overs. Houlahan was the most successful Aussie bowler with 2 wkts. The Aussies came out and with a hiss and a roar needing 6.3 an over, Houlahan in particular taking a liking to some of the MCC opening delights. McGree played second fiddle to Houlahan, the pair put on a good 50 partnership before Sear bowled Houzza for a well made 41. McGree was joined at the wkt by Holmes, and both continued to prosper. A series of quick wkts put the Aussies on the back foot, Kann and Lepani made useful runs, but in reality 191 was always out of reach once the Houlahan/McGree partnership was broken. Kiwi’s: Bostock and Parry both picked up cheap scalps at the end along with Nicols. Appavu and Gale also bowled well in the middle stages.
As the sun fell and evening approached, the throngs made there way to the Chinese Fortress, then later to The Arc. Debbie, better half of half Arc owner Glig, as well as Kiwi celebrated their 33rd birthdays in style. The night was a general raucous, tardy and downright memorable affair. The theme was 70’s, everything was donned, from Dirk Digler (Kiwi), Björn Borg (Glig), Nana Mouskouri (Debs), Hawaii Five-0 hemd numbers (McGree) to the Brady Bunch (Houzza and Jane). All good stuff. The night seemed to go on and on and on, most not donning the sun glasses outside till the wee small hours of Sunday morning….”Like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down”…..
Man of the party: Nichols, oh he’s so not ready for Hamburg!
MATCH SCOREBOARD
MCC 191/4 off 30 overs.
Giles lbw bowled Kann 6
Lovell not out 75
Parry caught Coles bowled Houlahan 30
Appavu caught & bowled Houlahan 7
Sear bowled Gligorov 59
Gale not out 4
Bostock dnb
Nichols dnb
Sobek dnb
Edwards dnb
Finch dnb
Kann 5 – 1 – 25 – 1
Gligorov 6 – 1 – 34 – 1
Blades 5 – 0 – 33 – 0
Houlahan 5 – 0 – 25 – 2
Lepani 4 – 1 – 30 – 0
McGree 5 – 0 – 40 – 0
Munich Australians 129 all out off 27.5 overs
McGree caught Parry bowled Gale 28
Houlahan bowled Sear 41
Holmes bowled Gale 14
Mitcham bowled Appavu 1
Kann caught Finch bowled Parry 15
Lepani caught Sear bowled Nicols 14
Gligorov caught Bostock bowled Parry 0
Pellow bowled Bostock 0
Coles st Edwards bowled Bostock 1
Blades Injured dnb
Gale 6 – 1 – 25 – 2
Finch 3 – 1 – 17 – 0
Sear 6 – 0 – 39 – 1
Appavu 6 – 2 – 12 – 1
Bostock 4 – 0 – 16 – 2
Parry 1 – 1 – 0 – 2
Nicols 1.5 – 0 – 12 – 1
MCC won by 62 runs, and retained the Ashes for 2005
MCC man of the match: Lovell (solid) and Sear (brutal) with the bat.
Munich Australians: Houlahan: batted and bowled with good control.
