A Famous Victory…

Tuesday evening saw Bangor Cricket club host Cooke Collegians in the final of the Lagan Valley Steels T20 Bowl at an enchanting and salubrious Upritchard Park. It was Bangor’s second home final of the season and the team along with their faithful supporters were desperate to leave with a new decoration for the trophy cabinet secured.

Bangor batted first with the youngest man in the team Sam McMillan and the oldest man on the team Andrew Kirkpatrick opening for the hosts. Kirkpatrick, fresh from a trip to the culturally significant and historic city of Rome, was intent on creating some history of his own. The innings got off to an industrious beginning as the two Bangor men tallied 26 runs in the first three overs. However, disaster struck as Kirkpatrick, feeling belligerent and set, attempted to clear the boundary with the ball catching in the wind and being snared by the Cooke fielder.

Kuda Samunderu came to the crease next and seemed intent on building a partnership and leaving an indelible mark on the final. However, a couple of overs later Young McMillan skied the ball in the air and was caught in a similar fashion to Kirkpatrick’s dismissal. Both openers were now back in the pavilion and contemplating investing in gym memberships, with an eye to improving their future big hitting efforts. Nonetheless, an innings was still to be built and it was now roomies, besties and all round good chums Parker and Samunderu who attempted to build the innings. However, in the face of tight Cooke bowling the run rate slowed and Parker attempting to inject some fire back into the innings chipped a hook shot to mid wicket and became Bangor’s 3rd lost wicket, as the game balanced precariously at 45-3 after 7 overs.

It was imperative that Bangor get back on track and Samunderu was joined in the middle by a man who’s made a club cricket career out of such things, the gutsy Adam McCusker. The battle was fierce in the middle with neither batter nor bowler willing to give an inch. Bangor battled to 70 runs until Samunderu was caught and bowled by Hanna for 26 and the momentum seemed to shift in the visitors favour. A brief cameo by Ricky McLarnon followed for one and it seemed that hope may be beginning to waver, as the walls crumbled around McCusker. Was this it? Were Bangor’s hopes of victory dashed? It would seem so.

Enter an unlikely hero. Will Simpson. Equipped with a dodgy haircut, scowl and an attitude you could smell from a mile off Simpson rotated strike excellently with McCusker, as valuable runs were added to the Bangor total. In the 16th over, McCusker fell for a well-made 24 and Michael Skelly joined Simpson at the crease. The two battled on until Simpson lost his wicket and George Prince and Skelly faced the final few balls of the Bangor innings as the hosts finished in 103 for 7 off of their seventeen overs. The score was perhaps a little below par, but Bangor knew if they put their best foot forward that a famous victory could await them.

The Cooke openers had no intention of letting the Bangor bowlers settle as the very first ball of their reply was launched over the boundary for 6. In fine form, the two openers attacked with no relent and were upping the score at over 8 runs per over, which was much faster than was required of them. Until in the 8th over, the Cooke opener Pandita skied the ball deep into the leg side towards the confident grasp of Sam McMillan. Bangor were not back in it yet but it was a start for sure. Exactly an over later, Bangor got another breakthrough as Mohammed Ismail chipped the ball to skipper Parker off of the guileful bowling of Will Simpson. Three overs later, off the back of tight bowling from Simpson and Samunderu, the Cooke skipper Kerr was caught on the boundary by the ebullient Josh Bates. Cooke were now 71 for 3 and although they were still in the driving seat, their grip on the game had undoubtedly loosened.

Hugh Gibbons, the remaining Cooke opener, had been batting commendably throughout the innings and set about moving the Cooke chase on bringing the score to 90 with his namesake John Gibbons at the other end. Bangor now were looking at options to try and save the game and they looked to get another unlikely hero, usual Wicket Keeper-Batsman Ricky McLarnon. McLarnon teased the batsman with a deadly combination of flight, dip, panache, coupled with a killer instinct and a nose for wickets. McLarnon tempted John Gibbons with a beautiful leg break delivery that was chipped up and caught cooly by Chris Pyper. Samunderu bowled the penultimate over and Cooke required a seemingly facile 4 runs off of the final over.

Surely, there was nothing to be done now, the masses gazed at the sky for a miracle. An on-field conference of the team’s senior players was formed. Meanwhile, Pyper walked towards the crease, pointing at himself, demanding the final say be his, as the committee reached the same conclusion.

When an over such as this occurs that is teeming with drama, agony and ecstasy to be committed to Bangorian folklore, each ball deserves a section of its own. Thus, here is the ball by ball analysis of THAT final over.

BALL ONE – 4 runs required off of 6 balls

The set Gibbons was on strike, but Pyper exuding confidence was not fazed. Steaming in the ball was released and pitched back of a length, Gibbons could only block it into the pitch and the first dot ball of the over was secured. Around the ground, the Bangor faithful looked to one another and thought there’s no way the impossible was about to be done is there?

BALL TWO – 4 runs required off of 5 balls

Pyper steamed in again with what was either youthful ignorance or a total disregard for the situation. Again, Gibbons went to play but the ball nipped off the seam and beat the outside edge, with this the Bangor men and women scattered around the boundaries became vocal as hope built.

BALL THREE – 4 runs required off of 4 balls

At a run a ball the game was in the balance but one shot could still end it. The ball was bowled just outside off and Gibbons managed bat on ball to scramble a single, the first run of the over. Pyper fields the ball but doesn’t risk the shy at the stumps.

BALL FOUR – 3 runs required off of 3 balls

Pyper bowled full again, confidence growing with every ball. For the first time in the over the batsman attacks but edges the ball into the air. McCusker takes a comfortable catch and Wilmott departs bringing a new batsman on strike and crucially, it’s another dot ball. The crowd is at a fever pitch now as the impossible becomes possible and the trophy staying in Bangor becomes a real possibility.

BALL FIVE – 3 runs required off of 2 balls

The new batsman has the unenviable task of coming to the middle with the crowd baying for blood and a team on the cusp of one of the great days in this storied club’s history. However, it cannot be forgotten that one boundary wins the game for Cooke. Steaming in once more, Pyper bowls a tricky away swinger and beats the bat again! A stunning dot ball is secured as Kirkpatrick takes the ball at a light canter to prevent the batsmen running a bye. One ball remains now and a sense of destiny is felt around the ground. Alas, cricket is a game that can inspire fanciful dreams, but crushes them much more regularly than it fulfils them. This game is not done, no fat ladies were singing.

FINAL BALL – 3 runs required

A boundary to win, a two to tie it. The field, manoeuvred, the crowd, on their feet, the batsmen, ready, the bowler, salivating at the crossroads he finds himself at. The ball is bowled and beats the batsman once more! Bangor men and women around the ground are overjoyed in excelsis and run amuck embracing and celebrating the awe-inspiring victory they had just secured.

The team, club legends, friends and family are United in their ecstasy. Never has a final over provided such drama. A Greek tragedy for the visitors, but an all-time rush of adrenaline and joy for the hosts who had earned some well-deserved silverware that embodied the never say die attitude of the team throughout the year. The single greatest Cricket Club in the world welcomed their heroes off of the pitch with rapturous applause and adulation. All in attendance could scarcely believe their eyes as Parker held the trophy aloft as Bangor captain and celebrations continued long into the night. A team which mixed youth and experience are now eternally United by the most famous of victories secured at the home of Cricket Upritchard Park. Such things do not come around often. They are to be soaked in, savoured and by God, there is nothing in this world that compares to playing cricket for Bangor.

Floreat