Nevill Picks His Moment in Blues Crushing JLT Victory

Though the result of yesterday’s match was probably never in doubt, it did throw up a number of individual performances that mostly overshadow the perceived one-sidedness of the match. What the result doesn’t show is that the CAXI at times did the things they had to do to get themselves into the match, and even though it may not have resulted in their favour there is no doubt that their coaches would have been impressed with much of their play.

There is no doubt that the Blues should have scored 350 as a minimum, and probably more, after the start they go. The first wicket fell at 132 in the 21st over, the second at 184 in the 29th over. Both of these show a calculation that a big total should have been in the offering. But the CAXI clawed their way back into the match, drying up the run scoring stokes just enough to cause frustration in the batsmen, and then gathering in the wickets. It didn’t matter in the long run that the Blues reached 8/332 from their fifty overs, the reward for their hard work meant that the CAXI was chasing something like 40 runs less than they had any right to after the first half of the innings. The experienced bowlers were expensive, but excellent spells from opener Henry Thornton (0/40 from 8), medium pacer Jonathan Merlo (2/53 from 10) and left arm chinaman Clint Hinchcliffe (4/72 from 10) who claimed the big wickets of Hughes, Maddinson and Gibson, meant there was plenty to cheer for.

Add to that the delightful strokeplay of opening batsman Max Bryant, who is just wonderful to watch. He might be raw and unorthodox, and as he plays more he will most likely be worked out by future bowling attacks, but for the moment he is terrific to watch. Powerful stroke play is his highlight, and when you score 89 from 61 deliveries, including ten boundaries and four sixes it is scintillating cricket. The young CAXI side turned up and gave themselves the best opportunity to chase down the Blues big total. Beau Webster’s dismissal at 117 after he and Bryant had put on 96 runs off 66 deliveries was the first hurdle the team didn’t clear, and when Bryant finally perished to the bowling of the canny Nathan Lyon, the score of 4/143 off 20.3 overs meant they were on target, but without the batting cattle in the shed to continue the charge. Despite a good late innings from Harry Neilson, the charge petered out and the CAXI was bowled out for 239 off 41 overs. Despite this, the spirit and bravado of the group, as well as the natural ability that is coming through many of these kids, can only be a good thing for Australian cricket down the track.

For New South Wales, their big guns came to the fore. Both Dan Hughes (68) and Kurtis Patterson (30) continued their excellent start to the domestic summer, with both looking to amass huge seasons in the chase for further honours. So too Nic Maddinson, whose 123 off 113 balls was his second century of the tournament, and showed he is back to his best ball striking ability. No one wanted his first crack at Test cricket to end the way it did in the back half of 2016/17, and to see him scoring big runs again, with confidence back in his game, is a terrific thing. Add to this group Ryan Gibson, who played with the CAXI last season, and is now holding his spot in the New South Wales side. His 51 off 45 balls appeared too easy, and he looks set for a building season as well.

Nathan Lyon, fresh off his clobbering from Victoria on Friday, turned the screws with the ball and wrested the initiative back from his younger opponents. Finishing with 2/25 from his ten overs, he looked a cut above everyone else on the day. His dismissal of Bryant was perfectly orchestrated, and he completely fooled Merlo as well to have him stumped. It’s a good sign that held no old wounds from the mauling of two days previously. He’s set for a big summer.

Perhaps the most significant performance of the day was from Blues captain Peter Nevill. His 24 from 16 balls with the bat was plain sailing before losing his wicket in the team’s cause in the dying overs. He then backed this up by taking eight dismissals – six catches and two stumpings – which equalled the record for the most number of dismissals by a wicket-keeper in a domestic innings. To get that many chances you have to have good bowlers to beat the bat or get those edges, but his performance is still remarkable, even more so seeing as he let through no byes, and his last stumping off Nic Maddinson was a ripper, down leg side and dragging it back before the batsman could regain his crease. With plenty of talk about the #1 keeping position, he picked a great day to perform this well.

Scorecard: JLT Cup Match 11: New South Wales vs Cricket Australia XI