They can’t keep a good man down is what the song says and Jewel, although still a youth, played a man’s innings. Imagine being the youngest member of your team with the confidence and skill to take down your opponent; David and Goliath anyone? This post may be longer than most but permit us a bit to speak to this tremendous achievement by an absolute talent of a young man.
Playing for the All Saints Pythons against his former team, Pigotts Crushers, he would have seen Gershum Phillip score a deserving century after helping to rescue his team from a precarious position of 65 for 4 to 256 all out in their first innings. In the All Saints innings, he came in to bat with the score of 3 for 2 in the second over. He readily counterattacked just as wickets fell around him and looked solid as a rock until he was run out on the second day. The Pythons were eventually bowled out for 116 and sent back in.
Batting their second time, the men from All Saints started a bit more reserved but the consistent bowling from the opening quicks of the Crushers made early inroads into their lineup. Andrew found himself back at the crease again in the sixth over, only to be hit on the helmet by a short ball from Craig Rainford. He spent 2.2 overs at the crease before retiring hurt with the score at 23 for 2, which obviously did not stop the fall of wickets.
In the 20th over after losing the sixth wicket, Andrew returned to the crease and we can refer to the rest of the afternoon as the ‘Andrew Show’. The young wicketkeeper-batsman unleashed a scything attack on the Pigotts Crushers bowlers that will never forget. Of the 60 overs batted by the Pythons after his return, Andrew faced over 200 balls and scored 170 runs. He received great support from Justin Robinson who batted valiantly at 11 facing a total of 87 balls. In fact, for the 10th wicket, these two young men put on 161 runs batting 46.1 overs.
The two not only possibly broke some sort of record in the ABCA Two Day Competition but also saved the match for their team from a sure defeat. We are happy to announce Andrew as our Player of the Week for Week 14. Congratulations to Mr. Andrew for a job well done.