Story Muireston CC "Giant Killers": A True Underdog Story: **Final Day of FC clash. A Draw or a Loss???**

[Highlander999]

On the 1st of January 2008, Tom Baker was appointed coach of minnow team, Muireston CC. Muireston CC were in Division V of both the FC and OD competitions in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal region. At this stage, Muireston CC were struggling to survive in professional tier cricket and coach Tom Baker knew he had a big task ahead of him. However, Baker worked wonders with the team, finishing first in both the FC and OD competitions, gaining automatic promotion. Very few of the original team now remain as Baker has brought in a lot of new faces.

However, last season was not so good. In the FC competition, Muireston finished first once again in a pretty easy league. In the OD format, they struggled, finishing fifth and having to win a play-off match to stay in Division IV.

Now a new season dawns on us. Muireston are in Division III in the FC league and remain in Division IV for the OD format.

Let's meet the squad for this season:

Muireston CC 1XII

Everett Hawkins has been Muireston's opening batsman since Tom Baker took over. He reguarly performs for the team and has had some match winning knocks. His style is quite defensive, and he likes to get settled in before hitting out.

OD Batting Average: 73.21
OD Highest Score: 127

BT20/20 Batting Average: 140.00
BT20/20 Highest Score: 112

FC Batting Average: 102.20
FC Highest Score: 138

Chris Connely joined the club on the 17/04/2008 from Otus at a price of 99,960. He is also the team's wicket-keeper and vice captain so has a lot of responsibility for one so young. Chris opens the batting with Everett, and whilst he is not as defensive, he is still quite cautious. Chris has got quite a bit of experience though:

OD Batting Average: 41.13
OD Highest Score: 155*

BT20/20 Batting Average: 34.33
BT20/20 Highest Score: 53*

FC Batting Average: 180.00
FC Highest Score: 588

Martin Africa has only just joined the club, but for a record fee of 2,040,000. He is also the captain for the season and has made a big impact with the squad already. Martin has actually only played in a few matches to date, as he has been in intensive training, but he plans to make this season special.

OD Batting Average: N/A
OD Highest Score: N/A

BT20/20 Batting Averge: N/A
BT20/20 Highest Score: 51*

FC Batting Average: N/A
FC Highest Score: 12

Dirk Bolder, a.k.a "Mr Reliable" Whenever Muireston have been in trouble, this man nearly always comes to the party. Although not the most technically talented, Bolder is very determined and always sticks things out to the end. Dirk at the moment is in the form of his life:

OD Batting Average: 58.81
OD Highest Score: 128*

BT20/20 Batting Average: 62.83
BT20/20 Highest Score: 81*

FC Batting Average: 179.29
FC Highest Score: 327

Ramdeen is one of Muireston's trainee's but also bats at 5 in the 1XI. Ramdeen made a quiet start last season, but as he gained a bit more experience, the training began to show with some good quality knocks. Robbie has made it clear he would like to bat at 3 or 4 later on in the season.

OD Batting Average: 40.78
OD Highest Score: 79

BT20/20 Batting Average: N/A
BT20/20 Highest Score: N/A

FC Batting Average: 83.50
FC Highest Score: 106*

Shaun Belgrave only joined Muireston CC last season for 163,200 from the English side Twods CC. Being an Aussie, Shaun is always eager to get into sledging matches with opposing players and this can sometimes lead to his downfall. Shaun has not made a fabulous start to his career, batting at number 3 for Muireston, so coach Tom Baker moved him down to 6 to let him hopefully build his confidence up this season.

OD Batting Average: 28.80
OD Highest Score: 61*

BT20/20 Batting Average: 19.00
BT20/20 Highest Score: 35

FC Batting Average: 22.90
FC Highest Score: 155*

Louis Mosheua is the team's bowling all-rounder. He is no great shakes with the bat, but he is capable of hitting runs, so is useful for Murieston towards the end of an innings. It is his bowling that keeps Louis in the team, as time and again he consistently performs with the ball for Muireston

OD Batting Average: 10.24
OD Highest Score: 42*
OD Bowling Average: 25.53
OD Economy Rate: 5.16
OD Best Figures: 7-16

BT20/20 Batting Average: N/A
BT20/20 Highest Score: 4*
BT 20/20 Bowling Average: 44.38
BT20/20 Economy Rate: 8.88
BT20/20 Best Figures: 6-8

FC Batting Average: 65.11
FC Highest Score: 273
FC Bowling Average: 21.38
FC Economy Rate: 3.00
FC Best Figures: 6-33

Gavin Holt is one of Muireston's oldest players. He is not as fast as he used to be, but his line and length are spot on, earning him the nick-name of "McGrath" after the Australia pace bowler. Gavin has played in countless matches and has a lot of experience. His FC bowling figures are especially classy.

OD Bowling Average: 35.25
OD Economy Rate: 5.00
OD Best Figures: 7-6

BT20/20 Bowling Average: 21.33
BT20/20 Economy Rate: 7.78
BT20/20 Best Figures: 5-15

FC Bowling Average: 7.55
FC Economy Rate: 1.78
FC Best Figures: 7-26

Matthew Pretorius, is another of Muireston's trainee's. At the tender age of 18, he like Ramdeen, is also playing in the 1XI, and has made a massive impact. Pretorius, is now the opening bowler for the team. There have been some fitness issues with Matthew, due to all the training sessions, hopefully this season, he will not be affected as much.

OD Bowling Average: 11.41
OD Economy Rate: 3.92
OD Best Figures: 4-6

BT20/20 Bowling Average: 79.00
BT20/20 Economy Rate: 9.88
BT20/20 Best Figures: 1-34

FC Bowling Average: 29.62
FC Economy Rate: 3.50
FC Best Figures: 5-22

Monsieur Tenius is one of the finest bowlers to ever bowl at Muireston CC. He shares the new ball with Matthew and these two are not what an opening batsman wants to see, charging in. He has been working on his fitness over the break between seasons and should now be able to keep going for longer. Fred is often the un-song hero of Muireston CC

OD Bowling Average: 35.27
OD Economy Rate: 5.21
OD Best Figures: 4-9

BT20/20 Bowling Average: 36.25
BT20/20 Economy Rate: 9.06
BT20/20 Best Figures: 3-31

FC Bowling Average: 38.18
FC Economy Rate: 3.63
FC Best Figures: 4-27

Nelson only joined Muireston last week and is the team's spin bowler. Nelson has already slotted into the team very well, and will hopefully make a big impact this season:

OD Bowling Average: 33.98
OD Economy Rate: 4.72
OD Best Figures: 6-49

BT20/20 Bowling Average: 18.75
BT20/20 Economy Rate: 7.26
BT20/20 Best Figures: 5-16

FC Bowling Average: 28.73
FC Economy Rate: 3.02
FC Best Figures: 5.63

Ray is Muireston's twelth man and the bowler who always is the back-up if one of the main 4 are injured or suffering fitness issues. Ray is the other player apart from Everett who has been at Muireston since the beginning of Tom Baker's reign. Ray has expressed he is comfortable being the back-up bowler, as a new baby boy is taking up all his energy, as it is

OD Bowling Average: 17.41
OD Economy Rate: 4.25
OD Best Figures: 5-15

BT20/20 Bowling Average: 41.33
BT20/20 Economy Rate: 8.65
BT20/20 Best Figures: 3-5

FC Bowling Average: 7.05
FC Economy Rate: 1.76
FC Economy Rate: 7-17


Muireston CC Reserves

These are the reserves for Muireston CC, who are used if players are injured or un-fit, or sometimes used vs lesser teams to gain more experience. Tom Baker reguarly checks these players out and has made it clear that anyone of them could easily make it into the 1XI.

So that is the squad for Muireston CC for this season. As it stands, Muireston currently are looking at trying to buy Doug Welch from Baggy Blues, an Australian side. Tom Baker has made it clear that if Welch comes to Muireston, he will be spending a lot of time in the nets and should soon break into the starting XI, probably at the expense of either Belgrave or Bolder.

 

[Jaztheman]

Giant Killers.

Great opening post, makes me want to do a Battrick story to be honest. Good luck this season, Tom.

 

[ste_mc_efc]

I would do a battrick story, but the short stories I write always degenerate into drug abuse and/or homo-eroticism.

 

[Pak_cricketer]

Nice, good luck in your next season!

 

[Griffo]

You have to sell Ramdeen

 

[Highlander999]

Got myself a plan. Basically go for this trainee of Syl's and then not buy for the rest of the season.

 

[borncricketer]

Nice start mate... good luck for the season!

 

[navin-boss]

Good opening mate.Good squad for the season.Best of luck with this story mate!

 

[Highlander999]

Ground Update and Player Interview


Muireston CG is currently in the process of being upgraded. It's current capacity is 18,300, but towards the end of the season, the ground was consistently being full up, so the Chairman decided to have the capacty of the ground increased. It is unclear how big the new ground will be, although estimates are that it will eventually hold between, 25,000 to 30,000 spectators.

Now it is time for our interview of the week. This week's player who is under the mic is opening batsman, Everett Hawkins.

OD Batting Average: 73.21
OD Highest Score: 127

BT20/20 Batting Average: 140.00
BT20/20 Highest Score: 112

FC Batting Average: 102.20
FC Highest Score: 138


Thanks Everett for taking time out of your schedule to chat to us today.

No problem mate, I'm happy to be here.

So Everett. You've been with the club since Day 1. What has it been like seeing all these changes?

Well to be honest, it has been bloody brilliant. I remember under the old coach, people weren't turning up for training sessions, we were consistently losing, morale was very low and players were leaving left, right and centre. I myself had to have a econd job, just to support myself. Now with Tom here, things are so different. There is a complete buzz around the team.

Yes it is good to see you guys enjoying your cricket so much.

What do you think is a realistic target for the team this season?

Well, we know it is going to be our toughest season yet. Promotion into Div III of FC means we are now playing some international standard players. I know this'll be some of the biggest challenges of my career. If we can stay up in Div III of FC, we'll be pleased. Our OD division is also rather tough, and I think we are just going to have to accept there are some better teams in it. Third or Fourth is a good place to finish for us. Regarding 20/20 and the Cup, a lot of it depends on the draws, but we will be looking for a good run in both forms of the competition.

What are your own goals for the season?

Runs, and lots of them :laugh Basically I just want to continue from where I left off last season. I feel in great touch at the moment and am looking forward to some competitive matches. As I said earlier I know it is going to be tough playing against international standard players, but hopefully I'll give a good account of myself.

How has Martin Africa settled into the role as captain?

Very well. He is the life and soul of the team. I was a bit sceptical at first, he is only 19 and has played very few games. Yet, speaking to him, he has a great knowledge on cricket and really encourages the younger guys especially well. I think he will have a massive impact on the team.

Well thanks for your time, Everett, good luck for the rest of the season.

Thanks



A very insightful interview there, with senior player, Everett Hawkins. It certainly does appear that the team is very content at the moment. The first fixture of the season for the Muireston boys, is a Cup match at home to Kempton CC. Kempton are not a particularly good club,and Muireston will be looking to easily win this.

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!! ​

It has just been announced that Muireston have found their third trainee for the season. All we know so far is that his name is Alex McCree, a Scot, and he has come up through the Youth Academy. More details to follow soon.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

I should really do a FTP story...

 

[Left_Hander]

Really enjoyed that interview.

Good start, I hope to follow this.

 

[Amiya]

That's good start mate... The players are performing well and under your guidance they will win... Best Of Luck for ahead...

 

[Highlander999]

Saturday's Academy Player, Financial Update and Sunday's Cup Match​

Saturday was a busy day for the admin team at Muireston CC. The weekly financial update takes place and the registration of the new Academy player also happens.

Unfortunately for Muireston, the Academy player was a bit of a let down. Sabih Salehuddin, had travelled over to Muireston from Pakistan with his cousin, to forge a career in cricket two years ago. Now that he is 17, it was time for him to finish with the Youth Academy. Coach Tom Baker was a bit disapointed though with the end result. Sabih had some very promising keeping skills, but his batting and fitness levels let him down. It was decided to put him on the transfer market, where he would hopefully be picked up by a smaller team and trained up, otherwise he would have to be released.

Regarding Muireston's Transfer's Department, it has been a very busy week for them.

Tom Baker was happy to announce that Muireston have been able to sign 17 year old Doug Welch from Australian team, Baggy Blues for ?11,000 a real bargain. Tom Baker had a good look at Doug in the nets and this is what he had to say:

One of the scouts pointed Doug out to me. I was really impressed with his technique and I feel 11K for him is a real bargain. I am sure he can be a quality player for the club.

This now means that Doug Welch and Alex McCree are going to be the two batting trainee's for the season with Matty Pretorius being the bowling trainee. Unfortunately this leaves no space for Robbie Ramdeen, to receive any nets and he has already said that he would like to leave the club if he is not going to be receiving any training. Tom Baker agreed and Ramdeen was placed on the transfer market. Currently the highest bid for him is ?51,000, but Tom Baker is expecting a lot more than that. Robbie's last match for Muireston, will be the FC match on Tuesday.

There were a lot of unhappy accountants at Saturday's financial update session. Tom Baker received a lot of tricky questions on why he had spent so much money that week. The buying of Nelson Goodhead was the main reason for this massive loss in cash, but the left handed spin bowler should be a big success. Overall, last week, Muireston made a loss of ?339,155. The cup game tomorrow and the OD match on Friday should bring in a lot of money, however, and next weeks financial session, should be a lot easier for Tom Baker.

And that brings us on to today's Cup match against Kempton Park CC. Here was the XI named by Tom Baker:

Hawkins
Connely (+)
Africa (*)
Bolder
Ramdeen
Belgrave
Mosheau
Holt
Stanford
Tenius
Goodhead

The only notable exclusion was Matthew Pretorius who was being rested.

Martin Africa won the toss and elected to field first on a very slow pitch. It was quite a muggy day, very humid and the ball was expected to swing around early on. It did just that. Tenius and Mosheau opened the bowling and they both removed the openers for ducks. That set the motion for the rest of the innings. The Muireston bowlers really troubled the batsmen and gave them very few scoring chances. The only batsman to put up any resistance was Damant who scored 37 off 89. Eventually though Muireston bowled Kempton CC all out for 85 off 42.3 overs. Stanford was the star man, finishing with figures of 9.0-2-18-4

With such a low score posted by Kempton, victory was pretty much assured for Muireston. However, the Muireston openers wanted to see their side home, in the first competitive match of the season. They did just that with Hawkins finishing on 37* and Conelly on 44*. They chased down the total of just 13.1 overs. A great result.

Chris Conelly was awarded MOTM for his unbeaten 44* so hopefully he will enjoy his free bottle of champagne and ?250. Manager Tom Baker was delighted by the team's performance:

I expected an easy win and that is exactly what happened. The bowlers were excellent, with a very good line and length plus picking up wickets. They meant that the batsmen didn't have to worry about chasing any big totals down. But I am very proud of the way the openers did not just slog and risk losing their wickets, but calmly made up the deficit. A great victory and I look forward to Round 2. Hopefully we will not be meeting any of the big teams just yet.

Well Tom Baker does seem very pleased with that result, and so he should. His lads played well today. Hopefully the Cup draw will be nice to Muireston for Round 2 and they can get into Round 3 without any problems.

Join us tomorrow where we find out about the training updates, the XI for the FC clash on Tuesday and who Muireston will be playing in the next round of the Cup.

 

[navin-boss]

Thats sad to see Sabih Salehuddin wasn't such a good player.Hope he will be transfered to another minnow team.Doug Welch looks like a good trainee for the season.Thats a huge loss for the Club the last week!!And about the match: Thats an easy and simple win.Good All round performance by the Muireston CC!!Waiting for the FC to clash!

Btw, nice update mate.Cheers!

 

[McLOVIN]

holly cow! your stories kills! this is the 1st time i actually visited other story thread beside bangladesh. on this other thread some one wrote you kill at story making! damn you surrre do! :hpraise

keep up the killing!