Carmichael Magic Powers Army To IST20 Glory
The left-handed batsman bludgeoned the ball to all corners of the Home of Cricket with two scintillating knocks against the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, as his side maintained their stranglehold on the competition.
LCpl Tade Carmichael’s stroke-play lit up Lord’s and was one of the key factors in his side’s victory. Image courtesy of UKAF Cricket / © Andrew Fosker.
Individual Match Reports
RAF Battle Past The Navy Despite Watson and Johnston Heroics
The Royal Air Force won by 7 wickets. The annual military cricketing showpiece began on Friday 5th May at Burnaby Road East – home of the Royal Navy - in damp and murky early spring conditions in Portsmouth. The RAF won the toss and it proved to be a good toss to win as there was rain and cloud cover around, and their skipper Tom Shorthouse didn’t hesitate on putting the Royal Navy into bat. The game was reduced to 17 overs a side, and the Royal Navy went out to bat looking to make a positive start, but they lost wickets at regular intervals. Only keeper Brendon Streather (19) and Jerron John (22) made double figures and they added 37 runs for the 8th wicket, but some very tidy bowling from the RAF exploited the weather conditions exquisitely, and they restricted the home side to 82/9. It was a good all-round bowling effort from the visitors, with slow left-armer Ashley Watson (3-14), well supported by skipper Shorthouse (1-11), Keiran Pearce (2-11) & Sean McCabe (2-26). In reply, the Royal Air Force played with freedom knowing they were only chasing a modest target, aided by ever-improving conditions. Skipper Shorthouse & fellow opener Touseef Ahmad added 28 before Shorthouse was caught by Finn Marks off the bowling of seamer Jack Romanek for 21 (13). Adam Fisher then joined Touseef Ahmad at the crease, and the pair made a stand of 30 before Ahmad was given out caught behind by Streather off the bowling of the ever-impressive Charlie Henry. Adam Sutcliffe was then run out by was run out by Navy skipper Ben Johnston for a well-made 26 from 19 deliveries. Luke Hansford then strolled to the crease and had the honour of hitting the winning runs when he despatched Jerron John to the boundary, to see his side to a 7-wicket victory after only 11.1 overs. Wicket-takers Charlie Henry (1-13) & Jack Romanek (1-11) were the shining lights with the ball for the home side.Royal Navy vs RAF
Carmichael & Wiseman Keep Army on Course To Retain Title
The Army beat the Royal Navy by 19 runs (Game reduced to 19 overs per side). A combination of three run-outs and two stumpings put paid to the Royal Navy’s IST T20 aspirations for 2023. Having won the toss and electing to put the Army in, Navy skipper Ben Johnston will have felt pleased at the halfway stage after his bowlers restricted the defending champions to 145/7 after their allocated 19 overs. The Navy bowled well as a unit and the wickets were shared about with Jack Romanek and skipper Ben Johnston both returning 2-29, Charlie Rutter (1-20) and Jerron John (2-23). Four Army batters made telling contributions in a real team effort. Liam Fletcher 35 (41), Oskar Kolk 22 (20) skipper Jay Boynton 26 (15) and Ross Dearden finished 17 not out from 13 balls with one four and a six. In reply, skipper Johnston was given out LBW off the bowling of the ever-reliable Nicholas Schofield for 8. Fellow opener Will Rogers started brightly before he was run out for 16 with the score on 39, which proved to be the first of the three run-outs. Rhodri Davies 24 (28) and Finn Marks 38* (37) offered some hope buy they were always a little bit behind the required run-rate. The run-outs of keeper Brendan Streather (7) and Jerron John (1) slowed down their charge even more. Two stumpings from Army keeper Sam Blackburn put further nails in the Navy coffin. The Army’s victory was sealed when Charlie Rutter was bowled by Nicholas Schofield (3-16) as the Army won by 19 runs. Liam Fletcher top scored with 35 help the Army reach 145/7. Image courtesy of Shaun Roster.Army vs Royal Navy
UKAF Women Leave Lord’s With The Spoils
UKAF Women’s XI beat the MCC Women’s XI by 9 wickets. For a second season running, Georgina Dean proved to be a thorn in the MCC Women’s XI side as she helped herself to 44 not out off only 38 balls, to see her side romp to a comfortable 9-wicket victory. The Home of Cricket seems to bring the best out of the stylish stroker player as she scored 20 not out against the same side at the same venue this time last season. The UKAF Women’s XI were set 98 to win after the MCC Women’s XI scored 97/5 off their 20 overs, The MCC Women’s XI won the toss and elected to bat, confident in making a defendable score, but the UKAF's experienced bowling attack had other ideas with Anna Sales (1-26), Megan Richards (2-22) and Shema Wright (1-19) all claiming scalps to restrict the MCC to under 100 runs on a track that favoured the batters. Wicket-keeper Lauren Hardern impressed with the gloves and got her name in the scorebook with a stumping and a catch. In reply, Dean, opened the batting with Georgina Cant, scored freely and her knock of 44 came off only 38 balls and included six fours and two huge sixes. She added 78 with number three batter Amanda Potgieter (32 from 33 balls) as the home side won with 6 overs and two balls to spare. Georgina Dean was later deservedly awarded the player of the match afterwards. UKAF opener Georgina Dean, pictured with actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer Stephen Fry, is awarded player of match after her scintillating 44 not out that helped see her side cruise to victory. Image courtesy of Shaun Roster.MCC vs UK Armed Forces CC
Carmichael and Fletcher Go Barmy as The Army Thrash The RAF To Retain Title
The Army beat the Royal Air Force by 4 runs via ‘Duckworth Lewis Stern’ method. The deciding game between defending champions the Army and the RAF was a mouth-watering prospect for the Lord's crowd and those watching on Forces TV. With rain predicted by the Lord's ground staff, Army skipper Boynton won the toss and decided to bat first, backing his bowlers to defend whatever his batters could set the RAF to chase. It was a steady but not overly spectacular innings from the Army after some tight bowling from the RAF. Varun Bali 25 (13) and Liam Fletcher 20 (27) got them off to a good start but some accurate bowling in the middle overs left the Army a little short of where they’d like to be. The tide seemed to change in the 19th and penultimate over, which was started by the accurate Ashley Watson. His first ball of the over was drilled straight back to him by the powerful Denson Narayan and he took it flush on his left bowling hand causing him a hand injury that meant he couldn’t complete his final over. Skipper Shorthouse trusted himself to bowl the final five balls of that over and it proved to be a good choice as he bowled Narayan with his first ball and only went for four runs off the remainder of the over. This then meant that Shorthouse couldn’t bowl any more overs. He had proved hard to get away and would have probably bowled the final over of the Army innings if it wasn’t for the injury to Watson. That honour was given to left-arm seamer Keiran Pearce who had only gone for 15 from his three overs in the innings so far. Aidan Hawkesworth was on strike, and he smashed his first ball of the over to the boundary. Pearce came back strongly the ball afterwards, but Hawkesworth smashed the third ball of the over for six. Pearce found his line and length for the next two deliveries and Hawkesworth was then run out with one ball to go trying to come back for a second. His dismissal saw number 9 batter Jake Benson arrive at the crease. There was a slight delay as Pearce checked his field for the final ball of the over. Benson took guard outside off stump and absolutely nailed it over mid-wicket for 6, much to the delight of his team-mates. The final over went for 17 runs and the pendulum seemed to swing the way of the Army and it gave them some much-needed impetus, as their innings closed on 150/8 - setting the RAF 151 in 20 overs, at a run-rate of 7.55 runs per over. It was another tidy bowling performance from the RAF, Shorthouse claimed 1-22 from his 3.5 overs, Jack Harrison recorded figures of 1-16, and the injured Ashley Watson finished with figures of 1-13 off 3.1 overs. With the weather now a factor, the RAF had the Duckworth Lewis Stern system to contend with as well as a more than useful Army attack. Openers Shorthouse and Ahmad got off to a steady start, but the Army kept boundaries to a minimum. With the score on 29-0, skipper Boynton tossed the ball to his off-spinner Jake Benson and his faith in him was quickly restored when he made Shorthouse (24 from 19) play on as the RAF lost their first wicket with the score on 34. Ross Dearden bowled the next over and he limited the RAF to just seven runs and more importantly no boundaries, as the RAF had one eye on the target of 151 on the par Duckworth Lewis Stern score on the Lord’s scoreboard. Benson was again given the ball to bowl the seventh over and Fisher & Ahmad were restricted to four singles only and a dot ball. With pressure mounting, Ahmad knew he had to find a boundary off the last ball of the over. He slogged the ball to the long-on boundary where Keddy Lesporis took a vital catch sparking huge celebrations on the field. Moments later, with Dearden poised to bowl the next over, the predicted rain arrived and the umpires took the players off the field. As things stood, the RAF were five runs down on the Duckworth Lewis Stern scoring system. Twenty minutes later and with more rain around, the umpires decided to abandon the game and the Army were awarded a win by four runs, sparking huge celebrations in the Army camp. It was a disappointing end to what was building into an exciting finish. The win means that the Army’s love affair with the IST T20 continues as this is the fourth time they have won the trophy in a row, with all four times being under the excellent leadership of their skipper Jay Boynton. Moments after lifting the trophy, a jubilant Boynton said: “To win here at Lord’s again is magical, it is the Home of Cricket and a very incredible place to play the game. That is four in a row we have had, hopefully we can make it five in a row next year. “Jake Benson taking 2 wickets, also him hitting the six of last ball in our batting innings was a pinnacle moment for us and was arguably the difference between the two sides at the end, after decent batting performances for Aidan Hawkesworth and Denson Narayan to get us to 150, shows the character we have in the side. Keddy Lesporis catching the ball on the boundary then one ball later winning on DLS was a special moment too. Boynton added: “This year’s victory is something we are very proud of, with five new faces making their Lord’s debuts today, they all handled the occasion brilliantly. I want to thank all the coaching staff. Boynton concluded: “To be the Army’s most successful captain and most capped T20 player makes me a very proud man. None of this could have been achieved without the unconditional support from the Army’s Chain of Command, our families and friends at home, and my team-mates.” The hand injury to Ashley Watson proved to be a decisive moment as he couldn’t complete his allocated overs. Image courtesy of Shaun Roster. Army skipper Jay Boynton proudly poses with Stephen Fry and the IST T20 trophy. Image courtesy of Shaun Roster.Army vs RAF
Results round-up
Game 1. The Royal Air Force beat the Royal Navy by 3 runs.
Game 2. The Army beat the Royal Navy by 43 runs.
Game 3. UKAF Women’s XI beat the MCC Women’s XI by 6 wickets.
Game 4. The Army beat the Royal Air Force by 62 runs.
The player of the tournament award was awarded to LCpl Tade Carmichael who scored 136 runs from only 92 balls at a strike rate of 148 per 100 balls, but the Army were the stronger team all-round on the day and they thoroughly deserved their victory.
The three services will now begin their preparations for the IST 50-over games that are scheduled for the beginning of August.
Vice Admiral Andrew Burns CB OBE (Fleet Commander) presents LCpl Tade Carmichael with the player of the tournament award after the close of play. Image courtesy of UKAF Cricket / © Andrew Fosker.
