Lamma CC Win The League!
7th May 2005
Lamma CC Women’s team clinched the title in the inaugural Hong Kong Women’s League with a convincing win over KCC. It was a huge effort on a hot afternoon by all the players, several of whom had never played cricket before September 2004.
Lamma CC Women’s title winning team (click to enlarge)
Back row: (from left to right) Sam McIlwraith, Kim Leung, Walter Yau, Agnes Ng, Simone Kwan.
Front row: Neisha Pratt (captain), Kay Beadman, Emma Phillips, Kylie Knott.
(not pictured: Natasha Miles, Betty Chan; absent: Janet Cheung, Tracey Cheung, Medeline Coorey, Florenda Madriaga, Celia Palmer and Yoyo Poon)
After a few postponements, the last game of the inaugural HKCA Women’s League 2004–5 Season finally arrived on 7th May at KCC. The outcome would determine the winners of the Elton Education Women’s Cricket League Trophy! I was a nervous wreck coming into town on the ferry! Luckily, I had the company of Alysha and Emily Tarr and Julia and Ryan Harling to keep my mind off the game!
Being a Saturday, we lost five of our regular players to work commitments and had to borrow a couple of players from the HKCC. All kitted out in the green and yellow Lamma shirt, Neisha went out to toss, won and chose to bat. That left me nothing to do but shout and rant and rave from the sideslines as always during Lamma CC matches!
We started off well but lost Emma Phillips in the third over, gone LBW — 17 for 1. Walter Yau took her place and put on a very good 85 run partnership with Neisha before she was caught and bowled for 22. Early on in the partnership, things could’ve taken a different turn as Neisha was dropped from a difficult chance at square leg, one of her three lives. The score was on 102 for 2 when Sam McIlwraith took her position at the crease, played some good shots and then, unfortunately, stepped back and knocked the bails off to lose Lamma’s third wicket with the score at 126.
Neisha Pratt hits one of several sixes in her innings of 148 not out
This brought Kylie Knott to the crease, one of the newest members of the Lamma team, playing in only her second game. From then on for the next 14 overs, Lamma was on cruise mode. Neisha playing some fine shots all over the park, ably supported by Kylie, taking Lamma’s final score to 261 for 3; the skipper ending with 148 not out, hitting 10 fours and 4 sixes along the way. Kylie’s 27 not out took the partnership to 126 runs!
The required run rate of 7.4 runs per over was always going to be a big ask of the KCC, and the skipper’s talk before we took the field included, “we won’t get them out for under 50 but...”
Kim Leung shows that special Lamma grit and determination after running out one of the opposition
Sam and Agnes Ng took charge of the new ball. Our first wicket came from a great piece of fielding from Emma (was it Emma or Kylie???) and Sam, running out Wajida for 1 run in the fifth over with the score on 16... my shout, “Nine more to go!”
KCC captain, Julie Atkinson came to the middle but was soon dismissed by a very casual and cool caught and bowled by Walter, taking KCC’s score to 40 for 2 in 10 overs. Needing 221 runs in 25 overs, their star player Ruqia joined Sarah Eames in the middle, but nine balls later was sent back to the pavillion trying to return for second run but falling well short of her crease when Walter quickly threw the ball into me. Having already missed one chance to run her out from Neisha’s fielding a few balls earlier, I was determind to get her this time. The square leg umpire pointed his finger and dejectedly she walked off. I was starting to enjoy this!
Neisha, after getting her breath back from her fantastic knock, came into the attack and in her first spell of five overs took 3 wickets for just 4 runs! The only wall for KCC was their opener Sarah Eames, who batted solidly until, on 57, she was bowled by Neisha in the 33rd over. Kylie chipped in with four overs finishing with 1 wicket for 20. Our other bowlers were Sam with a very tidy 1 wicket 23 runs off 10 overs, Agnes 28 runs off 6 overs, Walter 1 wicket for 24 runs off 3 overs, and Simone 14 runs off 3 overs. But the bowler of the day was the skipper, Neisha, ending her 9 overs with a wicket off the last ball of the match, caught at silly mid off by Sam, which gave her bowling figures of 5 wickets for 7 runs from 9 overs!
Other than Sarah’s 50, no other KCC bat could make it to double figures as the wickets tumbled. Our fielding was great, with everyone contributing including Simone Kwan spending most of the day at third “man” and long off, Kay Beadman at fine leg and mid on, and our two borrowed players, Natasha Miles and Betty Chan hovering all over the place! The team spirit shone throughout as it has all season and we only gave away seven miserly boundaries as KCC were all out for 118.
Final result for the day: Lamma won by 143 runs, winning the first ever HKCA Women’s League and lifting the Elton Education Trophy with 52 points, 6 games, 4 wins, 2 losses!
And there was much rejoicing as the champagne flowed...!
Kim Leung, LCC Manager / Wicket-keeper
Congratulations to all members of the LCC Women’s team.
Neisha, congratulations for steering your team to a convincing win yesterday and a fantastic effort by everyone, during the season, to win the first ever Elton Education Trophy. This season, and the LCC win will be remembered for many years to come, in fact, it probably will never be forgotten.
I know that, with some of the LCC boys and Lamma supporters watching yesterday, we were and are all proud.
Well done again to you too Kim and Mark, for making this happen.
Congrats LCC Women’s Team!!!!
I feel a party is in order...
Brad Tarr
Chairman, Lamma CC
Here’s a small selection of photos from the afternoon, visit the Photo Gallery to view more.
Sam McIlwraith contributed a tight ten overs and finished with a wicket to her name
Lamma CC Women’s captain, Neisha Pratt, receives the Elton Education League Trophy from Mark Burns. LCC’s Ian Harling and KCC’s Afzal Haider look on
Kim and Emma Phillips crack open the bubbly
Kim savours the champagne
KCC Women’s team
