Sharks vs Uenomiya HS, Fuji 1, 31/03/13
By Scott Musgrave
The Sharks turned on the style against a difficult pre-season opponent in the shape of the technically skilled Uenomiya High School. The Osaka based team won the toss and sent the Sharks into the field, unaware of the attacking weaponry that awaited them.
Generalissimo Chris T threw the red first to new recruit and former Uenomiya graduate, Tsuyoshi Takada who responded to the challenge with aplomb taking a wicket in his second over. The young Japanese international showed the Sharks his wares with a blistering first spell that mesmerized his junior colleagues. His pace and bounce worried the tentative Uenomiya batsmen who struggled to overcome the challenge, coughing up a meagre run-rate in the face of some genuine attacking bowling.
However it was during a Vicky Sancheti over that the second wicket fell. Whilst the 1st XI Captain sprayed a few to begin with, as with most of us, one slightly leg-sided delivery found its way to Shark and cricket debutant Eiro whom with a mighty turn and throw found an Uenomiya batsman short of his crease with a direct hit! From Square Leg! Quite a way to announce himself!
The second bowling partnership was the odd couple of the game, but ended up as effective as any. The vertically impaired Rocky joined debutant and tall timber Scott to the bowling crease. The skiddy mediums of the Pakistani, when on target, bamboozled the opposition where the pitch exhibited signs of inconsistent bounce.
Scott, on the other hand found much joy and bounce that also troubled the batsmen, when on target. It was this edifice of a man that struck the third wicket with a wider ball that caught the edge and carried to the Captain with consummate ease. It was only soon after that Rocky struck with a ball that ended up lofted toward point where Scott stood ready for action to take a comfortable catch.
The bowling performance of the match went to Anton. The Englishman’s slower medium-spinny…things, caused all sorts of trouble after finding his range; a common theme for all bowlers on the day. His labours bore fruit as the Uenomiya batsmen sought to take after our gallant Englishmen only for him to lull them into a false sense of security and nab 2 scalps, the second of which was courtesy of Vicky who somehow snaffled a reflex one hander at first slip. A Sancheti Special to take home and savour.
Unfortunately for Anton however, Charles, being jealous of his bowling prowess sought to put an end to this by dinting his thigh with an “attempted run out.” Don’t worry Charles, we forgive you. Charles, Faheem and David accounted for the rest of the bowlers, with Faheem’s around the wicket mediums providing another interesting dimension to a future Shark attack.
The ugly side of the bowling however was the extras column. Wides everywhere. This is something that will need to be fixed in the future. We gave away 53 runs in wides to contribute to a total of 114. No wonder the Uenomiya kids scored at such a surprising rate, we did most of it for them!
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
| T. Takada | 6 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| V. Sancheti | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| S. Musgrave | 5 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| S. Mehmood | 5 | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| A. Lloyd-Williams | 5 | 1 | 19 | 2 |
| C. Steinhardt | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| F. Ahmed | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| D. Lollback | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
…
For the chase, Dear Leader Thurgate sent in the experienced David Lollback and the ever enthusiastic Charles 
Steinhardt, the latter of which, so eager to atone for his misdemeanor in darkening Anton’s inner thigh, found himself out for 1 of 4 after “blocking” a wide delivery with a horizontal bat. The reinvention of Charles will continue however, with many hoping that centuries lurk around the corner.
Vicky entered the crease at 8 for 1 and, along with Dave, put on an impressive display of batting that is very encouraging for the first team. Vicky, keeping in mind his new responsibilities as 1st XI Skipper, played an uncharacteristically reserved innings that actually saw him race to 44 before retiring. Dave too played an important innings with a lovely array of strokes, the pick of which was a tidy flick of the pads for 4, that led to a score of 34 before calling it quits.
Mairaj’s debut took centre stage when he joined Vicky at the crease. 
His brief cameo saw a lovely straight-drive-cut that went for 4. One wonders if it was intentional, but it looked a good shot nonetheless. Anton joined Vicky at the crease shortly after and added a tidy 7 not out.
New recruit Takady and Sharks old boy Thurgs fell after some superb bowling from Wada and Taniyama that had them both bowled; Wada producing a pacy short ball that dropped onto the top of the stumps and Taniyama sending through a wrong ‘un. Faheem then came to the centre to finish of the chase by soaking up a few tired byes.
| …… | Runs | Balls | 4’s | 6’s | ||
| D. Lollback | retired | … | 34 | 50 | 5 | 0 |
| C. Steinhardt | c. Okazaki | b. Wada | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| V. Sancheti | retired | … | 44 | 56 | 6 | 0 |
| Q. Mairaj | … | b. Nishimura | 8 | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| A. Lloyd-Williams | not out | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | |
| T. Takada | … | b. Wada | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Thurgate | … | b. Taniyama | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| F. Ahmed | not out | …. | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| E. Taniguchi | dnb | … | … | … | … | … |
| S. Musgrave | dnb | … | … | … | … | … |
| S. Mehmood | dnb | …. | … | … | … | … |
| Extras | … | nb1 w11 b2 lb3 | … | … | … | … |
| Total | 115 | For 4 | … | … | Overs 25 | |
…
Special note really must go to the Japanese leg-spinner Taniyama who looks an impressive prospect. Whilst only picking up one wicket, the Japanese international looked menacing at times with his drift and turn. Truly one for the future.
Play continued in the spirit of the game with further retirements and wickets falling. Play ended when Scott went for an optimistic second, rounding his batting partner Rockey, before dropping his bat and getting run out.
A good game for the Sharks. We were warned of the Uenomiya High Schoolers prowess, but we responded to the challenge. Uenomiya seemed to get bogged down at the start of the innings making few aggressive shots. This probably counted against them in the end. Whether nerves or something else, the ability they appeared to have did not come out in a way which was expected. Those technical abilities however will keep them in good stead for the future.
We hope to maintain a healthy relationship with the cricket program at Uenomiya and hope that we can one day meet again in a test of mettle.
