By Tony Becca - On The Boundary THE difference in standards between the top teams and the bottom teams in the Surrey Senior Cup cricket competition has once again been exposed, this time embarrassingly so.
On Saturday, Melbourne, not only defeated Tivoli by an innings and 157 runs, but in doing so, routed them for 15 runs in 9.2 overs.
In recent years, the difference between the top teams and the bottom teams has been such that whenever a top team plays a bottom team it is expected that the top team will win, and although there has been the rare occasion when a bottom team has held on for a draw, the expectation is usually fulfilled.
It was therefore not surprising when Melbourne defeated Tivoli. In fact, it was not even surprising that Melbourne won by such a margin. What was surprising was the little time it took for Melbourne to win the match.
Scheduled for two days or a minimum 200 overs, the match was over in 336 minutes and 77.3 overs with over one hour's play still to go on the first day as Tivoli's two innings added up to 94 runs - 79 and 15 - and lasted for a total of 180 minutes and 41.3 overs.
Tivoli's bowling was poor, so poor that Melbourne smashed 251 runs in 156 minutes off 36 overs. What was really terrible, however, was their batting.
Their batting was pathetic. The batsmen could not even defend the wicket, some of the attacking strokes attempted were difficult to describe, and the real embarrassment is that in a senior competition in this country, on a good pitch, on a bright, sunny day and against an average bowling attack, 11 men were dismissed in 51 minutes and 9.2 overs.
Only a few, however, were men. Most of them were boys who are obviously just learning the game and have no right in a Senior Cup match.
While the fans at Melbourne Oval on Saturday were disappointed in what Tivoli had to offer - and in particular their batsmen, the fans at Nelson Oval on Sunday were treated to a gem of an innings by Delroy Morgan.
It was not a century innings, it was only 54 runs, and it did not win the match for Lucas who lost to the Jamaica Defence Force.
It was, however, a beautiful interlude of batting by the 35-year-old Lucas and former Jamaica batsman who stroked eight exquisite boundaries in his first 32 - the first four coming off the first four deliveries he faced, the first seven off the first 12.
Joining the action at 20 for two, Morgan went onto the back-foot and stroked pacer Anthony Folkes to the cover boundary; in the following over, he went onto the front-foot, stroked pacer Howard Copeland for successive boundaries through the covers, and then ondrove through mid-wicket; and shortly after tea he preened himself against Folkes when he went back and drove through the covers, went back, cut to backward point, went back again and late cut to the thirdman.
Morgan's stroke play was so wonderful, so sweet, that after the second drive off Copeland, a fan who was on his way out, turned back and said to his friend, "Boy, mi caan leave now. Mi ha fi watch Morgan stroke it."
Morgan was good, really good, and for the fans who were at Melbourne Oval on Saturday and at Nelson Oval on Sunday it was a relief.
Before he went to bat the gods must have whispered in Morgan's ear and said: "Son, before they lose faith, before they forget, go thou and remind these people that batting is a beautiful art."
