March 9, 2007
Stage Set for Fairytale Blues Comeback
So the NSW Blues cricket team took their collective eye off the ball for a couple of hours and were dismissed for 53, their lowest score ever in four day domestic cricket.
No matter, all is not lost. After two days they may still trail Tasmania by 168 runs but their skipper Dom Thornely, after falling to Hilfenhaus first ball in the first innings, is leading the fightback as NSW follow on. He and Peter Forrest, the Hawkesbury player who finds himself batting at number three in his second game for NSW, have put on 124 so far for the third wicket. All they have to do is build on their start and make it a huge partnership, thereby setting up the NSW bowlers with enough runs to defend so that they can bowl Tasmania out in the second innings.
Sound unlikely? Maybe. But who would have predicted a last wicket stand of 219 between Thornely and Stuart MacGill back in November 2004? The Blues are still in the running for the Pura Cup in 2006/07. As they say in sport, it's not over until the fat lady sings.
Posted to Cricket by Keith Pitty