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Thirty years on from the inaugural outing between two of the world’s most prominent sporting clubs and on the same iconic ground where it all started, the Marylebone Cricket Club and Melbourne Cricket Club did battle for the 17th time in the traditional ‘Day 6’ clash on Monday July 3 at Lord’s Cricket Ground, with the hosts coming out on top, victorious by 29 runs.
Following an injury to appointed skipper Will Pucovski in a UK club game, current Melbourne CC First XI opening batter Charles Lill captained the side, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Dr John Lill, who was captain in the inaugural match three decades ago. Both John – a former MCC Secretary/CEO - and father Simon were in attendance to watch the youngest Lill in action, while Steven McCooke (who made a century in the same game in 1993) was also on hand to watch son Alistair take the field. Steven addressed the Melbourne players in a moving speech prior to play.The toss was won by Marylebone captain Will Bosisto, a first-class cricketer who has represented both South Australia and Western Australia, and he duly elected to bat first. The Melbourne attack featured five front-line quicks, with Kieran Elliott and Glenn Hannah handed the new ball to kick off proceedings. Hannah (2/40 off 9) struck an early blow by removing Burge for just two, however, Daryl Mitchell (52 off 73) and Bosisto showed their class as they took the score to 102 before a well-directed short ball from Jackson Koop (2/39 off 8.1) drew the top edge of Mitchell’s bat which was safely caught by Ben Davies at fine Leg.
Aaron Boyle (2/33 off 10) bowled beautifully through the middle overs to slow the run-rate down before reaping the rewards with a couple of wickets late in his spell, but it was the return of Kieran Elliott into the attack that changed the game. He snuck through Bosisto’s defences to rattle the stumps and see the end of the opposition skipper for a well-made 70 off 88 balls. He sent the stumps cartwheeling a further three occasions as part of a burst that saw Marylebone lose 8/47 to be all-out for 197 in the 47th over. Elliott finished with 4/24 off 9 overs to be the pick of the bowlers.
Charles Lill started the innings positively, striking three boundaries on his way to 21 off 27 balls before the ball caught the leading edge of his bat to see him caught at point. Andrej Yaksender (an MCC Member who plays Premier cricket with Melbourne University) entered the game at number three and was the mainstay of the innings, striking 66 off 97 balls (including seven boundaries) before being the last man to fall. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough support around him, as the spin of Reid Dick (1/23 off 9) and Graves (2/17 off 7.3) controlled the game on a wearing pitch that was conducive to the slower bowlers with sharp turn and variable bounce. The result ended in Marylebone’s favour as Melbourne were all-out for 165 in the 43rd over.
The 29-run triumph for Marylebone takes the head-to-head ledger up to 9-7 in Marylebone’s favour (with one wash-out), with the next fixture set for the Australian Ashes Tour in 2024. The visitors were indebted to their hosts for the wonderful hospitality and access to the hallowed turf, players’ change rooms and the historic Members’ Pavillion. This extended to the Long Room after play, where the respective club Presidents – Stephen Fry and Fred Oldfield – traded friendly barbs at an official dinner and paid tribute to “Mother Cricket” and the strong relationship between the two clubs.
Image: © Jed Leicester/MCC
Match Summary
Marylebone Cricket Club 10/197 (WG Bosisto 70, DKH Mitchell 52, KJS Elliott 4/24) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 10/165 (AJ Yaksender 66) by 29 runsYou can view the full scorecard from the game here.
Umpires: PD Nicholls & TG Norton
Scorers: MA Shepherd & CL Doyle
Toss Won By: Marylebone Cricket Club who elected to bat
MARYLEBONE CRICKET CLUB XI
WG Bosisto*, ADF Brewster, SDJ Burge†, HA Evans, NS Foster, BMW Graves, JW Jenner, DKH Mitchell, AH Reid Dick, GJ Reingold, CRG Vernon
MELBOURNE CRICKET CLUB XI
AJ Boyle, MD Curtain†, BS Davies, KJS Elliott, GJ Hannah, MR Hennig, JE Koop, CJ Lill*, AP McCooke, AJ Yaksender, EDT Bowen
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS
June 23, 1993 (Lord’s): Marylebone Cricket Club 5/251 (BC Broad 116, AFD Ellison 41, NJL Trestrail 30, MS Anderson 3/38) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 9/245 (SM McCooke 104, RI Templeton 44 MWD Sholly 41) by six runsDecember 30, 1994 (MCG): Marylebone Cricket Club 8/182 (NJL Trestrail 45, DC Briance 40) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 111 (MWD Sholly 34, GH Dean 4/14, S Dyson 3/22) by 71 runs June 26, 1997 (Lord’s): No Result
December 31, 1998 (MCG): Melbourne Cricket Club 5/243 (WG Ayres 80, MWD Sholly 50 ret., RI Templeton 45) def. Marylebone Cricket Club 122 by 121 runs April 15, 2001 (Hong Kong Cricket Club): Marylebone Cricket Club 3/310 (MW Gatting 154*, RA Kettleborough 36) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 5/306 (MW Sholly 135, PI Jubber 70, MJ Marthy 44*, R Cooke 3/64) by four runs
July 24, 2001 (Lord’s): Marylebone Cricket Club 8/217 (MW Cowell 59, AIC Dodemaide 46, WS Kendall 43, HA Lane 3/34) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 194 (LJ McRae 42, BJ Hodge 36, Sutherland 32*, GJ Kuris 3/26, JM Attfield 3/52) by 23 runs
January 2, 2002 (Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai): Marylebone Cricket Club 8/248 (L Potter 69, AIC Dodemaide 32*, SH Cook 6/55) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 9/215 (MS Pinniger 76, DS Shepherd 37, SF Graf 36, L Potter 3/39)
December 31, 2002 (MCG): Marylebone Cricket Club 7/154 (RA Kettleborough 61, T Hodgson 38) def. by Melbourne Cricket Club 2/158 (RJ Ashton 80*, CJ Peake 40, DJ Broad 32*) by eight wickets
July 26, 2005 (Lord’s): Marylebone Cricket Club 5/232 (DM Ward 76, REWG Horridge 42, MW Gatting 35*, PJ Dickson 2/34) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 77 (MN Kendrick 3/0) by 155 runs
December 31, 2006 (MCG): Marylebone Cricket Club 8/173 (N Hicks 41, DJ Kruis 34, EDT Bowen 3/15, NH Quinn 3/28) def. by Melbourne Cricket Club 2/178 (LG Buchanan 84, AJ Kent 48) by eight wickets
July 21, 2009 (Lord’s): Marylebone Cricket Club 7/249 (KP Dutch 74*, JD Bowden 56, DJ Bicknell 43, K Bradshaw 30, JA Fitzgibbon 3/56, A Fekete 2/56) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 1/55 by six runs (DLS method)
December 31, 2010 (MCG): Marylebone Cricket Club 8/234 (I Cockbain 65, AIC Dodemaide 43, D Cranfield-Thompson 46) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 195 (SP Dart 49, AIC Dodemaide 4/36) by 39 runs
April 23, 2011 (Hong Kong Cricket Club): Melbourne Cricket Club 2/86 (AJ Kent 37, PA Petricola 36*) drew with Marylebone Cricket Club DNB. Match Abandoned due to rain
July 23, 2013 (Lord’s): Melbourne Cricket Club 135 (JD Huddart 31, DT Johnston 3/21) def. by Marylebone Cricket Club 5/139 (JP Stephenson 39, SA Sturrock 3/16) by four wickets
December 31, 2013 (MCG): Melbourne Cricket Club 8/245 (WJ Pucovski 56, MJ Brown 44, LJ Edwards 39, JW Paynter 38, LA Blackaby 3/30) def. Marylebone Cricket Club 221 (ER Kilbee 82, JP Stephenson 32, JW Paynter 4/40) by 24 runs
July 21, 2015 (Lord’s): Melbourne Cricket Club 165 (MJ Brown 33, HW Butterworth 32, CA Barrett 3/30 def. by Marylebone Cricket Club 4/169 (GA Adair 57, NV Jeyaratnam 47*) by six wickets
December 31, 2017 (MCG): Melbourne Cricket Club 6/245 (OR Gunning 82, HM Michelmore 70, AP Mooke 50*, T Smith 3/43) def. Marylebone Cricket Club 148 (T Smith 62) by 97 runs
August 19, 2019 (Lord’s): Marylebone Cricket Club 134 (DC Mulholland 58, JE Koop 5/19, JP McNamara 2/7, MW Dwyer 2/24) def. Melbourne Cricket Club 2/133 (SB Harper 72, JH Billington 48*) by eight wickets (DLS method)
December 31, 2021 (MCG): Melbourne Cricket Club 8/239 (BR Thomson 57, DP Daly 53ret, AR Keath 36, AA Senn 3/43) def. Marylebone Cricket Club 7/210 (RPR Dixon 62*, TP Hodgson 31, CG Holmes 2/30, PI Jubber 2/42) by 29 runs
Images credit: © Jed Leicester/MCC