ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2014

Select XI and drew a run-heavy first game against South Africa A (Warner’s 193, although surpassed by Dean Elgar’s 268 for the hosts, was enough to see him flown back to England and inserted into the Ashes side) before going down to defeat in the second. South Africa A also hosted two matches against India A, almost foreshadowing the full Test series between the senior teams scheduled for 2013/14. The Indian side was strong by ‘A’ team standards, being led by Cheteshwar Pujara and containing a number of Test players. It won the high-scoring first game by an innings, but South Africa A levelled the ‘series’ in the second game, a match that statisticians will remember for the remarkable monopolisation of India A’s second innings by the sixth-wicket partnership. The remaining fixtures took place in the Caribbean, where two matches between West Indies A and Sri Lanka A failed to reach a result: the first because of very heavy scoring and the second because of weather interference. To stray slightly from the Annual ’s brief to cover first-class cricket, it may be of interest to note that the 2013 season saw the inauguration of a domestic three-day tournament in Ireland, the Inter-Provincial Championship. Matches are two innings a side and the event is contested, as a home and away league, by three of the five provinces affiliated to the Irish Cricket Union: Leinster, Northern (roughly, the eastern half of Ulster) and North West (western Ulster); Munster and Connacht are as yet too weak to take part. Leinster comfortably won the 2013 competition, ahead of Northern. Although the six matches were not first-class, and hence are not included here, the launch of this competition offers further evidence of the seriousness of Ireland’s intentions as a cricketing nation. Finally, it may be noted that this is the final time that the Annual will incorporate a section for matches played during the English season preceding the overseas season that occupies most of the book. In future, the Annual will cover each overseas season with a separate section for matches played outside England during the following English season. (JCB) 12 Matches in 2013