LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 8 v ‘LANE COVE LONG HOPS’ AT CP4, CENTENNIAL PARK ON WEDNESDAY 13 JANUARY 2021: REPORT BY BEN GORHAM
A beautiful afternoon set the scene for a fantastic game of cricket. Winning the toss we batted first. Ben Gorham (73*) got us off to a good start with wickets falling regularly around him. Looking at a modest 130, George Arnold (19*) and Josh Johnston (25) had other ideas with some good hitting taking us to 6-150.
Knowing early wickets were the key, Nick Tatarchuk opened the bowling with his leg spin, unfortunate no wickets but his bowling allowed us to keep a squeeze on the runs. We bowled very well but the Long Hops skipper bludgeoned the ball to the boundary regularly. We hung in with Long Hops needing 12 off the last 15 balls. Unfortunately we were not able to restrict their getting the runs with 2 balls remaining. Overall a tremendous game of cricket played in great spirit.
The Team was: – Ben Gorham (c) 73*, James Bonkowski (w) 4, James Murtha 5, Matthew Edge 8, Jonathan Seifman 12, Josh Johnston 25, George Arnold 19*, Nick Tatarchuk 0
The Result was:-
C.C.N.S.W.: – 6-150 (B. Gorham 73*) (20 overs)
Lost to
‘Lane Cove Long Hops’: – 6-155 (19.3 overs)
By 2 wickets
The Bowling was: – J. Murtha 4.3-0-35-2, N. Tatarchuk 3-0-20-0, J. Johnston 3-0-21-2, J. Seifman 3-0-31-0, B. Gorham 3-0-16-0, G. Arnold 2-0-17-1, M. Edge 2-0-13-1
Fielding
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One each to J. Bonkowski (w), M. Edge and B. Gorham
Run outs: – Nil
Player Points (awarded by captain): 3 points to G. Arnold; 2 points to N. Tatarchuk; One point to J. Murtha
CITY & SUBURBAN ROUND 6 v I ZINGARI (AUSTRALIA) AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SATURDAY 16 JANUARY 2021: REPORT BY SOREN HUGHES
The Robertson show
Walking on the field on a gloriously comfortable day, the cool breeze consistent reminder of why many of us love cricket and the Australian summer. Gone were the thoughts of COVID, bushfires, floods and our JPS season past.
We had the choice of two pitches, Mr T. Robertson selecting the closest to the fig trees rather than the newer prepared pitch nearest the pavilion, probably to ensure his father Mr Rodger Robertson would not have a clear view of his batsmanship. We won the toss and Mr T. Robertson opened with his elder son Mr E. Robertson, with his younger son Mr I. Robertson umpiring from square leg. Yes, it was the Robertson show from there with Tom hitting one off his hips early as a sign of a longer innings. The Robertson Show put on 130 runs for the first wicket and we had all expected Ian Robertson and Rodger Robertson to fill out the batting order from there. Instead Harry Bridge made a golden and Mr Paul Nash 21 (his injured hand now back together) with Scott Williams, Curtis Murray and Soren Hughes filling out the remainder of the overs reach 5- 200. The ball seemed to be stopping in the pitch for a split second, ‘splatt’, which made batting a little tricky and make 200 feel defensible.
From here we switched off entirely. We gifted the prolific IZA opener two or three chances (Ed note: C. Manzie went on to score 105* and take his season’s C&S average to 119 from 3 completed innings (one run out)) and we only bowled the right lines and lengths occasionally. Before long, IZAs had racked up 120 odd from 18 overs and it was going to be difficult to get back in the game from there with a much older ball scratched up on the sandy surface and with the pitch offering almost nothing to our bowlers. Mr I. Robertson had chimed in with a couple of wickets and Scotty Williams and Mr E Robertson took one a piece.
Despite ‘Rodger’s men’ performing well, the rest of us had little to contribute to the Robertson show, apart from teasing Tom. Our poor record against IZAs remains firmly intact. Most were apprehensive, even fearful, of losing their spots in the fierce recruitment drive that could occur in the weeks ahead that may draft even more of the Robertson kin into our team in two weeks’ time.
The Team was: – Edward Robertson 55, Tom Robertson (c) 83, Harry Bridge 0, Paul Nash 21, Scott Williams 8, Soren Hughes 20*, Curtis Murray (w) 4* , Ian Robertson dnb, Ezekiel Hughes dnb, Mark Henwood dnb, Len Volkov dnb
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 5-200 – (T. Robertson 83; Ed. Robertson 53) (35 overs)
Lost to
I Zingari (Australia): – 4-201 (29.3 overs)
By 6 wickets.
FoW: – 1- 130 (E. Robertson); 2-130 (H. Bridge); 3-156 (T. Robertson); 4-168 (P. Nash); 5-175 (S. Williams).
The Bowling was: – Ian Robertson 7-0-45-2, S. Williams 8-0-56-1, E. Hughes 4-0-30-0, P. Nash 2-0-21-0, M. Henwood 3-0-21-0, Edward Robertson 4-0-24-1, H. Bridge 1-0-1-0, Tom Robertson 0.3-0-3-0
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: Nil
Catches: One to C. Murray (w) and one to Tom Robertson
Run outs: Nil
Player Points (awarded by captain): – Three points to Tom Robertson; Two points to Edward Robertson; One point to Ian Robertson.
CLASSICS ROUND 5 v LANE COVE AT CAMPERDOWN PARK ON SUNDAY 17 JANUARY 2021: REPORT BY DAVID CRAIG
A Classic Encounter
It was a glorious day for cricket at the beloved Camperdown Oval, with bright blue skies and warm sunshine. We were greeted by a hard, well-grassed deck that promised a fair contest between bat and ball. A good day to win the toss and bat big.
Unfortunately, the Lane Cove skipper called correctly and we took the field. The skipper’s pre-game pep-talk must have been a psychological masterpiece, as our bowling group had an absolute day out, supported by some fine fielding. After the second ball of the innings was glanced for four, it was all downhill for the Lane ‘Covids’, as we tore through them like a pandemic at a Republican fund‑raiser. Mick Tarrant got the ball rolling with a superb in-swinging yorker rattling Amolda’s stumps in the third over, and followed that with two more ‘jaffas’ in the fifth over to clean bowl MacLaine and Wignall. At the other end, Stuart Ridge was delivering a six over spell that yielded just 3 runs, and the steady build-up of dot-ball pressure yielded results when Magarey aimed a pull shot at a ball that was not short enough, and the castle was disturbed for a fourth time. After ten overs of immaculate pace bowling, Lane Cove were mortally wounded at 4-12.
A double change introduced the spin-twins, Garry James and David Craig, and paid immediate dividends in the form of a wicket maiden from James, the fifth wicket falling to a sensational left handed “pluck” by Greg Brooks at slip. At the other end some accurate leg-spin maintained the pressure until a long-hop was despatched to deep square leg, where Scott Wells ran and dived forward to take a sensational low catch. A raucous lbw shout was rewarded soon after, followed by a smart catch at mid-wicket by Andrew Spedding in the same over, as Lane Cove limped to 8-30 at the drinks break.
At this point Treweek and McRae put together a decent partnership, and another double bowling change saw the left-arm orthodox of Martin Speiser paired with Mick McCormick’s medium pacers. Once again, the change paid dividends, as the top-scorer flicked Speiser to mid-wicket where David Craig took a tumbling low catch, and after a shortish stay that was both charmed and controversial, their number 11 cut McCormick into the safe hands of Speiser at point: Lane Cove all out 66. This was a really solid performance in the field, with five good catches taken and solid ground-fielding to back up a terrific outing by the bowlers.
After the break, Mike Weaver was quickly into stride with pulls and drives yielding early boundaries. At the other end Mike Pinter slowly warmed to the task and started accumulating runs effectively. The best chance for a wicket seemed to be a run out, as one of Punter’s characteristic ‘sharp’* singles produced a shy at the stumps and three overthrows, the (rare) all-run four nearly resulted in’ ‘Weaves’ being simultaneously lapped and retired hurt with a strained hammy. Nevertheless, our heroes soldiered on toward the target as the number 3 bat Scott Wells began calculating the mathematical probability of the win being achieved without either opener retiring. Alas, Weaves reached 30* retired with only a handful required, and Wells was required to walk out to the middle and watch Punter knock off the remaining runs as CCNSW completed a comprehensive victory.
*i.e. suicidal
The Team was (playing 12): – Mike Weaver 30* ret not out, Mike Pinter 30*, Scott Wells 0*, Mick McCormick dnb, Greg Brooks dnb, Glenn Mortell (w) dnb, Martin Speiser dnb, Andrew Spedding dnb, Mike Tarrant dnb, Garry James dnb, David Craig dnb, Stuart Ridge (c) dnb
The Result was:-
Lane Cove: – 10-66 (32.1 overs)
Lost to
C.C.N.S.W.: – 0-67 (M Weaver 30* ret not out; M. Pinter 30*) (12.2 overs)
By 10 wickets
The Bowling was: – M. Tarrant 5-1-9-3; S. Ridge 6-3-3-1; G. James 8-2-22-1; D. Craig 7-0-17-3; M. McCormick 3.1-1-5-1, M. Speiser 3-1-5-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: Nil
Catches: One to each of G. Brooks, D. Craig, A. Spedding, M. Speiser and S. Wells
Run outs: Nil
Player Points (awarded by umpire): – Three points to M. Tarrant; Two points to M. Weaver; One point to D. Craig