LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 2 ROUND 12 v ‘THE BATS’ AT MP 1 ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2022:
No report has been received to date
The Team was (playing 7: – Tom Robertson 18, Scott Williams (w) 2, James Bonkowski 15, Soren Hughes 1, Jonathan Seifman 29*, Peter Buruma 1, Jim Hadley (c) 20*; Ben Gorham absent
The Result was:-
The Bats: – 2-184 (20 overs)
Defeated
CCNSW: – 5-90 (20 overs)
By 94 runs.
The Bowling was: – J. Hadley 4-0-51-0; J. Seifman 4-0-32-1; S. Hughes 4-0-34-1, P. Buruma 4-0-27-0, T. Robertson 3-0-27-0, J. Bonkowski 1-0-10-0.
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One catch to both J. Hadley and T. Robertson.
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to; 2 points to ; 1 point to
CITY & SUBURBAN JACK PACE SEMI FINAL v OLD ALOYSIANS AT GODDARD PARK, CONCORD ON SUNDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2022: REPORT BY HARRY BRIDGE AND ADRIAN HAWKES
Front row: – Toby Forbes, Avinash Bhandari, Jim Hadley (c), Nick Leong, Scott Williams (w)
Glorious weather and a belter of a wicket greeted the side at Goddard Oval for the semi final, although all the facilities were under renovation.
Having beaten the number one seed, Easts in the quarter finals, it seemed slightly unfair to then be drawn v the second seed in the semi finals. Could history repeat itself? Having been dismissed earlier in the season by Easts Pacers for our lowest ever score batting first, we had bounced back to win v the same team in the quarter finals. Having lost by a record score to Old Aloysians last season (over 200 runs) might we find them over confident this season and sneak another win? We had only lost to them by 5 runs in the first round of the Jack Pace back in October
Alas it was not to be.
We lost the toss and Old Aloysians built steadily to reach 2-68 at drinks. Although our bowling was relatively tight and only a couple of catches were dropped, the good conditions meant that the batters were only getting out when going for expansive shots as Old Aloysians started to sore at nearly 10 an over and run away with the score, highlighted by a handful of 6s and finishing with 4-242.
In all our records over 51 seasons we have never successfully chased such a total batting second and have only twice scored over 200 to win, the highest being 212 but there is always a first time. Unfortunately this was not to be it.
Needing to score at 7 an over from the start was a daunting task, quickly made more difficult when openers Tom Robertson and Scott Williams were both out cheaply with only 3 runs on the board. Paul Nash showed he was still in good touch with one towering drive for 6, but was unable to push on and our fourth wicket fell at only 27. Harry Bridge and Brett James steadied the innings and we were still in the game on 4-57 at drinks, with some wickets in hand. On paper we batted in depth but now needed over 9 per over. Unfortunately Bridge was caught behind shortly after drinks trying to find a gap in the field, and while James pushed the score along with a hard fought 33 the pressure to score at such a high rate soon led to Jim Hadley and Soren Hughes both being run out cheaply. Whilst the game was all but lost at 8-83, Toby Forbes and Morley Goodchild added an unbeaten 44 for the 9th wicket and saw the innings to a close at 8-127 with Forbes hitting a number of well-timed boundaries to finish 34*.
For the second successive season, Old Aloysians have inflicted our worst defeat of the season in terms of runs. We are due to play them for the third time this season next Sunday at the same ground in a non JP game… weather permitting!
The Team was: – Tom Robertson 0, Scott Williams (w) 2, Paul Nash 12, Avinash Bhandari 6, Harry Bridge 15, Brett James 33, Jim Hadley (c) 5, Soren Hughes 1, Toby Forbes 34*, Morley Goodchild 7*, Nick Leong dnb
The Result was: –
Old Aloysians: – 4-241 (35 overs)
Defeated
C.C.N.S.W.: – 8-127 (35 overs)
By 113 runs
FoW: – 1- 3 (S. Williams); 2-3 (T. Robertson); 3-13 (A. Bhandari); 4-27 (P. Nash); 5-61 (H. Bridge); 6-62 (J. Hadley); 7-68 (S. Hughes); 8-83 (B. James).
The Bowling was: – M.Goodchild 6-0-34-0; A. Bhandari 5-0-41-0; N. Leong 5-1-14-1; B. James 7-0-36-1; T. Forbes; 3-0-31-0 J. Hadley 5-0-48-1; S. Hughes 4-0-27-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to A. Bhandari
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to N. Leong; 2 points to T. Forbes; one point to B. James
CLASSICS OVER 50s ROUND 8 v CASTLE HILL AT CAMPERDOWN PARK, CAMPERDOWN , ON SUNDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2022 : REPORT BY DAVID CRAIG
In a first for the team this season, 12 players arrived well before midday, giving the skipper, Scott Wells plenty of options as he headed out to toss the coin on a typically well grassed but dryish deck. In warm and humid conditions, with little chance of rain, convention would say win the toss, bat first and set them 200+, and as the recently departed Meatloaf observed, “Two out of three ain’t bad”.
The skipper’s instructions to the top order were to get us to the drinks break no more than 2 down, and accelerate from there. Openers Ian Allmey and Mike Weaver did the job with a watchful but confident start, punctuated by a sudden flurry of trademark Allmey boundaries followed by a fine pull shot from ‘Weaves’, and we were 0-44 after 9 overs. Tragedy struck in the 10th, when a well set Allmey on 25 aimed for a decisive lofted drive off Gal, but miscued and failed to clear mid-off. Weaver and Mike Pinter (‘ Punter’) consolidated with a mixture of watchful defence, aggressive running and the odd boundary getting us to the 20 over break at 1-83. Part one of the mission accomplished.
Weaves retired in the 21st over, and ‘the Prez,’ Greg Brooks, was sent out at No. 4 with a licence to thrill, pounding his first 2 balls faced down the ground for 4 and 2, before miscuing a drive to be caught for 8 at 2-99. When ‘Punter’ (22) chipped one back to the bowler in the next over, we were 3-100 in the 24th with 2 new batters at the crease. Wells and Richie de Silva looked all class, but the 22 run partnership was broken when one kept low to bowl the skipper for 13 as he looked to accelerate. Ed Cross (19) and de Silva (23) added 34 in quick time, highlighted by an effortless pull shot from Richie that cleared the boundary left of the fig trees by 15-20m – pure timing!. Unfortunately, a somewhat traditional late flurry of wickets saw us fall away from a promising 4-156 in the 33rd to 179 all out in the 39th, Weaver 38*. Six of the last 7 wickets were bowled or lbw, highlighting the need to attack the stumps on a wicket offering some variable bounce. Garry James was particularly unlucky to perish to an absolute screamer as he slashed a cut shot through the gully region.
I’m not too sure what happened during the innings break. I was too upset that my beloved reverse sweep had finally betrayed me to notice anything. Although perhaps it would be an interesting trigonometry question for one of maths teacher Ed Cross’ classes to determine whether an off-spinner operating over the wicket can hit a pad 2 metres down the track in line with the stumps and still be going on to hit? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I wasn’t out, and I’m sure the umpire was more than competent, I’m just contemplating whether the odds were in my favour…but I digress.
While 179 was perhaps below par on our home turf, against a weakened Castle Hill team it was surely competitive and we seemed confident in our ability to defend the total. Game on!
It took just 3 balls for the breakthrough: Castle Hill opener Petrie sealed his own fate by calling for a 3rd run on the relay throw de Silva-Brooks-Wells, departing for a diamond duck! When Stuart Ridge produced a pearler that swung in to bowl the dangerous P. James, the cat was well and truly among the pigeons. Just 3 balls later Weaves was moving like a man three quarters his age to grab a fine catch to his left at mid-on and the Castle Hill chase was in disarray at 3-14 (a double wicket maiden to S. Ridge). At the other end, Mick Tarrant. was beating the bat regularly, and he was eventually rewarded with the wicket of Ward, stumps scattered: 4-19. A fine opening spell from both ends kept our opponents under constant pressure: Ridge 6-2-17-2 and Tarrant 6-1-17-1.
A change of bowling to Brooks and Cross, then David Benson, did nothing to improve Castle Hill’s fortunes, and Brooks was soon celebrating the wicket of Reaney, lbw for 14: -: 5-42 after 15 overs. Rao (30* retired), Akle and Hungerford steadied the ship for Castle Hill, getting them to the drinks break at 5-67.
There may have been something in the Castle Hill drinks, but this is pure speculation based on circumstantial evidence as Hungerford took 28 runs off just 8 balls after drinks, twice clobbering Barry James off middle stump into the fig-trees at mid-wicket. After this brief excitement, normal service was resumed as Ranga nicked the off-spinner to slip where Allmey grabbed a smart chance, and soon after Akle lifted a drive to mid-on, falling victim to the “four first names” trap
(c David Craig b Garry James). When Stimson perished in identical fashion, it was 8-120 after 29, and the retiring bats returned to the crease. In response, Wells recalled the opening bowlers, who proved too good. First, Ridge drew a thin edge from Rao into the safe hands of the keeper Wells. In the next over, it was Tarrant who disturbed Hungerford’s castle, and the spirited Castle Hill chase was over some 42 short of the required total.
It was a good day’s cricket played in fine spirit, and it’s always nice to pick up the win. In particular, we put in a great effort in the field, with very tight bowling all round backed up by a near-flawless fielding display. However, our batting total, highlighted by Weaves unbeaten 38, was somewhat disappointing, with several dismissals in the 20s and a late collapse keeping us 20-30 short of a satisfying total. Looking forward to the next challenge!
The Team was (playing 12): – MikeWeaver 38*, Ian Allmey 25, Mike Pinter 22, Greg Brooks 8, Scott Wells (c) & (w) 15, Richie De Silva. 23, Ed Cross 19, David Benson 4, Mike Tarrant 2, Garry James 0, David Craig 9, Stuart Ridge dnb
The Result was: –
C.C.N.S.W.: -10-179 (38.3 overs) (M. Weaver 38*)
Defeated
Castle Hill C.C.: – 10-138 (33.3 overs) (S. Ridge 3-27)
By 41 runs
FoW: – 1- 44 (I. Allmey); 2-99 (G. Brooks); 3-100 (M. Pinter); 4-122 (S. Wells); 5-156 (R. De Silva); 6-160 (E. Cross); 7-162 (M. Tarrant); 8-163 (G. James); 9-167 (D. Benson); 10-179 (D. Craig).
The Bowling was: –: M. Tarrant 6.3-0-17-2; S. Ridge 7-1-27-3; G. Brooks 4-2-9-1,; E. Cross 3-0-17-1; D. Benson 2-0-14-0; G. James 6-0-40-2; D. Craig 4-0-19-0
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – One to S. Wells
Catches: – One to S. Wells (w); 2 to D. Craig and one to both I. Allmey and M. Weaver
Run outs: – One to G. Brooks
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to S. Ridge; 2 points to G. James; one point to M.. Weaver