CITY AND SUBURBAN ROUND 2 v REG BARTLEY XI AT REG BARTLEY OVAL, RUSHCUTTERS BAY ON SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER 2022:
WASHED OUT
MASTERS ROUND 2 v BALMAIN/SOUTH SYDNEY RANGERS AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER 2022:
WASHED OUT
VINTAGE ROUND 2 v ASHFIELD DE LA SALLE OLD BOYS AT RON ROUTLEY OVAL, CONCORD ON SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER 2022: REPORT BY MICHAEL MCORMICK
After a week in which many of the team had played 3 or 4 games at the State Championships the creaks and groans were louder and more frequent than normal. Well done to Joe Scarcella, Peter Rolls and Stu Ridge on their Port Jackson Grand Final win.
The weather over most of the state made cricket a pipe dream but a window of opportunity remained at Ron Routley Oval where only a sprinkle had occurred.
The now familiar La Nina omnipresence of clusters of dark clouds surrounded the ground, but both the pitch and outfield were in good condition. Fortuitously, the clouds rolled past all day.
Rollsey lost the toss and De La Salle decided to bat on a dry slightly slow pitch. It wouldn’t take long for that decision to be regretted.
Stuart Ridge, fresh from his week at Penrith panthers, pounced, cat- like on the oblivious opposition, bowling their best batsman with a hooping inswinger. He followed this up with two further top of off stump pearlers that hooped in and mercilessly clipped the off bail.
Stuart had better figures than the Bolshoi ballet. 4-1 after 3 overs. Whiley Coyote, Paul Georgiadis was getting back in his Pilates like rhythm seemingly halting the ball in mid flight on its way to the batsman. He kept it tight to allow Stuart to weave his magic. Stu finished with the amazing figures of 4 for 3 with 5 maidens in his 7 overs.
At 3 for 4 thoughts of under 9 matches started to surface but the De la Salle left-handed opener remained steadfast despite opening a meatworks of butchered opportunities down the leg side.
Garry James bowled tightly coping with a very stiff back. His crooked man appearance would not have caused any concern if had parked in a disabled spot. He floated and beat the bat on several occasions until his “spec savers” moment when he over enthusiastically appealed for LBW. To every player, spectator, umpire and nearby covid tester, it was obvious that the ball had hit the back of the bat which was easily caught by Jerry at first slip.
Joe Scarcella then replaced Stu and used the perfect in swinging breeze to again ask questions of the batsman. He bowled without luck for figures of 0-17
Mick McCormick then replaced Joe and had similar back stiffness to Garry James but more brought about by the weeding stick then the games in Penrith. The inconsistency of line and length probably assisted in surprising the batsman and the good balls reaped rewards bowling the number 6 and then removing the dogged left hander who had a brain explosion and inexplicably made a charge at the bowler. The next ball was full and trapped the batsman inches from the stumps. It was an impossible task for his teammate not to raise the finger (no official umpires this game)
A semblance of excitement momentarily greeted the hat trick ball, but it was left outside the offstump by the batsman prompting Garry James’s encouragement, mentoring and coaching advice to “bowl on the ****king stumps”
Stu came back on to try and pick up the remaining wickets with his final two overs, bowling well but no cigars. Jerry picked up a wicket with a good catch to Frank at mid-off who seemed to lose the ball in the trees but then came forward caught the ball, then completed a perfect forward roll reminiscent of Nadia Comaneci.
New recruit Dan Pellen showed pace in the field all day and was rewarded when he implemented the final wicket via run out. De la Salle all out for 78.
Frank Baliotis opened with John Finucane. Frank got off to a good start punching the ball like Kostya Zhu through the leg and offside. John ably assisted and the score progressed to 36 without loss. Frank unfortunately cut one to point and was out for 28 but had guided the team to a likely victory. Dan Pellen in his first innings for a while, seemed to easily get back on the bike and played some nice shots to score 15.
Jim Robson immediately took control and had the running between wickets tempo upped to a staccato level. He went caught and bowled trying to get the runs by 20 overs.
John Finucane had to retire owing to some pain in his chest, he headed to hospital for some cautionary tests with the good news that there were no problems, except running with Jungle.
Captain Peter Rolls, Garry James and Mick McCormick hit sufficient runs to get to the total by 20 overs and obtain the maximum bonus points.
An excellent win with Stu’s spell and Frank’s innings the highlights.
The Team was: John Finucane 15 retired, Frank Baliotis 28, Daniel Pellen 15, Jim Robson 4, Peter Rolls 5, Michael McCormick 6, Garry James 0*, Gerard O’shea dnb, Joe Scarcella dnb, Stuart Ridge dnb, Paul Georgadis dnb
The Result was:
C.C.N.S.W.: 4-79 ( 18.5 overs)
Defeated
Ashfield De La Salle Old Boys: 10-78 (36 overs)
By 6 wickets
FoW: – 1-34 (Baliotis); 2-61 (Pellen); 3-67 (Robson); 4-74 (Rolls)
The Bowling was: Stuart Ridge 7-5-3-4, Paul Georgadis 7-2-12-0, Joe Scarcella 7-2-17-0, Garry James 7-1-16-1, Michael McCormick 4-1-15-3, Gerard O’Shea 4-0-21-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: None
Catches: Gerard O’Shea, Frank Baliotis
Run outs: Daniel Pellen
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to Stuart Ridge; 2 points to Michael McCormick; 1 point to Frank Baliotis