LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 8 v ‘SUB-PAR-CRICKETERS’ AT MP 5, ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2023: REPORT BY SCOTT WILLIAMS
CCNSW were sent into bat on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. A steady opening partnership from James Bomkowski (52*) and RodShone (50*) got us off to the start we’ve been looking for all season. Shahzeen Ajani made a quick fire 24 after “Bonkers’” retirement. CCNSW were 1-120 in the 15th over and needed to push the run rate to be competitive, in came Scott Williams and Ben Digan. Scott managed to hit 51* off 14 balls which included 7 sixes and a ‘home run’ 12 off the last ball of the innings.
CCNSW put on 1-199 which looked never in doubt given that the Sub-Par-Cicketers were made up of ring ins. Turns out those ring ins could bat. Despite bowling a good line and length Sub-Par consistently cleared the boundary and were cruising to victory. With some retirements came in a middle order that couldn’t clear the square and made the contest close again. Unfortunately wickets fell and the openers came back in and got across the line with 1 over to spare.
The Team was: – James Bonkowski 52*, Rod Shone 50*, Shahzeen Ajani (w) 24, Scott Williams 51*, Ben Digan 22*, Jim Hadley dnb, Craig Fordham dnb, Matthew Edge dnb
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 1-199 (20 overs) (J. Bonkowski 52*; S. Williams 51*; R. Shone 50*)
Lost to
Sub-par-Cricketers: – 4-200 (19 overs)
By 4 wickets
The Bowling was: – S. Williams 4-0-26-0; M. Edge 3-0-33-0; C. Fordham 3-0-26-0; J. Hadley 3-0-33-1; B. Digan 3-0-27-2; J. Bonkowski 2-0-40-0; R. Shone 1-0-14-1
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – One to S. Ajani
Catches: – One to each of C. Fordham and S. Williams
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to; 2 points to; 1 point to
CITY AND SUBURBAN ROUND 8 v I ZINGARI (AUSTRALIA) AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SATURDAY 14 JANUARY 2023: REPORT BY PETER CONSTANTINOU
Back: Adam Khamis, Mike Weaver, Andrew Dadswell, Matthew Edge, Harry Bridge, Peter Constantinou Front: Brett James (c), Ash Perrott (w), Jonathan Shaw, James Murtha, Avinash Bhandari, Mike Pinter
I Zingari (Australia) won the toss and batted. An outstanding left arm opening spell by Australian over 50s player Brett James captaining the C&S team for the first time and right arm away swing by Avinash Bhandari returning from a lengthy spell abroad, had the visitors 4 – 18 after the first 7 overs.. They were well supported by the keeping of Ash Perrot who caught the first three IZA batters, The pressure continued to be piled on the visitors with tight bowling from ‘Jonno’ Shaw, Jamie Murtha and Adam Khamis supported by off-spin from Andrew Dadswell. They were supported by great fielding especially by Matt Edge, nursing a broken finger, who took a screamer. ‘Captain Cool’ Brett James effected a run out and took a difficult catch. We had the victors all out for 94 in the 28th over.
The CCNSW openers Mike Pinter and Peter Constantinou got us off to a slow but steady start seeing off the two opening bowlers on a deck which wasn’t too consistent before Peter was out for 9, lbw in the ninth over with the total on 13. At the fall of his wicket Harry Bridge came in and lifted the run rate with three boundaries. Mike Pinter played solid for his 20 before being run out but Ash Perrot then fell without scoring leaving us at 3-49 in the 19th over and Harry was bowled for 14 soon thereafter In the 21st over. With the score at 4-51, and another 43 runs needed from the final 14 overs, IZA appeared on paper to have a chance but Jamie Murtha (19*) and Brett James (18*) steadied the ship and battered nicely and aggressively scoring the final 43 runs off only 3.2 overs with Brett James hitting a 6 and a 4 off successive balls from IZA veteran Craig Hambleton to secure the win for the Blues. All round great cricket by the Blues and a rare win v IZA
The Team was (playing 12): – MikePinter 20, Peter Constantinou 9, Harry Bridge 14, Ash Perrot (w) 0, Jamie Murtha 19*, Brett James (c) 18*, Adam Khamis dnb, Avinash Bhandari dnb, Jonathan Shaw dnb, Andrew Dadswell dnb, Matthew Edge dnb and 12th man Mike Weaver dnb
The Bowling was: – B. James 4-1-7-2; A. Bhandari 5-2-7-2; J. Shaw 5-2-15-0; A. Dadswell 5-0-30-0 ; J. Murtha 5-2-18-2; A. Khamis 3-0-7-2; M. Edge 0.3-0-4-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – 3 to A. Perrot (w) and one each to M. Edge, A. Dadswell, B. James and A. Khamis
Run outs: – One to B. James
Player points (awarded by opposition captain): – 3 points to B. James; 2 points to M. Pinter; one point to A. Bhandari
CLASSICS ROUND 7 v BURWOOD BRIARS AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 15 JANUARY 2023: REPORT BY GREG BROOKS.
Stuart Ridge being cheered off the field by the CCNSW team after taking 8-13
“Hacksaw Ridge tears apart Burwood”
I must admit feeling some trepidation in writing this match report as I don’t think I can do justice to what occurred at Camperdown yesterday. It was a classic example of “you had to be there to believe it”. What started out as a regular Classics team cricket match turned into a one man show of swing and seam bowling as Stuart Ridge returned the third best bowling figures in the Club’s history. 6.5 overs 3 maidens 8 wickets for 13. Yes you read that correctly!
On a new wicket on the far side of the square Burwood won the toss, chose to bat and will long regret the decision. While not at all dangerous the wicket certainly had plenty of grass and combined with the high humidity, presented ideal conditions for high class swing bowling. Stu delivered just that and was backed up by some quality catching behind the wicket from Scott Wells and his slips cordon and in front of the wicket by Gerry O’Shea and a fine return catch of his own. The fielding around the ground was terrific highlighted by a superb pick up and direct hit at the bowler’s end by first gamer Andrew Dawson. At 7-23 with Stu having 6 of these (one run out) we were contemplating a swim at Coogee by 2pm; however a stubborn eighth wicket partnership slowed down the speed of the carnage. Steady bowling by David Benson, Paul Nash and Greg Brooks kept things tight during this period. The introduction of David Craig brought the breakthrough with the dismissal of Burwood’s top scorer Steve Rouse (22). In a ruthless move our skipper brought Stu back on and he claimed the remaining two wickets with consecutive deliveries to close out the innings at 57. We discussed the potential for a hat trick next game which for Stu will be against England on 30 January in the West Indies Over 60s Cup in Barbados! We await the feedback from that one!
Our chase began slowly and Ed Cross was unfortunate to be out lbw in the second over. That was to be the only loss of a wicket as slowly at first and then with acceleration Mick Pinter and debutant Andrew Dawson got on top of the bowling to see us home in the 15th over. Pinter was 27* and Dawson reached 30* retired with both in complete control.
The Burwood team was gracious in defeat acknowledging the wonderful performance of Stu and the overall dominance of their opponents. It was a short day and we were socialising with beers and cold drinks by 3pm.
Congratulations to everyone who played their part in the day. I am sure will we all remember the day for a long time to come.
The Team was (in batting order): – Mike Pinter (v/c) 27*, Ed Cross 1, Andrew Dawson 30* ret, Gerard O’Shea 0*, Craig Kitson dnb, Paul Nash dnb, David Benson dnb, Scott Wells (c) and (w) dnb,, Greg Brooks dnb, David Craig dnb, Stuart Ridge dnb
CITY AND SUBURBAN ROUND 7 v SYDNEY UNIVERSITY VETERANS AT ST PAUL’S OVAL, SYDNEY UNIVERSITY ON SUNDAY 8 JANUARY 2023 FOR THE BROOKS-MANNING-MOORHOUSE SHIELD: REPORT BY HARRY BRIDGE
CCNSW retain the Shield
Most players were excited to be playing on the picturesque St Paul’s Oval at Sydney University for the first time to defend the Brooks-Manning-Moorhouse Shield. Conditions were perfect but parking restrictions in the University grounds caused early chaos. Jim Hadley dropped a regulation catch at first slip first ball off Avinash Bhandari, who had another dropped behind in his five overs to leave him wicket less in an impressive spell. The wicket proved more conducive to spin and the catches began to stick, seven in all. The University Lions crumbled, with our spinners picking up a couple of wickets each with some nice variety. The Lions were all out in 31 overs for 145.
The University Lions started their bowling strongly and rattled Tom Robertson and Rhys Longbottom with some chin music. Longbottom was caught behind for 6 off a short ball and then Robertson was yorked for 11 soon after. Karthick Subramanian was out for a duck, lured into driving a full ball early which cut in through the gate, leaving us looking precarious at 3-18. Longbottom then came on to umpire and perhaps swept up by the Lions’ momentum, gave Harry Bridge (scribe) out for a fifth ball duck, to a ball with so much bat on it (feet and pads well clear behind the ball) that the University skipper at first slip didn’t appeal.
This left us in trouble at 4-18 in the sixth over. Fortunately we knew we had a solid batting line-up. Both Jamie Murtha (44) and Brett James (65*) soaked up the pressure and carried on their good form to turn the game and take us to 105 before Murtha was out for 44, with some lovely clips to the short boundary into St Paul’s college. In the end we came home comfortably in the thirtieth over with 7 down, retaining the shield and enjoying a few celebratory drinks with the opposition.
The Team was (playing 12): – Tom Robertson 11, Rhys Longbottom (w) 6, Karthick Subramanian 0, Harry Bridge 0, James Murtha 44, Brett James 65*, Peter Constantinou 6, Matthew Edge 2; Tim Litherland 4*, Adam Khamis dnb, Jim Hadley (c) dnb and Avinash Bhandari dnb
The Result was:
Sydney University Lions: – 10-145 (31 overs)
Lost to
C.C.N.S.W.: – 7-146(29.2 overs) (B. James 65*; J. Murtha 44)
The Bowling was: – A. Bhandari 5-0-15-0; B. James 5-1-34-1; J. Hadley 7-1-30-2; T. Litherland 7-0-22-2; A Khamis 3-0-24-1 , J. Murtha 3-0-15-2; M. Edge 1-0-3-2
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – Two to H. bridge and one to each of A. Bhandari, H. Bridge, M. Edge, B. James, R. Longbottom (w), and J. Murtha
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to B. James; 2 points to J. Murtha; one point to T. Litherland
MASTERS ROUND 7 v SCHOFIELDS CC AT OAKVILLE RESERVE, OAKVILLE ON SUNDAY 8 JANUARY 2023
Cancelled by rain
VINTAGE ROUND 7 v HUNTER TAVERNERS VETERANS AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 8 JANUARY 2023: REPORT BY STUART RIDGE
After a wet week, summer returned to Camperdown with a fine Sunday afternoon for cricket. The Hunter skipper won the toss and spotting a couple of damp patches from a leak in the new covers, put us in to bat.
Following a steady start from Frank Baliotis and Gerry O’Shea, that decision looked vindicated when Gerry got a couple of nasty lifters, nicking one to the keeper for 15. Joe Scarcella then joined Frank, both working the ball around well and, with good running between the wickets, put on 44 in the next 9 overs before Frank retired for a well made 30. Without any further addition, Joe popped up a leading edge to square leg to depart for 21 to bring Greg Brooks out to join Peter Rolls as the two new batsmen.
The skipper and president upped the run rate bringing the 100 up in the 22nd over. Brooskie in particular was looking threatening with four well struck boundaries before missing one to be bowled for 18, leaving us 3-100 in the 22nd over. Mick McCormick and Peter then added another 28 to set us up for a big total with wickets in hand and 12 overs remaining at 3-128. Looking to hit the accelerator, Peter (22) hit a glorious sweep to the long boundary but trod on his stumps in the process.
We still had high hopes of a total close to 200 but after Mick (24) miscued to be caught, Mel Lucas (4), Garry Winney (9) and Garry James (4) quickly followed in a collapse of 4-10 to take the wind out of our sails. Stuart Ridge (11) and Paul Georgiadis (13*) eked out another 20 runs and a returning Frank Baliotis was stumped in the last over for a total of 180 all out.
While not what we had hoped, 180 was still a defendable total with a strong CCNSW bowling attack and things were looking good when Greg Brooks removed Hunter danger man Spruce leg before in his first over. Stuart Ridge was looking dangerous from the other end but the next Hunter pair were able to consolidate.
Mick McCormick and Garry James kept things tight but were unable to dislodge a frustrating 50 partnership for the second wicket. Finally another bowling change brought the breakthrough with Paul Georgiadis picking up a wicket first ball and with the opener reaching 30* shortly afterwards, we had two fresh batsmen to bowl at.
Hunter reached drinks at 2-82 with the game evenly poised. However, straight from the break, new bowler, Joe Scarcella jagged one back sharply to take a wicket with the first ball of his spell before Garry James deservedly struck in his last over with the help of a smart catch by Paul Georgiadis. Joe then hit the stumps again and Gerry O’Shea kept up the trend of first over wickets to leave Hunter 6-100 after 26 overs with the required run rate climbing.
Hunter stemmed the flow of wickets but required 65 runs off the last 10 overs before some good counter attacking and a couple of expensive overs swung the pendulum back their way. Brooksie returned to break the partnership with another lbw but Hunter’s injured captain maintained the onslaught, regularly striking boundaries to spare his runner. Another retirement and late wicket to Mick McCormick brought their number 11 to the crease with 8 down and 11 needed. Stuart Ridge came back but despite shaving both leg and off stumps could not make any further breakthrough with Hunter completing the chase with 4 balls to spare.
A lot of ifs, buts and maybes and a result to bring us down to earth in the New Year after finishing last year a couple of points off the top of the ladder. It was disappointing not to be able to defend 180 but Hunter batted well and deep. Having batters to come back makes a big difference and we definitely missed an opportunity to set a larger target with all of our top 6 making good starts but with only one reaching retirement.
The Team was: – Gerard O’Shea 15, Frank Baliotis 34, Joe Scarcella 21, Peter Rolls (c) 22, Greg Brooks 18, Mick McCormick 24, Garry Winney 9, Mel Lucas 4, Garry James 4, Stuart Ridge 11, and Paul Georgiadis 13*
The Result was: –
C.C.N.S.W.: – 10-180 (39.5 overs) (F. Baliotis 34)
Lost to
Hunter Taverners: – 8-184 (39.2 overs)
By 2 wickets
FoW: – 1-23 (G, O’Shea); 2-67 (J. Scarcella); 3-100 (G. Brooks); 4-128 (P. Rolls); 5-143 (M. McCormick); 6-148 (M. Lucas); 7-149 (G. Winney); 8-153 (G. James); 9-173 (S. Ridge); 10-180 (F. Baliotis).
The Bowling was: – M.McCormick 5.2-1-30-1; S. Ridge 6-1-15-0; G. Brooks 7-1-31-2; G. James 7-1-26-1; P. Georgiadis 2-0-14-1; J. Scarcella 6-0-24-2; G. O’Shea 5-0-30-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to each of P. Georgiadis, M. Lucas and G. Winney
LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 7 v ‘ONE MORE BEER’ AT CENTENNIAL PARK CP 5 ON THURSDAY 15 DECEMBER 2022: REPORT BY JAMIE MURTHA
The second last game of the calendar year was played on one of the larger grounds, the grass was heavy and conditions both overcast and windy.
We batted first and made a promising start going at around 8 RPO but after 5 overs, a middle order collapse and series of unfortunate dismissals made it difficult to post a competitive total. Mick McGrath played some sublime lofted cover drives in his total of 67* and was the only one on the day who could punish the ordinary middle over bowling. Rod Shone (17*) supported McGrath nicely at the end, presenting the full face of the bat as he rotated the strike, however, the opposition lifted at the death with excellent bowling and fielding to limit our total to 124 off 20 overs.
The opposition openers struggled early against an excellent opening spell from both Rhys Longbottom and McGrath with the former delivered an early breakthrough hitting the top of off. We generally bowled well but luck went the opposition’s way with chances just out of reach as Hardy continued his run of form against us with his second half century this season. Jamie Murtha applied some pressure with a wicket stumped by Will Jacobs, a great piece of keeping off balance. However he bowled one too many overs and was punished for it in the third. Unfortunately ‘One More Beer’ scored the runs easily with over 3 overs left and 6 wickets in hand. With one game remaining for the calendar year we will be looking to finish with a win next week against the LMS NRL CC.
The Team was: – Rhys Longbottom 8, James Murtha (c) 14, Mick McGrath 67*, Peter Constantinou 4, Ben Digan 2, Rob Shone 17*, William Jacobs (w) 5, Jim Hadley1
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 6-124 (20 overs) (M. McGrath 67*)
Lost to
One more Beer: – 2-128 (16.3 overs)
By 6 wickets
The Bowling was: – R. Shone 4-0-25-0; R. Longbottom 4-0-25-1; M. McGrath 3.3-0-32-0; J. Murtha 3-0-27-1; J. Hadley 1-0-5-0; B. Digan 1-0-14-0
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – One to W. Jacobs (w)
Catches: – Nil
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to M. McGrath; 2 points to R. Shone; one point to W. Jacobs
CITY AND SUBURBAN ROUND 6 v ST GEORGE VETERANS AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SATURDAY 17 DECEMBER 2022: REPORT BY JIM HADLEY
CCNSW lost the toss and were sent in. Tom Robertson and Mike Pinter opened and gave us a steady start against accurate bowling till Tom got a good delivery clipping his off stump and was out for 17. Peter Constantinou and Pinter looked to be settling in till a mix up had Constantinou run out for 5. Craig Kitson hit some quick boundaries to up the run rate till he tripped over a ball he had covered and was judged lbw for 15. Pinter was then bowled by a good off cutter for 23. Harry Bridge and Soren Hughes then took over and put on a 100 stand, Bridge 61 and Hughes 54. Tom Litherland 10 and Adam Khamis 14 * finished off our innings. CCNSW 6-227 off 35 overs.
‘Jonno’ Shaw and Soren Hughes (‘Big Sooz‘)opened the bowling, Jonno brushing off the rust with a steady 6 overs 0-24, Sooz a tidy 4 overs 0-8. Tim Litherland’s off-spin hit a length from the first ball and with attacking fields he finished with 6 overs 1-25. Tom Robertson was then introduced and bowled a barnstorming 5 overs 2-17 and St George were in a hole. Adam Khamis mesmerised their lower order with his leggies and googlies finishing with 4 overs 3-9 and Craig Kitson chipped in with an accurate 4 overs of off-spin 3-9. St George Veterans finished all out for 119 in the 33rd over.
The Team was: – Tom Robertson 17; Mike Pinter 23, Peter Constantinou 5, Craig Kitson 15, Harry Bridge 61, Soren Hughes 54, Tim Litherland 10, Adam Khamis 14*, Declan Thomas (w) 2*, Jim Hadley (c) dnb, Jonathon Shaw dnb
Saint George Veterans: – 10-119 (32.2 overs) (A. Khamis 4-14; C. Kitson 3-9)
By 108runs
FoW: – 1-25 (T. Robertson); 2-35 (P. Constantinou); 3-68 (M. Pinter); 4-70 (C. Kitson). 5-172 (S. Hughes); 6-195 (T. Litherland); 7- 207 (H. Bridge);
The Bowling was: – J. Shaw 6-1-29-0; S. Hughes 4-1-8-0; T. Litherland 6-1-25-1; J. Hadley 1-0-2-0; T. Robertson 5-2-7-2; A. Khamis 6.2-14-4; C. Kitson 4-1-9-3
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to D. Thomas (w) and one to each of H. Bridge, C. Kitson and M. Pinter
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to H. Bridge; 2 points to S. Hughes; one point toA. Khamis
MASTERS ROUND 6 v GALUNGARA AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER 2022
Cancelled by rain leaking through hole in the covers
VINTAGE ROUND 6 v ROSEVILLE ROGUES AT NORMANHURST OVAL, NORMANHURST ON SUNDAY 18 DECEMBER 2022: REPORT BY PAUL GEORGIADIS
Back row: Sittampalam Ragavan, Greg Brooks, Garry James, Stuart Ridge, Gerry O’Shea Front Row: Paul Georgiadis, Joe Scarcella, Frank Baliotis, Peter Rolls (c) & (w), Mick McCormick, Garry Winney
A damp and chilly summer morning (with 19°C and a 20km/h wind making it feel like 13°C) at Normanhurst for a match on the synthetic pitch rather than the available turf wicket at Marrickville left many bemused. Last season at Marrickville in our previous encounter our bowlers had bowled the Roseville Rogues out for 39 runs when they were chasing 139. Certainly one would assume that a synthetic wicket would give the batters the upper hand but as it turned out, good line and length bowling always makes things difficult for batters and brings rewards but more of that later.
Sittampalam Ragavan (“Raga”) brought along a stack of food to celebrate his 65th birthday and Peter Rolls provided a pink iced donut with candles for us to sing happy birthday. With that formality out of the way, we had a team photo. Only 5 candles used to signify 65 as using all to match Raga’s age would have brought the fire brigade (who happened to be in the same street!)
The Rogues won the toss and elected to bat. Four balls into their innings and without any runs having been scored Stuart Ridge (Ed note: newly selected for Australian over 60s squad) clean bowled the opening batter. Stuart struck twice in his fifth over and once again in his sixth over finishing up with the impressive figures of 4 for 17 off his seven overs (3 bowled and 1 lbw) – an excellent bowling spell that set the match up for us. Raga came on at the other end after Paul Georgiadis who had not taken any wickets in his four overs but had been unlucky as one difficult catch was put down by an outstretched keeper. Raga’s first over went for 11 runs but he recovered his line and length and in the next 4 overs took 2 wickets for 9 runs. Greg Brooks chimed in with 2 wickets of his own from his seven overs for 19 runs which included a remarkable one handed reflex catch at first slip by Gerry O’Shea, taking it to his right side and behind him. Mick McCormick at second slip said “I decided not to go for it so as not to put Gerry off” but in real fact hadd not move as he had not see it!. Garry James bowled exceptionally well for 2 wickets conceding only 3 runs off his 6.3 overs. Special mention for Frank Baliotis whose fielding continues to impress and also for Peter Rolls as our stand in wicket keeper with John Finucane overseas. A couple of casualties for our fielders with Frank Baliotis straining a quad and Garry Winney straining a back flexor when both were chasing down balls heading to the boundary. Joe Scarcella gave them his physio contact after the game as he did not bowl as he was still getting physio for his groin (HCF are still questioning the legitimacy of his claim!) The opposition were all out for 99 in the thirty fourth over leaving us a target of 100 for victory.
Gerry O’Shea and Peter Rolls opened the batting in a steady fashion defending good balls and finding the gaps to keep the scoreboard ticking along at about 3 runs an over until the ninth over when Gerry was surprised by a rising ball that he could not get his top edge out of the way of – 1 for 23. Joe Scarcella (who seems to be enjoying a break from bowling) joined Peter in the middle and together they started to increase the run rate. In the twelfth over Peter hit the accelerator smashing 16 runs (including two fours and a six into the car park) to retire not out on 32* with the team score on 1-50 and only another 50 required from the remaining 28 overs
Raga joined Joe Scarcella and together they put on a quick 19 runs before Raga was run out in the fifteenth over (2 – 69). The word was then sent out that we wanted to finish the game within 20 overs to maximize bonus points. Joe was out for 29 followed by Greg Brooks (10) and Garry James (0) with Mick McCormick on 5* and Frank Baliotis on 28 in the twentieth over – the objective having been achieved by our two new “Finishers” with Mick hitting a boundary for the winning runs. A good overall team effort with plenty of great and good individual performances.
The Team was: – Gerard O’Shea 10, Peter Rolls (c) & (w) 32* ret not out, Joe Scarcella 29, Sittampalam Ragavan 8, Greg Brooks 10, Garry James 0, Mick McCormick 5*, Frank Baliotis 2*, Stuart Ridge dnb, Paul Georgiadis dnb, Garry Winney dnb
The Result was: –
Roseville Rogues: – 10-99 (33.4 overs) (S. Ridge 4-17)
Lost to
C.C.N.S.W.: – 5-103(19.4 overs) (P. Rolls 32*; J. Scarcella 29)
By 5 wickets
FoW: – 1-23 (G. O’Shea), 2-69 (S. Ragavan), 3-85 (G. Brooks), 4-93 (J. Scarcella), 5-93 (G. James)
The Bowling was: – S. Ridge 7-1-17-4;P. Georgiadis 4-1-16-0; S. Ragavan 6-0-26-2;M. McCormick 3-0-17-0; G. Brooks 7-2-19-2; G. James 6.3-3-3-2
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – Two to G. O’Shea and one to S. Ragavan
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to S. Ridge; 2 points to G. James; one point to P. Rolls
LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 8 v ‘NRL CC’ AT MP 5, ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 21 DECEMBER 2022:REPORT BY JIM HADLEY
CCNSW lost the toss and were sent in. James Bonkowski and Rhys Longbottom put on an opening partnership of 70 till Bonkowski departed for 39. Longbottom retired soon thereafter for 50 * and Scott Williams took over, hitting some heavy balls to and over the boundary till departing for 46. Peter Constantinou 17 and Mick McGrath 18 * made the most of the final overs helped by Craig McKenzie 6*. CCNSW 3-176 off 20 overs.
McGrath opened the bowling and was untouchable for 3 overs for 7 runs, backed by Williams 2 overs 2-10 and Rod Shone 3 overs 3-38. Craig McKenzie was a trump for us keeping taking 2 catches and 1 stumping. NRL CC were all out for 110.
The Team was: – James Bonkowski 39, Rhys Longbottom 50*, Scott Williams 46, Peter Constantinou 17, Mick McGrath 18*, Craig McKenzie (w) 6*, Jim Hadley (c) dnb, Rod Shone dnb
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 3-176 (20 overs) (R. Longbottom 50*; S. Williams 46)
Defeated
NRL CC: – 8-110 (16.3 overs) (R. Shone 3-38)
By 66 runs
The Bowling was: – R. Shone 4-0-38-3; M. McGrath 3-0-7-0; J. Hadley 2-0-18-2; S. Williams 2-0-10-2; R. Longbottom 2-0-14-0; J. Bonkowski 2-0-11-0; P. Constantinou 1.3-0-6-0
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – One to C. McKenzie
Catches: – 2 to C. McKenzie (w) and 2 to S. Williams and one each to J. Bonkowski and R. Shone
Run outs: – One to Jim Hadley
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to C. McKenzie; 2 points to M. McGrath ; 1 point to S. Williams
LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 6 v ‘SUB PAR CRICKETERS’ AT MP 8, ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 7 DECEMBER 2022: REPORT BY JAMES MURTHA
It was an overcast afternoon, the opposition won the toss and elected to bowl, we fielded a strong side albeit only with 7 players.
Their openers got off to a solid start and both appeared to be heading towards a 50* retired before Soren Hughes (‘Sooz’) playing his first LMS game of the season, struck a double play (Editor’s note: the LMS playing conditions adopt this rule from baseball), taking a high catch off his own bowling and having the presence of mind to throw the stumps down before the non striker could make his ground; it was a very impressive piece of cricket.
Adam Durant and Jim Hadley (also playing his first LMS game of the season) bowled exceptionally well without luck. David Craig grabbed a key wicket and Jamie Murtha bought a wicket at the end thanks to an excellent boundary catch by Craig. Solid bowling and fielding kept them to a relatively modest 5-162.
CCNSW started the chase losing early wickets: Jamie Murtha (1) was bowled playing a dirty slog across the line; Scott Williams nicked off and scored his first ever LMS duck (after c. 140+ innings ); Adam Durant (7) and Rod Shone (10) both dug in early but couldn’t go on with it.
At the other end Sooz was hitting boundaries for fun and retired on 50*. David Craig and Jim Hadley steadied and built a solid partnership before Dave fell for 30. Jim went up a gear and found the boundary regularly, requiring 24 off 10 balls Jim scored 18 off the first 5, taking the equation to 6 off 5.
A fast and accurate over took it down to the last ball requiring 1 to win, a leg bye was misfielded by the keeper and Sooz made it safely to the striker’s end for a single to win the match!
The Team was: – Soren Hughes 56*, Jamie Murtha (c) 1, Adam Durant (w) 7, Scott Williams (w) 0, Rod Shone 10, David Craig 30, Jim Hadley 55*
The Result was:-
Sub Par Cricketers: – 5-162 (20 overs) ()
Lost to
CCNSW: – 5-163 (20 overs) (S. Hughes 56*; J. Hadley 55*; D. Craig 30)
By 3 wickets
The Bowling was: – A Durant 4-0-24-0 S. Hughes 4-1-23-1; D. Craig 4-0-39-1; J. Hadley 4-0-20-0; J. Murtha 2-0-23-1; R. Shone 2-0-32-0;
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to each of D. Craig, J. Hadley and S. Hughes
Run outs: – One to S. Hughes
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to S. Hughes; 2 points to J. Hadley; 1 point to D. Craig
JACK PACE ROUND 5 v SYDNEY UNIVERSITY LIONS AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER 2022: REPORT BY HARRY BRIDGE
Spirits were high as our C&S team was finally at Camperdown for the first time this season. The weather was perfect and the square was finally playable, but its surprisingly dry, cracked and crumbly condition would prove more suited to Sydney University Lions. We made a convincing start with Tom Robertson’s 36 a continuance of his consistent form in the first half of the season, and Jamie Murtha coming off some big scores and looking comfortable for 15, their partnership taking us swiftly to 59 before both quickly fell. Murtha was the first victim to the Lions’ new off-spinner, who found the conditions ideal and went on to dismiss four of our top six batters in his 4-16, decimating our middle order as we lost our final 5 wickets for 20 runs. The only other resistance was Karthick Subramanian’s punchy 28, as we reached a below par 10-142.
Toby Forbes and Soren Hughes struggled to find their lengths early on; however Forbes found a crack and cut a ball in to bowl the Lions’ best batter, giving us a brief sniff of being in the game. Adam Khamis caused some difficulties with his spinners, and both Adam Durant and Craig Kitson did well taking a couple of wickets each. At six wickets down and looking brittle, there was a feeling the Lions may have struggled if we’d posted another 20 runs and were able to apply some pressure, but in the end their top scorer’s slowly compiled 50 guided them to a solid win by four wickets.
We look forward to the return fixture at St Paul’s college in Sydney University on 8 January next which (unlike this game) will be played for the Brooks-Manning-Moorhouse Shield. Hopefully conditions will not be quite so spin-friendly.
The Team was: – Tom Robertson 36, Jamie Murtha 15, Karthick Subramanian (w) 28, Dan Turner 9, Harry Bridge 11, Toby Forbes 0, Adam Durant 9, Adam Khamis 5, Craig Kitson 6*, Peter Constantinou 1, Soren Hughes (c) 4
The Result was: –
C.C.N.S.W.: – 10-142( overs) (T. Robertson 36)
Lost to
Sydney University Lions: – 6-145 (33.4 overs)
By 4 wickets
FoW: – 1- 59 (T. Robertson); 2-60 (J. Murtha); 3-91 (D. Turner); 4-105 (H. Bridge).5-107 (T. Forbes); 6-122 (A. Durant); 7-129 (K. Subramanian); 8- 134 (A. Khamis); 9-135 (P. Constantinou); 10-142 (S. Hughes).
The Bowling was: – T.Forbes 6-1-19-1; S. Hughes 4-0-26-0 ; P. Constantinou 7-0-30-0; A. Khamis 7-1-27-1; A. Durant 5-2-15-2; C. Kitson 4.4-1-11-2
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to A. Durant
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to T. Robertson; 2 points to K. Subramanian; one point toA Durant
CLASSICS ROUND 6 v OLD IGNATIANS AT RYDE OVAL, RYDE ON SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER 2022: JOINT REPORT BY ANDREW DAVIS AND MIKE PINTER
La Niña must be a thing of the past as we arrived at the ground on a very hot Sunday, winning the toss was now very important for us two reasons 1) errr …. it was very hot, and 2) one of our eleven “Mick” Tarrant was still 90 minutes away due to being called into work. With our regular Captain Scott Wells out due to injury Mike “Punter” Pinter stepped into the role of Captain and fortunately he called correctly with “Tails never fails in New South Wales”; hence we won the toss and elected to bat.
On the ladder before the game. Old Ignatians (“Old Iggies”) were sitting in fifth spot with three wins and one washout and CCNSW down in ninth with two wins and two losses – so this was a very important game for both teams to win before the Christmas break. We didn’t have a number of regulars due to injuries and seasonal engagements; thanks must be given to “Gerry” O’Shea, Jed Wesley-Smith and Sam Skoulis for stepping in and we also welcomed back Brett James (who had just been selected to represent the Australian Over 50s Cricket Team in the upcoming Over 50s World Cup in Cape Town next March).
There was a cautious start to our innings by Gerry O’Shea Ed Cross as the pitch visibly had a few gremlins with the odd ball staying low at one end and sharply kicking up at the other. Gerry was the first wicket to fall being caught for 10. This brought in our stand-in Captain Punter to join Ed who was doing a great job of punishing all loose balls, smacking six boundaries on his way to retiring at 30*. A nice partnership was developing with Punter and Brett James with both turning over the strike and both running quickly between the wickets, converting the ones to twos and the twos to threes. However Punter tried to take on the field once too often for a quick single that wasn’t there and was found well short of his ground to be run out for 20. The score was now 2-77 in the 18th over. Andrew “Dee” Davis then joined Brett James and again a nice partnership was developing between the two with both batters hitting the pickets before another call for a quick single saw Andrew Davis also short of his ground again- run out for 22 in the 25th over with the score now 3-125.
Around about this time, a call came in from Tommy Robertson from Camperdown Oval (some 40 minutes away from our ground) apparently some knucklehead (of course … apologies to said knucklehead) had accidentally locked the Camperdown sheds with the kits and keys inside. To paraphrase the infamous words of the Robot from Lost in Space “Danger Tommy Robertson”.
With 15 overs left we were looking to up the rate and close in on 200 runs. Brett was joined by Greg “Brooksy” Brooks and unusually Brooksy started cautiously, to watch Brett retire on 30*. Now with two in the bank Brooksy was joined by David ‘Dutchy’ Craig, who once again played a reverse sweep off his first ball for three runs much to the surprise of the bowler. The pair pushed the score along to 3-163 before we lost three wickets for 12 runs (Brooksy c and b 23, Dutchy c and b 13 & Jed Wesley-Smith bowled 1). All were selflessly trying to accelerate our innings to get us over a 200 total. The score was now 6-177 with five overs remaining. Enter Andrew “Bach” Bachelard.
Quick runs were needed and Bachelard had been given the licence to thrill – and thrill he did! In the 37th over he launched his assault hammering 18 runs with two massive sixes with two brilliant cricket shots, one over the cover fence and the other over deep long on. Mick Tarrant was Bach’s wingman for the onslaught, and Mick was our 7th and final wicket to fall at 7-202. Sam Skoulis then joined Bach in the 38th over whilst Bach continued to plunder the bowling. Bach retired soon after on 30* with four balls remaining in our innings. What a knock – one of the best by anyone in the team this season! Sam was joined by Ed Cross who managed to get seven more runs off the remaining four balls to finish on 39* (well done Ed on another great innings this season). Our innings closed at a very defendable 7-220 with eight bowlers to choose from.
After the tea break it was our turn to take the field in slightly cooler conditions with Brett James and Mick Tarrant opening the bowling. This was one of the first opportunities Brett has had with leather in hand since being selected for the Australian Over 50s Team. The opposition knew about Brett’s selection and they knuckled down and relished the challenge. Brett and Mick bowled well and regularly troubled the openers however without success. There was a very fast outfield and most balls that passed the infield made it to the fence. Brett and Mick did exactly what was required to restrict Old Iggies to 0-40 after 10 overs, this partnership helped add pressure as the run rate required increased from 5.5 RPO to 6.0 RPO.
Punter then decided to make a double change and toss the ball to Bachelard and Davis – this is where we turned up the Bunsen burner. Bach started with a maiden and it just got better from there for CCNSW with some brilliant fielding by Gerry O’Shea in and around gully and point and Sam Skoulis proving to be very valuable in close at square leg and cutting off singles. Adrian Schwager (one of their opening batters) retired soon after for a very well made 30*. Lttle did we all know however that was as good as it was going to get for any of the Old Iggies batters today.
Over the next 10 over spell between ‘Bach’ and ‘Dee’ we managed to rip the heart out of the Old Iggies batters to take 4-36 by drinks. I hear you ask “How did that happen?” Well funny you should ask … this is what transpired. In each of their second overs Bach firstly disrupted the timber 1-46 in the 13th over and Dee then changed his pace nicely to see their No. 2 loft one to Mid-On. Score 2-50 in the 14th over.
This saw the very dangerous Neil McLeod stride to the crease. Then Punter (channeling Hannibal from the “A-Team”) developed a plan with Bach to drop a single man back deep at long-on and tempt McLeod. Back you go Mick. The temptation was too great for McLeod and within a couple of balls he struck one high and deep close to Mick Tarrant who had to cover a bit of ground to get to it and take the first of two magnificent catches. McLeod out for 4. Score 3-53. This brought another slogger to the crease in Nick ‘Garlo’ Garling. As usual ‘Garlo’ plundered everything within his hitting zone and raced to 15 runs – before a second plan was struck between James and Bachelard for Bach to slow one down and roll his fingers over a delivery. ‘Garlo’ was early on the shot and it was again lofted towards Mick Tarrant in the deep; obligingly Mick gobbled his second catch. Score 4-70. Don’t we all love it when a plan (or two) comes together!
So, at the drinks break Old Iggies were 4-76, now requiring 7.25 RPO off the remaining 20 overs for the win, with one in the shed and their two of their most dangerous batters out and not returning again today. At drinks Bach had the very impressive figures of 5-1-8-3 so he deserved the opportunity to bowl his allotted nine overs today. All fielders did their jobs extremely well and continued to apply the pressure right around the park in particular Mick Tarrant and Brett James were our boundary riders on opposite sides of the pitch and each played a pivotal role in cutting off boundaries. ‘Dutchy ‘Craig and Ed Cross were at mid off and mid on for most of the game saving many runs with some sharp fielding, and our Keeper Jed Wesley-Smith conceded no byes (compared to 14 byes conceded by their keeper) on a very up and down pitch. Bach finished up his spell with the extremely impressive figures of 9-4-16-4 what an outstanding effort! Score 5-96 after 27 overs, with Old Iggies now requiring 9.62 RPO for the unlikely win.
Without downplaying their contributions Greg Brooks (6-1-30-1), David Craig (7-0-23-1) and Ed Cross (3-0-10-1) also rolled their arms over and all continued to bowl tight lines with each bowling to their fields and the fielders stopping just about everything. It was a comprehensive display of bowling, ground fielding and catching – full stop. So after their 40 overs Old Iggies were restricted to 8-148.
A special mention to some outstanding efforts. After bowling his nine overs Bach found his position at one end at short fine leg still chasing the odd ball and cutting off boundaries and saving many runs. Lastly Punter, was everywhere in the field, out in the deep, in close, changing sides and chasing that little red ball around the park. In the huddle after each wicket he gave us a few uplifting words to help encourage us all that every wicket and great effort in the field was bringing us one wicket closer to victory.
After the game both teams enjoyed a well-deserved beer or two after a long day in hot conditions. What a fantastic team result where everyone contributed, and what a way to finish off 2022 by beating one of the top teams in the competition. With five games remaining before the Finals we will need to continue this form and win most of these games to have a chance of making the top four.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone. Let’s continue our winning ways in 2023.
The Team was: – EdCross 39*, Gerard O’Shea 10, Mike Pinter (c) 20, Andrew Davis 22, Brett James 30*, Greg Brooks 23, David Craig 13, Andrew Bachelard 30*, Jed Wesley-Smith 1 , Mike Tarrant 5, Sam Skoulis 1*
The Result was: –
C.C.N.S.W.: – 7-220 (40 overs) (E. Cross 39*; B. James 30*; A. Bachelard 30*)
Defeated
Old Ignatians 8-148 CC: – (40 overs) (A. Bachelard 4-16()
By 72 runs
FoW: – 1-23 (G. O’Shea); 2-77 (M. Pinter); 3-125 (A. Davis); 4-163 (G. Brooks); 5-174; (D. Craig); 6-177 (J. Wesley-Smith); 7-202 (M. Tarrant)
The Bowling was: – B. James 5-2-22-0; M. Tarrant 5-1-18-0; A. Davis 5-0-26-1, A. Bachelard 9-4-16-4; G. Brooks 6-1-30-1; D. Craig 8-0-23-1; E. Cross 3-0-10-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – 2 to M. Tarrant, one to E. Cross and one to J. Wesley-Smith (w)
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to A. Bachelard; 2 points to E. Cross; one point to B. James
LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 5 v ‘ONE MORE BEER’ AT MP 4, ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2022:REPORT BY JAMES MURTHA
(Editor’s note: When one of the opposition players opens and scores 80* and later opens the bowling and takes 3 wickets in his first over, with figures of 3-11 in 4 overs, it is difficult to win!)
A tough loss to swallow considering we bowled well. One of their players, Michael Hardy was great and a distinct class above the other 15 players. After scoring 80*, he took 3 wickets in his first over and we could not recover.
We lost the toss and were sent in to the field. The team bowled well, limiting the boundaries and taking a couple of early wickets. Rod Shone’s leg spin was extremely well bowled, he took 3 genuine wickets in his 4 overs and was the pick of the bowlers. Dan May on debut bowled mostly yorkers and looked very dangerous too. Our fielding standard was also very high especially considering we had no experienced keeper.
We were happy with our effort restricting them to 157, we set out to chase the runs, unfortunately 3 wickets in the first over and 1 in the second flattened our hopes of winning the game easily, Jamie Murtha and Craig Fordham started a nice partnership before a mix up lead to a run out, Rod Shone entertained as the last man for a while but we were soon wrapped up by the opposition for 75.
We have six games remaining for the season before the Finals and need to win most or maybe all of them to have a chance of making the Finals!
The Team was: – Daniel May 1, Peter Buruma 2, Ben Digan 0, Steve Middleton 1, Jamie Murtha (c) & (w) 25, Adam Durant (w) 1, Craig Fordham 24, Rod Shone 15
The Result was:-
One More Beer: – 6-157 (20 overs) (R. Shone 3-36)
Defeated
CCNSW: – 8-75 (17.2 overs)
By 82 runs
The Bowling was: – A Durant 4-0-46-0; R. Shone 4-0-36-3; J. Murtha 4-0-19-0; C. Fordham 4-0-27-0; D. May 3-0-12-2, P. Buruma 1-0-12-1
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – One to A. Durant
Catches: – 2 to D. May and one to J. Murtha
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to Rod Shone; 2 points to Dan May; 1 point to Adam Durant
C&S ROUND 5 v KNOX OLD BOYS AT GILLESPIE FIELD, WAHROONGA ON SUNDAY 4 DECEMBER 2022: REPORT BY JIM HADLEY
CCNSW lost the toss and was asked to bowl. Soren Hughes and Harry Bridge opened the bowling on an under prepared but consistent surface. Both Harry and ‘Sooz’ were a bit unlucky with anything miscued finding space which seemed to give the Knox openers further licence to try their hand. Bridge eventually got his man but Knox OBs were by then 1-113. Jamie Murtha and Adam Khamis were brought on and troubled the Knox batters but just couldn’t sustain a consistent length, Khamis 8 overs 2-58 and Murtha 6 overs 2-42. Peter Constantinou held a good length for 3 overs 1-15 and Ash Perrot and his son Tom Perrot bowled the final overs reasonably cheaply Ash 3 overs 0-27 and Tom 2 overs 1-17. Our keeper Declan Thomas threw himself everywhere to hardly concede a sundry all innings. Knox 7-245 after 35 overs.
Tom Robertson and Karthick Subramanian opened the batting with Tom hitting 16 off the first over. Tom soon skied an off drive to be out for 21. Karthick hit some big pull shots before departing for 31 when trying to up the run rate. Constantinou played round an off spinner to be bowled for 14 and Bridge after an encouraging start departed for 23. Ash Perrot got the only low bounce of the day, bowled for 0 and Murtha played on for 2. Hughes skied one hitting out for 0 as did Thomas 0. Lenny Volkov looked solid till being given out lbw and the final overs were played out by Khamis 19* and Hadley 10*. CCNSW finished 110 runs behind at 9-135 after 35 overs.
The Team was (playing 12): – Karthick Subramanian 31, Tom Robertson 21, Peter Constantinou 14, Harry Bridge 23, Ash Perrot 0, James Murtha 2, Soren Hughes 0, Declan Thomas (w) 0, Adam Khamis 19*, Len Volkov 2, Jim Hadley (c) 10* and Tim Perrot dnb
The Result was: –
Knox Old Boys: – 7- 245 (35 overs)
Defeated
C.C.N.S.W.: – 9-135 (35 overs) (K. Subramanian 31)
The Bowling was: – S Hughes 7-0-55-0; H. Bridge 6-1-34-0; Adam Khamis 8-0-58-2; J Murtha 6-0-42-2; Peter Constantinou 3-0-15-1; A Perrot 3-0-27-0; T. Perrot 2-0-17-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to D Thomas (w); one to S. Hughes and one to A. Perrot
Run outs: – One to Tom Robertson
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to K. Subramanian; 2 points to D. Thomas; one point toH. Bridge
MASTERS ROUND 5 v NORTHBRIDGE AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 4 DECEMBER 2022: REPORT BY DAVID CRAIG
CCNSW MASTERS TEAM V NORTHBRIDGE CC AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL ON SUNDAY 4 DECEMBER 2022 Top row L-R: Jason Kenn, David Craig (w), Ed Cross, Ben Stanic, Mike Pinter, Tony Campey, Jose Poothokaren Bottom row L-R: Dan Turner (v/c), Andrew Dadswell (c), Dave Abreu, Mike Weaver
Well, it’s that time of the year and every team I know of seems to be scrambling for eleven players. (Personally I can’t understand this, but then “I don’t like cricket, no, no, I love it!”), and Tex had to put a late Saturday evening call out for a batter. When NSW Emus rep Michael Pinter answered the call (11.03pm), skip gladly confirmed his spot in the team (11.05pm) – good call! Another good call was winning the toss and batting on the same old Camperdown strip (nearest the fig trees), which looked terrific but had already been used about six times this season and was either mutton dressed as lamb or a wolf in sheep’s clothing, depending on your personal platitude and cliché proclivities. It started to break up from ball one, and while a lot of balls from the Australia Street end kept disconcertingly low, it was true enough to allow a decent contest between bat and ball.
Ed Cross and Mile Pinter (“Punter”) took to the crease against a Northbridge team new to the competition, and perhaps more suited to Classics than Masters. Twelve off the first over was a bright start and CCNSW were never really under pressure from this point on. (Game over, six points and a song, where’s the beers!). Nevertheless, it was a beautiful warm summer’s day and another 79 overs of cricket scheduled, so we played on regardless. In the fourth over Zatz got one to move in and got the lbw decision to send Ed on his way for 9. From there Pinter and Dan Turner compiled an excellent partnership, with Punter turning the strike over nearly every ball, while Dan dealt primarily in boundaries to quickly reach 40 retired not out at 1-79 in the twelfth over
Northbridge may have been relieved to see the back of the (first) mountain man, but there was to be no respite as Jason Kenn strode to the crease. There are strong Matthew Hayden vibes about the Springwood lefty, with his muscular build and belligerent hitting down the ground, but whereas ‘Haydos’ preferred catching in the gully, ‘JDo’s prowls around point or midwicket saving bulk runs and creating run out opportunities. The runs continued to flow with both Pinter and Kenn regularly finding the boundary and keeping the singles ticking over before retiring either side of the drinks break (1-136 after 20).
As often happens, the double retirement put the brakes on the scoring for a little while, and when Tony Campey making his CCNSW Masters debut (Ed note: Tony became a financial member in January 2020 c 3 years ago), and veteran Mike Weaver perished in consecutive overs we were 3-156 in the twenty fifth over and with a slight feeling of the old revolving dressing room door, new batters Andrew Dadswell (c) and Dave Craig set out to consolidate for a few overs. Eventually the shackles were broken as Tex drove extravagantly and yours truly fulfilled his contractual obligations by reverse sweeping the spinner to the third man boundary. The partnership yielded 56 before Craig mowed across the line once too often and the skied top edge presented little challenge for the Northbridge ‘keeper. Skipper Dadswell continued on his merry way to a quick 40*, whereupon David Abreu demonstrated why he is a highly regarded new ball bowler by swinging lustily: the willow moving plenty of air but not a lot of leather! Some late hitting by Jose Poohokaren in a nice partnership with a scampering Ben Stanic lifted the tally to 5-259 off our allotted 40 overs.
After a sumptuous afternoon tea with all the major food groups represented (Twisties, lamingtons, muffins, cakes, cookies, snakes) we took to the field. I had the privilege of witnessing a clinical new ball spell from behind the sticks. Ben Stanic charging in from the Australia Street end with the wind at his back was getting good inswing, and with the ball regularly keeping alarmingly low, was a constant threat. From the Rotunda end, left armer Dave Abreu bowled with control and variety, mostly pushing it across the right handed openers, swinging the odd one back in, and occasionally rolling his fingers over a nasty leg-cutter that beat the bat consistently. It was only a matter of time really, as the dots began to fill the scorebook, and sure enough in the tenth over Collins skied Abreu into the safe hands of Ed Cross at mid-off (1-18). His mate Boulton followed next over with a textbook “top of off” from Stanic sending him back to the sheds. A problem for Northbridge quickly became a crisis two overs later when Ben induced a nick and Mike Weaver snared a one-handed screamer at second slip to dismiss Greenlees for a 🦆. Next over DA produced a peach that flicked Smith’s off stump, 4-30 after 14.
The game was still well and truly in the balance though, with Northbridge skipper Monty Noble at the crease. This bloke is good enough to have a stand named after him at the SCG, so commands RESPECT with a capital everything. Fortunately, Stanic got a thin edge and debutant ‘keeper Craig stooped low to scoop up the chance in defiance of the trademark Camperdown mullygrubber-style bounce.
Tony Campey relieved Abreu from the Rotunda end, and his first delivery was a little off line, crashing into the middle stump instead of the off stump. Very disappointing, but the wicket first ball did help to ease the pain, and at 6-31 in the 16th over this was becoming something of a rout. Stanic bowled out his ninth over at the other end, finishing with the remarkable figures of 9-4-8-3 before handing bowling duties to Jose Poothokaren. For Northbridge Danny Zatz joined Parker at the crease and they built a nice partnership of 41 with some classical straight drives and not-so-classical mows to leg. The drinks break came and went and both batters reached 22 before the pressure eventually proved too much. First Zatz skied a lifter from Campey to a fast moving Mike Pinter running to his right from cover. Soon after Parker chanced his arm against Tony Campey (TC – Top Cat, anyone?) once too often, the lofted slog settling into the hands of “Tex” Dadswell at long-on. Jose Poothokaren toils were rewarded next over when Maw screwed one to backward point where ‘JDos’ Kenn wrapped his mitts around it (9-87).
Jason Kenn kept his mitts on the ball to relieve Campey from the Rotunda end, commencing his first bowling spell for CCNSW Masters. It did not last long. Steaming in to a badly wounded Cope (early in their fielding stint he went down as if a sniper had felled him, hamstring gaaawn), Kenn’s pace was just too much, and Cope could only spoon the very first ball to Stanic at mid-wicket.
There were a number of “firsts” for the Club in this one. Tony Campey, in his first official outing for CCNSW Masters snared a wicket with his first ball, a feat later replicated by Jason Kenn (well into his second season but hitherto not entrusted with bowling duties). Considering Dave Abreu also snared a pole with his first ball for the Club in Round 1, perhaps we could change our recruitment spie to:: “Join CCNSW Masters and you are practically guaranteed a wicket first ball!” And after pestering numerous CCNSW captains unsuccessfully over the years, I finally got the nod to ‘keep and if I had to say (reluctantly, of course) the feedback was pretty bloody positive in fact (thanks for the opportunity Tex).
A great day out against some top blokes (shout out to Northbridge for bringing beers), I’ll be back for more for sure .The Team was: –Ed Cross 9, Mike Pinter 40* (ret not out), Dan Turner 40* (ret not out), Jason Kenn 42* (ret not out), Anthony Campey 5, Mike Weaver 6, Andrew Dadswell (c) 40* (ret not out), David Craig (w) 16, Jose Poothokaren 23*, David Abreu 0, Ben Stanic 5* (and Sundries 33)
The Result was:
C.C.N.S.W.: –5-259 (40 overs) (J Kenn 42*, M. Pinter 40*; D. Turner 40*; A Dadswell 40*)
VINTAGE ROUND 5 v BURWOOD/KU-RING-GAI AT TURRAMURRA MEMORIAL PARK, TURRAMURRA ON SUNDAY 4 DECEMBER 2022: REPORT BYFRANK BALIOTIS
La Niña must be on hiatus as we arrived at the picturesque Turramurra Memorial Park under glorious sunshine and a rather warm 33 degrees. Our skipper, Peter Rolls won the toss and decided to bowl on what looked like a dodgy wicket with large pieces of turf missing from both popping creases.
The Burwood Ku-ring-gai openers were pretty well tied down by some exceptional bowling from Stuart Ridge and Sittampalam Rafavan (“Raga”). Stuart was a little unlucky, but still managed figures 1-19 off 7 overs and Raga 2-26 of his 7 overs. (Both were amazingly accurate when coming on for last 2 overs each at the death considering they played National Over 60s in Geelong in the previous week). Joe Scarcella was next up but only lasted 4 balls before succumbing to a groin injury sustained in the Nationals the week before. More about Joey’s batting heroics to follow. Gerry O’Shea took over admirably and only conceded 16 runs from his 6.2 overs. He also ran for miles in the outfield and took an exceptional running catch on the boundary. Greg Brooks was also unlucky not to get a wicket and only conceded 25 runs from his 7 overs. It’s amazing what Brooksie can do, given his new hip. Mel Lucas also ran for miles and his bowling continually troubled the batters and combined well with John Finucane for a classy stumping. John also took a catch and kept well given the tricky pitch and heat. Garry James was at his bamboozling best; he’s clearly been doing this for a long time, and took two well-deserved wickets.
Even though three Burwood Ku-ring-gai batters scored 30* , we still bowled and fielded very well to contain them to 6-155 runs after 40 overs.
Gerry O’Shea and I opened the batting, and unlike me, out for 1, Gerry,went on to make a well played 30*. Mel Lucas was unlucky being given out lbw for 2. Peter Rolls was up next and scored two quick fours then played smart patient cricket until getting caught for 25 trying to smack one over long on. Brooks came in after Gerry O’Shea retired and as only he can, smacked a quick fire 23 before being caught in the deep. We were now 4-100 off 30 overs and plenty of work still required to reach 156. Garry James and John Finucane were now in bat. Garry opens his account with a four and then proceeds to play a controlled innings scoring ones and twos before retiring at 31*. I think Garry continually asking the umpire for centre was a ploy used to catch his breath. Very clever ploy Garry! By this time, John has scored a couple of fours and a bunch of singles when the man of the hour arrives in the name of Joe Scarcella.
Let me set the scene. Before the game Joe arrives in the dressing room and confides to his teammates that his undergarment is entwined in his heavily strapped groin resulting in an inability to perform on the Royal Dalton. With this in mind and having broken down after bowling 4 balls, he was determined to make a contribution and limped out to bat with the able assistance of Gerry O’Shea as the runner. After a few minutes working out the rules and who would stand where the first ball was bowled and people started running everywhere. Gerry, John and Joe were in no man’s land while the fielders had at least three attempts at removing the bails but inexplicably failed every attempt. It was like watching inebriated Keystone Cops. This happened twice!!
The boys settled as 6 an over was still required from the last 5 overs. But Joe nonchalantly hit two signature consecutive boundaries behind square leg, providing the impetus to go on and win the game with John hitting the winning runs (the first time he’s ever done that) with an over to spare.
A few laughs, a great game of cricket followed by a few drinks. The world is a beautiful place.
The Team was: – Gerard O’Shea 30*; Frank Baliotis 1, Mel Lucas 2, Peter Rolls (c) 25, Greg Brooks 23, Garry James 31*, John Finucane (w) 19*, Joe Scarcella 12*, Sittampalam Ragavan dnb, Stuart Ridge dnb
The Result was: –
Burwood/Ku-ring-gai: – 6-155 (40 overs)
Lost to
C.C.N.S.W.: – 4-156(39 overs) (G. James 31*; G. O’Shea 30*)
By 6 wickets
FoW: – 1-9 (F. Baliotis); 2-17 (M. Lucas); 3-92 (G. Brooks); 4-100 (P. Rolls)
The Bowling was: – S. Ridge 7-2-19-1; S. Ragavan 7-1-26-2; J. Scarcella 0.4-0-0-0; G. O’Shea 6.2-0-16.0; G. Brooks 7-0-25-0; M. Lucas 5-0-25-1; G. James 7-0-38-2
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – One to J. Finucane
Catches: – J. Finucane (w), G. O’Shea, G. Brooks
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to G. James; 2 points to G. O’Shea; one point to S. Ragavan
LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 4 v ‘SUB PAR CRICKETERS’ AT MP 8, ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 23 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY JAMES MURTHA
On a superb sunny afternoon, CCNSW won the toss and chose to bat, but was unable to build momentum as wickets fell steadily. CCNSW was reduced to 5-40 before the veteran Joe Scarcella companied by the young Ben Digan who had just celebrated his 19th birthday, dug in for a partnership before Joe hit a high ball to mid off and departed for 26. James Murtha batting late in the order, scored a quick fire 43 to boost the total to 121, CCNSW failed to bat the full twenty overs being all out in the nineteenth over, about 50 short of par.
The team bowled well and tried to take the game deep. A few wickets were shared but unfortunately the chase was relatively simple for the opposition who won with nearly 5 overs to spare.
The Team was: – Ben Gorham (w) 3; Shahzeem Adjani 15, Scott Williams 3, Peter Buruma 11, Asfand Uppal 0, Joe Scarcella 24, Ben Digan 17 (w) and James Murtha (c) 43
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 8-121 (18.3 overs) (J. Murtha 43)
Lost to
Sub Par Cricketers: – 3-122 (15.3 overs)
By 5 wickets
The Bowling was: – Joe Scarcella 4-0-35-1; Scott Williams 4-0-23-0; Shahzeem Adjani 3-0-24-1; James Murtha 2-0-19-1; Ben Gorham 2-0-11-0; Peter Buruma 0.3-0-5-0
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to J. Murtha and one to S. Williams
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to J. Scarcella; 2 points to S. Williams; One point to B. Digan
JACK PACE ROUND 4 v OLD CRANBROOKIANS AT DANGAR OVAL, ROSE BAY ON SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY JIM HADLEY
We lost the toss and were asked to bowl. Ian Robertson and Soren Hughes (“Big Sooz’) opened up. Ian bowled with good pace and beat the bat regularly and was rewarded with the wicket of one of Cranbrookian’s better batters. Hughes kept a good line and length for 4 overs when Mick McGrath playing his first game for our City and Suburban team and Matt Leong took over. Mick McGrath bowled a terrific 7 over spell while picking up 1 wicket for 36 runs, a very hot catch to Ash Perrot at cover. Matt Leong after a patchy first over bowled 3 on the money. Ed Robertson bowled unchanged for 7 overs from the Rose Bay end and hit a terrific line and length to finish with 2 for 20. Old Cranbrookians ended up 8-199 after 35 overs.
Jamie Murtha and Tom Robertson opened the batting and went along well to 18 when Jamie was late on a pull shot and caught at mid-off for 4 in the fifth over. Mick McGrath joined Tom and our score progressed to 1-73 in the 17th over when Mick unfortunately didn’t quite get hold of an on drive and was caught at mid-on for 26. Harry Bridge unluckily played on first ball when he may have just had time to kick it away. After the drinks break and in the next over Tom followed given out stumped. for 34 and two balls later with a thunderstorm looming and the match likely to be decided on run rate, Soren Hughes decided to try to lift the rate but top edged to mid-on to be out for a duck. In the space of two overs we had descended from 1-73 to 5-75. Karthick Subramanian and Ash Perrot, playing his first game for CCNSW were looking comfortable at the crease when a thunderstorm and lightning hit.
They were facing a heavy task needing 110 runs off the final 14.5 overs with only 5 wickets in hand when the storm broke. With the thunder and lightning getting closer, Old Cranbrookians hesitated to get the covers out and after a few minutes heavy rain it became academic and Old Cranbrookians had won on run rate
(Editor’s note: a similar situation occurred simultaneously at Camperdown in the Classics where playing conditions prohibited any entry on the field even for laying covers within 30 minutes of a nearby lightning strike. That game was also lost on run rate with the covers unable to be relaid)
The Team was: – James Murtha 4 , Tom Robertson 34, Mick McGrath 26, Harry Bridge 0, Soren Hughes 0,, Ash Perrot 2*, Karthick Subramanian (w) 3* Jim Hadley (c) dnb, Edward Robertson dnb and Ian Robertson dnb
The Result was: –
Old Cranbrookians: – 8-199 (35 overs; run rate 5.69 p over)
Defeated
C.C.N.S.W.: – 5-88-rain(20.1 overs; 4.38 run rate p over)
On run rate
FoW: – 1-18 (J. Murtha); 2-73 (M. McGrath); 3-73 (T. Robertson); 4-75 (H. Bridge); 5-75 (S. Hughes)
The Bowling was: – M. Leong 4-0-25-0; S. Hughes 7-0-46-1; J. Hadley 6-1-37-2; M. McGrath 7-1-36-1; I. Robertson 5-0-35-2; E. Robertson 6-0-20-2;
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to K. Subramanian (w); one to Ash Perott;
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to Mick McGrath; 2 points to Ed Robertson; one point to Ian Robertson
CLASSICS ROUND 5 v GEORGES RIVER AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY MIKE PINTER
Back Row: Paul Nash, David Benson, Ed Cross, Ian Allmey, Greg Brooks, David Craig, Gerry O’Shea. Front row: Scott Wells (c) & (w), Mike Pinter (v/c), Andrew Davis. Absent: – Mick Weaver.
There were several players backing up in both sides (five for CCNSW – M. Pinter, M.J. Weaver, S. Wells, A. Davis and D. Craig and two from Georges River) from four games of cricket in four days at the National Over 50s Championship (which had only just wrapped up two days prior). Special congratulations must be given to M.J. Weaver for being part of the Veterans Cricket Australia Division 5 Over 50s – National Championship winning side.
Unbelievably two players were actually voluntarily lining up for their sixth game of cricket in seven days. Well done to you both Andrew “Dee” Davis and Trevor Whittall (the Captain of the Georges River side, who is also a member of CCNSW).
Showers were forecast for the late afternoon, so it was an interesting toss to win or lose. Fortunately for Scott Wells the decision was made for CCNSW as we lost the toss and were sent into bat.
Ian Allmey and Mike “Punter” Pinter strode to the crease. In his usual fashion Ian (6) looked to get us off to a good start, however soon after crunching one to the boundary, and attempting a second over the covers Ian was clean bowled by a ball that stuck in the wicket. Paul “Nashy” Nash then joined Punter, however he too fell victim to the slowness of the pitch and was also clean bowled in nearly the identical fashion to their opening bowler from the other end. We were then 2-15 in the fifth over.
Michael J. Weaver “Weaves” then joined Punter in the middle and both of which were determined to consolidate in the middle for CCNSW. Weaves tweaked his hamstring when running the first of five threes in the partnership with Punter. Then just as Punter (18) was starting to hit the boundaries he was deceived by a crafty first ball delivery from O’Rourke and was adjudged LBW. CCNSW was now 3-44 at the start of the 13thover.
Enter the third member of our team returning from Adelaide in “Scotty” Wells, and as usual he only took a couple of balls to get his first boundary of the day. Again, just as Weaves was starting to get used to the wicket he too fell to the tackiness in the pitch and was caught in front of square leg for a very respectable 22. Ed Cross strode to the middle with purpose, pushed at his first delivery to get an unfortunate edge and be out caught behind for 0. The score had gone from 4-59 to 5-59 in the 15th over with the crafty O’Rourke picking up his third CCNSW scalp of the innings. At this stage we still had another 25 overs to bat out.
Andrew “Dee” Davis (our fourth representative) then joined Scotty in the middle, and Scotty just did his thing by regularly crunching the ball into the metal picket fence all around the ground. At this point I would like to point out that Scotty also injured his right quad at the Nationals and he was heavily bandaged, however this Mummy wasn’t going to spit the dummy! Dee was the support act in helping Scotty to his retirement when the score had raced to 95 just after the drinks break. Good work boys, however there was still a lot more work to be done.
There were another two brief cameos from Gerry O’Shea (6) and David Benson (5) with Dee on 25 with the score at 7-124 in the 29th over when Greg “Brooksy” Brooks walked to the middle. We then only had 11 overs to get a respectable score on the board, and our goal was to get to somewhere around 180+. This is where the magic started to happen; it was an absolute pleasure to watch Brooksy majestically smashing a number of straight drives to bamboozle the fielders – just as the fielders were moved from one spot, that’s exactly where he hit them. Dee retired soon after on a very well constructed 30* in his best Academy Award winning “Best Supporting Batter Role” for our innings.
David “Dutchy” Craig, our fifth and final representative then decided that he would join in the fun and help entertain the crowd gathering on the hill* by also regularly helping the ball cross the rope. [Note*: Crowd gathering on the hill primarily comprised of three people with two dogs] Brooksy only took 20 balls to reach his second consecutive retirement for the Classics with 32* – top job Prez! Dutchy was then joined by Scotty and both continued to hit the balls around the ground – none hit more infuriatingly for the bowlers than Dutchy’s paddles and reverse sweeps off middle stump to the boundary – let’s just say the bowler let Dutchy know that he wasn’t at all impressed. These few partnerships helped take us from 7-124 in the 29th over to 7-212 by the end of the 40th over with Dutchy finishing on 27* and Scotty bringing up 50* just before the close of our innings. Super stuff lads; we all agreed that we had been able to compile a defendable score.
We were carrying a couple of injuries into the game (Scotty (quad strain), Dutchy (calf strain)) and unfortunately a couple more injuries in our innings – Weaves (hamstring strain) and our scheduled opening bowler David “Beno” Benson (groin strain) – we knew we were going to be restricted in the field. Especially by losing Beno’s all round speed, catching and throwing ability in the field.
Nashy and Dee opened the bowling for CCNSW, and Georges River were somewhat cautious in their approach to the chase. Some good tight bowling from both helped ensure they were 0-16 off 6 overs before the first changes were made. Brooksy and Gerry O’Shea tried to keep things contained, however the Georges River batsmen managed to take full toll of the rare loose ball to get to 0-45 after 12 overs, with their first retiring batsman in the shed.
The changes were being brought in regularly by Scotty in order to keep the Georges River lads on their toes, and Ed Cross was successful in his second over taking the ex-Australian Over 50s World Cup winning batter out caught behind for only 7 runs. The bowling remained tight, and Gerry O’Shea helped ensure that Georges River did not get in front of the run rate required. At the 20 over mark Georges River were sitting comfortably with two in the sheds at 1-84.
Whilst they still had nearly 130 runs to get, in the final 20 overs we were confident that we would be able to contain them if we fielded well. Unfortunately for us a couple of chances went down but then we took a few quick ones to see them go from 1-103 after 23 overs for Georges River to be at 5-145 after 30 overs.[‘Dutchy’ Craig taking one off Dee at mid-on; Gerry O’Shea taking a well struck lofted off drive on the chest at a straightish cover to take their skipper for a golden duck; then Punter took a very well judged catch which was never in doubt at cow corner – as Richie Benaud would have said “That’s brilliant – what a beauty!” – and Scotty taking his second caught behind off Dee]
We strived hard in the field but as often happens the ball was attracted to our restricted fielders in Beno and Weaves, then also seemed to be hit towards Dutchy and Punter who regularly chased the leather all around the park, with some great chases and returns to restrict the runs where possible.
Things were definitely getting interesting as with 10 overs to go, we required another 5 wickets and Georges River required 68 runs – game on lads. We needed to restrict the runs, as we all know that No Runs = Pressure, and Pressure = Wickets!
The Georges River lads were batting well in partnerships and they kept the scoreboard ticking along at around 6 runs per over. Then there were a couple of quick wickets with Nashy drawing an outside edge then Ed Cross also doing the same, both to Scotty to take his third and fourth catches behind the stumps for the innings. There were a couple of lusty blows by the Georges River lads in the thirty sixth over, that saw them sneak ahead of CCNSW for the first time in their entire innings. Then with one ball to go in the 36th over there were a couple of close lightning strikes, followed by claps of thunder and we were immediately ordered off the field by the Umpire. Due to the lightning strikes we were not allowed to put the covers down, then the heavens absolutely opened up and it bucketed down for about 10 minutes. At that stage Georges River were 7-196 still requiring 17 runs for the victory off the remaining 4.1 overs.
After a 30 minute delay there was a pitch inspection by the Umpire and both Captains and unfortunately for both teams the pitch was deemed unplayable due to the residual water on and around the pitch. It was a cruel blow for CCNSW as the run rates were so close (5.30 vs 5.49). I understand that had the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method been used we apparently would have lost by only 4 runs.
Well done to the Georges River lads for a great afternoon of cricket, that was played with the spirit of cricket by both teams. It was fantastic for most of the Georges River lads to stick around well after the game for the mandatory “debrief with refreshments”. We were absolutely smoked by Georges River last year, and it was great for us to restore pride in the Cricketers’ Club emblem by getting so close to toppling them this year.
End result was CCNSW at 7-212 being defeated by Georges River 7-196 (on run rate and DLS). It was a toss-up between ‘Dee’ and Scotty for the CCNSW man of the match as both made significant contributions with the bat (30* and 50* respectively) and then with the ball and gloves with Dee’s bowling figures finishing at (8-2-40-3) and Scotty taking 4 catches behind the wicket.
The Team was: – Ian Allmey 6, Mike Pinter 18, Paul Nash 0, Mike Weaver 22, Scott Wells (c) 50*, Ed Cross 0, Andrew Davis 30*, Gerry O’Shea 6, David Benson 5, Greg Brooks 30*, David Craig 27*
The Result was:
C.C.N.S.W.: – 7-212(40 overs/run rate 5.3 runs p over) (S. Wells 50*; G. Brooks 30*; A. Davis 30*)
Lost to
Georges River: – 7-195 (35.5 overs/run rate 5.49 p over) (A. Davis 3-40)
On run rate
FoW: – 1-9 (I. Allmey), 2-15 (P. Nash), 3-44 (M. Pinter), 4-59 (M. Weaver), 5-59 (E. Cross), 6-108 (G. O’Shea), 7-124 (D. Benson)
The Bowling was: – P. Nash 5.5-0-30-1; A. Davis 8-2-40-3; G. Brooks 8-1-39-1; G. O’Shea 3-0-15-0; E. Cross 7-0-40-2; D. Craig 4-0-23-0
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – 4 to S. Wells (w) and one to each of D. Craig, G. O’Shea and M. Pinter
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to A. Davis; 2 points to S. Wells; one point toG. Brooks
LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 2 ROUND 3 v ‘NRL CC’ AT MP 4 ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 16 NOVEMBER 2022:REPORT BY BEN GORHAM
A late ground change and a game starting early (who would have thought?) led to the writer to turn up 12 overs late! By the looks of the scorecard the NRL CC got off to a very fast start. We were able to reign the scoring in, in the final 8 overs and take our only wicket with CCNSW debutante, Ben Digan getting one past the slogging batsman. 187 the total to get but with plenty of LMS experience in the top order and a short boundary it looked possible.
Our batting got off to a solid start with Ben Gorham and Charlie Sharpe starting well but it came crashing down quickly when Ben G held out trying to slog, with the NRL spinner quickly picking up 3 wickets. Runs became very hard to come by with good cricket shots not getting full value. Unfortunately we fell a long way short of the target reaching only 5-125 at the end of the allocated overs.
The Team was: – Charles Sharpe 22, Ben Gorham (c) 45, Joel Uddstrom (w) 5, Peter Buruma 33*, Rod Shone 10, Ben Digan 2*, Aditya Hingorani 5, Niall Digan 0
The Result was:-
NRL CC: – 1-186 (20 overs)
Defeated
CCNSW: – 5-125 (20 overs) ()
By 61 runs
The Bowling was: – Ben Gorham 4-0-17-0; Ben Digan 4-0-38-1; Charles Sharpe 4-0-31-0; Niall Digan 4-0-38-0; Peter Buruma 2-0-24-0; Rod Shone 2-0-27-0
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – Nil
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to B. Gorham; 2 points to C. Sharpe; 1 point to P. Buruma
CITY AND SUBURBAN ROUND 4 v COLLEAGUES AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2022
CCNSW win by forfeit
MASTERS ROUND 4 v AUBURN CC AT GEORGE PARRY OVAL, MONA PARK, AUBURN ON SUNDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY ANDREW DADSWELL
After two wins to start the season the Masters were keen to take on Auburn at George Parry Oval. With a number of our top order batters representing NSW in the over 50s Nationals, Peter Constantinou and Kunal Patel made their Masters debuts. Welcome aboard.
Auburn won the toss and batted first, wasting no time as they went after the bowling early. Ben Stanic bowled very well with the new ball and got the first breakthrough. However the runs continued to flow as we dropped 3 tough chances in the first 10 overs that would ultimately prove costly.Auburn proceeded to 3 for 113 off their first 20 overs with Dave Abreu using the conditions nicely in a spell that saw him hit the stumps and draw false shots with clever changes of pace.
After drinks the runs didn’t flow as easily for Auburn as Dave Abreu continued to bowl well and was supported by Paul Nash, Jose Poothokaren and Soren Hughes. ‘Sooz’s’ first ball grabbed an lbw decision despite what the umpire considered the worst appeal he had ever seen. Jose bowled a great line and length and removed the dangerous Ebert.
Auburn made 8 for 218 which was always going to be a challenge on their home track.
The CCNSW innings started steadily. Ed Cross looked set as he flicked a leg side six only to get out the next over. Paul “elbow guard” Anumodu worked the ball around in partnership with Paul Nash until the dreaded run out ended their partnership.
Our middle order of Soren Hughes, Peter Constantinou and Kunal Patel all came and went just as they started to get going. Auburn’s consistency proved a challenge throughout the innings.
Nash was the one CCNSW batter who found his groove and he retired just after drinks, giving us a chance to play some shots and try to get close to the total. Nash’s bat might need inspection by the rules committee because it literally made no sound whenever he middled the ball, causing much speculation.
A late partnership between Ben Stanic and Andrew Dadswell got us past the 100 mark but it was never enough
A solid defeat at the hands of quality opposition. Still, a good day was had by all.
Kunal Patel’s great diving catch on club debut was a highlight and he would be a handy inclusion in any side for his keeping alone. Peter Constantinou proved good value around the sheds and we hope to see him get amongst it soon.
The Team was: – Ed Cross 10 (off 23, Paul Anumodu 10 (off 37), Paul Nash 40 (off 62) , Soren Hughes 3 (off 5, Pete Constantinou 8 (off 19), Kunal Patel (w) 7 (off 10), Jose Poothokaren 5 (off 10), Mick Tarrant 0 (off 5, Andrew Dadswell (c) 24 (off 21) , Ben Stanic 3 (off 9), Dave Abreu 5* (off 7)
The Bowling was: – B. Stanic 7-0-35-2, M. Tarrant 7-0-45-0, D. Abreu 9-0-42-3, A. Dadswell 6-0-32-0, P. Nash 4-0-23-0, J. Poothokaren 4-0-20-1, S. Hughes 3-0-15-2
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – None
Catches: – two to E. Cross 2 catches, K Patel one (w)
Run outs: – None
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to P. Nash; 2 points to D. Abreu; 1 point to B. Stanic
VINTAGE ROUND 4 v SRI LANKA LIONS CC AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY JOHN FINUCANE
Hot and blustery conditions greeted the players at Camperdown for our round four match against the Sri Lanka lions. Both teams were evenly placed on the ladder going into the game and a win was needed to keep pace with the top team.
Peter Rolls lost he toss and Sri Lanka batted first, no doubt with an eye on a wearing and drying pitch that could suit their predominantly spin attack later in the afternoon. Stuart Ridge and Paul Georgiadis opened the bowling , and Paul in particular shone with accurate bowling that netted him 2-18 off his 7 overs. Probably his best spell this season and deserved figures. Paul’s early inroads, back up by Stuart grabbing one as well, saw their best batsmen struggle to 3-28 and then 5-69.
After drinks their middle order consolidated although the bowlers did well to hold back the run rate. What could have been 180-200 or more, on what seemed a reasonable pitch, was held to just 163. Game on!
Sittampalam Ragavan (‘Raga’) turned in a great spell in the latter overs picking up 3-21, and with Gerry O’Shea getting an economical 2-14 off 6, both did the business when really needed. Some great fielding and catching backed up good line and length bowling for a solid all around effort in the field on what could have been a tough afternoon if this strong batting line-up had got away on us. Mick McCormick was a stand out in the field – swan dives, rolls, spectacular action down on the fence impressing (NOT!) the young ladies in the stands.
Our run chase began with a healthy run rate of just over 4 per over needed for a win. A solid start from openers, debutante Neville Emerson (30*) and John Finucane (31*) saw both retire with the score at 0-60 in the sixteenth over. Dan Pellen (28) and Peter Rolls (17) continued the good progress through to the first wicket falling in the 25th over at 1-92 and the run rate tight, but on track.
Sri Lanka then turned the screws and progress was challenging for a period and the game was going to go down to the wire. Greg Brooks (28) came to the crease and gave the run rate a well needed boost with his usual quick fire batting before being caught behind and stumped same ball. That was the impetus needed to get the match in hand despite a few finger nails being chewed in the last 5 overs. Gerry O’Shea and Raga steered the ship home in the 39th over at 4-167 for a good win against a solid team.
We are now sitting in third place with only Lindfield and the Cyclones above us. A push for points will be important before we play both Southern Highlands and Cyclones in key matches in the home run in February.
The Team was: –John Finucane 31* ret no, Neville Emerson 30* ret no, Daniel Pellen 28, Peter Rolls 17, Mick McCormick 3, Greg Brooks 28, Gerard O’Shea 6*, Sittampalam Ragavan 14*, Paul Georgiadis dnb, Stuart Ridge dnb, Mel Lucas dnb
The Result was: –
Sri Lanka Lions: – 8-163 (40 overs) (S. Ragavan 3-21)
Lost to
C.C.N.S.W.: – 4-167(38.3 overs) (J. Finucane 31*; N Emerson 30*)
By 6 wickets
FoW: – 1-91 (P. Rolls); 2-101 (M. McCormick); 3-140 (D. Pellen); 4-146 (G. Brooks)
The Bowling was: – S. Ridge 7-0-44-1; P. Georgiadis 7-2-18-2; G. Brooks 7-0-32-0; S. Ragavan 7-0-21-3; M. McCormick 5-0-24-0; G. O’Shea 6-0-14-2. N. Emerson 1-0-9-0
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – 2 to G. Brooks; one to each of P. Georgiadis, M. McCormick, G. O’Shea and S. Ridge
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to S. Ragavan; 2 points to J. Finucane; one point toG. Brooks
LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 3 v ‘’ AT ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2022:
Report to come.
SOCIAL GAME v SCG XI AT DRUMMOYNE OVAL, DRUMMOYNE, ON WEDNESDAY 9 NOVEMBER 2022:
Report to come.
C&S JACK PACE ROUND 3 v YARALLA AT GODDARD OVAL CONCORD ON SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2022:
Report to come.
CLASSICS ROUND 4 v MOSMAN CC AT CAMPERDOWN PARK, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY DAVID CRAIG
How good is cricket?! At the appointed starting time of 12.15pm there were 20-odd blokes standing around watching a light drizzle fall on the covered wicket, all wondering when the game would be called off and the pub beckoned. Half an hour later the crucial North-West passage above the grandstand started to lighten, and then turn blue, the sun came out and a game was deemed possible, albeit with a slight reduction to 38 overs per side. (Some of us had bothered to read the competition rules and had an inkling that this meant maximum 8 overs per bowler instead of the usual 9. The opposing captain M. Hall was not amongst this rare group of cognoscenti, a fact which would prove important later…)
CCNSW skipper Scott Wells won the toss and batted on a mostly dry deck – fortunately the wet patch was right in the middle of the bed and had no real effect on the players. Ed Cross (2) was the unlucky recipient of one that “did a bit early” & disturbed the castle. Paul Nash joined Mike Pinter and they consolidated as the Mosman opening bowlers (Greenwood and Turner) bowled an extended spell in mostly good areas, although the odd short one was whacked away contemptuously by the in-form Nash. After 12 overs (1-36), Mosman made the double change with Varasdi and Hall coming on. Although we were under a bit of run-rate pressure, their best bowlers had only 2 overs each for the death, a factor which would prove costly later. Pinter and Nash continued to build a steady partnership with Nashy’s selective aggression netting a couple of boundaries before Punter (22) nicked off to Varasdi, leaving us 2-59 off 18 overs, and an early drinks break was taken.
With a decent platform, acceleration in the back half was the name of the game, and new batter Scott Wells immediately greeted new bowler Frost with a couple of hard hit boundaries. After Nashy cruised to retirement (31*), Mick Weaver joined the skipper, taking on a new role as a bustling & busy middle order bat with relish & aplomb. Unfortunately, when Hall switched ends the first delivery of his second spell was a loopy in-dipper that deceived Wells, LBW for 10. In the next over, Weaves was caught off Frost trying to force the pace: at 4-95 in the 25th and 2 new batters at the crease, it was advantage Mosman.
Time for a Classic(s) CCNSW Fightback! Andrew Davis and Michael Tarrant got busy, running a rare 3 off the first ball of the partnership. Davis clubbed Frost to the boundary, and Tarrant answered by lofting Bulluss out of the ground next ball. After adding 26 in 3 overs, Micky T (18 off 13) coughed up a catch off Frost. Paul Devaney, in his last opportunity for Classics this season, was promoted to number 8 and set about clubbing Frost out of the attack with a succession of boundaries. At the other end Davis was turning over the strike and stroking the odd boundary of his own as the partnership climbed to 42 off 30 balls (CCNSW 6-165 with 5 overs remaining). Mosman brought back the opening bowlers in a mostly unsuccessful attempt to stem the flow of runs. Turner’s 8th over brought Devaney (26 off 19) undone a slog short of retirement, bringing the newly re-hipped el Presidente Greg Brooks to the crease for his first dig in the Classics this season. After a few sighters the Prez unloaded, taking Greenwood downtown for successive boundaries.
At this point a heated discussion was observed between the Mosman skipper and the umpire, as Mr Hall received the unwelcome news that neither opening bowler was in fact entitled to a 9th set, and the last 3 overs had to be cobbled together from the remaining Mosman bowlers. Brooksy greeted new bowler Hall with back to back boundaries (4 fours in 5 balls to the Prez at that point). Frost returned (grumpily?) to the other end, and Davis (33* off 30) clubbed a boundary to retire. This initiated another first-time 2022/23 Classics appearance, bringing to the crease Andrew “Bash” Bachelard (having shed an impressive 25 kgs in the offseason, I might add! Bang, bang, bang, bang went the not-so-big fella, hitting his first 4 balls to the fence! At the other end Brooksy was hitting the boundary and running 2s like a youngster as the final partnership yielded 24 off 9 rocks (Brooks 30* off 19, Bachelard 17* off 5, strike rate 340 if you don’t mind).
A shell-shocked Mosman outfit retired to the shed with the task of chasing 220 for the win off 38 overs with 10 men. Against an 11 man CCNSW with 10 genuine bowling options (sorry, Punter!), this looked a big ask, even on the fast scoring Camperdown outfield.
Varasdi and Bulluss started well, playing a bit of block, block, block, bash stuff against opening bowlers Stuart Ridge and Mick Tarrant. Both looked set to retire imminently, but Tarrant had other ideas, encouraging Bulluss (24) to guide one into the safe hands of Nashy at slip, and a few overs later having Varasdi nicking off to keeper Davis for 29. Devaney relieved Ridge at the Mallett St end and he had no hesitation in letting Aitcheson know that he was getting rather bogged down. This did seem to get into the batters mind a little, though as far as Classics sledging goes, I would have thought this was merely approaching the line and gently tapping foreheads like a mature and mellowing Nathan Lyon.
In any event, Bachelard replaced Devaney and induced a top edge from Aitcheson, caught by Nash (I want to say at backward point?). When Tarrant finished a fine spell at the Australia St end (2-35 off 8), Mosman needed 151 to win off 132 balls, with 6 wickets in hand. Turner and McLean set about rebuilding the innings, getting Mosman to drinks at 3-88 off 19. After the interval they began to score freely against the seamers Bachelard and Nash, precipitating the introduction of spin (Dave Craig) and the return of the economical Ridgey. This turned out to be a tactical masterstroke, as the leg-spinner put the brakes on the innings by allowing both batters to hit a boundary and retire!
Devaney relieved Craig and immediately castled Mosman skipper Hall through the gate (4-133 after 27). Job done, and Devaney was preserved for later, replaced by Brooks. Some useful hitting from Kingsman and Frost kept Mosman in the hunt, and with six overs left they needed just 44 with 5 wickets in hand, two set batters in and two in the shed. Things were looking – shall we say “tight” – with WinViz putting Mosman slightly ahead at this point.
Ed Cross and Paul Devaney were entrusted with death bowling duties, and straight away Devaney castled Frost (21) with a beauty. When Cross bowled Greenwood in the next over, the momentum was shifting back our way, and sure enough Kingsman (28) skied one into the safe hands of Mike Pinter off Devaney. Turner returned to the crease to join last man Paine, but after scoring just a few more he perished, bowled by another accurate Ed Cross inswinger. Three balls later Cross trapped last man Paine in front, and the game was ours, Mosman losing 5-18 in their last 4 overs to fall 20 runs short with 13 balls remaining.
This was a highly satisfying victory against a perennially tough opponent, a great day played in a fine spirit, highly competitive and at the same time social. Post-match beers tasted especially good, despite the fact I personally contributed little apart from stopping the odd ball with my face & jogging from long-on to long-on for most of the afternoon (Scotty, what did I do? I’ve done the covers, sorted out gear for the new blokes, brought the soft drinks, scored all day, and collected the money, what else do you want from me?!).
The Team was (playing 12): – Ed Cross 2 (12), Mike Pinter 22 (60), Paul Nash 31* (44) rtno, Scott Wells (c) 10 (12), Mike Weaver 17 (13), Andrew Davis (wk) 33* (30) rtno, Mike Tarrant 18 (13), Paul Devaney 26 (19), Greg Brooks 30* (19), Andrew Bachelard 17* (5), David Craig dnb, Stuart Ridge dnb, Sundries 13
The Result was: –
C.C.N.S.W.: 6-219 (38 overs max) (A. Davis 33*, P. Nash 31*, G. Brooks 30*)
Defeated
Mosman C.C.: 9-199 all out (35.5 overs)
By 20 runs
FoW: 1-6 (E. Cross); 2-59 (M. Pinter); 3-89 (S. Wells); 4-95 (M. Weaver); 5-121 (M. Tarrant); 6-163 (P. Devaney)
The Bowling was: S. Ridge 6-0-27-0; M. Tarrant 8-2-35-2; P. Devaney 7-0-28-3; A. Bachelard 4-0-21-1; P. Nash 3-0-27-0; D. Craig 2-0-13-0; G. Brooks 2-0-23-0; E. Cross 3.5-0-15-3
The Fielding was: Catches to P. Nash (2), A. Davis, M. Pinter. No runouts, no stumpings.
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to P. Devaney ; 2 points to G. Brooks ; one point to A. Davis
SOCIAL GAME v “RAGA INVITATION XI” AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN, ON WEDNESDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY PETER ROLLS
TEAMS CCNSW AND RAGA’S INVITATIONAL XII – WEDNESDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2022 Back Row: John Jackson, Paul Georgiadis, Joe Scarcella, Ashok Victor Ponnudurai, Douglas Latto, David Wright (w for CCNSW), Peter Rolls (c for CCNSW), Nadarajah Gowripalan, Sittampalam Ragavan (c for Raga XII), Stuart Ridge, Neville Emerson, Peter Harrison, Gunaratnam Kandakumar, Raj Beadle, Graham McDonald, Peter O’Reilly, Inset: Jed Wesley-Smith (was getting a coffee!). Front Row: Garry Budden (w for Raga XI), David Craig, Russell Nation, Wasantha Hettiarachchi, Neil Karunasegara, Mel Lucas, Simon Lyon.
With La Nina still hanging around we were fortunate to get a beautiful sunny day albeit a bit chilly-windy 19°C (with a 15°C wind chill factor). Jumpers and vests pulled out of storage with Simon Lyon’s looking like a gift from WG Grace!
The game was switched to Marrickville Oval as Camperdown was still recovering from a wet rugby season that had shredded the wicket like a horse-drawn plough.
Sittampalam Ragavan (‘Raga’) and Peter Rolls managed to get 12 players for each team with more diversity than the United Nations.Peter won the toss and elected to bowl as not sure how the wicket would play after so much wet weather leading up to the game. Raga was happy as he wanted to bat anyway. Luckily, the pitch played fairly true and flat.
Rules for batsman was retire not out at 25 runs or 35 balls (whichever came first) and max 6 overs per bowler and one ball allowed down leg side per over (with second ruled a wide).
Raga’s XII Innings:
Peter O’Reilly and Neville Emerson opened Raga’s XI innings and started strongly with Peter banging 2 boundaries off Stuart Ridge’s first over. Stuart was “not happy Jan” and responded with only a single off his next 3 overs. David Craig opened from the other end into a strong southerly with his leggies and Neville showed more likes than an Instagram photo by hitting 8 off David C’s first over. No wicket for 53 after 10 overs with O’Reilly and Emerson soon retiring after scoring their respective 25 runs in quick time including 4 and 3 fours respectively. Garry Budden continued the onslaught against Paul Georgiadis and Joe Scarcella and also retired after reaching 25* including 4 fours.
Then the tide turned with Paul Georgiadis bamboozling Neil Karunasegara, bowling him with a slower ball (but many argue they are all slow!). After 20 overs the score 1 for 76 so more pressure on Raga’s men with the run rate slowed after the first 10 overs. Gunaratnam Kandakumar(“Kanda”) and Simon Lyon both started their innings with more dots than a Dalmatian (10 dot balls each) due to Jed Wesley-Smith and Peter Harrison ‘muzzle bowling’ restricting them with 5 overs for 16 runs each. They both retired at 13* after reaching their allotted 35 balls. Wasantha Hettiarachchi worked the ball beautifully to up the tempo with more noodling than a Chinese street food peddler and retired on 23* after reaching his 35 balls. However, with 1 for 113 off 30 overs the run rate resembled a trickle from a swollen prostate.
Russell Nation started his innings with intent by working the singles straight away but came undone for 3 courtesy of a very slick stumping by David Wright from the one ball allowed down the leg side from John Jackson. John’s celebration animation will be in the next Disney movie.
Enter captain courageous Raga who slayed our dragon death bowlers with 25* off 21 balls to make for a now fired up run rate of 164 off 40 overs. Raj Beadle (8) kept the momentum going until retiring to a leg injury. Ashok Victor Ponnudurai (15*) and Nadarajah Gowripalan (“Gowr”)i (8*) plundered the final overs well to remain not out after 45 overs with the very respectable score of 2-190.
CCNSW Innings:
We knew we would have to bat deeper than an accountant’s pockets to get this total. Peter Harrison and Douglas Latto opened our innings. Douglas now having the honour of having played for both teams (as Raga missed his availability email and Peter’s team needed one). Both got us off to a good start with early boundaries. Peter Harrison was the first to go for 10 holing out to a solid catch to Raga at mid on from Gown bowling a tight line. Douglas (17) soon followed but out to a screamer at first slip by Peter O’Reilly off Russell Nation who was on song this day bowling his melodic mediums. 2 for 33 off 11 overs but on track.
Joe Scarcella (1) came and went like a bride’s nightie caught behind by Garry Budden off Russell Nation. Mel Lucas, a newcomer to the Club, showed his class with 20* retired off 35 balls. Peter Rolls needing to lift the run rate made 26* retired off 25 balls. 3 for 75 off 20 overs and still on track.
David Craig (6) looked sharp until Raga threw down the stumps (non-striker end) from mid on to deny him a 7th run. Enter Stuart Ridge and John Jackson who ran like rabbits despite John turning 70 this year. They lifted the run rate until Stuart retired for 25 off 34 balls and John 25 retired off 30 balls. Graham MacDonald didn’t trouble the scorers bowled by Peter O’Reilly and David Wright (7) the team man threw his bat out caught by Simon Lyon at cover off talso he tight bowling of Peter O’Reilly. 6 for 168 off 40 overs and any ones game with 23 required off 5 overs.
Paul Georgiadis (1) also a team man threw his bat for Simon Lyon to take another catch but this time off Neil. Jed Wesley-Smith picked up the pace with 19 off 24 balls with exciting death running with Mel Lucas who returned after Paul departed. More tension than a triple D bra as Jed was bowled by Neil Gowripalan in the second last over still needing 6 to win. Peter Rolls returned and took 2 runs off the last ball of Neil’s over. 4 to win off the last over with Mel Lucas facing Captain Raga. A dot ball first ball then Mel unleashed a pull shot for the ages to hit the boundary and winning runs. Another exciting chapter in the Raga social spirit of cricket.
Thanks to Raga for supplying the tasty bbq chicken and bread rolls although the garnish was warmer than a Northern Territory public bench! The beers helped big time!
Raga’s XII team was (playing 12): – Peter O’Reilly 28* retired not out, Neville Emerson 25* retired not out, Garry Budden 26* retired not out, Neil Karunasegara 2, Gunaratnam Kandakumar 13* retired not out, Simon Lyon 13* retired not out, Wasantha Hettiarachchi 23* retired not out, Russell Nation 3, Sittampalam Ragavan (c) 25* retired not out, Raj Beadle 8* retired (injured), Ashok Victor Ponnudurai 15* , Nadarajah Gowripalan 8*.
CCNSW Team was (playing 12): – Peter Harrison 10, Douglas Latto 17, Joe Scarcella 1, Mel Lucas 36*, Peter Rolls (c) 28*, David Craig 6, Stuart Ridge 25*, John Jackson 25*, Graham MacDonald 0, David Wright (w) 7, Paul Georgiadis 1, Jed Wesley-Smith (w) 19
The Result was: –
Raga XI: – 2 – 190 (45 overs)
Lost to
C.C.N.S.W.: – 8-192(44.2 overs) (M. Lucas 36*)
By 2 wickets
FoW: – 1-28 (P. Harrison); 2-28 (D. Latto); 3-33 (J. Scarcella); 4-93 (D. Craig); 5-133 (G. MacDonald); 6-168 (D. Wright); 7-172 (P. Georgiadis); 8-185 (J. Wesley-Smith)
The CCNSW Bowling was: Stuart Ridge 6-0-27-0, David Craig 6-0-35-0, Paul Georgiadis 5-2-15-1, Joe Scarcella 5-0-21-0, Jed Wesley-Smith 5-0-16-0, Peter Harrison 5-0-16-0, John Jackson 6-0-22-1, Mel Lucas 4-0-21-0, Graham MacDonald 3-0-13-0
Raga’s XII Bowling was: –: S. Ragavan 4.2-0-21-0; A. Ponnudurai 2-0-9-0; R. Nation 6-1-19-2; N. Gowripalan 6-1-19-2; W. Hettiarrchchi 6-0-22-0; S. Lyon 6-0-33-0; P. O’Reilly 6-0-24-2; N. Emerson 6-0-29-0; N. Karunasegara 2-0-11-2.
CCNSW Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – One to Jed Wesley-Smith
Catches: -Nil
Run outs: – Nil
CITY AND SUBURBAN ROUND 3 v CRANBROOK OLD BOYS AT DANGAR OVAL, ROSE BAY ON SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2022:
Cancelled – Cranbrook forfeit.
MASTERS ROUND 3 v LANE COVE CC AT KINGSFORD SMITH OVAL, LONGUEVILLE ON SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BYANDREW DADSWELL
What a great day for cricket! Sunshine and a cool breeze. The over 40s made their way to Kingsford Smith Oval looking to replicate the form of the Classics the week before.
The skipper lost the toss and Lane Cove elected to bat first.
The bowling effort was spearheaded by Ben Stanic who made the first breakthrough by trapping the dangerous Howard LBW in the 3rd over. Michael Tarrant and Stanic both challenged the top order with tight bowling and Ben snagged his second wicket to leave Lane Cove in an awkward position at 2 for 19 in the 7th over.
Dave Craig came on early and found some good bounce which helped with the dismissal of Glover, stumped by keeper Rob Lawther.
The danger man for Lane Cove was always going to be the classy Neil McLeod who has dined out on the CCNSW Masters bowlers the last two seasons, but when Dave Abreu had the audacity to bowl a slower ball yorker to remove him for 24 it felt like a big moment in the match.
The Lane Covians showed good batting depth as their middle order all contributed steadily. Dadswell picked up a couple of wickets with some flighted deliveries and Jose Poothokaren bowled expertly in denying the batters the short boundary and picked up 2 wickets of his own. Jose’s second wicket was caught behind by Robbie Lawther who was having a great day with the gloves, taking two low, fast chances.
In the end Lane Cove made 9 for 160 off their 40 overs.
In between innings, former Masters great Ian Allmey made his presence known and imparted some of his substantial wisdom on the young lads. Or was he really there to check out the Longueville real estate?
In pursuit of 161 Jason Kenn set the tone early by smacking some beautiful boundaries straight down the ground. Ed Cross also looked good, and the mountain men took the total to 1 for 63 off the first 10 overs. A great start to a run chase with Jason undone by one that angled across him.
Ed and Scott Well went in the space of 2 overs to leave us 3 for 68 but the local knowledge of Paul Nash was on display in a dominant innings of 30, punctuated by cracking pull shots and some thumping drives over mid-on.
Nashie ended up hauling out to deep mid-on which brought Lawther and Andrew Dadswell together. They worked the ball around in a 46-run partnership before Lawther nicked off with 30 to get.
Jose looked composed in his innings until he was dismissed by a sensational catch at short mid-on. Michael Tarrant came in and with Tex saw us pass the total with 6 and a half overs to spare.
In the end, with the wicket playing a little up and down from one end being cancelled out by the small boundary, 160 was probably 30 short of par. The consistency of the CCNSW bowlers set up the win. Notably we didn’t bowl any wides – that must be a rare occurrence.
Both teams shared beers after play and we thank Lane Cove for their great hospitality.
The team – Ed Cross (11), Jason Kenn (26), Paul Nash (30), Scott Wells (4), Rob Lawther (25), Andrew Dadswell (c) (34*), Jose Poothokaren (6), Mick Tarrant (12*), Ben Stanic (DNB), Dave Craig (DNB), Dave Abreu (DNB)
The bowling was: Ben Stanic (9-0-2-28), Mick Tarrant (8-2-0-22), Dave Craig (6-0-1-37), Dave Abreu (7-1-2-26), Andrew Dadswell (4-0-2-23), Jose Poothokaren (4-0-2-19), Paul Nash (2-1-0-1)
The fielding was:
Stumpings: 1 Rob Lawther
Catches: 2 Rob Lawther (WK), 1 Mick Tarrant, 2 Scott Wells
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to Andrew Dadswell; 2 points to Paulk Nash ; 1 point to Rob Lawther
VINTAGE ROUND 3 v CASTLE HILL CC AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY JOE SCARCELLA
CCNSW returns to Camperdown
On a glorious sunny day, the Vintage team turned up at Camperdown Oval with more than a little apprehension about the state of the centre square after it was torn apart in the off-season by those evil rugger-heads. The council had spent a considerable amount of money laying fresh couch on the damaged area and it’ll take time to bed in, but the groundsman had managed to prepare a pitch on the edge of the square that was pretty good. So, all systems go for the start.
Our opponents Castle Hill won the toss and sent us in. But more drama awaited us before we took to the field. Where the hell are the stumps and bails??? Michael McCormick was asked to check the store-room and couldn’t find them anywhere!! No matter, the ever-reliable Raga had a couple of sets in his car if they were needed. As it turns out, they weren’t. A further check was made of the store-room by the Prez. In a sadly obvious pointer his mental faculties are on a rapid decline of Biden-esque proportions, the said MM couldn’t see what was under his eyes. The Prez located not just 6 stumps but SIXTEEN.
But back to the game.
The opening pair of John Finucane and Frank Baliotis started steadily enough, but Frank was trapped LBW playing back to an in-dipper (4). Joe Scarcella came in at first drop and was looking comfortable before falling victim to another LBW decision by our umpires (10). Jim Robson (Jungle) joined John at the crease. John was eventually dismissed for a very solid 29. At this point, we were 3-46. Peter Rolls joined Jungle at the crease, and the pair both batted with great authority and urgency, not looking at all troubled by the bowling and putting on a solid partnership in quick time before both retired unbeaten, on 30 and 31, respectively. Meanwhile, Greg Brooks came in and smashed a quick-fire unbeaten 32, his innings featuring a number of lovely straight hits down the ground that had the bowler diving for cover. Mick came and went (10). Raga followed him, and he wasted no time in taking to the bowling, scoring five 4s on the way to his rapid and valuable 23. Coming in at 9, Gerry O’Shea was cruising along steadily, while Stu Ridge was bowled for 2 in the pursuit of quick runs, and Paul Georgadis at 11 hung around to be unbeaten on 10 with Gerry who was not out 17 at the end of the innings.
Our total of 6-209 after 40 overs was always going to be very hard to beat. Our bowlers performed superbly to dismiss Castle Hill for 104.
Stuey and Paul opened the bowling and, after bowling a maiden in his first over, Stu took a wicket in his second. After his successful 6-over spell (1 for 3, including 3 maidens), Joe came in first change and continued the relentless line and length attack which the batsmen could not handle. Joe bowled an excellent spell, finishing with 3 victims (all bowled) for 5, including 5 maidens from his 7 overs. At the other end, Raga chipped in with a wicket in his first spell of 4 overs, before being replaced by Mick McCormick. Mick struck with his first delivery, an outside edge to ‘keeper John. His 2nd wicket followed in the next over, clean bowled, and he took another (caught at 1st slip by the Greg Brooks). It was another excellent contribution by Mick, his 7 overs yielding 3 for 28. Prez Brooksy bowled some steady overs before Raga came back on and took his 2 wicket to finally put the opponents out of their misery.
Overall, it was a very good effort by the team to comprehensively thrash Castle Hill and earn valuable bonus points to celebrate the club’s first outing this season at Camperdown.
The Team was: John Finucane 29, Frank Baliotis 4,Joe Scarcella 10, James Robson 30*, Peter Rolls 31*, Greg Brooks 32*, Michael McCormick 10, Sittampalam Ragavan 23, Gerard O’Shea 17*, Stuart Ridge 2, Paul Georgadis 10*
The Bowling was: Stuart Ridge 6-3-3-1, Paul Georgadis 6-1-24-0, Joe Scarcella 7-4-5-3, Sittampalam Ragavan 4.2-0-16-2, Michael McCormick 7-1-28-3, Greg Brooks 5-0-15-0, Gerard O’Shea 1-0-8-0
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: Nil
Catches: John Finucane, Greg Brooks, Stuart Ridge
Run outs: Nil
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to Joe Scarcella; 2 points to Greg Brooks ; 1 point to Michael McCormick
SOCIAL GAME v VICTORIA BARRACKS XI AT VICTORIA BARRACKS, OXFORD STREET ON THURSDAY 27 OCTOBER 2022:
WASHED OUT
LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 1 v ‘’ AT ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022:
Report and scores to come.
C&S JACK PACE ROUND 2 v OLD ALOYSIANS CC AT ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE OVAL, KIRRIBILLI ON SUNDAY 30 OCTOBER 2022: REPORT BY BRETT JAMES
It was orange, it was bright and it was beautiful but what was this strange phenomenon..after much googling and conversations with the smart people on the team (no I am not looking at you Tom Robertson) we came to the conclusion the sun was shining on us today! Cricket and hopefully the Cricketers Club would be the winner on the day. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell Old Aloysians and their grade level line up how things should play out.
The old Aloysians ground was in top nick. It is a beautiful place to play cricket, fast outfield, good facilities and a decent pitch. I was internally thanking the gods for the outrageous school fees imposed on our struggling banking, financial and legal fraternity members who that just want a decent education for their little ones…..good on you all!
Soren Hughes won the toss and in we went. Tom Robertson and Gerry O’Shea started very well with an excellent opening partnership of 43 before Gerry was plum LBW….oh hang on he was actually not out that ball…but the next ball he was comprehensively bowled after day dreaming about the life that our umpire had given him the ball prior. Tom went on to score a dominant 52 before getting clean bowled and Harry Bridge put on 20 good runs during which time he discovered there seems to be common denominator in his near run outs each time he bats (I’ll leave that one hanging out there).
Brett James decided that one duck wasn’t enough and hit a simple catch back to the bowler for his second duck in a row and the rest of the batting was ho hum until Captain Soren strolled out to the wicket and smashed the best 39 not out off 19 balls we have seen this season – it was a fantastic captains knock and got us to a defendable 156.
Things started well with Avi Bhandari collecting a wicket on the first ball of the innings. The team was up, we were on a roll and things were looking good for the W. Unfortunately no one told us that number 3 had played Second Grade the day before, was in form and loved medium pace, pitched up bowling. 85 runs were taken off our first 10 overs with the number 3 smoking a very fine 65 off less balls than Soren faced. Stupidly he mentioned that he hated spin bowling so we bought Adam Khamis on and he had him bamboozled for 2 fine overs and then quickly stumped. A great decision. Adam bagged another wicket before our old adversary Tim Goh came in a struck a very quick 55* – game over!
Isn’t it great to play cricket! We didn’t come back with the win but it was fantastic to be out there with mates, running around and trying to compete against a very, very good team. Let’s look forward to next week and the fact we may get two weeks of cricket in row!
The Team: – Gerry O’shea (17), Tom Robertson (52), Harry Bridge (20), Brett James (0), Jamie Murtha (0), Avi Bhandari (7), Soren Hughes (39*), Nimesh “Fifty” Desai (3), Matt Leong (5), Declan Thomas (9*), Adam Khamis (DNB)
The Bowling was: – Avi Bhandari 6-0-41-1; Nimesh Desai 4-0-49-0; Adam Khamis 7-0-56-2; Brett James 5-1-19-0;
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: Declan Thomas
Catches: Adam Khamis
Run outs: nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to Tom Robertson ; 2 points to Soren Hughes ; 1 point to Adam Khamis
CLASSICS ROUND 3 v LANE COVE CC AT KINGSFORD SMITH OVAL, LONGUEVILLE ON SUNDAY 30 OCTOBER 2022: REPORT BY ED CROSS
With some fine weather finally upon us, we were pleased to arrive at Kingsford Smith Oval on a bright day. The only issue being that the U14’s match was still underway after they had a delayed start. However, the toss occurred on time and Skipper Scott Wells had no hesitation in batting first.
Mike Weaver and Ed Cross started it off for us. Unfortunately, after looking for a positive start on a hard, dry wicket, Mike went cheaply in the second over to a ball that moved considerably off the seam. That brought Paul Nash to the crease. Both Ed and Paul played strongly and well within themselves to see us off to a reasonably good start. Ed capitalised on some short bowling to retire on 30 runs when the score was 1 or 39 in the 9th over. Scott Wells came to the crease and continued with Paul showcasing some fine batting. Both Paul and Scott retired after hitting their 30-run limit in style. The total was starting to look like it could be something big when we took drinks at 1-111 after 20 overs.
Andrew Davis and Dave Benson were next to the crease. However, Dave wasn’t at the crease for long, looking to be aggressive he was stumped for 8. Dave Byrnes came to the crease after a long absence from the Cricketers Club and again looked to be positive and keep the score moving. Unfortunately, his stay was also short as he was bowled for 1. The score had reached 3-124 in the 24th over. Mick Tarrant was next in and continued with some purposeful batting. At the other end, an ever-watchful Andrew was batting confidently and playing some nice shots. Soon he retired on 31 with the score 3-156 in the 27th over.
David Craig joined Mick in the middle and successfully, although predictably, reverse swept the first delivery for 4. He and Mick continue to bat aggressively as the final overs approached with Mick retiring after a well-made 32 before David was bowled for 18. Stuart Ridge and Paul Devaney came out looking to be positive right from the start. Paul started aggressively with a 6 whilst Stuart continued hitting singles to rotate the strike. When Paul was dismissed caught on the boundary for a quick fire 17 the score was 5 to 224 after 35 overs.
Ed Cross returned to the crease after retiring earlier and he and Stuart did their best to lift the score above 250. Stuart continued to rotate the strike which allowed Ed some batting time to accumulate enough runs to finish on 50 not out. Stuart finished on 18 not out with the score at 5 for 257.
We knew we had a good score on the board, but we were also aware we had to bowl well with the short boundary on one side always in play. Our openers were Stuart Ridge and Mick Tarrant, who both bowled well early on, hitting the right length and moving the ball in the air. The first wicket came in the 6th over with the score at 15 when Mick had their opener caught behind by Jed Wesley-Smith. Lane Cove continued scoring runs slowly due to some tight bowling. A few dropped chances saw their other opener reach 31 before retiring.
The two Paul’s (Devaney and Nash) took over the bowling and continued the tight lines. However, Lane Cove were batting well. By this time, they had reached 58 runs off 15 overs. The turning point came when they lost their second wicket to a fantastic one-handed catch to Dave Benson off Nash at mid-on that seemed to come from nowhere. This may well have broken Lane Cove’s spirit as the remaining batsmen didn’t seem intent on trying to chase down the imposing total. Both Paul’s continued the fine bowling with Nash picking up 2 and Devaney 1 wicket caught behind by Jed.
Dave Craig took over from Devaney and immediately found his length. He continued to bowl tightly and was rewarded with 2 wickets off his 9 overs (caught by Scott Wells and Paul Devaney). Dave Byrne took over from Nash and also bowled tightly, further restricting Lane Cove’s scoring. He was successful in his 3rd over with an LBW. The score had reached 7-101 off 34 overs.
Lane Cove continued to bat stubbornly in the remaining overs. Stuart Ridge came back on and was rewarded with a wicket. The final over was left to Michael Weaver to try and wrap up the last 2 wickets. Lane Cove looked to have survived until a last ball full toss was hit firmly straight to Paul Nash for the 9th wicket. The final score was 9-129 after 40 overs.
A big thank you to Jed Wesley-Smith for umpiring our innings in full. He was then able to back up in the field to neatly keep wickets and encourage the bowlers.
Our first win for the season after the disappointment of our first game. Let’s hope we can turn up each week with the same positive attitude to scoring runs and taking wickets.
The Team was: Michael Weaver 1, Ed Cross 50*, Paul Nash 32* , Scott Wells 33*, Andrew Davis 31*, David Benson 8, David Byrnes 1, Michael Tarrant 32*, David Craig 18, Stuart Ridge 18*, Paul Devaney 17
The Bowling was: Stuart Ridge 7-1-26-1, Michael Tarrant 6-15-1, Paul Devaney 4-1-19-1, Paul Nash 8-1-17-2, David Craig 9-1-28-2, David Byrnes 5-0-15-1, Michael Weaver 1-0-6-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: Nil
Catches: Jed Wesley-Smith 2, David Benson, Scott Wells, Paul Nash, Paul Devaney
Run outs: Nil
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to Ed Cross ; 2 points to Paul Nash ; 1 point to Scott Wells
