LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 3 ROUND 9 v ‘CLEVELAND SEAMERS’ AT MP 5, ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON THURSDAY 19 JANUARY 2023: REPORT BY SCOTT WILLIAMS
On a wet and miserable Thursday CCNSW were up against the previously undefeated Cleveland Seamers. Cleveland Seamers ‘generously’ offered to bat first without a toss, Our captain, Scott Williams jumped at the chance to get the ball in his hands so accepted the offer.
Some tidy bowling from Dan May (1-20 off 4 overs) and Scott Williams(1-18 off 4 overs) had them on the back foot. Matt Edge (2-36 off 4 overs) didn’t let the foot off with constant wickets slowing their progress. Seamers set a pretty modest score of 150 which we never thought was to be in doubt. However what we had never contemplated when we accepted their ‘generous’ offer at the “toss” was that we were going to have to bat in the dark; we had been played. James Bonkowski (8) was out early to some very good line and length bowling but Rob Shone (53*) and Joel Uddstrom (24) got us back on track. On Joel’s departure, Scott Williams came to the crease with CCNSW needing 8 an over. His 30 off 11 balls followed by Dan May’s 37* off 20 balls was enough to get us over the line to win with 11 balls to spare and back on track for a place in the finals.
The Team was: – James Bonkowski 8, Rod Shone 53*, Joel Uddstrom (w) 24, Scott Williams (c) 30, Daniel May 37*, Matthew Edge dnb, Craig Fordham dnb, Peter Constantinou dnb
The Result was:-
Cleveland Seamers: – 5-149 (20 overs) ()
Lost to
CCNSW: – 3-155 (18.4 overs) (R. Shone 53*)
By 5 wickets
The Bowling was: – D. May 4-0-20-1; S. Williams 4-0-18-1; M. Edge 4-0-36-2; P. Constantinou 4-0-39-1; C. Fordham 4-0-35-0
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to each of R. Shone and S. Williams
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to D. May; 2 points to R. Shone; 1 point to S. Williams
CITY AND SUBURBAN ROUND 9 v NONDESCRIPTS AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 22 JANUARY 2023
Cancelled because of rain
CLASSICS ROUND 8 v ST CLAIR WARRIORS AT MERRYLANDS OVAL, MERRYLANDS ON SUNDAY 22 JANUARY 2023
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
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 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 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 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
C&S JACK PACE ROUND 1 v COLLEAGUES CC AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER 2022: REPORT BY JIM HADLEY
CCNSW won the toss and Bowled. Arvi Bhandari and new ball partner Nimesh Desai ( “Fifty”) formed a great contrasting style of new ball bowling. Fifty held consistent pace and line for his 7 overs and Arvi held a nagging length of outswingers and off cutters, backed up by good catches by Williams and Murtha. Colleagues were 5-40 after 14 overs. Colleagues decided slogging was the best response and with the help of some dropped catches moved into the 90s until spin got rid of their cowboy. Nick Leong and Big Sooz (Soren Hughes) bowled a consistent line and length and finished off Colleagues, all out for 138. A shakey start in the run chase had Tom Robertson out chasing a wide one and Scott bowled by a good one through the gate. Harry Bridge and Jamie Murtha pushed the game along till Harry was judged LBW. Colleagues opening left arm seamer was proving a handful so Nick Leong “night watched” his spell skilfully through to enable Jamie Murtha (30 odd) and eventually Arvi Bhandari (20 odd n/o) to get CCNSW home with a few overs to spare. Good but patchy win highlighted by a top spell by both opening bowlers. Bhandari 3, Fifty 2, Murtha 1.
Scores to come.
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to Arvi Bhandari; 2 points to Nimesh Desai ; 1 point toJamie Murtha
CLASSICS ROUND 2 v SRI LANKA LIONS AT BERT SAUNDERS RESERVE, DOONSIDE ON SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER 2022: REPORT BY SCOTT WELLS
With 20 odd players available for selection this year, choosing a side against last year’s reigning champions was going to be a good headache to have. Unfortunately, with a 60’s tournament in the ensuing week and a few N/As it made the job slightly easier.
Initially the game was down for Camperdown but with the Camperdown square resembling a boggy top dressed lawn, an early call out for an alternate ground commenced. It appears this season in particular, turf wickets will be a premium on Sundays with the mix of a wet winter and junior rep and girls cricket expanding to turf wickets on a weekend.
After discussions with the Prez, several councils, Gordon CC and the Lions, they ended up finding a ground at Doonside albeit a synthetic wicket which at least guaranteed a game with a grim weather forecast earlier in the week.
Back to selections, we had 12 chosen with spares available. By Friday night, we had 10 available with both Mikes pulling out. By then some spares had also made other plans but we ended up with still a very strong 11 showing the great depth in the club at present. SLL also had some injury concerns with two of their top players not playing which gave us a great chance of knocking them off.
With afternoon showers expected and wanting to control the game should it be shortened, Wells won the toss and sent the Lions in.
Paul Devaney took the new cherry with 4 LBW shouts in the first over all very close and all turned down against their left hander. Mick Tarrant took the ball from the other end and both started with some great line and length and swing beating the bat and finding edges with flew into gaps regularly. Mick in particular very unlucky with their lefty not scoring a run in front of the wicket. By the 10th over they had gotten off to a bit of a flier with the other opener batting solid and quickly. A change in the bowling was made with both Ed Cross and Brett James coming on. Brett sporting a side strain off his shorter run.
A retirement and wicket finally came in the 13th over with both bowlers keeping it tight building pressure. Ed picking up an LBW and Brett picking up wickets either side of drinks. By drinks SLL were 2 for 88 so that was a pretty good result. The next 5 overs were critical
David Craig entered the attack with his leg spinners but unfortunately an earlier (superb) fielding effort left his right shoulder (good one) worse for wear. So with both Brett and Dave unable to bowl Paul Nash and Craig Kitson continued the attack with great line and length frustrating the Lions batters. A mixture of some very good shots and some loose ones saw runs and wickets continue – 4 for 125 with 10 to go. Craig Kitson picking up 4 wickets in 7 overs. With two batters in the bank they were keen to get them back in for the final overs.
Wickets were shared with all bowlers bowling well – Cross 1, James 2 and Kitson 4 but that’s not a reflection on how well Tarrant, Devaney and Nash bowled.
The opening bowlers returned to close out the innings with SLL finishing off their innings at 182. A gettable target with the batting depth we had.
Lions opening bowler Wark, known for his guile and metronomic wicket taking ability was always going to be a threat early. Little was known about the rest of their attack as we haven’t played them for at least three seasons due to washouts.
Ian Allmey and Gerard O’Shea like Oscar and Felix opened the batting. Felix there to blunt their opening attack. Unfortunately Wark found the shoulder of Allmey’s bat second ball which bought an early entry for Nash. Both batters feeling their way through the guile of Wark and spin of sorts from the other end. Nashy final getting going but no sooner hit one straight to mid wicket departing on 10 (16).
O’Shea at the other end was looking very solid and stylish but still not off the mark after almost 30 balls. Andrew Davis joined Gerry at the crease with both batsmen very cautious unable to penetrate the infield. We were 2 for 29 after 15 overs when a misunderstanding lead to a runout 12 (45). With the need to get cracking, Brett James was sent in to get the innings started. Unfortunately, Brett got a very good ball cutting back in first deliver for an LBW.
This bought Scott Wells to the crease and with Andrew Davis, started to penetrate the infield and coupled with some hard running between the wickets the scoreboard stated to tick over. 4 for 45 at drinks. Not impossible with the batting still to come – 7 an over but still a shift in momentum required. Opening bowler Wark finishing with 2 for 12 off 9 overs.
Post drinks, Wells started to take to the bowlers which saw more outfielders being dispatched making it difficult to get boundaries. Davis attempted to start hitting but came unstuck with 17 (50). Kitson started very confidently with a 6 over long off from his second delivery and the runs continued to flow with Wells retiring on 30 bringing Ed Cross to the crease. Both batters kept very busy running with a deep field set before Kitson holed out at long on for a well made 12 (12). In the 30th over we were 6 down for 94 leaving 9 an over off the last 10. The last 3 batters Tarrant, Devaney and Craig couldn’t find the boundary with 5 men out but still kept it ticking over. 13(11), 11(13) and 1(4) respectively. Wells returned with 2 overs to go and finished with 43*(43) and Ed 16*(30)
Upon reflection, we bowled well, batted solidly, ground fielding was great, put down a few half chances but we needed to pace ourselves a bit better earlier but with the loss of 3 of our top 5 cheaply and runs hard to come by made the task all that more difficult. We certainly didn?t disgrace ourselves and gave it a good shot but unfortunately things didn’t come our way in the field and we found it difficult to penetrate the good Lions fielding which left us short of the total.
The Team was: –
Ian Allmey 0, Gerard O’Shea 12, Paul Nash 10, Andrew Davis 17, Brett James 0, Scott Wells(c,wk) 43*, Craig Kitson 12, Ed Cross 16*, Michael Tarrant 13, Paul Devaney 11, David Craig 1
Paul Devaney 9-0-49-0, Michael Tarrant 7-0-30-0, Ed Cross 7-1-32-1, David Craig 1-0-3-0, Brett James 4-2-7-2, Paul Nash 5-0-26-0, Craig Kitson 7-0-33-4
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: None
Catches: tbc
Run outs: None
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to Scott Wells; 2 points to Craig Kitson ; 1 point to Andrew Davis
SOCIAL GAME: T20 v THE PRIMARY CLUB OF AUSTRALIA AT REG BARTLEY OVAL, RUSHCUTTERS BAY ON WEDNESDAY 16 MARCH 2022:
Cancelled by rain
CITY & SUBURBAN ROUND 17 v THE PRIMARY CLUB OF AUSTRALIA AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SATURDAY 19 MARCH 2022
Cancelled by rain
CLASSICS OVER 50s ROUND 9 v BURWOOD AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 20 MARCH 2022 : REPORT BY SCOTT WELLS
CCNSW were originally down to play the Sri Lankan Lions after missing this opportunity for the past two seasons due to wet weather. The week prior however, the Classics Committee changed the draw to a finals game of 1 vs 2 – being Roseville and Lions respectively.
As Roseville were down to play Burwood (whom we had already played earlier in the year) we were matched against them again – at Camperdown.
Whilst 1 and 2 played it out for a table topping match, 2, 3 and 4 were all very tight on the table leaving the final round as moving day. CCNSW were just ahead of the team who comprehensively beat us the round prior – Georges River. Roseville were top of the table by some 30 points ahead of the training group which left a remote opportunity (leaving the maths out of the explanation) for CCNSW to top the competition needing Lions to roll Roseville for not many and score very slowly losing no wickets.
But first we had to comprehensively beat Burwood by scoring 200+ and get all 10 wickets which was possible given we had beaten them well in the earlier round.
With regulars Ian Allmey, David Benson, David Craig, Richie De Silva, and Garry James not available for this game it was a slightly different looking side to previous games. Big Andrew Bachelard making his comeback from a near season ending leg injury, Jed Wesley-Smith offering to keep and umpire a full 40 and a young Brett James making his Classics debut for the club making up the 12. A side with deep batting and plenty of bowling options which has been our strength all year.
It was an unusually dry week leading up to the game so we were hoping for a nice hard wicket and dry, mown outfield. Unfortunately La Nina had different plans and dumped another load of wet stuff on the ground Friday. The pitch had been well prepared and the covers down in time thanks to the C&S Saturday team. However, upon inspection Saturday, somehow water under the covers had prevented any chance of play Saturday – as did the constant rain that morning. A call to arms was made Saturday afternoon to see if the pitch could be salvaged with Mike Pinter removing water off the covers and remove them for an inspection. The outlook was dire.
With no rain expected for the rest of the afternoon along with a stiff sea breeze expected and sun first thing Sunday morning, we decided to leave the covers off (Mike P with the assistance of some local soccer lads packed them away) with this being our only real option to get a dry pitch within 24hrs.
An early inspection on Sunday morning lead to hope we would be playing and with efforts to sop up some wet areas, the slight breeze and eventual sunshine left us with a playable pitch come 1pm. Special mention to the great clubman Mike Weaver who caught the 6:05am from Gosford to get the ground to help with the mopping up.
Game time – Skipper Scott Wells won the toss and showed no hesitation to bat knowing we needed to post a big total to stay in touch on the table. A few scoffs from Burwood were heard seemingly surprised at the decision expecting a wet deck but that was the chance we had to take.
CCNSW started steadily but busily with the two Mikes (Pinter and Weaver) opening up with the strike being turned over well until Weaves was adjudicated lbw. Sliding down leg – perhaps – a shiver went through the shed thinking we had a trigger finger at the helm. Enter Paul Nash who too started cautiously with the pitch playing a bit slow due to the dampness and the opening bowlers swinging the ball on tight lines. Pinter was the next to go chasing a wide one caught behind. Nash and Wells batted cautiously until drinks with both the Burwood openers and first and second changes bowling very tight lines and swinging the ball. beating the bat but still offering the odd loose one to score off. 2 for 53 at drinks with a platform to launch in the second 20.
Upon return Nash wasted no time in getting the runs to bring up his 30* retired. However this change bought the early dismissal of Ed Cross which saw Brett James making his Classics debut. The left handed batter seemed to throw the Burwood attack who lost their line and length which Brett took full advantage of after a watchful start 2 (11) launching a few into the hill to bring up a very good 30* (23). Greg Brooks entered the fray making his intentions clear in picking up the run rate (and running a 3) whilst at the other end Wells nudged his way to a very tradesman-like 31*. Leaving us at 3 for 119 after 30 overs. Brooksie departing after a hard hitting 24 – 147 with 6 overs remaining
With 3 in the “bank” 200 looked possible after a steady start with 7 or 8 an over required. Mick Tarrant, Martin Speiser, Andrew Bachelard and Stuart Ridge continued to push the score getting us to 171 with 2 overs left and retirees Nash and James seeing them well. 23 runs off the last two overs saw us get to 8-194 with Nash 46* and Brett James 49*. A very solid total on a tricky deck.
Keen to take the wickets required and with plenty of bowling options, CCNSW opened up with Tarrant and Ridge. Both bowled tight lines on the pitch which saw the score plod along to 2 for not many with Tarrant getting one to jump for a snick behind and Ridge the other not before toying with their resilient number 3 twice hitting him in the money makers much to the amusement of the other 12 players on the field and umpires. A double change was made with Brett James bowling well pitching the ball up seeing what swing could be extracted from a drying pitch and Brooks from the other end bowling his usual reliable tight lines. Brett finished up with 2 wickets to cap off a great day along with a direct hit run-out earlier. But still Burwood seemed intent and hanging around with only 4 or 5 wickets down at drink but for a miserly 34 runs.
Straight after drinks, a double change was again made with Wells (for the first time in 3 seasons) sending down a few leggies to try to break the shackles and Andy Bachelard bowling from the café end. It was Andy B who struck twice to get the break throughs needed and we were well on our way to a victory. Not wanting to risk another injury, another double change was made with Ed Cross from one end and Martin Speiser from the other to try to shake their stubborn batsmen out of their defensive mode and not letting them get comfortable. Enough was enough and with 6 or 7 overs remaining with the last pair offering nothing, the secret weapon was released with the skipper yelling – “warm up Weaves”. Truth be known, we were only stalling until Brooks came back with the beers and tonic water but don’t tell Weaver that.
Once Brooks was spotted with a carton on his shoulder, Tarrant and Ridge were bought back into the attack to mop up and swiftly did so leaving Burwood all out on 93 runs (Editor’s note: Burwood only had 9 players and we provided one sub in the field) and a comprehensive, deserved and expected victory to CCNSW.
A flurry of text messages post game with other teams and the dusting off and clanking of abacuses (abaci?) saw the results and bonus points filter in. Sri Lanka Lions had beaten Roseville by first sending them in and rolling them for 70 odd and then achieving the run chase within 50% of the overs securing 5 bonus points.
The League table saw Roseville drop to 4th by 1.3 points (effective 2 wickets or 26 runs) and Lions retrain take second place. CCNSW had done enough to hang onto 3rd place
The competition winner which no one had seen coming was Georges River who absolutely spanked Old Ignatians by scoring a mammoth 270 runs earning 43.5 points outing Lions by 1.1 points (22 runs or 2 wickets) and CCNSW by 2.3 points (46 runs or 3 wickets). Ironically, the ultimate winner didn’t play in the 1 vs 2 game.
Anyhow, a great, fun year which everybody contributed to and we toughed out a couple of close games whilst winning the games we should have won but for one blemish against Georges River who were the ultimate competition winners.
The Team was (playing 12): – Mike Weaver 2, Mike Pinter 9, Paul Nash 46*, Scott Wells (c) 31*, Ed Cross 0, Brett James 49*, Greg Brooks 24, Mike Tarrant 3, Martin Speiser 6, Andrew Bachelard 1, Stuart Ridge 9, Jed Wesley-Smith (w) dnb
The Result was: –
C.C.N.S.W.: – 8-194 (40 overs) (B. James 49*; P. Nash 46*; S. Wells 31*)
Defeated
Burwood C.C.(playing 9): – all out 93 (36 overs)
By 101 runs
FoW: – 1- 3 (M. Weaver); 2-19 (M. Pinter); 3-69 (E. Cross); 4-132 (M. Tarrant); 5-142 (G. Brooks); 6-143 (A. Bachelard); 7-157 (S. Ridge); 8-171 (M. Speiser).
The Bowling was: –: M. Tarrant 7-0-19-1; S. Ridge 6-1-11-2; E. Cross 2-2-0-0; B. James 5-0-15-2; G. Brooks 5-0-15-0; S. Wells 3-0-8-0, A. Bachelard; 3-0-8-2; M. Speiser 3-0-9-0; and M. Weaver 2-0-4-0
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One J. Wesley-Smith (w); and one to each of P. Nash and M. Pinter
Run outs: – One to B. James
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to B. James; 2 points to P. Nash; one point to S. Ridge
