LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 2 ROUND 1 v ‘FLYING FIREBIRDS’ AT MP5 ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 3 NOVEMBER 2021: REPORT BY JIM HADLEY
With a player short we won the toss and batted. James Bonkowski and Scott Williams got out early leaving Mick McGrath and ‘Jono’ Seifman to get us out of trouble. Seifman put on 60 with McGrath before he was out for 24. McGrath was now joined by Mick Tarrant who matched McGrath at a good strike rate until McGrath retired at 50*. McGrath was to return for the last 3 overs to finish 67* with a great strike rate of 200 and Tarrant ended with a very handy 33*. CCNSW 5-176 after 20 overs.
A great start with the ball from Tarrant and McGrath and after 8 overs we had them 3-50. After changing ends for the second lot of 10 overs into a howling Nor- Wester and with a man down the game came down to the Firebirds needing 7 off the last ball to win and a six hit off Jim Hadley got The Firebirds the win. (In LMS a last ball 6 gets you 12.)
The Team was (playing 7): – James Bonkowski (w) 11, Scott Williams 6, Mick McGrath 67*, Jonathan Seifman 24, David Craig 6, Jim Hadley (c) 23; Mike Tarrant 33*
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 5-176 (20 overs) (M. McGrath 67*; M. Tarrant 33*)
Lost to
Flying Firebirds: – 5-181 (20 overs)
By 3 wickets
The Bowling was: – M. Tarrant 4-0-21-1; M. McGrath 4-0-20-2; J. Hadley 4-0-57-0; D. Craig 4-0-42-2; J. Seifman 4-0-39-0;
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to D. Craig and one to M. McGrath
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points M McGrath; 2 points to M. Tarrant; one point to J. Seifman
CITY & SUBURBAN ROUND 1 v CRANBROOK OLD BOYS AT WOOLLAHRA OVAL No 2, ROSE BAY ON SUNDAY 7 NOVEMBER 2021: REPORT BY JIM HADLEY
The Team was (playing 12): – Tom Robertson 14 , Karthick Subramaniam 62, Scott Williams 6, Harry Bridge 16, Charles O’Brien 4, Richard Clark (w) 4, Brett James 21, Toby Forbes 0, Avinash Bhandari 7 ,Jeremy Hill 0 Jim Hadley (c) 17* and Hardeep Bhullar dnb
The Result was: –
CCNSW: 10-160- (35 overs) (K. Subramaniam 62))
Lost to
Old Cranbrookians: – 6-161 (34 overs)
By 4 wickets
FoWs: – 1 – 15 (T. Robertson); 2-26 (S. Williams); 3-82 (H. Bridge); 4-101 (C. O’Brien); 5-112 (R. Clark); 6-112 (K. Subramaniam); 7-112 (T. Forbes); 8-122 (A. Bhandari); 9-122 (J. Hill); 10-160 (B. James)
The Bowling was: – A. Bhandari 6-0-27-1; T. Forbes 7-2-18-1; B. James 6-1-30-2; C. O’Brien 6-0-27-0; J. Hill 3-0-17-1; J. Hadley 4-0-30-1; H. Bridge 2-0-12-0
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: –); 2 to H. Bhullar (w); One to R. Clark and one to H Bridge
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to K. Subramaniam; 2 points to T. Forbes; one point to B. James
CLASSICS OVER 50s ROUND 1 v PARRAMATTA AT McCREDIE OVAL, GUILDFORD ON SUNDAY 7 NOVEMBER 2021 : REPORT BY SCOTT WELLS
Forecasts for the day were not good with rain in the lead up and the morning of the match. However, McCredie Park being such a well maintained and thick couch grass outfield with a raised square, the surface was fine. After a delayed start through passing showers, Scott Wells in his first toss as skipper called correctly and duly sent the opposition in to ensure control of the back end of the game should weather intervene.
With Parramatta being an aging side and perennially positioned in the lower half of the ladder, CCNSW were expected to win this game so we needed to get stuck into their top order quickly to expose their middle to late order and bring about an early finish as the storm clouds continued to roll over to the south and north of Guildford.
Opening the bowling was the ever reliable Mick Tarrant and the curve ball Martin Speiser. Both the bowlers struggled with their length in the opening four overs regularly finding the middle of the bat but with an agile and alert inner ring, the batsmen were rarely able to pierce some excellent fielding. Parramatta were getting off to a decent start with the bat with the outfield like carpet, and were up to 22 in no time. A change was made with Paul Nash (Classics debut) replacing Speiser (Life) from the southern end immediately tightening the screws with only 2 runs off his first three overs.
At the other end (Breaker) Tarrant was starting to find the groove with a breakthrough in the 7th over – lovely outswinger pitching middle and leg taking out their opening bat with an lbw. The screws continued to tighten but Parramatta showed no signs of frustration until a peach from Nash (Potato) clean bowled the other opener in the 14th over with only 20 runs added since the 7th over. A change was made at the top end after Tarrant had only gone for 6 runs off 4 overs. The change was big bustling Andrew Bachelard, making not only his debut for Classics but also his Club debut. Legend has it he was hanging around a Coogee net session where the great Stuart Ridge was batting and running out of bowlers – he whistled him over and said “son… have a crack and do your best”. Stu was that impressed, he signed him on the spot. The rest is (or will be) history.
Having not bowled in a game for some 15 years, Bachelard surprisingly settled into a decent line and length quickly asking questions of the batsmen. Rain intervened twice either side of the scheduled break which saw the match reduced to 34 overs a side. Parramatta were being cautious and CCNSW bowling and fielding were on line and tight until Nash broke through finding the edge for a nick behind off their big No. 3 just as he was looking at getting going. One wicket then bought two with a very well judge outfield catch by Dave Benson (Hedges) in very overcast conditions (I think it ended up between his knees in the end).
After Benson’s 5th over, he was given a spell to bring on the wily David Craig (man with two first names – never trust them). With the seam starting to get a bit moist, DCs control was impeccable in the very trying conditions. As he had done the previous week, he bowled a very tight line, mixing up the leggies with toppies and the odd quicker straight one and mystery ball (followed by a shoulder shrug). He received a well-deserved wicket with a sharply caught snick behind after spilling an earlier C&B chance. Two of his first three overs were maidens.
Meanwhile, “The Prez” Greg Brooks relieved Nash after a great spell of line and length cumulating in a ‘3 fa’ further tying up the batsmen. An lbw in Brooks’ second over continued to see the steady fall of wickets. With the 34th over near, Parramatta started playing some shots and a risky run saw (Breaker) Tarrant throw the stumps down at the bowlers end to get our 7th wicket. Parramatta finished on 7 for 115 from their allocated 34 overs. All bowlers bowled well and the fielding was top shelf.
With the risk of rain still imminent plus a possible bonus point or three for an early chase, it was imperative we got off to a good start. Both the opening pair of Ed (Red) Cross making his debut for both CCNSW and Classics and Ian Allmey (Lovin’) found the middle early and got off to a flyer – 39 off the first 4 overs until Ian was adjudged by a ball that would have eventually hit the stumps falling LBW for 22. Enter Nashman.
Both he and Ed continued to found the gaps with good timing and hitting to get us to around 65 off 10 with maximum bonus points in sight with a finish inside 17 overs. Approx 50 off 7 required. The green light was given to “go for it” with plenty of wickets in hand and hitters in the shed waiting. Nash retired for a well made 30* after hitting them to all parts including over the keeper’s head. His retirement bought in Scott (All’s) Wells (End Wells).
From the outset Well’s intentions were clear with a boundary first ball and some hard running between the wickets with Ed Cross. Some mistimed big shots bought about the downfall of Ed (22) and Wells (11) bringing in Greg Brooks as a pinch hitter (Prez) who duly obliged with a sweetly timed 6 back over the bowler. Prez fell for 11. Needing 10 runs off the sixteenth and seventeenth overs, Richie (De Man) De Silva (Also Classics and Club debut) and Mike (half) Pinter safely saw us home with a few balls to spare to secure the all-important bonus points – achieving the required runs within 50% of the allocated overs and more importantly beating the rain to secure a well deserved victory.
The Team was (playing 12): – Ian Allmey 22, Ed Cross 22, Paul Nash 31*, Scott Wells (c) 11, Greg Brooks 11, Mike Pinter 4*, Richie De Silva 9*, Mike Tarrant dnb, David Benson dnb, David Craig dnb, Martin Speiser dnb, Andrew Bachelard dnb
The Result was: –
Parramatta CC: 7-115 (34 overs) (P. Nash 3-26)
Lost to
C.C.N.S.W.: 4-117 (16.3 overs) (P. Nash 31*)
By 6 wickets
FoW: – 1-36 (I. Allmey); 2-84 (E. Cross); 3-89 (S. Wells); 4-106 (G. Brooks).
The Bowling was; –: M. Tarrant 7-1-19-1; M. Speiser 2-0-11-0; P. Nash 7-3-26-3; A. Bachelard 5-1-22-0; D. Craig 5-2-12-1, G. Brooks 7-0-19-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – 2 to S. Wells (w) and one to D. Benson
Run outs: – One to M. Tarrant
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to P. Nash; 2 points to G. Brooks; one point to M. Tarrant