LATE REPORT CITY & SUBURBAN ROUND 6B v THE PRIMARY CLUB OF AUSTRALIA AT REG BARTLEY OVAL, RUSHCUTTERS BAY ON SUNDAY 19 DECEMBER 2021: REPORT BY ANDREW DADSWELL
On the last cricketing day before Christmas we took on our ‘frenemies’, The Primary Club. Reg Bartley Oval was looking a picture with a lush, slowish outfield and the many colourful locals contributing to the ambiance.
We batted first and got off to a solid start as the top order threatened but never quite got going as we kept getting out in our teens. However Karthick Subramanian came in at No. 5 and set about his work with an innings of 38 that included some nice shots back over the bowler’s head.
Skipper Tom Robertson was playing the Bevan role and finished things off with a couple of lusty blows to get us to 9-152 off our allotted overs. Perhaps 15-20 runs short of par but a good total given the guile and experience in our howling attack.
In defence of the total our experienced pros lead the way with consistent wicket taking and accuracy making it hard for the PCA to get momentum going their way. Brett James, Soren Hughes and Harry Bridge all snared two wickets with accurate seam and swing bowling and spinners Ezekiel Hughes and Andrew Dadswell grabbing one each. An added run out from the captain was a significant moment in the run chase. A solid but close win.
The Team was: – Gerry O’Shea 13, Harry Bridge 17, Jonathan Dupasquier-Green 3, Andrew Dadswell 15, Karthick Subramanian 38 , Soren Hughes 12, Brett James 8, James Murtha 11, Tom Robertson (c) 17, Ezekiel Hughes 7* and Jed Wesley-Smith (w) 2*
The Result was: –
C.C.N.S.W.: – 9-152 (35 overs) (K. Subramanian 38)
Defeated
The Primary Club: – 9-137 (35 overs) (
By 15 runs
FoW: – 1-30 (H. Bridge); 2-32 (G. O’Shea); 3-50 (J. Dupasquier-Green); 4-60 (A. Dadswell); 5-73 (S. Hughes); 6-104 (B. James): 7-113 (K. Subramanian): 8-140 (T. (Robertson); 9-147 (J. Murtha).
The Bowling was: – B. James 7-1-16-2; S. Hughes 7-0-24-2; J. Dupasquier-Green 4-0-22-0; A. Dadswell 7-1-26-1; H. Bridge 6-0-27-2; J. Murtha 1-0-3-0; E. Hughes 3-0-17-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One to J. Wesley-Smith (w); one to each of E. Hughes and G. O Shea
Run outs: – One to T. Robertson
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to K. Subramanian; 2 points to B. James 8; one point toH. Bridge
LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 2 ROUND 11 v ‘CLEVELAND SEAMERS’ AT MP 5 ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 12 JANUARY 2022: REPORT BY JIM HADLEY
Back Row: – Daniel Eisenhuth (w), James Murtha, David Craig, Scott Williams, Soren Hughes, Ezekiel Hughes
Front Row: – Ben Gorham, Jim Hadley (c)
CCNSW won the toss and batted in overcast conditions and with a heavy outfield. Ben Gorham and Scott Williams after a pensive two overs accelerated the innings with consistent boundaries usually of the aerial route till Gorham was first to retire on 50*, Williams got caught at the non-strikers end for a couple of overs till he followed suit 50*. Jamie Murtha stepped across one looking to flick a ball over square leg and managed to get stumped bringing Soren Hughes (“Sooz”) to the wicket who made a quick fire 23 backed up by Dan Eisenhuth with 19 off five balls. David Craig snicked a drive to the keeper, out for 4 and Ezekiel Hughes and Jim Hadley finished off for a good total of 4-178.
Sooz and Ben Gorham opened our bowling and were unlucky, having blind swipes by opposition batsmen finding the boundaries. Dropped catches further frustrated their efforts. Spin was introduced with David Craig and Jamie Murtha but we just could not stop the boundaries. Enter ‘Zeke’ Hughes and how our fortunes changed. Zeke bowled the spell of our LMS season with 3-22 backed up by Gorham bowling out a returning retiree. This left the game in the balance with one over to be bowled and 8 runs to win. Step up our man for a crisis, David Craig who bowled an impeccable final over to get us home by 1 run.
The Team was: – Ben Gorham 50*, Scott Williams 50*, James Murtha 9, Soren Hughes 23, David Eisenhuth (w) 19, Ezekiel Hughes 2, David Craig 4*, Jim Hadley (c) 16*
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 4-178 (20 overs) (B. Gorham 50*; S. Williams 50*)
Defeated
Cleveland Seamers: – 6-177 (20 overs) (Ezekiel Hughes 3-22)
By one run
The Bowling was: – B. Gorham 4-0-27-1; S. Hughes 3-0-33-0; J. Murtha 2-0-27-1; D. Craig 4-0-39-0; E. Hughes 4-0-22-3; J. Hadley 3-0-25-0;
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – One catch to Ben Gorham
Run outs: – One to J. Murtha
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to E. Hughes; 2 points to B. Gorham; One point to D. Craig
CITY & SUBURBAN ROUND 8 v I ZINGARI (AUSTRALIA) AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SATURDAY 15 JANUARY 2022: REPORT BY MIKE WEAVER
CCNSW entered this club match keen to notch up a win against the highly credentialed I Zingari (Australia), who have had the wood on ‘The Blues’ in recent seasons.
Due to the mid week rain, a more customary event than ever this season, a sporting wicket would ensure that both teams had an even chance to succeed.IZA won a flip that probably neither side would have wanted to win and sent themselves into bat on a green ‘popping wicket’.
Soren Hughes was given custody of the new ball by his Skipper Jim Hadley, to share duties with Matt Leong. Soren did not waste a single drop of the conditions, bowling tight lines and length to snare two early wickets and to get his team on top early. Matt was not quite as miserly as Soren, yet still had the ‘IZ’ openers playing and missing on several occasions, to rising deliveries from the ‘Rotunda’, northern end of Camperdown.
Captain Jim Hadley had plenty of options and due to the bowler friendly conditions, didn’t hesitate to make changes. An initial double change saw Ezekiel Hughes take over from his father at the southern end with his brand of teasing, looping and very accurate off breaks. Trump card for CCNSW – left arm paceman Brett James – was engaged in tandem with Ezekiel.
In this period CCNSW really tightened the screws and applied considerable scoreboard pressure. Only one run was conceded in a sequence of 25 deliveries and despite a clear caught behind off Brett being called back, after a late no ball call by the IZA umpire, struggled to get a deserved break through. Not until, that is, Brett finally had his man, again caught behind, this time off a ball judged legitimate.
To the visitors’ credit, they hung on grimly after that to avoid a clump of dismissals and eventually were able to mount an attack in the final overs, leaving them on a very competitive 4 – 164 off the allotted 35 sets.
Late arriving Toby Forbes tried hard as well as Craig Kitson, who was the only other to take a wicket, and inducing a very smart stumping by the talented CCNSW wicketkeeper Curtis Murray. Other bowlers, amongst a total of nine used overall, suffered a little in the latter overs, with IZA having wickets in hand to throw the bat.
Yet I found it was a very good display in the field by CCNSW, witnessed from the scorer’s table. The team was well organised on the day by their leader and club stalwart, Mr Jim Hadley. I am sure the opposition will have much enhanced respect for this fixture in the future.
The wicket was found to be still playing plenty of tricks though, after Curtis Murray and Jamie Murtha had strode purposely to centre square after the break. Jamie endeavoured to get the team off to a quick start, taking nine runs in facing the first over. However he succumbed shortly after, to an excellent yorker delivery.
Curtis and no. 3 Brett James each weathered several very testing deliveries by the visitors and were consolidating well, until Brett holed out to a good running catch on the midwicket fence to the IZA change slow bowler. Tom Robertson, in at number 4 for this match, looked to be compiling a match winning innings. Picking the right ball to hit, he launched a typical slash over point for four and a powerful pull shot for six, before being removed caught behind to a nasty rising ball that jagged in to his body.
A clump of wickets then started as Curtis, desperate to keep the scoring rate increasing, skied a catch straight after lifting a nice drive for four to mid-on. This dismissal signalled the mid innings drinks break and was to prove crucial in the outcome
Big hitting middle order batters, Harry Bridge and Soren Hughes resumed both fresh to the crease, determined and with a definite plan not to panic and to wait for the right delivery to smoke to their personal scoring zones. They were unable to execute unfortunately, due to two good deliveries in the conditions, that knocked them over in turn, before they could get even the slightest bit set.
That left CCNSW with a lot of work to do to get back into the match, being six down with a sizeable run rate required straight after drinks. And as is typical of this club, the players, namely: Toby Forbes, Jim Hadley, Craig Kitson and Matthew Leong, fought tooth and nail to rectify the situation.
Craig and Jim each contributed run a ball short cameos and Toby played a very measured, mature knock for a young cricketer. It ensured CCNSW batted deep to give themselves a chance. Toby delivered some excellent cuts and pulls for boundaries against bowling that gave precious few opportunities to punish at the death. Both he and Matt gave the task in the final overs their all, running very hard between wickets. And in the end, the hurdle was just a little too high, on a tricky wicket that was a real test of batting skills.
So CCNSW shook hands finishing at 8-147 and could genuinely feel some luck did not go their way in this contest. Sincere congratulations to IZingari (Australia) though, in what was a keenly contested game and a pleasure to be scorer on the day.
The Team was (playing 12): – Curtis Murray (w) 12, James Murtha 9, Brett James 8, Tom Robertson 16, Soren Hughes 1, Harry Bridge 0, Toby Forbes 42*, Craig Kitson 14, Jim Hadley (c) 15, Matt Leong 13*, Ezekiel Hughes dnb, Mark Henwood dnb
The Result was: –
I Zingari (Australia) CC: – 4-164 (35 overs)
Defeated
C.C.N.S.W.: – 8-147 (35 overs) (T. Forbes 42*)
By 17 runs
FoW: – 1- 13 (J. Murtha); 2-29 (B. James); 3-50 (T. Robertson); 4-56 (C. Murray); 5-56 (H. Bridge); 6-59 (S. Hughes); 7-86 (C. Kitson); 8-102 (J. Hadley).
The Bowling was: – S. Hughes 5-2-13-2; M. Leong 5-0-26-0; B. James 4-3-3-1; E. Hughes 6-0-17-0; H. Bridge 2-0-11-0; T. Forbes 5-0-20-0; J. Murtha 3-0-16-0; C. Kitson 5-0-33-1; M. Henwood 1-0-20-0
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – One to C. Murray
Catches: – One to C. Murray (w) and one to each of H. Bridge and J. Hadley
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to T. Forbes; 2 points to E. Hughes; one point toS. Hughes
CLASSICS OVER 50s ROUND 5 v MOSMAN AT CAMPERDOWN PARK, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 16 JANUARY 2022 : REPORT BY ED CROSS
After what was a wet week, we were pleased to arrive at Camperdown Park with dry and relatively cool conditions. Thanks to the ground staff, we discovered a grassy, hard and dry wicket. The outfield was green with a generous grass covering to most areas, meaning boundaries wouldn’t be easy. Our opponents were Mosman, who traditionally field a strong team, and we were prepared for a good contest.
The selection pool was stretched this weekend with an competing o50s festival on at Armidale plus a few ongoing and new injuries. Two o50s debutants being club stalwart Jed Wesley Smith and new guy Paul Devaney offered a hand. These two along with a miraculous recovery from Mike Weaver made up a strong 12 for what would be a good game.
Skipper Scott Wells lost the toss and we were bowling; perhaps a good toss to lose given the reports on how the wicket had played in the previous day’s C&S competition. Bowling the right lengths would be imperative to let the pitch and ball do the work. Mick Tarrant took the new ball and hit a good length right from the start. His third ball was tucked behind square leg to the long side of the field for an easy 2. However, the Mosman openers decided to run one more on the throw. Debutant Paul (Doc) Devaney pounced on the ball and his return throw was flat and over the stumps for a great run out (diamond duck). What a start! This set the tone for the day, as we continued to play with positive intent.
Doc (Paul Devaney) took the second over of the day and also hit the right length, having the Mosman batsmen jumping around and feeling uncomfortable with bounce and pace. Mick Tarrant struck in his third over to have Mosman 2 for 16. The surviving Mosman opener was starting to look good with boundaries flowing, when on 28, he hit a leading edge off Doc and was out caught at mid-off. The score was 3 for 30 with Mosman ruing a missed opportunity to have their opener retire. Paul Nash and Greg Brooks took over the bowling and continued to restrict Mosman, bowling tight lines and getting the ball to bounce and nibble off the pitch. Greg struck in his second over to put further pressure on the batting side. At the other end, Paul was bowling a consistent line and length with good swing but without luck. Garry James and Ed Cross then took over the bowling to have Mosman 4 for 56 at the halfway mark. Garry in particular bowled handsomely without success.
After the break, runs continued to be hard to come by and wickets were falling regularly. The fielding was excellent restricting most shots to singles only. Scott Wells took two good catches behind the stumps in the ensuing period as Ed picked up a wicket before Dave Benson and Mick McCormick came into the attack, with Dave getting two wickets and Mick one. With the score on 8 for 106 there was a late flurry from Mosman before Doc came back into the attack to pick up the ninth wicket with the score on 134. Then a run out (with one batsman requiring a runner) to Ed Cross and Paul Nash in the final over saw Mosman dismissed for 139. We are still unsure who was out with all three batsmen out of their creases at respective ends. A great all-round effort in the field and in particular the bowlers who did not deviate from great lines and length all innings.
We knew we had to bat positively and put Mosman under pressure early. Michael Weaver and Ed Cross got us away to a strong start with some nice shots before Ed was caught on the square leg boundary by an excellent diving catch. By that time we were 1 for 23 in the seventh over. Paul Nash was next in to bat and both he and Michael continued the good scoring rate until Mike was out for a well made 22. Enter Richie De Silva just off a plane from Sri Lanka. As always, Richie was hitting the middle of the bat right from the start. He and Paul accelerated the scoring until Paul was out with the score on 58. Scott Wells came in to partner Richie and the strong scoring rate continued, with Richie in particular taking a number of well-judged twos. Scott played some lovely shots but fell on 19 trying to up the tempo even more. We were 4 for 103 in the 25th over and the game was there to be won.
Richie, even though struggling with jet lag and dehydration, continued to bat well and finally retired for a well made 30*. Dave Benson and Mick McCormick continued the batting, but unfortunately were both out quickly. We still needed 29 to win with plenty of overs left. No need to panic. Mick Tarrant and Greg Brooks strode to the crease. After a short period to get their eyes adjusted, they took several singles. Mosman by this time were getting quite frustrated and some quips towards the batsmen bought out ‘the eye of the tiger’ (Richmond) in Greg. He decided he liked the look of the Mosman spinner and the short boundary back to the clubhouse. A few fours and a six had us equal with Mosman. Greg dispatched the next ball into the clubhouse to see us home. 6 for 145 was the final score in the 31st over securing a couple of bonus points in the chase.
A big shout out to Jed Wesley-Smith for umpiring our innings in full. Thanks for a great job, Jed. Something tells me Jed would actually pay for the privilege to umpire in any game. In his element as David Attenborough would say.
Another very good win which sees us maintain one of the top positions on the competition table with Roseville. (Editor’s note: Roseville is currently first on 173.90 points and CCNSW second on 173.05 with the next team nearly 40 points behind) The main talking point after the game was the way we competed and the fact that everyone played a role in the win. Let’s hope we can continue this form into February and finish the season strongly.
The Team was (playing 12): – Mike Weaver 22, Paul Nash 10, Ed Cross 13, Richie De Silva 30*, Scott Wells (c) and (w) 19, Mick McCormick 7, David Benson 2, Mike Tarrant 7*, Greg Brooks 25*, Garry James dnb, Paul Devaney dnb, Jed Wesley-Smith dnb
The Result was: –
Mosman C.C.: – 10-139 (39.4 overs)
Lost to
C.C.N.S.W.: – 6-145 (31 overs) (R. De Silva 30*)
By 4 wickets
FoW: – 1-23 (E. Cross); 2-39 (M. Weaver); 3-58 (P. Nash); 4-103 (S. Wells); 5-111 (M. McCormick); 6-111 (D. Benson).
The Bowling was: – M. Tarrant 9-0-38-1; P. Devaney 7-1-31-2; P. Nash 5.4-1-19-0; G. Brooks 4-1-6-1; G. James 6-0-19-0; E. Cross 3-2-10-1; D. Benson 3-0-13-2; M. McCormick 2-1-1-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – 2 to S. Wells (w) and 2 to E. Cross
Run outs: – One to E. Cross and one to P. Devaney
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to R. De Silva; 2 points to S. Wells; one point to P. Devaney