SOCIAL GAME v “RAGA INVITATION XI” AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN, ON WEDNESDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY PETER ROLLS

With La Nina still hanging around we were fortunate to get a beautiful sunny day albeit a bit chilly-windy 19°C (with a 15°C wind chill factor). Jumpers and vests pulled out of storage with Simon Lyon’s looking like a gift from WG Grace!

The game was switched to Marrickville Oval as Camperdown was still recovering from a wet rugby season that had shredded the wicket like a horse-drawn plough. 

Sittampalam Ragavan (‘Raga’) and Peter Rolls  managed to get 12 players for each team with more diversity than the United Nations.Peter won the toss and elected to bowl as not sure how the wicket would play after so much wet weather leading up to the game. Raga was happy as he wanted to bat anyway. Luckily, the pitch played fairly true and flat.

Rules for batsman was retire not out at 25 runs or 35 balls (whichever came first) and max 6 overs per bowler and one ball allowed down leg side per over (with second ruled a wide).

Raga’s XII Innings:

Peter O’Reilly and Neville Emerson opened Raga’s XI innings and started strongly with Peter banging 2 boundaries off Stuart Ridge’s first over. Stuart was “not happy Jan” and responded with only a single off his next 3 overs. David Craig  opened from the other end into a strong southerly with his leggies and Neville showed more likes than an Instagram photo by hitting 8 off David C’s first over. No wicket for 53 after 10 overs with  O’Reilly and Emerson soon retiring after scoring their respective 25 runs in quick time including 4 and 3 fours respectively.  Garry Budden continued the onslaught against Paul Georgiadis and Joe Scarcella and also retired after reaching 25* including 4 fours. 

Then the tide turned with Paul Georgiadis bamboozling Neil Karunasegara, bowling him with a slower ball (but many argue they are all slow!). After 20 overs the score 1 for 76 so more pressure on Raga’s men with the run rate slowed after the first 10 overs.  Gunaratnam Kandakumar(“Kanda”) and Simon Lyon both started their innings with more dots than a Dalmatian (10 dot balls each) due to Jed Wesley-Smith  and Peter Harrison ‘muzzle bowling’ restricting them with 5 overs for 16 runs each. They both retired at 13* after reaching their allotted 35 balls. Wasantha Hettiarachchi worked the ball beautifully to up the tempo with more noodling than a Chinese street food peddler and retired on 23* after reaching his 35 balls. However, with 1 for 113 off 30 overs the run rate resembled a trickle from a swollen prostate.

Russell Nation started his innings with intent by working the singles straight away but came undone for 3 courtesy of a very slick stumping by David Wright from the one ball allowed down the leg side from John Jackson. John’s celebration animation will be in the next Disney movie.

Enter captain courageous Raga who slayed our dragon death bowlers with 25* off 21 balls to make for a now fired up run rate of 164 off 40 overs. Raj Beadle (8) kept the momentum going until retiring to a leg injury. Ashok Victor Ponnudurai (15*) and Nadarajah Gowripalan (“Gowr”)i (8*) plundered the final overs well to remain not out after 45 overs with the very respectable score of 2-190. 

CCNSW Innings:

We knew we would have to bat deeper than an accountant’s pockets to get this total. Peter Harrison and Douglas Latto opened our innings. Douglas now having the honour of having played for both teams (as Raga missed his availability email and Peter’s team needed one). Both got us off to a good start with early boundaries. Peter Harrison was the first to go for 10 holing out to a solid catch to Raga at mid on from Gown bowling a tight line. Douglas (17) soon followed but out to a screamer at first slip by Peter O’Reilly off Russell Nation who was on song this day bowling his melodic mediums. 2 for 33 off 11 overs but on track.

Joe Scarcella (1) came and went like a bride’s nightie caught behind by Garry Budden off Russell Nation. Mel Lucas, a newcomer to the Club, showed his class with 20* retired off 35 balls. Peter Rolls needing to lift the run rate made 26* retired off 25 balls. 3 for 75 off 20 overs and still on track.

David Craig (6) looked sharp until Raga threw down the stumps (non-striker end) from mid on to deny him a 7^th run. Enter Stuart Ridge and John Jackson who ran like rabbits despite John turning 70 this year. They lifted the run rate until Stuart retired for 25 off 34 balls and John 25 retired off 30 balls. Graham MacDonald didn’t trouble the scorers bowled by Peter O’Reilly and David Wright (7) the team man threw his bat out caught by Simon Lyon at cover off talso he tight bowling of Peter O’Reilly. 6 for 168 off 40 overs and any ones game with 23 required off 5 overs.

Paul Georgiadis (1) also a team man threw his bat for  Simon Lyon  to take another catch but this time off Neil. Jed Wesley-Smith picked up the pace with 19 off 24 balls with exciting death running with Mel Lucas who returned after Paul departed. More tension than a triple D bra as Jed was bowled by Neil Gowripalan in the second last over still needing 6 to win. Peter Rolls returned and took 2 runs off the last ball of Neil’s over. 4 to win off the last over with Mel Lucas facing Captain Raga. A dot ball first ball then Mel unleashed a pull shot for the ages to hit the boundary and winning runs. Another exciting chapter in the Raga social spirit of cricket. 

Thanks to Raga for supplying the tasty bbq chicken and bread rolls although the garnish was warmer than a Northern Territory public bench! The beers helped big time!

Raga’s XII team was (playing 12): – Peter O’Reilly 28* retired not out, Neville Emerson 25* retired not out, Garry Budden 26* retired not out, Neil Karunasegara 2, Gunaratnam Kandakumar 13* retired not out, Simon Lyon 13* retired not out, Wasantha Hettiarachchi 23* retired not out, Russell Nation 3, Sittampalam Ragavan (c) 25* retired not out, Raj Beadle 8* retired (injured), Ashok Victor Ponnudurai 15* , Nadarajah Gowripalan 8*. 

CCNSW Team was (playing 12): – Peter Harrison 10, Douglas Latto 17, Joe Scarcella 1, Mel Lucas 36*, Peter Rolls  (c) 28*, David Craig 6, Stuart Ridge 25*, John Jackson 25*, Graham MacDonald 0, David Wright (w) 7, Paul Georgiadis 1, Jed Wesley-Smith  (w) 19

The Result was: – 

Raga XI: – 2 – 190 (45 overs)

Lost to

C.C.N.S.W.: – 8-192 (44.2 overs) (M. Lucas 36*)

By 2 wickets

FoW: – 1-28 (P. Harrison); 2-28 (D. Latto); 3-33 (J. Scarcella); 4-93 (D. Craig); 5-133 (G. MacDonald); 6-168 (D. Wright); 7-172  (P. Georgiadis); 8-185 (J. Wesley-Smith)

The CCNSW Bowling was: Stuart Ridge 6-0-27-0, David Craig 6-0-35-0, Paul Georgiadis 5-2-15-1, Joe Scarcella 5-0-21-0, Jed Wesley-Smith 5-0-16-0, Peter Harrison 5-0-16-0, John Jackson 6-0-22-1, Mel Lucas 4-0-21-0, Graham MacDonald 3-0-13-0

Raga’s XII Bowling was: –: S. Ragavan 4.2-0-21-0; A. Ponnudurai 2-0-9-0; R. Nation 6-1-19-2; N. Gowripalan 6-1-19-2; W. Hettiarrchchi 6-0-22-0; S. Lyon 6-0-33-0; P. O’Reilly 6-0-24-2; N. Emerson 6-0-29-0; N. Karunasegara 2-0-11-2.

CCNSW  Fielding was: –

Stumpings: – One to Jed Wesley-Smith 

Catches:  -Nil

Run outs: – Nil 

CITY AND SUBURBAN  ROUND 3 v CRANBROOK OLD BOYS AT DANGAR  OVAL, ROSE BAY ON SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2022:

Cancelled – Cranbrook forfeit.

MASTERS ROUND 3 v LANE COVE CC AT KINGSFORD SMITH  OVAL, LONGUEVILLE ON SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY ANDREW DADSWELL

What a great day for cricket! Sunshine and a cool breeze. The over 40s made their way to Kingsford Smith Oval looking to replicate the form of the Classics the week before.

The skipper lost the toss and Lane Cove elected to bat first.

The bowling effort was spearheaded by Ben Stanic who made the first breakthrough by trapping the dangerous Howard LBW in the 3^rd over. Michael Tarrant and Stanic both challenged the top order with tight bowling and Ben snagged his second wicket to leave Lane Cove in an awkward position at 2 for 19 in the 7^th over.

Dave Craig came on early and found some good bounce which helped with the dismissal of Glover, stumped by keeper Rob Lawther.

The danger man for Lane Cove was always going to be the classy Neil McLeod who has dined out on the CCNSW Masters bowlers the last two seasons, but when Dave Abreu had the audacity to bowl a slower ball yorker to remove him for 24 it felt like a big moment in the match. 

The Lane Covians showed good batting depth as their middle order all contributed steadily. Dadswell picked up a couple of wickets with some flighted deliveries and Jose Poothokaren bowled expertly in denying the batters the short boundary and picked up 2 wickets of his own. Jose’s second wicket was caught behind by Robbie Lawther who was having a great day with the gloves, taking two low, fast chances.

In the end Lane Cove made 9 for 160 off their 40 overs.

In between innings, former Masters great Ian Allmey made his presence known and imparted some of his substantial wisdom on the young lads. Or was he really there to check out the Longueville real estate?

In pursuit of 161 Jason Kenn set the tone early by smacking some beautiful boundaries straight down the ground. Ed Cross also looked good, and the mountain men took the total to 1 for 63 off the first 10 overs. A great start to a run chase with Jason undone by one that angled across him.

Ed and Scott Well went in the space of 2 overs to leave us 3 for 68 but the local knowledge of Paul Nash was on display in a dominant innings of 30, punctuated by cracking pull shots and some thumping drives over mid-on.

Nashie ended up hauling out to deep mid-on which brought Lawther and Andrew Dadswell together. They worked the ball around in a 46-run partnership before Lawther nicked off with 30 to get.

Jose looked composed in his innings until he was dismissed by a sensational catch at short mid-on. Michael Tarrant came in and with Tex saw us pass the total with 6 and a half overs to spare.

In the end, with the wicket playing a little up and down from one end being cancelled out by the small boundary, 160 was probably 30 short of par. The consistency of the CCNSW bowlers set up the win. Notably we didn’t bowl any wides – that must be a rare occurrence.

Both teams shared beers after play and we thank Lane Cove for their great hospitality.

The team – Ed Cross (11), Jason Kenn (26), Paul Nash (30), Scott Wells (4), Rob Lawther (25), Andrew Dadswell (c) (34*), Jose Poothokaren (6), Mick Tarrant (12*), Ben Stanic (DNB), Dave Craig (DNB), Dave Abreu (DNB)

The result was:

Lane Cove 9-160 (40 overs)

Lost to

CCNSW 6-163 (33.2 overs)

FOW: 1-39 (Kenn), 2-63 (Cross), 3-68 (Wells), 4-83 (Nash), 5-129 (Lawther), 6-142 (Poothokaren)

The bowling was: Ben Stanic (9-0-2-28), Mick Tarrant (8-2-0-22), Dave Craig (6-0-1-37), Dave Abreu (7-1-2-26), Andrew Dadswell (4-0-2-23), Jose Poothokaren (4-0-2-19), Paul Nash (2-1-0-1)

The fielding was: 

Stumpings: 1 Rob Lawther

Catches: 2 Rob Lawther (WK), 1 Mick Tarrant, 2 Scott Wells

Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to Andrew Dadswell; 2 points to Paulk Nash ; 1 point to Rob Lawther

VINTAGE ROUND 3 v CASTLE HILL  CC AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SUNDAY 6 NOVEMBER 2022: REPORT BY JOE SCARCELLA

CCNSW returns to Camperdown 

On a glorious sunny day, the Vintage team turned up at Camperdown Oval with more than a little apprehension about the state of the centre square after it was torn apart in the off-season by those evil rugger-heads. The council had spent a considerable amount of money laying fresh couch on the damaged area and it’ll take time to bed in, but the groundsman had managed to prepare a pitch on the edge of the square that was pretty good. So, all systems go for the start.

Our opponents Castle Hill won the toss and sent us in. But more drama awaited us before we took to the field. Where the hell are the stumps and bails??? Michael McCormick was asked to check the store-room and couldn’t find them anywhere!! No matter, the ever-reliable Raga had a couple of sets in his car if they were needed. As it turns out, they weren’t. A further check was made of the store-room by the Prez. In a sadly obvious pointer his mental faculties are on a rapid decline of Biden-esque proportions, the said MM couldn’t see what was under his eyes. The Prez located not just 6 stumps but SIXTEEN. 

But back to the game.

The opening pair of John Finucane and Frank Baliotis started steadily enough, but Frank was trapped LBW playing back to an in-dipper (4). Joe Scarcella came in at first drop and was looking comfortable before falling victim to another LBW decision by our umpires (10). Jim Robson (Jungle) joined John at the crease. John was eventually dismissed for a very solid 29. At this point, we were 3-46. Peter Rolls joined Jungle at the crease, and the pair both batted with great authority and urgency, not looking at all troubled by the bowling and putting on a solid partnership in quick time before both retired unbeaten, on 30 and 31, respectively. Meanwhile, Greg Brooks came in and smashed a quick-fire unbeaten 32, his innings featuring a number of lovely straight hits down the ground that had the bowler diving for cover. Mick came and went (10). Raga followed him, and he wasted no time in taking to the bowling, scoring five 4s on the way to his rapid and valuable 23. Coming in at 9, Gerry O’Shea was cruising along steadily, while Stu Ridge was bowled for 2 in the pursuit of quick runs, and Paul Georgadis at 11 hung around to be unbeaten on 10 with Gerry who was not out 17 at the end of the innings. 

Our total of 6-209 after 40 overs was always going to be very hard to beat. Our bowlers performed superbly to dismiss Castle Hill for 104.

Stuey and Paul opened the bowling and, after bowling a maiden in his first over,  Stu took a wicket in his second. After his successful 6-over spell (1 for 3, including 3 maidens), Joe came in first change and continued the relentless line and length attack which the batsmen could not handle. Joe bowled an excellent spell, finishing with 3 victims (all bowled) for 5, including 5 maidens from his 7 overs. At the other end, Raga chipped in with a wicket in his first spell of 4 overs, before being replaced by Mick McCormick. Mick struck with his first delivery, an outside edge to ‘keeper John. His 2^nd wicket followed in the next over, clean bowled, and he took another (caught at 1^st slip by the Greg Brooks). It was another excellent contribution by Mick, his 7 overs yielding 3 for 28. Prez Brooksy bowled some steady overs before Raga came back on and took his 2 wicket to finally put the opponents out of their misery.

Overall, it was a very good effort by the team to comprehensively thrash Castle Hill and earn valuable bonus points to celebrate the club’s first outing this season at Camperdown.

The Team was: John Finucane 29, Frank Baliotis 4,Joe Scarcella 10, James Robson 30*, Peter Rolls 31*, Greg Brooks 32*, Michael McCormick 10, Sittampalam Ragavan 23, Gerard O’Shea 17*, Stuart Ridge 2, Paul Georgadis 10*

The Result was: 

C.C.N.S.W.: 6-209  (40 overs)

Defeated

Castle Hill: 9-109  (36 overs) (All-out)

By  100 runs

FoW: – 1-13  (Baliotos); 2-36 (Scarcella);  3-46 (Finucane); 4-136 (McCormick); 5-175  (Ragavan); 6-188 (Ridge)

The Bowling was: Stuart Ridge 6-3-3-1, Paul Georgadis 6-1-24-0, Joe Scarcella 7-4-5-3, Sittampalam Ragavan 4.2-0-16-2, Michael McCormick 7-1-28-3, Greg Brooks 5-0-15-0, Gerard O’Shea 1-0-8-0

The Fielding was: –

Stumpings: Nil

Catches: John Finucane, Greg Brooks, Stuart Ridge 

Run outs: Nil 

Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to Joe Scarcella; 2 points to Greg Brooks ; 1 point to Michael McCormick