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
See: https://www.lastmanstands.com/leagues/scorecard/1st-innings?fixtureid=370885
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
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 to G. Brooks