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 

See: https://www.lastmanstands.com/leagues/scorecard/1st-innings?fixtureid=370858

CITY AND SUBURBAN ROUND 8  v I ZINGARI (AUSTRALIA)  AT CAMPERDOWN OVAL, CAMPERDOWN ON SATURDAY 14 JANUARY 2023: REPORT BY PETER CONSTANTINOU

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 28^th 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 19^th over and Harry was bowled for 14  soon thereafter In the 21^st 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): –  Mike Pinter 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 12^th man Mike Weaver dnb

The Result was: –

I Zingari (Australia): – 10-93 (27.3 overs) 

Lost to

C.C.N.S.W.: – 4-94 (24.2 overs)

By 6 wickets

FoW: – 1-13 (P. Constantinou); 2-49 (M. Pinter); 3-49 (A. Perrot); 4-58 (H. Bridge).

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.

“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

The Result was: –

Burwood: – 10-57 (22.5 overs) (S. Ridge 8-13)

Lost to

CCNSW: – 1-60 (14.4 overs) (A. Dawson 30*; M. Pinter 27*)

By 9 wickets.

Burwood FoWs: – 1-3, 2-9, 3-10, 4-10, 5-17, 6-23, 7-23, 8-55, 9-56, 10-57

CCNSW FoW: – 1-4 (E. Cross)

The Bowling was: S. Ridge 6.5-3-13-8; D. Benson 3-1-8-0; G. Brooks 4-1-6-0; P. Nash 4-0-13-0; D. Craig 4-1-7-1; C. Kitson 1-0-4-0

The Fielding was:  –

Stumpings: – Nil

Catches: – 2 to S. Wells (w/); One to each of G. Brooks; 1 to A. Dawson, 1 to G. O’Shea, 1 to S. Ridge (c&b)

Run outs: – A. Dawson (direct hit)

Player Points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to S. Ridge; 2 points to A. Dawson; 1 point to M .Pinter