LMS T20 (8-a-SIDE) EASTERN SYDNEY MIDWEEK DIVISION 2 ROUND 14 v ‘CLEVELAND SEAMERS’ AT MP 6 ROBERTSON ROAD, MOORE PARK ON WEDNESDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2023: REPORT BY CHARLIE SHARPE
Steve Sheakey 54* off 16 balls and Rob Shone (4) opened the batting on a small ground. The Cleveland Seamers bowling was unable to trouble any of our batters on the day and stand-out performances were Steve Sheakey, Joel Uddstrom with 52* off 22 balls, debutant Matt Shean also with 52* off 25 balls and finally Dan May with 28* off 8 balls!‘ Some really powerful hitting from all of them. Myself I was struggling with the bat (demonstrated by the lowest strike rate of any of the establish batters with 46* off 31 balls).
Defending 1-234 we were pretty confident going in to bowl, and Steve Sheakey the acting captain gave everyone a go with the ball. Their opening batter was their stand-out performer and yet with 30 balls remaining they still needed over 70 runs to chase down the total. At this time there was some controversy as their retired bat Gaurav Runwal came back in before his turn and before their number 8 batter had come in. Without going into detail, without that controversy CCNSW would probably have won the game, but congratulations go to Gaurav Runwal with 78* off 23 balls and Kris Baptiste with 40* off 14 balls for performing very well with the bat at the end.
(Editor’s note: Still it may well have cost us a place in the Finals as we are now very unlikely to overtake the No 4 team with only one round remaining.)
The Team was: – Steven Sheakey (c) 54*, Rod Shone 4, Matt Shean 52*, Charles Sharpe 46*, Joel Uddstrom (w) 52*, Dan May 28*, Craig Fordham dnb, Matthew Edge dnb
The Result was:-
CCNSW: – 1-234 (20 overs) (S. Sheakey 54*; J. Uddstrom 52*; S. Williams 52*; C. Sharpe 46*)
Lost to
Cleveland Seamers: – 3-237 (19.1 overs)
By 5 wickets
The Bowling was: – M. Edge 4-0-55-0; R. Shone 4-0-50-1; M. Shean 3-0-33-0; S. Sheakey 3-0-26-1, C. Sharpe 2.1-0-20-0, C. Fordham 2-0-39-0, D. May 1-0-12-0
The Fielding was:-
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – 2 to M Shean
Run outs: – One to C. Fordham
Player points: – 3 points to S. Sheakey; 2 points to J. Uddstrom; 1 point to M. Shean
See: https://www.lastmanstands.com/leagues/scorecard/1st-innings?fixtureid=370868
C&S ROUND 13 v BALMAIN-SOUTH SYDNEY RANGERS AT ALAN DAVIDSON OVAL, ST PETERS ON SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY 2023: REPORT BY HARRY BRIDGE
An ominously cloudy morning gave way to open skies as players arrived at a lush and springy Alan Davidson oval. Neither team remembered stumps and Mike Weaver made a dash back to Camperdown to save the day; however Rangers also arrived without a scorebook so we made do with one. Fortunately it was a match where the scorebook did not require detailed scrutiny. The uncovered wicket had held up well in the overnight rain but had enough juice in it for our skipper, Jim Hadley to not hesitate in opting to bowl.
Rangers started slowly as runs were not easy on the thick heavy outfield against solid bowling. Soon one opener was caught at mid off trying to clear the infield, and a few others perplexingly fell playing all around full tosses and being bowled; their eagerness to score off the rare loose balls undoubtedly being their undoing. A 40 run middle order partnership between their No. 5 “Dano” with 35 runs and No. 6 “Jono” with 13 , steadied Ranger’s innings but was eventually broken when they tried to up the run rate. A well hit drive to long on was taken by Harry Bridge (narrator) stretching left simply hoping to stop a boundary and somehow holding the catch. A few overs later another firmly hit but much easier lofted drive was also taken by Bridge. Another two potential catches also came to deep mid on but Bridge was content with taking their two established batsmen which stymied Ranger’s run rate restricting them to 5-109 in an innings which appeared to have been cut short by the scorers at 34 overs.
Tom Robertson and Gerard O’Shea opened in reply with their usual complimentary styles: O’Shea working the ball around nicely for a series of twos and Robertson’s aggressive stroke play yielding a quick-fire 21 and bringing the target, and the local brewery, into focus. O’Shea fell in their spinner’s first over driving a ball which turned sharply and edged to first slip. Bridge and Weaver then took us to around 2-60 at drinks with the game in their grip almost as firmly as the Indians in Delhi as Australia haplessly swept their way to defeat on the iPad setup in the clubhouse. After drinks Weaver took a similarly aggressive approach to counter the Ranger’s spinner, who was turning it both ways but struggling with his length. Runs steadily accumulated as Bridge (41*) and Weaver (27*) compiled an unbeaten 75 run partnership, offering a handful of sharp catches but surviving. Bridge brought us home with consecutive pulls to the boundary off Ranger’s spinner to end the game early and continue our City and Suburban team’s impressive form in 2023, in which it has not lost a C&S game (though it is fair to say a largely C&S based team did lose a non C&S social game in Canberra v Molonglo in the last over).
The Team was: – Tom Robertson 21, Gerard O’Shea 11, Harry Bridge 41*, Mike Weaver (w) 27*, Soren Hughes dnb, Toby Forbes dnb, Jim Hadley (c) dnb, Matt Edge dnb, Matt Leong dnb, Luke Holman dnb and R. McMahon dnb
The Result was:-
Balmain-South Sydney Rangers CC: – 7-109 (34 overs)
Lost to
C.C.N.S.W.: – 2-113 ( overs) (H. Bridge 41*)
By 8 wickets
FoW: – 1- 28 (T. Robertson); 2- 38 (G. O’Shea)
The Bowling was: – S. Hughes 4-1-12-1, T. Forbes 7-1-15-1, M. Leong 4-0-16-1, M. Edge 9-1-28-2, L. Holman 6-0-31-1; and R. McMahon 4-1-9-1
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – Two to H. Bridge and one to M. Edge
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by captain): – 3 points to H. Bridge; 2 points to G. O’Shea; one point to M. Edge
Despite the covers going down (thanks to help from a random local hippy named Tom, and Stuart Ridge arising from his deathbed), the cyclonic winds ensured some Saturday rain got on the pitch. Whilst it was certainly playable, the extra moisture promised to provide plenty of assistance to the bowlers. With our bowling line-up stacked full of Australian and State representatives, Scott Wells took pity on Roseville and elected to bat first.
A steady start from Andrew Dawson and Ed Cross saw us to 31 without loss before the pitch demons struck in the sixth over. Cross got bowled by one that jagged back and kept low, and the very next ball spat up from a length to take Paul Nash on the glove (unplayable!); Dan Zatz at gully diving forward to take a superb one-hander: 2-31.
New batter Wells was finding it hard to get some tight bowling away, while Dawson cruised smoothly to retire not out at 31* inside 10 overs (including a rare 5 all run with a couple of overthrows – very nearly a 7!).Craig Kitson replaced Dawson and got into the groove with a couple of boundaries, and the score ticked up to 65 before Wells was caught off surprise ring-in ‘Joffra Archer’ lookalike (surely he’s not over 50?). Brett James joined Kitson in a fine partnership, with Kitson (31* ret not out) joining Dawson in the sheds before drinks were taken at 3-88.
David Kent joined James as the fourth wicket continued to elude Roseville, and James kicked it up a gear, depositing Jom onto the hill and retiring to the sheds for a well-earned rest (32*ret not out). Mike Tarrant joined Kent and immediately began hitting out, but was somewhat frustrated when his drives kept plugging in the fairway bunkers, forcing him to “run ‘em out” on a warm, sticky day. With wickets in hand and three batters in the shed, everyone was swinging for the fences, and Tarrant (9) and Greg Brooks (1) fell in quick succession; 5-130 after 27. Andrew Bachelard contributed an entertaining 20 with a big 6 and a couple of 4s, and Kent made a well compiled 21. David Craig made 8 before driving one straight to mid-on and inexplicably yelling out a suicidal “yes!” A flurry of hitting and running by the returning Dawson, Kitson and James lifted Roseville’s target to an even 200. With the sandy outfield making boundaries harder than usual, and the deck still offering some assistance, it was a big ask.
Mick Tarrant (6-3-10-3) started proceedings from the Australia Street end, with Stuart Ridge (5-1-14-1) steaming in with the Rotunda behind him. Both were miserly as Roseville stuttered along to just 24 off the opening 11 overs, along the way losing Jom to a superb diving catch (Andy Dawson at midwicket), Zatz & Ewing (lbw) and Harry (caught by Andy Dawson at short cover). Mick Tarrant was on a hat-trick at one point, and could have had even better figures had Scott W not spilled a dolly (“I couldn’t see it, my gloves got in the way” was a new one to me!). Brett James relieved the ‘flu-struck Ridge and promptly blew away Duncan’s middle peg and Berry’s front pad, leaving Roseville in all sorts of trouble at 6-36 when drinks were taken.
While they came out with more intent in the second half, and managed to get Woods and Mulvaney to a brace of 30*s, they were never in the hunt. Unfortunately wickets were hard to come by in the second half, with only Ed Craig (swinging one through the gate) and Brett James (played on off the last ball) having success. Craig Kitson bowled well without luck, while David Craig served up an assortment of pies before being dragged off. (“They were turning big, though!”).
Another solid win for CCNSW against a good bunch of blokes, job done, six points and a song!
The Team was (playing 12): – Ed Cross 10, Andrew Dawson 47*, Paul Nash 0, Scott Wells (c) and (w) 4, Craig Kitson 36, Brett James 35*, David Kent 21, Mike Tarrant 9, Greg Brooks 1, Andrew Bachelard 20, David Craig 8, Stuart Ridge dnb
The Result was:
C.C.N.S.W.: – 9-199 (40 overs) (A. Dawson 47*; B. James 35*)
Defeated
Roseville CC: – 8-126 (40 overs) (M. Tarrant 3-10; B. James 3-18)
By 63 runs
FoW: – 1- 31 (E. Cross); 2- 31 (P. Nash(); 3- 65 (S. Wells); 4-128 (M. Tarrant). 5-130 (G. Brooks); 6-160 (A. Bachelard); 7- 163 (D. Kent); 8-178(D. Craig).; 9-191 (C. Kitson).
The Bowling was: – M. Tarrant 6-2-10-3; S. Ridge 5-1-14-1; B. James 9-2-18-3; A. Bachelard 3-1-7-0; D. Craig 5-1-30-0; E. Cross 6-1-30-1; C. Kitson 6-1-16-0
The Fielding was: –
Stumpings: – Nil
Catches: – Two to A. Dawson
Run outs: – Nil
Player points (awarded by umpire): – 3 points to B. James; 2 points to A. Dawson; one point to M. Tarrant