SUCC v Blacktown. SUCC Metro v UTS Sydney gold, C & S v Windies
1st grade | 2nd grade | 3rd grade | 4th grade | 5th grade | 6th grade
| PGs | City & Suburban
1st Grade
SUCC V Blacktown-1st grade
Day 1
Part of the compulsion of writing a match report more than a week late is that it gives you a) perspective and b) an excuse to forget details. It was so long ago that I have forgotten who won nash ball. I do remember Screech impersonated Matt Dunning at one point with a long range effort that would have brought Adrian Batel to his knees in prayer. Other relevant details that need to be mentioned; It was hot if you chased one to the fence , it felt like you were inhaling the back draft of a jet engine. Yes it was that hot. And, the wicket was as flat as the world according to Thomas Freidman. Considering such factors, it was quite an achievement to restrict the warriors to 339. Highlights included Hectors superb display of seam bowling in aforementioned conditions, Mo talking out their opening batsman and the Blacktown middle order making Britneys hair choices look positively sane. Mail caught beautifully, and none of their batsman took the game away from us.. The news of the day was about to emerge at the fines meeting- Hayza had been very sheepish for most of the 96 overs and we were about to be informed why. If it was 42 degrees in Blacktown, Hayza was feeling every ray of sunshine as Moran shot incredulous glares of disbelief in his direction. Sweat began to drip down Wills Bacardi breezer as JPs innuendos grew louder. To his (dis)credit the story was told by Hayza in its entirety in a full disclosure that would have sunk many an investment bank. 340, not enough.
Day 2;
JUSTICE- often when it is 5,000,000 degree Celsius one weekend, the following is a pleasant 22. Knowing our luck, some kind of sea breeze off Eastern Creek would emerge to save the Warriors from a day in the field that they deserved. The Karma Police and Thom Yorke had other thoughts. We were however greeted with several wet patches on the pitch. Mail, on an honesty in cricket crusade, asked the groundsman WTF had happened and the response of rain last night was grunted. The skipper, as dry as well made Martini merely remarked that it had not rained in Blacktown for over 10 years.
Sadly this scribe can only report on on field activities as the score rattled along to 0-180. Mail, not requiring his degree in adv maths to count to 5 every over, dominated the scoring with some silky drives. His fuzzy haired mate merely enjoyed the spectacle and the occasion clip for 2 through midwicket. Off the field, Mo was bust feeding his chicken no, that is not prison slang Cookie was making a case for how close the octopus came to overtaking the primate for the balance of power in the world, Hayza was painting his nails, Morgs was dribbling about where to get his next rubbish hair cut and Funky was scripting love letters. Mail was finally out* for a fine 181. Hayza grinning that his habit of being run out may not in fact rest solely with him. The wash up 340 was passed 3 down with heaps of overs to spare
*burnt by Moran
Sydney Uni VS Blacktown Day 1
After a sobering defeat at the hands of Sutherland the previous round the Uni boys were keen to make amends as soon as possible. Round 12 of the competition pinned us up against an unpredictable Blacktown.
The day started poorly for the batsmen with the bowlers taking a convincing nash victory, largely due to one A. Theobald. News only got worse for the top 6 when the skip yet again got beaten in the toss and Blacktown quickly grabbed the opportunity to practice their driving on the open highway that is uni 1. Special mention to Josh ‘hell boy’ Ryan who arrived late with one arm twice the size as the other due to a dubious elbow infection.
Both JT and Lazy started well with the new rock, some how bringing the flat deck to life early with some quality fast bowling. Both were luckless in their opening spells but contained the Blacktown openers. The selectors gambled opting for the extra spinner, so David ‘grampa’ Butchart got a hold of the ball while it still had some shine, but only just before the Blacktown openers got a hold of him, quickly dispatching him out of the attack with a quality display of hitting. Blacktown went to the long break at 0 for 114.
The second session saw a change in fortunes for the Uni boys, with debutant leg spinner Shashi Keshar being thrown the ball. He quickly worked his way into a rhythm at one end and the wickets began to tumble. ‘Shash’ ended with 5 for the session to leave the game evenly poised at the tea break.
After some of Sarah’s chocolate/marshmallow/m&m crackles the boys had to snap back to reality for the final two hours of play. Shash continued to look dangerous with quality support from TK, Lazy and JT.
Wickets tumbled at a steady rate with one to Lazy, a run out to TK and another 2 for the debutant. Some frustrating fielding and dicey batting let Blacktown slip away to a grand total of 9 for 341 after 100 well fought overs in the field.
Hats of to Shash who finished the day with 7 for 106 off 31 overs, one of the truly memorable debuts (not to mention the 3 catches he put down off his own bowling).
Plenty of work to be done by the Uni batsmen if they want to take the points away this round but if they are prepared to do some hard work then the game is ours for the taking. You’ve just got to be good for it…
Match Report - 3rd Grade vs. Blacktown (Day 1 - 31/01/2009)
Sydney University, 9/284
D Jessep 86 J Lawrence 52 S Sivapalan 48
It was probably already 35 degrees in the shade at the dustbowl out at Whalan Oval when the uni boys arrived. Well most of them… Nigel "would you call me a pest?" Cowell and Troy were missing. Nigel arrived 35 minutes late, without beers... we let him know that it would have been easier just to stop at a bottle-o on the way, esp. since there are plenty of them around this part of Sydney. His excuse was that he got lost on the M7 ..if that’s even possible.
It was the worst Nash for the season. There is still some debate about the outcome of the game. The old team was doing well with Culks and Harro, dominating up front. But the game tapered off.
Jess then gave us a big lecture on how the batters had to take ownership of their wickets and bat for long periods and score big runs.
Thankfully, Dave won the toss. The deck was a bit of road removed from the M4. Troy started well but was caught behind attempting to drive. After Jimmy Crowley had his off stump pegged back after shouldering arms and Tim "trivia master" Harrington was run out as the result of a freak-ish stop by their short-midwicket fieldsman, the students were struggling at 3/50.
Walshy was looking the goods when he suffered the Harrington-curse. Given out leg before when the ball was clearly too high and going down leg. It was so bad that one of their players made a comment about it to the not out batsmen.
Culks and Suda then made a silent agreement that they would not run any three's. Suda "I wish I could bat like Glichrist" Sivapalan sweated and struggled his way (as usual) to 48 and was not out at tea.
After attempting to cool down the pair was back out in the middle in what seemed like an extremely short tea break. Suda was out first ball after tea. After scoring 48 from 40 overs with no boundaries, Suda was extremely glad that he had avoided the differentials fine and death!
This brought Dave to the crease. His second ball went to the fence and his fourth cleared it! So much for his lecture.
Culks worked hard, but was then caught at point a few overs later. Dave "do as i say, not as i do" Jessep and the debutant Josh "I got picked as a bowler" Lawrence then devastated the Blacktown bowling attack and compiled 122 for the 7th wicket. Josh ended up with 52 and Jessep had plundered 86. The uni boys were back!
Through most of this, Suda was in the change rooms suffering from heat exhaustion. After the incident last game and esp. after this week there have been quite a few calls of "soft" and "toughen up" thrown his way.
Sanjiv, Stu and Nigel "the bodybuilder" Cowell pushed the total along to 284. The boys did an awesome job to bring it back from 6/120 to be where we are now. Though on this deck, 300 would seem to be a par score. With similar weather forecast for next Saturday it should make for an interesting finish to the game.
Suda
Blacktown 195 all out (B Smith 5-65 C Dan 2-26 C Cull 2-51)
defeated Sydney Uni 125 all out (N Matthews 31 H Mckay 28)
Unfortunately, drawing a home game meant that I would be crawling out of bed at a reasonable time this week. The standard “I got lost trying to find the ground” line had worked a treat up until now whilst playing away, but convincing team mates that there were navigational hiccups getting to Uni 2 would be tricky…
On to Nash....
Playing time was cut short this week as there was strong debate on how the teams would be constructed. After 20 minutes of arguing, it was decided that city would play country with a few grey areas over player origins...
However, the aggressive style of the beer swigging bush boys against the more strategic approach from the cocktail slurping suit wearers only led to a stalemate, with the end result being a draw. Disappointing for the neutral, especially with Ash “I enjoy my nash ball far too much” Cowan being mortified when a late penalty claim was turned down. A rather timely final whistle blow from Matt “milk bottle” Skins at the heart of the controversy...
And now for some leather on willow....
It seemed that Matt “the tank” Skins wasn’t satisfied with leading us into a sauna for 80 overs last week, as again we found ourselves strapping on the bowling boots to enjoy Sydney’s ‘finest’ weather.
Cold showers were had, Zinc was applied, and Jimmy “gorillas in the mist” Kazaglis removed his shirt to show team mates exactly why Sydney’s water supply will never completely dry up....Who wouldn’t sweat that much whilst wearing a permanent fur coat??
Steady bowling from openers Jimmy and BJ saw us off to a good start with the ‘westies’ losing early wickets for not many runs. Brendon “the chafe master” Smith’s experiment of a non-thigh touching run up a clear success as he picked up a couple of good wickets.
Some more tidy bowling from Nolan “I will field where I want” Matthews was seen before Charlie “big cuddly bear” Cull showed us some well overdue aggression with a fiery bowling spell.
The bowlers continued to plug away on a flat wicket as we stayed on top with regular wickets. A patient Chris “more swing than a jazz band” Dan came into the attack late on to show why he has enjoyed a successful season bowling with excellent control. After only 45 odd overs Blacktown saw the removal of their final batsman for a score of 195.
Overall, a patient display by the nerds as an outstanding performance from BJ was well supported by the rest of the bowlers chipping in. Special mention to Dougal “Teflon coated symbols” Robinson who snared 6 catches with the gloves including a KFC classic catch contender from an inside edge.
We went into the sheds well on top. Or so we thought....
Unfortunately, disappointing batting displays followed as our top order were removed without troubling the scorer. The only thing missing were small children carrying pieces of bread as ducks began to appear all over the place. Special mention to Jack “golden duck” Hammond who brought along the girlfriend, friends, family, neighbours and pets to watch his ‘innings’!! (Harsh LBW in fairness).
Huw “facts & figures” Mckay with 28, Nolan “bat me higher” Matthews with a flowing 31, and a gritty not out from Charlie “I’m a number 3” Cull worthy of mention. Result? A first innings loss as we limped to 125 all out....
A frustrating day, but made more entertaining by the tattoo covered, short haired ‘females’ skating around the sports hall, and ‘trigger’ the umpire, who threw the finger up if more than one person in the field appealed….
Plenty of time for a big comeback next week, watch this space.
Ed ‘Bambi’ Freeman
4th grade Day 2 V Blacktown
Well.....If I remember correctly I am pretty sure I said ‘WATCH THIS SPACE’!!
No report on Nashball I’m afraid due to my late appearance, which meant I had missed the game completely. Excuse this week? An always pleasant visit to former player and physio Tim, ‘Im going to dig my elbows in deep’ Croft for some more ‘cupping’ (It’s a form of treatment honest!!).
Pretty irrelevant anyway compared to the drama that was to unfold later in the day at uni 2, and post reports indicate it was a shambles, so no loss there...
THE game...
With a deficit of 70 runs already, it was always going to be tough grinding out a result against the ‘warriors’ from out west. However another solid display from the bowlers meant we would have a slim but fighting chance of a complete turnaround to win the 2nd innings.
Once again, big performances from Brendon ‘sober at this point’ Smith and Chris ‘Im not sleeping with Jacks girlfriend’ Dan, with 3 wickets a piece as they led the attack with excellent support from Nolan ‘check out my rubbish leg spin’ Matthews, and Jimmy ‘back rug’ Kazaglis. (2 wickets each).
Wickets fell steadily leaving only one last act of pure genius from yours truly as we battled to knock over the final couple of batsman. After deciding Blacktown’s amassed lead wouldn’t provide a big enough challenge for our batsman, I continued in a completely selfless act to put down an absolute sitter at first slip off the bowling of Jimmy. With teammates still amazed at my unique tactics I then continued to watch an edge from the very next ball fly right past my head....my only gesture this time placing my hand where the ball was some 2 or 3 seconds before. 2 dropped catches from successive balls, for the good of cricket surely an heroic act, as the lucky batsman continued to add about 30 runs to their total...(I still got fined 2 dollars though?).
After picking up the final wickets we evaluated our position....268 needed from 36 overs at just under 8 an over. Surely it can’t be done????
And so the chase began...
After being in a rather foul mood all day, Matt ‘the grumpster’ skins decided to channel his aggression in the direction of Blacktown’s 16 year old opening bowler. It was obvious that after terrorising us last week on a rather assisting deck, our skipper would teach the unsuspecting youngster a lesson....0,4,4,4,4,4,6 was the outcome of the first 5 legal deliveries, plus 2 no balls before our skipper showed quite possibly the most arrogance ever seen at uni number 2. The sound of a bugle was heard as the snow leopard charged the final delivery of the over, slashing with a wild swing some 5 feet from the ball...obviously the 26 he had smashed already wasn’t enough! Not a bad start to the innings though...
As Skins showed a great example of clean hitting I, Ed ‘scratchy’ Freeman showed the opposite. Unfortunately our skipper edged one to the keeper for a quick fire 28 bringing Dougal ‘mummy wouldn’t allow a girlfriend in year 12’ Robinson to the crease. Runs continued to come but wickets fell as Dougal was dismissed, and after a solid start Jack Hammond followed. Still with a mountain to climb, out strode Ash ‘the destroyer’ Cowan as the westies captain made probably the biggest mistake of his career. Ash’s eyes lit up as the captain bowled himself and another spinner. Sydney Uni was reduced to fear as red leather was dispatched to all parts...no-one was safe including those on a balcony some 15 storey’s up! Maybe a little luck as our friend ‘trigger’ failed to see Ash smash the cover of the ball straight into the keepers hands early in his innings as he turned down a large appeal…. Easily Sydney’s most competent umpire!
A quick fire 53 from Ash was enough to put us back in contention whilst providing some entertainment for the gathering crowd. Next to the crease was Huw…after a brief discussion about ‘just looking for singles’ Australia’s leading economist did some quick calculations and decided, rather rudely, to disregard our plan. Following in the footsteps of Skins and Ash, Huw also sent the ball crashing to the boundary at regular intervals showing some great timing.
After finally finding some form, a lack of concentration saw me depart for 65 leaving the game in the balance. Big hitting followed by quick wickets gave the game more twists, then Jimmy and BJ fell cheaply. But a solid knock from Nolan supporting Huw kept us going.
And so as the crowd watched on nervously as we reached the final over needing just 6 runs. A couple of singles started the over before Chris ‘to cool for school’ Dan decided to build the tension with a couple of dot balls before passing the buck to Huw to finish the job. Massive cheers echoed as Huw dispatched the 5th ball to the boundary as we recorded an epic win with Charlie ‘shitting bricks’ Cull a relieved number 11. An outstanding effort by the whole team and an exciting run chase.
And so the celebration began for most, with only Brendon Smith ahead of the game after sinking ‘just one’ half way through our innings…
Well done chaps!
SUCC 7/177 (Nick Burke 67 AJ Grant 43) defeated Blacktown 174 Aaron Hickey 4-18)
Day 1
We arrived at Whalan 2 keen as beans to demolish a young, blonde-tipped Blacktown fifth grade side which had one in the wins column. And by “we” I of course mean Jimmy Rodger’s eleven minus Burke/Hickey/Bragg. And the far from reassuring text message at 11:45 that read “Is it near Mosman?” had the skipper threatening to introduce fines to fives.
The 40+ heat meant that the toss of the coin would determine the hydration levels of eleven blokes. Tails. Thanks for nothing Jim. Nicholas “I reckon they used all their Round-Up before the weeds had a chance” Burke found this as a perfect opportunity to show off his D.K. Lillee-esque attire, and was devastated when (almost) stand-in captain, Daniel “in your face, AJ” Bragg, denied Burkey the privilege of walking on the field in a straw hat.
With no intent of being in the field longer than necessary, we were frustrated with Blacktown’s speed (as was the umpire), not to mention the size of the ground – 5m LARGER than the MCG. We bowled well early but found it tough to string a few wickets together. But nonetheless, the students managed to restrict the runs to less than three an over for the first session. This continued for a while but wickets didn’t seem to fall. The bowlers held tight lines, but the umpire denied a few LBW shouts and we were now drawing our last straw, with Aaron “definitely need to come on earlier, James” Hickey warming up to bowl.
Bowling maiden after maiden at pace and offering the odd chance, Hickey was required for only 8 overs, in which he managed to pick up four very well earned wickets for a measly 18 runs. Well done, Scrawny. Lets not forget James “dynamite calves” Rodgers who picked up a cheeky two-for, and the rest of the bowlers who toiled hard for the remaining wickets.
Highlight of the day, was Dave “I’m wasted at fine leg, plus… oops, not only did I drop the catch, I broke my thumb” Crawford taking a pill too many in the morning, who was punishing with “encouragement” that left his teammates crying for silence. “Yes! He’s bowling.” But David managed to squeeze in the odd “Carmorrn lads” between balls.
Despite it being ridiculously late, there were still 17 overs in the day. Unfortunately we lost two wickets, but Alistair “nothing wrong with looking this good” Grant and Burke looked promising for day two.
Day 2
Surprisingly the three on-timers outdid themselves with Burke (the batsman at the non-strikers end) and Aaron “I wanna change cars at Croyden so I don’t have to pump petrol” Hickey (next in) showing up at 12:27. Too easy!
Burke however was clearly preparing himself in the car with an outstanding knock of 67no that held the students’ together. Working with AJ first – who scored a fine 40 odd himself – and then the middle order, it was Burke who managed to tough out the disgusting heat, and mentor his batsmen through the grueling chase. Andy “I don’t drive a scooter for it’s aesthetics” Greene and Hasitha “man up Crawford” Balasuriya stuck around to give the tail it’s wag, but it was Luke “too cool for school” Truashiem who stole the show with a fine not out including the winning runs to his name.
One cannot however stress the quality of Burkey’s innings, with classy straight drives that had to be run for four, and patience that couldn’t keep up with AJ’s cricket ADHD. It was a very mature innings from the most immature bloke I’ve ever played with. Good one bud!
And a strong win heading into the final rounds should see fifth grade secure a box seat for finals.
Hasi
Sydney University vs Sydney at St Pauls 30th Jan and 7th Feb. (Metro Cup)
Sydney University 7Dec 315 C.Davey 72, A.Mihalyka 42, P.Betelle 44, N.Hale 32, Beat Sydney 185 P.Bertelle 3-21, S.Green 3-39
A very good team performance by all involved in this game as we batted, bowled and fielded better than the opposition to ensure a comprehensive victory. The batting was kicked of by Chris and Alex who had a 1 over look at the openers before they had seen enough to judge them full of runs and start attacking their union was only severed by Alex's long arms being able to fetch a very wide ball and help it to fine leg. Uni 1/75 Alex 42 very cleanly struck runs and some excellent running between the wickets in between. This did not bring the relief the opposition wanted as this seemed to be the cue for Chris to make the running as he kept the run rate at around 5 an over.
The key feature of the innings was the ability to keep partnerships flowing with wickets never coming in clumps. Bertelle made a patient and watchful 44 while Hale chipped in with a bright 32 in only 8 overs at the crease, Momsen 27 with a couple of well executed pulls before a vigorous finish to the innings the Green frog and Metro who added an unbeaten 46 in 5 overs Green 22n.o and Metro 28n.o. An excellent score on Pauls especially in only 68 overs. the Sydney innings started with JB Jono Brayshaw bowling excellent late swing and taking the 1st wicket and very nearly having a few more. Fessey at the other end bowled 3 Maidens at stumps on day 1 sydney 1/12.
Day Two was a real test of our character and patience as anything that hit the pads was not out and their batsmen particularly slow and frustrating. Fessey picked up an early 1 caught at cover by Hale after he realised it was actually coming that slowly. The next partnership was excruciating as the never got the run rate above 2 or the ball in front of square. The end mercifully came when the nuffbag no.3 hit one in front of Square and deemed it worthy of 1 despite it being directly to Metro and his partner being fairly close to what you could call plus sized. The runs came in a rush from the No. 5 and we all thought they were considering actually chasing as he landed Callum in the car park and had another few boundaries in his 35. Miller was finally out for 62 more than he deserved after his 1st ball from Fessey had struck him on the foot in front of middle (burrowing under). After Tea the skipper and the Green frog combined for the last 6 with another run out as someone else hit the ball straight to Metro and said yes. Paul bowled straight and hit the stumps twice in 1 over 1 assisted the other clean. his last wicket had the stumping assistance from Chris who was kept cool by his pads and gloves not a jumper as a few others used. The comical finish came from Matt who had trouble seeing the ball in the "blue" of the sky, he does come from Mars. Well done to all involved.
Round 14 vs Sydney Windies
A popular phrase being bandied around the ground was 'snatching defeat from the jaws of victory'.
Sydney Uni faced off against Sydney Windies on a parched St Luke's Number 2. Fielding 5 players from the main Sydney Uni squad stand in coin tosser Jon Souter lost the toss and we were sent into the field with a strong bowling line-up. Early wickets were the reward with Green shielder Peter Zivkovic taking the opener stumps. First change legend Max Bonnell came into bowl and with a defiant and proud "shit!" after he delivered his opening salvo, he took the middle stump of the Windies batsman leaving Windies at 2-43. Max's fine spell of bowling was a lesson to all and continued to ensure the wickets fell with regularity, finishing with the stunning figures of 5/7 and 103 wickets to his name in Sydney Uni C&S competition. Much jubilation and back slapping ensued, as it should continue here and now.
<insert a round of applause for Max in your workplace or home here>
Wickets were shared amongst the rest of the bowlers, with Moorhouse, Al-Maliki the intense, Aird and John Le Couteur (the skip) taking a wicket each. The less said about my over the better, however, in what must be some form of cricketing karma my over is not recorded in the scorebook, therefore it never happened and therefore I continue to be a bowling enigma. Yay for me!
The final score, after a bit of bashing from a guy who just happened to be in the nets and became the 10th player and his son, a diminutive 13 year old with pads the size of most players thigh pads, the score for the Sydney Windies was we thought a meagre 122. Prizes go out this week to Sydney Windies for slowest between wickets changeover (around 5 mins) and the batsman who was in the nets during the drinks break, then decided to have his special drinks break after his net session before returning to his crease!!
Opening with Cam Hawkins and Suriya, our fearless pair built a solid start to the innings being 0/55 at drinks. However what happened next can only be described as titanic (not in the dictionary definition of having great stature or enormous strength; huge or colossal, of enormous scope, power, or influence but in the sense of the unsinkable sinking). The collapse was spectacular, going for 0-80 to all out for 121. Excellent batting from Cam Hawkins with a brilliant 50 and Suriya with 30 was let down by poor shot selection, comedic running between wickets and the inability of seasoned players to put bat on ball. So the end result, a one run loss in the final over. A close game, but not close enough.
At this point I refuse, flat out to even sing a bar of Celine Dion's "My heart will go on" and in the immortal words of Suggs from Madness "You hum it and I'll smash your face in!"