The "Max Bonnell Golden Pen Award" points tally
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Bankstown 124 all out (42 overs) def by Sydney University 5/128 (24.5 overs). Points: Sydney University 8, Bankstown 0
‘Tis the cricket season to be jolly. Why not just embarrass a fierce rival and proud club that until this weekend had been occupying an enviable position on the first grade ladder. Why not? While the Bulldogs are 3 from 3 in the 2020 stuff, they are now 0 from 3 in the one-dayers, leaving them languishing at dead last on the limited overs table… Oh well.
With Captain Cranky Will Hay’s encouraging spiel to hit the break on a winning note following Mosman’s 8 run defeat over… (oh never mind, I didn’t play), the Students took the Nashball field. It’s actually a well-known fact that bowlers and lower-order wicketkeepers are much fitter than batsmen/batting-all-rounders, and this really showed in Nash. Burto and JT are always a tough combination to shut down, but when it’s bottom six vs top five… mercy rule please. I do not remember point scorers and assist statistics but I do remember my cold, free beer after the game. Cheers Scotty.
Another green-tinged belter, you’re on a roll Ray! Bankstown decided to bat and face the bowling wrath of ‘Copes’ Moran who appears to be riding a handy air pocket of form. With consistent seam-hitting and probing areas, the part-time Israeli newsreader thoroughly deserved his figures of 4/23 from 9 overs. Tommy Two Plates continued the visitors’ wobble with smart variation and a relentless line to clamber away with 2/24 from his 10. Recognising his potential for a blow-up or even one of his infamous tantrums, the umpires hastily informed TK that he had secured 1 O’Reilly point. This was pretty stiff on Bill, who claimed a lazy 2/30 including the prized scalp of ‘Maily’s mate’, Simon Keen, not to mention a cliff-hanger with some hang-time baby. Speaking of ‘Maaaaiiillllyyyyy’, Rig- here is an example of a player where it actually is ‘too easy’. 2/9 off 4 overs with about 15 play-and-misses for the recently crowned ‘No 1 Ginge’ in the competition. Whether or not the Dogs were out-enthused, or whether they simply impersonated Morgs after a night out when they found themselves 4/61 in the 20th, 124 was hardly competitive on a good, even track.
The chase did not start without controversy. Patches Larkin missed what looked like a bump-ball to be adjudged caught in the slips. Maybe he was LBW anyway, but I still think he should have referred it. The Troll Doll needs to forget Perth very quickly. No doubt his Christmas break in the ACT will serve him well and allow more time for exorcisms. Funky’s departure at 3-41 was also unfortunate, however the run rate was healthy in the fives. Gerg’s run-a-ball 40-odd and Ian ‘you boys can now call me ‘Hero’ again’ Moran’s sparkling unbeaten half century were enough to see the Nerds home. Well, almost. After making the conscious decision to lift Aaron Bird for a one-bounce four, over cover, off the back foot, our ginger-haired former limited-overs skipper conceded his wicket to the same bowler shortly afterwards in an attempt to secure the double bonus point win (within 25 overs). This brought English debutant, Chris Jones, to the centre. Still requiring 5 runs to seal the game, note the second ball he received on the homepage of this website (well done again, Dave). For those perhaps unaware, this was in fact a large front-foot no-ball from a State Squad player who then proceeded to have a one-way conversation with the young Pom. Unperturbed by this low act, the subsequent ‘free-hit’ disappeared towards the mid-wicket region, landing not too far from the fence. Over 23.5: Bird to Jones, FOUR, Well played pull shot in front of square as Bird attempts another short ball (for those who wanted to relive the moment again, as reported on cricket.com.au). A run to win and CJ finds an infielder to leave ITS to slog sweep a boundary and shake their hands. Hats off to a bloke who has evidently reformed his Mallett St ways. From Chip’s report, I’m just glad I wasn’t there.
‘How many ‘bonies’???... TWO!!!’