At the end of day one, we had thought that our score of 300 would be enough to pick up the points, even though the surface favoured the batsmen. Twenty minutes into day two, we were sure of it, as Sean Abbott and Tim Ley tore through the top order to reduce NDs to 3-20. We were made to work hard for the middle order wickets, with Tim Ley and Will Somerville continually troubling the batsmen and Sean Abbott producing some genuine pace in his short bursts. Sustained pressure meant wickets fell fairly regularly and we had the six points in the bag around tea time. One of our opening batsman was heard to say “If they don’t want to use the overs, we should.” So we sent the two NSW openers out for a net in the afternoon while the rest of us polished off afternoon tea.
REPORT details: SUCC took on Bankstown in the quarter final of the one day competition at home, having qualified first and undefeated in the preliminary rounds. Greg Mail won the toss (again) and chose to bat on the same pitch we used on Saturday. Ryan Carters provided the back bone of the innings by compiling a measured 88. He also provided some education for his team mates, teaching us the subtle differences between the signal for “almonds” and “mixed nuts”. Some clean striking from Nick Larkin (53 from 63) and Mark Faraday (51 from 42) took us to a very competitive 263.
Bankstown looked to be well in control as their English import got them away to a flyer (48 off 29). Again, Timmy Ley got the crucial breakthrough and the consistent Uni attack began to work its way through the opposition batting order. Best of the bowlers was Will Somerville (4 for 37) who has had an excellent one day season. Being able to count the fielders outside the circle the only remaining improvement Will needs to make. When Greg Mail outsmarted the hard hitting opposition captain, the tail was wrapped up and the students had what appeared a comfortable win, but one that we worked hard for.
REPORT details: Following some questionable car pooling ethics from the big Ship, the students arrived at Tubby Taylor oval with the opportunity to all but seal a top 2 spot in the semis against the 3rd place Rangers. Confidence was high following our Skippers fabled recount of exactly how "easy it was to hit sixes" at that particular venue.
Fingers began flying in all directions as for the 2nd consecutive week the Nash ball responsibilities were shirked, so a game of fielding soccer had to suffice. Frustration was high, particularly from our hamstrung number 3 who confidently took out the 'Most Frail' award amongst the victorious Olds. That minor disruption was, however, the end of the Students problems for the day as a thoroughly dominant performance ensued.
TKs tossing proficiency continued and with conditions slightly favourable to fast bowling, the students took to the field. For the second week running Ben Joy played tormenter to the oppositions young top order, taking 6 of the first 7 wickets to leave NDs reeling. Dave 'Funky' Miller and Josh 'Twinkle Toes' Toyer combined to clean up the tail with the neutral spectator feeling the 82 made was slightly under par.
The Dent's chase began in what can only be described as calamitous circumstances in the first over as Will 'Slippery Slope' Hay firmed as favourite for the most hilarious dismissal of the year when he produced his best rendition of Samit Patel's comical run out earlier this year. (Source YouTube for full details) From there on, however, it was the Theobald'ing' show, ably assisted by the younger of our two well-versed proteas, as he once again took down an NDs attack making his 5th century against the Rangers. One almost felt sorry for Peebles as his chin drooped lower throughout the day and whose nights must be haunted by murals of the Big Ship. Upon reaching his milestone, the stars seemed to align as Ship looked to replicate our boastful skipper's earlier mentioned heroics. The fireworks flew as Ship plundered the solitary over for 23, missing out on the 5 required to match TK but setting the tone for the rest of the innings as aggressive batting from the middle order allowed the boys from Camperdown to leave Waitara with First innings points in the bag and 240 runs to bowl at next week.
REPORT details: With the makeup of 3's skewed towards a full team of rare units, the lads decided upon city v country for nash teams. Despite the country boys boasting the rough and hardened mentality, the city slickers got off to a flying start. The white collar crime brothers were seemingly unstoppable on all fronts. However, a fightback was always on the cards from the country boys. The extra man proved the difference in a last ditch effort to draw the game. But Henry "Wario" Clark made it very clear that his younger and "better looking" brother would still be buying him a drink at the end of the days play.
Captain Smash won the toss and decided to bowl. Despite not exiting a 5m radius on the nash field, Joe Kershaw bowled an opening spell that would have had any batsmen in trouble. After taking a wicket off a no ball, and having one shelled behind the stumps, he recovered to take 3 wickets for the day. Maybe somebody can brief him on the rules of nashball again during the week, and he might offer something with his clear natural athletic ability.
The Uni boys toiled hard all day in the field as ND's put a strong value on their wicket. The fielding was top draw, despite one incident from Will "Bambi" Clayton. As a leg glance trickled down to fine leg, Will "Lawnmower" Clayson began an outlandish pursuit of the ball. For reasons unknown William forgot about his hands and arms, and decided to attempt a Wayne Rooney finesse shot, aimed at the top corner of the goals at the City Road end of The Square. However, in all the commotion Clayson was far from the mark and the little red ball made its way to the fence of Uni no.2 untouched. It might also be noted that all of this came of the skippers bowling, whose blow ups could justify a paragraph of similar length.
Another solo effort worth mentioning is Skipper Ash Cowan's Celebration after his one LBW wicket. It had been a long time coming, and we all know Ash "workplace friend" Cowan likes to make the most of things when he has been deprived of them for a while. As soon as the umpire raised the finger Ash proceeded to release all the pressure from inside his body, which resulted in some sort of screaming/moaning noise, coupled with all sorts of theatrics and fist pumps, clearly replicated from Max "generous lover" Hope's efforts on the circuit last weekend.
During the final session Max took a leaf out of Tom Kierath's book and cleaned up the tail with 3 wickets. Ed Arnott and Jack Hollaway secured a strong position for the 3s boys with positive intent during an awkward afternoon session. Alex Logan was left nervously waiting during the final few overs, yet seemed much calmer with Beyonce's latest hit ringing through his ears.
Special mention must go out to the 3s boys who lead the Uni Army superbly on Sunday. It's important they continue this form into this weekend and secure valuable points against a strong contender of the 3rd grade competition.
REPORT details: The students turned out at The Squith, a mere 4 minutes from Big Del’s humble abode, for a match that could confirm their standing as a ‘smoky’ for the competition. Against an ND’s side desperate for both a berth in the 6 and some Club Champs points to support the chase of the Uni juggernaut. The lack of a nash ball with an adequate kilopascal reading meant that a game of grounded netball with a six stitcher took centre stage. And although the Eastern boys dominated possession and certainly played the prettier “football” it was the Westy’s that ultimately took the points with some trademark ugly – albeit effective – breakaway possessions. Hungary’s Alex Mihalyka provided some particularly cynical long goal efforts.
On a pitch that sported good grass coverage and a slightly soft top layer – admittedly puzzling given mid week conditions – AJ grabbed the initiative by batting at the toss and Uni went about compiling an orderly 120 runs for the loss of only 2 wickets. AJ himself and Suda providing the highlights; particularly some very controlled strokes from Sivapalan as he shuffled his way to 58, looking very much at home on the slower, lower deck despite his protestations about being ‘cooked’ after the opening bowlers’ first spells.
From there however the middle and lower order capitulated to all out 152, with the only resistance coming from our resident loud mouth, Ryan Danne who, abusing the opposition throughout, at least provided us with a target to defend. After what can only be described as an Al Pacinoesque ‘Any Given Sunday’ motivational spiel from the skipper, the boys rallied the have ND’s rocking at 5/60 or so. Tatey picked up the first pole before Jack Hill wrangled a double. Ably assisted by Frosty the Snowman who trapped two blokes in front within an over. He was particularly chirpy about knocking over his recent CHS coach. At 5/80 the game is well and truly in the balance and should provide enough incentive to prevent any thoughts of a Friday night circuit.
REPORT details: 5th grade were sent in on a Paul’s deck that that looked quite green. ND’s attack boasted some bloke who had taken 6 wickets in 7 balls in a previous round, but we knew that if we got through the first hour a good score was achievable.
Izzy “khal drogo” was dismissed early doors and retreated to the sheds for twp hours of solitary contemplation. At the other end Pete “Duck” Eakin started proceedings with some fireworks including a flat six over cover. Then the sun came out and that was that.
A few quick wickets had left us in a bit of bother, but a measured innings from Joe “Dorf” Dorph restored some order. Unfortunately for Dorphy, he was dismissed just short of his half century.
Wickets continued to fall however a fine innings of 85 from James “Fabio” Shepherd steadied the ship. Shep bludgeoned the ball to all parts and as a result, we got to 246 all out. A decent effort after a shaky start.
It was now about 8:30pm however due to an atrociously slow over rate from the ND’s boys, we still had 11 overs to bowl. Jono “Linfox” New steamed in from the top end and was rewarded with a wicket. Chris “Dracula” Campbell took the other and was unlucky to only end with two wickets at the end of play, with the ball doing all sorts, swinging both ways. Little Chris came on for the final over and spun the ball hard, beating the bat on almost every ball.
With ND’s 3 for not many we are well positioned to take the 6 points next week.