Girls Spirit of Cricket

This season we have a record 77 x Girls playing for us. Think about this way – we have more Girls playing for West Penno than many Clubs, anywhere across Sydney, have Juniors & Seniors. Last weekend our Girls had their ‘Spirit of Cricket’ event and it was a huge success. This is where our Stage 2 & 3 Girls played  T20 games at John Purchase Oval. To quote Grant Colburt, our Girls Director:

“We had over 120 people for the BBQ and presentation. As you can see in the photo’s the girls dressed up and really got into it. Trophies and Books were presented and this created many happy young girls.

 Whilst this is a celebration of girls cricket and a promotion of the ‘Spirit of Cricket”- We managed to have heaps of fun and also raised over $2,000 for the McGrath foundation in the process.”

Congratulations to our Girls Leaders on this great result.

What better way than to celebrate our Girls than this great video by Cyndi Lauper – Girl’s Just Want To Have Fun

Photo: The Girls Stage 3 ‘Spirit of Cricket’ played at John Purchase Oval – 10 February 2024

Biggest game of the Season

It is now down to the final Round of the season and in B1 Grade the result of this game will determine whether the Reds (Shomik) or Blues (Todd) will go through to the Semis.

The Reds are sitting in 4^th place (45 points) and the Blues in 5^th place (40 points) but with a better quotient. The equation is simple. The winning Team will go through to the Semi’s. The complication is in the teams they are playing against. The Reds are playing the Minor Premier (14 points clear of 2^nd) who have only lost 2 games.

The Blues are playing the last placed Team who are still only 4 points behind them in a 6 team comp.

So how are the Teams placed after Day 1?

The Blues scored 162 on a slow Headen Park and have the Opposition 1/11 – game on. The Reds rolled their Opposition, a strong batting team, for just 152 and we are 1/26 in reply – also game on.

What we do know is that one of these Teams will go through to the Semi’s – but….which one?

Photo – Shomik Sengupta (Red) & Todd Hutchinson (Blue) at the Sheep Station Trophy – Greenway Park – 4^th November 2023

Why bother

Last weekend had a couple of those ‘why do we bother’ playing moments with Teams just batting out a draw for no real purpose.

In the last B2 game (Round 13), the Opposition score was 5/75 after 64 overs ‘chasing’ 228 for victory. To quote the Match Report:

“From ball 1….what would follow is a day of cricket we have all sadly experienced. A day of cricket no one wishes to go through but has to every now and again. A game of cricket whereby every single ball you are digging deep into every single fibre of your being asking yourself why the hell you play this god forsaken sport. So much internal contemplation – today we were Sisyphus. Pushing that rock up that bloody hill just to watch it roll back down. Precisely 360 times. A more boring game of cricket hasn’t been played since the HKDCAJACA abandoned timeless games back in 1897.”

Also, in the A2 game, the opposition batted until Tea on Day 2 to finish on 203 after 89 overs. Another insight from our Match Report:

“….On they bat. Slowly. Maidens. Dots. Blocks. Leaves…..Finally, the umpire calls stumps. 4 wickets and about 4 boundaries all day. I’m not sure I’ll ever know happiness again.”

 Fortunately these games are rare but makes you think why some games end up this way. Maybe it is an unintended consequence of rewarding mediocrity by getting 3 points for a draw – who knows. Thankfully though most games are played by Teams that want to have a contest and go out and have fun – bring on this weekend.

Photo: A snail – what else.

A glimpse into the future

A glance at the points table in the Juniors shows that there is a rich pipeline of players in our Junior nursery. In the U12’s for example, we have 6 Teams in a 17 Team Competition which is fabulous. What is amazing is that the top 4 Teams are from West Penno and the remaining 3 x teams are within 5 points (1 win) of the top 4. When you consider that we have a ‘Participation over Results’ policy where opportunity is shared this is a fantastic acknowledgement of the Coaching and Junior development going on behind the scenes.

Photo: The U12 Purple side celebrfating yet another 50. This time, Samkit Shah – U12 Purple – 61 no in 25 balls 3rd February 2024

Intruder

Every now and then we get games interrupted by helicopters arriving at games – Berowra Oval gets more than their share due to proximity near the bush. The C2 Red boys had their experience yesterday at Bannockburn Oval. Now to cut to a note from Arun (C2 Red Skipper) on the experience:

“During our game, there was a massive accident that forced the medical 🏥 helicopter to land on our ground, leading to a pause in play for about 45 minutes to an hour.

 Both Team Captains, myself and Normo captain, were commended by the police and paramedics for promptly stopping the game and clearing the field to facilitate their operation.”

Photo: the helicopter yesterday.

What do you do with him

Spare a thought for B2 Skipper Warren – it would be like being a pre-school teacher trying to control a class after too much red cordial. Enter B2 star, Ray ‘Master Blaster’ Khamis. To recap, the day was hot and steamy and our boys were in the field. So far so good.

Later in the day, a storm came over and with a bit of lightning around they had to leave the field for the mandatory safety break. Unfortunately, the red cordial must have been out in excess and Ray ‘Master Blaster’ Khamis spotted a children’s play area adjoining the ground and full of lightning conductors. Fortunately there were no kids around so the ‘Master Blaster’ reverted to his inner child – high on sugar. The result is shown in the photo.

Photo: Ray, reverting to his childhood at Mt Ku-ring-gai Oval – 17^th February 2024