The man and his bat

Last week we did a mention of Mat Marsden (C2 Blue) copping a bit of heat from the opposition about his antique bat. Well we have a photo of the Blues plus Mat with his bat – a 1985 GN Scoop bat – all 39 years of history. This story was all good news: Mat scored his 3^rd career ton (100 not out) in a Team total of 9/205; they rolled the Opposition for 94 runs to get 1^st innings points plus the Team they beat would have made the top 4 had they have won and as a result of the loss they finished in 6^th spot. This allowed our C2 Red side to make it into the Semi’s.

So this is a great story about good guys finishing first.

Photo: C2 Blues 2023-24. The players, from let to right: Mat Marsden with the bat he scored his latest ton with, Bronson Marsden, Sohan Gowda, Rizul Gulati, Vris Patel, James Lubrano, Martin Lubrano, Rob Hitchcock, Fin Hitchcock (kneeling). Howson Oval – 24th February 2024

Legends

There is an old saying that you don’t where you are going until you know where you have come from hence any re-union is something to be treasured.

Last week we did a story on our Legends of 1979/80 to 82/83 who had a reunion after 44 years. During this week the Legends of 1989/90 to 92/93 met at the Blue Gum Hotel. This was the first ‘great’ A1 side in our history. Keep in mind that our first A1 side was entered in 1951/52 until 1957/58. After a few years out of the top grade we have had an A1 side continuously since 1966/67. The 1989/90 Team won our first Premiership in this Grade after 32 years. They then went on to win a three-peat.

These players are among our best ever. Get a load of these performances in order of appearance in the photo:

• Tony Ford – Captain – 3,985 runs @ 31.9 + 24 wickets @ 17.5 + Association Team of the Decade
• Scott Wills – 640 runs @ 19.4 + 93 wickets @ 20.1
• Mike Cirson (Captain #15) – 1,783 runs @ 22.3 + 57 wickets @ 28.5
• Craig Russell – 3,512 runs @ 31.4 + 115 wickets @ 19.3
• Mark Watkins – 231 runs @ 16.5 + 52 wickets @ 18.4
• Greg Fiedler (Captain #12) – 6,363 runs @ 25.8 (5^th highest run scorer in our history)
• Greg Stoneham (Captain #13) – 3,535 runs @ 22.4 + 401 wickets @ 17.2 (7^th highest wicket taker in our history)

Every Team that plays for West Penno, in any Grade, leaves a legacy. The legacy this Team has left has become legendary.

Photo: A1 side of 1989/90 to 92/93.  Tony Ford, Scott Wills, Mike Cirson, Greg Fiedler. Craig Russell, Mark Watkins, Greg Stoneham. Blue Gum Hotel- 26^th February 2024.

While on A1

How about our current A1 side. It is easy to forget what this Team has achieved as part of a dynasty, over many years. The boys finished 3^rd this season to setup yet another spot in the Semi Finals. Since 2009/10 we have now made the Semi Finals every year except 2017/18 & 2019/20 – 15 times. This dynasty has also won 4 x Premierships + 2 x Runner’s up.

So while it is important to call out the greats of our past, the current Team are quietly building their own legacy that will be looked back on in future years as a very special group of players.

Photo: T20 Premiers 2022/23 – left to right (back row: Josh Banner, Ashane de Silva, James Makin, Cameron McBrien (C), RK, Lachlan McBrien, Jackson Preedy, Kyle Townsend, Steve Ozvatic. Front row: Sean Clarence, Bill Gaunt, Michael Richards, Luke Herzog & Tiz Mistry. Greenway Park – 15^th October 2022.

Space cadet

For the 2^nd week in a row we have the rare distinction of an Opposition Team being awarded a prestigious Space Cadet Award. Just remember that this is a Semi Final with no second chances. Anyway, our D1 Blue boys, who are Minor Premiers, were playing the 4^th placed side who had to win to make it through to the Grand Final. The game was at Campbell Park.

We lost the toss and were sent in to bat – makes sense with the Opposition trying to force a result.

So far so good.

Anyway it goes downhill from there. After a light shower the Opposition decided at about 2.30 pm (90 minutes into the game) that they didn’t want to hang around and agreed to pull stumps with us 1/17 off 12 overs. So next week they need to get 9 wickets against the top side + score the runs to win. So by pulling stumps they have virtually made next weekend a pointless exercise for both Teams other than to give the Blues batting practice.

As further background, our B2 boys were playing at Greenway Park, just around the corner from Campbell Park and they were off for a short time but finished the day’s play.

So what do you do after the match is called off – go down to support the C2 Reds in their Semi Final playing at a nearby oval and ofcourse have an early Team dinner at a local restaurant – check out the D1 Photo Gallery.

Behind the scenes

We all turn up on Saturday’s and often take for granted the amazing work done by our Team Captains during the week. This comment from Andrew Fiedler (C3 Red) Captain about the lead-up to the Semi Final says it all – remember that this is in the week leading into a Semi Final where only those players who have played a minimum of 4 games in that Grade, or lower, qualifies to play.

“The Skipper had some interesting texts from the team pre-game after deciding on the 12 players who would suit up early in the week. “

 On Wednesday morning, 1^st change bowler Shak pulls out of day 1 with some important soccer refereeing commitments.

 On Wednesday afternoon, opening bowler Jack declares he has likely broken his toe at futsal and could be out.

 On Thursday keeper Lachie declares he has an 80^th birthday party on day 2 that just popped up.

 On Saturday at 11:30am, opening batter Munish declares he has a friend who had a family bereavement and needs to leave mid match see him.

 I was waiting for further calls about pull outs due to the preparing of the WPHC float at tonight’s Mardi Gras, so felt the better option was to turn off the phone for the rest of the day to avoid further carnage.”

Amazing, but a huge call-out to Andrew in this case to get a Team on the field and our Captains overall!

Photo: The C3 Red boys (all of these players played) – Nathan Fathers, Andrew Fiedler, Dinesh De Silva, Andrew Fiedler & Eric Junkkari – 5th November 2023.

From the Vault

A couple of weeks ago we crowned Ray Khamis as the official Club ‘Master Blaster based on the record number of 6’s hit in an innings – 11 in his score of 98 Vs Normanhurst @ Fred Caterson 4 (9^th January 2011). This got us thinking about who has hit the most number of runs off an Over when both 4s & 6s are taken into account.

The record is held by Matt Scoular. Playing Colts at Storey Park in 2008 the boys were playing Kenthurst and Matt scored 34 runs off an over. The scoring sequence was: 4, nb (4), 4, 4, 4, 4,nb (4),4.

In the Juniors, Gareth Linaker playing in the U16, T20 match on Tuesday 20^th September 2009 hit 32 runs off 1 over at Campbell Park. The scoring sequence was 6-6-6-6-4-4.

For info, Ray ‘Master Blaster’ scored 30 runs off an over (C4 Grade @ George Christie Oval on 9^th January 2016) when he hit a Club record 5 x consecutive 6’s in an over

Photo: Matt Scoular at Storey Park after scoring 34 runs off an over – 27^th January 2008.