Anecdotes – Semi Finals (Day 1) – 28 February 2026

The Sheep Station Trophy – the big one

The Sheep Station Trophy started when our A2 Blue (Rick Turner) & A2 Red (Simon Smyth) sides played each other on 16^th December 2017 @ Dural Park. Since then we have had 41 games and none bigger than the game this weekend – the C4 Grade Semi Final.

While, we have had a Sheep Station Grand Final in the 1^st Grade T20 Comp in 2011, this is the first Seniors Semi Final Sheep Station in the standard Competition.

This game promises to be a classic with the 2^nd placed Blues (Rob) playing the equal placed Red’s (Ravi) with both on 57 points. All that separates them is 0.271of a quotient point.

So how did Day 1 finish up? The Reds (Ravi) batted first and got 187 and the Blues (Rob) are 2/16 at Stumps.

Elite performance

At the end of standard competition, our Top 5 batters, bowlers & wicket-keepers are:

Top 5 Batters
Name	Runs scored	Grade	Association Grade record
Luke Tabone	810	C4 (Blue)	447
Vinoth Sambasivam	602	D1 Blue	935
Malinda Dharmadasa	453	D1 Blue	935
Vishnu Rajesh	408	C4 (Red)	447
Prashant Kumar	392	C2	742

Top 5 Bowlers
Name	Runs scored	Grade	Association Grade record
Kapil Sharma	26	C2 (Red)	84
Jack Hando	26	A1	59
Jack Hutchinson	25	B1 Red	62
Todd Hutchinson	25	B1 Red	62
Oliver Makin	24	A1	59

Top 5 Wicket-keepers
Name	Dismissals	Break-up	Grade
Cameron Bish	19	18 catches & 1 Stumping	B1 Red
Indranil Mukherjee	18	12 catches & 6 Stumpings	C2 Red
Vishnu Rajesh	15	8 catches & 7 stumpings	C4 Red
Sitabja Basu	14	11 catches & 3 stumpings	C2 Blue
Renesh Krishnan	11	8 catches & 3 stumpings	B2
Brent Larkham	11	9 catches & 2 stumpings	A2
Aden Hanich	11	9 catches & 2 stumpings	B1 Blue

Congratulations to each of these players on a great season…so far. With Semi Finals and potentially a GF still to play, these achievements will only get better yet again.

Records

While there are still possibly 2 games to go for our Semi Finalists we have some new Club records that have already been set:

Batting

A1 Grade

Jackson Preedy (267 runs @ 133.50) broke the previous Club A1 batting average record of 101.25 by Matt Barr in 1999/2000.

B1 Grade

172* run 1^st wicket partnership – Cameron Bliss (109*) & Oliver Linschoten (99) Vs Kenthurst @ Greenway Park 11/10/2025)

C3 Grade

205 run 6^th wicket record partnership – James Wilkin (112) & Isaac Taylor (85*) Vs Beecroft @ Northholm Grammar 6/12/2025.

C4 Grade

• Luke Tabone (C4 Red) has scored 810 runs @ 90.0:
  • This has smashed the previous Club record aggregate of 447 runs (Ian Peterson in 2015/16) and the Grade average of 52.90 (Mohan Somasundaram in 2023/24
  • Broke the previous Association C4 record 616 runs set in 2024/25
• 132 run 2^nd wicket partnership – Luke Tabone (63) & Jake Condon (57) Vs WPHC Red @ Dural Park 14/2/2026

Bowling

D1 Grade

Dave Larkham (D1 Red) – record D1 dismissals (155).

What would your Decision be?

Questions

Question 1

On the first day of a two-day match, stumps is scheduled for 5:30 pm. At 5:25 pm, the batting side loses its ninth wicket and the final batter comes to the crease.

Play continues, and when time for stumps is reached, the batting side is still nine wickets down. The captain of the fielding side then asks for an extra 30 minutes to attempt to take the tenth wicket.

What is the umpires’ response?

Question 2

A left-arm bowler delivers the ball from round the wicket to a right-hand striker. The delivery is a full toss, but well wide of the striker and below the level of the waist. The ball first lands beyond the line of the striker’s wicket and outside the return crease on the off side.

What is the umpire’s decision?

Question 3

A fair delivery is played to fine leg and the batters set off for a run. The batters have crossed on, but not yet completed the first run when a fielder gathers the ball and begins the return throw to the wicket-keeper. At that moment, a gust of wind blows the fielder’s hat from their head. Unaware of this, the fielder completes the throwing action and, while the ball is still in the hand, it strikes the fallen hat. What action shall either umpire take?

What would your Decision be?

Answers

Question 1

The day’s play shall conclude at completion of the over in progress at the scheduled time for stumps. At this time, the umpire shall call Time, and the bails removed from both wickets. Law 12.2 (see also Law 20.3)

The umpires shall inform the captain of the fielding side that Law 11.7 (extra 30 minutes) applies only to the lunch and tea intervals, and only if the batting side is nine wickets down at the agreed time for the interval.

Question 2

The umpire shall call and signal Wide after the ball has passed the line of the striker’s wicket.

When the ball becomes dead, the umpire shall re-signal Wide to the scorers and wait for acknowledgment before continuing. Law 22.1 With the ball first landing off the pitch and after the line of the striker’s wicket, it qualifies the delivery as a Wide and not a No ball.

This delivery is considered as passing wide of the striker and not within reach for them to be able to hit it with the bat by means of a normal cricket stroke.

Question 3

No action is required in this circumstance, and the ball shall remain in play. Law 28.2.2 The hat has accidentally fallen from the fielder’s head as a result of a gust of wind.

Tom Smith’s page 259 – Fielding the ball It is not illegal fielding, if the item (be it a cap, a helmet, a glove or any other piece of equipment or clothing) has fallen off accidentally and is then hit by the ball. Cases have been known of the ball accidentally falling into a fielder’s open-necked shirt, and even into one of his/ her pockets. Such incidents are not unlawful, because they are not wilful acts.

It is however illegal to deliberately field the ball using worn clothing, such as extending a sweater or loose shirt to catch the ball.