A1 Grade

WPHC (Wurthy) 9/195 defeated Glenorie 141

Match report to follow.

A2

WPHC (Andrew) 5/188 defeated Kenthurst 9/120

We rocked up to an ominous looking Glade deck, with rain clouds threatening and square so green you couldn’t tell what pitch we were playing on. After losing the toss and being sent in Steve “holes in his gloves” Rochow and Andrew “broken finger” Morris looked to get us off to a positive start but sadly for Steve after playing and missing 1427 cover drives he snicked off for 7.

Morris also decided to top edge a proper loosener (he’ll say the Glade demons played a part but we all know who’s right here) from their 3^rd change bowler leaving us at a respectable 2-55 at drinks.

But boy here is where the magic happens…

Nikil “Runway model” Ninan and Campbell “best chat on the field” Wallace had both struggled for runs this year but the Kenthurst “spinner” (not too sure on this one, don’t think too many hit the pitch) made sure this wouldn’t be the case for long.

Two overs of absolute poo and 30 runs later seemed to light a fire in our young batsmen kicking off a 64 run that only ended so Nikil could get to his inner city photoshoot on time, when he finished with 37. Out came Jamie “hold up an end” Shaw who built quite a nice picket fence in the scorebook for 14 supporting Campbell on his way to a very impressive 65.

Both Cambell and Jamie decided to get out within 4 balls of each other which brought both Chris “picked up the cones” Blinman and Tom “what can’t this bloke do” Hando to the crease to finish off the innings, well I say Chris and Tom but what we really mean is Chris leant on his bat up the other end while Tom blasted a quick-fire 21 off just 9 balls. This left us 188 to defend.

Looking for a fast start Jack “The resident scorer” Hando partnered his brother with the new ball, and both had it absolutely hooping round corners, just unfortunately for Jack that corner was a foot down leg at times.

This quickly changed as Jack thundered the Kenthurst opener on the pads and after 2 weeks of sleepless nights he finally had his LBW on the Glade. Tom followed with simple caught and bowled but it was Jack who got the last laugh at the family dinner table picking up another 2, finishing with figures of 3-17 and taking us to drinks at an evenly poised 4-65, more wickets would be important to keep the foot on the throat.

After drinks the new Lachie “A2’s has a spinner??” McBrien and Rowan “Sticky Fingers” Keating worked hard to create chances that didn’t get taken. Keats was making the Glade sing so well that the edges deceived even our keeper having a ball go straight through Rochow’s gloves. Keats also thought he finally had his breakthrough when he grabbed a beautiful edge straight to 1^st slip at chest height, but sadly it was our own T-rex skipper standing there so it was just out of reach, glancing the finger tips on the way through.

Lachie also had a sky ball just go through Andrew’s hands and a lob to mid-off put down by Zach “catches like his dad” Morris before finally grabbing his first wicket of the day ending on 1-27. Maybe the Morris family need to ask Rowan “sticky fingers” Keating for some catching lessons after he bagged 3 screamers

Tanay “Bowls pies to the #11” Hira and Jamie came on to finish the day grabbing 3 and 1 wickets respectively to finish the game at 9-120 and a convincing win for West Penno.

After 70 overs of cricket Chris decided to contribute to the game for the first time by picking up the cones

Next Week we have bottom of the table Normanhurst.

B1

WPHC Red (Phill) 105 lost to St Ives

The batting innings proved too slow to back up, our side only scoring 105 runs in total.

Some honourable mentions were Ragu and Chris scoring 23 each and Warren scoring 17 not out. Our side has the ability to bat well, yet struggled to do so quickly in today’s match. Besides setting a low score we still fought hard to the end.

We managed to last 28 overs before our Opposition won, due to some brilliant bowling by Chris and Alec.

The batting side started fast, scoring 50 runs off the first 7 overs. Some chances were missed early due to two drops in the same over of Daniel’s bowling, yet the our team recovered quite well in the second change bowlers. Daniel Habib took a wicket and Alec took 2 to stem the flow of runs.

Alec took 2 wickets in his first 3 overs through a brilliant stumping by Matthew and a catch he took behind by a thick outside edge. Daniel H contributed through getting the other opener out who had scored 35 in the first 13 overs. Daniel H, proved to be the most economical in his bowling, provided needed pressure. The quick fall of wickets provided a better chance of winning as it greatly reduced the run rate. However, St Ives did eventually win in the 24^th over.

WPHC Blue (Rick) 95 lost to Castle Hill 1/108

It would be negligent of the author of this column to not call out sterling performance.

It was noted this week that The Vegan, The Zog, a well-entrenched member of our A Grade cartel was the first A grade bowler to “ton up” this year. That’s impressive after 3 rounds which would put the man on a five to six hundred season. I know Zog bears the brunt of a lot well intentioned banter from our A graders but let’s be honest he easily beat Jamaican to the ton given Jamaican (multiple A grade premiership winning captain and star of our top order this season) had barely breached 90 in the same timeframe. Zog, dude, add some more Tofu to those salads.

After that digression, onto the abysmal performance that the B1 blues served up today.

Flair lost the toss and it was all downhill from there. Flair and Brent opened and looked solid until Flair got a leading edge and was on his way for 22. Volc came and went for a quick 15, and quick cameo by Ivan, but we proceeded to then lose 3 cheap wickets. From 2/54 to 5/66. A rear-guard innings of 27 (including 6 fours) from Boo Boo saved us from complete embarrassment as we posted a paltry 105 on a ground where 175 is par. Best efforts with the bat Boo Boo 27, Flair 22, Brent 19 and Volc 15.

Onto the bowling and we knew we needed to bowl them out to win the game. Well we grabbed an early one with Ivan catching the edge and Volc taking a sharp catch in the gully. There were plenty of edges that went through the cordon, not going to hand and racing away for a boundary.

Frankly for all their hard work and toil the bowlers would not have got one in a brothel with a fist full of hundreds today. Castle Hill posted the winning runs inside 20 overs. Ivan grabbing the only wicket 1/28. Birdcage copping a bit of stick today 0/40 off 4.4.

A poor performance today and nowhere near our best. A bit of soul searching required to do to find some consistent runs. Plenty of starts but no graft when it was needed. To coin a phrase we’re a happy team at B1 Blues. We just need to find our best cricket.

B2

WPHC (Shomik) 90 lost to ARL 6/134

Match report to follow

C2

WPHC Red (Indranil) 5/153 defeated St Ives 7/150

Seems a pattern developing for this team. Team announced early in the week but by Friday – few injury concerns which at times makes it difficult to get final 11 or 12.

Last round Aanya Singh from juniors U14 team filled in and this round at the last hour Ansh Pratheesh filled in. Both playing as the 12^th player and getting lot of experience in the Seniors. This is positive for the club as we are able to groom for the future.

Now to R4. Someone advised the Captain to call heads and it worked finally.

Winning the toss for the first time this season and being overcast conditions no hesitancy to bowl first. Ansh 0/17 opened the bowling with Amit 2/21 and it was tight bowling keeping the runs in check. At drinks break, St Ives was on 2/66, and then the batsman had some lucky breaks. Some great catching by Richard, Manav (2) and death bowling by Adam Sarloos 3/19 supported by overall good fielding, restricted St Ives to 150.

Our turn to bat and captain Indranil 41 and Cameron_the_batter_Bish 60 had a flying start with 70 runs opening stand in 16 overs. The partnership included 12×2 runs which you have to believe was possible only with one batter having the energy at one end (almost running like twice one for the batter and non-striker).

We lost few wickets at the end to up the run rate but bringing it home in the 32^nd over. A good win nevertheless and hope it’s the start of many more to come.

And reminder for the boys to buy the tickets for next week Comedy night, more the merrier.

WPHC Blue (Buzz) 9/110 lost to Hornsby 7/112

With Captain Buzz away, Vink Snr took the reins of the Blues this week.

With many tactical discussions leading up to the game, we had a master plan, ‘win the toss and send them in to bat’. Well, Captain Vink lost the toss and we were sent in the bat, great start! Time to recalibrate, Hornsby have come to play.

Harry and Sandeep opened this week, and with 11 runs off the first 2 overs we were away. Unfortunately, the bowlers tempted Harry with a cut shot that was well caught. The Hornsby bowlers really tightened and only conceded 6 runs off the next 8 overs. We fought on until Dylan (17) fell just on drinks with the score on 35. From here our top order shifted a gear and lifted the run rate but also conceded some wickets.

Sandeep 23, Tarun 15, and Xander 16 all had starts and made some great shots but were unable to go on with it. With 10 overs to go, we had a couple of short cameos from Sam & Riley, but it was our regular opener Connor (14no) batting at #9 this week holding us together and getting the score to 9/110.

The score was going to be a tough one to defend and we needed to bowl and field well.

Paul & Jack opened and immediately challenged the batsmen. Unfortunately, a couple of tough chances from Paul’s bowling went down before Jack broke the stumps of a bewildered opening batsman. We kept the Hornsby batters under pressure and with regular bowling changes we took wickets. Dylan, Connor, Xander (2) and Sandeep all took wickets early in their spells. Towards the end, Craig came into the attack for the first time this season and bowled well picking up a wicket. The game remained in the balance the whole way through. The closing overs were left to Craig and Jack and they really bowled well under enormous pressure.

With a few wickets left in the shed, and a stubborn #7, a couple of streaky shots was enough to get them over the line with a handful of bowls left.

The C2 competition is really competitive, and we need to be our best each game. For today, perhaps it wasn’t enough runs, the occasionally rush of blood, some additional extras, and a few decisions that didn’t go our way.

It is the little things that can make a difference in a close game, but whilst we lost, everyone fought hard and contributed today. Look out whoever we play next week….Buzz will be back!

C3

WPHC (Cameron) 8/172 defeated Berowra 83

Our first game at Greenway for the season and we lost the toss and sent into bat.

Our target was to score 200 runs but some restrictive bowling for a short period during the innings meant that our target was out of reach, but we managed to post a healthy score of 8/172. A good strong innings from opener Vinod Kumar (38) followed by Varun Arora (45) and Vedant Vilamari (37), set the game up for a strong finish by the big hitters in the group. John Rose hit 19 off one over finishing with 28 not out and our team added 100 runs to our score in the last 14 overs.

The highlight today was our bowling.

Taking the new ball for the first time of the season was Laksha Rao who bowled a 7 over straight spell to finish with 3/16. He was well supported by Praneel Singh 1/7 off six overs and with this tight bowling, the pressure continued to mount. A decision to make a change in the last over before drinks by bringing on Steve Quanborough, bought an immediate wicket first ball, when a slow full toss was smashed to the mid-wicket boundary and caught on the fence by Laksha Rao to break another partnership.

Overall our fielding was excellent and when we took control of the game an opportunity was taken to allow other bowlers a chance to show their talents and we watch a good bowling spell from both Qasim Inayet and Jay Dhilipkumar.

A good strong win against a weak opposition but our execution was of a high standard and our confidence is building in the right direction.

C4

WPHC (Rob) 3/84 defeated Vs Castle Hill 9/82

We rocked up at Northholm Grammar to an overcast day, ideal for bowling.

The bowling started well with some steady bowling from Reyhan and Daniel which bought the first wicket, for Reyhan. The change of bowling bought in Mudi and Luke on, with Mudi picking up two in two balls, closely followed by another wicket for Mudi. Roger came in and had the batsmen on the dance floor as Aden took the bails off for a stumping. Zia down the other end bowled the batsmen with a lovely change up. Daniel then got bought back in to attack with 2 Express pace deliveries to clean up the stumps, including one souvenir of a broken bail. At the end of the 35 overs, castle hill ended up on 9-82.

Will started the batting off in his usual fine form, Pravin sadly couldn’t follow despite hitting 4 off his first ball, Kamran went in to score a well-made 6. Alastair was next in combining with will before Will gave in to a big swing, falling for 32. Aden headed in next to finish off the innings, the two not out batsmen were Alastair with 33 and Aden with 5. The team finishing up on 3-84.

Overall a great performance with bat and ball, looking forward to continuing the good run with Genorie next week.

D1

WPHC Red (Diggers) 9/214 lost to D1 Blue (Ross S) 5/227

Another sheep station cup between the Reds and the Blues, with the Reds having bragging rights, after a 2-1 win last season.

Campbell Park was looking dry and fast. With overcast conditions we were really not sure how long it would be until rain came. With the captains dressed in attire rightly suited to the occasion, Ross tossed and Disco called correctly with heads…no hesitation sending the Blues into bat…

Muthindra and Jake opened for the Blues and got us off to a fast start Jake looking to take apart the bowling before Parin got one to rise surprising Jake, gloving it onto the stumps…..then after a few lusty hits from Muthindra, Parin took out off stump…..Blues 2-24….off 5 overs with both openers gone.

Hop along Happy was joined by Jags. Both guys decided lusty hitting with as little running as possible was the go, both guys looking to play the big shot. Jags hit a couple of big 6’s but was dismissed caught behind of Marcus for 23. A partnership of 64 off just 7 overs….Chetan then joined Happy and runs continued to flow.

At the 18 over mark, the Blues were 3/118 with a big score in the making. Happy quite content to stand and deliver, and only when necessary walking a single…52 no….Lachlan bowling a tight spell to challenge both batsmen….

After the drinks break, Lachlan dismissed Cheten (28) c&b with a well flighted delivery, Blues still pushing along 4/147…..at this point with Happy decidedly inconvenienced by a crook calf, he decided to take things up another level….7*4 and 3*6 took him to 99……then to top things off the walk for a single took him to his hundred. The 500th club century…and time for a big rest…..100no

Parin came back to take his 3rd wicket (3/34 ) off a really well executed 7 overs….Gihan 32no and Pankaj took us to a respectable score of 227/5 at innings close. The Reds toiling hard having only 10 fielders on a super fast field….

Reds turn to bat……with Pratah and Lachlan batting with aggressive intent right from the start. Lachlan despatching the first delivery of the innings over the fence…..great start. Runs continued to flow with great batting and boundaries flowing…Blues opening bowlers seen off. At 0/54 off 9 overs Reds cruising…..Jags got the first break through, Pratah (19) hit one right in the middle,  but unfortunately  waste high straight to Ross who took a good catch at mid wicket….. this did not perturb the Reds with Rommel (20)  hitting 5 4’s in row before skying one to Pankaj at deep mid wicket again off Jags. .Reds 2/76 of just 12 overs….lusty hitting from Zac and a really well constructed innings from Lachlan had the Reds 2/111 at the drinks break….Blues bowlers toiling.

After the drinks break runs continued to flow from the Blues bowlers. A couple of dropped catches and the Reds batsmen taking the advantage. Lachlan got to a chanceless 50, and Zac flogging a couple of huge 6’s.

With the score at 154, Happy came back for a second spell and bowled Zac for a well-made 47, ending a 78 run partnership with Lachlan. A couple of quick wickets to the Blues a runout and LBW to Cheten – Reds 5/179….

Needing a further 48 runs of 7 overs, with the Reds continuing to fight and the Blues trying to tighten things up. Lachlan continuing to hold the innings together and pushing the score over the 200 mark…if ever someone deserved his 100 it was Lachlan after a superb innings, however just not to be this time. His dismissal was a result of playing for the team. Needing 24 off the last 5 overs and looking for runs, caught by Jags at at deep mid wicket off Happy for 92….

3 wickets in the final 5 overs, including a stumping and catch by Sandeep off Mahesh (2/36) and a final LBW to Happy (3-32), saw the Reds finish at 214 just 13 runs short with  an over remaining.

A great batting effort with a man down…..but well done to the Blues bowlers and fielders for keeping us in the game.

So rain held off, and we managed to play a game in great spirit…over 440 runs scored on the day…..and standout performances from Lachlan and Happy….Big congrats to Happy though who scored the 500th club century…….

D2

WPHC (Nirav) 5/62 defeated Kenthurst 61

Trip to Arcadia always seems like a bit of a hike for all of us and today was no exception and we were in for a surprise. The shin-deep grass on one end of the ground from previous years had surprisingly disappeared but that did not make it any faster and the ball just did not want to travel.

Arun inaugurated his captaincy career with a toss win and we put Kenthurst in to bat and our opening bowlers were right on the money.

Mridul kept his tight form on and finished with an extremely economical figure of 0-8 off his 6. Chintan on the other hand carried on his form from the previous game having picked up 3 key wickets, again conceding just 8 runs off his 7 overs. Tej came in as the first change and he was equally balanced in his approach and picked up a couple and so did Nirav. Ravi & Tonoy also picked up their first scalps of the season.

We decided to open the batting with an unorthodox approach and sent Tonoy out with Luke and that immediately seemed to click with Tonoy pushing a ball over the slips for a 4 on a terribly slow outfield, however we lost a few quick wickets and were 4 for 15 and things got a bit tense. Agni and Ravi tried to push the brakes to get some momentum back however the former ran himself out when his bat got stuck right on the crease after he cleaned up their quickest for a mammoth 6 out of the park. In came Arun who played a Captain’s knock to steer the team home with a crucial 21 not out alongside Ravi (15 not out)

A special shout out to our club legend Mike Kinchington who has been a constant wherever we have been playing and thank for all his help with umpiring so far. Lastly, Mick (Cory’s dad) for all your help with the scoring so that the team can focus on the game.

After 4 rounds, the team seems to have gotten into a winning rhythm so onwards and upwards from here.