Round 4

WPHCCC Blue v Castle Hill RSL @ Glenhaven
(25/10/03-1/11/03)
(DAY 1 of 2)

For the second time this season our opposition changed mid-week and instead of playing Mt. Colah we played Castle Hill RSL who were demoted from B2’s. Due to their demotion, the Castle Hill lineup were an unknown quantity that needed to be treated with respect.

With Elegant Rabbit needing to leave early to watch the France v Scotland game at the Rugby World Cup, Uder took over the reigns as captain for the game. Uder won the toss and elected to bat in overcast conditions with a good chance of a storm occurring.

Unfortunately only 16 overs were bowled on Day 1 as the expected storm hit. However, no-one expected such a storm as what occurred. Large hailstones hit the Glenhaven ground and all players ran to escape the damage. Luckily there was no damage to anyone’s person or car.

Full credit must be given to Elegant Rabbit who ventured out into the middle in the pouring rain and hail to retrieve both teams set of stumps. Luckily ER wasn’t wearing his cricket shirt as no-one want’s to see a wet t-shirt contest involving anyone from our team. As luck would have it, Rhino had a camera ready and pictures were taken of Captain Sambucca in the storm. These pictures will be uploaded asap.

As for the game, the day ended early as already previously mentioned, at 2/51 with Funzo and Ryan the not out batsmen. Unluckily for Gill and Whip it real good, the rain came too late to save them from their wickets falling.

An unexpected bonus of the day finishing early was the early return to WPH Sports Club whereby the fine kitty was injected with much needed funds.

(DAY 2 of 2)

With a draw the most likely of results to occur, the WPHCCC Blue team set out to bat solidly and quickly until tea to set up a defendable score.

Unfortunately for the team the batting was again dismal (Apart from Funzo’s glorious 75) and we were bundled out for 138 in 40 overs. Funzo held the team together and almost carried his bat until being the last batsman out holing out to mid-off although he struck the ball hard.

With the team only defending 138, the bowlers needed to be on target early. Buckets got an early wicket and Thinker at the other end was causing trouble for the opposition. At tea, Castle Hill RSL was 1/24 and looking in a solid position.

After tea, the WPHCCC Blue team started off brillantly, with the opposition losing wickets with ease. The Castle Hill captain was looking solid until Funzo caught an amazing catch at mid-wicket off the bowling of Rhino to start the wickets tumbling.

Castle Hill RSL was sitting nicely at 1/26 when the wheels fell off and lost 9/14 to be all out for 40.

Buckets was the leader in attack this game finishing with figures of 8/17 off 8 overs including a hat-trick. Rhino and Thinker supporter Buckets nicely with the fielders also playing their part.

WPHCCC Blue sent the Castle Hill team in again and had them 2/3 and then 7/63 until time caught up with WPHCCC Blue which almost resulted in an unlikely outright victory.

In the second innings Rhino was the pick of the bowlers with 4/30 off 9 overs. He was well supported by Thinker, Swampy, Shannon and Funzo.

In the end a very good way to start November and hopefully the season can continue in this spirit. As it stands after 4 rounds, WPHCCC Blue are equal top on 23 points with defending premiers ARL and Kenthurst.

Stars:

Andrew McKinnon with 75 out of 138 in the team’s batting

Alistair Rayment with 8/17 off 8 overs including a hat-trick. It was the 116th time in the clubs history that someone had gotten figures of 7 wickets or better. Also, it was the club’s 28th hat-trick

Ryan Cherrie for figures of 4/30 off 9 in the second innings

Achievers
The fine kitty is now up to approximately $700.