Match Reports

Round 5 (1-Dayer)

A1 Grade

WPHC (Cam #25) Vs BYE

Next game is against Normanhurst-Warrawee in Round 7

A2 Grade

WPHC Blue (Birdcage) 91 lost to Castle Hill 177

Match Report not received

WPHC Red (Todd) 129 & 3/208 lost to Berowra 6/188 dec & 4/100

Today we were reminded that maybe sometimes, cricket is alright.

Questions were raised today as to whether people can make it to the end of these match reports, hence this week I’d like to start with Lachie slander to make sure it is acknowledged:

Lachie “Seriously this bloke bowls spin?” Edwards returned from a career threatening wrist injury sustained during a questionable extracurricular activity, and in after an alright 19* in the first dig, he fell 196 runs short of the double century he promised us if he was allowed to open. He also dropped 15 catches.

Anyway now to the real cricketers. After we managed to practically lose the game last week, we could only go up. Berowra resumed needing 30 odd to win, and Benny Burrows picked up two scalps before they reached the total. Opting to bat on, Todd and Jack managed to pick up a wicket each and Berowra declared with a lead on 49.

With batters given the word to play as normal we started our second innings well after dropping the dead weight of Lachie “Melman” Edwards and witnessing a good partnership between the weatherman Aaron (25) and Trudy Judey Boyle (48). But what made this day truly special was the knock of world’s decentest bloke Billy Gaunt.

Billy showed his class, coming in off red hot form after his 88* in the Community Cup, he started his innings with aggressive stroke play.

If you were hoping for a vivid shot by shot description of the innings you are fresh out of luck, as your author is a bowler. And said bowler was watching the Tyson Paul fight for much of Billy’s innings.

However I was paying attention for the anxiety causing three overs that he was stuck in 99 with Todd wanting to declare. Ollie Makin finally gave me a reason to hate him as he was incapable of getting Billy on strike (as he was too busy smacking boundaries on his way to 22* off 11). Finally on the last ball before drinks Billy managed to slash one down to the third man boundary to finish our innings as he ended up on 103* (79) and we took a lead of about 150.

With an hour left and a new pill we tried to reverse the decision, a run out and 2 wickets from Todd, and a wicket from Jack were all we could muster as Berowra shut up shot after swinging the bat and blocked out a maiden from Billy (which they should be disgusted about) and negotiated some questionably necessary Todd Hutcho bouncers.

The takeaway of today (aside from the burger I got off Uber eats) is that we won. Not just the hearts of the nation, but we won today. Ignoring our horrendous showing last week (aside from the masterful 4(26) from Ben Burrows (any chance of a promotion Todd?)) we won today, making this our first win of the season and giving us one up on Mike Tyson for the day.

B1 Grade

WPHC Blue (Shomik) 6/181 defeated St Ives-Wahroonga 170

Before the game, Shomik asked whether we should bowl or bat first. Being a Test match purest, I always like to preach a rule 1. If you win the toss, bat, and rule 2. If you think you should bowl, then refer to rule one. Even though the cloudy overcast conditions would’ve even had the Pakistanis or Pommies itching to bowl first on Rawalpindi raceway, Shomik decided to strategically lose the toss and politely ask the St. Ives Captain that we would love to bat first, which obviously didn’t happen, but we still got to bat first.

A little reshuffle meant we had smoothed out the opening and middle order more suited to one-day cricket.

Sagnik, Shomik, and Alec made significant progress and set a modest total for the beginning session. Sagnik made 24 runs in his innings when he was disappointingly uprooted by the slowest inswinger yorker I have ever seen. Apart from the runs, it was an uncomfortable pitch to bat on, not for the bounce or skid but for this fine film of wet dirt, which meant pushing off the back foot to start a run was brutal. We were 2-77 at the first drinks, and when you return to the field at 4 an over and only 2 wickets down, the ability to accelerate to 6-7 runs an over is so much easier.

Shomik, Alec and Amanpreet absolutely poleaxed the St. Ives bowling attack, not expecting the second-half bludgeoning. It did have a 3-4 over lull in between Shomik and Alec departing, both getting caught in quick succession for 37 and 48. Still, Amanpreet, this is the first time I have seen this man run as many singles as possible for his 38. On his return to the side, Harsh (12) contributed generously to the late over “singles” kitty.

“We have a total to defend.”

• P. Watkins, 2024, North Turramurra Reserve, Colourised

First, I would’ve loved it if the St. Ives team had filled out their scoresheet, so I am sitting here trying to write the report and decipher the Da Vinci code.

Their batting was like ours, this slow, methodical opening session, only losing 2 wickets and then pouncing toward the end. Wow, and now that I have read the overs to try and figure out how long the sticky 2^nd wicket partnership has happened, they just stopped filling out the over’s column as well. Okay, now I must use my memory; Shomik took this red-hot catch to dismiss their number 4, who looked entirely set; it was a super hard-hit low catch that stung.

the spinners coming in and knowing how deep the St. Ives line-up has been in the past few weeks, Nathan and Amit bowled some courageous overs in the middle to late session. The field was spread, and there weren’t a lot of high balls being hit. They ensured that the run rate did not creep up, and their inevitable acceleration was muted. However, it still meant they were within striking distance. Amit then took the spoils with the run-rate catching up to them with 10ish overs left (3-21).

The running between the wickets kept them very close, and when I say close, I mean we might lose this game close. But 181 was just a few too many, and Shomik came in late, looking for the pegs, taking two wickets and four overall, and we “rolled” them with 11 runs left.

Awesome game; with so many ups and downs, it’s shaping to be a great season. Sheep station at Greenway on the ticket this week, very hyped.

WPHC Red (Warren) 116 lost to Berowra 158

Good morning ladies, gentlemen and whatever you identify as Steve Quan.

Today had the potential to be the day of cricket dreams are made of. Beating the old rivals the B Town Bandits at the home of cricket in our 191728^th match up against Berowra (source Ross Anderson). This match-up also had the added bonus of featuring the 2 most capped B Grade players ever in Rick ‘dick’ Dakich and Rowan ‘Ronan’ Keating pinned against each other in what would be as hostile and fiery match up as that little tiff happening in the Middle East at the minute. More on that later.

As stand in Captain Rob ‘F.Errari’ Knapman has done an excellent job in being completely bloody useless at the coin toss. For someone who is an absolute tosser in his every day life you would think he could win a coin toss but apparently the two things have little to no correlation. Nonetheless we had to field first.

Our opening spells by Dan ‘Matt’ Schwartzel’ and Nathaniel ‘Alex’ Chidgey produced little to nothing in the good bowling department. We were wayward and didn’t bowl enough good balls early on. This let Rick ‘dick’ Dachich being up his 50 within 10 overs. This was his 282728th 50 in B grade cricket in 29272922826282829297 innings (source Ross Anderson). Theresa B town bandits were off to a bloody flyer… it would take a lot to pull this one back.

Enter Cam ‘Lachlan L Mac’ McBrien filling in for us despite being 5 months pregnant (source Ross Anderson). Cam bowled with some nice heat and aimed at the base of the stumps. Unlocking a secret to bowling out other bowlers hadn’t quite figured out today. If you bowl at the stumps sometimes you hit them. Go figure… Camos took 3 quick wickets to contain the bandits to 158. An extremely chase able total on a rapid Greenway oval.

Now for our batting effort….

Ashane ‘the worst de Silva at the club’ de Silva and Matt ‘Dan’ Schwartzel opened proceedings with Matt departed for a big fat golden in the second over.

This brought Cameron ‘Dylan’ Bish to the centre. Cameron and Ashane then got off to a rapid start bring up our 50 within 9 overs. From here we thought it would be pretty smooth sailing until the pair literally forgot how to bat. The runs just stopped flowing, there was a couple of very very very close LBW shouts which Matthew ‘Steve Bucknor’ Digby turned down. Unfortunately the pair dug a bit of a hole for themselves before departing after getting good starts. Ray ‘3000 run club’ Khamis did the same whilst entering the 3000 run club on the way. Congrats big fella it only took you 29272828226 innings at the club (Source Ross Anderson). Keats ‘Keating’ Keating hit some shots as did Cam but the run chase just never got going.

We were all out for 100 odd.

Today cricket sucked.

Hopefully next week it doesn’t suck.

Other news

• Billy becomes the 29736385^th WPHCCCCCCC CENTURION after scoring the same amount of runs as Ross Anderson has lived years on this earth 43 years ago (103*)
• Adam ‘Blowfly’ Van Saarloos gets demoted to C2s on his slippery slope to play with Ian Digby
• Rob ‘dog’ Knapman dogs the boys for Brent’s bucks please shun him if you see him

C1 Grade

WPHC (Indranil) Vs Castle Hill RSL 179

Rocking up to an overcast Dural Park to take on Castle Hill, you’d think it’d be a good day to bowl, well captain Indi did, after winning the toss and we didn’t get a wicket from the first session.

Opening the bowling, Ben.W and Reyhan bowled absolute line and length worthy of grabbing 5fer within the early overs. But any knicks and half chances went astray. Vishnu and Inam supporting the openers well with tight bowling from both.

However rash swings and wild edges meant that the Castle Hill openers were 0-54 at the first drinks. But Inam broke the deadlock straight after the break. Fill in and club stalwart Eric Junkkari soon grabbed a second and all of a sudden Castle Hill were 2 down.

Inam grabbed the third and Castle Hill then had their captain join their no.4 at the crease with the two dead batting till tea.

3-94 at the Tea break saw openers Reyhan and Ben.W continue to bowl line and length. Rey then took the fourth with keeper Nic taking a classic behind the stumps, Gilly would’ve been proud. Although slip Will was fuming because it was “regulation for a slip”.

Rey then took a 2^nd wicket before more slow batting before Vishnu finally grabbed Castle Hill’s no.4 bowled right on the stroke of Tea. Well, the last hour was the most event after a boring day in the field – source Ollie and Will, the two sitting down in between delays.

Our man Vishnu took a second wicket a second wicket straight after drinks with The Ahmed’s (no relation) ended up taking the last three wickets Inam the 8^th and Rey the last two taking 4-22 off 13.4. Clearly the pick of the bowlers.

Each bowler bowled well, bowling Castle Hill out for 179, halfway through the 68 over meaning it was an early stumps.

Special mention to Eric Junkkari who filled in for the team today, always great to play with the man!

Big chase ahead let’s go for it lads!

C2 Grade

WPHC Red (Aniket) 106 Vs WPHC Blue (Hiresh) 1/70

It was a day of fiercely contested battles all around the world. Paul Vs Tyson. Australia Vs Pakistan. Mankey Vs his girlfriend. But none trumps the battle of the C2 match between WPH Blue Vs WPH Red on a fine Saturday afternoon at Caddies Creek.

Although it didn’t come without its speedbumps prior to the toss, as the Blues star keeper Renesh was still feeling the injury to both of his pinkie fingers that granted Hiresh the gloves last week. Despite this, after a lot of begging from his teammates, Renesh agreed to take the gloves back and fight through the pain. What a guy.

As well as Renesh, Mukund was feeling the effects of a previous injury to his right arm and shoulder that left him out of bowling action for the previous few weeks. How he injured it no one knows, but rumours spread that he injured it reaching for tissues… after seeing India’s poor display against New Zealand.

But, to the frustration of the Blue’s, the Reds won the toss and decided to have a bat, with opening pairing Lakshya and Saurabh kicking things off.

While Saurabh looked to continue his good form with the bat, this proved to be a tough feat, as in the 15^th over, old man Shanks took the wicket of Lakshya, as he hit it to the diving Adam to dismiss one of the two openers.

Runs continued to come tough for the batsman, as Shanks picked up another wicket, this time in the form of Saurabh who hit it straight up in the air, and into the arms of the awaiting John.

The new pairing of Rahul and Blake proved to be a short one, as once again, Shanks dismissed Blake for a duck after a beautifully unexpected catch by Muksy in the slips.

The next batsman, Bhavjit, walked to the crease, and was quickly sent back after being dismissed by… you know who… Shankar Ravi(chandran Ashwin), and caught by… Mukund… again…

Desperate for runs, Mohan stepped out to the crease and looked to steady the ship and form a partnership. Mohan and Rahul batted soundly until the 28^th over, when Ratul took the wicket of his former school-mate Rahul, as he hit it straight to… I don’t even want to say it anymore… Mukund Venkat, as Muks took his 4^th catch of the game.

With the Reds being 5/47 at the end of the 30^th over, things weren’t looking too good, as another wicket fell at the hands of John Kurian, with Shakeel walking back to the sheds with 4 runs to his name.

But here would lie the real test for the Blues, as well-known player, Hari, walked to the centre. The batting prowess of Mohan and Hari had been one that the Blues were very well aware of, with the outcome of this partnership being a vital driver in the direction of the match. But 3 balls into his innings, Hari was made to walk back without a run, as his former teammate John took his wicket after a stunning catch from Harshil.

In all the excitement and energy from the Blues, it was Mohan that curbed the celebrations, as he hit a valiant 45 runs to bring his teams total to 106 runs, with the batters after Hari collectively making 11 runs. With Shanks taking 5 wickets, he has well and truly proved that Unc’s still got it.

With time still left in the day, Week 1 players Rishab and Rudhra padded up and got things running for the Blues. Although Rudhra did fall for 7 to a wonderful delivery from Reds captain, Aniket, with rumours spreading around that the young man was in a rush to get back to the shed to leave for the Australia Vs Pakistan match. A ticket which he willingly paid $100 for.

Let that one sink in.

One brothers misfortune, is seemingly another brother’s luck, as Rishab hit a wonderful 51* to guide the Blues to a solid 1/70 at the end of the day, with the Blues requiring 37 runs to win next week.

Now let’s take a second to talk about Meet. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you.

Did Meet do anything wrong today? No. But am I still going to write a paragraph about his performance? Absolutely.

It was Rishabh Pant who coined the famous term of “temporary captain”; something which I think Meet can relate to here. After successfully losing the toss and screwing the pooch for his team, Meet contributed to everything good that happened for the Blues. And by everything good, I mean he contributed to absolutely nothing at all. No wickets, no chat, no catches. But what did Meet want? All of the credit. “It was my captaincy that got us to this position.” Yeah… ok, Painey.

So, I pose the question back to you. Did Meet do anything wrong today? No. But did Meet actually DO anything at all? Also, no.

The result of this one, though, still remains to be seen next week…

C3 Grade

WPHC (Mick) 2/60 Vs Beecroft 102

The C3 lads were out to face the competition front runners feeling some trepidation.

Beecroft had been piling on the runs all year and we were starting with 9.

We had to win the toss. We lost the toss.

Out onto the field we trudged.

Opening up with Danno and Karlos the bowling was particuarly tight. Beecroft wanted to get a wriggle on and the chances were coming.

Dan was rewarded for a month of great bowling with 3 wickets.

Karl kept putting ‘em on the spot and got 3 himself.

The Deverson spin twins bowled in great partnership with Snr picking up a couple.

Managing to knock Beecroft over for a hundred was a great result.

The star fielder of the day was young Matty Day. Making some tremendous saves and running around like the energiser bunny.

Great work, Matty!

Munish and Harry went to work after tea and put on a very solid opening partnership. A couple of late wickets, but at 2-60 we are looking good to continue the winning streak.

C4 Grade

WPHC Red (Ross S) 4/175 lost to Thornleigh 8/177

Overcast day at Thornleigh Park, looking for a win to stay in the top 4.

A really bad loss. So that’s 2 losses and a tie coming down to the last over.

We lost the toss and were ask to bat. Some early good bowling on a Thornleigh pitch that had the ball around the chin then crawling along ground. Losing our first three wickets early…3-10 off a handful of overs. Very bad start.

Some consolidation between Mridal and Gihan before Gihan was dismissed for 20 from the demon pitch….a ball bowled short hitting him in the ankle…….4/43…

Enter Ram on a mission taking 3 boundaries off his first few balls. Mridal playing a patient innings. At the 18 over drinks break 4/62.

After the break some wonderful batting by both guys, Ram hitting 3 huge 6s into the bush. Both guys playing a wonderfully aggressive knocks putting on 132 getting us to a decent total of 175 at the close of innings. Ram 76no and Mridal 59no.

Our turn to bowl. Ram and Gihan bowled steadily over the first few overs, fielding was good except for a missed chance off Ram early. First change saw Henry take 2 quick wickets including a juggled caught and bowled. Then a runout. Thornleigh 3-79 at Drinks.

After the break Muthindra took 2 wickets in the first over clean bowling both. 5-79 and we are on top.

From then on dropped catches…then finally a wicket to Henry, clean bowled, and a spectacular runout…in the same over Raynaldo huge throw from the boundary taken one handed by Henry. Thornleigh 7/129……us on top again and looking to close out.

From that point downhill again. Some edges to boundaries, a caught behind not given, some leg-side bowling, and more dropped chances…..one more wicket to Henry though , Thornleigh 8-154 still needing 22. 2 more dropped chances – the Thornleigh skipper. Thornleigh passing our score in the last over with their skipper hitting a boundary.

Wickets to Henry 3/37(7), uthindra 2/27(5) and Mridal 1/33(7). Catches to Raymond and Henry.

Another game we are on top, let slip and could not close out.

Very disappointing.

WPHC Blue (Rob) 6/167 defeated Berowra 67/166

Rocking up to the ground to see a kids pitch would prove to provide a good game of not juniors cricket as we once again found ourselves in a close run chase.

Rob once again wins the toss and chooses to field.

Berowra started well with the two openers being unbeaten going to drinks with a total of 89. We went out after drinks and made an early breakthrough to begin to wrestle back momentum. From there we proceeded to bowl tight overs and keep them to a respectable total of 166. Especially considering there would be a fair few extras with the nice ‘wide’ pitch.

2 Wickets to Jake and 1 each to Buzz, Mudi and Zia helped to stop the flow of runs along with a run out from Ryan. A shoutout to Lance who conceded just 6 runs from his 5 overs and was unlucky to not have a wicket.

Openers Luke and Kamran got the game off to a solid start with a partnership of 62 before falling in quick succession for 33 and 23 respectively. Wickets fell around Jake but he played another important role as he steadied our team. He fell for 37 and we sat at 6-126 needing 41 runs to win.

A batting masterclass proceeds to follow in the hands of Arjan (23*) and Manu (16*). Straight drive after straight drive along with touches of finesse allowed these two to prove no match for the Berowra bowlers as they calmly steered us home to victory in the last over.

Second weekend in a row Manu is at the crease to chase down the target. Arjan most likely earning a promotion in the order as he’d only previously batted once this season. Just has to work on turning up to consecutive weekends.

6 Points and a lecture to some bowlers for next week.

WPHC White (Agniva) 7/177 defeated Glenorie 9/132

After a couple of tough rounds, it was time for WPHC White to make the journey up to the Glenorie Hills for Round 6. Standing in the middle, ready for yet another toss, was Agniva, and, as if following a well-rehearsed script, he lost his 8^th consecutive toss of the season. (At this rate, we might need to consult Ross’ Wisden for a new record!) Glenorie opted to bowl first, which suited us fine given the conditions.

Arun and Chintan opened the innings and gave us a start that could only be described as a dream. By the 5-over mark, we were sitting comfortably at 0-35, cruising along with confidence. But as cricket would have it, momentum can be a fickle friend. Arun was run out in a moment that left the camp stunned, and not long after, Chintan found himself caught out by a delivery that held on to the pitch just a moment too long.

Enter Suf and Anubhav, and what followed was nothing short of brilliance.

The duo built a solid partnership that not only stabilized the innings but also laid the foundation for a respectable total. Over the next 25 overs, they combined patience with well-timed aggression, putting on a 104-run stand that had the sidelines cheering. Anubhav’s gritty innings came to an end at a well-deserved 51, and Suf, equally solid, fell soon after for 44. Their efforts were crucial in setting us up for a competitive score. A late 22-run partnership between Sayan and Sitabja pushed our total to 177, giving us a strong target to defend.

After a quick afternoon tea, kindly organized by Glenorie, it was time for our bowlers to go to work. It was evident from the start that Glenorie had no real urgency to chase the target down—or maybe our bowling was just that good. By the drinks break, Glenorie had only managed to put up around 50 runs, a testament to the pressure applied by our bowlers.

The star of the show was none other than Praneel Singh, who bowled his best spell of the season. His 4-16 off 7 overs was a masterclass in line, length, and guile, breaking the back of Glenorie’s batting order. The rest of the bowling unit kept things tight at the other end, with Chintan picking up 2 wickets, and Pritam, Agni, and Santhosh each chipping in with one wicket. Special mention to Santhosh for claiming his maiden wicket for WPHCCC—well done!

In the end, Glenorie finished at 9-132, unable to overcome the pressure of our disciplined bowling and sharp fielding. This victory was a crucial one, as we managed to topple the ladder leaders and get back to winning ways. It was a reminder of what we can achieve when we back each other up and play as a team.

Here’s to carrying this momentum forward into the next round.

Well done, team!

D1 Grade

WPHC Red (Diggers) 66 lost to Kissing Point 173

After a couple of close losses at Northholm Grammar over the last couple of weeks, we were keen to try our luck at Auluba Oval against Kissing Point, who are currently equal first on the table.

Diggers had another coin toss win and decisively elected to bowl given the overcast conditions and due to Farjad needing to leave early for Aus Vs Pak T20 (we were already one bowler short!).

Kissing Point sent out their younger batsman to open and started to tee off immediately. Disco (2/26) and Manraj (2/40) did well to contain and take a few early wickets.

We could have had a far better early session if we’d held our catches, unfortunately dropping at least 6), and if we had fielded better. At the drinks break KP were 4/107.

The second session showed an improvement in fielding with the old guns Ross (2 catches) and Cliff (1 catch) showing the way.

By the end of the innings KP had been bowled out for 173. A great spell of bowling from part-timer Adi (2/21) was the highlight.

Our chase started promising with Cliff and Ross at the crease. However, we had another batting collapse (our third in a row) and we were bowled out for 66 in the 24^th over. The only shining light was Cliff who top-scored with 36. A fill-in junior for KP (aged 14) took 5 poles and the final catch of the day. At least it will be a day for him to remember!

WPHC Blue (Nirav) 7/241 defeated Thornleigh 88

Match Report not received.

D2 Grade

WPHC (Roger) 244 Vs Kissing Point

Top order batting

After winning the toss, Kissing Point put us in first. We hand a rocky start and were on 3 for 30.

Middle order rescue

Bala Raghuraman and Sandeep Pathan started consolidating the innings from 30/3 playing in a steady and sensible way. They both reached their maiden 50s and put on a remarkable 124 runs partnership.

Solid performance from lower middle order and tail-enders

From 176 for 5, the team managed to reach the final score of 244 with contributions from all. Particular recognition to Corey Brookhouse (who is in good nick) who made a quick cameo of 21*. Our captain Malinda Dharmadasa was struggling with a stiff back, yet managed to score 23.

Day 1 Conclusion

Considering the way today’s game started, our team are pleased with where we ended which is a defendable total. Also, the depth of the batting is continuing to improve as we are seeing more and batters stepping up to the plate with useful contributions and personal bests. The team will be keen to stay on top of the bowling on day 2 and seal a victory.

Batting highlights

Bala Raghuraman 57 Sandeep Pathak 56