Match Reports

Round 11 (1-Dayer)

 

A1 Grade

WPHC (Cam #25) Vs BYE.

After Round 10 we are sitting in =3^rd spot on 37 points. Our next game is against St Ives on 18 January 2025. If there is any upside to not playing this weekend it is that all turf grounds are closed meaning the we get the 6 points for the Bye and every other team have to settle of 2 points for a draw giving us a 4 point kick-ahead in the points table.

A2 Grade

WPHC Blue (Birdcage) drew with Kenthurst-Upper Hills

We were scheduled to play 1^st placed Kenthurst at The Glade but after the rain this game was abandoned due to a wet wicket so we take the 2 points for a draw. Next game is the Sheep Station Trophy game against the Reds at Greenway Park.

WPHC Red (Todd) drew with Castle Hill RSL

Another turf wicket game called off due to the rain. Next week we play the Blues in a Sheep Station Trophy game at Greenway Park.

B1 Grade

WPHC Blue (Shomik) Vs Kissing Point

Match Report and scores not available.

WPHC Red (Warren) 6/130 defeated ARL 127

Match Report First and foremost a merry Christmas and happy new year to all readers of the wphcccccccccc B grade match report.

After actually enjoying 4 Saturdays in a row not punishing ourselves playing this game we can barely play, with blokes that we barely like and against blokes we definitely don’t like we found ourselves doing exactly that. And again, wondering why it is we do it. Warren ‘good toss to lose’ Schwartzel got proceedings going as per usual by losing the toss. Every week we say it’s a good toss to lose but this time it actually was.

The pitch was extremely spicy and our opening bowlers managed to put the ball on a string, moving the ball in and out to completely bamboozle a Kissing Point batting lineup that just wasn’t up to scratch for this level of high quality bowling. Nathaniel ‘Alex’s brother’ Chidgey finished his spell having taken 2 wickets whilst Matt ‘Dan’ Schwartzel kept the runs tight and peppered the batsmen from the other end.

Enter Matthew ‘pinball Wizard’ Digby. After dragging his first couple down and going the journey he decided to switch on, get those supple wrists going and give us all some of the best wristy action we have seen since 7^th grade.

He bowled with loop, flight, drift, spin, bounce and traj to have their middle order in complete shambles. He finished his spell 3/not many. At drinks we had them 5/60 odd. Unfortunately their tail wagged and they made their way to a reasonable total of 127. Ray ‘Big Ray’ Khamis and Matthew ‘Daniel’ Schwartzel got to work opening the batting and chipping away at this total. Ray did what he usually does chasing these small totals, swing wildly and put a good dent in it before his luck eventually running out and holding out to a fielder at deep square leg departing for a quick fire 23 and the score at 1/30 odd. Matt and Pratar then consolidated the innings, moving the ball around and despatching the many many bad balls to the boundary to get us to 1/80 odd.

The game was ours to lose from here. Prats departed though leaving the door open for a collapse and if there’s 1 bloke you do not want coming in to try and save a collapse and see us home it is Adam ‘rock the boat’ Van Saarloos. Adam did what he usually does, missing a straight ball to be out LBW. How could we possibly have a collapse and potentially lose this unloseable game with a seasoned campaigner such as Allan ‘ Raff’ Rafeal coming to the crease. You’re talking about a bloke who has scored ‘19262827’ club runs for WPHCCCCCCCCCCC (Source Ross Anderson).

Well not if Nick ‘hey guys check out the new bbq I got for Christmas’ Duck would have anything to say about it. Nick said ‘eff you raff I’ll do this myself’ before completely bbqing raffa and leaving us now 5 down chasing this small total. At least Nick ‘the finisher’ Duck would see us home. Nope he didn’t. Nick departs… this is getting a bit too close for comfort….

Enter Warren ‘ice in his veins’ Schwartzel who finished things off and got us home. Pratar and Matthew finished the innings with 30 odd each as the top scores of the innings. Good to have a few wins on the trot now going into the derby. Next week is must win so we now turn our attention to that game.

C1 Grade

WPHC (Indranil) 2/189 defeated Kissing Point 188

Sometimes, cricket’s a pretty good game. Especially if your name is Cameron Bliss, who today became a member of WPHCCCs reputable centurions club, sharing a column with big names such as Daniel Anderson and Nic Price and some not so big names such as Will McLennan. More on this later.

With a number of other games called off, skipper Indranil activated his scouting network and rang in players from A2s all the way down to Ishaan, making his seniors debut in C1 and bowling six reliable overs to back it up, everyone tempted by a run feast at Auluba Oval in a critical clash. And sure enough, after being sent in after the WPHCCC skipper was convinced to bowl should he win the toss (he did), the Kissing Point batters did not disappoint.

Much of it wasn’t pretty (there was like one good drive all innings), but despite losing wickets regularly throughout, Kissing Point kept their foot on the gas the entire innings, hacking away all the way down to number 11. A few fielding errors and dropped catches ensured they got more than they probably should have, but it was Ben.W (3-22) and fill-in Lakshya (3-40) who led the charge with the ball before Paul Vink and  Lachy Edwards wrapped up the tail with some very skilful offies (he got 1fa off a stumping) – Hutcho if you’re reading this please consider bowling him next week he’s got a bowling average of 1.00 this season.

Also a notable mention to returning fill-in Adi Nair who nailed one of the best run outs you’ll see from fly slip to the non-strikers on the full, catching the walking batsman off guard and to the pavilion. Freakish stuff from Adi, pick of the fielders on a humid day.

All in all, Kissing Point were bowled out in the final over of the 35 for a seemingly large total of 188 but with a very short boundary on one side, a fast outfield and a very strong batting line-up, we were confident.

We just didn’t know just how confident to be.

And then Cam started hitting out, almost right from the get-go with some lovely shots through a stacked off side field and a very much not stacked leg side field as we raced away, scoring at well over a run a ball and running the fielders ragged. Supporting Cam was Lachy, who as usual was peppering the covers with his drives but unlike usual, was actually getting some reward for his efforts.

The stand lasted 95 runs in 15 overs before Lachy (34) got nut-megged by a knee high full toss in an attempt to send it back to West Penno and was bowled. But by this point, Cam was already 50 not out and from then on, there was no looking back. Supported by Ben and still scoring at sevens, Cam edged closer to a century before finally bringing it up with an edge through slips (sorry Cam) that quite literally trickled into the cone which was quite rude of him.

And then on 108 (our 549^th century), with two runs to get and about 653 balls to do it in, Cam holed out. Which brought the man of the second, Nic to the crease.

With fielders all around the bat chirping in his face, Nic calmly slotted the resulting rank half tracker from the offie (I’ve heard Lachy’s starting a bowling academy if anyone’s interested) past point for two runs to finish with a strike rate of 200. Top stuff from the youngster, whose fine knock was also well supported by Ben (36 not out).

All in all, a big win and a great momentum boost to kick off the year and spur the charge towards the C1 title.

Quick one from the editor (yes it’s this professional here)

Hutcho please don’t fuel Lachy’s ego even more by using him as a bowler now, after all he did drop a catch off Paul Vink today.

Most wholesome moment of the day goes to Ben Dunkerley for dropping his bat and giving Cam a massive hug when he reached 100.

Some say Yasith is still hanging out on the sidelines at Auluba Oval after fielding a total of 15 odd overs in 35 over game. (Hurting neck muscles do hurt though, we hope your back next week Yas!)

See you next week!

C2 Grade

WPHC Blue (Hiresh) 3/132 defeated Kissing Point 8/124

Cricket had finally returned, but as we arrived at Bannockburn oval, we were met with a pitch submerged in water. Luckily both teams helped out in clearing the pitch in no time whilst John Kurian watched on, providing absolutely no help.

WPHC won the toss and chose to bowl with John Koleth and Sparsh opening up with tight spells and the former being awarded with an early wicket. Kissing Point sat at a solid state at 2/60 at drinks however Mayank, Ratul, Rudhra and Harshil picked up from where the openers left off, bowling handy spells and making key breakthroughs to stunt Kissing Point’s momentum. Leading the charge, John Kurian topped the wickets tally for the Blues, claiming an impressive 3-24 with the opposition finishing up on 8/124 after their 35.

With the bat we got off to a shaky start losing our captain Hiresh early on however Rishab and Sparsh steadied the ship, seeing off the new ball and building a valuable partnership. Sparsh however fell for a well-earned 21 just before drinks, taking us to 2/63 at the break and in a great position.

Rishab picked up a couple runs after the break but also bowed out for a hard fought 24, bringing Rudhra and John Koleth out to the crease. From there on John commanded the game, launching the Kissing Point bowlers around the ground in an electric 42 off 20 odd balls which consisted of 7 boundaries. Rudhra also chipped in for a handy 23, as both batsmen guided the team to a 7 wicket victory with 7 overs to spare.

A great win for the blues and one that hopefully provides momentum towards a strong finals push.

WPHC Red (Aniket) Vs BYE

The boys are in 8^th spot and 10 points adrift of the top 4. Our next game is against Hornsby Green.

C3 Grade

WPHC (Mick) 7/84 lost to St Ives-Wahroonga 5/85

Match Report not available.

C4 Grade

WPHC Red (Ross S) Vs BYE

The boys are currently in 7^th spot and are just 4 points off 4^th spot. Next game is against 8^th placed Thornleigh

WPHC Blue (Rob) 9/134 defeated Sydney Lions 53

Amazingly after all the rain, Dural Park was fit to play and as the rain stayed away all afternoon it allowed us to get Cricket 2025 underway. Umpteen players selfishly decided to prioritise holidays over cricket 🤣 and we were left needing to fill two late minute spots.

Thankfully we have some talented young players in the Club willing to help out and we were able to grab a couple of guns in Malinda and Jack Makin (who through a helpful loophole still has a rating of 7 despite us all knowing he’s a 3 every-day of the week!).

Spending too much time deliberating what to do when we won the toss is something Mark Waugh should add to his ‘over rated things’ list.

Buzz lost the toss and we were batting.

Luke and Kamran got us off to a great start despite the slow outfield with an opening partnership of 36. Contributions from the middle order kept the score moving steadily along to 134 at the completion of our 35 overs. Extras top scored with 30, Luke made 27 and Jack 22.

We were confident that if we could take early poles we could run through the lower order and today we saw a polished performance from our opening fast bowlers Lance and Ryan who, along with a suicidal run out and a fantastic catch from Jack using all of his 3 metre wingspan to grab a diving one hander at point, ripped through the top order and reduced the opposition to 4/20. Both bowled fast probing deliveries that had the opposing batters completely rattled. Our best opening spell of the season without doubt.

Then came our super subs in the form of Jack and Malinda who both challenged the batters, consistently grabbing wickets, Jack ending up with 2 wickets and Malinda collecting the best figures of the day with 3/13 including two super caught behinds from Luke who took 4 catches for the day.

Kaushal then rounded out a strong win with the last wicket.

Awesome to get a full days cricket in plus come away with an important win. Well done Gents.

WPHC White (Agniva) 9/155 defeated Beecroft

Happy New Year WPHCCC family!

Hope everyone’s resolutions are still intact (or at least lasted longer than our top order this week). Whether you spent the break working on your cover drives, perfecting your sledging, or just eating like you’re preparing for hibernation, it’s time to dust off those whites and get back to business.

With BOM being on the verge of becoming the most useless weather app by a mile, we rocked up in a nice and sunny Foxglove oval and as a few of the players walked out to the middle to make sure there’s nothing unusual about the good old foxglove south wicket unlike the SCG this summer. Someone even went to the extent of saying that Kohli should try and bat here, because anything he finds on the 5^th stump and beyond would anyway be a no ball so he probably will stop chasing them.

Anyway, back to business and Agni managed to win his first toss this season, so much so that it took a good 30 seconds for the team to believe but we had no hesitation in having a crack with the bat, try and put up decent total and defend. Our last outing here saw the opposition concede 72 extras which gave some of us a mental advantage.

With Arun and Vinod taking the crease, we thought it would be a nice and relaxing first hour of cricket. Little did we know that against a relatively weaker Hornsby attack this round, we would be 5-44 in 10 odd overs!

Then arrived our find of the season with the bat – Sayantan  Having played some crucial knocks already he dug in while the rest of the line-up batted around. Able support came from Praneel who’s quick fire 33 was a treat to watch. With Sayan managing to build partnerships with almost every batter, we managed to put on 155 with Sayan walking out for an unbeaten 37….an innings which was as crucial as it can get.

With 155 to defend and with the bowling attack which was ready to pounce, we needed to make sure three things worked in our favour, fielding, backing each other and keep the energy high.

All three did and that’s what made this even more satisfying. Amitava from C2 was helping us this round (a trade which happened over the holidays over a few beers one fine afternoon) and he soon showed what impact he can have on the opposition. While he breathed fire from one end, Mridul kept things tight and there was nothing for the batters to flex. Mridul struck the first blood with a solid caught & bowled and from there on Hornsby never found the rhythm back.

Incredible spells followed from Vinod, Rohan and Chintan with the highlight being a flying Rohan repeating a catch he took at last year’s grand final, which our keeper Sufyan compared to an Eagle trying to catch it’s prey mid-air. We wrapped them up for 125 and this had to be one of the most satisfying wins this season where everything went how we wanted it to albeit there being a few nervous moments.

Onwards and upwards from here in the last few rounds as we look forward to close out the season with a bang.

D1 Grade

WPHC Red (Diggers) 5/135 defeated St Ives-Wahroonga 7/131

So after another loss in the pre-Xmas match, we found ourselves in 9^th spot and playing against 6^th place St Ives.

All our matches are must-win if we are a half chance of making semis so we’ll see what happens.

Diggers lost the toss and we were made to field first at an unmown Karuah Park.

We bowled really well to start with and took regular wickets and had St Ives 7/69 in the 24^th over and with visions of an early chasing a sub-100 total. Unfortunately the number 7 batter for St Ives and, with the help of some slightly wayward bowling at the death, yes Adi, 9 no balls isn’t great, they managed to get to 7/131.

Bowling figures were Manraj 1/40, Nandit 0/17, Adi 2/31, Zac 2/14 and Farjad 1/29, all off 7 overs each.

Into the batting and our regular run-getter Cliff managed to get bowled for 4. Not a great start. Nandit and Surendra managed to put on a few before Surendra got out with the score on 23.

A partnership of 42 between Grant an Nandit followed and, with Zac coming in and hitting well, we were 4/108 in 27^th over. Zac, then Gus were out in quick succession but Grant and Adi managed to get us across the line with a couple of overs to spare.

WPHC Blue (Nirav) 5/130 defeated Beecroft 128

Match report not available.

D2 Grade

WPHC (Roger) 7/171 defeated Castle Hill 160

Another of our close defeats this time by 11 runs to the undefeated Castle hill team Hiren 2/2, Thiru 2/40 Glen 1/6 and Cory 1/21 were our wicket takers.

Shehan 61, Malinda 33, Vinoth 22 and Cory 18 were the mainstay of our batting.