Match Reports

Round 3 (Day 2)

A1 Grade

WPHC (Cam #25) 9/229 drew with Kissing Point 260

Hello and welcome to another instalment of the mindless Saturday antics of YOUR A grade side.

With your regular host away on some sort of work junket, partying and assumedly womanising his way through south east Asia, it has fallen to the co junior vice captain to pick up the slack.

Welcome. Welcome. Welcome.

You all know how good I am at remembering details about the game, so just work with me here please. Our story this week starts on a Thursday. With impending rain and conditions rapidly deteriorating, we looked to our covers coordinator to organise the duties once again this week. He was nowhere to be seen. Thanks to Krang, Preeds and Gandis for stepping in at the last minute to save our weekend. Saturday broke and with covers off early and a free coffee for Gandis courtesy of the chairman, we were confident of a dry, hard, typical parklands pitch.

Chasing 261 for victory, we knew it would be a tough ask. We would have to bat our best. We would have to bat with honor, integrity and respect. Does anyone know where my pink baggy is? Wu and gunny got us off to a promising start. We were 30 odd for no loss, with both looking imperious at the crease. The mood was relaxed. It was over. We were home. Gunny and Wu immediately got back to normal programming and went in quick succession. 10 and 20 odd, respectively, I think. Honestly, you all know I find it hard to keep track of the lower grades. Oh hang on I need to tell you about about Wu’s face too.

Wu turned up with a mug which had either been savagely beaten, the victim of a botched face lift, or a severe allergic reaction. Wu said the latter. Possibilities ranged from cats to booze. jMac astutely pointed out that if it was the first of these, at least dinner was sorted. Wu laughed too, so it was fine. Preeds was determined to not get out to Love. I think he mentioned it a bit this week. Sadly, no one mentioned it to big Tim. TAL sent Preeds trudging back to the sheds for a fighting, brave and defiant duck. This was Preeds’ second duck in a row, 57^th in his career, and the 531,527th in our great clubs history.

Thank god for belly. He managed to dig in and compile a fighting, brave and defiant half century – his maiden A1 grade 50 and the 12,253^rd for the Club. How good are his shaved legs. Shame he can’t catch. We move on. Some Hando’s came and went with some particularly imperious but brief stroke play. They all hit some runs. Dunno how many. I always like watching Tom best because he’s the perfect blend of handsome and muscular. Jack bombed one but then immediately got hit in the knee dead in front. He was sad and sore because he forgot how lbw works, but he was out so that sort of left us in a bit of a flat spot. Harry reminds me of myself a bit when I was younger. Did you know they all grew up together in the same room?

How would you ever mas- Billy turned up at some point during this period and we were bemused to find out that his luggage was still somewhere in Asia. He regaled us with stories of the 2.5 women and how he really enjoyed Germany. Billy are you sure you don’t have something to tell us. Actually between the Handos, HEY Jude came to the crease, I think. Yeah, he was batting 6. What a revelation. Clearly no one had told him he wasn’t a regular at this level, because he would then proceed to compile a fighting, courageous and generally faultless half century, anchoring our innings and giving us a fighting chance at a non-pathetic result.

This was his first 50 in A grade, and the 8,917^th in this great clubs history. So basically we had two wix left and about 120 runs to win. Cue Meiks coming in at 10. Wow what a player. He should bat higher. He looked rock solid and he and HEY Jude put on a stand of like 75, bringing the total required to 50 something for the last wix. Light rain began to fall. Meiks got out somehow, I can’t remember exactly. Then the fun started. You all played so you know there was rain around. Gandis got to the crease and immediately started complaining to umpire Steve Williams-Bucknor that he couldn’t see the ball. Gandis. Complaining. You wouldn’t believe it. Gandis then hit a really nice cover drive, which everyone agreed was the short of the day.

The rain continued to fall.

Jude continued to look rock solid and the required ticked lower. 45. 40. Gandis didn’t pick up a low full toss. It was clearly the conditions fault so when he got down the other end he started threatening legal action. Rain got harder and finally SWB determined the tropical monsoon was too heavy. Cue the waiting game. Wu immediately cracked a beer, swearing blind that the day was over and that we could put the feet up. His face blew up again. Guys, I’m worried it’s not the cats.

30 minutes later and we were back on, with 15 balls to survive. Gandis and HEY left and blocked, wore a few, but eventually got through to stumps to save the draw.

Kudos to P for standing up for his batsmen in the face of some very average chat from the opposition in the final two overs. This correspondent understands he will be keeping all receipts. Thanks for supporting to some Handos, Rossco and that weird bloke who lived down the road who said he comes to watch cause he loves the game.

Don’t we all. Look forward to next week when we continue to have heaps of players out.

Can’t wait.

A2 Grade

WPHC Blue (Birdcage) 198 defeated WPHC Red (Todd) 193

Apologies for the late report, I was under the impression that the victorious Blues team would have it under control, only to find out my faith was misplaced. Personally, I think we should rescind the result and give the six points to the Reds, but I’m not sure the Association would agree. Oh well.

Resuming in a bit of trouble at 2-20 chasing a total of 198 that seemed very far away at that point, Todd put on his best Jason Gillespie impression having faced three balls the previous week as the Reds made it through to drinks without losing a wicket, Aaron reaching fifty soon after. But even despite the good start, the Reds once again fell to one of their classic collapses, going from 2-90 odd to 6-106 before tea, including the wickets of Aaron and Todd to put the Blues well back on top.

As usual, the sidelines had a bit of everything as Willy came very close to filing divorce papers during drinks before James Makin, part of a very poorly organised search party, came to the rescue to keep the marriage intact. Sorry Alexa.

Back on the field, the loss of the sixth wicket prompted talks from the Blues about “running through the tail”. But with one particular Oliver Makin joining Rick in the middle, the Blues would have to wait just a little bit longer to reach this “tail”. You’d think they’d have learned after he ran through them with the ball last week, but clearly not.

For the second game in a row, Rick and Ollie kept us in the match although this time it was not with some brutal hitting in pitch black conditions (by the end of the day they were pretty pitch black to be fair), but instead with a calm and collected approach that saw them wear down the bowlers, putting the bad balls away and respecting the good ones as the Blues inched closer. Then, just before we got called for rain, Rick got out and Ollie was joined by Jack, the Blues needing 40ish as the rain came down over our illustrious home of cricket.

For the Blues, this was a good thing. Now Connor, who was stuck in traffic coming from coaching, had extra time to arrive and give us an extra batter that we sorely needed. Ben, demoted back to the wrong end of the batting order after his performance in the previous game, was all of a sudden very keen for Connor to arrive so he would hopefully not have to bat – a stark contrast from his words from earlier in the day.

His wish was granted. To Dean’s delight, play resumed after a short break, the Blues having 16 overs to score the remaining 40 runs. Connor showed up and was needed almost immediately as Jack chopped on for nought, and then was immediately shown up with the bat by the kid he coaches with reps as Ollie began to take matters into his own hands.

But with just six needed and “tailender” Ollie on 48, disaster struck as he finally failed to middle a flashy cover drive against a seaming new ball, Brent taking the catch behind the stumps. We’ll be without him next week as he goes in for back surgery. Two balls later, Connor nicked off as the Blues won by five.

I blame Ben’s atrocious blue headband, which always seems to bring about an immediate wicket whenever he wears it out to bat.

I wish I could tell you who got the wickets for the Blues, but I think Tanay took a few and Dean got a couple. Apologies to anyone and everyone I’ve missed.

B1 Grade

WPHC Blue (Shomik) 8/138 drew with WPHC Red (Warren) 9/222

After a well-batted final session last week, the boys were intent on chasing down 220 runs.

The task is simple, bat the bloody 70 overs, and we might as well just give ourselves the best chance to win. But the cricket gods give us their mighty wisdom that we would have to go down to the second last ball to determine a match result.

Vaibhav and Sagnik kept their good form, not only from last week but also from the previous game. They set an excellent platform for the rest of the team, but it seemed all in vain, as their scores of 44 and 20 were all the highlights we could bring to the top of the order.

I don’t know how to describe it except rookie errors and maybe some good bowling. But after heading into the 27^th over at 0-49, we limped at 6-85 after the 47^th over. Shomik had decided to hide and run away from the match, pretending he had to go pick people up from the airport.

Drawing some grumblings from the Reds, half an hour was lost to rain before the final hour.

As we returned, the equation was 2 wickets for the victory or 17 overs for the draw. Then our two prodigal sons, Patrick, and Jack, stepped up and over the mark asked of them. Surviving 17 overs of pace and spin and 10 of those overs with a brand-new rock.

The Reds could not break through, and the game ended with a draw.

It felt like the game was a metronome, swinging back and forth between each team, jostling for dominance, winning positions coming and going. But what a way to start the 2-day fixtures with a 140-over thriller. I can say for certainty, and I’m sure the Reds would agree, that we are both in for a cracker season with the batting resilience and strength of both team’s bowling attacks.

C1 Grade

WPHC (Indranil) 5/269 defeated Vs Hornsby 124 & 1/27

After a solid week 1, WPHCCC resumed their innings at 1/81 needing just 44 runs to secure the W. Nic Price and Ben Dunkerley continued their partnership stacking on runs quickly as the score reached its 125 target.

The duo then reached past their fifties with Ben pipping Nic to raising the bat first. Shots across the ground continued as Ben begun to play a very nice cover drive that would race in front of the sheds, not bad from our man Dunks. He’d soon fall for 72 however just before drinks with Cameron coming in to support Pricey. The Pricey/Dunks partnership 135! 2-163 at drinks was a positive start with Nick continuing to hit shots with Cameron supporting before he too fell for 12. A quick 6 and out for stand in skipper Will meant Yasith quickly found himself at the middle with his good mate Nic, the two played shots every as Yasith backed the young fella Pricey, who by now was racing towards a maiden ton in a second seniors game.

Tea was on the horizon and Pricey soon found him in the 90s.

A single here and there got the boys nervous, especially Indranil who was calling for a run anywhere. On 98, Nic was close and he knew it, a quick shot to the Feldman wasn’t enough and unfortunately Yasith was out and it meant Ollie had to rotate the strike to give Pricey two chances before Tea. 1, dot ball, SMACK. A top shot over mid-wicket saw Nic race down to the bowlers and end back on the last ball before Tea. A top shot and a top knock. We’re super proud of you Pricey, well done!

As Tea arrived, Will declared leaving WPHCCC on 5/269 not bad. With the threat of rain looming, the boys went out to bowl again hopeful of an outright win.

In Hornsby’s second innings, Reyhan and Daniel opened the bowling, with Daniel taking the only wicket, reducing Hornsby to 1/27. However, rain interrupted play, forcing the match to be called off before WPHCCC could press for an outright victory.

Safe to say the rain brought out the truly bizarre in cricket as Indranil forgot his whites and had to field in his shorts.

Good win for the boys and special shoutouts to Rey Ahmed for his 5-18, Nic Price for his 100*and Ben Dunkerley for his 72.

Onwards and upwards as we take on Glenorie at Greenway next week.

C2 Grade

WPHC Red (Aniket) 248 lost to Berowra 253

The first two-day game of the season had the team eager to continue the strong form from our T20 and one-day matches.

For a change, Ani won the toss and, with overcast conditions, chose to bowl. We started the session well, reducing Berowra to 3-46 by drinks. However, we lost momentum afterward, and by the end of the day, they managed to post a total of 253, largely thanks to one batsman who scored 112, surviving a couple of close calls.

It was a great effort from our young bowlers—Shakeel, Lakshya, and Mustafa—who bowled over half the overs during the day.

On day two, the conditions were perfect for batting. Rahul and Saurabh opened for us, but we lost Saurabh early to a good outswinger. Rahul and Lakshya then steadied the innings, with Rahul showing patience, leaving anything outside off, and Lakshya keeping the scoreboard ticking at a good pace. Unfortunately, we lost both Lakshya and Blake, who had settled in but fell to a couple of well-placed deliveries from their bowlers.

Rahul then shifted gears and began attacking, but after facing 99 balls, he lost his concentration and, sadly, his wicket. Shakeel and Mohan took over from there, completely dominating the opposition. They both reached their half-centuries and built a 116-run partnership.

By 5.00 p.m., we were in full control of the game, with Berowra looking deflated in the field. Unfortunately, a rain interruption seemed to break our momentum, and we lost Shakeel soon after returning to the field. Ani joined Mohan with the intention of finishing the game but was dismissed after just three balls, without troubling the scorers.

This marked the beginning of a batting collapse, as we lost wickets rapidly and ultimately fell just 5 runs short of victory.

Despite the tough loss, there were plenty of positives, with standout performances from Shakeel (71), Mohan (65), and Rahul (32). Watching them bat was a real highlight.

Let’s learn from this experience and come back stronger for the next game.

WPHC Blue (Hiresh) 3/147 defeated St Ives Wahroonga 143

On a glorious spring afternoon at Hassel Park, West Penno Blue secured their first win of the season in spectacular fashion, setting the tone for what promises to be a memorable campaign.

After continuing the day at a score of 1/39 chasing 144 to win, we started well. Chasing 100 on a bumpy-slow outfield, our batters applied the lessons from the opposition’s innings and played with patience and precision.

Meet continued his innings and got off to a steady start, contributing a grand total of … 0 runs in today’s play. Unluckily, he snicked off to first slip, a catch that went right into the mitts but to no one’s surprise Meet saw it bounce.

Jokes aside he played his part really well facing the opening bowlers out, playing 30 overs in difficult conditions.

Sparsh then stepped up and played a solid knock. He started and ended his innings with some spectacular boundaries with a few flicks over the leg side before being dismissed going for a fuck all shot over cover-point. A solid contribution from Sparsh making 22 and putting the middle order in prime position to win the game for us.

The chase, however, was dominated by Rudhra, who was in sublime form. His unbeaten 72 was a masterclass in batting, filled with crisp shots, perfect timing, and an array of boundaries that kept the scoreboard ticking over. The wagon wheel showing 71 of those runs came in the third-man region. Jokes aside, Rudhra steered the ship for us making the chase look easy. The other Iyer, Rishab provided valuable support, ending with a valuable 22 not out , hitting the winning runs with a pull over square leg and secured our first win.

West Penno reached the target comfortably, sealing the victory in style.

The first of many wins for the season, this match showcased our team’s potential, and with performances like this, it’s clear we’re in for an exciting ride!

C3 Grade

WPHC (Mick) 3/191 defeated Castle Hill RSL 180

Day two at the Boulevard of Broken Seams, more commonly referred to as Caddie’s Creek.

Castle Hill were a couple of people down, but I’m just being nice and making excuses for them. This was a masterclass from WPHC and 27 players wouldn’t have stopped us… even if ChatGPT does say so for myself.

Hazza Whitehouse and Dan Fagg continued with their innings having faced just a few overs last week. It was an interesting first ‘Night Watchman’ type experience for the two kids.

Last week, Pat ‘The Dancing Man’ Ryan departed to the second best ball of the century. This week Hazza W was cleaned bowled on 23 from that ball’s replacement in the annuals of history… or so it will be told forever more.

James Day and Dan patiently worked themselves to a partnership. Castle Hill threw everything they had at the two teenagers, including a very solid dose of Oooo’s and Ahhh’s after every ball for precisely no good reason whatsoever.

In response, James made solid runs using their pace against them back of square, while Dan drove and punched the ball back down the ground.

Eventually, James was bowled for 19 by a ball that was finally worthy of both an actual Ooo and also an Ahhh.

But the Caddie’s Creek tide for Castle Hill was heading towards the other hills… the West Pennant Hills.

Will Deverson was up next (yes with the exception of a cameo appearance from Pat Ryan, this WPHC batting show was performed by kids younger than their iPhones).

Jimmy Wilkin’s extremely highly paid chauffeur is probably in some trouble right now. Just quietly, it was at this point in the match (about over 35) that Jimmy arrived. Typically of Jimmy he demanded to immediately go out and bat, so as punishment we made him score after his long drive across Sydney. Unfortunately for the purposes of our punishment, Jimmy is the ultimate team man and frustratingly did not complain. A big thanks to Jimmy.

With Jimmy W on the books, Will D and Dan settled into their task. For the final session we had a ball that looked like a chew toy that had been recovered from the Kellyville Pet Store down the road.

By that time a disheartened Castle Hill team had finally given up on their Ooo’s and Ahhh’s and you could hear a pin drop. The only question left was whether Big Dan would tonne up before the end.

But it wasn’t quite to be, with Castle Hill’s total of 189 chased down with Dan finishing unbeaten on 89* and Will D on 24*.

Dan was our star of the day with a whopper of a score, in what was easily the longest he has ever batted.

The margin was seven wickets, 20 + overs and an hour or two left in the day. Dan was off the pub…

Adults of the WPHCCC you are welcome. The kids have arrived!

C4 Grade

WPHC Red (Ross S) 191 lost to Kissing Point 9/193

Week 2 and in the field with runs on the board. Hopefully enough to protect.

Good news the ground had not been mown so grass still long.

Unfortunately things start badly as one of our opening bowlers injured himself at the T20 semi last week, now 2 key bowlers down, never the less we were confident we would do well.

But, this was a very disappointing game for us. A game of two halves … before rain and after rain.

Before the rain

Our bowlers toiled hard, but were not supported in the field. 6 dropped catches had us always playing catch up. But with good bowling we were in the game big time and looking to close out for a good win.

Key highlights. Anand dismissing the KP opener early, middle stump cart wheeling. Gihan’s wicket first ball after drinks.. Muthindra bamboozling the incoming batter and knocking over the stumps. Ram toiling away for 4 wickets, and a brilliant throw from the boundary by Gihan taking out middle stump for a run out. Catches to Ross and Gihan….KP 8/122 and in heaps of trouble. Reds on top.

Hats off to Ram though. Big-hearted having had 4 catches dropped before he took his first wicket.

In comes the rain…..and off we go.

After the Rain

A 40 minute break, we come back on at 5pm….18 overs to go KP needing 70… Long grass soaked…

Ball soaked after 2 balls. Ball like soap and impossible to hold. Bowlers toil hard… KP able to hit boundary balls on the small ground.  Ball lost in the creek. New ball. Soaked again after a couple of balls.

We tried really hard to break the partnership but a 9^th wicket partnership of 69 off 13 overs killed us, a crucial runout not given, rotate the bowlers to try generate a wicket, no chances…..scores tied, an LBW to Muthindra. Next ball blocked by no 11. 15^th over of 18 and winning runs hit by KP batter 54 no…

Bowling …Ram 4/50 (20), Muthindra 2/33 (9), Anand 1/33 (11), Gihan 1/30 (10).

The season has not started well for us, after a tie round 1, a buy, losing our T20 semi with 2 just balls left, and now losing by 1 wicket…..we have been so close. I’m sure a win is coming.

WPHC White (Agniva) 237 & 0/53 defeated ARL 157

After the dramatic close to Day 1, we returned to Campbell Park with victory on our minds and the weather forecast weighing on our shoulders. ARL were reeling at 17/4, and we were eager to wrap things up quickly.

Mridul and Pritam resumed proceedings, sticking to tight lines, but ARL’s batters, to their credit, started to claw back with some aggressive stroke play. As runs began to leak, Agni made a tactical switch, turning to Chintan, who immediately slowed things down.

Chintan began causing trouble, with balls hanging tantalizingly in the air but evading our fielders. However, persistence paid off, and it was Pritam who stepped up again – this time in the field. A brilliant catch off Chintan’s bowling saw the first breakthrough of the day, followed by another similar scenario soon after. ARL’s middle order started to settle into a brief partnership before Adi delivered a crucial strike, knocking over their next man with a well-placed delivery.

With the end in sight, Praneel and Mridul took matters into their own hands, mopping up the tail to secure a comfortable first-innings win. ARL had been bundled out, leaving us with the points and some valuable momentum.

But there was still time left in the day, and conscious of a tough sheep station next week, we decided to have another crack with the bat. Vinod and Chintan came out with nothing to lose and played with absolute freedom, tonking the ARL bowlers all around Campbell Park. The rain, however, had other plans. Just as the boys were warming up to put on a show, the heavens opened, and with the downpour increasing, the game was called off.

Overall, it was a well-earned victory, with both the bowlers and batters stepping up when needed. A solid win, and now, on to the next challenge! Well done, team!

WPHC Blue (Rob) 9/203 drew with Hornsby 4/156

Unfortunately having to use Rob to bat last week (week 1 only player) we had to declare on 203 and took the field looking to make inroads into the Hornsby batting and believing that 203 could just be enough even on a small and quick Samuel King Oval.

Ryan and Arjan opened with good tight spells and Ryan nicked off their opener early. Their next pair batted very sensibly as they knew they could take their time to accumulate the runs. Mudi came into the attack and bowled an incredibly tight spell picking up 1/14 off 11 overs of line and length perfection. Manu grabbed the next wicket with a great running and diving catch from Jake, but runs kept ticking over up until tea.

Straight after tea Buzz pinned their No.4 bat plumb in front and we were back in the hunt with a couple more chances being created as the Hornsby batters appeared very nervous in the run chase.

Alas, that coincided with the rain coming down and although we played on for a couple more overs, the ball dramatically morphed into a cake of soap and with Ryan slipping over a couple of times at the bowling crease we headed off the ground for that age old painful ‘hunker down and wait’ period of time.

Finally at 5:10pm Buzz convinced the opposition that we really would prefer to be back at the Club rather than sheltering from the drizzle, the match was called and we will take the draw.

D1 Grade

WPHC Red (Diggers) 125 lost to Thornleigh 6/245

We headed back to George Christie with Thornleigh 1/100 and only needing another 26 runs to take first innings points.

We jagged an early wicket with the score on 110 but the Thornleigh bats then steadied and passed our score a few overs later. They batted on with only minimal intent and with us bowling reasonably well, at the tea break, Thornleigh were 6/245, a lead of 120.

With a bit of rain around, the Thornleigh skipper came over and asked if we were happy to call it.

This sounded like a pretty good idea to Diggers as it meant that we could get back to the Sporto in time for some Happy Hour schooners.

Pretty happy to avoid an outright loss in the end. Some great bowling by Farjad, who bowled 21 overs straight of his left arm orthodox spin and finished with 3/70. Manraj (2/53 off 19) added another couple of wickets to his season tally and Nandit picked up one.

Anyway, off to Northholm Grammar next week for our “local” derby against the Blues and looking forward to our batting line-up regaining the form of the first two rounds.

WPHC Blue (Nirav) 91 Vs Glenorie 5/141

WPHCCC Blue batted first and were bowled out for 91 in 44.3 overs. Ravi Gunna top-scored with 32.

The Glenorie District bowlers Siddharth Verma and Chris Vaz each claimed three wickets.

In reply, Glenorie District chased down the target comfortably, reaching 141/5.

D2 Grade

WPHC (Roger) 215 lost to Castle Hill RSL 234

We started Day at 5-51 chasing 234 to win. Thanks to an amazing 101no by Shehan Fernando (first time centurion in his first season with WPHCC and our 544^th ton) we got within shooting distance putting up 215.

The team are getting better by the game with some very close calls in the last few weeks and we expect that our first win of the season is not far away.