A1 Grade

WPHC 135 lost to Vs Mt Colah 194 – match report to follow.

A2 Grade

WPHC Red (Simon) 2/60 defeated Castle Hill RSL 56 – the day started with Effie Banner forgetting his whites and then doing his best to hit Mobbo ‘Lobbo’ Figjam as he drove about 60 kms over the speed limit to get home and back before the game.

The Simon Smyth Memorial 11 arrived to find that the curators of Fred Caterson Reserve had prepared us a lovely jungle to play in. The grass was thicker than the booty in a rap song. Which meant Castle Hill RSL’s measly 56 in the first innings was actually more difficult to chase than expected. We took 5 wickets in as many overs after the first break once we brought on Daniel “Runouts off my bowling should go to me” Cardigan.

After a stellar performance last week Tim ‘Leyshon’ Hollywood was given the nod to open, making he and James ‘Vegan Sympathiser’ McBrien our 83rd opening partnership this year. After a cracking start with the bat Vegan Sympathiser was dismissed twice in the same over. Yes. He was out, recalled, and out again 3 balls later.

At this point we realised that Leyshon had done what we had all thought impossible – his strike rate was in negative numbers! He had batted so slowly he made Mitch Marsh at the WACA look talented. We eventually stumbled over the line like a drunk deer about to be hit by a truck. Slowly, a little wobbly but definitely about to go up in lights.

Luke ‘McBrien Sympathiser’ Herzog had these words to say after the huge win –

“Steve Quanborough is my spirit animal. I wouldn’t eat him because MEAT IS MURDER. But he is still with me wherever I go.”

3 Votes Pon – not out

2 Votes Pon – not out

1 Votes Pon – not out.

WPHC Blue (Rick) 9/159 lost to Berowra 8/194:

For reference:

• Rowan Keating = 23
• Chris Williamson = Willy
• Alex Turner = Hooch
• Jules Raffel = Sean Anthony
• Rick Turner = The Flair
• Nick Starr = Ivan
• Jackson Preedy = The Preedofile
• Taki Manolelis = Taki Manolelis
• Justin Edwards = Clive
• Peter Flook = Slender

Flair lost the toss against Berowra at Dural Park and Berowra had no hesitation in batting on a warm day. We didn’t start well with Hooch grassing a couple of catches early. After the early misses we fought back and at the drinks break Berowra was 3/62. We had 3 good run outs from good fielding today but dropped a few too many catches. At the end of their 40 overs Berowra ended at 8/194. Best of the bowling: Bails 3/27, Slender 1/9 and Preeds 1/40.

Once batting we started solidly but overall went a bit too slowly early which put too much pressure to score quickly on our middle and lower order. A fine knock was put together by Keats (66) but other than a quick cameo by Jobbie we didn’t really fire with the bat. We ended our innings at 9/159. Best of the batting Keats 66, Jobbie 22, Fids 12 and Fabs 11.

A solid enough performance but we need to work in partnerships whilst batting to keep the score ticking along. There is always next week.

B1 Grade

WPHC 9/148 lost to Castle Hill RSL 7/151 – going into another one dayer Vs Castle Hill, we won the toss and elected to bat. Things did not start well, losing the most of our top order cheaply, which had us 4/36 after 11 overs.

Michael Gunn continued his great form with the bat and was one solid batsman for us once again batting for the most of the overs again. With a few handy partnerships throughout the middle order, our scoring was however slow. Then came our 10^th wicket partnership between Ravin Wijesuriya and Semonn Oleksyn scoring a 50 run unbeaten partnership scoring at almost 10 runs an over, which took us to a respectable score of 148 after the 40 overs.

Top scorers were Semonn Oleksyn 36 n.o. , Michael Gunn 33 and Prats Datar 19.

Our bowling innings started well with Nathaniel Chidgey picked up an early wicket, but then things turned for the worse. Their 2^nd wicket partnership of 97, with no other wickets coming for us until well after drinks, drop catches hurting us greatly which has been the pattern for the season unfortunately. However once the partnership was broken, wickets began to fall cheaply, which gave us a slight hope to come back, however we fell 3 wickets short with Castle Hill chasing down the runs with 5 overs to spare.

Top bowlers were Dinesh De Silva 2/3 off 2 overs, Nathaniel Chidgey 2/12 off 7.2 overs and Ben Meikle 2/33 off 8 overs.

B2 Grade

WPHC Red (Rob) 7/136 defeated Lankan Islanders 135 – Naps lost the toss and we found ourselves in the field. This was the first one dayer we had to bowl first and chase a total. A good test for us on the run in to the end of the season.

Brent Larkham (3/19) and Aaron Hawkins (0/20) bowled great opening spells, giving away just 18 runs in the first 10 overs. Brent got the first breakthrough in the 10th over with a great off cutter. He then followed it up by knocking the next batsman over 3 balls later. Brent knocked over another batsman and Dean Carlin (3/20) and Rob Knapman (3/32) chipped in with one each before the drinks break to have the opposition 5/58 after 20 overs. Wickets continued to fall until the opposition put on a 65 run last wicket partnership.

Ian Paterson (12) and Eric Junkkari (13) got us off to a flying start until both wickets fell in quick succession. Andrew Morris (41) and Brent Larkham (30) kept the run rate high. The pair took to the bowlers smashing boundaries all around the ground. Aaron Hawkins (5*) and Aseem Goswami (1*) saw us through to chase down the total in 27 overs.

In a game where we gave the Opposition bonus runs and gave away wickets, it was still great to get the win.

WPHC Blue (Tim) 68 lost to Berowra 1/72 – the day started off wonderfully with Wortho winning the toss and electing to bat at Greenway. A slow batting innings followed only Phil Hando offering any hope with a fine 22. The rest scrambled to push our team total to 68 off 37 overs! In reply Berowra knocked off the winning runs in the 9th over best with the ball Sam Hando 1-26 (3). Blue team onward and upward!

C1 Grade

WPHC 4/184 defeated Mt Colah 182 – the C1 boys were looking for a reversal of recent fortunes which has seen us lose our last 5 matches. The coin fell the wrong way, Mt Colah batted and they got off to an aggressive start (0/31 off 4 overs).

Once we took our first wicket thanks to Ryan Loveridge (who hoped to be MOTM, but wasn’t), we were able to get on top of the run scoring and settle into our rhythm.

We were very impressed with U15 senior debutant Yash Patel who came on and bowled some tight leggies. Some great catches were taken throughout, best of all a speccy taken by Everest Matrose who collided with Ryan as they converged under a skier. Ryan dropped the catch but Everest took the rebound – that’s team work (but still not enough for Birdcage to get MOTM).

All 7 bowlers used did a good job to restrict Mt Colah to 182 all out at the end of 36 overs. Yash finished off the tail to grab best figures of 4/22. The 31 extras (as 2^nd top score) was a worry, though.

Our turn to bat and the plan was to have wickets in hand at the drinks break. After losing a couple of early poles, Pratah Sinnetamby & Richard (Who’s Brian Johnson?) Hughes batted with control to see us through to 2/98 at the halfway mark, and well on top. Hughesy fell shortly after the break for 29, but Pratah dug deep and pushed himself through the pain (& vomit) barrier in the heat. He was joined by Yash and the two saw us home. Yash played a super cameo to smack a quick-fire 44 no, and Pratah managed 81 no – they shared the important MOTM award.

Great to get back to winning ways.

C2 Grade

WPHC 2/110 defeated Castle Hill 9/109 – another hot day and unsurprisingly Buzz couldn’t win two tosses in a row, so we were asked to bowl first.

Some great tight bowling combined with a couple of excellent catches from Nick and Scott kept the wickets falling and the run rate almost non-existent with the Opposition grinding out 110 off their 40 overs.

Excellent spells from Dan Schwarzel (3/7 off 8) and Buzz (3/10 off 8) really tied up the batsmen and they were well supported by the other bowlers including Murray picking up 2/20.

We lost a couple of early wickets, but then it was the Peter Lees and Nick Colley show as both batsmen scored freely and ran hard despite the heat to place immense pressure on the fielding side.

With a superb partnership of 102, they saw us home easily in the 25th over with Pete continuing his pre Christmas form with a hard hitting 51*, and Nick following on from his 50 last week with an excellent 45*.

Another good team win that keeps us on the path to a semis spot.

C3 Grade

WPHC 8/217 defeated Castle Hill 7/216 – a must win game for us to stay in top 4 contenders and as a team felt comfortable to chase in Greenup Park. We lost the toss and was put to field which suited our initial plan.

Some great bowling upfront from Ben Waldron and Amitava Sen, but unlucky to get a breakthrough due to missed chances. This has been a problem all through the season and today was no exception.

We finally managed the breakthrough in the 12^th over from Amith Ninan finishing at 1/48. Some good spells in the middle from Shankar Ravi pulled down the run rate, but once CHRSL’s restricted player came to crease there was some big hits and he retired at 50. We took some late wickets and restricted them to 216. The other bowlers who were amongst the wickets, Ben Waldron 2/47, Shanks 1/21, Perry Waldron 1/30.

Our opening stand did not stay long but some good partnerships in the middle from 2^nd to 4^th wicket took us comfortably to 153 in 30 overs. The restricted player from CHRSL did some damage by taking 4 wickets but no scars on the batsmen. We lost some wickets at the end but managed to reach target in the 38^th over with 2 wickets to spare. Manu Verma top scored, getting out at 60. The other batters amongst the runs were Ramil 37, Perry 22, Sreeni 24 and Indranil 21.

A good win finally chasing a stiff target and we need such performances in the next 4 rounds to be in the hunt in the KO stage. We are back next round at the same venue (a hat-trick of playing at same venue) against Berowra, a team who had moved down from C2s, so unknown from earlier rounds.

D1 Grade

WPHC 97 lost to Thornleigh 145 – the toss was won by Thornleigh, who elected to bat.

Majority of today’s game was played without bails, thanks to the strong winds. Although it seemed to have helped the bowlers more than the batters, after 20 overs Thornleigh were 5/49, with wickets to Dylan (2/4), Paul (2/25), Xander (3/24), Dave (1/32) and Connor (1/22).

A 6th wicket partnership of 55 put a dent in the confidence of our bowlers. Once the break-throughs were made by Xander and Jude (1/9), the lower-order collapsed, meaning Thornleigh were bowled out for 135.

Two early wickets fell at the hands of Thornleigh’s dangerous opener. At 2/7 after 6 overs, Opener Connor (30) and 2nd drop Ian (9) put in a gutsy effort to remain 2 down until tea. A middle-order collapse left us little hope at 7/59 after 30. Quick runs from Steve (24*) towards the end, softened the blow of what could’ve been total humiliation, leaving us bowled out for 97.

D2 Grade

WPHC 2/122 defeated St Ives 7/120 – we lost the toss and the second placed Kissing Point elected to bat on the Karuah Park. The ground had a thick layer of spongy grass making scoring difficult. Ben Kinchington bowled their Opener in the fifth over. Kissing Point kept losing regular wickets and they eventually hit 120 runs after 40 overs. The difference today was that we didn’t drop any catches (3) with 5 bowlers taking a wicket each. The best bowler was Captain Mike who took 2 for 17 off 7 overs with 3 maidens.

Our openers Ben and Mike Kinchington had an opening partnership of 84 runs before losing Ben on 49 runs in the 25th over. This platform allowed John Rose and Ian Williams to hit the winning runs in the 34th over. A great result from our fourth placed team to beat the second placed team in the D2 competition. Well done guys.