A1 Grade

WPHC 137 lost to Berowra 185 – Berowra won the toss and elected to bat on a hot arvo at Storey Park. This was good as we were going to field anyway.

We fielded well and bowled tight lines with Josh ‘Yo-Yo’ Mathias taking 3 wickets and the rest of the bowlers sharing the load with wickets. We kepy Berowra to 185 on an awesome pitch.

We started well and at one stage were 2/40 in the chase. Unfortunately, we lost consistent wickets and fell short at 137. Michael ‘Licha’ Richards scored 26 and opened the batting really well. Ben ‘Escargot’ French scored 32 and JP chipped in with 23* at the end of the innings.

A2 Grade

WPHC Red (Simon) 6/234 defeated Berowra 103 – sometimes, people get lucky. James Packer got to date Miranda Kerr. Steven Bradbury won an Olympic Gold Medal. Then Snumpty won 4 tosses in a row.

Against the 4th placed Berowra, we batted first. Jimmy ‘Volc’s Physio’ Mc set the tone with a beautiful 47, which also allowed us to fine him for no bat raise. Dan ‘Ear Wax’ Costo then dominated, with a brilliant 105 – our 13^th of the season and 473^rd in our History. It was his first ton for our great Club, and it also allowed us to fine him for a bat raise. Our first 3 wickets put on 50+, which gave us the chance for a bigger score than a Schapelle Corby boogie board bag find. We finished on 6/234, thanks to 30* at the end from Pon ‘I’m A Manager Now’ Pon.

Having a big score on the board, the next best thing was having Berowra 3/0. Tens ‘Nicole’ Kitman and Tis ‘Watch Me Ramp This’ Mistry got us away brilliantly, putting more pressure on Berowra than The Biggest Loser couch.

After Hollywood implored us to win in 30 overs, we listened, rolling Berowra for 103. A big wicket was taken by Gandis ‘Lettuce Eat’ Zog, with Tens and Snumpty taking 4 each. Maxim ‘I’ve Got You Dale Armstrong’ Bennett took 6 snares behind the stumps, to join Costo in the bank queue. Deposits are the aim.

Another great team win, which should secure our spot in the Finals.

In other news, Bob shorts should be made with larger legs.

WPHC Blue (Rick) 4/129 defeated Glenorie 9/127 – stand-in Skipper Daniel ‘Fids’ Fielder (pictured and who also brought up his 2,000 career runs) tossed the coin wrongly and lost the toss. We found ourselves in the field on a warm one at Dural. Justin ‘Clive’ Edwards and Kyle ‘no nickname’ Townsend started us off solidly and Clive picked up a pole in the 7^th over.

The change of bowlers did the trick with Peter ‘Slender’ Flook going straight through their other opener in his first over and cleaning up their number 4 in his next over. Nick ‘Welcome Back’ Carter could only look on incredulously as he reeled off 6 overs for 9 runs without luck at the other end.

At the drinks break Glenorie were 3/62. Fids brought on Chris ‘Willy’ Williamson after drinks and he helped himself to a pole (Glenorie 4/71). From their wickets fell at regular intervals and Glenorie didn’t manager to string together a decent partnership of note. Glenorie finished their innings at 9/127. The bowling figures Clive 4/20, Slender 2/17, Willy 2/29, Nick Carter 0/17 and Kyle Townsend 0/38.

We opened our innings with Anirudh ‘whack em’ Kakulapati and Willy. They were solid if unspectacular and crawled to 0/26 off 10. Willy got cleaned up upping the ante shortly followed by ‘wack em’. We were 2/40 off 15.

Next followed a 64 run partnership between Matheesha ‘Tux’ Gunaratne and Fids. Tux then decided he’d had enough by guiding a late cut into the wicketkeepers gloves off some right arm custard. Alex ‘Hooch’ Turner was back in the sheds one over later torched by Fids for a globe (run out without facing a ball). From there Fids and Kyle ‘Fabs’ Faber finished the game off. We finished at 4/129 off 36.1 overs and a WIN. Woohoo. The batting Fids 42*, Fabs 14*, Tux 31 and Wack Em 21.

A win we thoroughly deserved after some good recent performances.

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

B1 Grade

WPHC 8/125 defeated SKLPS 124 – after making several easy run chases look extremely difficult in recent weeks, we lost the toss and were asked to bowl.

Both teams had a steady start to the innings with the game in the balance at 3/70 at the drinks break.

After the break we slowly clawed back momentum through great pressure from both ends. For the first time in his life, Ben ‘I’m sick of carrying this team’ Meikle went 4 overs without taking a wicket, before cleaning up the middle order, ending with figures of 4/35. Ben was well supported by Matt ‘Watto’ Watts (1/7 off 8) at the other end, as he produced an absolute masterclass in precision line and length bowling with his unplayable out-swingers.

With some great death bowling and well taken catches (3 to Semonn) we were able to bowl out SKLPS for 124 in the last over. The other wicket takers were Chidge, Semonn and Koby with 2.

There were few highlights at the beginning of our run chase, with our batsmen regularly playing good shots straight to fielders. Dinesh was able to temporarily ease the pressure with some flamboyant strokes on his way to 18. Unfortunately though, wickets fell at regular intervals and we had a top-order batting collapse, which seems to be becoming a regular occurrence.

In trouble at 6/57, Chidge joined Semonn at the crease, with the pair making run scoring look easy against a strong SKLPS bowling attack. Semmon smashed 22, before Ben chipped in with a useful 14. Chidge saw us through to the end with a match winning 22 not out. Special shout out to the SKLPS bowlers for ensuring sundries was the leading run scorer with 24 (20 wides and 4 no-balls).

Currently sitting a win out of the top 4, we are well and truly in Finals contention. As a team, we are yet to peak this season, with individuals regularly turning up late, catches regularly being put down, a failure to build big partnerships and over $100 in unpaid fines. If we can all perform at our best, we can really give this competition a shake!

B2 Grade

WPHC Red (Rob) 6/188 defeated Berowra 8/167 – once again we won the toss and went about setting a total.

Andrew and Zac Morris opened the batting and got off to a flying start with Andrew smashing the first two balls for 4. The run rate remained high with both batsmen turning over the strike and running hard. After 20 overs the pair had taken the score to 0/109. Zac was dismissed for 33 and Andrew soon after for 77. Haydn Murray (21) and Phil Hayes (20) kept attacking the bowlers. We finished 6/188, but against a good batting team, we knew we still had to bowl well to defend our total.

Our regular opening bowlers were both out for this match, so Brent Larkham (1/33) and Eric Junkkari (2/35) stepped up. Both bowled well without luck in their opening spells. Matt Digby kept the runs down with a great tight spell going for just 7 runs off 6 overs!

Phil Hayes (4/23) got the first breakthrough in his first over. From there the wickets began to fall regularly and the required run rate continued to climb. Jack Barry (0/14) bowled really well without luck in his B2 debut. Haydn Murray took a great catch from a skied ball despite a big collision with Jack, that left both players dazed and confused. With the field spread and the bowlers sticky to the right lines, we were able to defend our total.

Another good win against a tough opponent.

WPHC Blue (Tim) 126 lost to Sydney Lions 5/204 – Groundhog day Wortho lost the toss and so we had to field.

An early wicket to Matt Rashleigh (1/21), with a gorgeous outswinger. Then a 111 partnership thwarted our chances, despite our best efforts in field & bowling changes. At 30 overs they were 2-130, and so a big score looked ominous. Some great bowling from the following

Sam Hando (0/18), Nikki Omeara (0/29), R Chary (0/36), O Maybury (2/37), J Smart (0/33), the spin family (Raghu, Ollie & Cam) really did bowl well without some luck. Special mention goes to young Cam Tunks 12 yrs old! Started bowling in the 30th over taking (2-20) unfortunately should have taken 5 wickets through some dropped chances/stumpings. Cam bowled with a maturity belying his years, enticing their batsman out of their crease, creating numerous chances as well What a Future!!! In the end we pulled their score back to 6-204.

In reply we lost Zac Turner (4) to an unbelievable dismissal, trying to play a leg-side glance it hit his thigh pad, bobbled up and hit his bat all in the motion of playing a shot going straight to their keeper.

Raghu Chary (18) & Ollie Maybury (32) dug in to move the score along to 44 before Raghu chipped to cover trying to up the run rate. Superstar Cam Tunks (3) came in and looked assured and played some good looking shots. Jayson Smart looked really comfortable and was starting to hit the ball really nicely until he played one on trying to increase the run rate.

Matt Rashleigh (11) came in and from the outset was creaming his shots, until the inevitable happened. A quick-fire Captains knock looked like a blessing but Wortho (27) was direct hit run-out & so any hope of a successful run chase finished here. Nikki Omeara (1), Cam Bish (1), Sam Hando (4) & Nick Duck (6no) all contributing to team total all out 126.

C1 Grade

WPHC 137 lost to Berowra 3/139 – winning the toss was so rare that Captain Tarun could not believe his eyes that he had finally won one! And after so many matches, in the last one dayer we got to bat first.

We lost first wicket in the very first over. Richard Makin and young Will Coffey put on a strong batting display taking score to 1/59 after 15 overs. This is when Richard was out stumped to a very close call, contributing a good 27 to get innings to a good rhythm. This did not last long as Will was run out to a very tight single called by his Captain on other end, to a solid 38.

After this we kept losing wickets with no real partnerships. Nic Sparks (U16 ) showed a lot of maturity at one end to take us to a total of 137 in the end. Everest Matrose and Nic put on 30 runs partnership for last wicket with Everest (19), before Everest was last man out with Nic remaining no on 20. 137 runs was under par score but something to bowl to.

Ryan Loveridge and Richard Makin started proceedings well taking a wicket each inside first 6 overs to have Berowra at 2/18. A bit of power hitting by new batsman and score was 2/52 at end of 11th over. Young Will Coffey bowled to a plan and got wicket of the power hitter in the 12th over.

Unfortunately, we could not take any more wickets to put pressure on Berowra batsmen and they batted sensibility to take score to 3/86 at 20 over drinks break. We did put some pressure on scoring with good spin bowling spells from Will and Asees Rajput but were 20-30 runs short in the end in our batting innings to be able to make it a closer match.

C2 Grade

WPHC 6/175 defeated Hornsby 8/172 – despite Buzz losing the toss (again), we had the chance to bat first today and after a solid start from Cody and Will against some tight bowling we were 2/48 at the 20 over drinks break. Tanay and Gian then took about the challenge of upping the rate with some excellent running between wickets along with punishing the bad balls. The two added a partnership of 79 in quick time with Gian (44) and Tanay (42).

Scott Chapman and Dan Schwartzer then combined for a quick fire partnership of 51 to keep the rate climbing at the end of our allotted 40 overs. Scott smashing a couple of huge sixes, scoring 22, and Dan showing great awareness and finesse with 18* A fantastic effort to take us to a competitive 175.

We knew the Opposition had a couple of big hitting batsmen and their Openers started in a big hurry. Gian, Tanay, Dan and Scott adjusted their lengths and kept to their bowling plans. Despite a hard hitting 50 from their opener, we managed to keep things on an even keel and not let the match get away from us even with some big hitting to the short square boundaries.

Another fantastic spell of bowling from Dan Schwartzer saw us back in control and he finished with the great figures of 2/18 off 8 with 3 maidens.

The game came down to Hornsby needing a run a ball for the last dozen overs, and they kept in the chase right up to the end. An awesome last 8 overs from Tanay and Gian took things to the wire.

Tanay closing it out with a dot on the last ball when they needed only 4 to win. Wicket takers were Dan 2/18, Gian 2/31, Tanay 2/40 and Buzz 1/6.

A super effort in the field from everyone to chase hard and restrict the scoring, and another excellent display behind the stumps from Matt Schwartzer plus some intelligent bowling at tight times saw us notch up another hard fought win.

Oh, and Murray Chapman took another catch to ensure he still hasn’t dropped one in 30 years!!

A great win which means our Semi chances still have a faint heartbeat!

C3 Grade

WPHC 166 lost to Normanhurst 7/171 – another nail-biter going down to the wire but it was not our day!

Choosing to field after winning the toss seemed like a good decision after the opening bowlers had Normo shaken-up at 4/31 in 11 overs. From then on the heat got on us and their middle order piled up a near century partnership. Some tight bowling and wickets towards the end had them opponent put up a modest total that was very much gettable with our recent display of form from the top and middle order. Ben Waldron (1/14), Amit Sen (2/11), Amith Ninan (1/32), Manu Verma (1/23) and Sreeni Pillamarri (2/29) we all among wickets. Ground fielding was decent and we held on to most catches.

Our turn to bat and all hell broke loose. Some good opening bowling plus poor shot selection by our batters reduced us to 4/45 in 9 overs with 2 ducks and 2 under 10 scores. Indranil (46) put up a valiant effort smacking the ball all around the park. Wickets kept tumbling and in 18 overs we were reduced to 8/93.

As we were still scratching our heads trying to figure out what was going-on in the middle, Rommel (71) took the game to the opponent. Blasting 26 and 16 in consecutive overs, we were suddenly looking at pulling off an impossible win. With run-rate not being an issue and plenty of overs in hand, Rommel worked his way with Ben Waldron (10) and Amith Ninan giving him steady company in the middle. However, we could not pull it off and Rommel fell when we were only 5 away.

A brilliant effort from Rommel who made seemingly impossible task almost possible.

An interesting situation for us on the leader board and it will be a tight battle for us in the next two matches to stay strong in contention for the semis.

D1 Grade

WPHC 134 lost to Hornsby 6/138 – winning the toss and electing to bat first, Connor and Aden got us off to a great start, scoring runs freely all around the ground before Aden was out on 19. Connor (59) batted well to help the total reach 3/93 at 20 overs but from then on a steady flow of wickets for not many runs meant that we were all out for 134.

Our bowling was tight and we managed to get 6 wickets with Dave taking 2/27, but with only 134 on the board Hornsby managed to get over the line with 2 overs to spare.

D2 Grade

WPHC 6/105 defeated Kenthurst-Upper Hills 50 – Glenhaven Oval was very humid and the grass was long with a sandy base. There were 2 large sand bunkers sitting at fine leg and long on.

Captain Mike again won the toss and elected to bat. However, the air was very humid and it became obvious early on that there was some very good swing to the bowlers. After 10 overs we were 1 for 18 runs which was of some concern. Kenthurst initially bowled a very disciplined line and length and we were having some difficulty getting the run rate up.

After 20 overs we managed to hit 43 runs without losing a second wicket. In the next 10 overs we lost a further 2 wickets but added 39 runs bring our total to 81 runs after 30 overs. At this stage the highest number of runs achieved by one of our batters was 21 runs. We lost a further 3 wickets for the gain of 24 runs making a total of 105 runs after 40 overs for the loss of 6 wickets.

The consensus was that a score of about 130 was par for the day and we were quite concerned about keeping Kenthurst below our total.

Our bowlers had to keep to a good line and length if we were to have any chance. Well 14 year old Parin Pillamarri stepped up and took 3 wickets out of the four top batsmen for 8 runs off 5 overs.

That gave us considerable hope and lifted our spirits. Matt Rose and Captain Mike each took a vital catch in the cover and mid off areas off Parin’s bowling. At the 10 over mark, we had 3 wickets for 17 runs. John Rose then proceeded to demolish the middle order of Kenthurst taking 5 wickets for 7 runs off 8 overs. At one point in the 15th over, John Rose was on a hat trick taking two wickets and just missing out on taking his third. We had Kenthurst 7 for 35 at the end of the 20th over. We bowled them out by the 29th over with their total runs being 50.

Michael Woodcock who was filling in took the 9th wicket with figures of 1 for 8 off 4 overs. Ben Kinchington then took the 10th wicket. Matt Rose (son of John) and who doesn’t play cricket took 2 great catches which removed two of Kenthurst’s best batters.

Roger Friend who was loaned to us from D1 did all the wicket keeping duties superbly and impressed everyone with his good hands standing up to the wicket even with the fast bowlers. A big thank you to Matt, Michael and Roger.

A great win considering the position we thought we were in at the end of our innings. It’s really true that you can’t judge a pitch or field until both sides have batted and bowled.