A1 Grade

WPHC 4 /295 dec defeated Sydney Lions 195 & 4/75 – we started the day in a commanding position at 0 for 84 and not much changed during the rest of the day apart from not being able to pull off a spirited outright victory to end James Makin’s reign as WPH skipper.

There were half centuries galore with Makin 51, Wurth 61, Jobson 69 and Heidegar 65* all posting good scores and outclassing a Sydney Lions attack. Alex Robertson chiming in with a quick 30 * to give us a 100 run lead with Stalwart and iconic frontman James Makin sniffing a possible outright victory.

The outright win wasn’t to be but we had the Lions reeling at 4 for 35 until the 5th wicket partnership halted our attack. Tim Scoular and Bailey Boom Boom Meidler were magnificent but just was not enough time to take the 10 points.

A special mention to James Makin who will be stepping down as Skipper and has passed the Batten on to Justin Paterson next year. An emotional farewell to a Club legend who has lead WPH to 4 consecutive Rofie titles and just missed out last year in the final over with a new inexperienced side. Let’s not forget that James carried the side with the bat this year with a near personal best season for himself with just under 400 runs. James leadership will be sorely missed but will be there to help and guide JP next year with his vast experience and leadership qualities.

In the words of James Makin himself, the time is right, or It could have been Don Bourke… he said

“Gardeners for years have known that if faded flowers are picked before they form seeds the plants will continue to produce more flowers”.

In other words we know that James has a great deal to offer this club in A grade but it’s time for someone younger and better looking to steer the ship from now on.

Thanks for a great season all and will see you at end of season canapés.

A2 Grade

WPHC Red (Simon) 5/237 dec defeated Glenorie 89 & 2/24 – A2s turned up to the home of cricket today at 2/102 chasing 89. It was safe to say we were in a good position. Unlike Barnaby we pulled out early. No one tell the WAGS we finished at 4:30 today, for all they know cricket goes until 8:30.

Michael ‘Donald’ Trunk tried to bat, but with Dan ‘Fish Farmer’ Cardigan facing about 150% of the deliveries, it was hard. Others also batted but I can’t think of anything remotely humorous to say about it so stuff them. Do funny things if you want to make the review. Oh I forgot, Josh ‘Fkyare’ Banner got a duck and got out to a bloke called duck. Duck squared.

With ball in hand Zog ‘Vegan’ Zog gave Steve Quanborough his phone number this week. Also with the new ball he took 1fa and really had the play of the day by getting Middo out. Vegan does need encouragement so please feel free to reach out to him mid week and compliment him.

Future A Grade Captain J ‘Justin’ P was not required this week and thus settled the debate that A2s is the highest standard available. If he wants overs then he had better start having 40 wicket seasons in A Grade.

In other news, full credit to the club’s development squad. Last we heard A Grade were 5/300 and we just want to say that they’ve really stepped up, there could be some A2 Electric Salmon contracts coming through if they apply themselves over the next few years.

WPHC Blue (Rick) 116 lost to Castle Hill 8/119

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

Today we were very good. A 10 man team turned up needing to take 10 wickets for 68 runs. We bowled very well. Probably the best performance with the ball as a unit all season. We beat the bat consistently, created chances and fell just short. If a couple of very close calls had gone our way we would have pulled off a fine win but it wasn’t to be.

In the end we fell 2 wickets short with all the pressure being on the Castle Hill tail enders. Bowling figures Edwards 2/36, Flook 2/29, Hando 1/30 and Keating 0/23.

B1 Grade

WPHC 53 & 132 lost outright Vs Lions 294 – in a day that saw more dollars in fines raised than runs scored, we arrived at Annangrove Park believing we could chase down 294 and make the finals.

When you lose 19/185 in a day and would have needed to bat in a fourth innings to finally pass the Oppositions total, there are far and few highlights in between. In the first innings, the only real innings of note was Ben ‘I’m sick of carrying this team’ Meikle’s elegant 16 not out. Things picked up in the second innings when one of the club’s rising stars, and future A-grade player Michael ‘Young prospect’ Gunn dug in to score 43 and score his 2,000th run for the Club in the process. Late in the day, Semonn Oleksyn toiled hard to save the game and reminded us that batting isn’t actually that hard, finishing on 33 not out.

Other highlights in the day included Kristoff ‘I don’t feel pressure’ O’Meara’s well compiled 4 runs in the first innings, that elevated him up to 10 in the batting order for the second innings where he made the most of his opportunity and made a glorious 2. Meanwhile, the man that Kristoff overtook in the batting order, Ravin Wijesuriya was told by his Captain today; “that’s the most impressive pair of all time”. Well done Ravin!

In other news, Kaitlin ‘MVP’ Edwards showed some promising signs for next season, finally fulfilling her potential by shouting the whole team frozen cokes.

Enough about the game, time for a quick season recap. After a reasonably comfortable victory in Round 1, we came to the realisation that we couldn’t play good cricket and raise enough fine money to have a good post-season function at the same time.

In the end, as a team we decided that batting and bowling well is overrated and that bullying the team into paying fines is much more important. Whilst we won’t make it to Thailand with the A2 boys, we’ll have an awesome night in Drummoyne to forget about the average cricket we played this season.

Special mentions go to; Rohit, Chidge, Ravin, Semonn and Ronic for all reaching $50 total in fines for the season.

B2 Grade

WPHC Red (Rob) 5/177 dec & 5/134 defeated outright Sydney Lions 105 & 202 – we returned to Campbell Park knowing that an Outright victory would clinch the Minor Premiership.

The Opposition were 3/7 and 67 runs behind at the start of the days play. Aaron Hawkins and Dean Carlin bowled tight opening spells with Dean getting one to jag back and knock over the batsman’s poles. The Opposition were 4/8, but unfortunately that’s where things changed. The batsmen dug in and played with the freedom of being their last game of the season. A few dropped catches and other opportunities not going to hand allowed the batsmen to put on a 168 run partnership.

The tea break couldn’t come soon enough. We sat in silence with everyone knowing what was required. We went back on the field with a team chat and a commitment to each other to not let the regular season end this way!

Aaron Hawkins (5/48) got the breakthrough with a solid edge. Dean Carlin (5/39) followed it up with a wicket the next over. Having dismissed both set batsmen, we knew we could make quick inroads to roll the tail. Dean and Aaron finish the innings off by taking 6 wickets in 8 overs for just 22 runs.

We went in to bat needing 131 runs from 26 overs. Ray Khamis (28) and Andrew Morris (35) opened the batting and got us off to a great start scoring the required 5 runs an over. A couple of quick wickets saw us slip to 5/87 with 10 overs remaining. Ryan Gunn (23*) and Eric Junkkari (23*) both play great knocks combining boundaries with great running between the wickets to see us through to victory.

Once again, another match that tested our resolve, and yet again we grafted away and got the job done. An important win that we can roll on from moving into the finals.

WPHC Blue (Tim) defeated on forfeit Lankan Islanders – what a shame. The boys were primed to finish the season with a win so we finish the season with the disappointment of not getting on the field. The positive is that with Robbie Knapper’s Red Team getting an outright win the boys picked up 10 points and leapfrog 2 Teams in the final points table.

C1 Grade

WPHC 219 lost to Sydney Lions 221 – after a good batting display last week, we were on the back foot early on Day 2 with Sydney Lions opener and his fellow number 3 piling on the runs quickly and at 1/95 at the drinks break, things looked very bleak.

However it was not after the drinks break that the game started to change. Nick Sparks (1-29) a WPHC Junior, came into the attack early and although having a few chances dropped, kept on changing his pace and length and eventually got us the breakthrough that we were looking for.

Tarun then decided to bring on his trusted spinner in Asees Rajput (4-31), and Boy did he deliver, picking up the opening batsman (63) in the next over with a delivery faster than Nandu Ramesh’s Bouncers and from there on in bowled in partnerships with the other bowlers till the end.

From there, their confidence was up with Asees picking up another two wickets and Nandu Ramesh (1-27) picking up the important wicket of their set batsman. However from there, Lions had a change in tactic and decided to be more aggressive and suddenly needed 30 to win with 4 wickets in hand.

Then bravely Tarun decided to pass the bowl to Raunak Sethi (2-19), who bowled the greatest bumper and Yorker of his life, to give us a sniff at victory, as well as saving plenty of runs in the gully region…….. MATE UNBELIEVABLE

Asees then picked up the 9^th wicket, with Lions requiring 7 runs with a wicket in hand. Apart from Nandu Ramesh’s 130 and Asees’s 4fa there was another standout today in the field,  was the opposing umpire, who blatantly and with confidence gave a simple caught and bowled to Ishaan Singh, ‘Not out’ saying it was a bump ball with the team already celebrating.

Although furious we did not back down and although we came up short, we played with passion and pride and we know that we were the victorious one’s on the day

PEACE OUT PEEPS.

C2 Grade

WPHC 241 lost to Beecroft 264 – we started well with Beecroft 0/25 after 20, then 3/62 at tea.

Some great spells of bowling from Tanay, Scott, Darcy and an excellent spell of leg spin from Will Harvey really put the pressure on.

Unfortunately Buzz dismissed the Opposition’s plodding opening batsman in the 43^rd over (he had only managed to score 22 in that time!) and this brought out a few more aggressive bats who proceeded to take to the short boundaries and with some lucky hitting put themselves back on track.

As a testament to a great bunch of players we have in C2, no one gave up and we pushed them to 8 down before they passed us.

Despite the punishment from their lower order, two bowlers stood out: Dave Behlevanas with 4/33 (off 11.2) and Tanay Hira with 3/26 (off 16). Other wicket takers were Scott, Will and Buzz.

On a hot afternoon there was another standout: Cody Waters again delivered a fine display of ‘keeping snaring 3 catches and numerous brilliant takes behind the stumps to show why he’s right up there as one of the leading ‘keepers in the Club!

Special thanks to ‘super-sub’ Tim Worthington who gave up his Saturday to field for us, cheers Mate!

It’s been a pleasure to skipper this side during the season, full of a wonderful bunch of players (and many, many fill ins who helped us out – thank you all!). We’ve shown often just how competitive we can be and only a couple of narrow misses separated us from the top sides.

It’s on to the fun of the John Hayne Cup for us, but for all the Semi Finalists next week, all of C2 wish you the best of luck!

C3 Grade

WPHC 279 defeated Glenorie 220 – we carried on our plans to bat on Week 2 and Manu did not disappoint to get some quick runs, being not out from last week. However, he fell to a blinder in deep mid-wicket making a well-made 82. We finally ended the innings on 279 giving Glenorie 67 overs in the day.

We knew it was up to the Opposition to chase down the total and we had to play a patient game. Our opening bowlers got us a great start with Ben Waldron taking a wicket in the first over and from other side Amitava Sen continued his form from last round with 3 wickets in his first 5 overs and Glenorie was 4 down for 38 runs in the first 10.

After that their middle order started to throw their bats and our bowling discipline dropped. After Tea they continued to score quickly and were 171 runs in 30 overs. Then rain stopped play for an hour and we had to cut down 12 overs in the day.

The break proved to be a blessing as Manu fired up some good spin bowling and taking quick wickets. Once the settled batsmen were out chasing the total, we kept the pressure on and Glenorie was all out for 220 in the 44^th over.

The pick of the bowlers was Manu Verma 5/46 and Amitava 4/48. This is Manu’s maiden 5 wicket haul for the season and is proving to be great dependable player in both bat and ball. Not to forget we took more catches than we dropped and few were difficult ones especially the one picked up by Cliff and another 2 from Rommel.

Cliff continues to show all players what fitness means and no doubt earns the ‘Jonty Rhodes’ award (if there is one such award it will be for him).

We are in the finals, and expected to finish #3 in the ladder, so great performance from the team. We expect to play St Ives and one can imagine how important that game will be. Hope to get many supporters from the club to cheer us on and all the best to all the finalists.

D1 Grade

WPHC 7/179 defeated St Ives 175 – a win here would give us a chance of Finals with other results needing to go our way.

Things did not start well, losing 4 wickets in the opening 20 overs. Gautum (85) had a classy Captains knock.

Setting a platform and steadying the ship for our run chase. I am sure St Ives would regret dropping him on 23. A 30 run partnership with Dylan (16) and Steve proved to be vital with both Dylan and Steve playing patiently. Rob (11) put in a very good effort, earning a 50 run partnership with Gautum. Once both batters were out Roshan (9) and Amith (13) finished the run chase in style with three 4’s.

We ended up falling short of the top 4 on quotient but it has been a very enjoyable year and on behalf of the D1 side, we wish any WPHC teams in the finals good luck.

Overall, we were undefeated in 2 day games for the entire season. We beat the top 3 teams and had a rainoff draw against equal 4th place.

It was the 1-dayer’s that let us down.

D2 Grade

WPHC 8/284 dec defeated Thornleigh 279 – at the end of Day 1 after losing the toss and batting, we were 6/ 262. We resumed batting on Day 2 to declare our score at 8/284.

We were conscious that our two fast bowlers were not bowling on Day 2 as one was injured and the other unavailable. So we had to rely upon the medium pace and slow bowlers instead to do the job.

Napier Gryst managed to get 2 of the three opening batsmen and Captain Mike the third. At this stage Thornleigh had hit 113 runs. Thornleigh then put together a 105 run partnership to get their total to 218.

Wanan and Parin perservered to take a further 5 wickets in the middle of the late afternoon session. Napier Gryst bowled and caught a further wicket with Waman Tamhankar taking the last wicket through a catch to Ian Williams. Both teams should advance through to the semi-finals.