Local Council elections – mark the date

We mentioned this a couple of weeks ago but next week (4^th December) are the Council elections.

Our Club has always taken a neutral position on supporting candidates at Elections – until now. Sreeni Pillamarri is standing and is number 2 on the Liberal Party ticket for C Ward. Sreeni is the only person who has a platform that supports local Community sport – winter & summer.

Sreeni is a member of our Club Executive and plays C4s. Apart from being an active member of our West Penno ‘family’ he is a passionate supporter of all local Community sports (winter and summer seasons), the need for more open space and ofcourse cricket.

He has contributed so much for our Community and no greater effort than organising and walking between Parramatta and Canberra to raise funds for drought affected farmers 3 years ago.

Unbeaten runs

It is good to see both A1 and A2 Grades heading the Competition table after 5 Rounds. A1 Grade has also won their opening 4 rounds and ofcourse a draw this weekend means they are undefeated after 5 Rounds. The last time we were undefeated after 5 Rounds was in 2012/13 – we lost Round 6 but went on to win the Comp. If the boys can win next weekend our records don’t go back that far but it hasn’t happened for a long time – if ever.

Pictured is our A1 & A2 joint Premiership sides of 2012-13

Behind the scenes – a case study in what makes a successful Club

We often call out the amazing effort of our volunteers – across the whole Club. Without these generous people we don’t have a Club – simple as that. The Comedy Night was held on Saturday night and this gives a great insight into what happens behind the scenes. We had a great turnout with just on 80 people attending.

To make it happen though look at the logistics and effort behind the scenes:

• Oversee event – 1 person (Phill)
• Arrange sponsorship – 1 person (Phill)
• Set up Square point of sale system – 2 people (Tom & Phill)
• Stock bar – 3 people (Phill, Tom & Jack)
• Buy food – 2 people (Phill & Mary)

• Entry control for checking tickets and QR scanning – 2 people (Steve O & TBA)
• Cricket Club MC and a couple of guys to have a chat/tell some jokes – 1 person (Birdcage)
• Cooking BBQ – 4 people (Indranil, James, 3 & 4)

• arrange gas bottles
• cleaning BBQ before cooking
• cooking in right order – vegetarian, then chicken, and then beef
• cleaning after and putting away

• Serving food – 4 people (Mary, Nicole Digby and 2 others)
• Bar work – 4 people (Alec, Zac, Grace & Ben) (Plus Phill)
• Clearing plates, glasses & bottles from tables during the evening – 2 people (Buzz, Paul)
• Packing kitchen dishwasher – same people as serving food & clearing tables
• Setting up theatre seating – everyone

Sunday morning volunteers – 10.00am

• Cleaning kitchen – 2 people
• Vacuuming function room – 4 people
• Mopping kitchen and bar area – 2 people
• Sweeping bathrooms – 2 people
• Set up room in standard format – 4 people
• Recycle bottles – 2 people

All up – 30+ different people all contributing to a great night. A call out to the amazing Phill Hando and everyone who helped make this such a great night.

A special call-out though to Phill (organised everything), James & Indranil (BBQ), Mary and Nicole (kitchen), Alex, Zac & Grace (bar), Andrew M (everywhere) & Birdcage (MC).

So to Phill, his volunteers and all our West Penno volunteers – Thank you

Reelin’ in the years

First up, our theme song – the Steely Dan classic Reelin the Years

 Last weekend, Happy Rana (D1 Blue) scored our 500^th ton – 91 years and just over 61,000 innings to get there. What is interesting is to see how the gap in the time taken between each 100 tons has decreased. Have a think about this trend:

The time taken is driven by the number of Teams but we are now clicking over every 100 tons in under 10 years compared to 33 years in our early years.

Pictured is Chris Thomas (A1 Captain) leaving the field after winning the 2002/03 Grand Final – Chris scored our 200^th Club ton.

Heard of the 2 Ronnie’s? What about the 2 Ryan’s?

There is a bit of a contest happening between the 2 x Ryan’s (Gunn & Loveridge). Both boys have Teamed up into the Movember initiative with great passion. ‘Team Ryan’ has so far raised $810 with Gunny leading the charge on $440 and Birdcage $320.

This is a fabulous result but Team Birdcage (Ryan Loveridge) is desperate to overcome what he calls out as being an unfair advantage with some of Gunny’s cashed up supporters.

So, with only a few days left for Movember contribute to this great cause and choose who is going to come out on top – Movember link

Pictured is Ryan Loveridge (centre) with Michael Richards & Billy Gaunt.