Space Cadet – 1

First-up, our theme music – Lost in Space

Round 1 and our 1^st Space Cadet of the season. Congratulations to Matt Philip (A2).

The achievement

Matt bats at number 11 and with the boys 8 wickets down, the Skipper (Andrew Morris) asked Matt to pad up – a fair direction from the thinking person’s Skipper. Matt thought about this for a while asked:

“Am I batting next.”

With just the one wicket to fall before number 11 batted there is a big chance that, yes, you are batting next.

Postscript: fast forward to the A2 Grand Final…after being 9/71 Matt, along with Tanay Hira put on an Association record 10^th wicket partnership of 101 to win the game for the boys!

Space Cadet – 2

First up our new theme music for this prestigious award –  Klaatu

There are Space Cadet stories and there are Space Cadet stories – this one ranks up there in going where ‘no man has gone before’. Enter one of our most popular players – who else than Ray Khamis (B1 Blue).

Picture this from Round 2. Our B1 Blue boys were defending 138 with the last over last to be bowled. The Opposition were 9 down with 11 runs to win with star bowler Todd Hutchinson bowling. So far so good. Anyway the Opposition had a couple of bunnies in and cow corner was always going to be at risk so…who better than Ray to field in this spot – the man who has swallowed more balls than Sharon Stone.

Not this time.

With 9 down, the bunny swung hard and hit it straight to Ray on the Cow corner boundary at Greenway Park. Never in doubt, the boys started celebrating until it hit him flush on the head and rebounded over the fence for 6 to win the match.

It got worse when the ball then rolled down the hill, down the road and Ray needed via GPS to get the ball. There is also a reminder with a nice red cherry on Ray’s sun hat.

Photo: Ray Khamis hit 5 x 6’s in succession – a Club record for consecutive 6’s – 9th January 2016

Space Cadet – 3

First – our theme music: Rocket Man

Round 14 and one of our rising stars makes the cut as our Space Cadet – Connor Mayoh (D1 Red). Picture this – heavy rain during Friday and a saturated Caterson 6 pitch. Ian Digby (Skipper) is desperate to get on and consolidate 2^nd place so is out with the Blower Vac to try and dry the pitch. Enter Connor who was sharing thoughts about the state of the pitch with Team mates. Time to have a drink as we got closer to getting on and Connor thought it would be a good idea to use the water to create a pattern on the pitch. The Blower Vac gets put to good use again and we eventually got on until rain came again.

Photo: Connor Mayoh (D1 Red) with Ramil de Silva and Andrew Fiedler @ Caterson 6 – 12 February 2022

Good guys do come first

Round 2 – Andrew Morris (A2 Skipper and pictured) is a tough competitor but also wants to win a game the right way. Playing at The Glade (says it all) and chasing a more than handy 143 to win it was always going to be tough. Two instances happened than showed what a true competitor Andrew is – he wanted to win but the right way.

In the first instance, an Opposition top order batsman was given out caught behind but Andrew recalled him as he knew it came off his arm while playing a flyer.

The 2^nd instance was when Kyle Townsend smashed a ball down the ground and ran 4 all run. Fielding the ball their fielder injured himself and couldn’t get the ball back. Rather than running 5 or even 6 runs the boys held their ground and just settled for the 4.

The result of the game…,,.we needed 9 runs with 9 balls to go and 9 wicket down. We won with 1 ball to go.

Well done mate – this makes winning even sweeter.

Photo: Andrew Morris winning the A2 Premiership 2021/22

Father & son debuts

One of the great things about our Club and cricket in general is seeing father and son combinations play and the family stories that flow form this for the years to come. On the weekend we had 2 great father & son combinations:

Vipin & Vedant Vilamari

A great moment for the Vilamari family. Father Vipin got to bat with his son Vedant for the first time ever. Vipin scored 5 and Vedant 23 and although we didn’t come away with a win, there was a special moment out in the middle shared by these two guys – Glenhaven Oval.

Steve ‘Buzz’ & Ben Burrows

Ben has already played Seniors but this was his debut match in C2 and the first time playing with Buzz. To quote Buzz:

“I had a cracking day yesterday and one I will never forget”

How did they go? Ben took 2/5 off 5 overs and Buzz 0/5 off 3 overs. So a points decision to Ben but something a lot more valuable than a result.

Our next goal – to see a mother / daughter or mother / son combination making their debut.

Photo: Steve ‘Buzz’ Burrows and his son Ben – Dural Park, 13 November 2021:

500^th ton – we got there

Round 4 – it’s taken 91 years, just on 63,000 innings but we got there! Our 500^th Seniors ton. Congratulations to Happy Rana who scored 100 retired on one leg battling a calf injury. The cap it off it was also a Sheep Station Cup between the D1 Blues & the D1 Reds at the spiritual home of cricket – Campbell Park.

Over the last 10 years we are scoring, on average, 13.5 tons / season so at this rate we will get to 600 in around 7 years. For those keen enough to be still playing, we will bring up our 1,000^th ton in just on 37 years or the year 2058!

Photo: Happy Rana (D1 Blue) after scoring our 500th Seniors century in the D1 Sheep Station Cup – 20th November @ Campbell Park

Is there anything worse than being run out? Yes……

In the A2 game on Saturday, Steve Rochow was batting with his Captain, Andrew Morris. Anyway, the boys were batting well until Steve was BBQ’d by his skipper – runout. If this isn’t bad enough, The skipper then strained a groin muscle and needed a runner – enter Steve again. So within a couple of overs of being runout, Steve was back on the field being the runner for his Skipper – it doesn’t get much worse that.

Photo: Steve Rochow batting Vs Berowra @ Berowra Oval on his way to 49 – 12 December 2020

Excuses for missing a game

There are lame and good excuses for missing a game on the weekend. In Round 7 we had both on display and it is worth sharing these excuses.

Lame excuse

No names, but in A2 last week the skipper had to run around for a replacement player when a player withdrew with the excuse “…Skip I’m unavailable as I have a Christmas Party on Friday”.

Good excuse

To quote Steve Quanborough:

“Vedant Virmani (the Bradman of C3s – 237runs@118.50 off 4 bats) obviously a little bored with how easy cricket is right now, popped in the MMA ring for a once in a lifetime opportunity. By all accounts he acquitted himself well against a much taller opponent and should be proud of his brave effort.”

Irrespective of whether this is a good or lame reason, no one is going to question an MMA fighter.

Photo: Vedant Virmani in the MMA ring – 11 December 2021

Commitment

At the other end of the scale was the effort from Phill Hando (B2 Red Skipper). Phill was on a family camping trip outside Forster. Through a combination of injuries, Covid and close contacts the boys were going to be short so up steps Phill. Without any fanfare Phill drove down from Forster to play at Brooklyn and then made the return trip after the game – a cool 520 klms round trip or just on 6 hours travelling to support the Team.

To make it even better, Phill suffered a season ending shoulder injury during the game and drove back to Foster with effectively one functioning arm.

Photo: Phill Hando (Red & left) & Blue (Rick Turner) at the coin toss. Round 1 @ Dural Park – 30 October 2021

Snow White and the 6 Dwarves

Forget the twin centuries from Usman Khawaja, one of the highlights of the SCG Ashes Test was the attendance of Snow White and the 6 Dwarves – unfortunately one dwarf was missing in action. The Team was our very own:

Snow White (Brent Larkham – A2), Blue Dwarf – Matt Digby (B2), Yellow Dwarf – Billy Gaunt (A1), Alex Chidgey (C2 Red), Stu Fiedler (C2), Ray Khamis (B1) and Nathaniel Chidgey (visiting from Qld). To see the photo just double click on screen image.

Get a load of Snow White – Brent scrubs up really well as a princess although not sure about the hairy legs.

Photo: Day 1 of the SCG Test and our boys starring – Snow White (Brent Larkham – A2), Blue Dwarf – Matt Digby (B2), Yellow Dwarf – Billy Gaunt (A1), Alex Chidgey (C2 Red), Stu Fiedler (C2), Ray Khamis (B1) and Nathaniel Chidgey (visiting from Qld) – SCG, 8th December 2022.

“Some days are diamonds and some days are stone….”

This is one of those ‘records’ that don’t exist but long memories say rate it up there with rare feats. Congratulations to Cameron Croucher (C3 Red Skipper). Cameron has batted 6 times this season and has been run-out twice for 0. No surprises here but both run-outs have been diamond ducks from direct hit throws from side-on.

What a good opportunity to provide an appropriate musical interlude for this performance by a classic John Denver song – Some days are Diamonds

Photo: Cameron with his family’s NZ beer from Croucher Breweries.

Sartorial elegance

Our Sheep Station Trophy games go back to 16 December 2017 when Rick Turner and Simon Smyth started off the tradition when 2 x WPHC teams play each other. Standard dress for the coin toss is a hat, blazer and ideally a tie – adding a bit of class to the occasion.In the Round 14 clash our B2 Red and Blue Teams faced against each other and new standards were set. Shomik (B2 Blue) set an especially elegant display with a coat that has set new standards for future Captains at the coin toss.

The B2 Blue Vs B2 Red Sheep Station Trophy game – from left to right: Shomik Sengupta (B2 Blue Captain) and Raghu Chary (B2 Red Captain) before the coin toss. For the record, the Reds won (9/141) Vs Blues 129 – Headen Park – 5 February 2022.

Photo: Shomik Sengupta (B2 Blue Captain & left) and Raghu Chary (B2 Red Captain) before the coin toss – Headen Park, 5 February 2022.

Six hitting record

In Round 15, our D1 Blue boys hammered 17 x 6’s in their massive score of 8/196 in 35 overs. While we don’t have records of the most number of 6’s in an innings but 17 is right up there. So let’s celebrate this wonderful achievement by this amazing players:

1. Jags Balakrishnan (7 x 6’s) including 4 in one over
2. Happy Rana (4 x 6’s)
3. Brahadesh Ramamurthy (4 x 6’s)
4. Chetan Chandrasekhar (1 x 6)
5. Vikas Goel (1 x 6)

Photo: Left to right: Brahadesh Ramamurthy 4 x 6’s in his innings of 45; Happy Rana 4 x 6s (36); Vikas Goel 1 x 6 (23); Chetan Chandrasekhar 1 x 6 (12) & Jags Balakrishnan 7 x 6s (46) including 4 in one over – Vs Kenthurst @ Fred Caterson 4 – 19 February 2022

A short story on our Champion Player

Congratulations to Lachlan Edwards – our Champion Player for 2021-22. Lachie’s batting has been a revelation. This season he finished with 582 runs @ 58.2 – and the top ranked player of our 800 registered players! Since coming into Seniors from Juniors in 2019-20 his record has been:

• 2019-20 – 142 runs @ 14.2 (11 games)
• 2020-21 – 172 runs @ 24.6 (11 games)
• 2021-22 – 585 runs @ 53.2 (15 games)

This means that Lachie scored 314 runs in aggregate in his first 2 seasons of Senior cricket. This season he has scored almost double (1.8 x) his combined aggregate for the previous 2 seasons. With Finals to come he could well pass the magical double his last 2 x seasons aggregate. Wow! If he can continue this trajectory who knows where this will finish.

By the way, he isn’t a bad leggy either taking 17 wickets @ 16.4 with a best of 5/6 and when he gets bored he wicket keeps just as well.

Photo: Lachlan Edwards with his dad after scoring 95 this season – 6 November 2021

“Cometh the hour…cometh the man”

Every player who kicks on to bigger things in cricket can look back on a defining moment in their cricket career where it is obvious to everyone (themselves and others), that the player has ‘arrived’. That moment was achieved in the C2 Semi-Final when Connor Hindmarch, who was playing Juniors 4 years ago, had a previous top score of 59. The world changed in this match. Opening the batting, in the Semi-Final on a wet and slow Greenway Park, and with wickets falling around him, Connor finished Day 1 at 70* in a Team total of 7/155.

Come Day 2 and Connor finished with 107* – our 502^nd century and just the 5^th this season. To make this innings even more significant he carried his bat and stood like a colossus over the game. Needless to say the score was out of reach for the Opposition and we won through to the big dance next week.

To quote Steve Quanborough on TeamApp:

“Cometh the hour …cometh the man”

Photo: Connor Hindmarch (C2 Blue) Greenway Park – 5th & 12th March 2022

McGrath Foundation support

Last season we were awarded the prestigious ‘Pink Service Award’ by the McGrath Foundation in recognition of being one of the top 7 x Clubs nationally in fund-raising support for the McGrath Foundation. Since we started Pink Stumps Day in 2010/11 we have raised $46k going into this season. After Pink Stumps Day at the Juniors Presentation we cracked $50,000 in support of this great initiative. Well done to Simon Kelly and his Team this weekend and to everyone who supported this great cause.

Photo: Pink Stumps Day at the Juniors Presentation day. The Team raised $3,500 bring our total raised for the McGrath Foundation to over $50,000 – Oakhill Drive Public School – 20 March 2021.

Rainbow over Greenway

Over the years there has been a lot of debate about whether Campbell Park or Greenway Park was the ‘Home of West Penno Cricket’. While the spiritual home of West Penno always is and always will be Campbell Park it looks like the ‘gods’ are smiling on Greenway Park. How about this great photo that Steve Quan (C3 Red) sent me during the week of a perfect rainbow over Greenway last Saturday – how good.

Photo: A rainbow over Greenway Park – Saturday 15 January 2022.