The Schwartzel show

Last weekend, identical twin brothers Daniel and Matthew Schwartzel (C1 Grade) put on a batting masterclass. The Match report follows:

“Brothers Dan and Matt put on a mammoth 144 run stand off 50+ overs on a hot day at the Bannockburn Oval. The Opposition bowlers tried their best to get the twins out who looked like Mark and Steve Waugh batting superbly against both pace and spin.

 The banter on who’s ahead in the scoring kept going throughout their partnership with Dan scoring 71 and Matt scoring 97 to miss out on a well-deserved century.”

The only problem is that Matthew and Daniel are absolutely identical and at times have to ask themselves who is who. What we do know is that the partnership was 141 but as for the accuracy of individual scores – who knows.

Well done fella’s and I think we are going to see a lot more of these highly talented brothers.

Photo: Daniel (left) and Matt (2^nd left) with Dad, Warren (3^rd left), playing C1 along with the 5 Hando family members – Greenway Park, 11 January 2020.

A batting Masterclass

Connor Mayoh (D1 Red) put on a batting Masterclass in the game against the 2^nd placed Team scoring 95 high quality runs. This was Connor’s highest score and he fell desperately of his first ton after being caught in the last over of the day – the 71^st on the innings.

Quality batters take time during their innings to look for the gaps and hit towards these gaps. Connor applied a different approach to great effect. He looked for the fielder who was least likely to catch a ball. With pinpoint precision he found this player.

Connor gave 4 chances during the innings and all went to the same player. Wherever the player was moved, Connor found him. In one case he was put at cow corner and not only did he drop the catch but it went over the boundary for 6 runs.

Photo: Connor (2^nd right) along with Gus & Cliff Greenhalgh, Zac Gerber, Dave Larkham Connor and Marcus Exton – Northholm Grammar – 12 November 2022.

Personal achievements

Some great Team results this weekend with some equally outstanding personal achievements:

• First up – Harry Whitehouse (U13 Red) with 105* and his 2^nd ton of the season
• Dave Larkham (D1 Red) who took his 100^th wicket in D1 Grade. Dave now sits just 2^nd behind the great Roger Friend who has taken 138 wickets as the all-time highest D1 Grade wicket taker
• On a day that was hot and good to be batting, enter Mudi Dissanayake (C2 Blue) who got a 6 fa

Photo: Dave Larkham after taking is 100^th D1 Grade wicket – Foxglove Oval – 11 February 2023.

Quiet achievers

Standing at the top of our century scorers list is Laurie Tuckerman (A1 Grade – 1951/52) who scored 7 tons in the one season. For info he also took 80 wickets in the same season!

We now have legitimate claims from current day players to beat this long standing record. Watch this spot for the ‘now’ generation to equal and then beat this record. Here are some names of the front-runners:

• Michael Banner (B1 Red) – 6 tons
• Michael Gunn (A1) – 5
• Rick Turner (B1 Red) – 5
• Ashane De Silva (A1) – 3
• Brent Larkham (B1 Red) – 3 including a double ton
• Lachlan Edwards (C3 Blue) – 2 tons including a double

Michael G, Ashane and Brent are both in their early / mid-twenties and Lachlan is just 17 years old.

Let’s not also forget the player most likely to pass this milestone first – Michael ‘Volc’ Banner. After scoring 48* yesterday his view about this impressive score: “I’m not interested in 50’s – only 100’s”.

Photo – Brent Larkham (left) & Lachlan Edwards our 2 youngest double century scorers and both in line to break to long-standing 6 ton record – WPH Sports Club – 26 November 2022.

Club Champions

Every now and then you come across a player who has something special both on and off the field and is destined for big things. Enter Harry Whitehouse (U13 Red & D1 Red).

Harry played as a week 1 player for D1 Red last week and had the 2^nd week off. However, with a Covid case and another player unavailable and few late calls by Skipper Dave Larkham had Harry agree to fill-in for the seniors. The day was hot – mid-thirties, Harry had already scored 105* of a Team total of 152 in the morning and then came along to field – taking a good catch and making a runout.

Not to be outdone, the D1 boys were still down a player in a must-win match. Enter Harry’s dad, Ben who put on a spare pair of whites and also fielded the house down.

The D1 boys won the game but we also saw the emergence of something that separates the very good players from the exceptional. Well done Harry and Ben.

Photo: Harry and Ben Whitehouse at Foxglove Oval – 11 February 2023.

Baby Herzog – welcome to the World

Congratulations to our latest addition to the West Penno family – a baby son to Luke (A1) and Katie Herzog. Oliver James was born on 8^th February. We are reliably told that Luke is already planning the father-son team.

It is also wonderful to see that baby Oliver has been named after Luke’s former A1 Grade skipper (James Makin) youngest son.

This brings to mind another baby naming story that goes back to the 2011/12 A1 Grand Final. Two days after the GF, won by West Penno, Simon Smyth became a dad for the 2^nd time. To quote direct from Simon at the time:

“…not to embarrass my Rofie winning Captain, but this is true. Mel liked ‘CJ’ as a nickname, so wanted Corey’s middle name to start with ‘J’. The week of the Grand Final, I told her that if we won, the middle name should be after our captain (James Makin). Hence – Corey James.”

Photo – Luke Herzog (A1) became a dad with wife Katie giving birth to Oliver James Herzog at 8:02pm on 8 Feb 2023.