Draw Reports

Competition – Round 3 (Day 1)

(Saturday 7^th October 2023)

 

A1 Grade

WPHC (Cameron) Vs Kissing Point 135

Welcome back to the A Grade match report. Yes I’ve been absent for the last two weeks, but we fell in on round 1 and were belted round 2 so loyal readers, you haven’t missed much.

And if you’re sitting here reading this with your morning coffee expecting the usual thrills and spills, the ups and downs, the ebbs and flows of an exciting days play – think again. Christ today was boring. Not by lack of effort, just by the lack of runs. 70 odd overs for 135 runs on a flat wicket.

Poor John Anderson, who today joined the side officially as player 333, couldn’t have picked a more draining day to join us. Full of smiles pre game as James “Pringles” Makin took us through a spirited presentation of the Anderson family tree and their roots which seep deep into the WPHCCCC framework – those smiles from JA diminished very quickly when he saw Gas and Lichaaa open the bowling, both taking over 2 overs to warm up.

We won the toss and bowled because most of our batsman are off gallivanting around the country somewhere. Billy and Mao are on ANOTHER Boys to Men weekend. Billy was detained and then released on Friday at Sydney Airport for attempting to smuggle handcuffs onto a commercial airline. Living together in harmony with those two gay guys really has rattled the cage up in the head of Billy Gaunt….

Sav was also not there, not sure where he was but he can do nothing wrong. I know we have lots of Sav fans out there, don’t worry folks, he is back next week. Assman was a late scratching as well on vets advice after injuring himself deadlifting. That’s not a joke, he actually did. Ask Dinesh.

To the cricket we go, this glorious madness. Lichaa and Gas kicked us off and were right from the beginning, the ball was swinging but the pitch was beginning to flatten quickly. Lichaaa got the first of the day after a brilliant catch from Tommy Hando in the gully, the ball flying as he plucked it into his MAN HANDS.

KP then knuckled down and began to consolidate, batting the time knowing the runs would come. In the field, highlights included Jackson Preedy continually referencing Sullimen Benn, he brought it up like 10 times when Jamakin was bowling. Jed “Hanse Cronje” Corbett astutely noted the obsession, before going on a rampage of misfields and dropped catches that even Kamran Akmal would have been proud of. Jed is our specialist fieldsman and we couldn’t have had 11 without him – we love him and he will never be dropped.

The time continued to tick away and the wickets fell in steady increments. Tommy Hando, Horseface, Lichaaa and James “Baby due VERY soon” McBrien all joined in on the wickets. Special mention to to Jamakin who bowled a great spell of tidy spin – he was unlucky not to snag a wicket, he absolutely deserved one. Krang too, in his hybrid mix of pace and spin, both spells were strong and allowed us to build pressure. Even Dylan Bish got a bowl and should have at least one wicket, a sitter dropped by Luke “bottom five fieldsman” Gandis and then a blatant catch ruled a bump ball. See, I told you today was a hoot, seeeeeee.

Maybe today was so relaxing because we had the reliable hands of Brent Larkham behind the stumps. Brent did an outstanding job, no byes for the day and plenty of chatter towards the batsman which I respected. I also respected the toss of his hat at our captain Krangs feet everytime he put his helmet on to keep to Jamakin. It was an air of arrogance that was just brilliant. We will talk offline with the lower grades but we are going to try and poach Brent to be our keeper and will trade him for Billy Gaunt and a future first round pick. Brent also brought a party speaker – he wasn’t even asked to remember to bring it ASSMAN…..

The star of the show though was Thomas Hando, who cleaned up the tail like a true professional to clinch his first five wix haul in A Grade. He bowled with such strong confidence, line and length always on the mark. His pace was great and just every week he gets better and better. He led the cartel today and it was a proud moment for us cartel old boys to see our young man do his thing. Tommy Hando is a star.

We bowled KP out for 135 late in the day, and had 3 overs to face before stumps. 18 of the best of them.

We got through the first 17 with relative ease and then, the final ball of the day came. The clock had just struck 6pm, 1800 hours, I could hear the bells of the Parklands Community Church just off in the distance. TA Love, my hero, at the top of his mark. Jackson Preedy on strike. Slow claps from the crowd, desperate for one last injection of excitement after a day of pulsating cricket.

Love in, he bowls, on a length on middle to off stump, Preedy shoulder arms. Bowled. In a carbon copy replay of his dismissal to KP last year, Love had picked up our star opening batsman bowled whilst leaving on the stumps. It was a gut wrenching way to finish the day, especially for Jackson who had been so good all day with his bowling, his lunch selection and his Sullimen Benn obsession. He will bounce back, he is too much of a talent not to do so.

Just a quick side note, some of us are playing today in the 1sr Grade T20 Grand Final. We are the HOME TEAM versing a talented Hornsby side and as such, it would be great to see as many of you come down to our HOME GROUND fortress of Montview East….. A can of worms for another day….

A2 Grade

WPHC (Campbell) 3/ 75 Vs Castle Hill RSL 124

Match Report Round 3 A2s This round saw us square off against A2s biggest bunch of burglars, Castle Hill. The fact this Castle Hill side has maintained their position in A2 grade for as many years as they have is proof that miracles do happen. I only hope that their best and only bats terrible run of form continues so the rest of the team gets demoted to B2s where they belong on a good day. But I digress.

In terms of how our team looked this week, a combination of Michael ‘Big Bonce’ Gunn’s 2^nd bucks party and the old Covid-19 (yeah remember that spicy flu that ruined our lives for a couple of years?) saw our team ravaged again. This week our team was made up of 5 or 6 regulars, a 15 year old, a 16 year old and Big Ray Khamis who is recovering from a broken leg and bruised ego. Here at WPHCCCCCC we choose to look at the positives – Billy ‘resident shit bloke’ Gaunt being a whole state away in the Gold Coast (by the way I think you’d settle in nicely living up there with the rest of those dead shits) and Ryan ‘Part Time Captain Dickhead’ being in Covid 19 isolation, thereby being shut off from society for a few days.

Anyways onto the boring stuff. Captain ‘Good Bloke’ Wallace lost the toss and we were asked to field (great toss to lose). Sam ‘getting better all the time’ Hando and Cameron ‘Throb’ Northrop opened the bowling with a tandem spell of classic 2 day bowling. They gave the Castle Hill openers nothing, starving them on 5th stump and patiently waiting for the mistake to come. All the while Sam was bowling 132km/h bullets which were jagging off a length, not bad Sam. Good to see some constructive criticism has worked. Sam finishing his spell with one whilst Harry ‘Hando’ Hando replaced him also taking a wicket. At the drinks break Castle Hill were 3/60 and most importantly we had taken the vital wicket of Emad.

We continued to take wickets in regular intervals, employing a wide line and stacked slips cordon to consistently find the edge and send their batsmen packing. A huge shout out to all the bowlers for the control they showed today. It was genuinely one of the best all round bowling efforts I have ever been a part of and a nod to traditional line and length bowling. Glen McGrath would have been proud of our efforts today.

Harry ‘hando’ Hando ended up with 4, cleaning up their tale. Nick ‘I like cricket again’ Starr took his first wicket caught behind in 2 years after ditching those mongoloids he played with last season and returning to A2s which to his bewilderment people can actually catch. So happy for you Starry. Dean ‘worst and slowest bowler in A2s’ also chipped in with one as behind the wicket we discussed how much we would love to face him and further went into the nuances of how far and to what part of the ground we would despatch him to.

A quick shout of to Sammy as well, our 16 year old fill in who should have had his first seniors wicket today. After Big Ray ‘specialist slip’ Khamis had already gobbled up a couple at 1st. Campbell decided he wanted in and dove in front of a ball going straight into Rays big bread basket onto to barely get a finger on it and crush young Sammy’s dream of an A2 wicket. A tough pill to swallow but a valuable lesson to learn early on, namely that cricket sucks and if you play long enough it will destroy your soul.

Having rolled them early for 124 we were forced to bat for 24 hours. Never did I think that Dean ‘Rahul Dravid’ Carlin would open the batting in A2s but then again Dean Carlin also took a wicket today so I guess anything is possible.

Dean opened the batting showing all the qualities that he has been bereft of since joining the club, patience, maturity, intelligence, not being the worst bloke ever, etc.. Dean was keeping out the good balls and noodling bat balls around for 1’s and 2’s. He absolutely did his job, seeing out the openers and taking the shine off the new ball. Shaan ‘BBQ pitmaster’ Bhaakshi simply could not comprehend what he was seeing any longer and decided to flame grill Dean and send him back for an extremely well made 14 which he batted for 90 minutes to compile. Now that Shaan had left the alternate reality where Dean might score runs he could get to work himself. He worked the ball well to nudge us ever so closer to the Castle Hill total.

We require another 50 runs with 7 wickets in hand next week. Their best bat Emad is out so the outright victory is a real possibility if we can get a wriggle on.

Overall an excellent day. Again thank you to all the young fellas who filled in for us this week.

Other news

⁃ Birdcage is the first and only person to get Covid 19 in the spring of 2023 after eating what he thought was vegan fake chicken but turned out to be bat meat from Wuhan, China (Source Ross Anderson)

⁃ Shaan Bhakshi wins the most yoked bloke at the club award for 2023. Seriously take a look at the staunch on the guy.

⁃ Stay tuned for a full rundown on Michael ‘Big Bonce’ Gunns bucks where it is likely we will be detailing the story of how Billy Gaunt fell in love with a stripper

B1 Grade

WPHC Blue (Todd) 172 Vs Berowra 1/

With zero wins from our first two games, the team turned up to Warrina Street eager to finally get our season underway with a win against the old enemy, Berowra. However, things got off to a less than ideal start with star opening bat Connor Hindmarch’s car failing just down the road near Berowra Oval.

Perhaps it was just what we needed as Connor then proceeded to take out his frustration on the Berowra opening bowlers, hammering them all around the park as we raced to 44 from ten overs, taking full advantage of the new ball before it began to stay low on a pitch that had just a little bit of up and down movement in it.

Unfortunately, those 44 runs did come at the pricey cost of the team’s (then) highest run-scorer in Volc, who erupted at umpire BDR upon his return to the clubhouse a couple of overs later. From my vantage point well behind the cover boundary, I can comfortably say that Volc had every right to blow up – the ball was going four feet over the top of the stumps and about six metres down leg.

Alongside Connor, Willy steadied the ship until their second change bowler got a bit of movement off the strip, our position at 1-81 very quickly becoming 3-89 as Berowra wrested back some control.

Thankfully, the ever reliable Rick Turner put a stop to our mini collapse, hanging around until tea, Connor reaching his fifty and selflessly getting himself out not long afterwards to give our middle order a go – someone clearly didn’t tell him what happened last time that happened.

From that point onwards it was all mostly downhill, BDR finding a cricket ball sized hole in his bat after tea to depart for 32. Clearly frustrated with himself, it was his turn to have a few choice words, this time at the Berowra blokes, showcasing some impeccable knowledge of the English language with some classy rhymes that probably shouldn’t be written down on a public website.

Even with Jude Boyle keeping a level head at one end and kindly ensuring the fielders wouldn’t have to run too much by hitting literally every single ball straight to them, wickets tumbled around him to some rather average stroke play as we were bowled out for 172. Not quite the 400 I was predicting last week but as a team who successfully defended any total above 150 last season, it’s certainly enough to give us a chance.

With six overs still needing to be bowled as the 6pm finish approached, we set about our aim of early wickets with limited success, Todd keeping things tight from one end while Ben struggled to obtain control from the other. With only one over to play and Berowra still none down, a brilliant tactical decision from the skipper saw Xander Vink enter the frame and just four balls into his over, had the Berowra opener lose his head and swing across the line, only succeeding in toeing it straight to Todd at mid on as we took our first.

Understandably scared of the prospect of facing up to two balls of Xander’s sheer heat, the Berowra number three did his best get himself timed out, taking half a million years to figure out where he left his gloves, helmet and box before he finally worked up the guts to enter the furnace that was Warrina Street.

However, he probably forgot those as well as Xander’s scorchers left him absolutely clueless, not getting anywhere near the final two balls before stumps, Berowra still needing to climb Everest to chase the remaining 158 runs with a mere nine wickets in the sheds.

  

WPHC Red (Shomik) 280 Vs Kissing Point

It was a day tailor-made for cricket – not too hot or cold, just the weather that makes you want to win the toss and bat first. And guess what? Shomik did just that, setting the stage for a long day’s work.

The day kicked off with Preet taking guard, and boy, did he show some excellent skills with his defence and attack, spanking them for fours and sixes followed by impenetrable forward defence. The bowlers were left scratching their heads.

After Oskar departed early, Kapil and Preet formed a great duo. Kapil and Preet stitched together a fantastic 2nd wicket partnership. Kapil knocked out 37 runs while Preet was in no mood to stop, cruising to a well-deserved 50. It was like they were playing backyard cricket against their little cousins.

Cruising at 98/1, Preet, Kapil, and Alec were sent packing for 37, 52, and 4 runs, respectively. We went from a comfy 98/1 to a somewhat shaky 113/4, and the smiles on the sidelines began to fade.

But never fear, for Shomik and Alex were here!

They steadied the ship, and they did it with swagger. Sure, there were a couple of dropped catches, but these two decided to make the opposition pay for their mistakes. They formed a partnership that looked as solid as a brick wall, putting on an impressive 138 runs for the fifth wicket. It was a lesson in making every opportunity count.

After Shomik (66) and Alex (71) finally took a bow, we sat at a solid score of 250/6. But wait, there’s more!

Let’s remember the unsung heroes of our team – the tailenders. They put on an extra 30 runs in the final eight overs, taking us to 280. It felt like the icing on the cake, making our score almost unassailable.

Shomik had said early on that two significant partnerships would be the key and boy, did his team deliver. Four batsmen stood up when it mattered the most.

It was a thrilling day of cricket, where our team batted their hearts out and, with a team effort, provided the platform for some disciplined bowling next week.

B2 Grade

WPHC (Warren) 117 Vs Hornsby 5/61

We were blessed with our 2^nd game in a row at the home of cricket, Greenway Park. Both teams wanted to bowl, Captain Warren lost the toss and we were sent in to bat.

We had a frustrating innings, with Bishy, Ducky, Jason ‘DJ’ Garrett and Zachary all getting starts but ultimately we threw a few too many wickets away. Warren produced a steadfast knock in the middle with a 30-odd, but the tail didn’t wag and we couldn’t last 40 overs. 117 on the board with the Greenway outfield being lightning quick.

Onto the bowling, and Dan Schwartzel was bowling quick. Quicker than Billy Gaunt saying he left his wallet at home. He was terrorising the Hornsby line up, bagging 2 wickets before drinks.

Well supported by Nathaniel and Nushy and all round good pressure in the field. We turned the screws in the last hour, wickets to Alex, Bobby K and Dan leaving the game well poised with 5 wickets to get. Good cricket all around, played in good spirits all afternoon.

Special mention to Raymond ‘Evil Kinevil’ Khamis, wishing him a speedy recovery to get back out sledging opposition bats.

Bobby K also putting last season’s shenanigans behind him with 2 good grabs in the slips in a row, cementing himself as the clubs premier cordon fielder.

Onto next week.

C1 Grade

WPHC (Indranil) 2/71 Vs Hornsby Gold 83

Round 3 had come around in a hurry with the first two-day match of the season upon us against Hornsby District at Headen Park.

After two high scoring wins for the team, we were hoping to start well in the two-day games as well. In a turn of events, the Sydney weather gods had decided to bless us with a cool chilly day compared to the scorching hot weather we had for rounds 1 and 2.

Knowing that we would be without two of our key batters for this week of the clash against Hornsby, we had our eyes set on fielding first. The toss was done and although the coin flip did not go in our favour, we had got the desired outcome as Hornsby decided to bat first.

After our last two rounds with the bowling line-ups not having the greatest outings, we were hoping for some early wickets to help set the tone for the rest of the game. An attacking field was set hoping for a successful start to the innings which we were unable to pull off in the last 2 games.

Just as we had hoped, we were off to a brilliant start with the Hornsby players unable to hit the ball. We had bowled 5 overs without many runs being scored and many plays and misses but unfortunately no wickets were taken. This all changed in the 6^th over when Ben Waldron (1/14) bowled a bouncer, and the Hornsby batsmen pops it up straight to cover. Two wickets followed with two fine catches being taken by Indranil to leave Hornsby reeling at 3/16 after 10 overs, Vishnu (2/9).

After this, the two Hornsby batsmen decided to dig in with 90% of the balls being play and misses or leaves and the other 10% being edges between the slips and gully for the occasional single. This only lasted until the last over until drinks where the batsmen decided to finally edge one off Aayush’s bowling straight into the reliable hands of Indranil securing his 3rd catch of the game.

This led us into the first drinks of the game with Hornsby 4/35 after 20 overs.

After drinks we were keen to wrap things up early and have a bat but once again the two batters at crease decided to dig in. The batters were struggling to hit any runs, but they were preventing us from getting them out until an inspired bowling change was made to bring on Ansh. He started with some half-trackers which the batters were unable to put away and then found his line and length to eventually get the batsmen out LBW in the 31^st over.

After that dismissal, the Hornsby team lost a flurry of wickets with Arjonil (2/19) getting his maiden wicket in the senior’s competition.

Aayush had a rocket arm to get a run out all the way from fine leg which was then followed by a wicket by Yasith (1/3) the very next ball which had Hornsby 8/72 after 38 overs. Arjonil got his 2nd wicket with a full toss and then finally Oliver got the last wicket LBW to get Hornsby all out for 83. Great overall bowling and wickets taken by Ansh 1/11, Oliver 1/0, Aayush 1/5.

As we bowled them out, we were left with a minimum of 19 overs to bat for the rest of the day. As we did not have Vedant or Cam to play for us this week, we sent out Yasith to bat with Ben Dunkerly. These 2 started the innings strong, picking the gaps and hitting the occasional boundary before Yasith got out for a well made 16.

After Yasith’s wicket, we brought in Ansh to see out the rest of the days play while Ben was playing attacking to see whether we could reach the total set by Hornsby tonight. Ben continued his good form and was looking like he was going to reach his 2^nd 50 of the season before getting out on the stroke of stumps for a very well made 45.

This meant that at the end of day’s play, we are set at 2/71 ending the day 13 runs short of an innings victory for the team, with a possible outright victory on the cards next week.

C2 Grade

WPHC Blue (Rob) 158 Vs Sydney Lions 2/55

The first day of the highly anticipated cricket clash between WPHC C2 Blue and Sydney Lions unfolded with moments of brilliance, frustration, and unfortunate injuries. It was a day filled with excitement as both teams displayed their skills in this two-day encounter.

First Innings: WPHC C2 Blue

WPHC C2 Blue won the toss and elected to bat.

The opening pair of Aden and Kamran took to the crease with determination. Aden proved to be the anchor of the innings, showcasing exceptional batting skills and perseverance. He battled through the challenging conditions and scored an impressive 95 runs, falling just short of a well-deserved century.

The highlight of the innings was the brilliant partnership between Aden and Buzz, which yielded 90 runs. Their partnership provided a crucial backbone to the WPHC C2 Blue innings, setting a competitive total as their goal.

However, the team continued to be plagued by LBW decisions, with several players falling victim to this mode of dismissal. Captain Rob expressed his concern over the repeated LBW dismissals and hinted at the need for umpiring training in the future.

WPHC C2 Blue eventually found themselves all out for a total of 157 runs. This total was a testament to the resilience displayed by the team in the face of some challenging bowling by Sydney Lions.

Second Innings: Sydney Lions

With the bat in hand, Sydney Lions faced the daunting task of chasing down the target set by WPHC C2 Blue.

The bowler Rey was the star for WPHC C2 Blue, delivering an exceptional performance. Rey’s disciplined line and length were rewarded with crucial wickets, and he managed to dismantle the Sydney Lions’ top order.

By the end of the day’s play, Sydney Lions found themselves with 2 wickets down, having accumulated 55 runs on the board. Despite the early setbacks, they still had a fighting chance to make a comeback on the second day of the match.

Injury Woes: Andrew’s Calf Strain

On a sombre note, the day witnessed an unfortunate incident involving Andrew, who had recently returned to the team after a calf strain kept him sidelined for four weeks. Tragically, he strained his other calf during his first game back. This injury will undoubtedly be a significant setback for both Andrew and WPHC C2 Blue as they look to regroup for the remainder of the match and the season ahead.

As the sun set on the first day of this thrilling cricket encounter, the stage was set for an intriguing second day of play.

WPHC C2 Blue had the upper hand with a competitive total on the board and a couple of early wickets. However, Sydney Lions remained determined to stage a comeback and turn the tide in their favour.

Cricket enthusiasts eagerly awaited the action-packed Day 2 to see how the match would unfold.

WPHC Red (Arun) 9/373 Vs Berowra

After last-minute scheduling changes saw Rommel bail out the C4 team trying to put up a playing eleven.

After Arun lost the toss, Berowra chose to bowl first! I’m sure they are biting their nails now, knowing that today’s superstars won’t be playing next week.

Rishab and Vinod opened the batting for the Reds, with Rishab being his normal self and Vinod rotating the strike and hitting some wonderful boundaries in between. After drinks and after scoring 130+ runs, the first wicket fell.

Berowra committed the cardinal faults of dumping Rishab before completing his 50.

After Vinod left, Hari joined Rishab in the middle, and the game transformed into a Discovery documentary about metal crushers, with Rishab playing “the crusher” and Hari playing “the feeder.” They quickly added 100 runs, with Rishab flattening every bowler’s confidence with his power hitting (now known as the 1.6-Ton press). Rishab left after an entertaining 163 in the 42nd over. This is our 525^th ton and is the equal 23^rd highest score in our history!

After that, we lost some quick wickets, with Hari firmly holding one end and taking over the lead from Rishab. Everyone contributed vital runs, including some clutch hits from Happy, Saurabh and Vikas. Hari stayed in the game till the very last over.

Brij (*9) and Amitava (*0) will take the field next week to continue the struggle. The crew is very thrilled to finish the documentary next week by flattening Berowra’s batting line-up early and returning the favour by sharing some wisdom with them.

C3 Grade

WPHC Red (Fieds) 145 Vs WPHC Blue (Mat) 1/16

After a disappointing  few weeks, the lads made the long drive  to Les Shore with a few teammates (Nath and Louis) getting lost in the odour coming from Glenorie bakery. However, this matchup was more valuable than the first 2 of the season as this was our first West Penno derby of the year versus the Blues, with bragging rights on the line within the Marsden Family with Jack going head to head against Matt and Bronson for the first time (the perfect recipe for a bit of banter).

Jack (8) and Munish (2) opened the batting and got off to another frustrating start to an innings with Munish clipping a ball off his hip delivered by Matt straight down fine leg’s throat, an unlucky start to his season. Jack didn’t hang around much longer as Matt continued his wicket taking run after a bit of a back and forth between the two, all in good spirit, probably.

This prompted Dinesh (27) and Sufyan (13), to meet each other in the middle, with the intention of stabilizing the innings. However, Dinesh’s idea of stabilizing the innings came in the form of attacking the bowlers, hitting the ball to the boundary on multiple occasions, frustrating the Blue’s and prompting a bowling change. However, just as it was looking good, Dinesh was dismissed in the worst way possible, with Sufyan hitting it straight back to the bowler who parried the ball onto Dinesh’s stumps, leaving  him unfortunately run-out.

Sufyan was dismissed shortly after with a ripper catch from one of the Blue’s old blokes, the greatest over 50s athletic performance since John Howard decided to bowl. After back to back wickets in quick succession, and the dismissal of Nathan F (0), there was little to no hope of saving the innings as Michael, Louis, Pat and Nath had their pads on in the dugout. However,  Pete (14) and Shaq (28), stabilized the innings once more, Shaq took to the bowlers by delivering multiple lusty blows leaving the Blues frustrated as Pete on the other hand, continually held up an end. However, right before drinks, Shaq lost his wicket to a peach that nipped away slightly, leaving his off stump out of the ground.

Michael (4), hung around till drinks whilst getting his dancing shoes on in the middle, playing all around it. After drinks, Michaels innings was short lived, facing the same fate as Shaq. Louis then made his way into the middle, with previous scores of 28 and 9 at Les Shore, he was feeling confident and his teammates optimistic of a decent score. After punishing the ball down the ground, Louis was well and truly on for a big one, however the only thing that went down on the ground for the remainder of his innings were the stumps, dismissed for a measly 5. With Nath making his way to the middle, even the most optimistic team members were already putting their whites on and warming up to bowl (if they hadn’t done so already). However the cousins Pat (19*) and Nath (3), stuck around longer than expected to say the least, making it to the final drinks break, prompting a standing ovation as if they’d just made twin tons. However, Nath didn’t get so lucky after drinks, out caught. With the tail wagging for the first time since juniors, the lads scraped their way to 145.

With only enough time for 11 overs, the Blue’s sent out a night watchman, leaving both Marsden’s in the sheds to start the innings. Maybe they didn’t want to face the heat early on?? Jack (1-8) off 5 and Pat (0-2) off 5, had both openers chasing their own tail early on, playing all around anything that was thrown at them, possibly a sign of nerves as Munish’s return was a welcome one in the field as he kept the chat up for the remainder of the day. However, that wasn’t the only chat going on as Pat had his exchange with one of the Blue’s openers.

At least the night watchman hung around for a while before being dismissed for a well earnt 1 off 10 overs, finishing the day at 1-16, an exhilarating batting display to end the day, seeing spectators catching zzz’s by stumps.

C4 Grade

WPHC Blue (Hiresh) 124 Vs WPHC Red (Ross S) 3/77

Oh, how we love a derby.

The fire, the intensity, the bragging rights up for grabs, what more could you possibly ask for? West Pennant Hills C4 Red up against West Pennant Hills C4 Blue, a rivalry that will be remembered for generations to come.

It’s absolutely no secret to anyone that other cricketing rivalries such as Thunder vs Sixers, Australia vs England, or even India vs Pakistan come close to the levels that were on display at Northholm Grammar School on what was a chilly, yet fine Saturday afternoon. In what is an exciting week in the cricketing world with the World Cup dawning upon us, Hiresh’s Blues playing Ross’ Reds in a two dayer was seemingly a melting pot of drama, intensity, lightning-quick bowling, laser-guided shots, and of course, don’t forget, Mukund’s hilarious wicket celebrations.

If what we saw in the first day is anything like what we can expect in day 2 next Saturday, then India vs Pakistan eat your bloody heart out!

In what was a good start to proceedings with a ceremonial photo being taken of the two captains, with C4 Blues captain Hiresh hysterically showing up in his tie from Year 12, the C4 Reds took to the field to have a bowl after Hiresh went back to his usual ways of losing the toss. But trust me, it wasn’t all that bad for Hiresh in the end!!

The usual opening partnership of Sparsh and Hiresh took to the pitch as the Blues looked build a solid foundation not just to win the game, but also to take home the bragging rights. Although, this proved to be a tough bout as Sparsh fell for 5 after being caught behind.

Next to come in was Eamon, and with his HSC exams upcoming, the pressure on the young lad was nothing less that colossal. Yet, in classic Eamon style, put the pressure of it all to rest by scoring an explosive 20 runs, getting four 4’s in a row!

After being caught in the field, Eamon’s focus rightfully moved back from hitting the runs, to hitting the books.

Things began to look gloomy for the Blues, as Mukund and his obscure wicket celebrations fell for 1, Justin fell for none, Ratul fell for 2, and Sach, facing his old team, was unable to stick it to them, with the debutant scoring 8. Although, there was some form of a silver lining as certified chick magnet, Meet, formed a good partnership with Hiresh, scoring an impressive 15, which is thought to be his potential highest run total for the season. Only joking of course! The aim of the game went from “score as many runs,” to “stay in as long as you can” for the Blues, as Renesh continues his disastrous batting form with a measly contribution of only 2 runs.

A big congratulations to skipper Hiresh for scoring the same amount of runs as the whole of Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup final by scoring what looked to be an important 50 for the Blues.

Hiresh’s first, and hopefully not last half century for the season. Talk about leading from the front!! Parin and Kunal were unable to replicate Hiresh’s heroics, with the boys scoring 6 and 1 respectively, leaving the team total for the Blues to be 124 runs.

With time still left in the day for the Reds to chase down the score, Hiresh’s Blues went out to the field full of fire, with a batsman from the Reds stating that the Blues are “full of energy and youth.” Raynaldo Howard, who scored an astounding ton against the Blues in the T20’s, looked to continue that form against them in what would’ve been a hostile and pressure-filled environment for any batsman.

The real question was whether he could he repeat his ton against the Blues once again, which would leave a sour taste in the mouths of the fielders. Could he do it again? Surely not, right? Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the future star of the Mongolian Cricket Team, Mukund, who cleaned the stumps, as well as cleared the birds in the ground with his classic loud celebration, and made the youngster walk for 15.

But things remained tough for the Blues, as the Reds continued to stand their ground with the bat. But hope was far from lost, as the big man Ratul took an important wicket of Das after the batsman played the ball into the path of Sach, who took the catch excellently. Taking wickets by day, and making Subway sandwiches by night, gotta love Ratul.

To end the day, the Reds scored an impressive 77/3, and will hope to continue their good batting form next week.

All may seem done and dusted for the Blues, but as we know, cricket has a funny way of playing with one’s head.

One moment you’re in the dominant position, the next you’re nine wickets down with 10 runs to win in 6 balls. Who will win? All shall be seen next Saturday…

D1 Grade

WPHC Blue (Agniva) 0/3 Vs Berowra 110

Coming off two great wins the Blues continued their good form in to the first 2-day game.

Skipper Agni couldn’t continue his form with the coin, but we were put in to bowl which was what the skipper wanted anyways. With the perfect weather for bowling, we were flummoxed on why the opposition chose to bat.

The first over from Ravi aka Cheetah aka Rajni was spot on, just like the new shades that he bought from Hawaii, everything was cool as! On the other end, bowling in perfect partnership with him, the darling of the team Rohan continued his hard work in to the 2 dayers. The bowling was too cool for the opening batter that he injured himself dancing to Cheetah’s tunes!

Time of the first change, and cometh the hour and cometh the man, Praneel Singh was deadly right from the start getting the first breakthrough. Together with Siby they bowled great in partnership with hardly any runs being made.

There were hardly any runs being made that the captain had to change the bowlers just to keep the fielders awake. But to the fielders disappointed the rest of the bowlers continued the same trend with hardly any runs being made. Great bowling effort from Agni, Amith and Chintan to continue to keep the fielders bored! The batsmen were in full lockdown mode which would have made Dan Andrews proud!

With the wicket column not troubling the scorers, the skipper decided that the bowling was missing an eshay touch! Laksh now into the attack, the bails started flying around with the bowling as impressive as his sexy mullet. 4 wickets in a row by Laksh and the fielders started waking up. On the other end just to balance the age average of the bowling our silver haired fox, Nirav Desai, kept the opposition bunnies hopping around and taking a wicket in the process.

Staying on with the hairstyle trend, skipper decided to bring Praneel to partner with Laksh who also took another 3 wickets on the trot. Now it was a competition between both the youngsters who would take ‘Michelle’ home. Thanks to some great keeping by our brilliant and hardworking keeper, Sahil, Praneel scored Michelle for the night. Well done to Praneel (5-7), Laksh (4-14) and brilliant keeping by Sahil and overall great fielding by the team we got them all out for 110.

With 5 overs to bat, our two specialist batsmen Siby and Rohan gave them a sneak peek on what is coming for them next week! Great work Blues, an interesting day 2 coming ahead for us in the driver’s seat!

Cheers!

WPHC Red (Diggers) 1/9 Vs ARL 167

After another disappointing loss, despite a good bowling performance, we made the trek out to Arcadia keen to chalk up our first win of the season.

Diggers won the toss and decided to bowl in the cool conditions.

Some tight bowling to start with from Nandit and our two 13 year olds, Jimmy and Harry, kept ARL to 36 off the first 14. Harry, in particular was unlucky, having two caught behinds not given. Most disappointed in the ARL bats not walking, allegedly not feeling the edges but hey, that’s cricket.

Daanish made the breakthrough soon after though and ARL were 1/53 at drinks.

A brilliant direct hit runout by Adi fielding at deep cover followed by a few more wickets, including Jimmy’s first seniors wicket and ARL were 6/110 at tea.

ARL then hit out for a bit and managed to claw their way to all out for 167 with about 45 minutes to go.

Diggers and Cliff managed to negotiate a testing 11 overs and we finished the day trailing by 158 runs. This is our match to lose now and some solid batting next Saturday is the key to seeing us home.

Best bowling for the day was Farjad, 2/40 off 10, Tim, 2/34 off 9 and Jimmy, 1/9 off 8 as well as Surendra’s 1/9 off 4.2 at the end.

Honourable mention to Quan for his 1/8 off 6 in a great return to form after being belted in an over of a grade dross last week.

D2 Grade

WPHC (Roger) Vs Hornsby

Holland Reserve