Round 6 – 18 November 2023 (Day 1)
Match Reports
Competition – Round 6 (Day 1)
(Saturday 18th & 25th November 2023)
A1 Grade
WPHC (Cameron) 8/291 Vs St Ives Wahroonga
“We’ll have a bowl thanks”.
Interim St Ives captain, big bad Billy Feather channelled his inner Nasser Hussain from that infamous Ashes Test many moons ago and sent WPHCCC in to bat. Just like the infamous test match that decision turned out to be a fatal mistake – and just like that infamous Test match, that decision was mocked heavily by Ashane D’Silva, for as long as the cows came home. Why you ask? Read on loyal readers.
Krang and J Mac opened us up and the St Ives decision looked to be astute early, the ball was nipping around and they were taking advantage of some light moisture in the wicket. Leading team run scorer Krang was looking to continue his good form, unfortunately the cricket gods had other ideas, he skied one straight back to Winston Abraham and he was gone for a duck. Has the Krang opening soirée show closed for the final time? Let’s hope not, he will be back with a vengeance.
Preeds joined J Mac and the two began to discover that the pitch was getting easier and easier to bat on. J Mac looked brilliant with some late cuts and the partnership rushed to 60 odd.
Preeds was still looking for his first fifty and many thought today would be the day. J Mac smashed one straight to square leg and was gone for 30 odd. Then Preeds was castled again in the nervous 40s – his third score in the 40s in a row. The ever elusive 50 will have to wait another day.
Sav came to the wicket in the midst of a massive form slump and wanted to make a statement to the competition.
He got off to a shaky start, so shaky that he was dropped in the covers on 12. Preeds astutely noted immediately “that will cost them 80 runs” – he wasn’t far off. It ended up costing them 110 runs. That’s why we have Jackson Preedy sideline, for all the latest breaking news.
Jamakin joined Sav and did a terrific job rotating the strike and giving Sav clear air to unleash. Sav raced to 50 and then within about 8 balls, raced into the 90s. And then, the slump was officially declared over, when he brought up our 533rd ton – a wonderful moment for the 3 people who came to watch the game for the day. Sav then tried to accelerate, but skied one immediately. It went high, but straight up, the keeper got underneath it… and dropped it. It was really Sav’s day.
Assman had a great late cameo for 30 odd and Belly did well for a late 10 odd to edge us just shy of 300.
Yes we almost got 300. Us. The side that could barely get to 80 most week, almost put on 300.
And without the second coming, John Anderson – who has returned to grade after two incredibly boring stints in the field for us.
We probably would have got 500 with him. Anyway, see you next week.
A2 Grade
WPHC (Campbell) Vs Bye
Next game is on 2nd December Vs Hornsby @ The Glade
B1 Grade
WPHC Blue (Todd) 3/95 Vs Mt Colah 144
With last week’s match report pitch overview tripping up the zero Mount Colah players who took the time to read it, resident Mr. Sensible Connor Hindmarch took the time to truthfully answer the question they all had on their minds – had the Greenway Park pitch been changed from last year’s grand final?
Thankfully, he didn’t spoil all of the surprises and left them to find out about the newfound tennis ball bounce themselves, but it probably took their openers all of like two balls to figure that one out.
First off I’d like to give a shout to Ben Burrows’ pre-match prediction, speaking the following into existence:
A rather poor opening spell from the Hutchinson brothers that saw the Mount Colah batters reach 72 without loss, a blistering spell from the oracle himself that would see him pick up two key wickets and a final total of roughly 150 (after being 0-72 and scoring at a run a ball, we pegged them back to clean them up in the 41st over for 144, which unfortunately falls just outside my zero run margin of error – do better) and even stating that Connor would fall fairly cheaply in the run chase.
This will see Ben’s rate for academy coaching be halved for the rest of the year.
In fact, the only thing he didn’t get right was his expectations of himself to get a 6-for plus a hat-trick to clean up the tail. Instead, it was Paul Vink who took that upon his shoulders, miffed after his shock relegation from the new ball to pick up figures of 3-9, giving our batters 27 overs to dig into the run chase.
But before we get onto that, I have to announce the news of the day, if not the year, decade or century.
Jude Boyle got a bowl.
Now get up from the chair you’ve just fallen off upon reading that news and continue.
After being held back for so long by skipper Todd for fears of being “too good for B grade” (actual words, but spoken by Jude himself and not Todd), Jude’s six balls of blistering heat lived up to his own personal expectations, conceding three runs from an edge through the vacant slip cordon but otherwise keeping Sam busy behind the stumps very busy amidst all of the frantic plays and misses.
I actually have almost the entire over on video so if anyone wants to know what a true fast bowler looks like hit me up and I’ll send you a video of Mitchell Starc taking six at Eden Park in 2015.
Now back to the batting, Connor and Lachie (third person this time after several complaints from people, presumably so that everyone knows who writes these simply marvellous B1 blue match reports) opened up and fell behind the required run rate of 1.5 early on to prompt some very vocal words about how to score runs from the fielders, who had apparently already forgotten which team had just been rolled for 144 on a batting paradise.
But just as we’d worked our way through the hardest part of the day, Connor nicked off again, this time for 18.
After being forced to run one four, Willy decided enough was enough and also found himself caught behind the wicket as the Mount Colah players began to sniff some hope.
Enter the man of the moment, Jude “can bat, can bowl” Boyle and upon accusations from the fielders that he couldn’t hit the ball of the square, proceeded to do just that en-route to a very nice, run a ball 24 before getting out in the only way he knew how – absolutely smashing a rank half tracker from their spinner straight to square leg.
With only mere overs to play, Todd played the nightwatchman card and sent his younger brother Jack in to weather the storm with his theatrical leaves and stoic defence.
Even with Lachie continuing his cover drive ASMR at the other end with the daylight fading (thanks Willy), the two managed to stick around until stumps, leaving us in a great spot at 3-95 with only 50 runs needed for the six points, Lachie unbeaten on 39 and Jack 0.
Unfortunately, Oracle Ben’s prediction for next week doesn’t seem quite so realistic – somehow, Jack’s going to stick around and not score a single run while Lachie scores the remaining 50 all by himself.
Personally I’m not going to complain about that but I also think that Pepsi from the club might have had something in it so we might have to get that investigated.
WPHC Red (Shomik) Vs Bye
Next game is on 2nd December Vs Glenorie @ Dural Park
B2 Grade
WPHC (Warren) 8/181 Vs St Ives Wahroonga
Unfortunately today we experienced the tumultuous nature of cricket.
From the blistering highs of last week to the blundering lows this week we all got a welcome reminder of just how terrible this sport can be at times.
Warren ‘popeye’ Schwartzel won the toss and for some reason elected to field. When we had them 4/45 he was Captain genius. At 8/181 at the end of the day unfortunately more like Captain dickhead. We love you Waz but today just wasn’t it.
Today was a story of paying the price for not taking out chances.
Again we woke up on Saturday and decided we would have feet for hands and we were punished for it. Adam ‘mayor of Macdonaldtown’ Van Saarloos, Ray ‘golden arm’ Khamis, Cam ‘can keep’ Bish, Alex ‘werewolf’ Chidgey and Nathaniel ‘big Strawberry Blonde’ Chidgey, Robert ‘the muffin man’ Knapman all culprits this week.
Hopefully the naming and shaming eventually results in us taking a chance.
Next week we will have to roll them early and bat extremely well for a win.
Outside of cricket we may have the biggest story of the year. It was omitted from the match report as Ross ‘club director of war, finance, statistics and propaganda’ Anderson was given the opportunity to put it in the anecdotes.
Alas Ross confirmed what we have known for ages, that he has no bottle and it was left out. So please be patient and stay tuned for the biggest story of the year next week.
C1 Grade
WPHC (Indranil) 125 lost to Glenorie 6/154
After a few close games that didn’t end in our favour in the last few weeks, the West Pennant Hills C1 team headed into round 6 with a flare of confidence and was keen on taking advantage on day one of the two-day format.
The team knew heading into the round that the Glenoire team was undefeated and knew that they would have to bring their A-game. Upon arriving at the ground at 12 the team inspected the pitch deciding that batting was the correct choice if we won the toss. With the toss not going our way we were surprised Glenorie decided to bowl.
Indranil the Captain and Ben Dunkley were sent into open.
Both batters knocked the ball around for a few singles, to get the shine of the ball. However, a mis-timed shot from Indranil, getting caught at mid-off brought Cam Bliss to the crease. This was followed by the untimely departure of Ben with an unfortunate edge to the wicketkeeper. Following this Oli began a fantastic innings slowly bringing us back into the game while punishing the bad balls and taking singles to keep the scoreboard ticking. However, an absolute screamer of a one-handed catch at mid-wicket spelled the end to Oli’s innings.
Following this, the tail piled on some runs with the likes of Yasith and Vishnu slowly building up partnerships at the end of the innings. But with a variety of poor shot selections, we had found ourselves all out for a rather disappointing 125.
The team spirit was rather low at tea break, but a meal of Maccas drinks and burgers from Oli l energized us up, leading us into the field with the intent to rip into Glenorie.
However, despite the energy we started off poorly with 2 drop catches. Moving deeper into the innings we found our first wicket with Ben bowling a beauty of an outswinger which caught the thick edge and fell into the safe hands of Prashant.
This followed up by a beautiful in-swinging yorker by Ausyh that took off the leg stamp was a perfect comeback from the poor performance at the start. But then we missed our line and length again and ended up giving unnecessary boundaries and singles to Glenorie giving them an entry back into the match.
The Captain Indranill then turned to spin as pace was not working for us.
This tactic was deemed successful as many chances were created, but unfortunately due to the inability of holding on to those catches we were unable to secure the wickets with an unbelievable 8 catches dropped with a few other hard chances.
This below par fielding led Glenorie get to 154 for 6 wickets at the end of the day.
With the team reflecting on their poor performance today, we hope to bring our A game next week, with the game plan being to bowl Glenorie out, pile some quick runs, and send them into bat again with the intent to take 10 wickets and secure an outright win.
C2 Grade
WPHC Blue (Mat) 178 Vs WPHC Red (Arun) 0/6
After a re shuffle in Grades midweek we found ourselves in C2’s V The Red Team.
Rob and Fin opening the bat, we lost Rob early and found ourselves 1 for not many.
Sohan entered the cauldron of advice and was pushing the ball around nicely with Fin. Fin unfortunately ran himself out (6) with a mix up with Sohan. Enter Marty who hasn’t batted in the top 4 since High School began his innings in style.
Marty and Sohan continued to work the ball around nicely until Marty was stumped around his legs for a well-made 21.
James in for a bit, then scooped one up caught for (0).
Enter the male model from Mudgee (Matt B) who looked good walking in with his gardening/dance shoes. Did the hot shoe shuffle gone first ball.
Enter Mick Dundee fresh of his 3-day umpiring course. Mick begun his innings well knocking the ball around. Sohan continued to hold one end up until scooping the ball up for some more catching practice for a well-made 26.
Rizul and Mick continued to rotate strike and were batting well together, until there was a mix up and Mick was left deserted on his island. Another run out, Mick out for 27.
Enter the tall timber, fresh off his school camp with 3 hours sleep. Started well and was rotating strike well with Rizul. Bronson was playing some good ground strokes and was piercing the field well until there was another mix up and another run out, Bronson out (5)
9 down for 120 (approximately) we needed a good partnership.
Enter the skipper, batting 11 for 2nd time in his life, looked the goods after picking up the re vamped GN100 (circa 1985) during the week from Kingsgrove Sports. Rizul and the GN100 continued to rotate strike and hit boundaries like there were no fielders.
Enter the new ball, Rizul scooped one up caught for a well-made 46.
All out 178
C3 Grade
WPHC Red (Fieds) 6/68 Vs Beecroft 136
After back to back wins the lads returned to the home of cricket, Campbell Park in good spirits – optimistic of a 3rd win on the bounce.
After a few run ins with Beecroft last season, it was good to see a few fresh faces don the white and blue kit.
Anyway’s, I’ll quit the yapping and get into the days play. Due to fact Jack is unavailable for week 2, the skipper has clear intentions to bowl, giving Jack every chance to beat Pat in the wicket taking ranks. The toss was called and we were bowling, the first win of the day.
Jack (3-14) took little time to click into gear, clean bowling the Beecroft opener 3 balls into his spell. Pat (3-33) would soon follow in his partners footsteps, taking advice from naughty Nathan by getting one to cut back into the stumps, knocking over all 3. However the lads were just warming up as Jack took his second of the day with an absolute peach.
Now, I do like to talk myself up in these match reports, however I have quoted Dinesh saying it was “the ball of the season” and wicket-Keeper Lachlan stating “it was like a David Beckham free kick” as Jack pitched it on leg stump, before getting it hoop back onto the top of off, squaring the poor batsman up.
However, Jack and Pat weren’t done there, taking 2 more to leave Beecroft reeling at 5/27 off 12 overs.
However, the foot slipped off the pedal as the openers were brought out of the attack with Beecroft putting on 20 for the 6th wicket. However, not before the champ of the day naughty Nath (4-20) stamped his authority on the game, getting one to turn through the gate, knocking over the inform batsman.
Nathan wanted more, knocking over the Beecroft brick wall who had already copped 5 on the hand, 2 to the body and 1 on the arm in much similar fashion to his first dismissal of the day. Nath would then get his 3rd shortly after leaving Beecroft at 8/80 with not much batting left in the sheds. However, a dropped catch of Beecroft’s number 8 first ball would prove costly, as he would go onto blast 45 in quick time before a Pat bouncer squared him up, prompting Nathan F to take a ripper of a catch running backwards.
The job was almost done, even though we’d let 10-15 runs slip, with a 12 year old coming into bat at number 11 the end of the Beecroft innings was in sight. However, inaccurate bowling caused even more runs to go by as Beecroft clawed their way to a defendable 136 as Nath left the young fella with the John Cena ‘you can’t see me celebration’, giving us more reason to run with the nickname naughty Nath.
Cam (4) and Steve (30) put the pads on before the resumption of play, with 23 overs to play out over the remainder of the day.
Getting the lads of the a good start Steve hit the ground running, backing up his 48 last week by punishing anything short and wide. However, Cam at the other end wasn’t as lucky scooping one up to the cordon. In came Dinesh (6), who played out the remainder of the session leaving us at 1-52. With only 13 overs to play for the remainder of the day, we had a good chance of breaking the back of the Beecroft total to elevate ourselves into a commanding position.
However, what would follow can only be described as Freakish, with the loss of 5/7 in the space of only 3 overs. This included Steve being caught by a backstop and Lachlan, the man who finds ways to get himself out by any means, hitting the ball straight into the ground onto the back of the bat and into the stumps.
However Pat (4*) and Mickey (4*) steadied the ship to leave us 6-68 not before week 1 players Jack and Shaq were shitting themselves being padded up on the sideline.
WPHC Blue (Rob) 201 Vs WPHC Red 08
After a recent reshuffling of teams, WPHC C3 Blue found themselves competing in a new Grade as they faced off against Normanhurst in a two-day cricket match. The action-packed Day 1 unfolded with its fair share of thrills and controversies.
Having won the toss, WPHC elected to bat.
The team displayed a commendable performance, posting a total of 201 runs before being bowled out. The standout performances came from Aden, who led the charge with an impressive knock of 74 runs. Supporting contributions were made by Daniel (23) and Will (23), showcasing a collective effort from the batting line-up.
In response, Normanhurst began their first innings and finished the day at 0/8. The match is delicately poised, and the upcoming day promises an exciting battle between the bat and ball.
The day witnessed another controversial umpiring decision that added an extra layer of drama to the match. The aftermath of this decision resonated with the players, making for a subdued atmosphere, especially during the journey home in the Hanich car.
The intensity of the game took a serious turn with the opposition Captain suffering a concussion. Such incidents underscore the physical challenges and risks inherent in the sport.
As the teams prepare for Day 2, the match hangs in the balance, promising more thrilling moments and potential twists.
Both sides will be eager to capitalize on the opportunities presented and make their mark in this C3 encounter.
C4 Grade
WPHC Blue (Hiresh) 1/31 Vs Mt Colah 132
The day began with us wondering why we are playing a home game at Howson Oval, and better yet who actually left the outfield in a sorry state.
The outfield was mowed near the fence while anything close to it resembled long patchy grass with random cut lines and a couple of holes. Maybe, someone was playing golf and basically sucks at it but also decided to dump a huge dirt pile near the fence, making it a really odd boundary. The outfield was so inconsistent that you either didn’t know if it was going to stay low, or whack you on the nose.
Anyway, horrible outfield aside, we had a team for today that was better for bowling.
So, Hiresh was banking on the Mount Colah Captain deciding to utter the words that was music to Hiresh’s ears “We’ll have a bat!” Within a couple of overs, we already broke through with Jerry taking a neat caught & bowled that was more spectacular for the juggling efforts.
Eamon and Jerry bowled some tight overs before Mukund and Gilan (who was filling it from the other C4s team along with Ross and Muthindra- Thanks lads for helping us for this match!).
Gihan struck through with a beautiful cross seamer that stayed low that the batter had no chance of stopping.
Things were looking good.
Mukund was bowling with such ferocity that his short balls were sharp, real sharp.
Spin was introduced and boy did it work out. Shanks came in and took the next 3 wickets. He got the opener who was their top scorer out caught at square leg while noting that he was praying to any higher power for the catch to be taken (somehow he landed on Ancient Greek religion but it’s Shanks, so it’s best not to question it and just roll with it).
Then got one caught by Parin at a short midwicket, an easy catch that nearly made up for the dolly he dropped earlier which was actually pretty funny. The next one was an amazing stumping by Hiresh after one was not given out a bit earlier.
So, with their middle order basically broken, we were looking like we would wrap this up quickly. Meet had bowled a lot of tight overs and finally got the rewards as he picked up a wicket of a batter who somehow stayed in and somehow scored 33 despite playing and missing so many times. It was a sharp catch by Shanks in midwicket. Shanks then took a fourth wicket after bowling one that pitched outside leg and hit middle stump (although there is some conjecture that it hit pad before hitting the stumps but evidence is inconclusive). Eamon also had some history with this team after their skipper was his team manager when he played reps. Shoutout to Eamon but showing some respect and dropping his former manager who was actually more bemused that maybe he didn’t manage that well rather than he nearly got out.
Mukund who was just really unlucky finally got lucky as he picked up the last 3 wickets in two overs to clean up the tail. It was the perfect trio of wickets – bowled, bowled, and then knocked out leg stump…so bowled again to finish off the innings.
He was so happy with his first wicket of the day that the batter shot death glares at him. What a way to make an enemy! Mount Colah were bowled out for 132 with Shanks bowling 17 overs (4/36), Mukund bowling 12 overs (3/24), Meet (1/9) off 9, Jerry (1/8) off 5, and Gihan (1/11). It was some great bowling, great fielding, and great pressure that put us in a great position.
Hiresh and Meet batted out for the rest of the day and put on a great foundation. They were so composed and secure in their batting, seeing off many overs, that the team was more worried about Mukund’s wondering about his demerit points, and if his new enemy was going to be chill.
Unfortunately, we lost Meet at the stroke of end of the day, out for 10 but thanks to him and Hiresh, a foundation was built with our score at 1/31 at stumps with 9 wickets in hand.
Next week bodes well as we need 101 runs to win, 9 wickets in hand, and a lot of time to bat. Hiresh (15) and Mukund (0) will be looking to start the day great. It makes it even more favourable for us with our batting depth strengthened with a few players back including last match centurion Sparsh.
Hopefully, we can make it two wins on the trot!
C4 Red (Ross S) Vs Bye
Next game is Vs Beecroft Blue @ Campbell Park 2nd December
D1 Grade
WPHC Blue (Agniva) Vs Beecroft 7/161
In a captivating clash against Beecroft at Samuel King Oval, our team displayed resilience and skill on a long and challenging day of cricket.
The day kicked off with an impeccable opening spell from Mridul and Pritam. Pritam, emerging as a dark horse in the attack, added significant pressure on Beecroft’s batting lineup. The lethal duo was followed by the speedster Ravi, also known as Cheetah, who continued the onslaught with precision.
Chintan stepped in with a great follow-up performance, maintaining the pressure on Beecroft’s batsmen. The bowling unit, as a whole, showcased teamwork and strategy, putting Beecroft on the back foot.
Beecroft, however, exhibited resilience, finishing the day at 6-161. Notably, one of their not-out batters was a day-1-only player, signalling the importance of wrapping up the final three wickets swiftly on Day 2.
Ravi emerged as the primary wicket-taker with three crucial breakthroughs, supported by Pritam, Chintan, and Siby, each securing a wicket. The teamwork in the bowling department was evident, creating opportunities and building pressure on Beecroft.
Special mention goes to Sufyan from C4, who is filling in for us this round. His great keeping skills were instrumental in the tight moments, showcasing agility and alertness behind the stumps.
Despite the commendable bowling effort, a few dropped catches added an element of challenge. Converting these opportunities could have seen us chasing a smaller target before the end of Day 1.
As we head into Day 2, the focus will be on wrapping up the Beecroft innings efficiently and then setting our sights on a successful run chase. The potential for a strong finish is within reach, and with the team’s determination, we are well-positioned for an exciting second day of cricket.
Stay tuned for the action on Day 2 as we aim to turn the tables and secure a victory against the second-placed Beecroft and solidify our position on the top of the ladder.
WPHC Red (Diggers) 186 Vs Kissing Point 4/59
We arrived at George Christie Oval full of confidence after our last performance against Hornsby.
Diggers lost the toss (again) and we were put into bat, which wasn’t a bad result as we weren’t sure what to do if we’d won the toss anyway
Diggers and Ross opened bat and put on a good opening partnership of 31 before Diggers was bowled for 8. Ross had started the game with a great positive attitude and intent to score runs.
He was joined by Nandit and together quickly scored a 56 run partnership before Nandit was run out in a close decision for 30.
At 2/86 and Ross continuing to hit boundaries, we were thinking of amassing a large score on Day 1.
However we ended up losing the next 8 wickets for only 100 runs and being bowled out for 186 at about 4.40pm. Unfortunately we didn’t capitalise on the good start. Ross was the star performer top-scoring with 47 and was unlucky not to go on and make a big score by the way he was playing and Adi also made a good contribution.
After the change-over, we had 13 overs to bowl at Kissing Point to try and make some inroads into their top-order with Disco and Nandit opening the bowling.
KP’s opening batsman came out swinging. Nandit took an early wicket in his first over, but the other opener was hitting the ball all around the park and scoring quickly.
Disco and Nandit continued to bowl line and length and were rewarded with 2 wickets each including the opener who had scored most of KP’s runs.
After the opener had departed, KP’s runs started to dry up and at the close of play on Day 1, KP were 4/59
D2 Grade
WPHC (Roger) 0/17 Vs Thornleigh 9/286
We won the toss and elected to bowl.
Things were going quite well when we had Thornleigh 4/27however a 137 5th wicket partnership made thing tough and a big wag of the tail meant that Thornleigh were able to declare at 9/286 leaving us to bat 10 overs 0/17 to see out the day.
Our wicket takers were Manraj Singh 3/33, Bala Raghuaman 3/51, Cory Brookhouse 1/42, David Tanna 1/28 and Simon Friend 1/19. 260 required next week with all our wickets intact will be a tough ask, and we will need the forecast rain to stay away for us to get there.