First XI defeated by ASHBURTON WILLOWS
As I wasn’t present I’ll do my best to give you the details; I’ll add to it as I get more info. Stiffler was a late withdrawal with severe tonsillitis, we wish you well. We also had Worms and Dools out. We still went in with a reasonably strong side though. The Ones travelled to Ferndale Park where the last time we were there was for the 2s premiership a few years ago. This time to play the top side in LOC3. Grades disappeared for 6 overs to vomit, but to his credit he did take 3 catches, including 2 blinders… no pun intended. We were chasing 171 for the win. They looked like they were to score 220 at one point but a great effort by our bowlers to keep them to 170. Kavan got a toe crushing yorker that had him retire hurt on about 40. We needed 69 off 78, then 51 off 60 when Sai was run out. 43 off 48 with Gazza and Brentons in. 23 off 27 when Brentons fell. Gazza and Greeny in. 18 off 18. Then I heard there was a bit of panic. 12 off the last over, 1 wicket in hand. Unfortunately it wasn’t our day as we fell 8 runs short. One’s are still in the top 4 even with this setback, but a much need break to get over injuries and ready for January 6th against East Malvern Tooronga to attack the second half of the season.
Second XI defeated Burnley CYMS
In a very important game for the magoos, Tony Miles playing in his 350th game was Captain for the day. He was extremely enthusiastic about this role and arrived at Panther Park at 10am, plotting his tactics for the game. His plan was based on batting first and thankfully, he won the toss and did so. He opened with himself and Boothy, but a short lived partnership before Boothy had a dash at a wide one, snick, caught behind, 1 for 11. The second wicket partnership was pretty much the same as Govey was also caught behind, given out by Dicko too, 2 for 22. Tony and Knotty settled the ship with a 40 run partnership before Tony was done by pace and a straight one, leaving a gap as wide as the Grand Canyon, bowled for 30. Enter Black in the 20th over. Exit Black in the 26th over with 50 retired. 6 sixes, 2 fours and 6 singles to be exact which included an over that started with 2 dots then 4 sixes in a row, each one getting bigger! If there was another ball in that over, it would have landed in Mont Albert! As they were looking for the ball that Black retired on, I had a chat with the keeper and informed him that the next batsmen was Blacky’s son; and he didn’t disappoint hitting a massive six himself that got lost in the bowls club. In the meantime of all these Blackman’s showing off, Knotty retired on 50 too but you know, it wasn’t that exciting except for the back to back 2s, but anyway… Speedy and Benny were attempting to smash them around the park but they had a very defensive field settings. Martie had a swing first ball and caught on the boundary, he will look after “Knotty the Duck” for the break. But by far the most entertaining innings was Dicko. Last over, swing and miss the first four balls, then top edge over mid wicket before Speedy finished it off. We were happy with the 172 we set them but knew we had to respect this top 4 side.
Wolfy opened the attack in his 150th game. I’ve always said fast bowlers are dumb and proven again. The week prior he bowled a slower line and length, maidens and no extras, this week went back to erratic, why? Possibly to scare the batsmen. Come on Wolfy. Anyway, fortunately we had junior at the other end taking wickets. He argues he could have gotten a 4fa but he got the number 3 anyway. Let me tell you what happened. Junior bowled a short one that the number 3 decided to cut over point. Knotty, like a panther ran for it and it just fell short of him, which included burning his retinas from the sun in the process; it would have been a blinder if he took it. Changes required and on comes Black and Beattie who destroyed their middle order with 3 wickets between them. To keep mixing it up, Tony made another change bowling Benny and Speedy before he decided medium wasn’t going to get the job done and changed to his reliable spinners, himself, Dicko and Knotty. Fortunately when they came on Burnley CYMS needed 80 off 5 overs… they could have gotten there if Dicko had more than 2 overs. A great win by the lads now sees us jump Burnley CYMS and move into fifth position, playing fourth after the break at home and win will see is in the four.
The victorious Twos in Wolfy’s 150th and Tony’s 350th
Function
On Saturday night we celebrated the half way point of the season with a mixed featured function. It included Bobby Walton and Andrew Wolfmeyer celebrating 150 games, Tony Miles 350th game, Simon Datson’s retirement and a reunion of the Burt and MacGibbon Shield back-to-back premierships. Around 40 people attended the gala evening which was full of stories from the past, a bit of banter and touched on the emotional times of Pete Williams’ passing and Matthew Blackman’s heroics that lead to him missing out on a premiership. We heard from Simon Datson and David Wood on their experiences of Tony in his 350 games, Woody pointing out that it was he that invited Tony to the club. Tony spoke of Simon’s career, quoting “Pound for pound he was the best cricketer he’d ever seen at the club”. You could argue that Datto isn’t that heavy, but you know, we’ll let him have this moment. Dale Rogers spoke of the Burt Shield premiership as he was Captain. He talked about why we were in Burt Shield which begs the question, could it have been a different story if we finished higher the year before? PC was reminded on the night that he was our MacGibbon Shield premiership captain and talked about having to find a ground and the chaos that went into it. All in all it was a great night. Thanks to Harry for his Weberfest, to Tony and Poppo for the help and concept, CK Prowse for the photos from the night and to my committee, particularly Greeny, that helped make the night a huge success.
