Team performances
3 Teams made the Finals after 6 played in the Semi Finals. All matches were played on turf but heavy overnight rain saw the result after day 1 being the final result. There were some good and bad results – here goes:

B2 Blue – WPHC 98 (Martin Boon 18) and 0/23 lost to Kissing Point 174 (Eric Junkkari 4/30) @ Storey Park
A shame, after struggling to 98 on a good wicket at Storey Park we rolled Kissing Point for 174. In the batting, extras top scored with 22 followed by a hard hitting 18 from Martin Boon – basically, reasonable bowling and bad batting. We did well to restrict them to 174 on a ‘road’ – Eric Junkkari taking 4/30 – bringing him to 45 for the season. Given that these matches are played over 100 overs a side this match was game on with the Blues being 0/23 overnight. Unfortunately heavy rain saw play end without a ball being bowled. As Kissing Point finished higher on the table they took out the trophy.

C1 – WPHC 117(Nishane Pillay 28) and 3/39 defeated ARL 59 (Matt Spalding 5/22, Karl Dunicliff 5/31) @ Turramurra Oval
A strong performance got the Blues comfortably home – even despite the rained out matches. A powerhouse bowling performance from Matt Spalding and Karl Dunnicliff blasted ARL out of the game. Even without rain it was unlikely they would have come close. As we finished higher on the table this is a good win.

What makes this even more remarkable is that we got our wickets in bursts of 5 – the first 5 dell for 9 runs and the last 5 for 7 runs!

D1 – ARL 126 (Justin Patterson 5/22) drew with WPHC 8/45 @ The Glade
The miracle team! On the verge of being beaten, rain came to the rescue. An amazing game with the team hanging on to be 8/45 overnight. Greg Fiedler, one of the greats of our Club was not out 11 overnight and in Greg’s words “he has faced worse bowlers in A Grade” - However, as we finished Minor Premiers the trophy is in the bag – don’t know who you are in touch with Roger but you’ve done well.

Our supporters
A huge thankyou to the busload of supporters who turned up to the grounds on the weekend - a always it really made a difference.

Club Championship
We have won the Club Championship for the first time since 1997/98. A fantastic effort that shows the depth in the Club across all Grades. The final standings are:

The top 4 standings are:
• WPHC 1,962
• Kissing Point 1,701
• Normanhurst 1,507.

Personal achievements
Who better than our 3 bowlers who took 5 wickets in an innings:
• Matt Spalding took 5/22 in C1
• Karl Dunnicliff with his 5 for 31 also in C1, and
• Justin Patterson with 5/22 in D1

No records are kept on these stats but it is likely to be a record with 3 players taking 5 wickets in a Final.

20 years between drinks
How about Jon Burns – a long term West Penno player and clubman. Burnsy played in the C1 Final and won his first Final since he started playing in 1983/84 – 20 years but well worth it!

That man Hadley – again!!
This legend Hadley did it again. Going to the ground at 7.00am on Sunday he sent an SMS message to Bryce Morley – “Have you got a tarp. I don’t want to go down this way” problem is that the wicket was already saturated, it had been raining since 1.00am and we needed more than a tarp to get on.

But wait there is more. We now have a photo of Hadley and Booney to prove that they exist. Watch this spot - they do exist but probably aren't worth waiting to look at!

How good does it feel
Greg Fiedler, our most capped A1 Captain (7 times) played D1 (his first full season other than A1), so that he could play with his son James. Greg reckons this years win is the best of the lot – high praise.

Quotes
Finals always bring their own words of wisdom from the match. There were some good ones in these Finals. Here goes:
• Martin Boon – “I’m out here, you’re out there, shut up!
Booney – B2 Blue star hitter responding to some sideline ‘coaching’ about his batting.

• Martin Boon (again) – I can lose 4 kilo’s in a toilet session”
Booney again! Everyone knows that big Martin has slimmed down to a slender 127 kilo’s. After talking about how he was a sprinting start as a young bloke this profound comment was made.

• The big boys:
o Trueman and Aussie batsman. In an England V Australia Test during early 1960's Trueman was fielding close to the gate from the pavilion. As a new batsman came out he turned to shut the gate, Trueman said "Don't bother son, you won't be out there long enough."
o Rod Marsh and Ian Botham. When Botham took guard in a Ashes match, Marsh welcomed him to the wicket with the immortal words: "So how's your wife and my kids?"
o Adam Parore and Daryll Cullinan. Because Cullinan is well known for being Warne's bunny, New Zealand keeper Parore greeted the South African, carefully playing the first ball from kiwi Chris Harris, with a cry of: "Bowled Warnie!"
o Merv Hughes and Javed Miandad. During 1991 Adelaide Test, Javed called Merv a fat bus conductor. A few balls latter Merv dismissed Javed: "Tickets please", Merv called out as he ran past the departing batsman.
o Merv Hughes and Viv Richards. During a test match in the West Indies Hughes didn't say a word to Viv, But continued to stare at him after deliveries. "This is my island, my culture. Don't you be staring at me. In my culture we just bowl." Merv didn't reply, but after he dismissed him he announced to the batsman: "In my culture we just say f*ck off."
o Ricky Ponting and Shaun Pollock. After going past the outside edge with a couple of deliveries, Pollock told Ponting: "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces." Unfortunately for Pollock, the next ball was Hammered out of the ground. Ponting to Pollock: "you know what it looks like, now go find it."

Presentation Night
Just a reminder that details are:
• Date: Saturday 8th May
• Venue: WPH Sports Club
• Cost: $35 per head, unchanged for 3 years.

Team performances
11 Teams, 6 semi finalists, 3 Finalists - our own Survivor!

Congratulations to B2 Blue, C1 and D1. As for A2, B1 and C2 - read on - 3 teams losing by a combined margin of 16 runs!

A2 – lost a thriller. After dismissing Galston-Glenorie for 120 we got to 9/116 overnight. Finishing at 131 they knocked up a quick 170 leaving us 45 overs to bat to win the game. After being 4/6 and then 9 for after 19 overs it looked bleak. A last wicket partnership between Stewart Newman and Bryan Wilden all but got us there - see the comments below for more detail. Well done to Dave Collits who took 9 wickets for the match!

B1 – what a way to go down! After winning on the first innings (starting to sound like A2 already!), we rolled Berowra for 40 runs behind us. We then crashed to be out for 87 with unfortunate umpiring contributing to a number of bad decisions. After having Berowra 6/39 chasing 136 to win we should have wrapped it up but 5 dropped catches from a side who rarely drops them was the decider. Berowra got the runs with 3 balls to go!

B2 – a big win. Chasing 113 on a very slow Galston Oval we struggled past them with 8 wickets down. Michael McGregor bowled with sustained pace and hostility to get 6 wickets. Apart from Michael everyone contributed to some extent – a real team effort as has been the case all year. That man Hadley just keeps doing it. At a crucial time in the game he scored 20 – worth 80+ on a normal ground.

C1 – will update when scores come to hand but looking good.

C2 – bad luck fellas. After scoring 437 the week before they were out for 165 chasing 190 – painful. Well done to Shannon Hinkley who scored a fabulous 55 under pressure with wickets falling.

D1 – a good win – chasing 75 and being 7/57 overnight, Scott Jobson and Aaron Rezek put on 60 to set up good win – under great pressure. Well done folks. How about Skipper, Roger Friend with 3/1 of superb spin bowling – at least that’s what the scorebook says!

The Finals are played next Saturday and Sunday so try make an effort to come along. Watch this spot for all the details.

Club Championship
We have won the Club Championship for the first time since 1997/98. A fantastic effort that shows the depth in the Club across all Grades. The final standings are:

The top 4 standings are:
• WPHC 1,962
• Kissing Point 1,701
• Normanhurst 1,507.

Personal achievements
Well done to Chris Rae who took 3/22 of 12 overs in the C2 Semi. This was Chris’ 150th wicket for the Club– putting him in the top 50 bowlers of all time. Well done Chris!

Not losers – winners
Spare a thought for A2’s. After beating the minor premiers on the first innings they lost outright. At one stage we were 4/6 with 45 overs to bat. After 19 overs we were 9 wickets down. Enter Stewart Newman (17 years old) and Bryan Wilden (much more than 17 years old). They batted for 26 overs before Stewart was unfortunately out with 3 overs to go! Stewart top scored with 31 in the first innings and got 12 in the second innings. In my book the end was a shame but the journey was character making – well done Stew and Bryan!

Nine wicket record
It is not often someone gets 9 wickets in a Semi but this weekend we set a new Club record - 2 of them. Well done to Dave Collits (A2) who took 9/59 in 2 innings and Matt Spalding in C1 with 9/68 - well done fellas!

Umpires for the Finals
If anyone is interested in umpiring the Finals then just drop Geoff Hasler a note on gjh1946@hotmail.com

Presentation Night
Just a reminder that details are:
• Date: Saturday 8th May
• Venue: WPH Sports Club
• Cost: $35 per head, unchanged for 3 years.

A fine season
Entrepreneurship is alive and well in the West Penno Blues Club. A2 and C2 Blue introduced fines for individual fines for players for things like dropped catches, saying a batsman was going well and then getting out and so on to fund their end of season trips.

C2 ended up raising $3,000 and A2 $1,500! Some holiday

No nuts, no glory, no sense!
What about Chris Sharkey – star No 11 bat in B2 Blue who came in to bat in a tight situation. After about 5 overs Chris realised he wasn’t wearing a box against the new ball. Chris being the shy retiring type didn’t go off the field to get one because he was too embarrassed. Good one Chris.

Speed scoring
Galston – the scene of the B2 semi final was played at Galston Oval – too big, too slow, and just plain sub-standard. It took 174 overs for the first boundary to be scored by either side! The man – Booney ended up scoring it – it went over the boundary fence on the full - it had to!

Team performances
• We guess it had to happen – the final day of the final round rain affected. This has affected the chances of some of our teams – some positive and some negative. Read on to find out final standings
• The points table finished up as follows:

Team standings

A1 5th
A2 3rd
B1 1st
B2 Blue 2nd
B2 Red 5th
C1 1st
C2 Blue 3rd
C2 Red 5th
C3 6th
D1 1st
D2 5th

• 6 of our 11 teams have now made the Semi Finals next week – 3 in 1st place, 1 in 2nd and 2 in 3rd place
• Spare a thought for A1 who missed out on a chance to defend their Premiership – missing out through a rained out 2nd Saturday
• D1 is also unlucky – playing through the rain they missed out after a good effort chasing 230.

Club Championship
We have won the Club Championship for the first time since 1997/98. A fantastic effort that shows the depth in the Club across all Grades. The final standings are:

The top 4 standings are:
• WPHC 1,962
• Kissing Point 1,701
• Normanhurst 1,507.

Personal achievements
C2 opening bowler Saurav Trevidi made it into the elite 100 wicket Club when he took 4/45 against Beecroft at Greenway – well done Saurav.

Umpires for the Semi's
If anyone is interested in umpiring the semi finals (you get paid $16 per hour cash in hand) please contect Geoff Hasler direct on gjh1946@hotmail.com

Young stars
Watch out for Ashad Munas from our U13’s. Ashad is an Emerging Blue and played B1 last week. He had a bowl and took a wicket (1/13 off 3) and in the process became the youngest player (recorded) to take a wicket in B Grade or higher. Well done Ashad.

Presentation Night
At our Executive meeting during the week, details were finalised. They are:
• Date: Saturday 8th May
• Venue: WPH Sports Club
• Cost: $35 per head, unchanged for 3 years.

More information will follow so stay tuned.

Famous quotes and cricket tragic
Raj Anand – star all-rounder for B1 made a name for himself earlier this season when he had a heart attack while batting. Apart from finishing at 39* he was taken to hospital and almost died on the operating table. When he was lying on the operating table Raj remembers the doctors having to remove his protector before they could start to operate. But wait, there is more. The first thing Raj said when he came around after the operation was “Will I be able to play cricket again” – he is and is going well.

That man Hadley, again…..
Some people can’t stay out of the headlines. Tony is ‘The Man’. Just a recap. Tony is the man who this season has:
• Turned up to a ground at 6.00am to look at the ground before we played that day
• Has practice sessions with his daughters in the hall before matches
• Runs out star players and then shouts then dinners
• Abuses slightly unfit players (Boney) by calling them “gross”
• Brings an oversized hammock to a ground with the smallest spectator area
• Today, he again turned up to the ground he was playing on last week at 9.00am to have a look at it – nothing other than a Club legend.

Gold and diamonds
C2 Blue have already scored 5 of the 7 Club tons this season. Another claim to fame is that they had also scored 2 diamond ducks (not facing a ball) – well done Peter Lees and Rob Allen.

Kylie, Brittany, Delta…….
Last year our A2’s launched an Official Club song to the tune of Yellow Submarine.

Now our Club is lucky to have a budding musician in Bryce Morley (B2 Blue all round good bloke) who performed at Tamworth earlier this year. He has pulled together a song about the B2’s to the tune of ‘The Band played Waltzing Matilda’. It is going to be played at the Presentation Night but just an insight into the incredible talents of our folks – just wait until you hear the lyrical support from a team of ungifted yobbo’s. Here goes:

Written by Bryce Morley (to the tune of Eric Bogle’s “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda”)

Verse 1
When I was a young man, I carried my bat,
And I stood tall for West Pennant Hills.
From Greenway to Montview,
To Foxglove and back,
I took pride in the red and the blue.

But as year follows year,
I get so old,
My sight’s a bit hazy
& my reactions are slow,
My hammy’s keep twitching,
while my knees never hold…
and I ask myself ‘why do I do I it?’

Chorus
I do it for West Pennant Hills,
For the boys in my team B2 Blue,
We love a drink,
Except when we lose…
We’re the Boys from the Team B2 Blue

Verse 2
Now there’s Hutchy and Sharkey,
And Ecca and Maca,
And who could forget Big Booooooony
And what about Cap’n Kish,
And our own stunt-man, Ad’s,
Together, we’re a team with big knads!

Then there’s Tony “The Man” Hadley,
And Millsy and Brycey.
And what about old Johnno,
And hey, you’ve left out Rosco!
Yeah, we turn up to win,
But we’ll take the outright…
We’re the boys from the team B2 Blue.

Chorus (* 2)
We do it for West Pennant Hills,
For the boys in my team B2 Blue,
We love a drink,
Except when we lose…
We’re the Boys from the Team B2 Blue,
The Boys from the Team B2 Blue,
The Boys from the Team B2 Blue!!!

Team performances
• A week of wet weather, cooler conditions and slow grounds combined to make this a different weekend again to last.
• The points table up to the Round 13 follow -

Team standings

A1 5th (3 points out of the 4)
A2 3rd
B1 1st
B2 Blue = 2nd
B2 Red 5th (7 out of the 4)
C1 = 1st
C2 Blue 3rd
C2 Red 5th (10 away)
C3 6th – (10 away)
D1 1st
D2 4th

• A1 who need to win to make it to the semis met a go slow from Beecroft who finished with 6/205 all day – but there is still hope.
• A2’s have a very interesting game against Galston Glenorie having them 4/75 chasing 167 @ Turramurra Oval. What makes this grade fascinating is that if we lose the results of both ARL and Castle Hill will determine our future in the semi’s. Gut feel is that ARL will win outright – passing us and Castle Hill will lose making our position safe, but……
• B1 are well placed in their game and should finish 1st
• Both B2 sides had good matches and are well placed. Unfortunately our Red’s may only get a 1st innings. However, Mt Colah are not a strong batting side so fingers crossed
• C2’s had an extraordinary game. They scored 7/431 – a Club record for C2 Grade. Not sure if this is an Association record but will check it out. Individual performances follow in the next section. This team in the last few games has really clicked and could probably play in the B1 comp and beat most sides (ours excluded).
• C3’s chased leather and need to get 313. Josh Lovell (4/35) and Chris Hale (4/52) starred with the ball.
• D1 will win as a minimum on the first innings and take their end of season points to 90 – close to a Club record which will again be checked. If they win outright it will most probably be a record.
• D2 now control their own destiny. Chasing 218 (or near enough) if we win we make the big games at the end.

Club Championship
Looking at the results it is now all but certain that we will win the Club Championship – the first time since 1997/98 – a fantastic achievement but let’s wait until the final results.

The top 4 standings are:
• WPHC 1,882
• Kissing Point 1,603
• Normanhurst 1,460.

Personal achievements
• Apart for the record team score, the outstanding achievement of the Round came from C2 Blue. How about this for performances:
o Shannon Hinkley scored 165 – our 292nd century.
o This ton is the equal 11th highest in our history
o Surprisingly it is the same score made by Michael O’Grady in D1 this year – also against thornleigh
o Of the 7 tons score this year for the Club - C2 Blues have scored 5 of them
• Also in C2 Blue Daniel Moye (86) and Andrew McKinnon 74) were outstanding
• Best bowling of the Round came from Josh Lovell in C3 with 4/35

2,000 Runs!
An oversight last week – Peter Lees (C2) notched up his 2,000 runs last week. Well done Peter. He now joins the top 50 run scorers of all time.

Something in the air
Something is happening in B2 Blue this season. In a number of games this season players have been missing pants only to turn up in someone else’s kit back. No questions on this one but it might help to explain why this is a ‘close’ team.

Team performances
• What a weekend – temperatures over 40 degrees again and some big games that had to be won to consolidate spots in the Finals race
• The West Penno machine is beginning to roll with a Club record 9 wins from 11 teams including 5 outright wins!
• With one Round to go our standings are:

Team standings
A1 5th (3 points out of the 4)
A2 3rd
B1 1st
B2 Blue = 2nd
B2 Red 5th (7 out of the 4)
C1 = 1st
C2 Blue 3rd
C2 Red 5th (10 away)
C3 6th – (10 away)
D1 1st
D2 4th

• A1 have fired back into the race – convincingly beating ARL who were running second. We now control our own destiny by playing Beecroft next week – a win will put us in the top 4 to defend the Premiership - a loss - thanks for coming
• Despite losing outright A2’s are coming good at the right time of the season with a good win over St Ives with a 1st innings on day 1 to take 3rd spot. The game next week is an interesting one. If we win (against the team coming 2nd) we are safely in the top 4. If we lose, ARL (coming 5th) play Kenthurst who lost outright on the weekend. If we lose and they win we finish equal on points. If they win outright we could miss out.
• B1 had a barnstorming game. Playing the 4th placed Kissing Point we rolled them for 38 and then 130 to win outright!
• B2 Blue got their money’s worth. After having a number of players out they scrapped to 60 and then rolled Mt Colah for 82. With a fabulous team effort won outright to make our position in the top 4 a certainty
• B2 Red also had a big win but need an outright next week to get there – fingers crossed
• C1 also had a crushing win to take 10 points and make their position at the top of the table safe. How about star strike bowler Matt Spalding (the man with the shaved legs) who scored 32.
• Both C2’s – the Reds (outright win) and Blue’s 1st innings had big wins
• C3 had a close loss – going down by 2 wickets in a tough fought game
• D1 just keeps doing it with another outright win – the good thing about this is that the performances are well spread with everyone contributing
• D2 had a loss but are still sitting in the top 4.

After 13 Rounds we now have 7 of our 11 teams in the top 4 – with the real possibility of A1 Grade making it and B2 Red C3 getting outrights to scrape in.

Club Championship
With 1 round to go we are leading the table and look unlikely to be pulled back. The last time we won the Championship was in 1997/98. Great stuff.

The top 4 standings are:
• WPHC 1,882
• Kissing Point 1,603
• Normanhurst 1,460.

Personal achievements
• How about Andrew McKinnon (124) and Andrew Clarke (74). Some achievements were:
o This is a Club C2 1st wicket record of 171 runs
o It was only 3 short of the Association C2 record
o Andrew’s ton was the 291st century for the Club.
• Also in A1 how about Greg Stoneham who took 6/17 to destroy ARL – who were coming 2nd.
• Raj Anand (B1) playing his 2nd match back from a heart attack scored 65 and then backed this up with 3/5 from his bowling – a living marvel
• B2 stormed back into the semi’s with a fighting comeback. Big performers were Eric Junkkari who took 4/57 and scored 43. Big Martin Boon smashed 58 in his first 50 of the season.
• Welcome to Sujith Dissanayake (U14) who made his debut in Seniors B2. Sujith is an emerging Blue scored 70 in his junior match and managed 5 and 19
• Alec Connell in C2 Red took his best bowling figures with 6/66 – well done mate

2,000 Runs!
Eric Junkkari (B2 Blue and already the taker of 200 wickets) scored his 2,000th run for the Club with his 45 on the weekend. This now moves Eric into the top 50 batsman of all time for our Club.

Watch this space
Peter Lees (C2) now has 1,981 run s- just 19 short of his 2,000 runs – with a bit of luck he will join Eric in the elite listing very soon.

Play of the week
Big Marty Boon (B2 Blue). Despite having a damaged back that made life really uncomfortable Martin played so as not to let the team down. When he went out to bat he walked out to bat on his toes and looked like a refugee from Mardi Gras. He faced one ball, missed it, scored his second golden duck for the season but really put in for the team. He then hammered 58 in rapid time on Saturday.

Gutsy effort of the week
Who else than Mark Tubs Taylor – B1 super star and Club legend. Tubs managed to face 3 balls in his innings and was caught off his pad. In between he was hit on the toe, broke it but then came out to bowl after icing it and took 5/18! Amazing.

Team performances
Another good Round that allowed us to consolidate our position in the top 4 across most grades. With one and a half Rounds to go our standings are:

Team standings
A1 5th (3 points out of the 4)
A2 3rd
B1 2nd
B2 Blue = 1st
B2 Red 5th
C1 = 1st
C2 Blue 4th
C2 Red 6th
C3 6th – one win out of the 4
D1 1st
D2 4th

+ A1 had a mixed day. Needing to win they managed a respectable 238. The top 3 players (Glen Percival 147, Chris Boyd 49 and Chris Thomas 35) scored 231 between them not leaving a lot for the other 7 batsman!
+ A2’s are coming good at the right time of the season with a solid win already over St Ives – this should consolidate their spot in the top 4
+ B1 had a barnstorming game. Playing the 4th placed Kissing Point we rolled them for 38! And then cruised to 120 – 10 points is looking good.
+ B2 Blue got their money’s worth. After having a number of players out they scrapped to 60 and then rolled Mt Colah for 82. In reply we are 1/25 – someone is going to get 10 points from this one
+ C1 Red continues to be a force – rolling ARL for 89 and then being 9/204 in reply. How about star strike bowler (the man with the shaved legs) who scored 32.
+ The highest score for a while was C2 Blue – scoring 8/311 including a Club record opening partnership of 171.
+ C3 look like they have just missed out on the semi's. But one of the unsung hero's this year is Chris Collits - on eof our juniors maing the transition to seniors. Chris took 3/20 and got 22 under pressure - well done mate. Finally, what about superstar Hercules (Steve Quanborough) - after starring at number 3 he now bats at no 11 - something seriously wrong with the captaincy of this team!

After 13 Rounds we now have 7 of our 11 teams in the top 4 – with the possibility of A1 Grade making it and C3 one win away.

We are leading the Club Championship with one Round to go.

Personal achievements
+ Glen Percival (A1) scored 147 and has now scored 3 centuries in his 2 years with the Club. His century:
o This is the 292nd in our history
o Glen’s scores have a certain symmetry –107, 117 and 147. Well done Glen.
+ How about Andrew McKinnon (124) and Andrew Clarke (74). Some achievements were:
o This is a Club C2 1st wicket record of 171 runs
o It was only 3 short of the Association C2 record
o Andrew’s ton was the 291st century for the Club.
+ Raj Anand (B1) playing his 2nd match back from a heart attack scored 65 and then backed this up with 3/5 from his bowling – a living marvel
+ Welcome to Sujith Dissanayake (U14) who made his debut in Seniors B2. Sujith is an emerging Blue scored 70 in his junior match and managed 6 runs.

Watch this space
+ Roger Friend (D1) still needs 7 for his 1,000 runs
+ Eric Junkkari (B2 Blue) already the taker of 200 wickets) is now targeting his 2,000th run – just 107 off this milestone

Play of the week
Big Marty Boon (B2 Blue). Despite having a damaged back that made life really uncomfortable Martin played so as not to let the team down. When he went out to bat he walked out to bat on his toes and looked like a refugee from Mardi Gras. He faced one ball, missed it, scored his second golden duck for the season but really put in for the team.

Gutsy effort of the week
Who else than Mark Tubs Taylor – B1 super star and Club legend. Tubs managed to face 3 balls in his innings and was caught off his pad. In between he was hit on the toe, broke it but then came out to bowl after icing it and took 5/18! Amazing.

A stinker of a weekend with hot humid conditions making it difficult to bat and bowl but we had a reasonable Round. Highlights were:

Team performances
+ Overall we had 5 wins (the turnaround has started) 3 losses and 1 Bye. Not sure of A1 yet as scores are coming through
+ Outstanding team performance of the week was a toss up between C1 (303) who demolished Galston Glenorie (120) and C3. The C3's have proved themselves to be 'one day' game strugglers but the opposite in 2 day games. Chasing 227 we managed 7/236 and did it comfortably.
+ A2 (9/188) had a draw against Castle Hill (6/83) on a very slow outfield. This is an important result as it kept one of our threats to a top 4 position out of play for the moment.
+ D1 continues to perform very well but this time with a new group of players performing - the young blokes on the way up.

Individual performances
+ Top score of the weekend was Scott Allen who continued his innings from last week with a powerful 80
+ Stewart Newman (41) did very well in A2's. Batting on a painfully slow outfield at Fred Caterson his innings all but put Castle Hill out of play for the match
+ While B2 Red lost, Andrew Fiedler all but batted through the innings (last man out) with 81. What makes this special is that with little cricket under his belt, there is still a little Christmas cheer around the girth and the heat made it very difficult - well done Andrew
+ In C3, well done to Josh Lovell (55*) and lloyd Neil (35*) who put on an unbroken 8th wicket partnership of 93 - just short of the 97 partnership put on by Alistair Rayment & Daniel Moye against St. Ives in 2001/02
+ While D1 continues to win, star of the innings was James Fiedler who scored 53 - his first in Seniors. James is 13 and plays in the U14's in the morning comp. His father Greg (an all time Club legend) was playing in the same game and went through almost a packet of cigarettes watching the innings - well done James.

Standings
Standings after Round 12 (2 to Rounds to go) are;
+ A1 37 points (5th - 3 off the pace)
+ A2 45 (=4th)
+ B1 56 (1st)
+ B2 Blue 57 (=1st)
+ B2 Red 43 (=5th - 7 off the pace)
+ C1 57 (1st)
+ C2 Blue 51 (3rd)
+ C2 Red 32 (7th)
+ C3 36 (6th - 5 off 4th)
+ D1 74 (1st)
+ D2 43 (4th)

This means we have 7 of our 11 teams in the top 4 with all but C2 Red still in the running. Of these we have 4 teams in first place - a fabulous achievement.

In the Club Championship we have a good lead with 1,682 points ahead of Kissing Point on 1,437. One good round will get us there.

Semi finals and finals
With only 2 Rounds to go before the end of the normal rounds, the big end of season Finals are coming up. Keep the following dates in your diary:
+ Semi Finals are played on Saturday/Sunday the 13th and 14th March
+ The Final is played the following weekend - 20th and 21st March

It can only happen to a wicket keeper
Nishane Pillay (C1 wicket keeper) was back at the Club after the game and was after some advice on how to keep to tearaway Matt Spalding. Nishane has bruised hands from the pounding they take. Funny thing is that he actually thought that putting some steaks in his glove would work - the logic was that Ian Healy used to do it. Almost right - it was Bert Oldfield back in the 1930s. But any advice will be greatfully received.

Nice legs
Also on Matt Spalding (C1). Matt is a ' blokes bloke' - a real fast bowler. However, back at the Club he was sporting a very nice set of smooth legs. After a few beers he took up a bet to have his legs waxed - they were, and the pain is still being felt. He was asked if he had also had a Brazillian wax and he wanted to know when we play then next.

What's in a name?
Our high achieving A2's actually have alter egos. Forget the given names how about this this for a group of retro-grades: Snumpty (C) Lovey the Duck, Chook, Volcano, The Voice, Zook, Smokey, TNT, Stoney, Mandaway, Buddha, Thinker. There are ofcourse some really original names - BP and MJR.

At last some centuries - the only problem is they were scored against another WPHC team - read more to find out the details.

Team Information
+ A2 had what looks like a slow day scoring only 6/128 in a full day, until you hear that they played at Fred Caterson 2 - one of the slowest (correction, the slowest) outfield in the comp. Fingers crossed that the grass is not cut low during the week. How about Luke Quinlivan with 54 - worth a 100 anywhere else
+ B1 bounced back to top form with a solid 246 against Hornsby. Great to see runs being scored by Scott Allen (71*) and Matt Davidson (67) - both very talented players but not much big score activity this year until now - well done fella's
+ Both our B2 sides had good days - the Red's rolled a strong Normanhurst batting side for 249 with Brendam Ham continuing his super form with 4/60. The Blues played in their top of the table clash against Kissing Point and rolled them for 171 - after a 36 run last wicket partnership (yuk)
+ The C1 Red's flexed their muscles with the semi finals coming up scoring 303 against equal first placed Galston with runs well spread - Leigh Van den Broeke (52) and Mark Twohig (52) starring.
+ The C2 Blue's had a blinder against our Red's (unfortunately) belting 341 with 2 centuries. This puts the Blues back into the running for the Minor Premiership - the Red's need something special to get into the top 4
+ Finally, C3's showed that they are a better 2 day side with a solid performance against a higher placed Kenthurst. After rolling Kenthurst for 227 we are 0/59 in reply. The undoubted star is Steve Quanborough who opened the batting and is 10*. Steve is rapidly becoming a prospect for Outstanding Prospect for the year.

Personal achievements
Some beauties this week:
+ Luke Quinlivan's 54 at Fred Caterson must be a highlight - anything more than 2 for a shot is radical
+ What has been a drought for centuries (3 all season) we finally broke it - unfortunately against our Red side. Well done to Andrew Clarke (102) who scored our 289th Club century and and Peter Lees (100*) - our 290th century and his 2nd - super stuff mate.
+ Josh Lovell (C3) continues his outstanding form in taking 6/39. This is the 3rd innings in a row in which he has taken 5 wickets or better. Great stuff Josh

On the ball
There can only be one nomination for this one - C2 Red Captain Tim Connell (sorry mate but....). In the one dayer (40 overs a side) against ARL last week the teams came off for the changeover in innings - or so the opposition thought. After the break our batsman went out to continue their batting - the only problem is that they didn't know it was a one dayer. This one is going to be hard to beat.

What a weekend - storms circling the grounds, lightning, thunder and some innovative Captaincy to get games finished - where we were on top.

An improvement on last weekend with 4 wins but still well behind our earlier standards. Rain affected 2 games with Draws in A1 and B2 Red - both teams well on top.

Performances of the Round
+ A1 (current Premiers) were denied a win with rain - chasing 127 they were 3/63 and on a roll. This puts them just out of the top 4 but wthin easy striking distance. How about the ageless Greg Stoneham who took 4/31. Greg is one of our Club Greats (number 5 in the all time list) with over 300 A Grade wickets under his belt
+ A2 - consolidated their spot in the top 3 with an emphatic win over higher placed ARL. With rain about to belt down Simon put the hitters in and they knocked up the 82 quickly - well done fellas
+ In B2, the Reds slammed 225 in their 40 overs with Brendam Ham (84) and Michael Banner (53) getting among the runs. Unfortunately rain stopped play with Galston 1/11
+ The B2 Blues continue to show their guts. At one stage we were 5/11 after 7 overs on a very slow and steamy Galston Oval with a ball moving around like some of the old timers have not seen for many years. But we recovered to 94 and rolled them for 64
+ In C1 the lads continue their winning ways with another very close game against Castle Hill - winning by 4 runs. Another Club Great - Jon Burns took 6/21 and was clearly the match winner.
+ C3's had another loss chasing a score over 200 but Josh Lovell just keeps doing it with 5/46 - his second bag of 5 in 2 games.
+ D1 continued their close games against Hornsby. After a tie in the first game against Hornsby they they got up again by with a margin of 2 runs!

Fast scoring
An achievement that didn't get much mention last week was the tremendous performance of Ian Paterson (D1) who took (with a bit of help from Roger Friend) 30 runs off an over. the scoring sequence was 6,6,6,6,W (plus one run), 4. Ian was sitting next to Tony Hadley at the Club (the man who had 29 taken off his over the previous week) when asked what it felt like said 'great' - Tony just sat quietly and had another beer.

Team Standings
Our position in the table is:
+ A1 - 36 points (5th spot - 3 off 3rd place)
+ A2 - 43 (3rd)
+ B1 - 50 (2nd)
+ B2 Blue - 56 (1st)
+ B2 Red - 42 (4th or 5th - to be determined)
+ C1 - 51 (= 1st)
C2 Blue - 44 (4th)
C2 Red - 31 (6th)
C3 - 30 (6th)
D1 - 68 (1st)
D2 - 37 (4th)

In the Club Championship we are still in first place (1,568 points) ahead of Kissing point (1,275 points).

Just bowl straight
The mighty B2 Blues may have set a record (no records kept on this one). Of the 10 wickets that fell 9 were bowled - including the first 5 in the opening 7 overs!

Keeping it in the family
Our Club has a great record in promoting young players but last week we took this to a new level. In the competition leading D1 side 4 sets of fathers and son combinations played: Roger and Simon Friend, Ian and Justin Paterson, Greg and James Fiedler, Geoff and Josh Mudge - great stuff fellas.

Famous last words
Big Martin Boon (B2) was saying during the week that he had never scored a golden duck. Guess what - he got one on the weekend. This matches Tim Coverdale's (B1) now infamous comment after 13 wins in a row that they were going to equal the Club record of 14 - it happened again when they lost.

That man Hadley
Club legend Tony Hadley (B2) continues to make news even when he does nothing on the field. This time he brought along a few comforts from home to watch the game. Galston Oval has the most cramped players watching area in the comp. Tony decided to bring not just a chair but a full oversized reclining hammock that occupied most of the area. It was put to good use after Martin Boon got out 1st ball. Good one mate.

Team performances
+ In yet another 1 day game, we won only 2 out of 11 matches - our worst performance of the season. A Grade was unfortunate to be the only team washed. Next week is the final 1-dayer of the season (yeah!) brought forward because of the earlier Easter break this year
+ The highlight of the Round (maybe even the season) was the B2 clash between the Blues (1st place) and the Reds (4th). Apart from the fantastic competitive spirit it was played in, the match went down to the wire. Chasing a competitive 144 set by the Red's on a slow Headen Park outfield, the Blue’s got home in the last over with 9 wickets down and the last man facing.
+ How about the mighty C1's. Not only did they win but they had St Ives 9/31 - they recovered to be all out for 61. Star was Karl Dunnicliff who took 5/20.
+ After a full team training session during the week C3's had on of their off days being rolled for 102 chasing 213 in 40 overs. With the exception of Greg Lang (45), Allan Raffel (27) and Joshua Lovell (5/54) there was not much joy. The one positive is that we may have found a new number 3 bat for A grade next season - Steve Quanborough

Team standings will be updated once the scores come through:
A1 34 points (4th place)
A2 37 (=4th)
B1 49 (1st)
B2 Blue 50 (1st)
B2 Red 40 (5th - 1 point off 4th)
C1 45 (2nd)
C2 Blue 43 (2nd - result to be confirmed)
C2 Red 30 (6th - 8 off the pace)
C3 29 (6th - 8 off the pace)
D1 62 (1st)
D2 36 (4th)

After 10 Rounds we now have 8 of our 11 teams in the top 4 – a fantastic performance with 3 of our teams in first place.

We continue to lead the Club Championship with a comfortable lead over Kissing Point - let's keep this one going folks. The last time we won this Trophy was in 1997/98.

Personal achievements
+ Andrew Fiedler entered the top 20 run scorers of all time when he scored his 3,000 runs for the Club – a wonderful achievement. Andrew’s brother Greg (5,000 runs) are the only two brothers in our history who have scored over 3,000 – our own Steve and Mark Waugh equivalents.
+ Roger Friend (D1 Captain) also nothched up his 1,000 career runs with 19* on the weekend - well done Roger.

Watch this space
+ Eric Junkkari (B2 Blue), already the taker of 200 wickets, is now targeting his 2,000th run – just 95 off this milestone.

Match against the SpeedBlitz Blues
Just a reminder we have until the 1st February to enter the competition to get a match against the Speedblitz Blues on the 25th February at North Sydney Oval is still running. All we need are 11 players.

One to watch
Raj Anand (B1) makes his comeback next week. What makes this special is that Raj had a heart attack earlier this season during a game at Headen Park. True to form, Raj was suffering from the attack early in his innings but batted on to 39* before the innings declaration. Welcome back Raj!

Sting of the week
B1 all time great and super star, Mark Tubs Taylor (and genuinely nice bloke) added a bit of spice to the B2 clash (Red's Vs Blue's) when he tried to set Eric Junkkari up believing that Tubs Taylor, Tim Coverdale and Jon Horler that they were playing against the Blues on the weekend. After a few bites from Eric it didn’t work – almost but no cigar.

Play of the week
B2 Red without doubt. In what must be a first (for a long time anyway), the Red’s fired their first 3 wickets out LBW – all out but not common. The only other instances I can remember are in A1 where this would be common with the legendary Kenny Carter umpiring.

Except for A grade that started up again after the break last weekend the rest of the Seniors kicked off this Saturday with another 1 day game and what a day – very hot and humid.

Team performances
+ Like the last weekend before the Christmas/New Year break we won 7 out of 11 games – a good performance
+ A1 started off very well but in keeping ARL to 60 runs in the first 20 overs but in the next 20 they scored 150 to knock up runs. We struggled in the 2nd innings to 139.
+ B2 Blue made a big impact on Castle Hill having them at 7/36 in around 25 overs. However after a few missed chances they got away to 126 in the next 15 overs. An amazing 29 runs off the last over was the highlight (for them). Read on to find out more about who stared from us in this last over performance. Despite coping with a slow outfield and batting second after the heat we won convincingly.
+ In the same match, Craig Hutchinson took 1/12 from 10 overs!
+ In a thriller, C3 were out for 149 but Castle Hill managed 156 chasing – our star number 11 bat (usually) Josh Lovell top scoring with 52
+ D1 showed why they are leading the comp. After struggling to 72, they rolled Normanhurst for 43 with Scott Jobson (4/15) and Justin Patterson (4/10) starring.
+ In B1 – great to see a return to the winners list. Mark Taylor continues his rich vain of form with 50 and Tony Ford making his Christmas comeback got 48. Tony is one of our most distinguished players – being named in the combined Association side of the decade in 2001.

Team standings
A1 = 4th
A2 3rd
B1 1st
B2 Blue 1st
B2 red 4th
C1 2nd
C2 Blue 1st
C2 Red 6th (9 off the pace)
C3 6th (3 off the pace)
D1 1st
D2 4th

After 10 Rounds we now have 9 of our 11 teams in the top 4 – a fantastic performance.

The Cub Championship has not been updated but we should still be leading.

Personal achievements
+ Matt Rae (A2) in scoring 44* took his career aggregate to 2,000 runs – putting him in the top run scorers of al time. Well done Matt.
+ Alistair Rayment wrote his name into Club immortality with his 4/15 against St Ives. Alistair now has 150 wickets placing him into the top 40 bowlers of all time. Well done Alistair.
+ Andrew Mills scored his 1,000th career run against Castle Hill – well done Andrew.
+ Tony Hadley (Club Superstar who has been keeping out of the news recently) put up the most amazing individual performance of the Round. Playing for B2 Blue, Tony bowled the last over and had 29 runs taken off it – 4 sixers, 4 four and of course a wide just to give them an extra ball. This is the 2nd highest number of runs ever scored off an over against a WPHC player in 57 years. The record is held by Chris Bedwell with 30 in 2000/01. Chris Thomas in A1 had 26 scored against him in 2002.

Watch this space
+ Roger Friend still needs 12 for his 1,000 runs
+ Andrew Fiedler scored 27* on the weekend but needs 17 more for his 3,000 runs – placing him in the top 21 run scorers of all time. He aims up against our Blue’s team next weekend.

The drought continues
Our century performances continue to slow down to reflect the dry conditions. After scoring a record 18 last season we have only scored 3 so far – approaching a record at the other end of the scale!

Communicator of the week
B2 Blues star Eric Junkkari! After dismissing the Castle Hill opener – caught at mid-off from a slow full-toss Eric had a lovely chat to the batsman after he was dismissed (while he was walking off the field), telling him that exactly the same thing happened to him the match before. As expected, the 2 way discussion was not lengthy.

Sensitivity Award
Tony Hadley again. After keeping a low profile since his now famous early season performances.

After Big Martin Boon bowled his heart out for 3 overs, Boony left the field for a drink and a bit of dry reaching. Booney put on a few kilos after the Christmas break and is now a slim 127 Kilo’s. With total disdain, Tony, at first slip commented that Martin ‘is not fit’. Tony is the man who ran out Martin in a senseless run out earlier in the year. Good to see you back in form Tony!

At last, a dry Round with some super performances:
+ Overall we won 8 out of 11 games
+ Outstanding Team performance of the Round was from B2 Red. After scoring 6/186 in their 40 overs they rolled Kenthurst for 19 – 7 ducks with the highest individual team score for Kenthurst 4! While not the lowest ever score in B2, it makes the Grand Final. The complete list of lowest scores by Opposition sides against WPHC is:

Grade Year Lowest Against
A1 Not available
A2 Not available
B1 1958/59 15 Vs Glenorie
2000/01 35 Vs Kenthurst at Kenthurst (17th March 2001)
B2 1974/75 15 Vs Pymble
19 Vs Kenthurst @ Headen 20/12/2003
C1 2001/02 31 Vs Mt Colah at Greenway (5th January 2002)
C2 1967/68 12 Vs Arcadia
D1 2000/01 18 28/10/2000 Vs Wahroonga at Karuah
2003/04 18 29/11/2003 Vs St Ives @ Pennant Hills 2
D2 2002/03 34 15/9/2001 Vs Kenthurst @ James Park

The lowest score is 4 by WPH in 1967/68 – the B Grade Final.
+ A Grade continues to consolidate in the top 4 with a good win over the higher placed Berowra. Matt Barr scoring 55* and making a real impact this year
+ A2 did their best to make a tough finish – after being 0/80 with a top opening from Richard Stonier (37) and Luke Quinlivan (40) we had a good win but lost 7 wickets to get the remaining 40 runs. Anyway, a win is a win – well done.
+ B1 came storming back into the winners list with a good win over Castle Hill RSL. A welcome return to the Club from Tony Ford (one of our all time greats) who batted at no 9 – just happened to score an important 35
+ In C3, although losing, what about the performance of skipper Steve Quanborough. Apart from his distinguished bowling career, he has scored 166 career runs up to last year in 49 innings but came out and hammered (sort of) 31* batting at number 6 – a fantastic effort.

Points table
WPHC have 9 of our 11 teams in the top 4 - a fantastic achievement. But it gets better with the two sides out of the 4 only 1 point (C3) and 4 points (C2 Red) off the pace.

Personal achievements
+ Sean Doohan in B2 Red notched up a fantastic personal achievement with his 32 runs. Sean has now scored 3,000 career runs bringing him into the top 21 run scorers of all time.
+ Bowling figures of the Round went to Nathan Orton in C2 Red who took 5/3 in 5 overs against Thornleigh – best bowling of the season by anyone. Well done Nathan.
+ Smokey Dawson in A2 had bowling figures of 5/24 – the deciding factor in the A2’s good win.
+ In C2 Ryan Cameron belted 65* in the winning team total of 5/88

Watch this space
+ Alistair Rayment needs 4 wickets to get 150 wickets for the Club. This will place him in the top 50 bowlers of all time in our Club once achieved.
+ Andrew Mills (B2 Blue) is still chasing his 1,000 runs is just 7 runs short of his 1,000 runs
+ Roger Friend still needs 12 for his 1,000 runs
+ Andrew Fiedler scored 27* on the weekend but needs 17 more for his 3,000 runs – placing him in the top 21 run scorers of all time.

Star of the week
Apart from the whole B2 Red Team – who else other than Nathan Orton with 5/3!

Another wet weekend with all games to be played as 1 day games next week starting at 1.00pm - 40 overs a side.

Personal achievements
There are some really good personal achievements coming up. They are:
+ Alistair Rayment (C2) needs 1 wicket to reach his 150 wicket milestone - bring him into our top 50 bowlers of all time
+ Andrew Mills (B2) is just 12 runs short of 1,000 runs
+ Roger Friend (D1) needs 12 short of his 1,000 runs
+ Andrew Fiedler is 44 short of his 3,000 runs brining him into the top 20 run scorers of all time
+ Sean Doohan is in the same trget - he needs 21 runs to reach his 3,000 runs.

Points table
As at the end of Round 6 we are again well placed to figure well in this season's Finals - a long way to go, but promising. Here goes:

A1 Grade 22 points (4th - 5 points off the pace)
A2 22 (4th)
B1 35 (1st)
B2 Blue 35 (1st)
B2 Red 21 (5th - 1 point off the pace)
C1 26 (= 2nd)
C2 Blue 30 (=1st)
C2 Red 16 (7th)
C3 20 (5th - 5 points off 3rd and 1 from 4th spot)
D1 43 (1st)
D2 27 (2nd)

Of our 11 teams we now have 8 teams in the top 4 with everyone else at least in striking in distance.

Club Championship

1. WPHC 926
2. Kissing Point 747
3. Galston Glenorie 684
4. Castle Hill RSL 672

Christmas break
Christmas is fast approaching. The Seniors break on Saturday the 20th December with a one day game. We start again on Saturday 10th January2004!

After a wet weekend last Saturday all matches got underway but were played as 1 dayers. As usual there were a number of super performances so here goes:

+ A1 came back into the winners list with a good win over Kenthurst. In what is another first we beat them at Kenthurst for the second time in the season. Best was Ben Gerard who scored 64 that enabled us to struggle to 166. Peter Whitehead prved the difference again with 3/14 with his offspin. Kenthurst Oval over theyears has been our least preferred ground with more losses than wins but things have turned tis year.
+ B1 had a surprising loss - being rolled for only 100 chasing 170! Up until the last Round the lads remain undefeated. When account is taken of last season, they had won 14 games in a row - one more and they would have equalled the known Cub record of 15 straight by our mighty D2 side in 1983/84 who won every match but lost the Final.
+ The all time record winning record? Our U16's between 1991 and 1997 won ecvery Final between the U10's to U16's!
+ In B2, both of our sides scored good wins against good opposiiton. Best performance came from Richard Baini who scored 91. Brendan Ham who was promoted from D2 Grade, continues to impress with 3/46.
+ In C1, nobody told them that this was a one day game. After rolling ARL for 47 they went for the outright and had them 8/109 - just missing out on 10 points. Matt Spalding starred with 5/17 in the first innings. Well done Dale.
+ Without doubt, the best performed team was D1 - beating St Ives outright in one day! After dismissing them for 47, we declared at 4/132 (Michael O'Grady scoring 53*). In their second innings they were rolled for 18! This was the equal lowest score made by an Opponent in D1 against us. The existing record was achieved in 2000/01 against Wahroonga at Karuah. Well done Roger.
+ D2 also made a welcome return to the winners list with a close win over Normanhurst. Marco Delgardo continued his purple patch of form with 50*.

Centuries
So far we have been light on this season. Last year we clocked up a record 18 in the season but so far only 3!

Temperatures at 35 degrees plus - it was not a good day to be out in the centre. A number of scores did not come through on the message system so main results that we have follow:
+ A2 had a thriller against Castle Hill. After being rolled for 105 in the first innings we dismissed Castle Hill for 100. Andrew Driscoll (3/15) and Matt Dawson (3/36) starred. Not to finish there we batted a second time and were dismissed for 90. Batting a second time Castle Hill were 4/96. The result - we lost outright after winning on the first innings with 4 balls to remaining!
+ It must have been a day for batting collapses. In A2 again, batting for a second time, we just needed to bat out the majority of the day to avoid an outright defeat. We were cruising at 3/70, with Luke Quinlivan and Amir Marzouk looking comfortable at the crease, but the loss of Amir saw us lose 7/20, leaving our opposition 16 overs to score 96 runs.
+ In B2, our Blue's lost their first game of the season. Chasing 153 we self destructed for 142 with the legendary Tony Hadley top scoring with 39*
+ The B2 Red's also had a day of self destruction. After being 4/180 they lost their next 6 wickets for 4 runs...all out 184! Star of the match was Brendan Ham, promoted from D2 for this match, he opened the batting and scored 39 and backed ths up with 3/17. What a debut.
+ Our B1 side continued their outstanding form with a strong win over Hornsby. Mark Taylor continued his purple patch of form with 6/66 from 22 overs - not bad from a now 40 year old! Well done tubs.
+ Just on B1, last week Mark Taylor (74) and Matt Davidson (38) put on 86 in 29 minutes!
+ C3's after scoring 242 lost to Kenthurst who managed 6/245.

Outstanding achievements
Well done to Stewart Newman (A2) and Chris Thorburn (A1). Both players have been nominated by their schools for state selection trials - Stewart in the Open age group and Chris (U16's). Trials happen this week at theSCG so good luck fellas.

With a number of key players unavailable throughout the Grades this Round it was always going to be tough but there have been many highlights and encouragingly good performances. Here goes:
+ A Grade (with B1) has been the most affected team with shortages but still managed to score 202 and have Asquith at 2/31. Peter Whitehead (42) and opening bowler Kevin Wong (43) made solid contributions
+ The mighty C3's (a relatively new grade) under the fantastic leadership of Steve Quanborough set yet another record partnership yesterday - their second record this year. Robert Trieste (45) and Bill Donohoe (25) scored 84 for the first wicket beating the previous Club record of 44 by Craig Willmott and Shannon Hinkley in 2001/02.
+ A2 playing against a good attack struggled to 105 all out. However, they have fought back very well to have Castle hill 5/53 - still very much game on
+ B1 have also been heavily affected by injuries and shortages this week but still powered to 250. Tim Coverdale 48 and Mark Taylor 74 continue their super form this year and provided a good base for us to score 250 against a strong Hornsby side
+ The highlight of the B1 innings was fantastic partnership of 84 between Mark and Matt Davidson in 30 minutes.
+ For those interested in Club trivia, Allan Raffel (and u16 graduate coming up from C3) played B2 and took a very good catch with the first ball after he put the gloves on. Nick Bennett playing C3 came up from the Juniors and scored a very good 42 in his first game in Seniors.
+ Allan also contributed a very solid 19* batting at 5 against a good attack.
+ B2 Blue continued their unbeaten run with a solid performance against te number 3 ranked Kissing Point. Stars of the day were Glen Harvey (3/14) and his support crew - Andrew Mills who took 3 brilliant catches off Glen at 1st slip in 3 overs - including 2 in one over.
+ The outstanding Club batting performance came from Nathan Orton (C2 Red) who scored 90 unfortunately playing against our Blue side. Well done Nathan
+ In yet another fabulous performance from one of our juniors promoted to help in higher grades, Brendan Ham (fron D2) played for B2 Red and took 3/17.

What a weekend! Again, there have been many highlights, the main ones bein:

Individual performances
+ Alistair Rayment (C2 Blue) achieved the remarkable bowling figures of 8/17 against Castle Hill. Our best 8 wicket haul was by D smith in 1962/63 who took 8/4! What makes this especially remarkable are the following achievements:
- Alistair took a hat-trick in these figures - our 28th in the Club History
- his 8 wickets was the 116th time someone has taken 7 wickets or better
- he also took 5 wickets in 7 balls! Well done Alistair.
+ Jon Horler (B1) also scored his 1,000 runs with a very good 71
+ In B2 (Red), Kevin Dearlove hit a six at Glenorie Oval that not only went out of the ground but cleared Old Northern Road!
+ Chris Thorburn our 15 years old A Grader continues to impress with his top score of 56*. This is his first 50 in the top grade and the sign of things to come. Chris also scored 122 in the u16's last weekend.
+ Tim Muir capped off a remarkable weekend in A2. Apart from getting 5/44 with his legspin he managed to get out 2nd ball - both handled the ball and obstructing the field! Probably a first for our Club - well done Tim, nothing like a novel rcord!
+ In A2, after struggling at 5/64 on day 1 had a big win. Apart from Tim Muir's bowling (his batting won't get any further mention) special mention to Richard Stonier in his first match with us from the UK who scored 71 and Stewart Newman (another outstanding junior at 16) with 45.

Position on the table
+ After 4 rounds we are doing extremely well with 10 teams in the top 4 and the remaining 1 just out but in striking distance. Included in this are 4 teams in first place. Our standing in each grade are:
A1 15 points (2nd
A2 15 (=3rd)
B1 28 (1st)
B2 Blue 28 (1st)
B2 Red 14 (6th)
C1 19 (=1st)
C2 Blue 23 (=1st)
C2 Red 14 (4th)
C3 18 (4th)
D1 32 (1st)
D2 15 (4th)

Club Championship
In the Club Championship - We remain well clear with 650 points - clear of Kissing Point with 517.

BBQ
Just a reminder that the BBQ is on at the Club next weekend after the game.

Quote of the week
In the close B2 game won in the last over by the mighty Blue's, with 22 runs to go and 4 overs to get them in Glen Harvey (our star number 10) gave Craig Hutchinson (the man who averaged 100 last season) some advise - "leave it up to me" - good one Glen - he got them.

Tony Hadley - the latest
This bloke is now gaining cult status. He was at it again this weekend. In a tight B2 game he made a suicide run to run our the biggest hitter in the comp - our very own Martin Boon. After the totally expected bat throw by Martin (about 20 metres this time but well short of his record 30 metres last year) after being caught well short of his crease, Tony mananged to get out.

But 'The Man' then shouted big Martin a dinner back at the Club - which was accepted! Looks like Martin would do anything for a free dinner!

The highlight of this week were the thunderstorms that stopped all games around 3.00pm. With grounds flooded it was an early mark back at the Club.

Matches continue as 2 day games next week with declarations at the discretion of the team still batting.

That said, there were some good performances:
+ Richard Stonier (A2), playing his first match since arriving from the UK is 26*. He opened the batting and is holding the batting together with the team being 5/64 but with batting to come.
+ The C1 team has made an early impact on the strong Castle Hill batting line up having them 3/24.
+ Spare a thought for C3 who have Kissing Point 6/77 after only 2 hours of play. With ashortened game an outright may be difficult - but fingers crossed.

Hero's of the week
To those hardy (stupid or whatever) folk who got the stumps during the pouring rain. Matt Davidson (B1) and especially Andrew Mills (B2 Blue) come to mind. Millsy went out in pouring rain with a foldup chair on his head. His motivation - to be able to get to the Club earlier - what a team player!

Rankings
+ Our rankings in the competition follows:
A1 13 points (2nd)
A2 9 (=4th)
B1 22 (1st)
B2 Blue 22 (1st) - promoted from C1
B2 Red 8 (6th)
C1 17 (2nd)
C2 Blue 17 (2nd)
C2 Red 8 (7th)
C3 12 (4th)
D1 30 (1st)
D2 13 (4th)

In the Club Championship we are a long way in front with 506 points. Kissing Point are on 442 and in second place.

What a fantastic weekend of achievement. Here goes:
+ Mark Taylor became only the 3rd player to pass 5,000 career runs for the Club on the weekend. He brought up the runs with a 4 that was a dropped catch going through the hands of fieldsman on the boundary. He now joins the great Greg Fiedler (5,000 last season) and Ross Anderson (6,000) as the only players to achieve this mountain. Will Peter Harriosn (also a B1 player this season) be the next to pass the milestone - at the season start he was next in line with 4,328 runs.
+ With regard to the B1 match, they boys clocked up another comfortable win. Mark Taylor scored 72 (to bring up his 5,000 runs) Matt Davidson with 45 and Luke Quinlivan with 50 starred with the bat.
+ Our mighty C3 team set a new Association C3 7th wicket record with an unbroken partnership of 135 against Normanhurst - beating the previous record of 126. Our bowlers, Joshua Lovell scored 87* and Steve Quanborough 29*. What makes this even more remarkable is that Steve is fine slow bowler but as a batsman has scored 166 runs in 49 previous innings - a fantastic achievement.
+ Eric Junkkari, star opening bowler for C1 Blue took the 26th hattrick in our Club's history in a superb bowling exhibition. Eric has now taken 19 wickets in 3 games and is getting better.
+ In A1, Peter Whitehead scored 93 and Matt Barr 53 to give us a comfortable win. Peter just missed scoring his 3rd century for the Club. Peter with an A Grade career average of 39.00 and Matt Barr with 42.7 rank among our best.
+ The strong run by C2 Blue came to an end with a loss. After crashing to be all out for 71 in the first innings the came back strongly in the second innings with Alistair Rayment scoring 82* and Ryan Cherrie 39* - well done folks.
+ Our young D1 side continued their super form with another stunning outright win taking them to 30 points after 3 games. Performances have been well spread with no individual starring.
+ Also in D1, Nathan Smith took match figures of 9/26 (4/14 and 5/12) against Galston Glenorie. With one more wicket he would have been the 40th player in our history to take 10 wickets in a match.
+ A final welcome to Richard Stonier. Richard has just arrived from the UK and will be playing A2's. He starts his Australian career next weekend - good luck Richard.
+ D2 also continue their super form with another solid win. The undisputed star was 13 year old Troy Newman with 41 before he was tragically run out by his farther attempting a suicide run (sorry Geoff but the truth must be told!)

Another cold windy day welcomed the weekend. The outstanding achievements of the Round are:

+ A Grade made a storming comeback after their loss last match to be 1/88 in reply to Berowra's 182. Matt Barr is 40* and has now scored 148 runs this season for once out. Peter Whitehead has also made a welcome return to form with 40*
+ Another highlight in A1 was Chris Boyd. After taking a wicket in the first innings. he has now taken 100 wickets for the Club - a fabulous achievement.
+ A2 have a battle on their hands chasing 7/256 set by Normanhurst.
+ In B1, the evergreen Mark Taylor celebrated his 40th birthday with a promotion in the batting order to number 3 and scoring 28*. Mark has a huge reputation of being a middle order who can maul attacks so the promotion to the top order opens a career change.
+ B2's have put up a competitive score of 215 thaks mainly to Gavan Hassett with 71 and Kevin Dearlove who scored 65
+ Both C1 teams are in a very good position. Star was C1 Blue allrounder Eric Junkkari who took 5/35. Eric now has 15 wickets in 3 games. Craig Hutchinson also continued his good form with 4 wickets.
+ In C2 Blue well done to both Alistair Rayment and Ryan Cherrie who both took 3 wickets
+ Spare a thought for C3 who are chasing 5/282 against a side (Normanhurst) that were Finalists in C1 last season - good luck next weekend
+ D2 continued where they left off last match kncking up 314 against Kenthurst. Scores were well spread but the outstanding effort was from Troy Newman who at 13 scored 41 runs - a fantastic effort.

Another big weekend. The highlights were:
+ While it is early days, we have 9 of our 11 teams in the top 4!
+ Alex Connell (C2 Red) scored his first ton with 105* - our 288th century for the Club. Well done Alex.
+ A1 came back to earth losing to Kissing Point - the team they beat in the Final last season, in a nail biter.
+ In A1. Chris Thorburn (at 15 our youngest A Grader since Daniel Ward in 1996/97 scored 26.
+ The best in A1 was Matt Batt who continued his great form with another punishing innings of 70. Simon Davies, who scored his 3,000th run in the Final chipped in with 48.
+ You can always tell that water restrictions have been introduced with rain - and in A2 in happened and the game was washed out.
+ Last Round we started the season with 9 wins and 4 outrights. This Round we came in at 6 wins, 1 draw with 3 outrights - well done
+ An understrength B1 had another super win against last years Finanlists and won with Skipper Tim Coverdale again batting superbly with 74
+ In C1 (Red), Nishane Pillay continues his super form with 127 runs in 2 Rounds for once out
+ Individuyal performance of the week came from Phil Clarke (C1 Red) who took match figures of 7/72 and scored 52 runs
+ After 2 Rounds our Team standings are:
A1 7 points (3rd)
A2 8 (3rd)
B1 16 (= 2nd)
B2 7 (5th)
C1 Blue 16 (=1st)
C1 Red 11 (3rd)
C2 Blue 16 (1st)
C2 Red 7 (6th)
C3 10 (4th)
D1 20 (1st)
D2 7 (=4th)

+ In the Club Championship we are sitting 1st - ahead of Kissing Point and Galston Glenorie.

With a cold wind gusting around the Grounds and reminding us that winter still hasn't disappeared there were again some super performances despite teams being weakened due to the long weekend next week. Here goes with the achievements:
+ A Grade won their first up match against Kenthurst - just. This is the first time in many, many years we have won our first up game which is traditionally against Kenthurst. Peter Whitehead starring with 4/29 with Chris Thomas 47 and Matt Barr 38 providing the batting backbone.
+ As a result of this win (A1 started 2 weeks after the rest of the Competition) our Club won 4 Round 1 games outright and 5 on the first innings - 9 wins out of 11 Grades is a fantastic achievement and a Club record.
+ in A2, Andrew Driscoll took 3/8 in a fight back against Mt Colah. Defending 129 Mt Colah are 5/99
+ Craig Hutchinson starred in C1 taking 5/41 bowling spin into a gale and coming on as first change. Nth Wahroonga were rolled for 144. While we are 5/60 there is still a lot of batting to come.
+ Also in C1 Martin Boon was thrashing the bowling until he got a tiny edge. With a strong wind the umpire didn't hear it so Martin walked - well done mate
+ No scores were received for either of our C2 sides but last week, saw Alistair Rayment score his 1,000th run for the Club - well done Alistair.
+ After struggling with a lot of absences last week C1 Red came back with a vengance - rolling Kissing Point for 133 and being 2/80 in reply
+ C2 Blue have already had a big win rolling St ives for 108 with us 4/122 in reply. Stars were Chris rae 4/22 and the Captain himself with a swashbuckling 30 - well done Craig!
+ C3 are involved in a thriller - scoring only 98 but having Castle Hill 8/87 in reply. Abbass Shariff, making his return after a long absence, being the destroyer with 4/14
+ In D1 - the most affected team through the long weekend, scored 177 with the 2 old hands - Bill Donohoe (36) and Ian Paterson (45) having big impacts. In reply Normanhurst are 9/67.
+ After losing their first game, D2 came back with a bang scoring 348. Runs were well spread with Richie Cuskelly 38,Mark bewey 58, Neil McNamara 91 and the ageless Geoff Newman 44 dominating.

Commitment of the week
Tony Hadley (C1 Blue) was looking forward to playing so much he woke up at 5.00am and not being able to get back to sleep he came to the ground to get familiar with it - he was back there bright and early for the 1.00pm start!

Round 1 is now complete.

There have been some fantastic achievements:
+ Well done to Kishore (C1 Blue Captain) who got the team together before the start of the game to run through our Code of behaviour - it went down really well with the team winning outright in a most enjoyable spirit.
+ of the 11 teams 8 won. It could even be better with A1 starting next week and no scores being received in the C1 red or D2 games. The winners are:
+ A1 - starts next week
+ A2
+ B1 - outright
+ B2
+ C1 Blue - outright by 2.30pm on day 2!
+ C1 Red - ?
+ C2 Blue
+ C2 Red - won first innings then losing outright
+ C3 - outright
+ D1 - outright
+ D2 ?
+ Our 4 outright wins is a Club record in a Round
+ Michael O'Grady's 165 in D1 is the equal 11th highest score in the Club with the best being 225 by Ken Smith in the 1951/52 season. t was also the 286th century in the Seniors
+ Chris Rae scored his first ton (105*) playing C2's - our 287th centurt
+ Steve Quanborough in his first match as Captain (C3) clocked up an outright win and scored 31*. Steve is an outstanding bowler but is not well known for his batting (having scored 166 runs in 49 previous innings) so well done mate
+ Ross Anderson scored his 6,000th run for te Club - the highest aggregate in our history
+ Greg Fiedler set a record unlkely to be beaten in many years - he made his D Grade debut - after serving a 22 year apprenticeship in A1 Grade
+ Of more note - James Fiedler (Greg's U14 son) took a wicket with his first ball in Seniors - bowling the Opposition player - well done James. His father's (Greg) debut achievement 22 years ago was being bowled first ball. Problem his next innings was also a golden - go James - let's repeat history again.
+ Bill Peterkin (B1) was cleaned up during pre-season practice by a Chris boyd thunderbolt. After a tentative start against a bouncer when opening in B1 on the weekend he put the next 3 either to the fence or out of the ground - go for it super star!!
+ In A2, Luke Quinlivan, winner of our utstanding Prospect Award last Year when playing made his A2 debut with a classy 37
+ Finally, special mention to Chris Thorburn who makes his A1 debut next week with the reigning Premiers. Chris is just 16 and with Daniel Ward is the youngest player to be seleceted in A Grade for our Club.

We are now underway and what a start!!

• Michael O'Grady (an U16 graduate) scored 165 in D Grade on the weekend - our 287th century
• Chris Rae, our tearaway C2 opening bowler scored his first ton - 105* batting at 9 and saving the team after being 6/34
• Michael McDowell (another U16 graduate) made his B1 debut with 3/7.
• B1 Grade - the reigning B1 Premiers blitzed Castle Hill for 37 and then knocked up a quick 108
• A2's made a welcome start to the season with our skipper Simon Smyth getting his highest score with 57
• A1 starts in 2 weeks once the turf is ready - they look a strong outfit and are raedy to back up with back to back premierships.