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.

Posted by Ross Anderson on February 8, 2004 06:08 AM