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.

Posted by Ross Anderson on March 21, 2004 11:05 AM