Our fabulous run (losing our last game way back on 13th January), finally came to an end with heavy rain forcing an early close to play at Hassell Park. While we were struggling, being 7 down we still had Andrew Watt and Chris Collits batting well with Ashraf and Pat to come – you never know.

On Day 1 we bowled very well and fielded adequately – too some very good catches but also put down some catches that if held would have given us a much lower target. John Mitchell bowled very well again to take 3 wickets with good support from Kishore, Andrew, Ashraf and Chris Collits.

We started with high hopes on Day 2 – chasing a score well within our range. The key to our success since Christmas has been that we have got off to good starts that has given us a base either set or run down big scores. Not this time. After 12 overs we were 3/12 and were on the back foot but still a chance with strong batting. To their credit, Beecroft took some excellent catches and bowled tightly which kept us under pressure. Tony Hadley also got the rough end of an LBW that was crucial but that’s cricket.

All up we lost 7 on the first innings, won 5 on the 1st innings and 2 outright with most of our losses happening before Christmas. There were some turning points that got us into the top 4:
• Tony Hadley making a comeback to the Club added consistency to the top 4
• our win over Hornsby where we lost on the first innings and won outright proved we could win
• our top 3 (John, Ross and Kishore) started to get good runs after Christmas consistently and importantly batted through the first 10-15 overs consistently. This allowed our guns down the order – John, Nathan, Andrew to have the chance to play from the front rather than trying to save games
• fielding also improved dramatically after Christmas with catching especially improving.

Looking at the year in full, it was a fun season. The last half performance was even sweeter given that we did struggle early on. There were heaps of highlights:
• John Nesbitt topped the aggregate with 352 at 35 (not including the Semi). Andrew Watt with 277 and Kishore 274 were our biggest run getters
• In the bowling, we were consistently good and had probably the best attack in the Comp. Chris Collits was superb and showed he has big things to come. Chris was the 4th highest wicket taker in the Club with 30 @ 16, Andrew Watt 22 wickets at 24, Kishore 20 at 12 and Pat (Mr. Reliable) 19 at 16.
• Nathan’s keeping towards the end of the season was high quality and his batting high octane
• Bryce Morley did some good things and got back his good bowling form after Christmas. he also played some very important innings, none more so than the 50 he got to see us across the line
• John Mitchell came into his own with his leg spin bowling and was a rock at the top of the order
• Mark Twohig, let’s not forget this bloke who is now himself overseas was an outstanding opening bowler. His replacement in David Consalvi was tremendous value – coming in mid season but providing good thrust with the new ball and fielding at a high standard in every game
• Thanks also to Tim who showed that he has a lot to offer next season
• Finally, our ability to win the big games at the end of the season – the big win over 2nd placed Glenhaven in Round 14 was a real highlight that got us into the Semi Finals was probably our most complete performance of the season.

Thanks for a fun year and bring 2007-08.

Ross A

Posted by Ross Anderson on March 19, 2007 06:32 AM