Tasmania University Cricket Club
Scores and Reports
Season 2004/05
First Grade
Round 6 v. Clarence
Played at the University Oval, 27th. November/4th. December 2004.
(Toss won by : Clarence)
Darren McNees 50 Mike Graham-Smith 30 Ben Hilfenhaus 28 and Tim Paine 24* Nathan King 24 Rhett Lockyear 23* |
Josh Bean 7-44 |
(Day 1). On a very humid day we arrived at the ground to discover a quite moist and very well grassed wicket and the curator was nowhere to be seen!
Richie got us all involved in an activity where you take your shoes and socks off and walk up and down the pitch to determine the moisture content in the wicket. The general consensus was that it felt wet and cold – a bit like Gazza’s nose (pictured here - had to use it somewhere)! The forecast was for a hot day so it seemed logical to bat but the state of the wicket was making that decision a hard one to make. Luckily, it didn’t matter. Brad lost the toss and Clarence invited us to bat. Oh well, get on with it. We’ll do the best we can. In hindsight, our very green practice wickets during the week were a sign of things to come. Lurch was bowled by one that jagged wickedly off the pitch. Richie and BT played very similar shots to very similar balls and they both missed them and were both adjudged LBW to the bowling of Colegrave. Huddo got a ball that kicked off a length and did well to knick it to the keeper and Painey chased a wider delivery and was caught behind the wicket. At 5 for 37 things were looking grim. Dags joined X at the crease and the two of them played and missed quite a bit early on. A partnership began to develop and they managed to bat through to lunch. With the weather warming up and the winds increasing the pitch became a little easier to bat on. Dags was looking very solid in defence. A pull shot from X split the fieldsmen at fine leg and deep mid wicket. A sweep shot from Dags beat the man at 45 and went to the boundary. The edges were going to ground and through the cordon and the partnership built up to 89 runs in the heat of the day. X was given out LBW for 30 and Dags went on to post his first half century in the T.C.A. competition. He batted during a very difficult stage of the innings and demonstrated that he has real ability with the bat. His very sound defensive technique was complimented with shots to all parts of the ground. His elevation in the batting order had paid off big time! Scooter and Bars both made useful contributions in the lower order and some clean hitting from Hilfy, who was well supported by Beany in the last wicket stand, took our total to 190. The shot of the innings was probably the lofted off drive for 6 from Hilfy late in the innings. Clarence had half an hour to bat at the end of the day and finished the day 1 for 15. Bars took an excellent catch in the slips off Hilf’s bowling to dismiss Wells. Tight bowling and good fielding should see us get across the line next week. (Day 2). Day 2 began in high spirits as we held high hopes of restricting Clarence to less than our total of 190 runs. Lurch was sporting his heritage jacket and looking a treat. Clarence were to resume at 1 for 15. Dykes and Wade were the overnight batsmen but as they were away with the state Under 19 team two new batsmen had to replace them. There was a lot of confusion over who should be batting and eventually a couple of Clarence guys (were they the right guys?) wandered out to start proceedings on day 2. Hilf and Nessie kicked off the day but were unable to break through. Richie and Beanie formed a good bowling partnership with Richie tying up one end and Beanie attacking from the other. Beanie was on fire and in his first 4 overs he claimed 4 wickets - Richie took a fine diving catch at point to dismiss Heffernan, Robinson was trapped LBW, Quarrell was caught at first slip by the skipper and Costelloe played on. At 5 for 55 we were in the box seat. Things looked brighter soon afterwards when Nessie bowled Harris and we had the Roos 6 for 77. Unfortunately for us, Clarence formed one partnership of note (similar to our innings) between Clingleffer and Bannister and this pair took them to a first innings win. The partnership was broken at 203 runs and we claimed the last 4 wickets for 17 runs. Congratulations to Beanie who finished with career-best figures of 21 overs, 7 maidens, 7 wickets for 44 runs. He is in great form at the moment and surely the state selectors cannot continue to ignore his rare talents. Beanie has been playing in the TCA first grade competition for many years, consistently producing the goods, when other leg spinners have quickly ‘come and gone’. For some reason, lesser leg spinners from lesser competitions seem to win favour with the selectors. He may spend every moment of every day ‘taking the pith’ but when it comes to his bowling he takes things very seriously. He is ‘fit and ready’ and just waiting for the call. We batted a second time and Painey, Lurch and Lockdog showed scant disregard for the bowling and we finished the day at 1 for 71. All up a disappointing day and we now must win both matches before Christmas to stay in touch with the top four. |
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