Tasmania University Cricket Club
Scores and Reports
Season 2004/05
Third Grade
Round 9 v. South Hobart/Sandy Bay (1 day match)
Played at Cadbury No. 1, 9th. January 2005.
(Toss won by : University)
Stuart Alexander 4-26 Sam Lambert 2-22 |
James Jubb 51 Ben Hickey 46 Heath Chick 26 |
After 2 weekends off enjoying all that the Christmas period has to offer, the Uni 3's trekked out to Cadburys to take on the SHSB Sharks. The last time we met it was an easy win to the Lions, but with limited training sessions leading up to the game and a few extra kilos of christmas pudding still hanging around, it was not a game to be taken lightly. Speaking of hanging around, that's all we could do near the changerooms as the SHSB failed to collect the key, so the locals were to have a day of seeing what real men look like.......... Ginger Jubb made his first appearance for Uni after an extended lay off with injury, while Ravi (aka Knackers) was back after his trip back to tell the sub-continental cricketers the secret of playing in Australia. The Product, our new fitness adviser, took the team through stretches and the fielding warm up was conducted at an even more gentle pace than usual to allow for the lack of preparation but abundance of christmas cheer. Preparation obviously wasn't a part of Knackers' morning routine, as he spent most of the warm-up having to change the spikes on the bottom of his cricket shoes to cricket ones, as he failed to realise we were playing on a synthetic pitch! The captains met and Rocket won the toss as (almost) usual. However, being a new year a new theory was employed (courtesy of Chicka) - we were to bat first! This was to be the first time for the season Uni were to take the crease first, so seeing how the boys went about setting a target would be interesting. The opposing captain advised Rocket that a couple of players had their 2nd grade strip on rather than 3rd grade, and that the keeper only had a white top. You'd think clubs would have this sorted after 1 1/2 seasons, but obviously not........... and what's with 1's and 2's having a different top to 3's and 17's? Are 2 teams South Hobart, and 2 teams Sandy Bay?!?!? Fenna and Chicka opened up and got us off to a good start, with Fents protecting his wicket at one end while Chicka cut loose with some aggressive shots at the other. In the 6th over, with the score on 19, Fents got a tickle on one which the keeper gladly accepted. Tim "The Ladder" Steven entered the fray at number 3, and he and Chicka stuck at it and had us 1/33 off the first 10 - a solid start from which we could build a good total. In over number 11 though the Ladder also got a tickle on one, and left the arena. Ginger walked out to take his spot and looked his ever elegant self from ball 1, striking the ball cleanly along the ground (but unfortunately straight at fielders). The scoring slowed up, and after 17 overs we only had 44 on the board. During this time we also lost the wicket of Chicka for a well compiled 26, including his now trademark flat pull shot (no more than 6 feet off the ground) past the square leg umpires left ear for 4 (1 bounce). The SHSB boys had to go deep into the scrub to find the ball - so far in fact that a map and compass was almost needed to find their way out! Hicks, who entered at number 5, and Jubby consolidated and made sure there was no further loss of wickets, and at drinks we were 3/58 off 20. The call from the skipper (after finishing his 43rd mobile phone call of the innings) was to push the 1's and 2's for the next 10 overs, and then to start giving things a hurry along after that. Well, that's exactly what happened! Ginger started to find gaps and played superbly square of the wicket on the off side, while Hicks continued to place the ball well and kept the score ticking over regularly. The SHSB bowlers also started to lose their way, and were giving up wide and no balls on a consistant basis. At the 30 over mark we were 3/118, and well placed to score around 180. Ginger and Hicks continued their domination of the bowlers, and took the score through to 150 in the 36th over, when Ginger was dismissed for 51, ending a great partnership of 106 in about 21 overs. The Product joined Hicks and was told to slog. After a few misses, he finally got on to a couple and put them through the legside field. Hicks continued his great placement and quick running, and was eventually out off the last ball of the innings for 46, with The Product on 12, and our total 178. A great performance by the batsmen in setting a good target, so now it was the bowlers turn to do their job. The Sultans of Swing shared the new ball again, and as usual the first ball from Rocket was a horrible delivery that swung VERY wide down legside. The same delivery followed 2 balls later, and his pre-game talk of keeping things simple and bowling at off-stump was starting to look like a "do as i say, not as i do" scenario. However the next ball, a full toss outside off stump was smashed by the batsman to the waiting hands of Knackers at mid off, who knocked it up in the air, screamed in pain due to the ball being hit so hard, and then decided to complete the catch before screaming again. A wicket straight from the Girth book of bowling.......... Stuey A kept things tight at his end, and was rewarded in the 6th over with 2 wickets, both caught behind by Hicks. This combination snared their 3rd victim 2 overs later, and the Sharks were reeling at 4/24 off 8. Rocket decided to help them out though, as he bowled a 12 ball over due to wides and no balls, and soon removed himself from the attack and stood in the field analysing his bowling technique (it's ok though as I've figured out my ball control problem!). Stuey struck again in the 12th over, but was selfish this time and bowled the batsman. He ended up bowling his 8 overs out for the great figures of 4/26 (should have been 5, but was on the wrong end of a dubious caught behind decision). Darey, who replaced the skipper, kept the extras count high from that end as he too gave some free runs with no balls and wides. He did pick up a wicket however, caught by The Ladder (his first catch for the club for the season!) at point. Twang replaced Stuey and bowled well from ball 1, and at drinks the Sharks were 6/80 off 20. Unfortunately our high wides and no-balls tally meant we were well behind in our overs, so we had to try and bowl the last 20 in only 55 minutes. Changing ends turned into sprint training, and bowling changes were only made after the alloted 8 over maximum from each bowler had been reached! After The Product finished his spell (1/38) Girth entered the attack. First ball he was charged by the batsman, who ended up yorking himself and he was bowled! A great start for young Warney, and it wasn't even a full toss or half-tracker! 4 overs later the opposing skipper, on a well made 56, flicked one around the corner from Girth. However the 4 runs he was expecting didn't eventuate, as a diving Twang at full stretch threw out his left hand and, seriously, snared one of the best catches seen at any level of cricket (even his parents had no idea of how he managed to get anywhere near it!). The boys got around him and celebrated it with much gusto. Twang bowled out (unlucky not to have an edge taken by Hicks standing up to the stumps) and Rocket replaced him to bowl his last 3 overs at the death, and managed to not bowl a wide and only concede 10 runs while they were trying to slog (and had a catch dropped by Ginger at 2nd slip). Girth also had a catch dropped from his bowling, and the pressure of defending the total was starting to show, as the Sharks needed 35 off the last 4 which was not out of the question. The man of the moment, Twang, put a dent in their chances though as he scored a direct hit and ran out their last batsman of any substance with 22 balls to go. The Sharks were then not prepared to try and slog, as they entered the last over needing 25 to win. Due to not being able to shuffle bowlers around properly for time constraint reasons, Rocket had to look to a 6th bowler to come on for only the last over. After weighing up his options he went for the obvious choice - Chicka! His off-spinning and darting deliveries would be hard to put away, and with 25 runs to play with we surely couldn't lose.......... The over started right on 6pm, so we managed to escape time penalties, and the innings was wrapped up on 156 with Chickas 2nd ball, as a darting quicker ball smashed into the stumps. A good game by the Uni boys, particularly as we were the hunted and not the hunter as far as defending/chasing totals went. Our batting was good through the middle order, where we have been struggling at times this year, with Jubby and Hicks combing well, and Chicka was his usual reliable self. Bowling was indifferent, with too many wides and no-balls by those who should know better! However it was good to see Stuey back in top form, and Girth (2/22 off 7) bowled exceptionally well at the death. Next up is New Town, who were 2nd on the ladder before this round and are obviously greatly improved from last year, so it should provide us with a great tussle. See you all on the training track! |
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