Tasmania University Cricket Club
Scores and Reports
Season 2005/06
Third Grade
Round 4 v. New Town (2 day game)
Played at the University Oval, 30th. October and 6th. November 2005.
(Toss won by :)
Mark Goodman 30 Chris Topp 27 and Chris Topp 38 |
Sam Lambert 4-51 Chris Topp 3-33 |
(Day 1). The Uni 3's were finally playing at home, a rare sight indeed! After 1st grades washout the day before we were wary about the conditions on offer, but a pretty good pitch was uncovered and the outfield wasn't too damp, so it was game on. Unfortunately the aroma of boiling savs wasn't evident, so it was (disappointingly) very obvious that the savs wouldn't be busted today.......... We welcomed Hamish Bruce, Jacob Field, Hugh Abetz, and Kim Bratzel (eventually!) into the lineup for their first games for the club, while Chris Topp was welcomed back to the club after arriving on Tassie soil, having flown out from England, the night before. The warm ups were conducted at the standard leisurely pace, and the skipper called correctly at the toss and went against his long standing (and successful) theory and opted to bat first.  A reshuffled batting order saw Rocket and Gooders open up together, and the first 20 minutes or so of play was successfully negotiated. However Rocket was tempted into playing a half-arsed cover drive (see photo) at an outswinger and edged it through to the keeper and was out for 4.
Sam "G-Banger" Lambert entered the fray at 3, and things steadied with both G and Gooders playing sensibly. With the score on 39, the G-Banger tried an aggressive drive at a straight ball and was bowled for 17. Robbo was in and out quickly, as was The Product, and we were soon struggling at 4/45. Goody and Hamish saw out the time until lunch as we reached 4/53. Speaking of lunch, the delight of busted savs boiled out of their skins was missed by the boys as they were confronted with savs that were..... cooked properly! They even had to have their skins cut before putting sauce on! I never thought I'd ever see that in my playing days for TUCC!  Not long after the break we lost both Hamish and Gooders, who had batted well for his 30 runs. Topp Dog entered the fray and showed us his talent with the willow. At the other end he was ably assisted by The Pretzel (Kim Bratzel) who was solid in defence and chipped in with a run here and there.
 Jetlag soon started to kick in though, and Topper was out for 27 valuable runs. Mike "The Enigma" Bowman, after talking about how his top score was 4, wandered out to the middle and more than doubled that and added a few valuable runs with the tail. Eventually though we were dismissed for 118.
We took to the field and Rocket took the gloves, with Hicks playing in the 2's. The Product and Goody shared the new pill and had it swinging and cutting everywhere, but couldn't get a breakthrough. The Enigma provided some inspiration for us though, as he ran in from square leg to pick up and throw at the bowlers stumps, and a direct hit on middle saw the opener depart. 1 down, hopefully a few more to go. Goody and Darey finished their spells and The Enigma and Mouse (Jacob) took up the attack. Both bowled well, but the batsmen were somehow able to not edge many deliveries passing outside the outside edge. Robbo flew like Superman at mid on to attempt to take a catch, but couldn't quite grasp it, as we were continually frustrated by some near misses. The Enigma struck a 2nd blow though when he had their main run scorer trapped dead in front for an LBW. Topp Dog was introduced and he leisurely rolled his arm over for his first ball - and picked up a wicket! If anyone can remember "that" ball bowled by Warnie to Gatting, then don't think of it - the opposite would be more appropriate! A little floater stayed up in the air for a while, came down, the batsman had the chance to play any shot in (or not in) the book, but managed to miss it and was bowled. G-Banger was also introduced and picked up a scalp as well, as the batsman must have wanted to try and finish the game today by hitting out, or at least trying, as he swung, missed, and was bowled. A few overs later stumps were pulled with the Bucks 4/61, although a thick edge off G-Banger which wasn't held by the skipper in the last over should have made it 5. Some tough work to do on day 2, but I know we are up to the challenge. (Day 2). The Uni lads turned up for day 2 of the clash against New Town knowing they were in a fight. Unfortunately Gooders stretched ankle ligaments during the week,  Robbo broke his thumb during day 1, and the Field Mouse didn't show up! Luckily though we had Shawy come down as a result of Painey being back in the 1's, and Special K sub fielded for us, but having to field with only 10 was going to be a hassle.
Topper and Girth continued bowling and poked, prodded, and teased the batsmen, but unfortunately the early breakthrough couldn't be gained. Another unfortunate  problem was that the skipper missed a stumping chance (see photo!) - not a great game so far from Rocket! Bowling changes were made, but the Townies soon passed our score very comfortably.
 We kept the pressure on and fought things out, and once we did manage to get a breakthrough, the rest followed in regular succession and they were knocked over for 188. Girth took the honours with 4/51, and Topper was fantastic with 3/33 off 19.  Rocket and Shawy opened, with Shawy the first to depart after playing at a wide one. Lambert was next to depart as he was run out (note: the captains fault!). Topper and Rocket kept the bowlers at bay for a while, but the skipper soon picked out square leg with a flick to the on side and was out. Dismissals came at regular intervals, but we managed to hold on and be 8/111 at stumps. Our Pommie import again top scored (38), while The Enigma and The Pretzel again made a couple of handy contributions towards the end.
A disappointing game. We fought hard with the ball, but lacked some penetration. Batting discipline was pretty ordinary and needs to be worked on at training. |
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