Tasmania University Cricket Club
Scores and Reports
Season 2005/06
Third Grade
Round 9 v. Clarence (2 day game)
Played at Wentworth Park, 7th. and 8th. January 2006.
(Toss won by :)
Rod Purves 3-44 Stuart Alexander 3-58 and Stuart Alexander 2-5 |
Andy Matthews 79* Xavier Webb 44 Rod Purves 44 Matthew Dare 27 Stuart Alexander 21 |
(Day 1). The Uni 3's made the trek across the river to take on Clarence at the home of touch footy, Wentworth Park. Upon seeing the size, or lack thereof, of the boundary line the bowlers realised they were in for a tough weekend! Speaking of things that were lacking, only 1 umpire could be provided on the day so the players had to take up duties at square leg. This was offset against the fact that the umpire we did have was Richard Widows, who is the boss of the umpiring fraternity! The traditional relaxed warm-ups were conducted, although upon ending the fielding drills Rocket made everyone do 30 pushups for a less than ordinary display of catching. The Roos were probably wondering if Graeme Kearney had defected for the round! Rocket and the opposing captain, TCA stalwart Mick Thomas, wandered over to Richard for the toss and Rocket called correctly, choosing to bowl first as we were getting Hicks, Kerm, and Girth back from 2's the following day, and not losing any of our bowling strength. Stuzos opened the bowling and had a simple catch dropped by X jr behind the stumps from his 2nd ball! D'oh! 2 balls later however, the edge was found again and Rocket took a low catch at 1st slip. The Product opened from the other end but struggled with his line early, as numerous balls headed down legside for byes. In he 5th over Stuzos bowled the other opener, and with their opponents 2/20 the Uni confidence was high. However Clarence consolidated over the next few overs, with some inconsistent bowling and average fielding letting the runs flow. Rocket entered the attack for the first time this year (due to injury) in the 12th over, and proceeded to bowl poo! However, in his 2nd over the batsman obliging flicked an inswinger straight to The Enigma Mickey B at square leg. Gooders also entered the attack, and these 2 bowled tidily but without further success, so just before lunch The Enigma and The Uni-Bomber, "Osama" Gerrard, were introduced to the bowling crease. Osama bowled tidily, and gave his absolute best on an lbw appeal (Dennis Commetti would have definitely said "that's ambitious!" though), while The Enigma had the ball swinging beautifully. He was rewarded right on lunch as he found the edge which X jr took behind the stumps, and at 4/105 from 30 overs we were happy with our performance given the perfect batting conditions. At lunch X jr had to hand over the gloves to Shawy due to injury, and with mouthguard firmly in place Gavin told us about his exploits with the gloves (and ball) during his 1st grade career! That was a long time ago though.......... The Enigma and Osama continued after lunch but had no further success. Stuzos came back into the attack and continued to trouble the batsmen, while Rocket bought himself back on into the wind and proceeded to bowl 3 balls off the pitch in his first over! With the score on 175 Stuzos asked for a 2nd cover to be put in place, and 2 balls later the batsman drove it straight down his throat! We were nervous as Darey was the fielder, but he actually managed to hold onto a catch not off his own bowling for a change! Not long after, poor communication between the batsmen lead to a run out, the tidy throw coming from Osama. Next over Rocket knocked over the stumps of 2 batsmen, and the Roos had fallen to 8/204. The Product and Gooders came back to bowl and each picked up a wcket to knock Clarence over for 223. Rocket (3/44 off 14) and Stuzos (3/58 off 14) took the bowling honours. With 90 minutes to bat the aim was to bat time out safely for the loss of few wickets. X jr and Blocka Wilson opened up and were cautious against the human bowling machine, Adrian "Axe" Richardson, until Blocka was bowled in the 8th over. The Product went in at 3 and was watchful early, until he got the taste for runs and proceeded to hit out to the boundary. One pull shot almost landed in someones backyard! With the score on 45 The Products innings was ended with an lbw shout. His 27 runs included three boundaries and two sixes - not much running involved! Gooders came and went without scoring for his 2nd duck in a row (at least it wasn't golden this time), and Shawy was dismissed with 8 minutes to go in the day, leaving X jr and Rocket to see out time. At 4/63 off 30 at stumps it wasn't the ideal position to be in, but with Kermit and Hicks still to bat (not Girth due to Shawy getting out on him!), plus some tailend support it was going to be a good chase. (Day 2) After a quiet night on the saturday night from all players (isn't that right Stuzos?) we assembled to chase down the remaining 161 runs required to grab our 2nd victory of the season. Kerm and Hicks were welcomed down, and X jr and Rocket took up their spots out in the middle. With at least 80 overs to get the runs, a cautious approach was all that was required. However, the skipper thought he'd get ready for the following weeks one day game as he hit 2 boundaries off the first over! X jr was more cautious though and continued his role as the anchor as these two batsmen set about the run chase. Gaps in the field were found on a regular basis, and after a while a routine was established - Rocket would stand at one end and face Axe, while X jr stood at the other and would face Robbo! Not much running eventuated due to balls going through the infield getting the the boundary, so the only time the batsmen really moved was at the end of each over to have a chat. Rocket had some good fortune when on 28, as a ball heading down legside bounced up off his pad and found its way to the back of the bat, with the 'keeper taking the catch but surprisingly being about the only person to appeal! The umpire though was quick to say not out, believing it hit the arm, as the 'keeper scratched his head and started thinking he was going crazy. After adding 66 for the 5th wicket, the partnership was ended as the skipper was bowled around his legs for 44 (9 boundaries). Kermit wandered out to take guard and immediately had his brother (on the opposing team) having a word in his ear. It almost worked though, as Kermit jr came into the bowling attack soon after and Kermit sr hit a return catch from his 1st ball! Luckily though the chance was put down, and the backyard cricket could continue (Kerm did say he'd rather get out to his mum!)..... On 147 X jr chopped one on from Axe for a well made 44 (8 boundaries) from almost 52 overs! Hicks joined Kerm but was out for 8 (2 boundaries) after a good diving catch was taken at short fine leg. Osama Gerrard managed to edge one through slips for 4, but was out soon after, and at 8/185 things were getting tight! However Kermit and Stuzos then settled things down and played respectfully. Bad balls were put away, but all others were played on their merits and kept out. As the scores edged closer together though Stuzos tried to liven things up with some indifferent running and calling, as he tried his best to run either himself or his partner out! Kermit settled him down though and in the 79th over the winning runs were scored. Somewhere around this time (a bit before i think) Kermit also bought up his 50, acknowledging his parents in the crowd (9) and, of course, his brother who dropped him on 5! After taking the score to 260, Stuzos was bowled for an invaluable 21, and the next ball The Engima was caught for a golden duck. Kermit remained 79*, and can hopefully take the form with him back up to 2nd grade. His innings was one of maturity and common sense, and he seemed to thrive on the responsibility of seeing us home. We went back out into the field for a while for some fun. Girth and Blocka took the new ball (yep, i used the spare - sorry Smithy!), and Osama bowled a couple of overs at 1st change. With the young Matthews coming out to bat at 1st drop Kermit was bougth straight into the attack, with 3 slips, gully, cover point, short cover, and short mid wicket all there to add some pressure! Stuzos managed a couple more wickets (2/5 off 2.2) to provide some entertainment for us, and Hicks continually bared his blue boxers everytime he dived or bent over to take the ball! A good win to start the new year. To dismiss the Roos for 223 on such a small ground was a great effort, although 4-5 catches were put down and some ground fielding was a bit ordinary. Our batting was better with 5 guys making over 20, but still needs to be worked on. We also need to work on singing the song, but with only 2 wins for the year and some new players from last year then it's not that surprising! Let's get some more wins and put pressure on for a finals spot, and see if we can create something special for us to all share in. |
[home] [latest news] [scores] [ladders] [players] [contacts] [history] [seasons highs] [halls of fame] [events] [stats] [scholarship] [links]