Sunday, October 28, 2007

Action Aplenty

A great weekends action has just passed - and match reports will be going onto the blog in the next day or so. We didn't get it all our own way but there were plenty of promising performances.

This week should be a lot of fun as well.

There will be a coached session with Nic Browne on Tuesday

On Saturday we have another round of 50 over matches with the Senior, Senior A and Senior B sides facing Old Boys (Galla #3), Suburbs (Jans #4) and Te Rapa (Jans #2) respectively.

On Sunday the club plays it's first match in the Northern Districts Club Champs. Knockout format. We travel to Rotorua to play a 50 over match against the Eastern Pirates. The reward for winning that match would be a further match against Mt Mauganui on the 6th of February.

With some players obviously having to play both days this weekend, it may be time to think about how to make sure the WAGs can enjoy a day in Rotovegas.....

Hope you'll all take the opportunity to get involved in the action.

Cheers

Star

Pop Gunn attack gets the job done.

Senior A vs HS Old Boys 27/10/07

The Old Boys top order probably didn't know beforehand that they would face an opening attack of Wicketkeeper Dave Gunn and erstwhile (look it up) left-arm offspinner Mike Rowlands, in the 50 over Senior A clash this Saturday.

Even if they had, it's unlikely that any of them tossed, turned or woke up screaming in a cold sweat at the prospect.

But maybe they should have, because the makeshift Star opening attack combined to take 5 wickets as the Senior A side scored a tense win over traditional rivals.

The day started well with Eben losing the toss and getting to bat anyway.

Openers Ferdi Fourie (50) and Zeb Walden (30) provided a 91 run opening stand in good time, before Old Boys responded, reducing Star to 130 for 5. However, Dave Gunn came good with a flowing 40, and Mike Rowlands smacked a typical 22 to ensure a good total. Xavier Tras proved 38 runs. 198/9 off 50.

The Old Boys openers (Hodgson and Smith) made a steady start before Dave induced an edge to stand in keeper Dave (Pom) March who clung onto to the catch.

8 Runs later Mike bowled the dangerous Russell Foster, and the next ball cleaned up his replacement.

From there wickets fell at regular intervals, with Dave removing J Perrett (back on holiday from Aussie) with an in-swinger for 2, and Ferdi (The Fury) Fourie taking a spectacular caught and bowled to remove Shannon Mackie, Ferdi ran back past the top of his mark to snare a ball still travelling away from him.

A late stand threatened to steel the game away, and when their number 11 wrecked his knee taking off for a run (ironically, the ball went for four) Old Boys only needed 8 for the win. Despite courageously trying to carry on, the injured jack wasn't able to keep Mike Rowlands out and Star claimed a treasured win. OB 192

A great day out on a fantastic wicket, and a game played in excellent spirit.

Star Varsity Seniors versus Te Rapa (last years 2-day winners)

Star Varsity versus Te Rapa (last years 2-day winners)

At the start of the day there was much indecision about the pitch. Seriously - who expected a pitch to look like a belter for the first game of the season, so with the pitch looking like it had a lot of runs in it, the captain decided to lose the toss and let the opposing team decide what they wanted to do.

Unfortunately he won the toss.

So after a moments deliberation with himself, he decided to give his bowling attack a chance to uncover what was hidden under the superficial exterior of the bronzed, hardened pitch...

..There was nothing hidden.

It was a belter. Te Rapa amassed 275/4 revolving around hundreds from Nd rep Mark Orchard and Hamilton Rep Brooke Hatwell.

Earlier Damo had bowled his 10 on the trot superbly, giving limited width and great movement. He first snared chewy in the gully region to a great catch by Chucky, and then had ND'er Devcich taken at first slip by Commins. He had great support from Cam followed by Shosty before the first drinks break. A great start, after 25 overs Te Rapa were 95/3.


The second 25 weren't so great. Something to work on aye boys!!!

Te Rapa 275/4 after 50, the solitary wicket coming with 3 balls left in their batting.

An inspired calm talk from the skipper at half time saw each batter focussed on their job and knowing the gamr plan. Mark and Damo got us off to a flying start with the help of some terrible bowling (20 wides in the first 10 overs!), and after 25 overs we were well placed at 148/2. Kevin batted brillinatly and established a partnership with each batsman ensuring the run rate never got out of control. A great effort from all the guys to curb the natural instincts and push the singles! Turns the 220 scores into 270 scores!

The last over came up with Cam and Kevin at the crease. We needed 8 to win, 7 to draw! The skipper lit a ciggerette.

The first ball, a single to cam.
The second ball, 2 to Kevin...

5 off 4

The skipper lights another cigerrette

The third ball, 1 to Kevin

The fourth ball,... a dot ball!!! Skip has two cigerrettes in his mouth forgetting he was already smoking one!

The fifth ball, 2 to cam!

The final delivery..

(just in case you have just started viewing, Te Rapa made 275, we're up to the last ball of our innings needing 2 to win)

The final delivery....

A dot ball... the keeper takes the bails off the stumps, Te Rapa start to celebrate in a huddle, its all over... wait ... the batsman are running, the keeper throws the ball to the non-strikers end, its a run out. Cam is run out!!! It is now all over!

The skipper rummages through the rule book, looking for the bonus point rules, finds their is none, and lights another cigerrette!

Great day of cricket, and to be seperated by one run, shows there wasn't much between the teams, and on another day it could have gone our way! Great positive cricket and we'll be waiting for that revenge.
Runs
Overs
Maidens
Wickets
Runs
Catches
Stumpings
Commins
49
Caught
1
Morrow
24
LBW
10
1
2
30
Murphy
78
NO
Bigham
20
Caught
WK
Johnston
1
Bowled
1
Shoston
2
Caught
9
0
1
32
Botha
25
Caught
1
Geldenhuis
23
LBW
11
0
0
63
Tagore
DNB
5
0
0
40
Vette
14
Run Out
10
0
1
67
Bawa
DNB
5
0
0
39
TEAM
274/8
lost by 1 run


Points to note:

We don't know which one of Pieter's overs is actually Nicks.
Keith is fast becoming Kevins favourite Hamilton umpire!






Defending Champs Crushed.

Huntly 333 all out (Paul Melville 4/65)

Star V 60 all out (yes, 60)

Excuse 1 - team included five 'newbies' plus 2 ring-ins.

Not a lot else to say. Ouch baby!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Play!

All,
 
The forecast looks great for the remainder of this week and the weekend, so maybe we will make it onto grass on Saturday.
 
Last weekend was thoroughly enjoyable for all players partly because so many club members made an effort to be available on labour weekend. Thank you! We could all see the effect on the enjoyment level and the results for clubs that were not so lucky.
 
The message is to remember the impact on your teammates when you take a weekend off, try and support your club and teammates by playing as often as you can!
 
If you have not already done so, let your captain know your availability for this weekend (A 50 over match for Senior and Senior A) and let's get into it!
 
Star
 
 


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Monday, October 22, 2007

Weekend and Trainings This Week.

Hi All,
 
Good wins for both the Senior and Senior A Sides on the weekend, as they both put up big scores after winning the toss.
 
The Senior Side beat Melville (who needed the win to make the final) by 50. That was OK, but the Senior A side pounded Te Rapa by 70, in the Innes Common Swamp.
 
This week trainings are in the regular slots of Tuesday and Thursday at 5.15pm.  We are hoping that Thursday night will be the first coached training session with Nic Browne.
 
Next weekend the Senior and Senior A sides have 50 over limited over matches against Te Rapa and Old Boys respectively, at the moment both games are booked to be played on Grass (seems a bit of a long shot....)
 
So - an interesting week in store!! Get into it ya buggers!!!
 
Cheers
 
Star


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Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Senior A Matches Report 6th October

Star Varsity vs Te Rapa
A fine morning for cricket was met with slight trepidation as the opening day of the season was upon us. Not only did we have first up nerves to contend with, 20 Twenty cricket was finally upon us and having watched Gilly, KP and co only the month previously it couldn't be that hard could it???

With the toss won by Pom, standing in belatedly as captain, Te Rapa were duly inserted and in the second over were rewarded with a breakthrough as Francois Botha destroyed the stumps of their opener. Unfortunately the third over turned into a scorers nightmare with Charles 'Chuck' Johnson bowling a 15 ball over (we now refer to him as Steve Harmison). The wide bug caught on badly with Alex Hennebry opening up with 3 in a row with the first legitimate ball cleaning some poor sucker up.

Wickets continued to fall on a regular basis with fine bowling performances put in by the triumvirate of Slow bowlers; Mike Rowlands, Glen Nyschen and debutant Rohit Bawa. Te Rapa finished on 123 for 9 off their 20 overs. This was deemed to be an average score in this form of the game, however the disappointment was huge as we had sent down no less than 23 wides, adding to an extras total of 35!

We set about the run chase in a fashion that suggested a draw was on the cards. Runs were hard to come by, aided by a combination of good bowling, poor shot placement and retarded running.

With young Chris Nicholson suffering from cramp, the team was in a precarious position of requiring 10 an over with 5 wickets in hand and 8 overs to go. Up steps Chuck and pretty soon the ball was disappearing to all parts of the ground. A finely struck 40 ended on the second ball of the last over with a further 8 required off 4 balls.

Glen and Rohit tried in vain but alas it was not to be. A loss by 3 runs was the result. In reflection I'd say it was a fair result due to our indiscipline with the ball. Alex Hennebry was awarded the unofficial MOTM award with some tight bowling and a solid 18 runs with the bat - although being run out by Burger almost prohibited him from claiming this award.

Star Varsity vs Melville
The fine morning had given way to a number of fine clouds which was making things very wet indeed. This is testament to the usual Mark Commins' weather report ('It's gonna be a stunning day for cricket') received the night before!

Melville had the right idea for the new format by providing markers for the 30 meter circle - was this to be a sign that their boy scout preparedness would be replicated with outstanding cricket skill on the pitch? Sadly for them, it was not. Pom lost the toss for the first time in the day and were faced with the unchartered territory of batting first.

The innings got off to a rollicking start with Chuck sending the ball to all parts following on from Mike Rowlands early dismissal (which completed a poor day for him with the bat). Pom was in the meantime running the ones and watching the show from the other end.

With the score on 70 in the 7th over when Pom got out for the second time in the day cutting to point it was left to Dricus who came in and heaved from the word go. Melville's fielding was reminiscent of many a 'Star - Bad Day at the Office' with catches being floored everywhere. Good lower order hitting from Francois and Glen ensured that a very good total of 153 was posted of 20 overs.

The curse of the wides was obviously spreading as the new ball combination of Robbie Bryant and Stu Pilling send down an unnerving number of wides as Melville made a pretty good fist of the chase. However, with the introduction of Francois Botha in the 5th over everything came back on an even keel as he bowled their one batsmen who looked like he knew what he was doing.

Stu Pilling finished off a fine spell with a couple of wickets and a retired hurt to his name. With the ball being wet, the slow bowlers, aside from Rohit Bawa, struggled to grip the wet ball and the Melville batsmen cashed in accordingly. It was left to Shaun Blackborn to seal the win for star with a spell of 3 for 6 off 2 overs - a fine demonstration of the fact it is the intelligent bowlers who vary pace and length who will be successful in this exceedingly short version of the game. A win by 20 runs was the final result.

Overall a good day at the office with each and every member of the team contributing through each facet of the game. Glen Nyschen drawing blood to his forehead as he took a spectacular catch deserves a special mention. Thanks also go to our "once-a-day" players of Alex Hennebry and Stu Pilling who filled in at the last minute to ensure 11 players took the park.