Separating the men from the boys...

Star A vs HBHS at Boys High:

On a lovely day for cricket, the Star skipper won the toss and controversially elected to bowl. His faith in his bowlers was rewarded when the lads from Boys high was at one stage languishing at 43 for 6. Some fine tailender hitting saw HBHS to a total of 98. The Star openers looked confident, and even though two quick wickets had Star at 20 for 2, all seemed well as Ryan Crossley looked in amazing form. A dreadful run out halted his march, but Star managed to squeeze past the Boys High total. The declaration came, much to the dismay of a certain number 11, with Star at 108 for 9. The decision to declare paid of with Boys High 2 wickets down at stumps.

Day two was a different kettle of fish. The pitch had turned into a batting friendly track, Boys High had their best two batsmen at the crease, and they started the day with a his and a roar. Rohit Bawa answered the captain's call and bowled pretty much uninterrupted for 16 overs while the seamers shared the down wind end in short spells. Boys High were all out for 151, which left Star 142 for the win. A solid half century from Ryan Crossley and a controlled quickfire 46no from Charles Johnston saw Star to victory in 38 overs. The best was yet to come though........ Ryan managed to set a pb with 21 in the first innings, he then broke that pb in the second innings with 53. He also took a wicket in the second innings to set himself yet another pb! Ryan is not a man of big stature, and watching him down three handles in succession with no mercy from the onlookers was like waiting for a 300 pound dentist to pull a rotten tooth from the back of your top jaw with his bare hands!

Many players put their hands up during the two days with Rohit Bawa, Charles Johnston and Ryan Crossley the standouts.

Match figures:
Batting:
R Crossley 21 & 53 ( and a superb catch at short cover)
D March 20
J Thompson 18
C Johnston 12 & 46no

Bowling:
R Bawa 26 overs 7 for 52
C Johnston 21 overs 4 for 34
E Geldenhuis 19 overs 3 for 35

Star B's vs Fraser Tech A's

Star B's vs Fraser Tech A's

Fraser Tech A's 278
Fraser Kilgour 140 Not Out
Nothing Else Over 20
Simon Teuira 2-36 off 19
Carl Strainger 3-44 off 14

Star Varsity 105
Andy Care 32
Kieran Gray 21

Fraser Tech 147/4 Dec.
Ben Kennedy 57

Star Varsity 140
John Blair 25

Note a couple of Tech prem players showcasing their skills against our B side. Bravo fellas. What a crock!

Te Rapa too strong.

Star A this week came up against this year's 20/20 champions, Te Rapa. With the likes of M. Counsell and Toomsy propping up their attack, they remain team to beat in this year's competition.

Star bowled well and rolled Te Rapa for 175, a gettable total on a pretty good pitch. Some very nice swing bowling was at the order of the day, with awesome ground fielding on display as usual. Ryan Crossley stood out with three catches, including a stunner of Rohit Bawa's bowling. The bowlers shared the wickets with Tharik Alam taking 3 for 30.

As for the batting, well that was a different story. The Star top order lost its sting early on with Ryan getting bowled by Counsell with a pearl of a delivery. It was all down hill from there. David March stood out with 25, but in the end a lack of a decent partnership saw Star fall short by 55 runs. It is early in the season however, and there is plenty of time to find the "Anti-Counsell"!