All Stars not too Shabbir at Steele Park. 21/11/09

Game four for the All-Stars was against Melville at Steele Park #1.

It was a sticky day and with the weather forecast saying the weather would get worse, the skipper decided to bowl (having won the toss again.)

Duncan and Dave opened up and needed to be on their game, with Melville sending out the big guns to get things going. Dunc was bowling great lines, having had the "wides speech" from the skipper.

Dave was trying a few things at the other end, and got hit for a couple of fours before coming up with the the big wicket.

Conditions were deteriorating and the ball was pretty damp - but the boys were showing plenty of commitment in the field. Dan gets a special mention for some great saves.

Speaking of Dan, he struggled in the wet a bit - bowling an over so long that it got made into a mini-series. Nuff - said, it wasn't pretty.

Down the other end Shabir was making his bowling debut for the Cs - and with the list of available bowlers getting short, the skipper was nervous to see what Shabir could produce.

He needn't have have worried though, because Shabbir produced a great spell, bowling 7 on the trot for figures of 2-30.

Down the other end the skipper had relieved Dan, but after 3 overs the ball was soap and he had to revert to seam up. Some guy called Brendon has the dubious honour of being bowled Donnelly, caught Gunn (wk) with the keeper standing back.

Daryll had whipped off the pads and come in to bowl 5 overs at the death - holding the ball like a grenade in the wet. Straight bowling in tough conditions netted him 3 tailenders.

Melville, all out in 33 overs for 158. A gutsy effort in the field by the lads in tricky conditions.

The reply started positively with Melville bowling at Jimmys pads, with no fine leg in. Not a great plan. Brendan was looking poised at the other end, on his way to 37.

By the time Gibbo arrived at the crease the chase was going well - and Melville were down to their experimental bowlers. The result was predictable - smack, smack from Gibbo - he departed for 48 with the game all but won.

It only remained for John and Krishna to knock off the winning runs, and victory #4 was in the bag.

POD Points

Gibbo 3

Shabbir 2

Brendan 1

Next week, Ham East at Steele 2.

All-Stars Show their Mettle at Steele Park.

Game 3 for the All Stars was against Fraser Tech at Steel Park.

This was our first match against a side from an established local club and we were keen to put on a good showing.

The Tech team were having a few problems with punctuality so agreed to bat first.

Tech got off to a brisk start with both openers getting a start.

Duncan got us started, getting one opener to hole out to Jared, who took a neat catch over his shoulder. An inspired bowling change by the skipper saw Dave bowl their number three, and then back it up with another wicket in the next over.

Daniel got his first wicket for the club and it looked like the momentum was with us.

That proved not to be the case as inaccurate bowling and lax fielding allowed a partnership to form. 130 runs later we were staring down the barrel of a big chase - 193 to win. We had given up a woeful 28 wides as well - something must be done!

Dave Gunn was the pick of the bowlers with 2/13 off 7. Everybody else went for plenty!

In reply James and Dave got us away well, and Shabir (on debut) stuck around a while too.

Daryl arrived in the crease and seemed all business - playing some great shots and working with assorted partners.

The Tech bowling started well, but was starting to deteriorate by the time that Kerry arrived at the crease. - He didn't miss out taking 32 runs off two overs from their skipper, including his first 6 of the millenium.

Meanwhile Daryl was putting the foot down - and smashing it to all parts.

After the drinks break Tech introduced a quality leggy (not sure what they were saving him for) and the lads had to treat him with respect - Kerry seemed quite excited by it all and stopped batting for a second (while he was facing) and nearly had to depart.

He survived and Daryl put Tech out of their misery with a 6 down the ground. We had chased down 193 in a scary 25.3 overs. (RR 7.6)

Gibbo finished on 78 not out and Kerry was with him on 33.

Great to get the win but next week we'll need to get our act together against Melville at Steel # 1.

POD Points:

Gibbo 3

Dave 2

Kerry 1

Prems v Old Boys

The old grudge match against our age old enemy was round again, and even with a few changes and some new players to prems, our domination of our old foe for the last two years led the skip to believe that we would take our first win in the 50 over format.
Unfortunately this was not to be, as after being sent in to bat we were soon reeling with the loss of early wickets. No one really got going, with only Chris (17 off 16 balls) and new boy Aaron (21 off 83) making double figures in a total of 109 (oh, and the 41 extras they gifted us). Aarons was a really gutsy effort, as it was a difficult pitch to score runs on, though certainly not a 109 pitch.
Some tight bowling was required at the start, but Ben Wilcox was sent out to open as he was off to a wedding, and he pummelled Gaz to all parts in a quick fire 30. By the time he was out in the 7th over Old Boys were 50 odd for 1 and the game was all but. Dave and Aaron bowled extremely well in their prem debut's, but without luck, and old boys reached the score in the 24th over. A humiliating drubbing and one we can learn a lot from.

Hard to give POD points in a game like this, but Aaron gets 3 for a nuggety knock, Dave 2 for some good bowling, and Ben 1 for a good opening spell with the ball.

All Stars Pain Train Visits West Ham

Game 2 for the mighty All-Stars was vs West Ham (West Hamilton, not cricket mad West Ham fans.)

The skipper won the toss (uncharacteristically calling heads) and being in an aggressive mood decided to to bowl. He then started on finding some opening bowlers.

We went with Max (mate of Jimmy O') and Duncan (Mate of Gibbo) , which was all a bit experimental - there were a few wides and the odd long hop, but it wasn't long before Max got a bit of extra bounce and got one opener to glove one to gully and we were under way.

Their next partnership was their best, but Dave G was bowling well, (despite the influence of influenza) and he picked up 3 wickets in a gutsy seven over spell that put West Ham on the ropes.

Dan bowled well from the other end without reward, and then the skipper came on. Apparently West Hamiltonians can't resist a "spinner" and soon it was all action. Yap picked up their top scorer with some extra loop and responded in mellow fashion when reverse pulled by a guy in a beanie. The rot had set in though and Yap soon had four, while big Zac (friend of Dan) who had pestered the skipper for a bowl backed it up with 2 quick wickets.

West Ham all out for 102.

The chase looked sound, until Dave was (confidently) given out by Dan LBW. Max looked the part, but missed a straight one and was forced to depart.

James and Gibbo put on 20 for the next wicket before the match-winning partnership came together. Jared and Gibbo put on 48 for the next wicket - before Gibbo (seeing the end in sight) hit a leading edge to cover and left for 47. Jared was obviously committed to the partnership because he departed without the score progressing any further.

So new guy John at the crease with free swinging Zac, and 13 needed for the win. Here we go again? Not this time as John and Zac got us to 102, and Duncan got us home.

Nice win. Bunch of new guys and heaps of fun.

Player of the day points:

Gibbo 3

Dave 2

Yap 1

A's vs F Tech

Great to see the sun out again for our game against Fraser Tech. After 2 wins on the trot we were confident of winning again even after 3 players were promoted to the Prem side (one on the morning of the game!) and 3 of our frontline bowlers unavailable. Rowly was handed captaincy duties for this game and won the toss and decided to bat. At drinks this looked like a bad call as Fraser Tech bowled well in the morning and we were 5 down for 90. At this stage Phil and myself were batting. We had a good partnership after drinks and Phil top scored with 39 before getting out to a 'mud bowler'. We lost too many wickets though and we struggled to 153 helped by 32 wides and plenty of no balls. Unfortunately we comitted the cardinal sin of not batting out our 50 overs and got to around the 40th over. Judging by the bowling, we could have got at least another 30odd in that time. Still we bowled Marist out for 155 the week before so were confident of defending the total...

However after Cooch was hit for 21 off his first 2 overs, and they put on 40odd for the first wicket, things were looking grim. We slowly chipped away at them and had them 4 down at lunch. They had scored around 100 at this stage so we thought we'd be joining Prem's for an early beer. The only positive was the run rate had slowed after the initial onslaught but still 50odd off 25 overs isn't a tricky proposition.

After drinks Toby, Cooch and Rowly bowled exceptionally and within 10 overs had them reeling at 119/9. Unfortunately the lack of a 5th bowler ultimately hurt us and the last pair batted superbly to get them over the line with 3 balls to spare. We showed a lot of fight in the end and hopefully with a near full strength team next week we should carve up boys high.

Thanks go to Shannon and Krishna for filling in for the day. Even though they didn't do a lot, it was great to have the extra fielders otherwise it could have been a lot earlier finish. Also good work by Ryan behind the stumps taking a couple of good catches and showing good footwork throughout.

Player of the day points:
Phil 3
Rowly 2
Cooch 1

Melville batting to the fore again

There was confusion from the outset as no one realised that Jansen parks pitches had been renumbered and we were actually playing on the wrong pitch, we were meant to be at the other end of the park where the A's were playing. There was also controvery within the team after the top 3 batsmen all said we should bat if we won the toss, and when the toss was won and the skip chose to bat, got a blasting from the WHOLE team for not bowling.
We were soon 2/2 with Zeb and Aidan departing in the first two overs, but Rowly and Chris settled things down with a 50 run partnership on a pitch covered in lage cracks and the ball doing some strange things. The skip then joined Chris for another good partnership and when chris (52)finally fell we were looking good at about 140/4. Unfortunately no one else really got going and when Mark (44) fell, the wheels fell off and we were all out for 193 (with Mo Patten taking 5/15 after turning up in the 30th over).
We all thought this would be a competitive total, and we started well with Gaz and Damo getting the ball zinging off the cracks until Damo broke down with a side strain in his 5th over. From there on we never looked likely, with the bowling all over the place including over 20 wides and some average fielding. Grant Bell (ex-star), Dodo and Brad Scott all made things look easy and Melville crusied home with 6 wickets and 10 overs to spare.
Bring on the big game next week - the old grudge match v old boys...

Player of Day Points
Chris 3
Garry 2
Mark 1