Round 6 Wrap Up

The term small butcher invokes thoughts of a mini deli type scenario  where meats and other produce are at the ready. However in cricketing circles in this years Norm Reeves shield the 2 names strike fear into opposition bowlers.

Genuine B Grade celebrity Frankie J Holden was on hand to witness the star opening pairs heroics and they didn’t disappoint. They both have the 2 highest aggregate scores in the association and seem to be going from strength to strength. From 6 hits this year they have managed to not hit the 50 milestone on only 1 occasion. This week was no exception as the pair combined for a 73 run stand before Shan was removed for a well compiled 42.

The afternoon could not gotten off to a better start for skipper Wayne McInerney winning the toss and batting. When he arrived at the crease the new ball had well and truly been negotiated and allowed him to free the arms. Unfortunately none of our top three were able to go on with and get a big one and in the end Butch was out for 44 (2 weeks in a row) and Wayne an important 40 to give the young Falcons an excellent 170.

The new rock was given to young Zach Flintoff and Sime Grasser. They had differing afternoons with Zach removing the middle pole of association legend Jason Fraser  while the latter limped off after rolling his ankle on the only good piece of turf on the ground. Best of the bowlers were Trav Mulder with 3/22 (8) and Adam Metherall continues his great start to the year with 2/24 (8).

Ultimately the score was too much for the home side and KGCC ran out 29 run winners. This now squares the ledger at 3 & 3 and makes the next 2 games coming into Xmas really important.

The 2’s played a remarkable game hosting Monbulk in front of an excellent crowd that yielded plenty of runs. Brett Morrison was the hero of day one blazing a cracking 107 in front of the ladies day throng. This enabled the tail to wag and solid contributions from Sean Reid (33*) and Daine Vernon (46) saw the home side rack up a formidable 300 on the knocker. 

To Monbulk’s credit they were never out of the chase and at tea the game was delicately poised at 2/165. Regular wickets fell after tea and in the end 300 was just too much with Rhys Marget’s side taking the points by a margin of 12 runs. Daisy Adams was the best of the bowlers taking a lazy 6/95 off 29 overs. An extraordinary effort by the old war horse.

The 3’s hosted Belgrave on the bottom over and the wickets tumbled early with newly promoted Jeff Greenway striking. The home side were challenged at times but ended up restricting the visitors to 190. Jeff Greenway was the best contributor taking his maiden 5 fa. He ended up with figures of 5/25 off 10. A well deserved milestone for a bloke who has improved out of sight.

The game was delicately poised at the end of Saturday after the Falcons lost late wickets to be 2/30. If there were signs of nerves the skipper Jason Buljubasic didn’t show it. Jason showed his experience and maturity to guide his side to victory with the loss of only 4 wickets. Along the way he notched up his maiden ton and he looked a very happy chap on Saturday night. A huge congrats to Jase as he does a mountain of work behind the scenes at the club and it is extremely deserving.

4^th XI report compiled by Greg (Ernest Hemmingway) Bakker:

I've had a few people ask me, "how do you lose a game when your opening batsman scores 149?" After yesterday's round 6 one day loss to Upwey Tecoma by 5 runs in which Ian Jongen played the best innings I have ever witnessed, I found myself asking that same question. The answer, unfortunately, came down to an opposition number 6 batsman taking the game away from us for the 3rd time this season.

Having lost the toss and being asked to field (no surprise as we only had 9 players at that stage), we actually held our own pretty well. After they got off to a quick fire start in the opening 4 overs being 0/34, young u15s star Nixon Adcock was brought into the attack. Bowling an incredible spell of 8 very controlled overs and taking 2/20 (including a lovely "caught Father, bowled Son" moment) and Ian Jongen (2/30) at the other end keeping a tight rein (also with a lovely "caught Son, bowled Father" moment), we managed to hold them to 5/98 off 25 overs. Anybody that has played at Upwey #2 would realize that a run rate of less than 4 at that stage was very, very good. Having gained Simon Taylor and Matty Tymensen's dad Paul to give us 11 in the field, we felt that we were doing OK. From that moment on, however, control of the game was wrested from us by a young Upwey Tecoma player called Daniel Waters (his brother Jackson is a pretty handy player!) batting at no. 6. All bowlers used in the last 15 overs including the "go to" bowlers of Ian Jongen, Simon Taylor and Chris Stuckey were treated with contempt. The score rocketed to 6/245 off 40 with 1/147 off the last 15. D Waters finished on 98no including 2 big sixes to finish off their innings (9 in total plus 8 fours). In amongst the carnage, Russell Adcock took the sharpest of catches in gully as the batsman smashed a short and wide rocket from Jongers off the middle of his bat that Russell pocketed with ease (does that adequately describe it Russ?). Unfortunately, there were also a number of dropped chances during the innings that did not aid our cause, including 3-4 off the luckless Tails.

Chasing 246 from 40 overs on that ground is achievable if you bat sensibly and keep the scoreboard ticking over. Despite being tired from his 8 overs and leather chasing, Jongers volunteered to open with Nibby. Getting off to a solid start, Nibby (16) tried to smash a full toss off the leg spin of D Waters (yes, that man again!!) but put it straight up and was caught and bowled. Tesh (11) joined Ian at 1/41 off 7 and supported him through until he was out in the 14th over with the score on 102 (RR = 7/over). From there, however, momentum was lost with the score getting to 6/157 off 30. Needing 89 off 10 and with Nixon joining him, Jongers took the game by the scruff of the neck. On reaching his ton, Jongers smashed a further 4 sixes and 2 fours in getting us to 6/240, 5 runs shy of the target that seemed improbable only 20 minutes earlier. Jongers finished on an incredible 149no, ably supported at the end by Nixon (11no)

So, how do you lose a game when your opening batsman scores 149? (1) The opposition scores the same amount of runs in the last 15 overs, and (2) we suffer a mid-innings slump with 5/55 off 16 overs @ a RR of 3.5 when the asking rate is 6.

Invaluable experienced gained for the youngsters, in fact all of us, in the team:
(1) you are never out of a game while there are wickets and overs remaining;
(2) little things make a difference in every game, moreso in close games, so keep your heads up at all times and stop the next one, take the next catch, always remain on your game (thanks Ian for pointing this out to the kids), and
(3) when you have an absolute gun in your team, watch, listen and learn!!

A big thanks to Simon Taylor for joining us this round (hopefully whet the appetite for some more?) and a huge thanks to Ian Jongen, Russell Adcock and Paul Tymensen for stepping up when needed, as without that support, it would have been a very, very difficult day.

So after 6 rounds, we stand 2/4 but we have been in every one of those 4 losses up to our eye balls. If we keep applying ourselves and continue to support each other and back ourselves, we will balance the ledger soon enough.

Good luck to all sides this weekend

SIMON WILKINSON

Associate Regional Director (Asia –Pacific)