A Vets flag and Gilly-ant performance
Two wins from two for the women, four wins from six for the men, a premiership for the old(er) men! It’s been a big week at the Hill.
VETS 2ND XI - ONE FLAG IN THE BAG! (Match report by premiership skipper RALPH SAUBERN)
Undefeated for the season coming into the Grand Final, Vets 7 approached the big day with some confidence. We had only played our opponents, Mt Waverley, once before. We knew they were a strong batting team and backed themselves to chase down any total. We also knew, having scored 323 against them earlier in the year, that our batting matched up pretty well against their bowling. As it turned out, the decision on whether to bat or bowl was not difficult; Captain Ralph lost the toss and Mt Waverley chose to bat.
Our bowling strategy was to hit them hard with our best bowling while the Grand Final nerves were still upon them. Our opening bowlers Stanton Kroenert (1/7 off 6 overs), Kevin 'The Garinji Express' Moore (1/37 off 6), David 'Tucci' Tucceri (2/41 off 6) and Vaughn 'Spock' Kelly (0/16 off 6) did the job brilliantly and at drinks, Mt Waverley had managed only 4/75 off 18 overs. After the break, "Pistol' Pete Ryan (1/24 off 6) came to the party with six accurate overs and with Clifton Hill well on top, it was time to bring in the part timers to make sure we bowled at least 8 bowlers as per league rules.
Dean "Cyborg" Perry delivered six scorching deliveries (0/1 off 1 over) and wondered aloud yet again why he wasn't opening the bowling; Mark "Run Machine' Jones (1/8 off 2 overs) bowled a series of waist high full tosses on leg stump, one of which Mt Waverley's last dangerous batsman hit straight to Ralph at short mid-on, who took a one-handed screamer and handed Jonesy yet another inexplicable wicket to add to his haul for the year. Jonesy did "the worm" and it was a sight that many of us sadly will take to the grave.
It was then down to Tucci, Sal Ferraro (0/11) and Ralph (2/12) to see out the final overs and make sure there was no late innings charge. Mt Waverley completed their 36 overs with 8/170. Not bad but, as we know, not enough at Fairlea East.
After tea, we sent Jonesy (40 rtno) and Craig Harris (7) out to bat. Mt Waverley, following a cunning plan of some kind, started with two bowlers who might not have been their strongest. Half an hour later, only four overs had been bowled, the fielding team having spent much of the time getting to know the local snake population and discussing insurance claims on their cars.
Then everything changed, Mt Waverley brought on a "fast bowler" and the ECA umpires told Jonesy and Stan (31) that they had to put on helmets. Chaos ensued. Bats were flung, fingers were pointed, suggestions were made and Ralphs were asked to run helmets on and off the field every other over. The sum result of all this sound and fury was a six over long off to get Jonesy to his retirement and a quick fire 31 for Stan, caught on the mid wicket boundary. Finally, the boys could take their helmets off and fix their hair.
At 3/86 after 11 overs, we were well placed but needed a few steady hands to make sure of it. Spock (18), Tim "Rocket Launcher" Blaikie (15), Deano (30 no) and Gerard Grant (0 no) did exactly that and saw us through to a comfortable victory with 8 overs and five wickets in hand. Deano hit the winning runs (a four off a no ball) and danced off the field and into the welcoming arms of his Vets 7 teammates: premiers and undefeated champions!
CHAMPIONSHIP CHICKEN: Jonesy was named man of the match for his 40 rtno, 1/8 and dance stylings.
MEN’S 2ND XI — FINALS BOUND!
After a couple of losses in a row, the 2s returned to the winners’ list with stand-in skipper Lou Burstin leading the team to a (sort of) comfortable victory of St Paul’s. Winning the toss, Lou did the right thing by Monty and bowled first and, with 2nds debutant Riley “Gigs taught him everything he knows” Willcox starring (4/19 off 8), we knocked St Pauls over for 108. Riley got great support from Wardi (2/21 off 5.3), the skipper (1/17 off 8) and J-Ho Number 2 (Jamie Holton, 1/13 off 6).
J-Ho Number 1 then stepped up when it was our turn to bat, but he quickly stepped down again, caught for a duck. When Jake was run out also for duck, we were 2 for 2 and in the poo. Luckily Farnesy (James Allen, 17) and Lou (27) settled things down before Casey Filips (29 not out) got us over the line six down with 3.4 overs to spare.
CHICKEN: Half a rooster each to Riley Willcox for his 4-fa on Seconds debut and to Lou for leading the way with ball and bat.
WOMEN’S 1ST XI — FINALS BOUND! (Match report by Bek Drake)
After a week off we were ready and raring to go for our second last game of the season. The stakes were relatively high - win this game and we were guaranteed a spot in finals. Lost and it would be down to the final round. We hosted Caroline Springs at Rammo, and Trouper did as she usually does and lost the toss. We were still happy to start in the field.
None were more happy than Handsy, who managed to get a wicket with the second ball of the match. This really set the tone for the game Caroline Springs struggled to find any momentum. Junior and Handsy restricted the batters well for the first five overs. However it was after the change of ends that Handsy and Dagger really, well, stuck a dagger into Caroline Springs’ chances. Only 9 runs were scored and 2 wickets were taken (including Dagger with a wicket maiden). Rex took a contender for catch of the year in slips. Within this there was also an edge that I think the Vets heard from Fairlea, but the umpire managed to miss, which would have given Dagger another.
Although those stats seem impressive, our bowlers managed to continue in a similar fashion (including another massive edge that the umpire missed). The opposition struggled to find runs, with Rex having especially tight bowling. Trouper also decided to pop herself and Izzy on to finish the innings off, which ended up being highly effective. Trouper managed two wickets in her first over and they both restricted Caroline Springs at the death, with them finishing on 8/92 off 36. Bowling figures read beautifully as always:
Handsy 2/30 off 9, Junior 1/19 off 7, Dagger 2/19 off 9, Rex 0/9 off 7, Izzy 0/10 off 2, Trouper 2/4 off 2
We were confident coming out to bat, but our collapse against Ballarat last game was still in the back of our minds. It unfortunately wasn’t long before Rex got run out by a beautiful direct hit. However, Izzy and Handsy steadied from there, having a lovely 55 run partnership. Izzy unfortunately got caught out for a well made 37 (including a massive 6). Charlotte came in swinging, scoring a 4, then running 2, then being caught out.
With only 26 required for victory off 18 overs, McDreamy came to the crease. Both she and Handsy played a really smart and patient innings, but including McDreamy’s one boundary per innings average. Just as they looked to be cruising to victory, McDreamy got caught out for 8. Bobbie came in with 9 required for victory off 10 overs. Although the bowling was quite good, and there were a few maidens in there, we got the runs in the 30th over, cementing a spot in the finals. Bobbie finished on 3* and Handsy with her highest ever score of 30*.
CHICKEN: Our virtual chicken this week goes to Handsy, for sensational bowling (as always) and her highest individual score with the bat.
MEN’S 1ST XI — 1s DOWN, 1 TO GO
The 1s had a chance to pretty much guarantee a finals birth on Saturday but couldn’t quite get the job done against St Pauls. An excellent bowling performance saw us drag St Paul’s back from 1/86 to a final total of 8/142, on the back of great bowling from Malty Lynas 4/19 off 8, Stinger Barrett (1/26 off 8), Benny Levens and Monty Stuart (both 1/34 off 8) and Jimmy Wright (0/24 off 8).
T-Rob (22) and Ben Cap-tain-likas (26) got the chase off to a solid start, the pair putting on 45, but things went south from there. Apart from Miles Nelson (28) and Hugh Ingham (11), no one else made it to double figures and we were all out for 122.
The good news is that our fate remains in our own hands, and a win over Trinity Willison will see us play finals. TW are the top side but we are good enough!
CHICKEN: Malty plucked another chicken with his great bowling performance.
MEN’S 3RD XI — THE THIRDS ARE THIRD!
Harro’s Heroes are in third place after defeating Trinity Willison and taking TW’s place on the ladder. Trinity Willison won the toss and sent us in and, after losing Liam O’Connor early, we knuckled down with some good batting to get a score of 202. Zac Wilson topped scored with 67, while Benny B (46), Myles Harry (38 no), Fletch (Luke Fletcher, 20) and Lenny Dean (13) all contributed.
TW made a good fist of the chase but we prevailed in the end, bowling them out for 176. Fletch starred with the ball, taking 3/28 and he was well backed up by Dave Burgess (2/19 off 8), Anthony Johnson (2/34 off 6), Joel Clarke (2/34 off 7) and Myles Harry (1/24 off 6).
The 3s are in the four and likely to stay there regardless of next Saturday’s results. Best get the win just to make sure!
CHICKEN: A three-way tie between Fletch, Zac and Myles. Fletch and Zac get a wing each and Myles gets the wishbone.
MEN’S 4THS - THE FOURTHS ARE THIRD!
The 4s were beaten to death — sorry, I mean beaten by the Deaf — earlier this season but we extracted revenge at Hay’s Paddock on Saturday. We lost the toss and bowled first and an even spread of wickets saw us dismiss Melbourne Deaf for 154. Toughy took 3/27 off 8, while Captain Jack, Empty and Roadie each got two, with Rhino (whose bowling has gone to a new level recdently) chipped in with one.
With the bat we lost Cal early but Roadie made a quickfire 50 (it only took him 38 overs) and Rhino made 31 to set us on the path to victory. We got the wobbles after that but skipper Gaz (26 no) and Rampaging Roy Girvan (14 not out) got us home and well in finals contention. A win this week will guarantee a finals berth. A loss means we’d need to rely on other results to stay in the four.
CHICKEN: It’s Roadie’s rooster! 50 retired and two wickets to the ageless Ian Roadnight.
WOMEN’S 2ND XI — RAZZLE DAZZLES AGAIN (Match report by Sarah Catterwell)
The 2’s headed out to Hillside and with Razzle winning the toss she decided to have a bowl first.
Razzle knocked the stumps over with the second ball of the day. From there Hillside played a very defensive innings. They had the patience that The Doc would love us to have when we bat (I think she’s sick of giving lectures each Sunday).
Hillside picked their shots well but we managed to snag a couple more wickets through Catters and Razzle. Emily (making her senior debut) was amazing in the field. The highlight of the innings was when Emily ran out a batter off a direct hit. The team were ecstatic as we smothered Emily in high fives and hugs (the Covid safe ones of course). I’m not really sure Emily knew what the fuss was about as she causally told us that she had done that numerous times in the juniors before.
Hillside batted out the 36 overs to get to 4/89.
Our batting was pretty smooth sailing as we chased down the runs needed with 15 odd overs to spare. Vovo and Molly both scored 20 runs as we notched up a solid victory.
CHICKEN: BOG this week goes to the captain for her tight bowling as she recorded figures of 2/18 off 9.
Batting figures
Vovo 20, Molly 20, Beccles 9*
Bowling figures
Razzle 2/18 off 9, The Doc 0/11 off 9, Mum 0/27 off 7, Catters 1/14 off 6, Emily 0/16 off 5
MEN’S 5TH XI — GILLY’S GREAT DAY
The 5s guaranteed a place in the finals with a win over Richmond Union. Simon lost the toss and we were sent in. Simon was the first casualty for 2, but Matt Hobbs rose to the occasion, making 57 not out as we compiled 8/161 off our 35 overs. Other double-figure contributions came from Jacko (22), Jonesy (15), Daylon Seakins (15), Pat Malone (12) and Stan K (11).
Then Stan the Man (4/13 off 5.5) and Gilly Northrop DESTROYED the RU batters, who were all out for 140. Other good bowling came from Jesse Viney (1/31 off 7), Daylon Seakins (1/31 off 7) Pat Malone (1/32 off 7).
CHICKEN: Stan Kroernert’s outstanding form continued and he gets the chicken for his 4/13.
MEN’S 6TH XI — THE LLOYD SKINNER SHOW
Every had one of those days? You know, those ones where nothing goes right and everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Yeah, well the 6s had one of those on Saturday. We got spifflicated by Alphington North. They were good, but we were pretty terrible.
Anyway, the important thing is to focus on the positives so here they are:
Lloyd Skinner played his first game for the Hill in some years and he bowled with a heat I have not seen at our level this season. When he gets his radar right, he will rocket up the grades at CHCC.
Lloyd Skinner enthusiastically offered to bat at number 3 and he looked the goods with the willow, making 28 until he got skittled by probably the best ball of the day.
Lloyd Skinner’s Mum and dog paid us a visit, and it was lovely to meet them both. Best of all, Lloyd’s dog is named RICKY PONTING!!
Lloyd Skinner’s 28 was good, but our top scorer was Jim Entwisle, who made 36 before getting caught by a screamer. Jim’s form with the bat this year has been brilliant. He also took a blinder of a catch to give me my only wicket.
Lloyd Skinner was not the youngest on the team on Saturday but Jeff Burstin was the oldest, and our best bowler on the day. While others were getting smashed, his wily bowling kept the score down at the other end.
CHICKEN: Lloyd Skinner was very good, but Jeff Burstin gets the chicken for his sneaky bowling.
LADDER LOWDOWN:
The Women’s 1s are third and WILL play finals.
The Men’s 1s are third and SHOULD play finals.
The Men’s 2s are fourth and WILL play finals.
The Women’s 2s are eighth.
The Men’s 3s are third and WILL play finals.
The Men’s 4s are third and SHOULD play finals.
The Men’s 5s are fourth and WILL play finals.
The Men’s 6s are eighth. (I blame the government. It couldn’t possibly be my fault as captain.)
The Men’s Vets 1s GOT ROBBED BY COVID! (But we should’ve won more games.)
The Men’s Vets 2s are PREMIERS AND CHAMPIONS!!!
“LITTLE GILLY YOU STAR!” (Read that in the voice of Stephen Quartemain saying “Leo Barry you star!”)
Gilly Northrop has often bowled without luck in the past but he got his dues on Saturday, taking 3/20 off 6, including two of the oppo’s best batters, to help the 5s to victory. Onya Gilly. This week’s Tom Bellis Award is yours!!