Batting 101 – and 202!
Quite the weekend of cricket at the Hill! Some great batting and bowling and brilliant wins! Let’s get straight into the match reports.
Men’s 3rd XI vs Burwood at WJ Cox Oval
With Fairlea West still unfit for cricket, we hosted Burwood up the road at WJ Cox Oval. Batting first we got off to a good start, with Tulky (27) and Brother (22) putting on 41. That’s where the good time ended, though, with Anwar (19) the only other batter to make it to double figures. We were all out for 123, and Burwood were 3/86 at stumps on day 1.
Day 2 brought the best out of our bowlers and Burwood’s wickets tumbled until they were 9/122, one run behind us. Unfortunately, they got the runs, all out for 133. Superstar bowling from Will Crombie (5/33) saw him get a second 5-fa in two games, while Kieran (3/33), Jack Barrett (1/1 off 4) and Auley Brown (1/4 off 4) also bowled beautifully.
With a ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ attitude, we decided to go for the reverse outright. Batting again, Will Crombie provided evidence to support his claim of having a reputation as more of a batter than bowler, with a top score of 31. Wickets fell regularly as we chased quick runs and we were all out for 104, setting Burwood 96 to win.
Burwood got the runs, but not before Will Crombie added two more wickets to his collection, giving him 12 in his first two matches at the Hill!
CHICKEN: Many years ago Rocket christened me ‘Chicken Man’. Might be time to hand over the title to Will Crombie!
Men’s 4th XI vs Richmond Union at Burnley Oval
The 4s went up the road the Burnley and batted first. Thanks to a retired 50 from Jacko, 45 from Jack Speed, 42 not out from Timothy Neal and quickfire 21 from Ian ‘Network Free’ Nolan (Network free = No LAN), we compiled a very healthy 4/193.
Our bowlers made sure that was way too much, knocking RU over for 103. A very even performance with the ball saw the wickets shared by six bowlers: Timothy Neal 2/7 off 7, Jack Speed 2/8 off 6, Roadie 2/21 off 7, Empty 1/5, Geoff 1/32 and Ian 1/17.
A comprehensive win that keeps us in the top 2!
CHICKEN: Speedy for his 42 not and 2-fa.
Men’s 5th XI vs The Salvos at Scoresby Secondary College
This game definitely gets filed under ‘Bad day at the office’. Batting first our top order was decimated and we were 6/14 in the blink of an eye. That became 7/24 and 8/30 but there’s a silver lining to this batting story. Jeff Burstin and Gilly knuckled down and batted out the remaining 12 or so overs of the innings. They added only 10, taking our total to 8/40, but it was a great display of resilient batting.
The Salvos got the runs comfortably, but not before Gilly (2/21 off 5) took two wickets and young Angus (not Angus Young) Kitt (1/17 off 5) took one. Sal, who had topped scored with 9, also bowled very well (0/3 off 5).
Not a good result but a good fight. Well done lads!
CHICKEN: Gilly’s chicken. He’s been good for a couple of wickets every game this year, and continues to get better.
Men’s 1st XI vs Northcote United at Alphington Park - BATTING 101: THE WRIGHT STUFF
Captain Caplikas has hit a rich vein of form - with the coin, that is. He won another toss and we batted first. Turns out, Benny’s also in form with the bat, too! He made a magnificent 101 as we compiled a formidable 9/301, thanks t back-up from Malty (29), Cottsy (31) Farnesy (48no) and a whirlwind late cameo from Jim Wright (25).
Having had a big score almost chased down last round, BenCap stressed the importance of keeping the foot on the throat with a strong effort in the field. The boys took that fully on board, and we blew NU apart for 58. Only two bowlers were used, the destroyers being Jim Wright (6/21 off 14) and Wardi (4/37 off 13.1).
We chucked NU in again but didn’t manage to pull off the outright, despite more great bowling from Wardi (1/10 off 6), Lou B (1/17 off 9) and Stinga (2/31).
A great win that puts us in the 4, a game plus percentage ahead of 5th.
CHICKEN: Ben Caplikas!
Men’s Over 50s vs Burnley CYMS at Fairlea West
The Well Over the Hillers went into the final round of the season without a win but came out of it with a win!
Batting first we made 3/140 thanks to the one and only Chris Gill (40no), the two and only M Jones (34) and Sal Ferraro (23no).
Chris and Sal (both 1/6 off 3) also starred with the ball, as did Kevin Moore (1/18 off 6), Ralph (1/30 off 5), and Tucky (David Tucceri, 1/22 off 6) as we restricted Burnley to 6/134 to finish the season off on a winning note!
CHICKEN: The Guru of Gertrude Street, Chris Gill.
Women’s 2nd XI vs Ballarat, at Rammo
Match report by B2
This week we were lucky enough to play at Rammo again and excited to host Ballarat!
Winning the toss, we chose to bat first, with Nan and B2 beginning our innings, intent on taking our time to settle in. . .
And after Ballarat's opening quick spell we were still there without loss and so began trying to build and accelerate our run rate.
A couple of wickets in quick succession, and Corka was at the crease, ready to emulate her heroics from last week.
We settled, and built a handy partnership of more than 30 runs, before Corka was out to a great caught and balled having made 9 runs.
Eloise was next, and with immediate impact, hitting a boundary - her first - to get off the mark!
Ballarat continued with quick bowling, and good lines. Eloise was bowled, then B2 caught shortly afterwards for 32 runs.
It then took a spectacular catch to remove Georgia!
Laura and Kate were our next partnership and Kate quickly started to hit a number of singles!
Heather, then Gemma and Trouper continued to build our total, before one quick single too many, and we were alll out. This week, Trouper was our not out batter.
Total: All out for 75 runs, after 29 overs.
Knowing we didn't have a large total to defend, we set our plans and knew we would focus on our biggest strength, our effort and team work in the field!
Laura and Nan began our defense and very quickly it was Nan who was troubling the Ballarat openers. In her first over we had our first breakthrough - LBW off Nan!
With a left/right combination, Ballarat began to work the ball behind square, Kate and Laura were aware and vigilant to continually adjust.
Important to note here, that in perhaps their best bowling efforts thus far, both Heather and Eloise bowled their 3 overs each with extraordinary efficiency; Heather - 0/6 and Eloise - 0/7
Tylah owned her square leg position while also running with fine leg, and Georgia moved in closer from her usual fielding position, well and truly looking after point for a number of overs.
Again, and gratifyingly, the effort in the field was consistent and committed to the very end, pushing Ballarat to take 17 overs to make the runs they needed.
Thank you very much to Trouper, who not only supported us making runs and running around our onside boundary all afternoon, but who also scored our innings and to Mega who is always happy assist and offers great support!
CHICKEN: This week B2 was voted Chicken for her innings of 32 runs - in partnership with Nan, Tylah, Alex, Eloise and Laura.
Well done Hillers!
Women’s 1st XI vs Skye at Skye
Match report by Rex
The Women’s 1st XI was on the road again this week, travelling south to Skye for our first match against the opposition thanks to a washed out T20 before Christmas.
Captain Rachael ‘Razzle’ Jones didn’t bat an eyelid when she lost the toss and the opposition chose to bat. The skipper happily gave Hannah ‘Handsy’ Watson the new ball and we walked out to the middle buoyed by last week’s dominant performance that had started in the field. It also seemed a fitting way to start Handsy’s 50th match for the Hill. Congrats, Handsy!
In true Handsy style, it didn’t take long for the breakthrough, snaring her first wicket of the day caught and bowled in a tidy wicket maiden that only saw one bye sneak past.
With Skye 1/1, Ash ‘Steam Train’ Murdoch was also on from ball one, opening her spell with a maiden. This was a theme that Handsy and Steam Train would both continue throughout the afternoon, picking up 4 maidens each from their 9 overs respectively.
By the eighth over, Steam Train secured the next breakthrough, a catch from the safe hands of Isobel ‘Izzy’ Fenner at extra cover. With Skye 2/22, it was Izzy’s turn next with the ball, forcing a false shot that popped up to second-gamer Emma Sands at short mid wicket. Skye 3/29 after 11.
With Skye on the back foot, the captain bowled herself and continued to put the pressure on. Razzle found line, length and another catch from Emma to have Skye 4/42 off 14. With pace-off working well, the skipper gave Lauren ‘Rex’ Chester the ball, who found leg stump for our fifth wicket of the day. Skye 5/51 after 17 overs.
After drinks, Annika Filips joined the bowling attack, once again showing poise beyond her years as she found her rhythm. With sustained pressure from our bowlers, and superb efforts in the field from Rachel ‘Greyhound’ Gray, Fiona ‘Dutchy’ Holland, and our keepers Hannah ‘HG’ Gray and Sherin Breed, the opposition were struggling to find runs. It wasn’t long before Handsy took the next wicket, cleaning up middle and off stumps. Two balls later Handsy picked up her third thanks to another catch from Emma in close. Handsy a double wicket maiden; Skye 7/67 after 24.
With the wind behind her, Steam Train picked up where she left off, building dot ball pressure before the opposition’s in-form batter came undone, ‘Skye-ing’ one to Rex in slips and departing for a patient 22 runs. Steam Train a wicket maiden; Skye 8/68 after 25.
Not done yet, Handsy continued with dot after dot until a sharp edge flew into Rex’s right hand at slips. Handsy another wicket maiden; Skye 9/68. Our openers gave nothing away in their final spell of 6 overs, combing for three maidens, two wicket maidens and a double wicket maiden. Absolutely superb bowling from Handsy 4/19 off 9 overs and Steam Train 2/14 off 9 overs. With the final change of ends, Rex joined in with three dot balls before finding the stumps for the final wicket of the innings. Skye all out for 70 in the 31st over.
In a change from last week, Rex was joined by Captain Razzle in the middle to begin our chase. Needing a comfortable two an over, the pair settled in. It wasn’t long before both batters had utilised the pace of Skye’s openers and the hard wicket to find a couple of boundaries behind square. Unfortunately, Razzle’s luck ran out in the fourth over, as she miscued a shot that was caught in cover.
After a solid performance with the ball, Steam Train joined Rex in the middle. A change in bowlers saw the pair gifted some shorter deliveries, and the boundaries continued. Six overs in we were already halfway through our chase, sitting comfortably at 1/37. After surviving a couple of chances, Rex and Steam Train maintained the run rate, combining for 34 and 17 respectively to chase the total down in the 12th over.
CHICKEN: BOG – Ash ‘Steam Train’ Murdoch gets the votes this week for a stellar effort with bat and ball. Well done, Ash!
Special mention to Hannah ‘Handsy’ Watson for a dominant performance with the ball (4/19 off 9) in her 50th match for the Hill!
Men’s 2nd XI vs Northcote United at Rammo – BATTING 202: T-ROB DOES THE JOB
The 2s, as they always do, bowled first against NU, who racked up a more than decent score of 256 on day 1, despite Daisy’s superb bowling which netted him 5/44 off 15 overs. Good bowling, too from Monty (0/32 off 13), Lanno (2/33 off 14), Stan K (2/42 off 14).
Faced with what looked a daunting target, Angus Grant and T-Rob decided it wasn’t so daunting after all. By the time Angus fell for 55, we were 1/229 and hurtling towards victory. T-Rob and Peakey (42no) took us home and well beyond. When we declared with the score on 2/323, T-Rob was still there, not out with 202 RUNS TO HIS NAME!
Did we rest on our laurels? No we did not! With Stan K taking 5/15 off 6.1 and Daisy 3/9 oiff 9 we spiflicated NU’s second innings for just 43 to get the outright!
CHICKEN: One bird each to Daisy and Stan K! They took 15 wickets between them for the match.
Men’s Over 40s vs Bulleen Templestowe at Ted Ajani Reserve
Like the Over 50s he mostly over 50 over 40s went into the final round of the season without a win but came out of it with a win!
We bowled first and held BT (that’s Bulleen Templestowe, not Brian Taylor) to 9/160 off their 36 overs. Benny B (3/22) was the star with the ball but he got a fair bit of help from the man with the gloves, Farnesy (James Allen) who was involved in all three wickets – a catch and TWO STUMPINGS! Off BENNY B!
Good bowling also Tuffy (1/19 off 6) from skipper Ben King (2/11 off 3), Harro (1/14) off 3, me (1/15 off 3) and Craig Fryers (0/17 off 5) playing his first game of 2022-23!
160 proved to be not enough against our strongf batting line-up. Farnesy back up his glovework with an imperious 43 not out, Ian ‘Network Free’ Nolan hit the first ball he faced for six and retired on 40 not out about five minutes later, while Benny B (20), Cam Wood (23) and Harro (13 no) helped us finish off the job
Great way to end a tough season!
CHICKEN: I reckon Farnesy. Brilliant keeping and batting. You owe me a beer, James!
THE TOM BELLIS AWARD
A host of performances this week that would have guaranteed a Tom Bellis, but the outstanding work of T-Rob and Jim Wright earn them a shared award this week!