T-Rob the heart-throb does it again

MENS 1ST XI - THREE IN A ROW THANKS TO THE T-ROB SHOW

The Men’s 1s are on a roll, racking up a third consecutive win on Saturday. Batting first against STC at Rammo, Benny Cap (20) and T-Rob got us off to a solid start, with an opening stand of 35. T-Rob was then joined by my soul mate Zaj (Nick Zajac) and the pair too the STC bowlers apart, with Zaj making 52. They put on 113 for the second wicket. That’s a significant number, because it’s exactly what T-Rob went on to make before getting run out later in the piece. T-Rob’s brilliant innings, no doubt inspired by seeing me at the AFLW game at Whitten Oval the night before, helped us to a great 40-over total of 8/219.

STC’s first wicket didn’t fall until their score was 39, but once it did, others followed regularly, thanks to Benny Levens (4/27 off 7), Malty Lynas (2/29 off 8), Stingert Barrett (2/44 off 8) and Jimmy Wright (1/40 off 6.5). Meanwhile Monty kept things typically tight with 0/21 off 8, as STC were all out for 167, giving us a hat-trick of wins!

THE CHICKEN: Zaj’s masterful half-century gets him a well-deserved chicken.

MENS 4TH XI - A QUICK GAME’S A GOOD GAME

For the third week running, the 4s had a game that was done and dusted by tea. And for the second week in a row, it went in our favour. In the absence of the injured Gaz, Dog (Scott Morgan) won the toss and chose to bowl. Once again opening bowlers Roy Girvan and Jack Barrett bowled beautifully. No six-fa for Jack this week but his 0/19 off six was very tidy, while The Girv took 2/5 off 6 at the other end. The Toughy (4/9 off 8), Roadie (1/2) and Empty (1/29) ran through the rest of the batters, and Kew were all out for just 67.

We chased the target down losing two wickets, with Action Man (21), Roadie (16no) and President Adam Lewis (18no to avoid impeachment for another week) getting us home.

THE CHICKEN: Can’t go past Jarrod Tough’s brilliant 4/9!

VETS 1ST XI - VETS DON’T PEAK BUT PEAKEY DOES

Us old wise people know that, when you’re heading into finals, it’s important not to peak too early. With that in mind, we went out and lost to Glen Waverley Cougars at Fairlea East on Sunday, while ensuring we stayed in the top 4.

Winning the toss Peakey batted first and, after we lost Farnesy (James Allen) for a golden quacker, he and Benny B steered us back to safety, putting on 63. Peakey made 11 and Benny B retired (again!) on 40 not out. Harro did the same and Ian Nolan made 20, but the rest of the batters fell apart and we were all out for just 140 with six of our 35 overs unused.

We bowled well but 140 was a bit to small a target to defend on Fairlea East and they passed us 5 down. Peakey (2/15 off 6) and Harro (1/19 off 5) bowled about as well as I’ve seen them bowl, while Daisy (1/7 off 6), Geoff Smith (1/18 off 4) and even I (0/20 off 6) did a good job.

Luckily, despite the loss, we did not slip down the ladder, which is more than we can say for Ian Nolan.

THE CHICKEN: Plenty of candidates but I’m giving the nod to Harro for his 40 not out and great bowling.

VETS 2ND XI - SOB left SOBBING

The Vets 2s took a different approach. We were nowhere near our peak, but still managed to win. Salesian Old Boys (SOB) won the toss and batted but we skittled them for just 92 thanks to great bowling from Kevin Moore (2/8 off 6) Tucky (David Tucceri, 2/10 off 5), Peter Ryan (2/13 off 6), Ralph Saubern (1/0 off 1), Andrew Bell (1/8 off 1), Spocky (0/7 off 5) and Stan K (0/18 off 6).

In the chase Stan made his standard 40 retired but, too make things interesting Jonesy (12 not out) was the only other player to make double figures. We slipped to 9/91, still a run behind, before Peter Ryan got us over the line.

THE CHICKEN: Kevin gets the chicken for his 2/8 off 6. (He got run out for a duck and I will assume it wasn’t his fault.)

MEN’S 3RD XI - WHERE THERE’S A WILL(COX) THERE’S A WAY

The 3s made the long trek (two kilometres) to Alfred Crescent to take on the Burgers. Harro lost the toss (Control-C, Control-V) and Edinburgh batted first and made a sub-par 8/158 in their 40 overs. The hero was Riley Willcox, playing his first 3s game, who took 4/15 off 8. He was backed up by Dave “What’s Your Injury This Week?” Burgess (1/8 off 6), and Luka Filips (1/21 off 8).

Luka (15), playing his first game in years, then opened the batting with Tulky (12), and they made 25 before the first wicket fell. We were in a bit of strife at 4/44 but Ian Nelson (48) and THAT MAN RILEY WILLCOX (42 not out), aided by Captain Happy (Harro) took us to victory.

THE CHICKEN: After two games in the 6s, during which I taught him everything he knows, Riley Willcox jumped up to the 3s and dominated. He kept the scoreboard clickin’ and the wickets tickin’ so he gets the Chicken.

MEN’S 5TH XI - THE USUAL SUSPECTS

The 5ths are well and truly back to their winning ways. Simon won the toss and bowled, and wickets came at a good rate throughout the innings of Glen Iris, who were 170 all out. Skoblar’s Superstar bowlers included Stan Kroenert (3/26 off 6.5), Pat Malone (2/20 off 7), Max Sundram (1/28 off 7), Rhys Seakins (1/24 off 4), Jonesy (1/25 off 4) and Daylin Seakins (1/38 off 6).

The usual suspects took us to a winning score, with Jonesy making 73, Jacko (Simon Jackson) 53 and Stan K 35 not out.

THE CHICKEN: Can’t remember who Gilly gave the chicken to, so I’ll give it to Jonesy.

WOMEN’S 1ST XI - OUR WOMEN BEAT INDIA’S MEN BUT END UP SINGING THE BLUES - Match Report by Bek Drake

It was unfortunately not a day to remember for the Women’s First 11 on Sunday. We played same opposition two weeks earlier in 37-degree heat, so it was a stark contrast when we arrived in Ballarat to a chilly 13 degrees. Trouper got back in her losing ways for the toss and we were sent in to bat.

Our batting innings was nothing to write home about. In a positive, we managed to exceed India’s second innings Adelaide test total. In a negative, it was only just. We scrapped our way to a total of 40 before the final wicket. 

Everyone struggled to find momentum on the very green pitch, with consistent wickets. Rex managed to hang around for 14 overs, making 14 runs. McDreamy pushed hard near the end, continuing her run of one boundary per game. She made a total of 9 before being bowled out. All other batters either made a single or got a duck. Junior was the only player not out and boy did she let everyone know about it!

We knew that it would be a tough ask to keep Ballarat to under 40 runs for 36 overs. We were considering all tactics (including distraction via poor singing). Handsy had more traditional ideas as to how to win. Her bowling could only really be described as perfect. In the opening 5 overs, Handsy bowled 3 maidens, including a wicket maiden in her third over. Junior partnered with Handsy for two overs, finishing with 0/12. After five overs, Ballarat were 1/12 and we had a sniff.

At the change of ends, Dagger partnered with Handsy. Dagger’s opening over only went for two, and Handsy continued with another maiden. Dagger joined in with a wicket maiden of her own and Ballarat were 2/14 off 8.

Our bowlers continued their phenomenal form, with Rex also rolling her arm over after some very graceful dives in the field. Speaking of fielding, we were definitely on for this game. Char kept fantastically, with nothing going past her. Izzy, Trouper and Nan stopped everything that came their way, with Merc providing superb support. It felt like Ballarat could only get runs from edges. Normally with the small number of runs they were getting, we would say we’d be in the box seat. However, the amount of runs we had on the board was far below the norm, and they managed to chase down our total in the 21st over.

Handsy bowled out her 9 overs, finishing with an incredible 7 maidens and figures of 1/5 off 9. Dagger was also superb, finishing with 1/18 off 8. Rex chimed in at the end with 1/5 off 2.

THE CHICKEN: It was unsurprising that the vote saw our virtual chicken unanimously be awarded to Handsy, for the best spell of bowling most of us had ever seen! Special mention also to McDreamy, who (had there been a vote) would have been best on ground for our post match meal at the pub!

WOMEN’S 2ND XI - MATCH AGAINST ROOSTERS GOES DOWN TO THE (CHICKEN) WIRE - Match Report by Sarah Catterwell

Hosting top of the table Altona Roosters the miraculous happened early with Razzle winning the coin toss. We elected to field and opened our bowling with the ever efficient Razzle and Doctor. Unfortunately there were no breakthroughs early on this week as the Roosters cruised to 0/80 at the drinks break.

Razzle trapped one of their openers LBW not long after the break, followed by a wicket to the Doctor we had them at 2/89 and a bit of a spring in our step. Our fielding was outstanding, easily our best game in the field; special mention to Emma who was phenomenal at square leg.

Catters was able to snag 2 quick wickets thanks to catches by Molly and Boomer. Not long after Mum would jag a well-deserved wicket thanks to an absolute screamer of a catch by Molly. Razzle and Doc rounded out the bowling with each grabbing another wicket as the Roosters posted 7/147.

It was the two youngsters opening our batting with Molly and Emma guiding us to drinks without the loss of a wicket. After the break they put their foot down and got the required run rate under 4 an over.

Unfortunately a succession of quick wickets and immaculate bowling (with the Roosters only conceding 1 extra for the entire innings) we fell 9 runs short of knocking off the ladder leaders.

THE CHICKEN (against the ROOSTERS): MVP was split down the middle this week with Emma and Molly sharing the plaudits.

Batting
Emma 55
Molly 48
B2 15
Razzle 8
Doc 3
Vovo 4*
Mum 1*

Bowling
Razzle 2/17
Doc 2/36
Catters 2/32
Mum 1/31
Bib 0/14
Emma 0/15

MEN’S 2ND XI - LOU’S TWOS LOSE

With Monty (1sts) and Micah (Excuse, Wortho?) unavailable, Lou B took on the 2s captaincy. He lost the toss and we batted, with Lou and Lenny Dean opening. Unfortunately they both fell with the score at 11, and we never really recovered. Despite M Jones the Younger (34), Az Lanning (20), Stan Mills (18), Sam Asdagi (17), J-Ho (14) and Wardi (12) all getting into double figures, no one went on withe job and we could muster only 153 in 40 overs.

Wardi, Jonesy, Lou, Sam and Nails (Jesse Parlane) each got a wicket, but Knox Churches passed us five down with a couple of overs to spare.

THE CHICKEN: M Jones the Younger continues his good form with bat and ball, and he gets the chicken.

MEN’S 6TH XI - IS GIGS THE NEW CAPTAIN GRUMPY?

The short answer is yes. We had to make two late changes before this game started and then lost another player minutes before play began. Eventually we put together a team of 11 and batted first. We lost both openers with the score at just 1 but then Lachie Muraca (18) and Ralph Saubern (52) rescued us with a partnership of 54. We were looking good for a score in the 150-170 zone but then fell away to finish on 9/122, well below par.

I thought we had the bowlers to defend even a low total like 122, and we probably did, but we did not have the fielders to back them up. Both of Edinburgh’s openers gave easy chances which we blew, and it was basically those two who took them to victory. Good bowling from Craig Mawdsley (3/41 off 6), Hugo Northrop (1/13 off 4.1), Jimmy Marasco-Liddell (0/1 off 2 on debut) and me (0/14 off 4 including two dropped catches).

Despite the loss it was great to have three people turn up and play at very short notice. Thanks to Martin Black, and debutants Jimmy Marasco-Liddell and Kosta Papanagiotou for joining the fun and bowling and batting well.

I had an appointment to see my GP on Tuesday after this game and I had planned to ask him why I’ve been getting grumpy, but my GP was in fact the opposition captain, who made 50 after being dropped off MY bowling. So by the time I saw him on Tuesday, I knew the reason I was so grumpy — HIM!

THE CHICKEN: Ralphy was in line for the Chicken but I’m giving it to young Kosta, who was at the non-striker’s end when Doug Scott absolutely creamed one. Kosta tried to get out of the way but as he turned the Doug Scott Missile smacked him right in the coccyx, send him sprawling. He was in a lot of pain, but batted on. Bravery Chicken to you, Kosta!

THE LADDER LOWDOWN

The Vets 2s are ON TOP OF THE LADDER.
The Men’s 1s, 3s and 4s are 3RD ON THE LADDER.
The Men’s 2s and 5s and Women’s 1s are 4TH ON THE LADDER.
The Men’s 6s are 7TH ON THE LADDER.
The Women’s 2s are 9TH ON THE LADDER.

Despite losing the Vets 1s did not do an Ian Nelson and fall down the ladder, and so finish 4TH. We will take on Bulleen at Bulleen in the semi, where we beat them a few weeks back.

THE TOM BELLIS AWARD

IT’S ANOTHER TOM FOR TOM!
Tom Robinson’s magnificent 113, his highest ever score, propelled the 1s to victory. Well done T-Rob