Nothing trivial about 5 from 5!
Saturday January 21 2023 will be long remembered at the Hill. The five men’s senior sides all returned to Rammo on Saturday evening victorious – except the 1s. Don’t get me wrong, they were victorious, but they were already at Rammo. It was their home game.
This non-trivial achievement was followed by a trivial evening. To be more precise, the world famous CHCC Trivia Night. And a great night it was, too. But was it all above board. Was Eddie Chiroiu spotted making use of his phone during play? And are the members of the winning team really that smart? Or was something underhanded going on?
MEN’S 1st XI v TOORAK PARK-PRAHRAN at Rammo
After we compiled a hefty 7/291 last week (thanks to Cottsy, Hughie et al – see last week’s reports), TPPCC made a real game of this, and for much of the day looked like overhauling the big total. But some great fielding (four run-outs) and magnificent late bowling from Malty (3/91 off 27)and Louis B (2/20 off 16) saw TPP fall just two runs short of our score. Excellent bowling also from Jim Wright (0/33 off 9), Wardi (0/35 off 9) and Sam Barrett (0/27 off 9).
What a win!
CHICKEN to Cottsy for his 76 not out to go with his 62 not out against the same oppo the game before.
MEN’S 2nd XI v TOORAK PARK-PRAHRAN at Orrong Park
This game was played at ORRONG Park be we got the RIGHT result – an outright win!
Having sewn up first innings points on day 1, we dismissed TPPCC in their second innings for 216, thanks to good bowling from Daisy (2/35 off 12.5), Zaj (2/22 off 6), Stan K (2/24 off 6), Stan M (1/14 off 7), Jack Barrett (1/21 off 5), Joel Clark (1/49 off 9) and Az Lanning (0/15 off 7).
This left the Hillers with a target of 152 for outright victory. In a brilliant tactical move - NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT LANNO HAD TO LEAVER EARLY TO GET TO A BOAT PARTY – Monty elevated Aaron Lanning to the top of the batting order. Lanno responded by making 66 not out before heading off for a night of marine mania. J-Ho celebrated his birthday by making 49 not out and Stan Mills made 23 not out as we chased down victory two down.
What a win!
CHICKEN to Zaj for his first innings 78 with the bat, his Richie Benaud bowling figures (2/22) and two absolute hangers!
MEN’S 3rd XI v NORTH ALPHINGTON at Pitcher Park
Pitcher Park sounds like a venue for baseball but it’s where our 3s took on - and DESTROYED – North Alphington.
Bowling first, we rolled them for just 55, with first-gamer WILL CROMBIE the star, taking 5/24 off his 8. Great work with the ball also from Anwar (2/1 off 2.3), Auley Brown (2/14 off 4), Kieran Schulz (1/10 off 5) and the slightly expensive skipper Nails (0/2 off 4).
Zac Wilson (29) and Kieran (23 not out) ensured we got the win with a minimum of fuss.
What a win!
CHICKEN to Kieran for his 23no and two-fa.
MEN’S 4th XI v RICHMOND UNION at Burnley Oval
Mad Dog’s men headed over to Burnley Oval to take on Richmond Union and RU got off to a bit of a flyer, at one stage looking like getting well over 200. But the Hiller bowling contingent reined them in and they finished on 9/178 off their 35., thanks to Chuck (3/28 off 7), and Empty (2/29 off).
SIDE NOTE: Usually you feel empty after having a chuck, but the scorebook shows that Chuck actually came on after Empty.
Good bowling, too, from Ted Smith (1/13), Roadie (1/14 off 3) and Geoff Smith (1/20 off 5).
We chased the total down with an over to spare. The batting was highlighted by a retired 50 from Tim Neal, 34no from Roadie, 32 from Eddie and 31 from Jack Speed.
What a win!
CHICKEN to TIM NEAL, who clearly did not have his anagram, an AILMENT.
MEN’S 5th XI v RICHMOND CITY on the smallest cricket ground in the universe
Billy’s boys batted first and made 6/214, with Jacko making his usual retired 50 and young Lloyd Skinner doing the same. They got good back-up from Sal (30), Jonesy (19) and Billy and Doug Scott (13 each, with Billy keen for me to point out that his 13 wasd better than Doug’s because he was not out.
Defending an under par score our bowlers came up with the goods. Spearheaded by Lucas Harris (5/27 off 3.3) and backed up by the man in form – Gilly (2/14 off 4) – as well as Lloyd (0/16), we knocked Richmond City over for 176.
CHICKEN goes to Lucas Harris for devastating bowling spell.
TRIVIA NIGHT
Five wins from five games ensured trivia night would be fun, and it was!
But did we see Eddie sneaking a look at his phone for answers? And did the eventual winners, who went by the name of ‘**** Toorak Park’ also adopt underhanded tactics?
In the end, the stewards cleared them and they got a well-earned win. Well done!
THANKS TO DOG, BEN-CAP, LOUIS, CAL and everyone else who made sure it was a great night.
And as for the club. After such a great Saturday, WE’RE BACK BABY!
WOMEN’S 1s got the win via a forfeit.
WOMEN’S 2s Round 4 - Clifton Hill (2) vs. Melton Centrals - at Blackwood Drive Reserve (turf)
Match Report by B2
As 2023 is still only just warming up and people are away, this week it became a collective effort, to ensure we would have two teams representing our Senior Women in both Shield 2 and 3 divisions. But we did it! Then, with Narre South forfeiting, we found ourselves with the luxury of too many players, two coaches, a square leg umpire and a scorer!
We ventured out to Blackwood Drive Reserve, excited to play on a turf pitch! And while we were initially confronted with some unexpected water issues that affected the field and the change rooms, everyone was keen to play and the field was dry before game time, so all was in readiness!
Having won the toss, we chose to bat first and were excited to send in a brand new opening combination in Maya and Nan!
Maya was a pillar and settled into her innings, as early wickets fell around her. That was until Annika joined the fray and proved to be an invaluable support. Together, Maya and Annika shared an amazing partnership of more than 50 runs! Further testament to her patience and stubborn defence of her wicket, Annika faced more than 40 deliveries before making runs off her bat.
Maya continued to amass runs, hitting boundaries and rotating the strike with opportune singles, eventually being caught after more than 28 overs and a new personal highest score of 48 runs! Congratulations Maya!
Mum and Alex teamed up to finish our innings strongly and ensured we battered out our overs - both hitting boundaries and both finishing Not Out!
Our total: 6 / 124 runs, after our 36 overs
This week our fielding was bolstered by 4 juniors; Annika, Gemma, Ravi and Eloise who along with Maya, was a key part of our opening bowling spell, and with 124 runs to defend we had great confidence in our stellar bowling attack and our first time wicket keeper, Alex!
Our opening spell offered a number of chances, with Maya eventually rewarded with our first wicket - lbw!
Razz and Laila took up the mantle from the other end, and Razz was the next to have her hard work rewarded with a wicket - lbw!
Laila and Alex combined to give Laila a well deserved wicket and Alex her very first catch behind the stumps, having earlier lunged desperately at one that popped up and only just falling agonisingly short. . .
Throughout, Annika was fantastic in point and square leg - offered the chance to field in both positions with multiple left hand / right hand combinations in Melton Centrals' batting lineup.
Nan was epic on the boundary, running and encouraging all day, and Mum, despite injuring her calf, was immense and stayed on the field to finish the innings.
When Maya was not bowling or batting, she was fielding with great enthusiasm and support for everyone. As was Eloise who is growing into her favourite position at fine leg.
Melton Centrals played in good spirit and with a couple of good partnerships did overhaul our total in the 23rd over.
Melton Centrals - 3 / 125 runs, after 22.4 overs.
CHICKEN: Unequivocally our Chicken this week is Maya - she dominated every facet of the game, including proving a great support to her teammates!
Thank you very much to Ravi for willingly joining us in the field!
Thank you very much to Nik for being our square leg umpire and to Peter for scoring the match for us!
Thank you also to those who ventured out to Melton to watch and support us, appreciate it!
Well done Hillers!
We now look forward to 4 matches in a row at our home ground, Rammo!
TOM BELLIS AWARD
For perhaps the first time in CHCC, a debutant gets the TOM BELLIS!
Congratulations to WILL CROMBIE! You are already part of the CHCC furniture.
