Round 1 - Dundas Dominates
Women’s 1st XI
World Series Cricket or EGWC Women’s A-Grade?
It was the perfect day for cricket with the crowd witnessing an incredibly close contest that
went to down the wire. It didn’t take long for Clifton Hill to strike as Maya Harrington, ‘the
Lion-Express’, shattered the pegs in the second over. It looked easy for the ladies in blue, as
two wickets fell in quick succession thanks to a run-out and a spinning masterclass from
Angie Brown. However, Hawthorn Boroondara soon adopted an aggressive mindset ending
their innings at 4/148.
Initially, it looked troublesome with the loss of the first wicket in the third over to leave our
Hillers at 1/8. Although, things soon stabilised as Rebecca Troon (41) and Sherin Breed (50*)
showed their class – two flamboyant stroke-makers playing backyard cricket but without the
silly six-and-out rule. It had it all; elegant cover drives, risky reverse sweeps, aggressive pull
shots. Unfortunately, the total proved a little too far for Clifton Hill (4/130) as the ladies
went down to Hawthorn Boroondara by 18 runs.
It had the crowd loudly questioning if this was World Series Cricket or EGWC Women’s A-
Grade. It has laid the platform for an exciting summer of cricket. Up the Hill!
Chicken to Sherin Breed - 50 not out after keeping all afternoon!
Men’s 1st XI
The Men’s 1st XI traveled to reigning premiers Deepdene Uniting hoping for a win to start the season. Winning the toss and bowling, it was an early wicket for Jimmy Wright and a first Macgibbon wicket for Joel Clark that had us underway before the rain on day 1. Returning this week with the score at 2/77, we were able to take 8/41 to skittle Deepdene for 118. Jimmy returned figures of 5/16 off 14, and was ably assisted by captain Malty (3/20 off 7) and Ben Lev (1/18 off 10). Our chase started positively with veteran Cottsy (24) and Lenny (20) but from there fell away, leaving us 7/80. Jimmy (19) got together with Benny Cap (25) to take us close but unfortunately, we were bowled out for 111 in reply in what was a very disappointing loss. The chicken went to Jimmy for his fantastic all round performance.
Men’s 2nd XI
The 2’s were up against a strong Toorak Prahran 1st XI. Monty won the toss and bowled first and Toorak took full advantage of this decision to be 4/208 overnight. Interestingly, there were over 50 overs bowled on day 1, despite the adverse weather, with the game continuing through what can only be described as a thunderstorm. Returning this week, early wickets were needed however we were unable to make any inroads and Toorak declared their innings closed at 4/318. With the stick, only Dan Castelow (20) and Laukik Deshmukh (23) were able to manage double figures, with Toorak rolling us for 79. They sent us back in and again it was Dan (20) in combination with Auley Brown (24) that helped us stave off an outright loss. The chicken went to Dan.
Men’s 3rd XI
Day 1 in the 3s saw only 21 overs bowled. Naj lost the toss and we were in the field, and despite a couple of early wickets, the game was fairly evenly poised with Mulgrave at 2/66 when the rain came. Day 2 saw our bowlers toil hard, for not much reward with Mulgrave eventually posting 256. Naj (2/73 off 15), Lucas Harris (2/8 off 7), new pom Vossy (1/38 off 11), Angus Kitt (1/65 off 12) and Sonny (1/19 off 4) all shared the wickets. With Mulgrave only leaving us about 45 overs, the chase was always going to be tight. As it turned out, we would have comfortably got there had we had all our overs but with the limited overs available we were able to comfortably cruise to a draw, closing our innings at 3/146. New players Jack Noonan (36) and Sam Wheeler (21) opened the batting with aplomb, whilst Tim Williams (20*) and Vossy (44*) saw us to the end. Chicken to Vossy for his 44* and 1/38.
Men’s 4th XI
A new look for the 4th XI, with Harro back in charge of a side for the first time in a few years. He lost the toss and Glen Iris sent us in for a hit. This looked wise at 2/26, but at the end of the innings didn’t look so clever. Surviving the early new ball spell, Kyle Dundas notched up his first ton for the club and was the backbone of our innings, finishing on an even 100 retired not out. Extras (26) chipped in, as did captain Harro who “built a picket fence” and finished on 24 off as many balls. At the close of our innings we finished on a very competitive 5/182. Glen Iris looked on track in their chase but the better Harro - Zack (1/17 off 5) was able to remove their one bat that looked like taking the game away from us and with the help of Dom Van Slag (2/27 off 7.1), Raph Glaspole (2/39 off 5) and Kyle (3/23 off 8) we were able to restrict them to 172 and claim victory. The chicken went to Zack for his important spell of bowling.
Men’s 5th XI
The 5’s were at home against Monash Uni at a long and lush Cox Oval. Stand-in captain Empty won the toss and had a bat, which was a great decision as we only had 8 players (9 once Billy ABC returned from Glen Iris thinking he had been promoted to the 4s). We were able to cobble together a somewhat defendable total of 127, thanks largely to Mark Jones (34), Max Sundram (32) and Eddie ‘ETAC’ Chiroiu (17). As it turns out, it was a very defendable total, despite playing with less players. Empty (5 /8 off 7) led from the front and was ably supported by Matt Aulich (2/13 off 7), Max (1 /4 off 1) and Lachie Elmore (1/16 off 6) as we skittled Monash Uni for 63 to claim our second win of the weekend. The chicken went to Empty for his 5fa.
Vets Maroon
The Vets Maroon team were at home at Ramsden St. Batting first we posted a score of 9-215, largely bankrolled by 40 rtno. from Nick Hooper and Chris Gill and 42 rtno. from Greg Ellis. In reply, we were able to restrict North Balwyn to 6-167, with economic bowling from David Tucceri (1/21 off 6), Chris Gill (1/25 off 6), Greg Ellis (1/21 off 5) and Harro (1/26 off 6).
Vets Navy
The Vets Navy team traveled to Mount Waverley. Batting first, they were able to tally a score of 208 all out, largely thanks to 42 rtno. from Chris Schurmann and John Pace, 41 rtno. from Matt Aulich and a quickfire 28 from Rob Collier. In reply, we were able to restrict Mount Waverley to 8-197, with multiple wickets to Ben Richmond and singles to Aulich, Peter ‘Carl’ Barron, Nick ‘Colonel’ Sanders and Richard ‘Harry’ Potter.
Tom Bellis
The Tom Bellis award for Round 1 goes to Kyle Dundas for his fantastic first ton for the club - a long time coming and very well deserved! Congrats Kyle!