The willow comes alive for Castelow in Round 5
All 10 senior (and beyond) sides took to the field on the weekend, with four teams coming up with excellent wins and the Women’s 1s playing out a thrilling tie against the top side. Here’s the roundup of the second-last weekend of cricket before Christmas.
Men’s 1st XI
The Men’s 1s went out to Victoria Road Reserve to take on Boroondara, and Benny Cap lost the toss, which meant we bowled first. Boroondara compiled 6/201, which is a gettable score on that ground, with Stinga Barrett the pick of the bowlers, taking 2/24 off his eight overs. Louis B also took two wickets, but he copped some stick late, while Monty was excellent on his return to the 1s, taking 1/29 off 8.
After we lost T-Rob for a blob, Zaj (Nick Zajac, 38) and Ben (20) put on a 50 partnership but once Benny fell the rest of the wickets followed pretty regularly and we fell well short, all out for 113 despite another good batting effort from Stan Mills (13 not out).
The No Longer Virtual But Still Invisible Chicken was awarded by Ben to Stinga for his great spell of bowling.
Men’s 2nd XI
With Monty on First XI duty Micah Worthington stepped up to the plate and took on the captaincy of the 2s and he stepped into the role as though he was born for it. The only thing Worthy got wrong was the toss, and we were asked to bowl, which we would have done anyway so, even when Micah gets it wrong, he gets it right.
Az Lanning kicked things off with a bang, snaring an LBW to leave West Ivanhoe United at 1/0. WIU then put together a 64-run partnership, but once Hugh Ingham broke through for the second wicket, the rest of them tumbled. Hugh collected another scalp to finish with 2/42 off 8, but Az was the destroyer, taking 4/16 off. Finley Ward (2/25) and Sam Asdagi (2/27) also bowled beautifully. West Ivanhoe United all out 145.
In the chase we lost Hugh and J-Ho (Jesse Hodge) relatively early, but the skipper and Jake “Birthday Boy” Castelow set up the win with two great innings. Worthy made 43 and Jake was 61 not out after hitting the winning runs. In the end the opposition became West Ivanhoe DISunited and Micah proved himself a Worthy captain.
CHICKEN: No Chicken for Hugh, even though he took 2 wickets and his surname is Ingham. Instead, it goes to Az Lanning for his brilliant 4/16.
Men’s 5th XI
After losing their first two games, the 5s are now running like a well-oiled machine. Skipper Skoblar won another toss and batted first, and we compiled 6/188, with the usual suspects among the runs: Mark Jones, trying to reclaim his place as the better Jonesy, got 73, while Simon Jackson (33) and Stan Kroetner (37) did their usual ‘Jacko and Stan’ things. Matt Hobbs looked classy for his 10 but was unlucky to get dismissed by the ball of the day.
Our bowlers all did what was needed — Pat Malone 2/32 from 7 overs, Max Sundram 1/23 off 5, Stan 2/12 from 7, Jacko 2/34 from 5 and Jonesy 1/22 off 5 — and Trinity Wilson fell short of the mark, posting 8/167.
A very classy display from Paul Hodge (the better Hodgey?) behind the stumps, including a cracking catch!
The quote of the day came from the skipper: “That’s the first time this team has won 3 in a row since 1964!” An impressive achievement made all the more impressive by the fact that CHCC was only established in 1967.
CHICKEN: Simon gave the chicken to Stan “The Man “ Kroetner for his 37 and two wickets.
Men’s 6th XI
The Men’s 6s are on the board! We headed out to Heathmont to take on Heathmont and get a look at their lush new clubrooms. (They were very impressive.) I won the toss and sent Heathmont in, with me and young Jack Morice taking the new ball. Jack bowled beautifully and I held up an end as Heathmont lost regular wickets. They had one bloke retire on 50, but we dropped him several times. Other than that, we were great in the field and with the ball. Jack finished with 4/25 off his 7 overs. It should havde been 5/25 but I dropped a catch off him at first slip to save the club the cost of a trophy. Apart from Jack, Casey Filips (2/33 off 7), Jason “Comeback” King (he took 2/16 off 7 and broke Raghu’s finger), Julian Murone (0/21 off 7) all bowled beautifully and even I was okay, taking 1/18 off 7. Heathmont finished on 9/115.
Raghu made a quickfire 11 and left because he had a plane to catch, and then Jimmy Entwisle and Jack Morice paved the way for a comfortable win. With Jim retiring on 50 and Jack making a fine 24 before he copped a cracker, with more than six overs to spare.
A comprehensive and well-deserved win!
CHICKEN: An honorable mention to Jim for his 50 and Julian for his bowling and a screamer of a catch, but the chicken goes to Jack Morice. Is there anything this young man can’t do?
Men’s 3rd XI
The Men’s 3s went to Fairlea West and played Fairlea badly. With a 19, 20, 21 and 22 from Max Hudson, Mark Jones, James Allen and skipper Brett Harrison respectively, we mustered a below par score of 150. Despite good bowling from Huddo (1/24 off 7), Matty Tulk (1/26 off 7) and Matt Sale (2/34 off 7), Victorian Cavaliers passed our score four down with nearly 10 overs to spare.
CHICKEN: In a pointed text message from Captain Cranky (Harro) on Saturday evening, which I read in the voice of the Soup Nazi from Seinfield, he said “No chicken!”
Women’s 1st XI: Bek Drake with the lowdown on a thrilling tie against the top side!
The Women’s first XI got off to a rocky start against top of the table Ballarat before the game had event started! The trip to Eastern Oval was made longer by some roadworks, with even the umpire not making it on time. After a bit of a delayed start, Trouper won the toss and we decided to have a bowl.
As always, our opening bowlers started well. Although the wickets weren’t falling quite as quickly as last week, Handsy was bowling perfect line and length. She managed to bowl a maiden in her second over and between Handsy and Junior we had the undefeated Ballarat at 0-24 off 5.
Amy and Rex were restricting the batters after the change of ends. The building pressure led to Rex getting a breakthrough with a beautiful caught behind. Once their left handed batter came on, we knew that our specialist bowler to left handed batters (Izzy) would deliver. And she did, leaving them at 2-55 off 10.
Consistency was the theme of the next 5 overs. There were again no wickets, but the batters struggled to find runs. A special mention should be given to Trang, who was playing her first game for the Hillers. Fielding in third, her speed to the ball and strong arm were superb! Ballarat were 2-73 off 15.
Super captain Trouper decided to bring herself on at the final change of ends. It was an inspired decision, getting a bowled with her second ball. In the final over of the innings, Trouper also could have taken a simple catch off her own bowling, but she thought that would be a bit too easy, instead getting the run out. Ballarat finished at 4-97. Bowling figures were again outstanding - Handsy 0/9 off 4, Junior 0/26 off 4, Amy 0/15 off 4, Rex 1/20 off 4, Izzy 1/17 off 2 and Trouper 1/7 off 2.
After such a strong showing in the field, we were excited to take on the ladder leaders with the bat. Rex and Izzy went out to the middle and looked comfortable from the start. They picked their shots well and were keeping the run rate up. After 5 overs, we were ahead of their score at 0-33.
Things seemed to be cruising along, until they struck in the sixth over, with Izzy caught behind for 16. Handsy came in to bat and created a solid partnership with Rex. They did well having to face some pace and our first look at genuine spin. Our run rate had slowed, but we were still ticking along at 1-55 off 10.
It continued to be steady after the change of ends. We were looking comfortable until Rex got bowled in the 15th over. She left the crease having made 37, being an integral part of our run chase. It left us at 2-82 after 15, in the box seat to chase down 98 for victory.
Charlotte and Handsy did well in the 16th over, scoring 6 runs and edging us closer to victory. However, Handsy got caught in the 17th, for a well made 19. Having only scored 2 runs, we had 8 to make off 3 overs. Charlotte managed to add 2 more runs to our total before she was caught behind with a superb catch for 9.
Bobbie came in and made a single, leaving 5 to win off 2 overs. Bobbie was back on strike and had no idea how to play the spin. After three dot balls, she tried to dance down the wicket and got stumped. Amy was next in and the very next ball got caught. This brought in Rach. The last ball was a dot, with a double wicket maiden still leaving us 5 to win.
Trouper faced the first ball, which was a dot, and then made a single. Rach was on strike for only her second ever batting innings. After two dot balls, the tension on the sidelines was building. Trouper was ready to run no matter what. Rach managed to get some bat on the ball and Trouper scampered through for a single. This was Rach’s first ever run and what a time to do it!
It was the final ball and we needed three to win (though the score board was updated slowly, so Trouper thought it was four). Trouper managed to hit the final ball well, but couldn’t quite find the gap. As they finished their first run, they seemed to stop. Rach had slipped over. They looked unsure, but after some very loud yelling from the sidelines, they went for their second. Trouper had almost made it all the way down the pitch before Rach had gotten up. Rach managed to sprint down the other end. The pressure on the fielders was too much and they could not hit the stumps. After the scores were checked approximately 50,000 times, the match was called a tie!
Overall, it was quite an enjoyable day of cricket. Although the victory would have been nice, a draw to the undefeated ladder leaders was still a fantastic result. For her great bowling and pivotal batting innings, the virtual chicken goes to Rex!
Women’s 2nd XI: Sarah Catterwell reports on the 2s day out at Greenvale and has a dig at Bobbie!
In a hot and windy day out in Greenvale, stand in captain Doc was able to win the toss for a second consecutive week and we had a bowl first. It couldn’t have got off to a better start when Doc and Vovo combined for the first wicket off the very first ball on the innings.
Many half chances were to come, with lots of close LBW calls not going our way. It was Bib who got the next breakthrough with her “stare down” run up causing the batter to loop one in to the safe hands of Trina at square leg. Despite some big hitters we were able to keep Greenvale to 126 runs, most notably due to some great fielding on the boundary from B2 and some tight bowling (including a maiden) from the best cricketer of the Drake clan (Mum that is, sorry Bobbie)
Our openers in B2 and Nanna set a great platform for our run chase. B2 scored 32 runs and Nanna retired on 28 with some dehydration issues (probably just wanted to give us spectators a crack at batting). With a few batters adding to the scores we ended up batting out the 20 overs out but unfortunately fell 28 runs short.
There were a few tears after the game with Liddy “Mega” Clarke announcing the curtains on her career. Some tears were shed, but she has reassured us that she and Roxy will not be far away, promising to stay involved within the club. We thank you Mega for the massive contribution you have made to Clifton Hill and women’s cricket in general, you will be sorely missed.
CHICKEN: This weeks MVP goes to B2 for her great opening knock and amazing fielding in her new spot on the boundary. She did call it before the game that her mum has been an unlucky charm for her at games this year. With Sally’s absence on Sunday coinciding with B2’s BOG performance, I fear that Sally will no longer be allowed to attend games if B2 has anything to do with it…
Bowling stats: Doc 2/24 off 4, Mum 0/13 off 4, Nanna 0/32 off 4, Mega 0/25 off 2, Catters 0/18 off 4
Men’s 4th XI
The 4s had to play on Fairlea East because the 3s were on Fairlea West and the smaller ground predictably produced a high-scoring game. We lost the toss and fielded and most of the bowlers copped a bit of tap. But not thew Tough Man! Jarrod Tough put in a great spell of eight overs, taking 4/28. He was well backed up by Captain Jack (Barrett), who only went for 25 off his six. Glen Waverley finished up with 4/237 at just under six an over.
We lost early wickets in the chase but Rhino (Luke Ryan) got us back on track with 41, ably assisted by Roadie (Ian Roadnight, 26). More cheap wickets fell but then the tail wagged big time. Toughie followed up his four wickets with a quickfire 44, and skipper Gaz Nelson (40 no) and Empty (Andrew Lanning, 29) almost got us home before we fell seven runs short. Bad luck boys.
Chicken: Toughie was the clear chicken winner, and his 4-fa and 44 must have had him very close to claiming the Tom Bellis.
Men’s Vets Div 7: SOBs left sobbing! Here’s Ralphy reporting on another great win by the number 2 vets team…
Well, what a fantastic way to finish a pretty ordinary year! Let's re-live those last few overs…
SOBs start over 31 at 6/137 with Rankin and Martin well set and needing 25 runs off 36 balls. Jonesy bowls a tight over for five runs.
6/142 SOBs need 20 runs off 30 balls. Three runs off the first five deliveries and then Rankin slots a lofted off drive to the boundary off Saubern. Seven off the over.
6/149 SOBs need 13 runs off 24 balls. Jones back into the attack and another tight over but CHCC give up 4 more runs.
6/153 SOBs need 9 runs off 18 balls. Rankin and Martin in control and cruising to victory. Saubern is back bowling darts at the batsmen's feet. He dangles a full outswinger outside the off stump... Rankin takes the bait and slaps it to mid-off where Jones takes a controlled catch! Danger man out for 32!
7/157 SOBs need only 5 runs off 12 balls and still in the box seat. Jones back with the ball. Then: dot, dot, wicket! Martin out bowled Jones for 20! New batsman, Davies, cuts the first ball to gully where Sal dives dramatically and saves a run. Suddenly the batsmen look nervous. The field comes in and the call goes out: No singles! Still 5 runs to get off 8 balls.
Another dot, pressure building... Last ball of the over, Davies hits the ball into the on side and calls for the run. Deano dives and stops the ball miraculously... then rolls on top of the ball for a few seconds, then finds the ball, then sends it to Jonesy - who runs out Davies who somehow has only made it about halfway down the pitch in all that time! Double wicket maiden!9/157 SOBs still need 5 runs off 6 balls. SOB's captain at the crease. CHCC's captain with the ball. Every CHCC fielder in the ring (no, not that ring) saving the single. First ball of the over, Jones steps across the stumps to play the ball into the on side - and down goes his leg stump! SOBs all out for 157! A famous victory for CHCC Vets 7! The crowd goes wild...
With such an amazing team effort, it's hard to single out any one player but the box of chocolates this round has to go to Jones with 28 not out, 2/18 off six overs, a catch and a run-out assist. Well done, Jonesy! Lots of other great efforts to mention:
Stan, who says he didn't middle one but hit three 6s and a 4 in his 41 no and bowled six tight overs 0/23 (I think 12 of those were from edges through the slips cordon...);
Gerard (36) and Craig (16) a composed effort at the top of the order;
Den (6), Pete (1), Kevin (2), Sal (2) and Deano (6 no) didn't get a lot of runs but stuck around with Jonesy and saw our total through to 161 - weren't they important runs in the end?
Pete who bowled beautifully and deserved his two wickets 2/20 off six overs and took an important catch.
Ditto Kevin with six classy overs 2/28
An important wicket from Gerard in his spell of 1/23 off three
A tight over from Deano 0/3 who deserved more overs - next time!
And now the fielding... we often tell beginners and juniors that the game is mostly won in the field and wasn't that true on Sunday. What an outstanding effort from a bunch of old farts! Hamstrings, backs, shoulders, calves, feet... we didn't have any of those but we made up for it in spirit.
We chased down everything, worked in pairs, even dived to stop the ball! Everyone was good in the field but special mention to Sal who could barely walk but came to play, chased down every ball and made some crucial stops at the death. Most importantly, as Stan said, when things got tough in those last overs, no-one dropped their head. Everyone kept pushing to the last ball. I think that speaks volumes for our team spirit, our respect for each other and our creed: we're here to have fun, play as a team... and win!
CHICKEN: The second-best Jonesy gets the chicken!
Thank you for making my 100th game for the Clifton Hill Cricket Club so special. It's one that I will remember for a long time. Best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and summer break. See you fresh and uninjured (as if!) in January.
Cheers,
Ralph
Men’s Vets Div 3
In our only game at Rammo for season 2020-21, I lost the toss and elected to bowl. I also elected to take the new ball myself, which was my second mistake of the day. My first over was what our inugural vets skipper Dog Morgan would describe as ‘poo’. Two sixes and a four later Glen Iris were 0/16 after one over.
Fortunately I was smart enough to take myself straight off and Geoff Smith and Harro righted the ship. Glen Iris finished up on a roughly par score of 162, thanks to the efforts of Harro (1/10 off 5), Percy (1/10 off 2), Myles Harry on debut (1/15 off 6), Hamish (1/16 off 2), Benny B (1/20 off 6), Geoff (0/24 off 6) and Alex Smith (0/20 off 3). Even I recovered from my disastrous start to finish with 4/41.
James Allen (19) and Benny B got the chase off to a solid start and we remained in the hunt for the entire innings, thanks to Benny (41 retired), Myles (42 retired), Dog (10) and our other debutant Martin Black (15 not out). It came down to us needed 4 to tie or 6 to win off the last ball but we could only manage a single, going down by just three runs.
CHICKEN: Excellent efforts all round but Myles Harry gets the chicken for his great bowling and batting — and he took a catch too!
THE TOM BELLIS AWARD
GENTLEMAN JAKE CASTELOW
Two days before his 24th birthday, Jake gave himself and the 2s an early present with a magnificent 61 not out. Onya Jake!!