The day started looking like the last day of summer; low cloud, cold and with the grass an inch longer than normal with the rugby season approaching. OBC won the toss, elected to bat, and frankly never looked back from there in the game. Their two best players in David Bull and Neil Fletcher got them away to a solid if unspectacular start, but then slowly built momentum as the innings progressed. Kev Moore performed admirably in the unaccustomed role of opening bowler in Julian’s absence and finished with a fine 1-37 from 8. Doldy was the most parsimonious of all the bowlers, keeping the runs down to a trickle from his end when the others started to suffer during the later part of the innings. Ken Julian picked up two of the three wickets that fell, but the cost of 5 per over was easily his most expensive spell of the season. Sean (0-47) and Stu (0-48) both tried hard but bore the brunt of some of the big hitting towards the end of the innings when Bull, Fletcher and later McConnell finally opened up. The fielding was reasonable, and the bowling not too wayward, it was simply one of the finer batting efforts against us this year.

However, whilst OBC’s 217/3 was a good score in 40 overs and the context of this competition, it was score made on a good deck and one we felt achievable if we could put one or two good innings together. We started solidly initially maintaining a run rate of around four per over, however whilst everyone got starts, wickets feel too regularly throughout the innings to get the run rate finally up to a winning level. And that was the story of the innings, every player getting into at least the teens, three into the twenties, and a strongly hit 34 from Mark Paget who kept his team in the game - but no one could push onto to that 70-80 score that would have undoubtedly won us the match. Not that Maca thought it was over when he went in with three overs to go, cracking 21 not out to the season with nearly 100 runs without once being dismissed. So OBC’s modest bowling resources did the job as we finished 19 short at 198/8, but will feel it was a game that we let slip. Despite that, OBC’s batting effort certainly deserved the win so there can be no complaints about the result.

The loss saw us finish the season second equal with Riccarton and a solid 20 points behind East’s Gold who had the competition effectively won some weeks ago. However, it represented a big improvement for us on last year’s performance, and a good base to go another place higher next year.

Man of the Match – Mark Paget

vs BWU (18 Mar 2006)

A comfortable 5 wicket win in the penultimate game of the season. This was a game where we were again able to get early dominance, and other than a shaky start to our own batting effort, the result was clear for most of the match, as much as you can say that in a game of cricket.

BWU won the toss and yet again we found ourselves consigned to bowling first on a wicket that had a bit there for the bowler. Bill Nicholson took an early wicket and that set the tone for the rest of the innings with wickets falling consistently and never allowing BWU to get on top. Pick of the bowlers was Sean Hobson (3-13) and Stu Simpson (1-15). Sean, reverting to his left arm mediums on a wicket that favoured the seamers, was always a handful, and Stu continually beat the bat and bowled with little luck (especially whenever the ball was hit gently back in the air to him). The fielding was notable for Bill Thomson’s surprise catch which left him with more catches than runs for the season but the comedy this week came from Plucky who seem to insist that the batsman was run out because “he was well out” despite him previously dislodging the bails – a disappointing result to come from such a fine rocket throw above the bails from the fielder. BWU finished at 120/7 at the end of the 40th over.

Our batting stuttered at the outset with openers Bill Thomson and Mike Percy both out with two on the board, and then Plucky succumbed by hitting the slow left armer down backward square’s throat to make it 13-3. But cometh the hour, cometh the man, as Paul McKenzie strode out to the wicket to take command of the situation. Together with Sean, they firstly righted the ship, and then took the score through to a comfortable 73 before Sean was the 4th wicket to fall for 38 - an innings of patience coupled with some well struck boundaries. Mark Paget came and went, shorn-off in a run out initiated by his partner who shall remain nameless. Maca finished not out after he and Darren Hickson took the innings comfortably through to the close at 121/5. We remain on target to finish the season in 2nd place if we can beat OBCC Gold next week at Sydenham.

Man of the Match – Sean Hobson

vs Riccarton (11 Mar 2006)

This week’s match was an important one in the context of the competition in that a win would move us into joint second place with Riccarton, whereas a loss would probably have consigned us to third place for the season with two games to go. So it was pleasing that we were able to take a degree of control over the game from the early overs, and then progressively enforce it as the game wore on. To be fair, Riccarton were under strength with one or two key players unavailable, and we probably had our strongest side out this season. 

With Riccarton’s bowling the least affected by unavailability, when they won the toss they inserted us to try to get some early dominance. The fact that they didn’t is a testimony to the way Gary Gardiner (52) played the early overs as he regularly stroked straight boundaries with little apparent risk. Between him and Kevin (49) they put on 106 for the first wicket at a bit over 4 an over and set the game up for a good total. All the middle order then contributed from that point with Kevie Moore and Mark Paget ticking the score along at a good rate, and Ken playing the supporting role through to the end, finishing not out on 43. 

The captain’s ploy of being able to skilfully place Paul McKenzie in the batting order one place below the maximum number of wickets he was prepared to lose, saw Maca left stranded again next man in, and without a bat for yet another week. 

A solid total of 205/5 became considerably more demanding when Julian and Stu took a vice-like grip on the rate run in the first 10 overs such that at 33/2 after 14, the contest had started to become one-sided. Particularly so with Riccarton’s loss of opener Stu Gambles to yet another excellent piece of fielding from Ken Julian, when off his own bowling, he turned to throw down the stumps from side on. Both Ken and Doldy maintained the pressure on the batsmen with Doldy producing probably his best spell of the year in taken 3-15 from his 8 overs. After struggling to get his line right in his first couple of overs, Sean was equally miserly conceding only 15 from his 6. The fielding was up and down, literally, with a couple of good catches matched by one or two in front of and behind the wicket that it would be fair to say were a touch more easy. 

Riccarton meandered through the final overs to finish at 108/8 with the only highlight of those latter overs being Maca’s bowling – his little mediums kept the run rate to less than half the required rate (42.5 per over when he came on), showing clearly that he’s someone that we can rely upon in similar situations in the future. 

Man of the Match – Gary Gardiner for setting the game up for us.

vs Marist (4 Mar 2006)

No result. The game was cancelled due to heavy rain the previous 2 days.

vs Syd Hospital (26 Feb 2006)

The local derby may not have been a high scoring one but it sure kept the interest until the final few overs. 

Transferred onto Sydenham 1 in front of the newly painted Sydenham pavilion, the Cardinals won the toss and asked Hospital to bat. Our bowlers had early successes as Julian and Stu made inroads into the top order to have Hospital 25/4 by the end of the first 10 overs. Julian provided few loose deliveries to finish with an excellent 2-22, and an injured Stu Simpson, who had doubted his ability to get through his spell, soldiered through to an even more impressive 2-14. Bill Nicholson, Jim and Doldy all carried on the good work with Bill probably the pick of them with his 1-25 (including a very smart return catch to dismiss the top scorer at a critical time). 

Hospital struggled through to be all out for 130, not assisted by some late run outs in the dying stages. Robinson was the star of the Hospital innings scoring a hard hit 86 as the others fell around him.

Our batting effort was a stuttering one, but with the task at only 3 runs per over, and although tension was always there, we remained favourites throughout the chase. Stu batting in an unaccustomed role as opener scored a useful 17 as he and Spency (20) put on 40 for the 2nd wicket. Then at 60/3 the innings faltered somewhat in the middle before a couple of old heads got together to guide us home. Bill Nicholson and Pluck (17*) put the critical partnership together with Bill’s innings of 26*, despite his obvious lack of match fitness, invaluable - Plucky continues to grow each week having played the key innings the week before.

Hospital fought hard with their opening bowler Childs giving the early batsman a hurry up, more reminiscent for some of us of prior senior days rather than Presidents. However, in the end they just did not have enough runs for the bowlers to defend successfully and we finished the chase with 2 overs to go and five down. 

Man of the Match – Bill Nicholson (with Stu Simpson a close second).

vs Sumner (18 Feb 2006)

It was good to be back on Bradford and this time to find a nicely prepared wicket, be it with a fairly lush outfield. On a perfect day Sumner won the toss, and not surprisingly, elected to bat. The innings never really reached by great height, or depth, as Sumner proceeded to accumulate runs consistently at 4-5 per over, with Gary Hooper’s aggressive approach from one end countered by a more sedate innings from his fellow opener. Our bowling was containing, but for the first time this season, never really looked like making the break through to get amongst the opposition. All the bowlers produced respectable figures, with Sean the only one to get a wicket as Sumner made their way through to 194/1 by the 40th over – a total probably well short of where it should have been given the loss of only one wicket one, and something that probably cost Sumner in the end. A lack of attention and urgency in the field at times in the first 30 overs didn’t assist, with a seemingly complacent attitude that things would just happen rather than making them happen, they didn’t – fortunately this was much improved in the final 10 overs when Sumner were at risk of getting a big total, and we kept them to less than 60 in those overs despite being only one down. 

Gary Hooper finished with an excellent 133 * against his “bunny” club, and proved yet again that he could well have made a career just out of the runs he’s score against Sydenham over the years. 

The run chase was always at or ahead of the required run rate with the openers putting on 39 for the 1st wicket, and then from 45/2, the middle order bought the game home. Mark Paget (55) and Ken (11) initially combined to take the score through to 112 and set up the innings, then when those two were both gone by 130, Plucky and Sean (31*) saw us through to the end. Plucky’s innings was critical and he finished with a very good 41 not out. To be fair, Sumner’s bowling attack which is not menacing on the best on days, was missing a player or two and struggled to be able to back up Hooper’s fine 1-21. 

Another good win that now sees us move on to the local derby against the Hospital boys at Sydenham this week. Without having seen this week’s results, we remain tied with Saints in 3rd place and with a chance of 2nd if the momentum can be maintained, and Riccarton beaten in three weeks time.

Men of the match – tie between Mark & Plucky.

  vs Old Boys Collegians Blue (11 Feb 2006)

No result. The game was cancelled on the Friday due wet ground conditions after 3 days of heavy rain. Saturday turned out to be one of the hottest days of the summer. Go figure!

vs East Shirley Blue (4 Feb 2006)

With many players away from both teams on holiday or working, this week’s match resembled a benefit game for 3rd grade players as both teams topped their ranks with players whose games had finished the previous week – Darren Hickson and Tim Hansen for us, and several of them for Easts. 

The pitch at Ilam was a real contrast to the flat deck we’d played Riccarton on prior to Christmas – it’s was dry and popping throughout most of the match. East’s won the toss, and surprisingly on such a pitch and their recent batting form, elected to bat rather than wait to see what they needed to chase. They started badly with Julian Van Dyke (2-12) and 3rd grade’s Tim Hansen both bowling well and causing some strife with shorter pitched deliveries on a wicket that had tennis ball bounce at times. The first wicket fell at 16 and that proved to be the second highest partnership of the match, the next best 20. Julian had two early wickets but it was the introduction of the spinners that did the damage. Doldy bowled tightly (1-27) but it was Sean Hobson who found the wicket most to his liking. He hit the top of off stump three times as he took 4-10 from his eight overs and effectively took East’s out of the game - they were ultimately all out to 80 in the 30th over. As is common with international sides these days, our own Glen McGrath, Stu Simpson, was rested from the bowling crease this week to keep him fresh and nurse him through the season – Stu was however permitted 5 deliveries to take the final wicket. The fielding was considerably assisted by the introduction of the younger blood from the 3rd’s. Darren was undoubtedly the star performer on the day taking three good outfield catches as well as chiming in with two wickets of his own with his gentle off spinners. In one match Darren went to second equal for non-wicket keeping catches in the side – clearly, the rest of us prefer to hit the stumps hit instead. 

The batting made short work of the run chase with Spency and Tony Danenburg putting on 28 for the first wicket before Tony was out for 16. Spency and Darren then worked their way through to the East’s total by the 21st over, both players finishing with not outs 30’s. A win with a 4.15pm finish, and plenty of time for a beer at the pub - a good day. 

vs St Albans (28 Jan 2006)

We again won the toss and put St Albans into bat on a Bradford Park pitch that did not appear to have been mown for some days and was a concerned to both sides at the outset of the match. Saints started well but batted conservatively as Stew and Julian kept the run rate below 3 in their opening spells of 4 overs each. That pressure didn’t relent when Dolden opened up with two maidens and then continued to build pressure on both opening batsmen who worked their way through to 71 before the fall of the first wicket. 

At the half way stage Saints were 78 for 2 and well placed with wickets in hand to push on towards 200.As it turned out they struggled through to a modest 150/6 with some fine containing bowling from Sean Hobson and Gary Gardiner in the middle and end stages of the innings. Wickets were shared around with Doldy probably the pick of the bowlers with 2/26, and Sean with 2/42. The fielding made a recovery from last week’s embarrassing effort against Easts, and although one or two catches were dropped, there was a general improvement in the ground fielding and a couple of great catches – a good snuffle by Gards at slip off Stew, a fine running catch on the boundary by Julian Van Dyke, and there was just no way Kevie Moore was ever looking like missing his outfield catch. 

So set 151 to win, and with a recent shaky run chase record against such scores in recent weeks, we set off with our usual early loss of an opener, Plucky succumbing for 3 early on. The next few batsmen all got starts, 14 through to Kev’s 26, but never really took hold of the game and attempted to bat right through – a regular occurrence for us in the bigger games this year. From 46/2 Gary Gardiner shored up the middle order and quietly batted through the situation until Tony Danenburg batting at 7 joined him. They then set about pushing the score at a run at of around 5 from 106/5 through to 147 before Gard’s fell for an invaluable 29. Tony finished on 32*, his best performance this year and one that will give him further confidence to hit the ball over the rest of the season. So the pitch concerns eventually proved unfounded as it caused little problems to both sides. However, it is obvious that with more preparation it could be turned into an excellent batting surface, and a ground that everyone would look forward to playing on.

Man of the Match – Tony Danenburg

vs East Shirley Gold (21 Jan 2006)

This game was our second loss to competition leaders Easts Gold in 3 weeks and served to highlight the gap we will need to close to be competitive with them next year. Again we won the toss, inserted them, and then saw the game develop in a very similar manner to our pre-Christmas match. East’s lost early wickets as Stew and Julian conceded only 15 runs in their opening spells, picking up a wicket a piece. However, from 2-11, East’s middle order slowly restored the game such that when the 4th wicket fell at 146 they were in comfortable but not controlling position. Our bowling in the final 10 overs was exemplary and restricted East’s to less than 50 to have them 6 down for a gettable 176. Pick of the bowlers was Stew Simpson and Julian Van Dyke with 2-26 and 3-33 respectively off their 8 overs. Whilst our bowling shone out it was not backed up by the fielding in what was our worst display this year - the ground fielding in particular was an embarrassment at times with balls going straight through guys to the boundary, and a general lack of anticipation to cut off singles.

A gettable 175 suddenly looked along way off when again, as in our previous game against them, we got off to an audacious start, 3-9 after the first 5 overs. Only Kev Moore with 23 managed any resistance in the middle order, and it was left up to a fighting 44 from Stew and Julian for the 9th wicket, when the game was all but lost, that added a touch of respectability and permitted us to creep to 101 having never threatened East’s total. In end the difference between the two sides over the two games seems to be East’s ability to fight its way out of difficult situations, whereas we have tended to crumble in the same situation with no one able to step up sufficiently on the day. 

Man of the Match – a tie between Stew and Julian

vs Lancaster Park Woolston (14 Jan 2006)

After our loss the previous game to East Shirley Gold, it was nice to get back on the winning trial with a comprehensive victory against Lancaster Park in our first game after Christmas. We lost the toss and Park elected to bat, something that we would have loved to have done ourselves on one of our rare appearances on Sydenham 1. 

Park started solidly getting through to 37 for the first wicket aided by two dropped catches off Mark Chamberlain, one of their better batsman. Stewie and Julian’s opening spells gave little away but the game really turned in our favour when the spinners came on. Kenny and Doldy continued the squeeze on the Park batsmen and then started to regularly chip in with wickets which stopped Park from mustering any real momentum. Doldy bowled his best spell of the season to take 4-28 off his 8, a testimony to zeal with which he has attacked the gym over these past few months. Kevie Moore and Sean continued the good work backed up by a couple of run outs – one a bad mix up between the Park batsman, and the other, a brilliant bit a fakery and throw on the turn near the boundary by Ken Julian. The catching was a real mixed bag with several dropped early, but then two brilliant reflects takes at slip by Spency (he was later to prove that his fine catching is restricted to slips only), and one excellent one by Sean as it swirled away from him in the wind. The openers then came back to finish the innings off – Park all out in the 40th over for 148 on a good batting deck. 

The run chase quickly became a canter as our two openers Plucky and Ewen Spence gained confidence, and then settled in to try to get the score themselves. Plucky’s knees held out long enough after his first spell at wicket keeping in some years to make it through to his top score of the season of 64, just about 20 short of Park’s total. However Spency, making his first appearance for us this year, was more intent upon having some red ink beside his name as he cut and drove his way through to finish with a well deserved 61 n.o – Mark Paget finishing with him on 18 n.o. Whilst Spency’s innings in a cricket sense was wonderful to watch, he was a pathetic sight at the crease. His little frame was clearly suffering in the cold wind, and his past statement of “I love being skinny” surely must have come back to haunt him – well there’s only one thing worse than playing cricket in that wind Spency, it running around roads in a cold wind playing at harriers, there’s a lesson there. 

All up, a good win that sets us up for another tussle with league leader East Shirley Gold next week at Clare Park. 

vs East Shirley Gold (17 Dec 2005)

As big matches go, this could have turned out better. Our game against competition leader East Shirley Gold had the hopes of all the other top three sides as well in that if we could topple them it would leave four teams within 5 points of each other at the top of the table at Christmas. Certainly we could not have hoped for a better start. We won the toss and elected to bowl on a very flat track at Burwood 1 - a calculated gamble based upon the damp conditions throughout most of the week. And then the bowlers again took charge as they normally do and we quickly had Easts in dire straights at 4-19 with Stewie Simpson and Julian Van Dyke stifling any opportunities for runs. The wickets were evenly spread between all the bowlers with Julian Van Dyke (2-17)and Ken Julian (1-13) the pick of them on the day, and Kev Moore (2-40) chiming in with a couple of critical ones. The fielding also contributed with three run outs, the best being Ken's throw on the turn to run out one of the early batsmen. 

However although Easts recovered to be eventually dismissed for 157, thanks to Bryce Nicholson’s solid 59, it was on a very flat deck and we were rightly confident that we had the game well in hand as we went out to bat. That quickly changed second ball of the innings with the dismissal of the captain, quickly followed by Plucky next over - so we were 0 for 2 and a touch worried, and then more than a touch when Ken Julian was brilliantly caught and bowled by Arthur Daley for 3. A brief recovery ensued with Kevin Moore (41) defiantly cracking boundaries and Sean Hobson (27) providing solid support at the other end. But when they were both eventually dismissed, the middle order and tail disintegrated to be all out for a paltry 92, again with a bad run-off at an important stage. Easts are a good side with the confidence that comes from repeatedly winning competitions, and no doubt they fully deserved the win based upon their excellent recovery with both bat and ball. But they will feel they escaped the game as there can be no denying the fact that we literally threw it away when we had it in control, the second time we have done so against a top three side. Easts score was modest, the track flat, and the bowling no more than good solid line and length, we simply wiltered without much pressure being exerted – just one of those unfortunate days on a day when we didn't need it. The result probably now cements East’s chances of winning the competition again this year and we must now focus upon second place.

There was some good to come from the game, only one injury (a record for a Saturday) when Bill Nicholson tweaked a hamstring as he bravely dived to stop a critical boundary – its such an unfair game.