1st Grade
Home game.Hot Day. Good deck. Two-up strolls out to the toss and GR end up bowling first. It’s become boring really. Soufs made a solid start before Rhonda broke through on 56 followed by quick wickets from More-guns & GR’s answer to Katut, the Indian Love God Harjit Singh with the score on 62. A run out to Rhonda and it was soon 4-75. A late rally from Soufs to gotthem to 169 from 53.3 overs but all in all the Blues had taken all 10 wickets for 113 after the initial break through despite a few oopsee’s. With a modest chase on a modestly sized Bexley, the Blues began well with new opener Rhonda Scott and Wall E taking the score to 30 before E departed. From there it was shenanigans till stumps as the score slumped to 4–52 overnight including the two leading run scorers for the season in two-up & More-guns. Day 2 started OK when overnight watchmen Yartzee made it to 75 (team score you nuffeez). Larry Gomes grafted away with Captain Grammar (23) and the Ranga (26) played the aggressor to slowly shift the score to 7-145 when Grammar went. Suddenly it was all out 150 in 58.3 overs with S. Undrie top scorer (33), the early wickets, a seamy deck, tight bowling and poor shots stunting the growth of the Blues total. Another disappointing outcome from a team which it must be said are making less of an impression than less resourced GR 1st grade sides from previous seasons. Plenty of head scratching as we wonder, “What’s wrong with 1st grade?”
2nd Grade
Who’d have thought an Italian pants man could lose a toss? Blues bowling first and after some scrappy stuff early, finally broke through with Souf’son 25. It was soon 4-32 thanks to quick wickets from the Jazman(2-34 off 15) and Skipper Fonzarellee who claimed the prized scalp of Gav’s old mate Huddo. The Great One (2-22 off 13.3) and Angus Carral (1-16 off 12) joined the Parade and it was soon 6-64 off 41 overs at tea after a couple of chances slipped through the finger tips. An outfield softer than a Gillard foreign policy, tight bowling and one dimensional batting kept the crowds at bay. Soufs finally tee’ed off somewhat after tea to be all out 110 after 60 overs which was probably worth about 150.Fonzee was the pick with 3-11 off 13 overs (typical accountant) but it was a fair effort in conditions more suited to the pool at Jess’ house. With 20 overs to bat the Blues made it to 1-30 at stumps after losing ‘Stickers’ Worger to a screamer. Day 2 & James ‘Carl Lewis’ Kirkness (21)was looking sound before edging with the score on 36.Usain Nuske (33) combined with Disco Balls (20) in a 40 run stand before a mini collapse saw Fonzee kicking the jukebox at 5-82 after 51 overs at approx. 2.40pm. Enter The Great One who lashed 24no off 19 balls in a 34 run undefeated partnership off 4.4 overs with a bloke even older than him to win before tea! After a 1st hour that produced 15 runs & 1 wicket, there was no hope of an outright result and an early shower was called. Refer 4th grade report guys.
3rd grade
After more changes than Dianna Ross, Skipper Said Fred finally strode to the toss and lost only to have the Soufs skipper invite the Blues to bat in 47,000 degree heat. The Blues made a streaky start at 2-30 before a brief period of consolidation saw the top 3 back in the shed with the score on 3-83. A maiden 50 from Faf Anthony had the Blues at 5-134 at the pigswill and when Gary Dean (31) departed at 6-159 the game could have taken a different direction. With the batsman out of the way, Gorgeous George and the Chef launched into the attack in a 108 run stand before Gorgeous was controversially dismissed caught behind for 98 (14 fours & 3 sixes) after a meeting of the UN security council at square leg with the score on 267. The Chef continued to dish up the punishment in an 84 run partnership with Clive Robertson (31) and when the Chef was last man out for 88 (5 x fours & 5 sixes) Skipper Said Fred said,“right, we’re declaring at 9 for 3 million & 67 off 71.2 overs”. Leading from the front, Said Fred had Soufs at 1-0 when he hit the stumps first ball before Soufs removed the hitch from their giddy up to finish 1-38 off 8 overs overnight. Weeks 2 saw Said Fred continue his fine form with the ball (4-27 off 9) to lead the attack on a very flat surface. He was supported by the The Cougar (or is that Benjamin Button?) who staked 3-29 and Clive who bagged 2-22 to have Souf’s all out 186 after 47 overs. The deck was even flatter during the second sojourn but the Blues plugged away to take 6 -200 (Gary 3-51) before song time wall called. ControversiallyFaf was not bowled.
4th Grade
Losing the toss and bowling first on Bland the Blues were all over Soufs like collared shirts on spectators at a Columbo test match. A ruthless display saw 48.3 overs of dominance to dismiss the ‘Bunnies’ for 108. The bowling figures were almost so lob sided that Captain Cranky began warming up! Peter Harvey 3 – 11 off 5.5 overs, Festus 2-16 off 9, Cashman 1-22 off 7, Curried Newsman 1-6 off 9, The Pro 0-11 off 6 & Curfew 3-30 off 12 in a display tighter than a Treasurers Trust fund. With a whopping 31 overs to bat the Blues started like a second hand lawn mower at 1-9 before regular partnerships saw the total surpassed andthe 6 points by stumps as 4-176 was amassed. Dan The Man contributed 39 & Gabbo 28 whilst Curfew & Cashman were 49no & 38no each overnight. Week 2 and The Cashman was spent on 42, but Dale ‘Curfew’ Carew went on to 103no, smashing 15 fours & 2 sixes as Big Kev declared the innings closed at 7-251 after only 45 overs! A wonderful performance that used only 14 of week 2’squota to put his team in the box seat for an outright. The Blues bowlers backed him up superbly as Souf’s were dismissed for 102 in 38.2 overs to claim the 10 points. The Curried Newsman claimed 5-17 off 9 overs and was well supported by the Pro who claimed 3-23 of 10 & That man Curfew who chipped in with a lazy 2-4 off 4 point chooovers. Oh when the Blues, come Marchin in…..
TCC Stingrays vsLindfield Tailenders
Winning the toss, the Tailenders (must be funny further north) elected to bat but were no match for the Blues pace attack. The Tail gunners were dismissed for 119 in 38 overs with John F Kennedy the pick with a superb 4-10 off 8 overs. He was well supported by Luke Byron with 2-29, George Harrison with 2-21 and The Cougar with 2-13. In reply there were a few nervous moments before Budgee made 24, S.Undrie made 25 and Luke Byron completed a fine double with 46no. All done in 35.1 overs.
TCC Stingrays vs Balmain Inner Sydney Tigers
Lost 6-158 chasing 7-196. No other updates available so NO WRAP FOR YOU!
TCC Sharks Vs Lane Cove
Long Tom Garrido opened the innings with Ben son of Lindsay Le Bas and put on 41 before Le Bas departed for 21. Long Tom went onto 41 but apart from 17 from Randy Riley Orsome, the Blues folded like Darrel Lea to 9-116 off 40 overs. Lane Cove wizzed past in 29 overs losing only 4 wickets, Randy taking 2-23.
U24’s Vs North West Sydney
Winning the toss and batting first it was hard work from the get go when the 1st wicket went down at 20. A steady stream of wickets saw the Blues lose 10-103 to be all out for 123 after only 40.1 overs. Only Wall E (22) and Scud (28) showed any hope but 123 was never going to be enough and despite 4-45 from More-Guns including being on a hat-trick, NWS slogged their way past in only 16.2 overs to claim a bonus point.A result uglier than a thousand dropped pies. Clearly signs of performance anxiety as the young Blues were again unable to rise to the occasion on Ladies Day, going off early with the bat and mis-firing with the ball. As such, Ladies Day will now be canned until next season and the next U24 Home game will be dubbed Blokes day.
So 1’s are in more strife than Eddie Obeid whilst 2’s now sit in 5th place ahead of 3 other teams also with 3 wins thanks to a healthy quotient. 3’s sit inside the coveted top 4 with 5 wins and thanks to outright points and a healthy quotient 4’s also have 4th spot. The Stingray’s are close enough if good enough in 8th whilst the Sharks are still playing a long game.There’s plenty of strong performances but for those who are struggling, do you ensure you face 200 balls before Saturday? Catch 100 balls, etc, etc….
Go the Blues!