A good weekend but it could have been better |
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Five wins and a very frustrating draw is a good result, however one of the three possible outrights and a win in fourths would have made it a great weekend.  |
Greg Lewis takes the catch at Chatswood off Dan Smith
First Grade
With all the rain over the past week, winning tosses was going to be vitally important. James Packman duly did this and invited Bankstown to bat on a deck that certainly offered the bowlers some assistance. Dan Smith was the first to take advantage of the conditions as he took the first three wickets.
Chad Soper then continued his excellent run of form, immediately taking two more for the addition of no runs, leaving Bankstown sitting precariously on 5-43. He continued to trouble the batsmen and there was no chance of a rear guard action. The innings concluded at 76 with Chad securing a fantastic 5-21. He was well supported by the other quicks who all had success.
It was important that the openers got off to a good start and Cam Eccles and Greg Lewis did just that. They added 43 in good time with Cam being very aggressive. Reece Bombas also made a good contribution and he and Greg took the score almost to the target.
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The slips are in unison in first grade
A couple of wickets but Steve Colley also batted very well and overnight the Stags were well ahead and in search of more points. On Sunday, it was a matter of quick runs, a good lead and the bowlers to strike early.
It was clear that the wicket had settled down a lot and Iain Beverley and James Packman both pushed the score along very effectively. Once the partnership was broken the rest of the batsmen fell quickly but Gordon had established a very handy lead of 153.
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Chad Soper, Steve Colley and Dan Smith against Bankstown on the weekend
Unfortunately, they were unable to capitalise on it before lunch with Bankstown adding 36 for the loss of no wickets. Immediately after the break, Dan Smith again took three quick wickets and, with another from Scott Heaney, the score sat at 4-64 and the Stags were on top.
From there, a good fight back ensued as the batsmen dug in and pushed the score along. An outright was not to be as Bankstown finished on 9-307. Hence, Gordon had to be satisfied with a very convincing first innings win and a continuation of their good form.
First Grade Scores
Gordon 229 (Steve Colley 49, Greg Lewis 43, Iain Beverley 38, James Packman 35, Cam Eccles 29, Reece Bombas 22) defeated Bankstown 76 (Chad Soper 5-21, Dan Smith 3-16) and 9-307 (Dan Smith 4-61) on first innings.
Second Grade
The seconds were delayed for an hour and won the toss on a wicket that needed some sun to harden up. Adair Durie and James Campbell will always be dangerous in good bowling conditions, due to their experience and with excellent line and length they got on top of the Bankstown bats and dismissed them for 78.
Ben Garratt Bankstown Oval
Adair finished with his first five wicket haul for the season and James his first 4 wickets which augers well for the run to the semis and hopefully beyond. The fielding was also good with Craig Thornborough taking two nice catches.
From here it was still going to be hard and wickets started to fall and at 4 for 48, we were starting to get the wobbles. Justin Avendano showed great skills however to get through the difficult stage with some aggressive batting and we passed the Bankstown score five wicket down. Unfortunately after the good work was done Justin was out for 46 with the score on 82.
Another wicket fell and with the score on 7 for 87, it was looking like we were not going to take advantage of the low score by Bankstown. Craig Thornborough (24) and Kurt Roughley (41 no) then got their heads down and with some late hitting from Kurt took the score to 175.
Outrights are always difficult to get and in the end this proved the case, however with two quick wickets on Saturday night and the dogs at 2 for 22 at stumps there was a strong hope of taking 10 points.
The issue on the Sunday morning was going to be how well the wicket would fully dry out and become the normal good batting wicket at Bankstown Oval.
With a couple of tough dropped catches and our bowlers working hard on a track that had now flattened out well, the Bankstown bats started to recover and a long day in the field was ahead of us.
Kurt Roughley in action at Bankstown
The team kept at it but wickets were not coming quickly enough and a solid century from young batsman Daniel Solway allowed Bankstown to get to 6 for 256 with 19 overs left in the day and a lead of 159.
At this point they decided to give Gordon a go at getting the runs needed for an outright, however 8.3 an over was going to be hard. Jordan Liddle (75) and Brett Rosen (32) gave it a good shot but we could only get to 2 for 129 at stumps. Outrights are tough to get, particularly against good sides.
Second Grade Scores
Bankstown 78 (Adair 5 for 14, James Campbell 4 for 47) and 6 dec for 256 (Ben Garratt 2 for 37, Elliot Richtor 1 wkt, Kurt Roughley 1 wkt, Adair Durie 1 wkt, James Campbell 1 wkt) were defeated on the first innings by Gordon 175 (Justin Avendano 46, Kurt Roughley 41 not out, Craig Thornborough 24) and 2 for 129 (Jordan Liddle 75, Brett Rosen 32)
Third Grade
The Thirds batted first on a Killara deck that had a bit of life in it. Having lost the toss (now there’s a surprise!!) skipper Howitt opened with Harry Turner and decided the slow outfield would not affect the ball as much if it was hit in the air. He smacked a quick fire 32 and Gordon was on the way. The score mounted slowly but wickets in hand were a priority.
Ian Higgins his first wicket in grade cricket
Harry and Ian Higgins shared an excellent partnership of 113 and the day finished at 204 for the loss of 6 wickets – a very pleasing result considering the conditions.
Day two saw Tjaard Tait, who had also batted really well the previous evening, taking to the bowling. With Tom Beverley, he added a further 49 and Bankstown was set an imposing 254 to win.
The experienced bowlers were always going to make it difficult and so it was. Julian Stephenson and Ed Howitt struck early and often and in no time the score was 5-18! Wickets continued as the young Bankstown team struggled against the tight attack and the tea score of 8-70 meant it was just a matter of time.
Despite a last wicket partnership which lasted for half an hour, the innings finished at 104 – a really good bowling display by the Stags.
Hoppa invited Bankstown to bat again hoping for early wickets and some panic. The first 20 minutes were full of plays and misses, snicks, appeals and other assorted near things but wickets proved hard to come by.
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Jules Stephenson returns to Killara after 6 years and takes an edge while Tjaard Tait and Harry Turner batted very well.
Julian finally separated the openers but over fifty more runs were added before Harry Turner got into the act. He took 4 wickets in quick time to give Gordon a glimmer. A feature of his wickets was some of the catches – spectacular to say the least! Adam Cubbage’s running and diving snare on the fence would have found its way comfortably onto any Channel 9 Best of Classic Catches – absolutely brilliant!
Unfortunately, the allotted overs were used up and, it was left to Ian Higgins to bowl the final over (just proving that if you badger a captain for long enough he will finally weaken). Tragically, Missy then proceeded to take a wicket immediately! I won’t go into any more details – he will! Incessantly! So, a good first innings win and the Thirds move into the top six – keep it going!
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Ok here it is again, the Ian Higgins delivery, the approval of Adam Cubbage and Ian leads Harry Turner off the field
Third Grade Scores
Gordon 6-253 dec (Harry Turner 65, Ian Higgins 58, Tjaard Tait 58*) defeated Bankstown 104 (Julian Stephenson 3-8, Ed Howitt 3-19, Pat Effeney 2-39) and 6-108 (Harry Turner 4-25, Julian Stephenson 1 for 30, Ian Higgins 1 for 1) on first innings.
Fourth Grade
This was a game you could probably write a book about, but it doesn’t have a positive ending so I won’t try. Just the facts and you can make your own conclusions.
Charlie Bangs trying his hardest at Grahame Thomas
To set the scene Bankstown fourths at the start of the game were in 7th position and 3 points from the top six with 5 matches to play. Gordon were in 8th spot and six points from the top six. It has been wet all week, but the outfield is fast and Grahame Thomas Oval is one of the smallest in Sydney. The start is delayed till 1pm.
The toss is won by Bankstown and on a damp wicket Gordon is sent in. The ball is doing a bit, but the bowlers seem to be bowling a bit short and not taking full advantage. The Gordon fourth grade side is not known well for its defending. The batsman decide attack is the best form of defence and first Mitch Kleem with 56 off 35 balls and then Jack Colley with a quick 50 get the score moving. A few more cameos and then Tom Carruthers continues the attack and is the last batsman out for 95. A fantastic innings under difficult conditions. The Fourths are all out for 277 off just 48 overs. There is still about 30 overs to bowl in the day and 80 on Sunday, plenty of time for both sides to win.
The Gordon bowlers are on top early as there is still some movement in the track and at the end of 29 overs Bankstown are 3 for 45.
If the Bankstown bats had been slow on Saturday night, they even got slower on Sunday. It was simply a matter of blocking everything and taking the odd single. The wicket was now bone dry.
So far fair enough, they would work toward the total and then accelerate for a victory. The Bankstown stalwart Mark Grant had been at the crease from 4.50pm the night before and except for 6 or 7 unsuccessful LBW appeals nothing was going to get past him. The score moved slowly as a few wickets fell and by tea having bowled 70 overs of which 60 had been while Mark was batting, he had moved to 20 not out.
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Alex Jackson, Alex Lines and Tom Gooch against Bankstown
If the plan was to frustrate the Gordon team it was working. The run rate started to pick up as the final session continued and with 10 overs left 60 runs were needed. Then it was 38 off 5, still OK as Bankstown still had three wickets in hand.
With two overs left 12 runs were needed and still three wickets in hand. Remember the ground is very small and by now the outfield lightning fast and the wicket a road.
The decision by the batsman was to block out the last two overs for a draw finishing at 268 and 10 runs short. Mark Grant finished 82 not out over 326 minutes and 101 overs.
The end result means Gordon moved down to 11th and 9 points from the 6 and Bankstown went down to 10th and now 6 points out of the top six.
What was the point? Why would you come back next week?
Fourth Grade Scores
Gordon 277 Tom Carruthers 95, Jack Colley 50, Mitch Kleem 56) drew with Bankstown 8 for 268 (Charlie Bangs 3 for 59 (31) Tom Gooch 2 for 54 (16) Alex Lines 2 for 56 (31), Michael Perry 1 for 12 (9))
Fifth Grade
A very damp Beauchamp meant no play on Saturday. So, the Fifths had an early Sunday start and a 120 over game. Matt Todd won the toss and the bowlers had the opposition in trouble from the beginning.
Max Newman during his 58 on Sunday
A couple of dropped catches did not help but the lush outfield meant quick runs were difficult. Dave Monaghan, Tom Bangs and Ben Armstrong were very miserly and the wickets finally started to come.
Some good catches (finally) and a run out and the Stags were on top. Just before lunch, Tristan Cooper took two wickets and with Toddy also strangling the batsmen (12 overs for 10 runs), 5-70 looked good. Shortly after lunch, Dave Monaghan came on again and struck immediately with a couple more wickets.
A newcomer to the bowling crease, Carl Kinghorne, also chipped in with a couple and Bankstown were all out for 106 – a good result for the Stags. In reply, a wicket fell early but Carl Kinghorne and Max Newman batted very sensibly against quite a good opening attack and took the game right away from Bankstown.
They added 70 before Carl was dismissed. Reagan Klemt then joined Max, who played some excellent shots and they comfortably moved past the required score. Reagan completed his holiday stint with the club with more runs and we look forward to seeing him again next season. An excellent win and the Fifths sit in second place on the ladder – well done!
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Carl Kinghorne, Max Newman and Ben Armstrong at Beauchamp
Fifth Grade Scores
Gordon 3-119 (Max Newman 58, Carl Kinghorne 30, Reagan Klemt 28*) defeated Bankstown 106 (Dave Monaghan 3-29, Carl Kinghorne 2-9, Tristan Cooper 2-10).
Colts
The Colts won the toss and Snape Park in a one day match against Randwick Petersham Gold and they will be the first to admit, the conditions were the reason they got a victory, rather than their better play.
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James Partridge and Mark Fonseka go out to start the Gordon Colts innings, while we show off our new "Umpcam" with Dave Leiboff hitting one to leg at Snape.
While our bowlers were getting wickets on the soft track, they were also bowling plenty of wides and were making the job easier for Randwick. In the end they bowled them out for 100 with both Dave Millar and Deva getting three wickets and Iqbal 2.
The run chase was hard on the improving wicket and Randwick Petersham bowled well to have us 6 for 80 in reply with Brendan Gray (24) and Mark Fonseka (16) scoring the runs . The batting was getting easier, but we were making it hard against a good attack. Eventually a few good blows and we passed the score 6 down and chalked up the 6 points. Not our best performance, but we will improve from here.
Colts Scores
Randwick Petersham 100 (Deva Nirthanakumaran 3 for 11, Dave Millar 3 for 23, Iqbal Ahmed 2 for 2, Dave Leiboff 1 for 17 were defeated by Gordon 6 for 101 (Brendan Gray 24, Mark Fonseka 16)
Just to conclude can anyone tell me what ian Higgins and Tjaard tait are doing at cover late in the second innings on Sunday?
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