Match Report vs UNSW by Lachlan Borg

We rocked up to a must win qualifying final against UNSW and, after having a thrilling win against them earlier in the season, we came in to the game knowing what we had to do. We inspected the deck and Jack assured me that we should bat first, luckily Bruce had other plans.

Will Calov in action against UNSW

So we elected to bowl on what was a bit of a grassy deck, with moisture about and clouds lingering. It was Harry who took the first ball of the finals, fighting shin splints. It was an awesome effort just getting out there, let alone bowl a great over with lots of plays and misses and managing to get it to cut off the deck. Then entered Will Calov, who had to fight a very strong wind, but had an awesome spell of 4 overs and managed to pick up 3 vital wickets with the assistance of a very good catch by Jack Colley.

Seany Campbell then took the ball down wind, and although battling a torn muscle in his lower back, he fought on and picked up a key wicket, which swung the momentum to us. 4-39 at this stage, and we were in a commanding position. The batsmen began to forge a meaningful partnership, until we managed to snare a wicket to stop the run flow. Jordan Farrell then came on to bowl, and really tightened things up by bowling great line and length, and getting a bit of turn as well. The batsmen played and missed continually and finally Jordan captured a well-deserved scalp.

Will Calov came back on for a short spell taking another wicket, which brought us to lunch. Resuming after lunch UNSW were 7-103, they slowly began to get away from us. Our intensity began to drop a little, and the batsmen were making the most of it. But then James Partridge came on and instantly took a wicket which got us going again.

Soon after Erickson for UNSW brought up his ton, and they finished all out on the last ball for a total of 233. James Partridge (3-50 off 9), Harry Middlebrook (0-30 off 7), Will Calov (4-56 off 10), Sean Campbell (1-23 off 8), Rohan Siva (0-34 off 9), Lachlan Borg (1-15 off 7), Jordan Farrell (1-24 off 10).
It was Connor and Chris who strode out to start to reduce the total, two men on a mission. UNSW’s bowlers came steaming in and unfortunately Connor fell second ball for a duck. Which brought the menacing Jack Colley to the crease, instantly making his presence felt. Chris got off the mark, and smoked a glorious pull shot for four. Looking very good, that same shot managed to bring him unstuck for 12. Jack, after playing a great straight drive and pull shot fell to the left arm quick.

Saahil then fell to the same bowler for 3. James Partridge and Lachlan Borg then began to build a solid partnership to get the innings back on track, with James hitting some glorious shots straight and square of the wicket off the spinners and providing some entertainment for the crowd. Unfortunately, he fell to the offie for 15. Lachlan Borg followed for 32 after a good stand with Jordan Farrell.

A great stumping by Max Papworth, Jordan Farrell hits out and Sean Campbell steams in

Farrell was smoking them for his 30 and we started to look a chance again, with him hanging around at the crease. Once he fell for 30, things began to get away from us. With Max and Harry falling in fairly quick succession, the score drifted to 9-136.

Sean and Rohan hung around and gave their admirers in the stand a lot to laugh about, but also batting very well at the same time. It seemed a big ask, as we needed about 80 off 10 overs, but they fought it out. Rohan casual as always, requesting new gloves as his had worn out in somehow. In the end it was all too much and we were bowled out for 168. We walked off the pitch with a smile on our faces thanks to Sean and Rohan.

We all had a great season, but it was a bit sad to finish the way we did.

Happy Birthday Max!

Thanks very much to the Gordon Cricket club and Andrew Falk, Michael Falk, Tony Wilson, Peter Horwitz, and Paul Stephenson in particular. We wouldn't be out there without your support and assistance in organising gear, photos and grounds.

Thanks to all the scorers throughout the season. You made everyone else’s jobs a lot easier, and it was all very neat I might add!

Special thanks to Bruce and Corbin Edgar. We all had a great season with you and it was an honour to have Bruce return as coach this year, even though Corbin was not playing.

Also a big thanks to Derek Borg for his fantastic managing during the season. Your organising was exceptional.

Good luck next year Stags!

Lachlan Borg

An amazing win for the Green Shield - Match Report by Sean Campbell

The Gordon boys were back in action with a great victory over Parramatta to put them through to the finals. Skipper Borgy went to the centre to do the toss and came back with a loss of the call and the stags were sent to bowl.

Chris Spratt hits out against Parramatta

We were interested in how the bowling attack would hold with having injuries to two of the quick bowlers Lachie Borg and Sean Campbell making them both unable to bowl and leaving the stags with limited bowlers.

Harry 'Ginger' 'Mulls' Middlebrook and Will 'Choir Boy' Calov were asked to open the bowling and did a fantastic job at it limiting the runs and also picking up early wickets which was vital for the innings. Rohan Siva and James Partridge followed the opening bowling attack and did well with their lines and length limiting the runs against two good batsmen at the crease. The innings went on and we were running short of bowlers so Borgy decided to let the batsmen have a bowl with Connor Jackson,  Sahil 'the gobler' Turkhi and Chris Spratt all making appearances in the bowling attack.

The batsmen bowled well and kept the run rate limited again but a few loose overs towards the end of the innings let Parramatta get to 8 for 268. This was easily a getable target with the batting attack we had lined up.

It was our time to be sent to the crease. When the batsmen saw the score their eyes lit up realising they could all make solid scores here against the Parramatta bowling attack. Spratty and Connor opened the batting for Gordon and put on a solid performance showing their techniques and hard hitting of the ball. Spratty used his hard hitting to get him some quick runs and to keep the bowlers under pressure. Unfortunately he was dismissed for 49 :(. Big Jack Colley was called to the crease looking as solid as always.

The boys in the top order did a great job in keeping the run rate similar to theirs with Connor getting 54 in a great knock, Jack getting 41, Borgy 24 and 'The Gobler' (Saahil) getting 30. We were falling behind the run rate in the later stage of the innings but luckily James Partridge and Saahil kept us going and looking solid until both were dismissed. Max Papworth and Rohan Siva were at the crease battling out the final over keeping us on track and making it look like we could win the game! Some great hitting from both boys found us at 1 run with 2 balls and 2 wickets left.

Saahil Turki, Jack Colley and Rohan Siva in action against Parramatta

Rohan was dismissed and the Choir boy was sent to the middle. 1 ball, 1 run, 1 wicket left. The nerves were building for both teams watching Papworth face up to the last ball. A single was hit and the Staggies had won! The Gordon boys went up in joy and raced to congratulate the boys at the crease. The Stags finished with 9 for 269.

Great win for the Stags putting them 5th on the table and through to the final knock out rounds. Yew!

Sean Campbell

Gordon go down to Manly to put us on edge for semi finals 

We started the match well with captain Borg winning the toss and electing to bat, but to no avail losing two quick wickets being 2-0 and then Lachie himself shortly after due to good quality swing bowling from the openers. Spratt made a quick fire 40 smashing the bowlers over their heads with ease and grace before being dismissed by the new arrival spin bowler. From there was some consolidation from Farrell and Papworth till drinks.

James Partridge during his innings.

The second ball after drinks Farrell played a loose cover drive to put Cordon five down and in need of a solid partnership. Right on queue Papworth and Partridge ground out a nicely crafted partnership that involved a balance in power and finesse till lunch. After lunch both pushed hard for more runs till Papworth fell and brought Turki to the wicket which was beneficial till Turki got run out in a case of sharp follow up fielding from a misfield. This brought Middlebrook to the crease crushing some majestic drives meanwhile Partridge made his way to forty-nine and pulled a ball  firmly but unfortunately holed out on the boundary for an easy catch. This brought out Campbell joining his fellow Barker counterpart and quickly getting a few handy boundaries before the tail eventually collapsed.

It was a beautiful day for playing cricket in Manly but unfortunately batting first and only making a 175 off 54 overs was always going to be hard to protect. Could we do it?

Chris Spratt, Max Papworth and Will Calov in action at Manly

We were in need of early wicketson a flat track and Borg started  tremendously taking a sharp reflex caught and bowled that put early pressure right back on Manly. The other opening batsmen had his luck early edging a couple of almost perfect deliveries by Borg and Middlebrook, until his luck finally ran out getting clean bowled by Middlebrook and letting the scoreboard operators know it with constant friendly banter at fine leg before this wicket. We kept the pressure on with tight fielding and rotating the bowlers accordingly with Calov, Partridge, Colley and Mactier.

Lachie Mactier, Lachie Borg and Harry Middlebrook try their hardest at Manly

Afternoon tea was shortly around the corner and we were in need of a wicket but as we finished afternoon tea the Manly pair with dogged hitting boundaries found their way to fifty each that put doubts in our minds our chance of winning. We hung in there with Campbell clean bowling one while Middlebrook collected the other scalp with a caught and bowled much like Borgs. Unfortunately for us it was too little too late and they comfortably got home at 4/176.

Scores

Report by Jordan Farrell

We knew it was a good day for Gordon when captain Lachlan Borg decided to win the toss and chose to bat on a good batting wicket.

Chris Spratt and Connor Jackson were both full of confidence from their recent innings and started positively. However Chris was soon dismissed for 8 by a good caught and bowled.

Lachlan Borg during his century.

This bought Jack Colley to the crease and was quickly entertained by some serious sledging that was being aimed at Connor after numerous decent deliveries. Not long after Connor went for 16 after a ball snuck through the gates. At this stage Uni NSW thought they were home when a bowler came to the middle at number four. However the bowler Lachlan Borg had other ideas and stuck his head down which turned out to be a classy captains knock.

Colley and Borg put on a good partnership until Jack went for 54 to a crap shot. Borgy and Max then batted superbly, with lots of quick running and hard hitting. Max then went for 35. Good support was given with all batsmen and resulted in Lachlan Borg bringing up his century in the last over which will be a strong memory for the bowler for many years to come. Lachlan Borg did tell me before his innings that he had a dream the night before that he made a hundred.

Gordon then came out to bowl trying to defend the score of 248 and looked dangerous however luck didn’t go our way and found ourselves at tea with the score at 0-100 after 20 overs. After tea the Gordon came out with a strict game plan to bowl to field and slow the runs. This plan worked efficiently and wickets fell as the runs slowed. With us running out of bowlers injured Lachlan thought he would come on to be captain courageous in which turned out to be a match winning spell taking the prize wicket.

Harry Middlebrook, Lachlan Borg and Rohan Siva in action against UNSW

Uni NSW then found them selves at 8-213 needing 5 runs an over to take victory. A run out then saw them at 9-220 this was after Jack Colley got bombed for a 6 over mid off. Harry then came on (the man with the red mullet) got the last wicket.

An excellent win for the boys.

Jack Colley

The Legend Chris Spratt reports from Grahame Thomas Oval Bankstown

The Gordon boys arrived early out at Bankstown under cloudy skies, captain Lachy Borg was true to form and lost another toss and Bankstown chose to bat. Bankstown got off to a brisk start but Gordon fought back taking 2 early wickets going to Sean Campbell and Harry Middlebrook.

Chris Spratt hits a six over mid wicket.

Soon after we were forced off due to wet weather. An hour of play was lost and the game was reduced to 56 overs a side. The pumped up Gordon boys returned to the field bowling good line and length, placing the pressure back on the opposition. Seany Campbell was soon rewarded with a wicket courtesy of an athletic diving catch by Max Papworth the wicket keeper.

Seanny and Harry were replaced by Rohan Siva and Will Calov who kept the pressure on the opposition and the scoring rate continued to slow.

The fielding effort from the Gordon boys was splendid as wickets continued to tumble. We knocked Bankstown over for 149 after 50 overs with Will, Seany and Harry all taking 3 wickets. Lachie Mactier and James Partridge keeping the run rate to a minimum and Chris Spratt (legend) bagging 4 catches and Max Papworth taking 3. Unfortunately Lachy Borg could not bowl due to a knee problem to everyone’s disappointment.

Chris Spratt and Connor Jackson opened the batting just before tea, determined to get on with the game. Connor took strike and got off the mark with an elegant cover drive that raced to the boundary for 4 off the first ball. At the tea break Gordon were 0-28 off 6 overs.

Rohan Siva and Sean Campbell in action while Harry Middlebrook disturbs the stumps- again!!

We returned to the crease after tea with both batsmen looking to attack the bowling of Bankstown. Spratt brought up his half century with a 6 over midwicket and continued the attack until he was bowled attempting to clear the pickets again for 76. Jack Colley came to the crease looking solid and worked the ball around to ensure Connor Jackson achieved his half century, which he did by hitting 2 consecutive 4's as we passed the total 1 wicket down.

It was a good all round performance with the ball, the bat and very sharp fielding. Congrats Gordon for 3 out of 4 wins.

By Chris Spratt (legend)

Green Shield has close loss to strong Fairfield team at Rosedale

Gordon’s 3^rd round fixture against Fairfield- Liverpool started well with skipper Lachie Borg winning his first toss of the season and electing to send Fairfield-Liverpool into bat with ominous weather looming, knowing it would play a big part in the match. Gordon’s first innings started very well with opening bowlers Rohan and Sean restricting the opposition to 1/20 after 8 and a bit overs before a lengthy rain delay of several hours halted the match.

After the rain had finally cleared, the match was reduced to a 36 over match. Gordon continued their good start with the ball with all the fast bowlers (Rohan, Harry, Will Sean, Lachie and James) bowling in good partnerships and keeping Fairfield- Liverpool’s run rate to about 3 an over along with picking up several key wickets however they were unlucky not to take more wickets before the tea break.

Fairfield-Liverpool resumed at 3/92 after 28 overs and they looked to score quickly to post a decent target expertly using local knowledge to work the ball into the gaps and run hard and challenge the fieldsman’s throw, putting pressure on the fielding side. This resulted in Fairfield- Liverpool reaching 8/139 after their 36 overs. A bit more than we would’ve like to be chasing but still an easily reachable total given our batting line up.

Our batting innings started well with Saahil and Spratty setting a good platform for our run chase going just under 3 an over for the first 10 overs. However after the dismissal of Jack, who had been looking good at the crease, and with the absence of Connor we struggled through the next block of 10 overs on the back of some good bowling and fielding from the opposition.

This left a lot of work left for our middle and lower order, although it was nothing we couldn’t handle. Good contributions from James, Lachie, Harry and Max towards the end of our innings saw that we were still in the match only needing 6-7 runs an over. Unfortunately with such a big ground our approach of trying to hit boundaries meant our target was not achieved and we fell an agonising 9 runs short of the target we were set, finishing with 9/130 after 36 overs.

Scores

Fairfield 8 for 139 (Sean Campbell 3 for 22, Rohan Silva 1 for 20, James Partridge 1 for 17, Lachie Mactier 1 for 35 defeated Gordon 8 for 131 (Chris Spratt 26, Harrison Middlebrook 26)

Report by Lachie Mactier

Batting on soft track doesn't stop Green SHield from posting good win

The boys arrived to see Jack (Jack Colley) coming especially early for his spot on the lounge, and with the warm ups out of the way, led by assistant coach Corbin Edgar, the Stags were ready for Mosman after beating Sydney in the previous round. With Killara receiving a lot of rain the prior two days, the deck was soft with a green tinge, perfectly set up for our bowling attack.

However, Borgy (Lachlan Borg) lost the toss, leaving him 0/2, and we were sent in to bat on a slow, seaming deck. We were soon in trouble being at 1/6 with the Mosman bowlers letting the pitch do the work for them. Connor Jackson (22) and Jack (16) batted well, pouncing on anything short or full, yet poor discipline and freakish catching left us reeling at 5/75. With partnerships needed, the skipper played sensibly by putting on 25 with some big hitting. A late cameo from Pap (16) (Max Papworth) was not enough to meet our target of 180, being bowled out for 145, due to a lack of solid partnerships.

The Stags believed that this was a competitive total on a tough deck, but we would have to bowl good areas to restrict the Whales. We started off extremely well, with Mosman being at 3/19 at one stage due to a good opening partnership between Borgy (1/26 off 12 ) and Sean Campbell ( 2/12 off 10). They never recovered after that start due to our tight and economical bowling (which meant we had 5 slips and a gully in place at one stage), with Will Calov picking up 2/17 off 6 and Jordy and Jimmy (James Partridge) chipping in with a wicket each. Pap was solid behind the stumps, grabbing 3 catches.  Lachie Mactier finished the tail off picking up 2 quick wickets, and the Whales were all out for 92 with good bowling and fielding pressure. This gave the mighty greenies good momentum going into the next day’s game against the Lions.

Gordon 145 (Lachie Borg 25, Saahil Turki 24, Connor Jackson 22, Max Papworth 16, Jack Colley 16, Rohan Siva 11, Jordan Farrell 11) defeated Mosman 92 (Sean Campbell 2-12, Lachie Mactier 2-10, Will Calov 2-17, James Partridge 1-6, Jordan Farrell 1-9, Lachie Borg 1-26).

Saahil Turki

Gordon kicked off their green shield campaign on Sunday with an emphatic win over Sydney.

The match began with newly appointed skipper Lachy Borg losing the toss and Gordon having to bowl on a flat track at Killara. We started well despite not getting a wicket, with our opening bowler’s Borgy and Big Red, (Harrison Millbrook) not leaking too many runs. As the innings progressed it looked as though we might’ve been in a bit of strife at Sydney with the score 0-55 off 16.  

Chris Spratt, Jack Colley and Lachlan Borg in action against Sydney

 Sean Campbell came on to bowl and got the wickets we needed throwing in a few fast bouncers which turned the momentum in our favour. After a slow period in the middle some great outswing bowling from Jimmy Partridge picked up a couple of wickets, breaking a key partnership. To close off the innings we saw some great bowling at the death from Sean Campbell and Borgy, to restrict Sydney’s total to 9-204.

Rohan Silva, Saahil Turki and Connor Jackson in action at Killara

It seemed the top order bats Spratty and Jack wanted to get the runs in a maximum of 30 overs with some electrifying hitting. Spratty showing no regard for their opening bowler by smashing two onto the road at Killara in his first over but unfortunately fell caught behind on 31. Saahil Turki (the gobbler) is not known as a big hitter of the ball but went out and worked the singles getting some of the more free flowing stroke players on strike. After spratty was removed it seemed Jack wanted to continue in the same vein (goin’ dingers) hitting 3 or 4 well over the road at Killara. He eventually departed after making 46 off 42. Despite most of the top 7 looking well in control every time it seemed we had the match in the bag we would through away another wicket leaving the lower order to finish off the job.

Scores

Sydney 9 for 204 (Sean Campbell 3-19, James Partridge 2-24) were defeated by Gordon 7 for 205 (Jack Colley 46,Connor Jackson-34, Chris Spratt 31, Lachlan Borg 29, Saahil Turki-28)

Match Report by Connor Jackson