Highlight of the match? Covers. Just walk it on the tray. Simple as that. 

Packman won the toss and the Stags would make first use of the ball. Shock me. Things started steadily for both teams, until the introduction of Julian “Karl Pilkington” Stephenson brought the first two wickets, the first from the best catch you’ll ever see by Elliot Richtor.

"Karl Pilkington" takes a couple of early wickets against the Two Blues  

At 2/22, the rain came and we were forced into an early lunch. The umpires decided that they would have another look at 1.30pm. BMac wasn’t happy with that, and after a few words this soon changed to a 1.30pm start. 

Jules picked up where he left off by dotting up one end. Meanwhile, ‘JK’ Kennedy picked up his first wicket by beating the bat of Michael Wood. To the umpire’s credit, Marcus gave it out as well. Moments later, JK picked up his second in similar style.

Jules was rewarded for his consistent pressure by picking up another 3 wickets; his fifth wicket coming from an excellent catch by Beverley. 

We have been a bit guilty of letting opposition tails off the hook this season, however the bowlers maintained their discipline and the Eels were eventually dismissed for just 89 runs. 

Plan A was to chase the runs 1 wicket down. At 3/17, it was time for Plan B. Packman and Evans set about resurrecting the innings. The two started nervously, with Parkinson and Jackson beating the bat on the odd occasion. The spinners were eventually brought into the attack, and both batsmen set about stamping their authority by dispatching them to all parts of the ground. 

After taking a magnificent catch, Richtor ends up 39* when the skipper declared 

Packman was eventually dismissed in vintage Packman style for 45, and Evans departed soon after for 43. Elliot Richtor smashed 39* off just 31 balls to allow the skipper to declare 81 runs ahead. 

Unfortunately, the bowlers weren’t able to pick up 10 wickets in the remaining 5 overs to secure an outright victory. Nevertheless, it was a dominant display of cricket by the Stags, and hopefully we can raise the bar again this Saturday against first placed UNSW.

As for Day 2… ‘JK’ didn’t bring his kit into the changing room, so there was certainly no chance of play.

Dan Smith

After a disappointing wash out on Saturday, we were fresh to take on the local rivals in North Sydney. A grudge match against a side that has somehow got the better of us over a number of years. Unfortunately this match was no different, albeit a close and entertaining one.

Harold Evans continues to put runs on the board and get his name in front of the state selectors 

A reasonable crowd was in attendance, the 'golden oldies' and some not-so-golden oldies of Gordon's cricketing past were congregating at the northern end of the ground, to tell stories of yesteryear and provide support to the current playing group.

There were also a 'rafter' of turkeys congregating at the southern end of the ground, essentially they were supporting the opposition and when the opportunity knocked they weren't backward in coming forward with advice. Solid banter and on occasions quite amusing, news came through at a later date that the 'gang' provided a guard of honour to the author's wife and baby upon leaving the ground.

We were requested to take first use of the pitch, which had been under the covers since lunchtime on Friday, the first period was expected to be a little tricky and negotiating the new ball was critical to setting up the innings. Packman and Colley entered the ground however the opening partnership was short, and as has occurred too often this season the upper order failed to get going. The main contributor was Harold Evans, who is putting together a sound resume with his contributions each week with both bat and ball. 

A run a ball 60 was well needed as those batting around Harry were finding the scoring more difficult. Ideally what you want to achieve in these circumstances is to rotate the strike and find a way to get the inform player facing more deliveries. 

Bowling allrounder, Juli-han Stephenson, makes his return to 1st Grade 

Unfortunately after not seeing much of it for approximately 5 overs, Harry struck a ball to mid wicket and was caught putting an end to what was going to be a big hundred. Food for thought to those batting in these crucial partnerships; to alleviate the pressure on the guy who is in to do all the scoring - tick over the singles and things will undoubtedly get easier for you as well.

The tail didn't really fire either, disappointing for a team which has such great batting depth. Bevo carried us through to the last wicket and provided a valuable contribution of 16*. 

How many more would it have been had he had some partners in the dying overs. We don't know.

What we do know is Bevo is hitting the ball cleanly and needs more opportunity! Jules contribution was entertaining, however he was disappointed when dismissed as he was starting to find his rhythm with the willow.

191 runs were defendable and as has been the case many times this year the bowling attack had the win in their sights. We started indifferently and didn't size up the opponents strengths quickly enough, nor execute the lengths we wanted, and found ourselves behind on run rate and wickets taken. After not many, possibly 8 overs, the score read 0-46 and something needed to happen quickly. 

Big "Mantis" Kennedy takes the useful wicket of Hughes 

Kennedy picked up the useful wicket of Hughes as he was doing a majority of the damage. The pick of the line and lengths and a good lesson on bowling 'one side of the wicket' was Julian (a great return to the top grade). Impressive figures to match with 1-24 and should have had at least another wicket to his name. Chad also bowled well, but let himself down with no-balls and the resulting runs scored off free hits.

Big weekend ahead and at a time when the competition starts heating up for positions in the top 6.

Early start to get into the weekend and a good chance to put up your hand and be a match winner.

James Packman

This will probably be one of the shortest Day 2 reports ever (outside of those not submitted by Bombas). Unfortunately not much in the way of good news to talk about. We had high hopes of making the needed runs to secure a 1st innings victory over the Lions but it was not to be.

Harry Evans continues his good form with the ball, this time against the Lions 

The Lions opening bowler Sandhu continued his great bowling form from the previous week with James Packman being given out LBW early in the day for 7. He was soon followed by Dan Smith, Ian Beverley and myself. 

The only Gordon batsman to be able to stand his ground was Chad Soper with a very solid 34 not out coming in at No. 9. Sandhu finished with the outstanding bowling figures of 7/40. 

The captains decided prior to the tea break to call it a day.

Overall not a great day for the Stags, leaving us with a long drive home from Rosedale Oval and some work to do at practice this week, looking at the areas of our game we need to improve. 

One area I think the batsmen could address is shot selection.

I have no doubt that we will bounce back and be ready to take on the very strong Sutherland side next week at Chatswood. 

Greg Lewis

Driving out to Rosedale Oval with plenty of clouds around didn’t give me great hope for the cricket ahead but arrived at the ground to find Rosedale looking quite good although with a grassy looking pitch. 

So after “the skip” won his second toss in a row, giving him an interesting decision to make after looking at the Lions team list, but believing in our bowling attack, he sent the Lions into bat.

Harry Evans cleans up a couple of crucial wickets... then the tail. More O'Reily points one assumes... 

Our opening bowlers got off to a brilliant start, taking 3 wickets for 6 runs. James Kennedy continued his great spell by taking Ben Rohrer who was bowled not offering a shot (something I know a little about). Suddenly the Lions were 4 -21. Dan Smith and James Kennedy both had with 2 wickets.

The afternoon saw us let the Lions off the hook a bit with their middle order scoring some runs, we also had a rain delay for about an hour and half, but after returning to the field, Harry Evans and Chad Soper took the last wickets quickly and the Lions finished up all out for 161 with Mitchell Williams top scoring with 94.

I believe the bowling honours were shared with Harry Evans taking 4/23 and James Kennedy 3/31, with Dan Smith helping with a valuable 2/37.

With the target set, our batsmen were faced with an hour or so of play, the light fading and a rather dangerous bowling attack to contend with - so it was not going to be easy. The Lions opening bowlers (Bollinger and Sandhu) were very quick as expected and unfortunately Brendan McDonald was out in the 1st over, lbw to Bollinger. 

James "Mantis" Kennedy makes inroads into the top order of the Lions defenses 

I was in next, ready to face the music, with Steve Colley. The fading light made batting difficult and we lost Steve for 12, Reece for 2 and Harry for 0. 

Packers came to the crease and not long after that the Umpires deemed the light was not good enough to continue and stopped play. We finished Day 1 at 4/42 with some work to do next Saturday.

Greg Lewis

On what looked to be a warm week and hot day, we turned up to Chatswood expecting a good batting wicket. 

We thought otherwise when it turned out to be green with a 'fair' covering of grass! So we won the toss and bowled! We started well with James Kennedy (3/25) taking a wicket in the first over and the Stags were away! 

Dan Smith continues to display his fantastic allround form, making 50 runs and taking a bagfull of wickets 

The first new ball turned out to be no good, after some classic crowd catches and a ball landing on the roof! The second 'newy' started to swing and Dan smith (5 for 39) and jk took full advantage taking wickets consistently. 

Harry Evans (2/8) and Chad Soper (0/26) continued to build pressure and wickets kept falling. Smithy came back to pick up the well deserved “5fa” and we were batting before tea. 

Brendan McDonald (24) and Steve Colley (10) got off to a good start, before our middle order struggled on a seaming wicket. Dan Smith (53) and James Kennedy (33) combined at the back end of the day to put on a handy partnership which turned out to be cruical. 

Hoping to continue where they left off at the end of Day 1, only a few were added the following morning, and we were back bowling again before too long.

It was Kennedy to start and Smith to follow, we were looking for early wickets. The bowlers bowled well again and continued to take wickets, James Kennedy (1/35) Dan Smith (3/16) Chad Soper (3/20) Scott Heaney (3/23) Harry Evans (0/8). 

With the wickets coming from both ends, theWarriors ended up falling, setting us only 21 runs to grab the 10 points. 

The two openers were set to knock them off and a slight rain delay saw a few Stags running onto the field premature. Luckily the rain held off. The few runs needed were achieved with the loss of one wicket, topping off a good weekend!

Until next time!

Scott Heaney

Hurstville Oval is a beautiful cricket ground. It is also very familiar for first grade having played at Hurstville 5 times in the past 6 years. Away from the topic of familiar, Harold turned up to the match early and our coach was in full "green frog" uniform.

James Kennedy on his way to 4/14 from his ten overs straight 

James Packman "snaked" his way in from the boundary to toss the coin. Lost and bowling. Perfect.

The following report will give you a brief description of how each player performed in order of appearance and also their performance in court afterwards. At risk of turning the attention to myself next adjournment, "Kangaroo Court" has become a feature event for the first grade side and each players recent form will be remarked upon.

James Kennedy was outstanding. Picking up a wicket on his third ball, James made the Ray Lindwall end his own from the outset. The Hurstville wicket was hard but did offer some carry for the bowlers with a fair coverage of grass. 

Dan Smith backs up James Kennedy with the ball... but what about in court 

JK got every ounce of assistance out of the wicket by standing the seam up and consistently hitting an area of uncertainty.

As his spell continued "Keno" built momentum. Consistently beating the bat, JK bowled with true rhythm. Too good to take off, Packers made the decision to bowl JK ten straight and it paid off. "Keno" finished with 4/14 from 10 overs. 

Can he bowl? In court, to be fair, JK is a "battler". Without being too harsh, his accusations are probably fair, however his fines are rubbish. They lack creativity, substance and fail to align themselves with the crime. Lift you game Kennedy.

Daniel Smith supported JK well just like "the animal" he is becoming. Not waiting to be served, Smithy decided to help himself to an early wicket as well. Dismissing the "great man", Dan was on the board and we had the Saints 2-7. 

Chad Soper, a couple of weeks before his great spell against St George. Honesty and integrity are his traits in the court 

Smithy finished with 1-10 from his opening spell and was not required to bowl again. Dan also featured late in the match by blasting the winning runs from his first ball. 

What can I say about this young, budding barman. It's like watching Tom Cruise flare in the movie Cocktail. Watch out for Smith in court, he will sneak a fine on you just before "recess". Like multiple youngsters these days, he can't remember anything without putting it in his phone. When Dan swipes his phone, look out you are next. Daniel is always entertaining and his fines are solid.

Chad Soper replaced Smithy and soon found his own rhythm by hitting the wicket. Sops bowled with decent pace and looked to be enjoying the extra carry on offer. 1-21 for Sops who again asked some questions of the St George top order.

Court performance for Chad was steady, he came up with an accusation, so bravo Chad for "piping" up and telling the court how you feel. Unfortunately his accusation was shut down immediately by the jury. Keep up the good work.

Harry Evans followed Chad, whilst JK was churning them out at the other end. Apart from turning up on time, Harold's highlight was dismissing Pillay with a brilliant reaction caught and bowled. This catch turned the match well and truly in our favour. 

Harry Evans looks for runs down the ground. He is performing with bat and ball 

From there Harold picked up 2 other tail end wickets to finish with 3-13. 

Not bad for someone that bowls "little doorknobs". 

With the bat Harry looked in control until he got a handy delivery that swung back from Green to trap him LBW. Serial offender and usually cops a lot of nominations for his actions and disrespect. On the flip side, Harold has a pretty good memory and usually pulls up members of the court for crimes. What impresses me most about Harold is his voting method. Harold is just and fair and will never follow the crowd when put under pressure. Keep up the good work.

Scott Heaney finally replaced "Keno" at the Lindwall end. Having witnessed the carnage "Keno" caused, Heans was licking his lips from the outset. A little over anxious at the start, Heans initially found it tough to find a consistent line.

Scott Heaney, the tall timber, plays his role on and off the field 

With 3 overs under his belt, Scotty made a good comeback and bowled some unplayable deliveries.

Emphasising just how valuable the asset of height is when bowling fast, Heans finished with 1-21. Silent but deadly. If you awake the sleeping giant one week, be prepared to be taken down the following. Scott takes his court very seriously and has been spotted roaming the streets of Crows Nest on Friday nights waiting for a certain person to put a foot wrong. Put it this way, when Heans speaks, the court listens.

29 overs had past and we had successfully bowled St George out for 86.

Brendan McDonald tried to take the first one down with intent and unfortunately failed. Having single handedly won the match against Mosman, as promised, BMac will be back next week with the same intent and I'm certain with a different outcome. 

Brendan "BMac" McDonald... court jester? Or chief prosecutor? 

Outstanding and great value. The court and jury has Brendan to thank for the innovative fines he creates and punishes players. Brendan holds power within the walls of court. His enthusiasm is key and can sometimes sneak a spontaneous punishment on the pettiest of crimes.

James Packman showed everyone how to play on the Hurstville wicket. Packers steadied the chase of a low total, we all know how difficult it is chasing low totals. Positive from the outset, James wanted to score runs as opposed to surviving the new ball. His innings changed the game and most importantly took the pressure away from the new batsmen at the other end. 

A captain’s knock, Packers finished with 36 and was unlucky not to be there at the end. The judge, need I say no more. Just like on the field, Packers is in control and holds the power. James' opinion matters and carries serious weight. 

Is there room for two judges in the club? Packman reigns supreme in 1st Grade... but does Durie reigns supreme? 

Sometimes manipulative, Packers will always have a fine in mind for a crime. Every action is well planned out. Like a steel trap, Packers is one to remember a previous fine so watch out if you forget.

When Reece Bombas came to the crease he also looked to score. Reece knocked the ball into the gaps early on and got up the other end. Packers and Reece looked promising to steer the ship home until Bomba edged one behind and we lost some momentum in the chase.

Bombas, resplendent in white, will have a solid job topping this report in the next round 

Reece is without a doubt the best value in court and takes the approach "you win some you lose some". 

If we have had 8 rounds so far, Bomba is 0 from 8. So really just "lose them all". 

As stated earlier, Reece is hilarious and will always see a fine through. A man of his word and will never let justice get in the way of doing something to embarrass himself.

Court would not be the same without Reece. Often good for an outstanding fine that comes out of nowhere, literally I don't know where some of these fleeting genius moments come from. Bomba can be swayed into voting a certain way, however I think this serves as revenge from the cruel punishments he has copped over the past 2 years. 

Colley keeps calm through the middle, ensuring the side got over the line 

I would like to see more preparation from Reece when accusing other members of the court and I feel next week Reece may notch up a win! Go Bomba you are the best and don't ever change.

Steve Colley played an underrated innings last weekend. Similar to Reece he was proactive about seeking out quick singles and "shaping" the ball into the gaps. Buckets admits freely he is seeing the ball really well but is lacking a fraction of concentration as he is trying to establish his innings. 

Stevo showed again some promising signs that a big score is not far away. Probably one of the more angry members of court, if the court atmosphere ever seems to turn "unfair", Coll will jump all over it. Steve is big on precedent and will often fight a charge even though he knows Harry is the only one believing in his case.

Lewis stands tall and dispatches one through the offside, bringing home the Stags to victory 

Greg Lewis aka "the finisher" has found a new role in the one dayers. Lewy again was there at the end.

Solidarity was needed when Lewis walked sideways through the Hurstville gate. Gregs energy from point also provided pressure when we bowled and proves he can contribute in more than one way. 

Greg is another man of his word. He always sees a fine to the completion, even at the risk of smooth abdominals. Greg needs to be careful of his actions and dress throughout the week. Constantly under surveillance, the court is ruthless with Greg and do not like it if he steps out of line. 

Maybe a "DNB", but Beverley made a contribution with the gloves 

Greg also loves revenge. The court is wary of pushing Greg to the point of rage. Lewy relies on motivation for revenge and will always dish out an apt fine for a crime. Lewis is good value.

Beverley DNB

Iain Beverley

Upon arriving at Rawson Oval, we were greeted with fine weather conditions for 100 overs against the Whales. The ground conditions had been visually affected by the rugby season as had the cricket square and we were competing on a dry lifeless pitch which didn't allow a lot of stroke play. 

Brendan McDonald is true to his word, first performing with the ball... 

It was fair to say that both sides found it tough going with the bat, difficult to find any fluency. What hadn't changed was the location of the ground, positioned in the same part of Mosman over many decades. Its location did prove difficult for some with Colley checking out the ground facilities at Allan Border oval prior to making his way to Rawson on time. 

Evans on the other hand simply left insufficient time to get to the ground ready for warm up, let alone get lost and turn up 10 minutes later than usual (A trend I’m sure he will be paying attention to after his teammates dealt him a harsh penalty). 

With another toss lost, we were asked to bowl first on a wicket which looked like it might get slower and lower as the day progressed. Our quicks performed well early and some fortuitous field positions claimed a couple of early wickets. A patient innings by Doolan allowed the opposition to bad around him and formulate a total. Pick of the figures was Kennedy, who found something in the wicket early whilst using his bag of tricks, 'cutters', 'slower balls' and 'seam' to prize out 4 wickets. 

Also bowling with good control were Scott "the weapon" Heaney, Daniel "the animal" Smith and solid contributions from McDonald, Soper and Evans restricted Mosman to a gettable 190 all out. 

... then performing for his side with the bat... after bemoaning his performances against Easts 

A revamped order allowed McDonald to play with freedom and 'express himself as a cricketer'! He certainly did that and at the same time enjoyed some friendly banter in the middle during his stay of 68. BMac found the going easy in comparison, timing the ball beautifully to all parts of the ground. He was particularly dominant against the quicker bowlers getting us off to a run a ball and set the foundation for the remaining bats to go about knocking off the remaining runs required. 

A handy partnership with the skipper brought 91 for the first wicket before Macca was adjudged LBW. There were a number of contributions from the top order, Harry again doing the business with a clinical 46* in the middle order steering the team to victory. 

"Palms" Lewis also posted 26* and is in danger of being pigeonholed as a lower order finisher in the shorter format.

Greg Lewis knocks one through the off-side, combining with Evans to get the side home 

A great comeback by all sides after a disappointing week prior, and we now look forward to a tussle with the Dragons at Hurstville Oval, I think I might even give them a hand with covers this week. Oh when the saints...

Packers

We arrived to see a wicket that hadn’t been prepared to a standard required for a fair contest. We lost an important toss and were obviously sent in by the Eastern Suburbs captain.

The top order failed to get going on what was a horrendous wicket to bat on early. 

Dan Smith continues to accumulate points as an all-rounder for the many Fantasy League team owners 

There was a plan to attack and, whilst wickets were falling, we were scoring at around 5 an over, with the boys at least having plans and intent. Harry again was the back bone of the innings and he made a fine 44 which set the tone for Colley’s sweetly timed 36 and Lewis’s big hitting 28.

The star of the show was the ever improving Dan Smith, as he hit the ball to all parts in an entertaining 47. Unfortunately we were all out in the 45th for 242, which wasn’t a bad result considering it was the least prepared wicket I had seen in my 9 years of 1st Grade cricket.

After a wayward start, we started to make inroads before a large partnership began between their two English players. Harry again featured in the bowling, claiming 2/40. Kennedy came back with good second and third spells to finish with 1 for 35, but it was again Smith who turned the game with an excellent second spell, finishing with 2 for 31. 

James "Mantis" Kennedy continues to press his claim for higher honours with another good outing with the ball 

He continues to have impacts on matches, a player that I really enjoy watching execute his skills. 

Unfortunately the author had his worst bowling performance in his 9 year first grade career and put his side under a lot of pressure and ultimately lost the game for his side. 

East got home with three balls to spare, despite a brave effort from Bombas who really stepped up with a solid bowling effort under pressure, a position he never should have been in. Bevo was ever reliable behind the stumps, full of support for his mates as always. 

To be honest with ourselves, it was a great effort from our younger blokes, with the senior players under performing. I have taken sole ownership for the loss and look forward to beating Mosman by myself this week to right some wrongs. Just a small blip for a side that is really enjoying each others company and giving Bombas grief!!!!!

Brendan "The Hulk" McDonald

The team knew that at 4/100 at stumps last week we had a fight on our hands to reach the target of 230 runs, especially with NSW Captain Stephen O’Keefe returning to the Manly side after representative duties.

Unfortunately it did not start well with the nightwatchman, James Kennedy, given out LBW from the second ball of the day. 

Harry Evans, the current O'Reily medal tally leader backs up his 4 wickets with 79 runs  

This brought the injured Reece Bombas to the crease. Having been chosen to be his runner, I also went out to the crease. 

Harry continued from Day 1 playing some excellent cricket and whilst Reece was a little restricted, he supported Harry very well. These two batsmen continued to play some solid cricket and looked like they could go all the way until Harry played at a wide delivery and was caught behind for 79 well earned runs with the score on 177.

The new batsman, Dan Smith joined Reece and they added another 24 runs before Reece was out for a gutsy 47. Having not personally done much with the bat, I was happy to have contributed as his runner. In the context of the game Reece played a patient and important innings.

Reece Bombas showed his teammates what he was made of, grinding out a gutsy 47 

Dan Smith continued from his form of the previous game and showcased a controlled batting display in a very tight situation along with his partner at the other end, Brendan McDonald who assisted Dan very well. Dan and Brendon reached our target of 230 with great determination giving Gordon the victory with 3 wickets in hand.

The game produced some excellent cricket with Harry Evans 4/58 and 79 runs and Dan Smith 2/56 and 29 runs not out being highlights and not forgetting Reece Bombas’ batting in difficult circumstances for a crucial 47 runs.

The team has fought hard in some tight games, so let’s continue to work at training and improve each week. 

Greg Lewis

Having had a bit of rain on Friday morning we arrived at the ground to see that the ground was in pretty good condition. James lost the toss and we were ordered to bowl against a strong Manly side.

Steve Colley is surrounded by his teammates after a great low-down catch 

Manly lost a couple of early wickets to some good bowling by both James Kennedy and Daniel Smith however their “in form” batsman Tim Cruickshank scored 70 valuable runs along with Watkins and Cleary both scoring 38. Our bowlers battled hard all day, Harry Evans contributed again with 4 for 58, James finished with 3 for 44, Dan Smith 2 for 56 and Scott Heaney 1 for 40.

We also saw some great catching, in particular, a brilliant low to ground first slip catch by James Packman and some energetic fielding by Steve Colley and Cam Eccles saw Manly all out for 230 at tea. 

Steve Colley takes a low-down catch and is mobbed by his teammates in the shot above 

Unfortunately during our time on the field Reece Bombas had to come from the field with a hamstring injury which saw our very capable GER come on as the 12th man and a better display of fielding at fine leg has never been seen. 

Brendan McDonald snaps one up off James Kennedy 

So again, we went into bat towards the end of the first day, and for me it was a very short time spent at the crease, being given out LBW for 1 early in the innings. Cameron Eccles and Steve Colley batted well until Cam was out for 12. Harry Evans came to the crease and he and Steve batted well until Steve was out for a very solid 28.James Packman and Harry took the innings to 3 for 94 until James so slightly nicked one to the keeper which brought our nightwatchman, James Kennedy, to join Harry for the last 2 overs of play.

James Packman is the third player caught on camera taking a solid catch 

We finished the day with Harry batting well on an unbeaten 43 and with the score at 4 for 100.

Greg Lewis