Parramatta: In a must win game for the top grade we arrived at Old Kings kitted out in the traditional creams.

Pre match: Scott Heaney was an early arrival at the ground, no doubt looking to finally meet our beloved Marcos even though Marcos rates Heans as our number one. This cannot be explained as only two weeks ago it was alleged that Scotty was asking a fellow team mate "whats that Eagles supported doing here, is he lost?". And to think I was 8th "unbelievable". In complete contrast Harry Evans was late once again, every excuse was thrown at the captain; "M2 was terrible", "I hit a cyclist." All I can say is guilty. Too the trough.

Cam Eccles plays strongly through the off side 

Alright to the game: With the pitch looking particularly flat the skipper decided it was time we have a bat first after winning the toss. Unfortunately this must have taken the top order by surprise as we were quickly 3 for bugger all as Parkinson picked up Greg, Reece and Harry all caught behind. This brought Steve to the crease with a must needed partnership required. With some early shouts and close calls we were progressing along nicely as the score moved past 80. Unfortunately, Colley fell next to Wood who must have bowled his slightly straighter one and Steve chiped an easy catch back.

Packman and Smith fell cheaply and this brought Iain Beverley to the middle. Another partneship with Beverley and me of 80 before I was out for 70. The end of the innings was nigh and with some lusty swings of the willow from Chad, Jules and Marcos' mate saw our score get to 231. In hindsight the score was probably 80 odd runs short.

The Parramatta run chase got off to a good start as stumps were called and they were 0/50. Sunday required some excellent bowling and some luck to get the points on a pitch that seemed to get harder and flatter and the outfield becoming fasted after two days of 30+ days. 

Greg Lewis picks up the spinning duties for 1st Grade - taking two wickets in the match 

All the bowlers toiled for a wicket and it came from Jules, a perfectly pitched ball catching the outside edge for an easy catch to Bev. However that was one of too few highlights for the Stags as Parramatta inched closer to the target. Only some good bowling and sledging from Lewis brought a couple of wickets for our spinner. Parramatta eventually passed our score by tea on Sunday, just 4 down, with the only other wicket going to Harry Evans. 

Poor result on a tough weekend.

A good possitive is that kangaroo court is growing and very enjoyable even after a loss. What will Bomb be guilty of this week!

Too the trough.

Cam Eccles

After a short lay-off through injury, this scribe arrived at Merrylands Oval to be greeted with a slightly unfamiliar squadron of Gordon cricketers. Most notably, it was a far less intimidating 3rd grade line up in the absence of our hairy and hard-working hybrids - Little Lion Man (Effeney) and Little Bear Man (Cubbage). One was up. One was down. Neither here to amuse us.

Hey Missy, perhaps this was as better shot to play on 99?? 

On the flip side, the changing room bore a far less noxious odour. It was also flooded in one corner, but this was no surprise given the housing of Manatee over Saturday and Sunday. The reverse-inclining-pivot double-doored entry to our temporary abode was also worth a mention, although honestly it was too confusing to describe properly in words. Let’s just say it required a lot of effort to enter/exit this change room.

As it turned out, the toss was one of the few Ward Howitt has won this season (so I understand), or over his career for that matter. Inevitably, given his lack of experience in this regard, his election to bat was not great (we very quickly found ourselves 5/50 on the first morning). This, however, is very easy to say in hindsight, given the wicket looked reasonably batting-friendly. Further, the Parramatta quicks bowled with discipline, with one completing a hatrick with a ball that had one of the Kolley brothers (Dave?) shaping to leave, then decked to dislodge his leg stump.

The non-striker Higgins (who, by the way, is preparing to make his Hillsong radio debut after the success of his podcasts) described this ball as unplayable.

In fact that was really the story of Missy’s early morning. He was a spectator to the demise of our top order. However, slowly but surely he accreted runs, mostly with little tickles and flicks to the on-side (as he was constantly reminded by the intellects in the Parramatta cordon). In a display of defiance, Missy continued to 50 and then 80 with the support of the Mini Beaver. Tom Beverley played a very important innings in the context, taking singles here and there whilst occasionally branching out with a booming shot.

After he departed, Missy continued on his merry way but was incomprehensibly denied his hundred after he lobbed a ball to mid-wicket on 99. This was undoubtedly the worst ball of the day, and deceived Missy by its parabolic like qualities as it floated through the air. A fantastic innings all the same, which put Gordon in a commanding position going in to day two.

Let’s not forget Charlie “Billy Bongwater” Bangs’ contribution either. His 2 or 3 bombs at the end of the innings, which got progressively bigger in size, were awesome. One even interrupted the Under 8 swim carnival next door. Harry ‘Hooch’ Turner claimed it was 109m. Silliness. He was too busy downloading country and western tunes on his iPod in preparation for the night’s festivities. Gordon all out for 224, or thereabouts.

In the short list for photos of the year, Howitt is bowled neck-and-crop 

The short conclusion of day 1 was equally exciting, with T-jaard and Billy removing an opener a piece. The Roxy was surely heaving on Saturday night.

Day 2 was much more subdued. Reg even had time to let his new pet snake loose on the outfield for a while. Gordon slowly accumulated wickets throughout the day, albeit a couple of small partnerships. As usual, Howitt Jnr lead the charge, claiming 4 crucial wickets with his wily straight-ones. All the other bowlers also contributed and Alex ‘Lines of” Lines even snatched a cheeky run out in combination with “Fingers” Beverly (rarely has a quicker and more probing pair of hands been witnessed).

As was the trend throughout the game, this act by Lines cost Taity about $400. Gambling has been taken to a new (low) level by this two, and not an over went by without some sort of odds being thrown about.

In any event, the game was secured with an hour to go in the day. Another solid win, another step closer to the finals. An exciting few weeks ahead.

Will Sweeney

Round 14 saw the Stags take on Parramatta in a Saturday-Sunday 2-dayer. With Parramatta only a few points behind us, it was important to take 6 points from the weekend. This round saw new faces James Kidd and Pat Effeney join the squad, in place of the injured James Campbell and the captain/triathlete Ben Garratt, with Blair Lindsay taking over the role of captain. 

Superstar Justin Avendano cashes in on a great deck to notch up a century for the Stags 

After winning the toss, Blair decided to let the batsmen loose on what looked to be a good batting deck. While the pitch was quite hard, it wasn't exactly easy for the batsmen, with some variable bounce, and the ball not quite coming on to the bat. Another solid start from Jordie Liddle and Brett Rosen saw us reach 59 before Jordie was dismissed after making a good start for 28. From there Bretty continued the form with some excellent stroke making, and was joined by skipper Blair in forming another solid partnership. Brett was next to be dismissed after notching up a very handy 69, bringing Justin ‘JA’ Avendano to the crease. 

From there the mix of calculated strokes from Blair and and some hard hitting from JA seemed to be perfectly coupled, as the two put on a 100+ run partnership which was vital in ensuring we posted a competitive total. Blair played sensibly, waiting for the bad ball, and ensuring it was adequately punished, and JA showed great control in playing the ball along the ground, while picking the right ball to send out of the ground, and frequently down the street to the mandarin centre as well. 

JA brought up the 100 at more than a run a ball, and in great fashion, mousing one over the ropes, and clearing the fence by a long way. Both batsmen were well supported by the crowd, which consisted of a mix of the old faithfuls, along with the finest youth Chatswood has to offer. This partnership really took the scoring to the next level. They took the team score to just under 350 before Blair was dismissed, followed soon after by Justin. With Justin being dismissed, the local youth decided the entertainment was over, and left in search of a fight down at the skate park. 

Wickets then fell steadily through the last session, with an important contribution made by Elliott Richtor adding 42 to push the total toward the 400 mark. Some incredible late hitting from the recently promoted No.9 batting all-rounder Adair Durie, including a huge another huge 6, took the score to just below 400 before being dismissed. Some late assistance from Patty and Kiddy ensured we passed the 400 mark before the end of the day. It was great to see batsmen at the crease in the last session, and the solid platform laid by the top order batsmen really enabled us to dominate the game from the outset.

On arrival for day 2, the team was confident of defending 400+ on the small ground, even with a lightning fast outfield, we felt our bowling and fielding, and out-enthusing could bring us home. From the start, we bowled a both sides of the wicket, making it difficult to set fields. The Parramatta batsmen cashed in, and ran rampant in the first session, going to lunch at 1/158, with James Kidd picking up the only wicket. 

Els Richtor bats well with the lower order to continue accumulating runs for the Gordon side 

While this wasn't an ideal start, we tightened our game in the second session with some tight bowling, in particular from the captain, Blair, and Els Richtor. It was this pressure that changed the game, and it was only a matter of time before wickets came. Ramped on by the support of the returning youths (Logan's mates) Els snicked off one of the batsmen, and second string spinner Kurt Roughley managed to catch the danger man off his own bowling, taking him just short of his 100. The tight bowling continued with Blair back in the attack, taking a much deserved wicket.

Roughers then picked up 2 wickets in 2 overs. In this session, we really stuck to the plans of building pressure, and we really brought the game back into our own hands. Going to lunch at around 6/240 meant that we had to the stronghold on the game. To come back from the first session of 1/160, and take 5/70 odd in the second session is a real testament to the whole team, with some solid fielding and bowling, and overall resilience.

Going into the 3rd and final session needing 4 wickets, the team was again confident that sticking to our plans, we could close out the game. More of the same resulted in great pressure heaped on the opposition. Forced to score runs, Justin's mate from cricket superstar looked to take quick singles.

While this was effective in the short term, some incredible fielding from the Stags, mixed with some terrible calls from Justin's pal resulted in 2 run outs in quick succession, one from “the best JK at Gordon”, over the top of the stumps, and a direct hit at the bowlers end from backward point, from the injured shoulder of Avendano.

James Kidd's perfect throw catches a Parramatta batsman short of his ground 

Justin followed this up with some terrible chat to his mate, who was close to becoming the leading wicket taker for the innings, which he was reminded of every ball. The pressure all became too much, with the batsmen leaving the ground with 2/55.

The entertainment kept coming all day from the Chatswood locals, namely the spectator having a casual stroll down at long off, and the local youth back to try and score some speed from Logan out at deep point. With one wicket left, the opposition really didn't have a chance, but to their credit, they never played for the draw. Roughley took the last wicket to finish with 4, with 2 to Richtor, 2 to Potter (Justin’s mate from Parramatta), and 1 a piece to Lindsay and Kiddy.

With a tough, ground out 2 day win this week, and only 2 rounds to go, we are looking to be real contenders. With rumours that Lindsay is offering a spot to Garratt back in his side as an all rounder, this should strengthen the squad for the following 2 dayer against Mosman, and the final 1 dayer against your mates North Sydney.

Let’s make these last 2 games count, and take that momentum into the finals. It’s what men do.

Kurt Roughley