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
Missy's Mail Podcast 2 - 23 Feb 2012 (8525 KB) 
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.
A late update from Round 13, with plenty being on the webmaster's plate over the last few weeks. 
The GDCC selectors have announced the teams for this Round’s two day matches on Saturday 25th February and 3rd March against Mosman in Grade and Randwick Petersham in Colts.
Parramatta: In a must win game for the top grade we arrived at Old Kings kitted out in the traditional creams.
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. 
