 3rd grade report vs Parramatta
The rain all week meant that the chances of play on Saturday were looking slim and full credit must go to both captains and umpires in that respect. The super-sopper saw plenty of mileage, as did Steve Colley, touching up his new found shovel skills through his work experience.
(The grand master in action)
It took everyone present to help but eventually the covers were removed and play started on time. We backed ourselves with the ball early and were lucky enough to win the toss to allow us to have a crack at the Parra batsmen.
We started well, restricting the opposition to just over 2 runs per over for a majority of their innings. James Kennedy opened up well (1-11), bowling a nagging line and length, rarely giving away a loose ball which allowed us to build pressure early on the young top order.
 Once the ball dried somewhat it was time for our spinners, Captain Courageous and the NSW Schoolboy himself to lead the way. And lead they did. Ed toiled away (5-75 from 28 over’s straight), and after a dropped catch eventually took his 400th wicket for the club.
(Nick Cheadle on Saturday)
Congratulations Ed, looking forward to many more cunning wickets to be taken yet. His bowling partner in crime, Nick Cheadle, bowled with mesmerising control and it’s the best this young reporter has seen him bowl to date.
Some dropped catches and lapses in concentration in the field saw the frustration well up in Nick but he bounced back and took a cheeky little hat trick. Well done to Nick who finished with figures of 3-83 from his 20 overs.
We applied ourselves very well in the field for most of the innings but some lapses in concentration as mentioned cost us and could have seen us chasing a lower total. In the end we were set a tricky yet far from unobtainable total of 207 to chase from the remaining 55 overs of play.
 Concentration was again the key and some poor shot selection in difficult conditions saw us struggle early. We recovered with a partnership between Sam Pearce (25) and Missy (42), who were made to work hard for their runs due to quite a defensive offside field and appropriate bowling. The dismissal of Sam brought Harry Turner (42) to the crease who worked well with Missy, pumping endless cover drives into the cover fieldsmen, even injuring some manhood in one case.
(Harry Turner on Saturday)
It was a brutal display but someone had to do it. Unfortunately our enforcers were unable on this outing to continue on with their innings, however this only brought captain courageous (36) to the crease for a very tidy and I would say cameo innings but he really did most of the work in the dying stages of our innings.
Our hearts must also go out to poor Umayr who was struck above the knee roll and judged LBW, and to quote a very famous Ancient Greek philosopher “that’s cricket”. All in all we were dismissed for 178, disappointing when looking at the talent among the team. Still, there are plenty of positives to take from the game.
 Most notably the wonderful bowling partnership between Ed and Nick, well done to both and best of luck to all for this week’s fixtures.
(Missy Higgins during his 42) | 
