ROUND 14 GIRAFFE REPORT Vs Strathdale
1st XI @ BELL OVAL
Sandhurst rounded out Season 2008/09 needing the impossible outright victory against second placed Strathdale Maristians at Strathdale to be any chance of securing a finals berth. Joel Schneider’s second eleven form was rewarded with a call up to the firsts for the unavailable Jason Marr. Chasing the improbable dream Kecky was left with little choice but to send Strathdale in on Day 1.
Having gone wicketless for one of the rare times last round, Andrew Sheehan looked to add to his 26 wickets for the season too date and had the perfect beginning when he had Sean McCann caught square of the wicket at Point from just the fourth ball of the day. This bought John Davidson to the crease and the pair batted their side into a very strong position.
Maybe slightly deflated from the outcomes last week, or the fact Strathdale were looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season, Sandhurst couldn’t break the Jacobs / Davidson partnership and the pair put on 119 for the second wicket before approaching tea Matt Pask claimed a screamer of a caught and bowled to dismiss Jacobs for 79.
The wicket had well and truly flattened out after tea and with conditions offering very little assistance Sandhurst found it hard going. Scott Harper took a sharp caught and bowled chance to remove the dangerous Craig Howard for 13, Andrew Chalkley never looked comfortable before he was bowled by Quinton Bentley with the first ball of his second spell and when Andrew Price fell LBW to Mark Keck for a brisk 18 Sandhurst had Strathdale 5 for 234 in the 74th over.
The Dragons suffered further pain when Quinton Bentley who was bowling particularly well attempted to use his feet instead of his hands to catch a Ben Dearaugo straight drive that was cracked back at him and wore one on the ankle forcing him from the field in a great deal of distress and finishing his season prematurely.
The innings to that point had been controlled by Johno Davidson despite offering a couple of chances and surviving a couple of LBW appeals batted exceptionally well to compile 142 before Andrew Sheehan who had bowled splendidly without luck and support in the field had him caught by Brenton Jones for 142. Andrew Sheehan finally began to receive reward for a fine afternoon’s bowling when he picked up Ben Irwin bowled in the 82nd over as Maristians chased quick runs. The dismissal of the Dearaugo brothers courtesy of an Anthony West run out and Mark Keck bowled from the final ball of the Dragons fielding season had left Strathdale with an imposing 9 for 310 from 85 overs.
Batting first and setting a target of 300 plus is text book cricket and the task for the Dragons to finish the season on a high with back to back victories was made all the more difficult by the absence of Quinton Bentley from the batting line up and the traditional vitamins adding extra life to the second week wicket but with solid form post Christmas and a postage stamp sized ground 310 was not unattainable. Sandhurst’s left handed opening pair of Turnbull and Scullie got a start before in the 13th over Ben Dearaugo claimed the wicket of Scullie caught behind for 7.
Anthony West came to the crease looking to continue on from his maiden first eleven century the previous week and along with Turnbull pushed the scoring rate up a notch and the total to 64 before Jake Dearaugo dismissed West caught behind for 14. Sandhurst suffered a double blow when without further addition Simon Turnbull who had made his way to 36 was bowled by Jarran Mckay.
Tim Robertson joined Brenton Jones at the crease and the pair were very circumspect and tied down by some tight Maristians bowling. Tim Robertson was dismissed for three to leave Sandhurst teetering at 4 for 82 in the 34th over. Joel Schneider then joined Jonesy at the crease and the pair guided us through to tea without further loss and a chance to regroup and reassess.
After the tea break Brenton Jones couldn’t finish off his standout season with the bat with one final knock as her was dismissed for 22 shortly after tea. Matt Pask who has the ability to lift the scoring rate regardless of the circumstances wasn’t given a chance to get his eye in before he was dismissed by Ben Irwin for one.
Mark Keck joined Schneider at the crease and the pair added 48 for the sixth wicket before Mark Keck fell to opposing skipper Craig Howard for 29 leaving Sandhurst Seven down still needing 140 to win from just 18 overs. Andrew Sheehan wasn’t about to give up on the contest as he played his natural free scoring style of batting and found the fence regularly as Joel Schneider ticked things over at the other end.
Joel continued his fine finish to the season following on from his 99 the round before to be the only Dragons batsman to surpass 50 with a re-splendid 73 to bolster the Dragons reply before he was dismissed caught and bowled in the 81st over. With Quinton Bentley not facing up to bat Scott Harper became the final batsman dismissed when he was dismissed in the 84th over leaving Andy Sheehan unbeaten on 40 from 46 with two fours and three sixes as Sandhurst were dismissed for 246, 64 runs short of victory.
It was a two way go for man of the match between Joel Schneider’s 73 on a lively wicket and the all-round efforts of Andrew Sheehan who claimed 3 for 40 and had several chances spurned off his bowling and an unbeaten 40 with the bat who got the nod.
2nd XI @ WEEROONA OVAL
Sandhurst and Strathdale who were both perched just outside the four were relying on the winless Huntly knocking off fourth placed Golden Square and or an outright result at Weeroona Oval for either sides season to continue on into the finals. Sandhurst were still missing Crouch and with Schneider promoted back to the ones and a knee injury ruling Mark Holland out the sides top order had again been decimated. Dean Trew selflessly chased more dream team points for himself by agreeing to double up and try and find some form on the possibility that his third eleven side were finals bound.
Alex won the toss and elected to bat first and set Maristians a target to chase. The wicket had a surprising amount of life in it for a Weeroona Oval track. After cracking a square cut to the fence for four from just the second ball of the day, Dean Trew got knocked over in the fourth over for 5. With a depleted top order extra pressure was placed on the sides two best batsmen Fletcher and Gibson and Dylan began brightly moving to twenty before he was deceived by a ball that “did a fair bit” to be the day’s second wicket.
Brock Fletcher was batting with his usual poise and looked untroubled at one end whilst Strathdale’s recalled strike bowler tore through the Dragons top order at the other end he drew the edge off Botham’s sword and then followed up next ball by bowling Bryden Mcfarlane to reduce Sandhurst to 4 for 39. Not for the first time this season Alex came to the crease with his top order having crumbled and he went about re-building the innings having escaped a very confident LBW shout from the hat-trick attempt for the second time this season Alex has gone to the crease following the dismissal of “Cheese“ Mcfarlane. .
Fletcher and Trump saw off the remainder of the bowlers devastating spell of 10 overs four for 23 which included Fletcher hitting a towering 6 on the on side against a tiring bowler to signal the end of his spell. With the change of bowling, things became substantially easier for the experienced Fletcher and Trump and the pair pushed the scoring rate along on a quick Weeroona Oval outfield. The pair spent twenty five overs together, when approaching tea and having added 97 for the 5th wicket Brock Fletcher got one that stayed low and was dismissed LBW for 59 with tea on the horizon.
The Dragons faced further heartache when in the over before tea Trump looked to work a bal well down leg side around the corner and was wrapped on the pad and inexplicably given LBW. It was a putrid decision and a devastating blow just prior to the tea break with the Dragons looking to work their way back into the contest.
Craig Burn and Leigh Kinniburgh lived life on the edge but survived through to the tea break to leave Sandhurst 6 for 151 at tea from 41 overs. The afternoon tea was apparently in line with the Dragons attitude to the game to date, sloppy and sub-standard. Skipper Trump called for an improved performance from those in the middle and those on the sidelines in an impassioned plea to finish the season on a high. Things begun poorly for the Dragons after the tea break when the fifth and 6th balls of the first over back bought about the wickets of Kinniburgh to our friend Mr Trigger Finger and Leigh McDonald who was clean ripped first ball to leave Garth Tamblyn facing the second hat-trick attempt of the innings both from the same bowler.
Garth had a novel approach to handling the hat-trick chance and wishing to take no chances with our friend Stevie Wonder at the other end charged at the ball and made reasonable contact working it just short of the square leg boundary for a couple. Unfortunately the resistance was short lived as our friend the umpire obviously aggrieved at the fact he couldn’t award the earlier hat-trick sought some form of retribution and gunned Garth Tamblyn despite the large amount of wood Garth got on the ball to rack up wicket number nine. .
Three overs later the destruction was complete when the man who had been apart of everything to that point having dropped a caught and bowled chance to claim all ten wickets, with unconfirmed reports his mate the umpire had offered to catch the next one for him, took the catch at mid off to finish the Sandhurst innings for 166. Worse than the meagre total was the Dragons who’s stated aim was to bat their allotment of overs had been dismissed in just the 47th over. Bowler number two in the scorebook finished with the astonishing figures of 9 for 42 from 15 overs with four bowled’s, a caught behind and FOUR LBW’s 1 of which was out. When speaking about the performance one spectator stated that said bowler had more victims than Matt Hall on a speed dating night.
Sandhurst’s flat effort in the field would need to improve two or three fold if they were to remain in the contest and with the freedom of 35 overs to bat Strathdale’s openers took advantage of a pitch that settled down significantly and some ill-disciplined Dragons bowling. Craig Burn got a breakthrough in the seventh over after a loose shot from Richard Murphy as the only success Sandhurst enjoyed in the opening ten overs whilst conceding 51 runs at the same time.
Alex swung the changes and bought Garth Tamblyn and Dylan Gibson into the attack with immediate effect. Not only had the runs dried up, but the pair combined to remove Andrew Gaul caught at short cover by Gibson off Garth’s bowling.
The cat was really amongst the pigeons just two balls later when Garth Tamblyn picked up the hard hitting Ben Smith LBW for a duck. The tide was truly turning when Dylan Gibson’s impeccable line and length drew Brad Rowe from his crease and Leigh Mac did the rest as Strathdale had lost 3 for 12 and Garth Tamblyn was again the beneficiary of some nervous Strath stroke play when he had his 3rd wicket for the innings to reduce Strathdale to 5 for 76.
From there Strathdale figured attack was the best form of defence with attacking fields set Ash Stewart took advantage and bolstered the score along to 5 for 109 at stumps on day 1. In another case of what if’s for the Dragons had they been able to hit the pads more often and had they had another 15 overs or so at the Suns that night it may have been a different story but with only 58 runs required it was always going to be a massive ask for the Dragons to pinch an unlikely win.
The loss of Stewart in just the fourth over of the day would have again given Strath some nervous moments, but the man of the moment who had done everything on day 1 strode to the crease and along with Brodie Fraser obtained victory for Strath in 56th over. Chasing quick runs the Suns punished a deflated Sandhurst attack and pushed their total to 9 for 278 with a lead of 112 in the ten overs that followed and set up the chase for an outright victory. The Maristians total was thanks predominantly to the number 8 batsmen who rounded out an astonishing all round performance with 110no from 82 balls. For the Dragons Alex Trump claimed two wickets on day two and “Beefy” Botham also claimed two consolation wickets during the pursuit for quick runs.
In the second innings it was a largely different story following the carbon copy dismissal of Trew bowled to be the first wicket down to provide a 10 wicket haul for the man everyone was talking about. From there it was batting as it should have been in the first innings with Gibson and Fletcher scoring at will and with another fifty as well as the second eleven league aggregate batting award in his sights Brock Fletcher was deceived by some fine spin bowling from Rowe and caught at mid on by you know who. Changing the batting order around and with the deficit already wiped Burn and Botham both failed to take advantage of their time in the middle as the little Midget pushed on.
Then contemplating a second run and running alongside an adjoining wicket Dylan twisted and fell awkwardly meaning “Beefy” would bring together a familiar tri-glomerate that will be seeing a fair bit of each other in Hobart in just a few weeks time as runner for Gibson with Skipper Trump at the other end. This forced Gibson to go for more shots and with his highest score in senior cricket and a century beckoning for the little fella he was bowled for 82 from just 123 balls.
The remainder of the day remained uneventful as Sandhurst eventually posted 7 for 205 from 48 overs in their 2nd innings. It was performances on Day 1 that were weighted most heavily in this judges opinion and therefore for 3 “big wickets to give the Dragons a sniff on day 1 and for charging a hat-trick ball Garth Tamblyn was awarded his maiden Man of the Match award for the Dragons.
Finally if you are still a tad confused at my reluctance to mention a certain standout player who had match figures of 11 104 from 29 overs, took 2 catches and made 110no from 82 balls by name then what planet have you been on? and you clearly haven’t read the Bendigo Advertiser in the last two weeks as it‘s been mentioned every day since.
3rd XI @ BELL OVAL
Despite consecutive defeats Sandhurst still must have fancied their chances of progressing onto the finals if they could beat Strathdale at Bell Oval and have other results going according to ladder positions. Both teams had their sides bolstered with Sandhurst acquiring Jason Marr who was unavailable for afternoon cricket whilst Dom Taylor was in a similar position for Strathdale.
Much to Sandhurst’s delight Trewy called correctly and gave his side the opportunity of utilizing Jason Marr’s batting talents. Unfortunately for Trewy it wasn’t long before we’d have the chance to see them as Trewy was bowled for four inside the first over of the day for the second consecutive game.
Jason was watchful early on and but once he pushed that first single began to open up and display a wide range of strokes all around the park. Jason had effortlessly progressed to 24 including one four and one six when he was adjudged LBW to a ball universally agreed as one that wouldn’t have hit an adjoining set of stumps.
Traviss Russell had batted very well at the other end and his promising innings was ended when he was dismissed for 32 with the total on 73 in the 21st over. Leigh Draper and Matt Felini who had scored a large share of the 3rd XI’s run tally for the season were again required to do the business and enable the Dragons to post a competitive total. Matt had just got a start when seeing a short delivery from Dom Taylor picked out Grant Fitzgerald on the leg side in a big blow for the Dragons chances.
Leigh Draper soldiered on and showing some fine judgement in awaiting for the bad ball posted a half century. Shortly after we witnessed another trade mark Draper brain explosion when the greater need was for Draper to bat through the remaining ten over of the innings. Not for the first time this year that sparked a collapse for the Dragons losing 3 further wickets for the addition of 6 runs to leave Sandhurst teetering at 8 for 143 on the spatially challenged Bell Oval. Numbers nine and ten McDonnell and Cornell batted with common sense realising the importance of batting out the fifty overs and scrounging together whatever runs possible in such a crucial contest.
The pair saw things through to the end of the 49th over before Cornell was run out. This gave Dave Lowther who had waited the entire season to show his talents with the bat saw another couple of runs as Dave Lowther remained undismissed for the entire season as Sandhurst posted 9 for 157 from their 50 overs a total that looked about 30 or 40 short of par given the conditions. Former Dragon Kiel Fraser may have benefited from some additional overs with his figures of 0/3 from 4 overs warranting greater opportunity.
Sandhurst needed a big start if it was to apply the heat on the Maristians batting line up. Strathdale progressed to 19 without loss when the man the Dragons had turned too all season stood up and delivered. He found the edge of Fitzgerald’s bat and “Sticky” Russell did the rest in slips. This bought the wicket to the crease, the man who would have the greatest bearing on whether Sandhurst would play finals in 08/09. Taylor looked assured from the beginning and used his experience to sweat on the loose ball and take full toll including an effortless six straight down the ground and two casual as you like boundaries to move him into the twenties. It was then that Travy Russell who had born the brunt of most of Taylor’s destruction thought he had his man when Taylor spooned a delivery straight to mid-off, unfortunately the chance was spurned and surely the Dragons began to think that maybe that was that for season 0809.
Shortly after Matt Felini who had grown accustomed to his role of bowling his 10 overs straight up gained another key wicket when Tim Knapman held onto a sharp chance square of the wicket. Then in the 9th over of his spell with the field beginning to spread Matt drew the outside edge of Taylor’s bat where Leigh Draper by great skill or great fortune dived low to his left and held onto surely one of the most important catches in his decorated keeping career. Matt Felini pressed for another wicket but had to settle for the outstanding figures of 3 for 27 from 10 overs.
Matt Felini’s fine start had been complemented by a tight but ultimately unrewarded spell of bowling from Tim Knapman who had shown a great deal of improvement with each outing and deserved better than 0/27 from 10 overs. Three wickets was a fine start, but as everyone well knows three wickets does not win you a game as Strathdale were still in a strong position as batsmen Laidlaw and Murrell pushed the total beyond 100 leaving just 58 runs required with 20 overs remaining. Despite still having Garth Tamblyn up his sleeve skipper Trew turned to Craig “Sammy” Moyle who had yet to bowl this season, and the move paid dividends with a big wicket from just his second delivery trapping Laidlaw in front LBW.
Skipper Rob Murrell then became the key wicket, for whilst he was at the crease Sandhurst would be hard pressed to snatch victory. The importance for Murrell to retain strike led to the down fall of Matt Price who was sent back after taking off for a second and run out by skipper Trew. The pressure was building on Murrell as he realised he was running out of time and partners and need to push his scoring rate along. Then with just one delivery the match turned on it’s head when with the first ball of his fourth over Craig Moyle bowled an unplayable yorker up-rooting Murrell’s stumps and giving Sandhurst the momentum. Craig wasn’t finished there four balls later he picked up Rhys Williams LBW for no score.
Garth Tamblyn was doing his thing at the other end having being held back to bowl at the death in the clutch situation and Garth didn’t disappoint as he knocked over Shawyer for four and in his following over had Anstee caught in close by Matt Felini. Then as a fitting finale to a remarkable performance Craig Moyle stretched with every muscle in his body to dive full length and claim a spectacular caught and bowled to dismiss Strathdale for 133 in the 45th over and complete a remarkable turn around that saw The Suns lose their final 7 wickets for 29 runs and spark scenes of jubilation in the Dragons camp as they now felt they were a better than even chance of finals. That’s where the story ends unfortunately for after being up and bouncing around at the prospect of finals all was soon sent crashing back to earth when Bendigo completed a comfortable win over the more fancied Strathfieldsaye thus ending the Dragons campaign in 2008/2009.
Craig Moyle match winning display of 4 for 9 from 7.4 overs gave him Man of the Match.
Thus ends the Giraffe Report for this season with any of the Sandhurst sides failing to progress to the finals. In summing up the first eleven side let their opportunities slip before Christmas with some poor batting performances and left themselves too much to date after Christmas. If the side is to break it’s first eleven finals drought it needs to gain greater consistency and an overall improvement in all aspects of the game and to continue on their post Christmas form from this season as well as proving they can beat the top sides on a regular basis.
The seconds have improved significantly from their 8th place finish last year. The side was far more competitive in the majority of matches and showed that when they have close to a full side can match the best sides in the division. With such a youthful side, the team should like to build on their advances fro this season and be right amongst the pace-setters next season.
The third eleven were arguably the surprise packet of the season and spent a large slice of the season inside the top four. The side suffered from losing some of their bowling depth that served so well early in the year and lacked depth on the batting front too reliant on a select handful of batsmen and or a ring in from a higher grade to score the runs. Thanks to all the players and officials for their efforts this season and thank-you to all of my loyal readers here and abroad for continuing to read the greatest publication in BDCA Cricket today. Finally the Giraffe makes no apology for anyone I have upset or offended throughout the year. Get Over It. I just call it as I see it. Hope to hear from any of you who wish to provide feedback and I hope to see each and everyone of you back next year. Finally remember the Pre-season begins now.