Sandhurst Cricket Club

The Three’s had escaped with a crucial win against the Suns last week,

secure back to back wins, and of finals they could speak.

With options aplenty, and a big match, the selectors would toil,

In came Mcdonnell, Knapman and Robertson, out went Hunter, Horan and Moyle.

At the toss of the coin, Trewy’s decision was tricky,

Someone had slept in, who else? but “Sticky”.

 

Brothers Trew opened up, but soon Glenn was sent packing,

Brophy would follow too – the run rate not too shabby, but patience was lacking.

As is often the case – Trew, Draper & Felini would be clutch, they were the key trinity.

Would they be dismissed cheaply? Or would they make infinity?

A mix up undid Draper, a run-out, what a disaster! 

The wickets were disappearing, the run rate had to be faster.

 

Trewy’s wicket for 14 was a big set back, “Fingers” was our final weapon,

His dismissal for 22, means the Dragons would struggle to threaten.

Scrambling for every run, losing wickets all the way, 9 for 101 off 25 was all the Dragons had mustered,

Gee I hope we bowl well, or else we’re done and dusted.

 

Now 102 to win, didn’t sound a lot, to be honest it’s was well under par,

Sticky started tightly, in the 5^th over got the breakthrough, caught brilliantly by Draper, “What a star!”

From there the good news ends, there’s not much more to say,

Aaron Sims played a blinder, the Dragons he did Slay.

No one really bowled well, One wicket was all we snared,

The Bulldogs home in the eighteenth over, Clokey’s 1.2 overs for 24 was about how well we fared.

 The good news is despite the loss, it’s not the end of the story,

Beat BUCC’s next round, we’re back on track, and on the path to glory. 

 

Match Summary: Sandhurst 9/101 (Felini 22) lost To Golden Square 1/105 (Russell 1/17) by 9 wickets.

The Key: The Dragons were simply outplayed, losing wickets early, handicapping the total they could post, and needing to stand up our bowlers also faltered capturing just 1 wicket.

Man of The Match: Ok just for you, here’s one more tiny rhyme,

Let’s save the Lake View 15 bucks, because no one’s form was worth a dime.

 

 

The seconds were well out of finals contention, and the task became no easier, drawn against top of the ladder and undefeated Golden Square at Wade Street in Round 11. The side lost Travis Crouch to First XI and was further handicapped by the loss of Tim Mcglone the morning of the match to illness.

Golden Square won the toss and elected to bat.

 

The pattern of leaking runs early on with the white ball again continued with Golden Square picking up 0/65 from 10 overs. Tom Wilson’s ability to break partnerships was again called upon and beating Will Tonkin for pace claimed his and the sides first wicket, Leg Before. Tom Wilson was again successful picking up fellow opener Max Grant caught behind by Leigh Mcdonald for 38.

 

Dylan Gibson would have to complete the spin quota of overs for the Dragons and he began very promisingly claiming the wicket of Bentley LBW for 1 with just the second ball of his spell. Dylan was bowling his spell right through and in his eighth over claimed a key wicket of Josh Baird caught and bowled.

 

The Bulldogs were showing little trouble in progressing along at 4 runs per over and with a deep batting line up were able to increase that towards 5 runs per over with success only enjoyed by the Dragons when Alex claimed the wicket of Major caught be Elias Bowe, and Tommy Wilson who claimed a deserved 3^rd wicket to restrict Golden Square to 6/210 from 45 overs. Whilst the bowling attack wasn’t as penetrating as it had been throughout the year, it still did a reasonable job despite conceding 200 plus with the ball for the first time this season against the divisions best side. Tom Wilson 3/40 from 9 overs and Dylan Gibson 2/26 from 9 overs were the standout performers for the Dragons with the ball.   

 

Missing the runs and strike rate that Travis Crouch provides at the top of the order would prove hard to replace, so it would require a concerted team effort to chase down the hefty total. Simon Turnbull was elevated to his more customary position at the top of the order with Dylan Gibson. Sandhurst’s pursuit of the target was given a handy push along with wides at the outset of the innings as Dylan and “Tippa” survived through until the eighth over when Dylan was caught behind for 7.

 

Joel Schneider and “Tippa” progressed relatively untroubled at a reasonable run rate looking to set Sandhurst up for an assault on the Square bowlers in the second half of the innings with wickets in hand. Unfortunately “Tippa” copped a rip-snorter of a delivery from Henderson in the final over of his spell and was caught behind for 28.

 

This sparked a collapse for the Dragons with the deputising Dean Trew dismissed by the spin of Fitzgibbon, Burn followed stumped, Schneider triggered LBW, and when Trump-Winfield was run out 1 run later Sandhurst had lost 5 for 13 in the space of 10 overs. Will Horan joined Justin Hancock at the crease in the unaccustomed position of lower middle order batsman, and although the task appeared out of reach, the two were entrusted to add some respectability to the total.      

 

The pair added 45 for the eighth in reasonable time against Golden Square’s change bowlers but when that partnership was ended in the 37^th over the end came quickly for Sandhurst dismissed for 135 in the 42^nd over. The story for the Dragons wasn’t pretty, a 75 run defeat, with only five batsmen making double figures and no one surpassing 30 with the bat.

Match Summary: Golden Square 6/210 (Wilson 3/40, Gibson 2/26) defeated Sandhurst 135 (Turnbull 28, Hancock 25, Schneider 23) by 75 runs.

The Key: The Dragons never recovered from the loss of Tim Mcglone, and dropped opportunities allowed Golden Square to continue the momentum gained from their flying start to snuff out the Dragons hopes.

Man of the Match: The “Big Red” Tom Wilson is finally to be rewarded for his wicket taking Prowess throughout the season with three top order wickets earning him Man of the Match.

With the task already very much ahead of them, the first XI was hanging onto the faintest hope of finals in 2009/2010 the boys had the additional pressure to perform in front of the returning group of players celebrating the clubs 30 year premiership reunion. At the selection table Travis Crouch was promoted to cover for the absence of Brett Polson.

Sandhurst had enjoyed a pulsating victory against Golden Square at the QEO last year and would need to again lift their level of performance to claim victory against the top of the table ‘Doggies. Quinton Bentley made the perfect start from just the second ball of his spell with Westy taking the catch to dismiss Marcus Mckern without score. His new ball partner Scott Harper was proving very hard to get away and when he claimed the key wicket of Scott Johnson Square were in early strife at 2 for 11.

The Dragons were grateful for their bowling depth when a Phil Hethertington straight drive cannoned into Quinton Bentley’s shin and rendered him unable to continue his fine spell of bowling in just his 5^th over. Bowlers were striking early in their respective spells and that trend continued with ‘Kecky” picking up Grant Connelly LBW for 8. A 50 run partnership between danger man Phil Hetherington and Brad Perrow was broken when Matt Pask again got the better of “Pip (44)” caught by Westy for his second catch of the game. The Dragons then ran amok reducing The Square to 8 for 99 in the 33^rd over. Pasky claimed Brad Perrow stumped Nick Scuillie for 23, and had Jason Johnson caught Scott Harper for 0 to give him his 3^rd wicket. Then when Andy Sheehan claimed wickets in his second and third overs Sandhurst was well on top.

Golden Square dug in and scrapped for every run eventually able to muster 9 for 147 from 45 overs. For the Dragons Matt Pask 3/28, Andy Sheehan 2/22 and Quinton Bentley 1 for 2 from 4.1 overs were the pick of the bowlers in an impressive and even bowling performance.     

 Sandhurst’s batsmen had disappointed in recent matches, but with so much at stake and a modest target to chase down, the boys entered the run chase full of confidence that they could knock off the top side in successive seasons and keep alive any faint hope of finals action. Things began cautiously for openers Crouch and Scullie before in the 7^th over Crouch fell for 4. The innings spluttered along with no major partnerships able to be formed, Nick Scullie was the constant as he saw West disappear for 15, Jones for 10 and Keck for 20 leaving Sandhurst 4 for 79 with 15 overs remaining.

The key wicket of Scullie fell for 36 to Brad Perrow and when Matt Pask was dismissed for 17, Sandhurst needed 27 off 6 overs with 3 wickets in hand. A blinding caught and bowled was made to look ridiculously simple by Scott Johnson to dismiss the in-form Andrew Sheehan to turn the match. Still with Tim Robertson at the crease and a hampered Quinton Bentley aided by the use of a runner Sandhurst went into the final 2 overs with 1 wicket in hand requiring 14 to win. Seven from the 44^th over left seven to win from the final over to be bowled by Danny Nalder with Tim Robertson on strike.

The first two balls of the over were not scored from, then a thunderous shot from Tim Robertson out to mid-wicket made it to within feet of the boundary before being cut off and restricting the damage to 2 runs. Five from 3 required, Tim Robertson again found a gap on the offside down to third man but was unable to return for a second run leaving Quinton Bentley on strike needing 4 to win from 2 balls. Q gave the ball a whack but was unable to penetrate the infield leaving Scott Johnson’s gather and throw to the non-strikers end narrowly beating out a desperate Anthony West and ending the contest with the Dragons three runs short of Golden Square. Scott Johnson had proved the difference with 4 for 17 from 9 overs of spin, a catch and run out in such a close game.

Match Summary: Golden Square 9/147 (Pask 3/28, Sheehan 2/22,) defeated Sandhurst 144 (Scullie 36, Keck 20) by 3 runs.

The Key: Hard to separate one aspect of such a narrow loss, allowing Golden Square to scrape to 9/147 after being 8 for less than 100 didn’t help, the loss of Quinton Bentley’s bowling, and getting bogged down in our batting effort all contributed to the narrow defeat.

Man of the Match: Matt Pask’s 3/28 including the key wickets of Hetherington, Perrow and Johnson and 17 with the bat secured him another Man of the Match.

Goat of the Round #1: Poor Peter Schneider did not have a good day, the pressure of the day all became too much for him, if incorrectly advising everybody Golden Square had sent Sandhurst in the first XI wasn’t enough, in the drama of the final couple of overs, he had Sandhurst needing anything from 3 to 13 and every number in between from the 45^th over of the match based on the electronic scoreboard.

Goat of the Round #2: Clinton “Beefy” Botham makes his first appearance in this section of the report for proudly bringing Kecky’s bat to training Monday night. How’d you go Beef? Did you hand it back to him?

Goat of the Round #3 – I am surprised this bloke has survived as long as he has without a nomination, but he has one now, Substitute fielding for merely 30 minutes in the second XI Patrick Brophy dropped what could only be described as a soda in slips, and then attempted to shift the blame to our league leading wicket keeper Leigh Mcdonald as the reason for his drop. I don’t think so Paddy.

The Road Ahead: Three two day game remains for the Dragons, all tough encounters, with the 3^rd XI the only realistic chance of seeing finals actions come March. This round against Bendigo United is Round 12 and the John Turner Memorial Trophy round encompassing results from the 3 senior grades and four “A” Division junior contests used to determine the winner. Sandhurst is yet to claim the trophy and therefore requires a massive effort from all of its players as we hope to claim the trophy from BUCC’s. A presentation of Man of the Match awards for all games and a BBQ will lead into the Cricket Club’s Trivia Night at the QEO next Saturday Night 6^th February.