SHCC Scoop - 5 wins, Umpiring Education, Training is back!
Updated: 17 hours ago
With five wins out of six matches, it was a great weekend for Summer Hill CC. Div 5 Blue, Div 5 Gold and Div 7 all celebrated their first wins of the season – well done to all – read on for match reports.
The Morning Competition gets underway this weekend this Saturday – thank you to a few morning players who have filled in during September – it has been appreciated – and best of luck for your first match of the season.
With daylight savings now here, it means two things. Thursday training is back from 5pm, and afternoon matches now start at 1:30pm, and are 35 overs per side.
Umpire Education
SHCC’s favourite International Umpire, Claire Polosak, is back again this year for the Community Cricket Umpiring Accreditation Course. If you have attended before, you will know this is a great night to talk cricket, and you will be guaranteed to learn something about our great game.
From 3rd grade and below, there are no guarantees of an umpire each week. Having the skills and confidence to umpire your own match is important – and is best shared with several people in each team, rather than relying on a few. I would encourage all teams to have at least 2 people attend this session. Get your tickets here.
When: Monday, 19th October
Time: 6pm for 6:30pm start. Concluding at 9pm
Where: Magpies Sports Club
Address: 46 Hampton St, Croydon Park
Cost: $0. $40 for the Exam, which can be claimed back from SHCC
Training
Thursday Training is back!
When: Thursday
Where: Lees Park - Harmony St, Ashbury (Park in Crieff St and walk down the alley)
When: From 5:00pm until dusk
There are only 2 nets available at the moment, with Council starting an assessment of the condition of the 2 outside nets this week.
Miss Celie's Player of the Week
Player of the Week sponsored by Miss Celie’s Jazz and Blues Bar in Ashfield. If you haven't been, get there and check it out. Owned by a former SHCC Junior Parent, Paul Blasi.
Round 3 Tej Singh Div 5 Gold
Tej announced himself this season, with a match winning performance of 4/8 to set up Div 5 Gold’s first win of the season. Well done Tej!
Batting and Bowling Highlights
Batting
62 S M Al-Amin Div 3
54 Adam Miles Div 7
51 Leo Tarbox Div 5 Blue
Bowling
4/8 Tej Singh Div 5 Gold
3/14 Tarun Singh Div 5 Gold
3/26 Andy Manchester Div 3
3/28 Niloy Mahmood Div 2
3/31 Ali Hera Div 3
3/34 Jim Bandas Div 6
3/37 Tom Dawson Div 3
Club Milestones
Matches
50 Amanjot Gill
Runs
1,500 Neil Gordon
500 Leo Tarbox
500 Muhammad Waqar Shahid
Enjoy your Cricket!
Phil
Phil – President
m 0417 234 761
Last Rounds Results and Reports
2nd Division
Round 3 8/135 Won
v Kingsgrove 7/130
Best Batting
45 Fahim Mazumder
29* Muhammad Waqar Shahid
Best Bowling
3/28 Niloy Mahmood
2/21 Abdul Ahsan
2/24 Ismail Jalil
3rd Division Match Report
Samarth Shrivastava
Round 2: 9/204 Won
v Sporties Gold 184
Winning the toss by forfeit, we elected to bat on a 30-degree day. Amin blazed away with nine boundaries in his 62, well supported by Ammar (19) and Gordon (25). Sitting pretty at 2/120, what followed was a classic SHCC collapse to 9/173. Khurram (39*) drew on all his experience to drag us to a competitive total of 204, with Matt (18*) making the most of his opportunity to trouble the scorers from No. 11.
To our disbelief, a 35-degree day greeted us when we returned to the field next Saturday. Tom (3/37) and Hera (3/31) breathed fire in their opening bursts, putting the opposition on the back foot. However, some quality middle-order batting and questionable LBW non-calls got them to within 30 runs with three wickets in hand. Enter stand-in skipper Andy (3/26), who ripped out the top scorer and snaffled a reflex caught-and-bowled in an inspired second spell to lead us to victory.
Our two wins from two hold us in good stead, as we look to keep the momentum going after the October long weekend.
Best Batting
62 S M Al-Amin
39* Khurram Mahmood 39*
25 Gordon Barlow
Best Bowling
3/26 Andrew Manchester
3/31 Ali Hera
3/37 Tom Dawson
5th Division Blue Match Report
Leo Tarbox
Round 3: 9/190 Won
v Crustaceans 3/120
In the third round of the 2027/28 season, Summer Hill Blue came to face the Concord West Crustaceans at Arthur Walker Reserve. If any of the avid readers of this blog are familiar with the ground, they will know that it is miniscule, and today was no exception.
Team composition wise, the Crustaceans were in a similar position as Summer Hill Blue were only a few years before; a newly started father and son team beginning to find their footing. This being their first season, and combined with the return of the Agius clan after spending the previous weekend partying, left Summer Hill Blue feeling confident going into the middle to bat first.
So confident, in fact, that our returning captain, Luca, decided to conduct some experiments with the batting order and give some usually lower order batters a chance at the top. Sending in Jud and Lachie to open the batting, Jud (5) played a few authoritative strokes before falling to a good catch at point off a cut shot. Lachie (0) ended up trapped lbw in his first over, leaving Summer Hill Blue a little worse for wear at 2/14. This left Leo and Rayhan at the crease hoping to stabilise and begin to put on some runs. A 27-run partnership followed, with some boundaries easily reaching the edge of the field and rotation of the strike keeping the scoreboard ticking along.
The Crustacean captain then put himself on to bowl and found a substantial amount of bounce and turn, which proved to be too much for Rayhan (3), who had played a good supporting hand in the partnership. This brought out our resident ball shining specialist making his grand return after some dramatic events in the previous weeks, Craig. A 35-run partnership followed, during which Leo made his first 50 of the season. Taking advantage of the small ground, he hit 3 sixes and 6 fours, making it the first occasion he had hit a six (although on this ground that isn’t really saying much). As is wont to happen, immediately after passing 50, Leo (51) chipped one straight back to the bowler, a frustrating end to a good innings.
To the woe of the Crustaceans, Summer Hill Blue’s regular hitters were still waiting in the shed and Andrew was the first to come out. Craig (10) fell to the Crustacean captain’s spin not long after and then Luca came out to the crease.
Eager to get in on the action, Andrew and Luca set about their work, scoring quickly and putting on a 32-run partnership before Luca (17) top edged a short ball and was caught. The woes of the Crustaceans were not over though as Pulok then came out to the crease. The final 5 overs went at a rate of 12.5 per over, with both Andrew and Pulok hitting imperious shots to the boundary which our young opponents had no answer for. Andrew finished on 38* from 28 and Pulok 39* from only 18.
After our strongest batting performance of the season so far, Summer Hill Blue was confident going in to field. Strong opening spells from Asher and Luca restricted the scoring of the openers and built good pressure. The younger of the openers was finally overcome by the pressure with Craig taking a tremendous catch at mid-off down low off the bowling of Asher. The other opener retired not out soon after as he had other engagements that evening (though what could be more important than cricket). Rayhan soon got his first wicket of the season when the Crustaceans no. 3 skied one which Craig again took. The wickets then summarily dried up, although good bowling kept the run rate well below what was required for there to be any chance of a crabby victory. Owen picked up a wicket with the catch taken by Leo at mid-wicket. And so, the game drew to an end with the Crustaceans managing 120 from their 25 overs, leaving Summer Hill Blue to claim the victory by 70 runs.
Best Batting
51 Leo Tarbox
39* Pulok Rema
38* Andrew McCabe
5th Division Gold Match Report
Dharmin Thakkar
Round 3: 5/67 Won
v Brighton Lakes 62
Round 3 brought a serious test for our side as we came up against Brighton Lakes, last year’s champions in Division 6, who have now stepped up to Division 5 alongside us.
With the quality of competition rising, we knew this would be a game that demanded our best cricket.
We won the toss and elected to bowl first.
From the very beginning, our bowling attack set the tone.
Umer opened the bowling alongside Tej and Aman kept things incredibly tight from the other end.
Tej wasted no time making an impact, tearing through the Brighton Lakes top order with his career best spell of bowling. He finished with an outstanding 4 wickets for just 8 runs, putting the opposition under immense pressure.
Tarun continued the assault with an excellent 3 for 14, while the rest of the bowling unit maintained the pressure brilliantly. Aman and Prabhu took 1 wicket each and pure discipline and energy restricted Brighton Lakes to just 63 runs.
Chasing 64, we knew the target was small, but we also knew we couldn't afford to take the opposition lightly. Hamza and Umer opened the innings, but we lost Umer early. Jeet then joined Hamza and took charge, building a crucial 25-runs partnership with him and settling the chase after the early setback.
Once Hamza fell, a couple of quick wickets followed, with Chetan, Abhishek and Jeet departing in quick succession.
But Gourav contributing his individual 14 runs to the chase with Prabhu on the other end guiding the team home comfortably and completing an important victory.
A dominant bowling display, sharp fielding, and a composed chase made this a true team performance.
Best Batting
25 Hamza Malik
Best Bowling
4/8 Tej Singh
3/14 Tarun Singh
6th Division Match Report
Rob Sanderson
Round 3: 68 Loss
v Summer Hill Suns 8/179
A day of highlights and lowlights at O'Neill Park — unfortunately, the lowlights far outweighed the highlights.
We won the toss and made the stupid decision to bowl. We were missing three of what look to be quality new recruits, plus one of our old 7th Division batsmen who is yet to make his mark on the competition. Things then got off to an unusually disorganised start, with a bit of scurrying around as late players arrived and we tried to get everyone onto the field. Definitely the exception rather than the rule, but not an ideal start.
The Begg problem
The Suns got away from us early, and Cal Begg was the batsman who really got away from us.
By the break they were around 120, and we were staring at the possibility of a very big total.
To our credit, the second half of the bowling effort was considerably better. We slowed the scoring right down and restricted the Suns to 8/179, meaning they added fewer than 60 runs after the break.
Given where they had been heading, that was probably our best collective effort of the day.
Pat gets his reward
After two matches of bowling his heart out without much reward, Pat finally got the wickets his bowling deserved. He finished with an excellent 2/19 from six overs, with an LBW and a bowled.
It seems the strategy of bowling fast and straight at the stumps is beginning to pay off.
Jimmy Bandas also picked up three wickets, while David R eventually worked out how to get Begg out. That discovery has already formed the basis of our tactical plan for the return match: stack the on-side and see if we can get him to do it again.
Catch of the day
Another definite highlight was Shaun Hardy's spectacular catch at short mid-wicket to remove one of our favourite Brincat brothers before he could really tear us apart. A very good catch at a time when we badly needed something to go our way.
The 30-over experiment
I'm already getting very sick of this 30-over format.
There simply doesn't seem to be enough time to comfortably get through the overs. The pressure to keep things moving leads to compromised fields, rushed changes and decisions being made according to the clock rather than the cricket.
We did at least manage 28 overs this week, so we're getting closer.
Then we batted…
Unfortunately, it turned out that Begg could not only bat — he could bowl as well.
That lad has played some cricket, you know. He took 4/10 from three overs, including a maiden, as the Sixes proceeded to capitulate to 68 all out in just 18.4 overs.
David Ritchil provided most of the resistance with 28, while Robert Sanderson made 15 at the top.
Between them they made 43 of the 58 runs that actually came off the bat.
After that, there isn't a great deal worth dwelling on.
The 68 was bad enough, but perhaps the bigger lowlight was that we only occupied the crease for 18.4 of the 30 overs available to us. Whatever the target, we've got to make teams work considerably harder than that to get us off the park.
Best Batting
28 David Ritchil
Best Bowling
3/34 Jim Bandas
2/19 Patrick Hargreaves
2/33 David Ritchil
7th Division Match Report
Don Stewart
Round 3: 6/145 Won
v Dobroyd Point 7/128
The new 7th div team have their first win of the season, and they earned it the hard way: 33 degrees, an overgrown Beaman 1, and a Dobroyd Point side that refused to go quietly.
It started hot and humid and only got hotter. Heat rose off the river, bogong moths fluttered out of the kit bag, and by 1pm it was 33°C - the kind of Sydney afternoon where the shade of the clubhouse looks better than the middle. We lost the toss and were sent in, which felt about right.
Don and Michael Anderson got us moving - 20 off the first five - before Don swung over one that didn’t want to bounce and lost his off stump halfway up. Anderson launched a huge six and then nicked off to first slip for a workmanlike 17, and at 2/26 after ten we were wobbling in the heat.
Then Adam Miles happened. With the second-tier bowlers on, he went full baseball mode - 35 by the break including two enormous sixes, one a 75-metre monster that nearly reached the tennis courts. At the other end Matt Abotomey (15 on debut), Ben Kimble (26) and Jack Trimmer (11) held their shape, and at 3/122 after 24 we were eyeing 150-plus and our best total of the season. We slowed late but walked off at 6/145 feeling good - Dobroyd Point had spent two hours at 34C and looked cooked. Just as a cooling breeze was finally stirring - we took the field.
Then the rain arrived as we regrouped, drops sweeping across with the drinks and ice packs. The plan was simple: tie them down, defend 145.
PJ and Joshua Raphael opened with dots - 0/13 after five, Dobroyd Point's free-scoring openers suddenly unable to find a gap. First change, Anthony Reed bowled a jaffa onto the base of leg stump to remove Nanda. Neil Gordon - originator of our NeilBall strategies - has a plan for the field, and nudges Don out to the deep midwicket boundary as Ben Kimble comes on. A moment for tik tok follows: Kimble tossed up a full toss to their No. 3, who launched it high toward the square-leg boundary, and Don sprinted around from deep midwicket to intercept it at full pace on the rope at forward square. Nobody quite believed it - least of all the batter, who stood staring as if waiting for someone to rule it didn't happen. Gone for a duck. DPCC 2/28 and we are on our way.
At drinks DPCC were 2/46, needing 100 off the last 15. We had a sniff of something here. Neil Gordon broke the middle order with two in quick succession - clipping the top of the bails to bowl Crooymans, who'd stuck around for 20 overs, then having Rif caught by Oscar Bryant sweeping in.
The fielding was relentless; every boundary attempt found a fielder. Rain and sun took turns ruining visibility and the ball started to melt, but with the asking rate past ten an over there was only going to be one result. Raphael (0/26) and PJ (1/24) closed it out, and DPCC finished on 7/128.
First win of the new 7s. Fourth on the table.
Best Batting:
54 Adam Miles
26 Ben Kimble
Best Bowling
2/10 Neil Gordon
2/24 Anthony Reed
