Happy New Year! Cricket get’s underway for 2025 this Saturday, with all Morning and Afternoon teams playing this Saturday, January 11th.
Training is back on this week at Lees Park. Please call or text me on if you are unsure if Training is on. The Weather Bureau's Canterbury Weather Station is nearby Lees Park – check out the latest weather online here:
We’ve had a mixed start to the season, with Div 1 and 2 well placed, but all other teams needing to finish the season strongly to qualify for Finals. With 5 or 6 rounds remaining, let’s hope we come home like Australia did in the just completed BGT series.
Read on for our latest match reports.
Ladder
Div 1 3rd
Div 2 3rd
Div 5 6th
Div 6 Blue 4th
Div 6 Gold 7th
Div 7 5th
3/4 Morning 9th
Batting and Bowling highlights
Batting:
91* Luca Agius Morning
86 Matthew Newton Div 2
62* Dharmin Thakkar Div 6 Blue
58* Tom Corben Div 2
50* Simon Davies Div 5
Bowling
4/18 Kavit Parekh Div 6 Gold
4/30 Alex Tzoumas Div 2
Club Milestones
Matches
100 Michael Metry Div 7
50 Tanzim Alam Div 2
Runs
2,500
Dharmin Thakkar Div 6 Blue
Luca Agius Div 5
2,000
Zameer Bhinde Div 6 Gold
1,000
Samarth Shrivastava Div 6 Gold
500
Umer Aijaz Div 2
Gourav Tripathi Div 6 Blue
Wickets
150 Andy Manchester Div 6 Gold
150 Ben Rawat Div 6 Blue
50 Declan Cohen Div 7
Catches
50
Samarth Shrivastava Div 6 Gold
Training
When: Every Thursday
Where: Lees Park - Harmony St, Ashbury (Park in Crieff St, access via alley)
When: From 5:30pm until dusk – and there may be a few there earlier too
Enjoy your Cricket!
Phil
Phil – President
m 0417 234 761
5th Division Match Report
Luca Agius
Round 8: Summer Hill 4/205 & def Dobroyd Point CC 8/165
After a lengthy 4 week break without cricket, and increasingly antsy 5ths trekked back to our the site of their most recent failure, a demoralizing 140 run defeat lodged in the front of their minds. The squad had bright spirits in spite of it, considering they would be taking on the one and only team they'd beaten so far - Dobroyd Point.
A rare win in the toss saw Phil get his 5ths into bat. A positive start with some expansive stroke play from the opening Agius Junior and Agius Senior pair was by far the 5ths best opening for the season. It would go along way to setting up an unbeaten middle order partnership of 113 from Simon (50*) and Grant (48*) that transported the team from 4-92 to 4-205. A 400% increase from the 5ths last time out - partly thanks to some of the quite atrocious bowling, well taken advantage of by Simon with his first 50 for the club.
The bowling innings began similarly well. Early wickets to El Presidente and big R Fernando were followed up twice by Luca Agius in his much awaited return to the bowling crease. Dobroyd Point were 5/56 through 18. Some aggressive batting after the break saw some members of the 5ths brigade sweat. However Rayhan Islam - the leading wicket taker for the season - would soon put an end to the excessive tap his spin buddy Owen "Douglas" Gibson received with a couple of wickets to quiet the anxiety.
In the end, Dobroyd Point would fall 50 odd runs short, handing SHCC 5ths a much desired 2nd win for the season.
Best Batting
50* Simon Davies
48* Grant Murphy
37 Luca Agius
Best Bowling
3/25 Rayhan Islam
2/10 Luca Agius
2/10 Phil Tarbox
7th Division Match Report
Chat GPT
Round 9: Summer Hill 7/117 def by Earlwood 7/170
It was a tough day for SHCC’s 7th Division as Earlwood claimed a 53-run victory in a spirited contest at Lees Park. Despite some flashes of brilliance in the field, missed opportunities proved costly, and Earlwood capitalized to set a challenging target.
The highlight of the day was Rob’s sensational performance at first slip. He set the tone immediately, taking a sharp catch off Jim’s very first delivery. Rob followed this with an exceptional over-the-head grab off PJ and a ballooning chance off Dave, completing a stunning treble of catches. However, a couple of missed chances in the field allowed Earlwood to add 20-30 vital runs, which ultimately stretched the target out of reach.
Neil’s tactical nous shone brightly, as his bowling plan paid off handsomely by dismissing Earlwood’s top scorer. For the second time this season, Neil managed to bowl the key batsman, raising the question: is he Neil’s bunny? 🐰
Declan delivered a fast bowler’s dream moment, uprooting middle stump with a thunderous yorker that sent the batsman packing and sent a jolt through Earlwood’s middle order. Connor added to the drama with a brilliant piece of fielding to effect a run-out, catching Earlwood’s captain short of his ground on a risky single.
Despite these efforts, Earlwood’s batters found the gaps and rotated the strike well, finishing their innings at 7/170. Chasing 171, SHCC’s batting lineup faltered under pressure, finishing at 7/117 despite some resistance from the lower order.
The boys will rue the missed opportunities but will take heart from some outstanding individual efforts and look to bounce back stronger in the next round.
Best Batting
33 Dave Ward
24 Jim Bandas
Best Bowling
2/27 Jim Bandas
Div 3/4 Saturday AM Match Report
Phil Tarbox
Round 6: Summer Hill 7/154 def by GenX Westrikers 171/7
The final game of 2024 saw our morning team struggling numbers – Our Div 5 afternoon team stepped up, with 4 players swelling the ranks, with Simon Davies stepping in to keep with regular keeper Braedan suffering a calf strain.
The 2 day match had been shortened to a 1 day, 25 overs per side fixture – a shorter format than most of us were used to.
Things were tight early, but wickets were hard to come by and GenX pushed the scoreboard along. With some parts of Auburn Park lightning quick, bowling lengths would prove to be important. Our loose bowling was punished, but we were restricting runs, and went to drinks in reasonable shape.
Post drinks, we started leaking runs, and missed a few catches – but not Simon behind the stumps, taking 3 catches. Regardless, we would be chasing a big target of 171 from 25 overs.
Things didn’t start well, with Tarun nicking one down the leg side, going for a first ball duck. A couple more low scores brought Luca and Phil together, who put on a solid 70 to get us back in the hunt – Phil deciding to get aggressive and not quite lofting the bowler. Luca would need to take control of our innings, which he did, with an unbeaten 91*, his highest score, but sadly, it wasn’t enough, with Summer Hill falling 17 runs short. Overall, a good performance – and had we taken our chances, and win was a possibility.
We’ll be back in the New Year, raring to go.
Best Batting
91* Luca Agius
34 Phil Tarbox
Best Bowling
2/26 Sultan Ahmed