No one likes to talk about the weather, but it’s been hard to avoid of late. Last Saturday it poured, and ruined some solid chances for some wins. But Sunday brought some well needed sunshine and also some strong victories. This included the first XI claiming the inaugural Dalrymple family shield.
First XI
We headed out to East Doncaster excited to take on the top of the table undefeated team. We won the toss on what looked to be a reasonable wicket and chose to bat. Wright and Woods got us off to a solid start and got us to 60 without the loss of a wicket. Wright, as he looked to increase the strike rate, was sensationally run-out when sent back by Woods for 26. Joslin and Woods put on another 30 runs before Woods held out to mid-on for a well made 36. Joslin and McNally went into tea with a solid foundation layed by the openers. Joslin went quickly after the break for 20 and that set a run of regular wickets, preventing our ability to increase the scoring rate in the last session. Stothard (19) and Guley (26) showed the best intent for the day but unfortunately like those before them were also unable to go on after a good start. Adgemis (21) tried hard at the end to push the total towards a defendable target, with the help from a couple of lusty blows by Taylor and Howes in the last couple of overs. We ended up 9/215 off our 80 overs. Probably 50 short of what we would have liked after a solid start to the innings.
Week 2 was washed out.
After our Rnd 5 1-day game was washed out vs Nth Balwyn it was re-scheduled for the Sunday but again was in risk of being washed out with the Saturday fixture cancelled due to the rain. We arrived to see one side of the wicket quite wet, as water had seeped under the edge of the covers. It was going to be an important toss to win. We lost the toss and were of course asked to don the pads. While Wright went early with a ball that jagged a mile and was chopped on, Woods and Joslin knuckled down in trying conditions. The outfield was extremely slow, making it hard to hit boundaries. Joslin batted quite well for 32 but it wasn’t until Watkins (34no) who has been starved of batting this season and Padbury got together and were able to push the fielders and hit some important boundaries towards the end. We scrounged out 8/150 off our 40 overs, which was probably more like 180 with the slow outfield.
Padbury and Howes started well with the ball and it felt from the outset that we were on in the field and ready to defend the moderate total. Nth Balwyn, while putting on some small partnerships, never got ahead in the game, as we were able to take wickets at crucial times. Taylor bowled well through the middle for his 2 wickets and Padbury was able to come back and take 3 wickets in an over to ice the game. He finished with figures of 4/9 off 6.5 overs – a brilliant return after a substantial time away overseas. Watkins, Stothard and McNally also contributed really well with the ball taking a wicket each. We were able to bowl Nth Balwyn out for 138 in the 38th over, which was a fantastic effort considering they had the best of the conditions with the bat.
A great team performance and we now look forward to taking on Canterbury who have been in fine form in the 2-day games.
Go Monts!
Second XI
We lost the toss and were asked to field by Boronia for the second time in as many weeks.
We toiled all day on a flat, hard road that offered next to nothing for the bowlers, managing 5 scalps for the day. Boronia finished with 255, a good score, but one we thought wasn’t out of reach with our batting order for the match.
As this season would have it, we were denied our chance of chasing, the second week washed out. Another frustrating result.
The pick of the bowlers were Boof (1/34 off 18, inc. 10 maidens) Orch (1/45 off 16) and Jacko (1/63 off 17). Special mention to Blairy who took two very good catches.
After a few wet days we were expecting the worst when we arrived at Burwood CC on Sunday.
The sun was out, the boundaries were small and we won the toss and had a bat.
The wicket was tougher to score on than anticipated and Burwood bowled very well, hitting a hard length and doing their best to deny us of scoring opportunities.
We started slowly, then came the wickets, and we fell in a bit of a heap. A handy partnership of 41 between Billy Topham (28) and Chip gave us some hope, before another loss of a few wickets. Some late order hitting from Orch (15) and Jacko (11*) saved us from embarassment, taking us over the 100 barrier, all out 103 in the second last over.
We started strongly in reply with Jacko (4/13) taking the scalp of one of their better batsmen in the opening over. He and Cully bowled beautifully upfront to make sure they didn’t get away from us.
Runs were hard to come by, with Fern (1/33) and Orch (1/16) keeping it tight through the middle overs. We took it as far as we could, Burwood knocking off 103, 6 down in the 38th over. Another disappointing loss for this group.
Third XI
Round 12 we faced top of the ladder Boronia at Tormore Reserve.
Losing the toss we were sent into bowl on what looked like a very good pitch to bowl on.
We started off well with our opening bowlers Bobby c and Tim Noble bowling very well with Noble getting an early wicket.
At drinks we had Boronia 1 for about 40 odd runs. Smithy and Udhav started after drinks with those two not going for many runs. Smithy being the bowler of the day bowling 11 overs 6 maidens 9 runs and a wicket.
Wickets were falling constantly through the day with Fraser bowling 18 on the trot and drying Boronia’s runs up.
At the end of the day we bowled Boronia out for 181 which we thought was a target we could could chase down. But unfortunately the next week the weather would not allow us to.
The 3rd XI hosted Burwood on Sunday due to a washout earlier in the year and with only three matches left in the season, this game was a must win to give ourselves any chance of making the top 4. As the rain poured down Saturday so did the beers, which may have left a few of the boys a little concerned that conditions were perfect for cricket arriving at the ground! With the wicket looking green (although bone dry), Burwood won the toss and elected to bowl.
Minzy started the innings well with a single off the first ball and we thought this could be our day! That changed relatively quickly as our top order was completely dismantled leaving us 5/8 off 7 overs. With our season slipping away, young guns Fraser Baddon (26) and Nick Kann (26) put on a sensational, gusty 55 run partnership to give us a glimmer of hope.
Johnny Mitch looked classy early with a beautiful late cut for 4, unfortunately shortly after he was given out LBW. To his credit, he took it on the chin (which is where the ball hit him) and didn’t really mention the decision at all after that. With some fantastic hitting from Bobby C (41) in the last 10 overs we were able to post 125, which was probably not quite enough at Elgar.
The Burwood openers got off to steady start and looked untroubled for the early part cruising to 40, before Carl (3/33) found his rhythm coming back from 4 years out the game to take 3 wickets in his final 3 overs to completely swing the match. Lachy Smit (3/16) took over where Carl left off bowling superbly in partnership with Udhav (0/6 off 8 overs) and when Fraser (mid wicket) kept his composure to run at the stumps and take the bails rather than have a shot, we were right on top having Burwood 7/69… Greedy (2/30) chimed in with a wicket to make it 8/83 but that’s when Burwood began to make their charge putting on 35 before Carl took a great catch and Bobby C bowled two quality overs from at the death (0/1 off 2). It left Burwood needing 6 off 6 with 1 wicket in hand. Young gun Lachy Smit kept his cool under pressure bowling the final over with aplomb. With 3 off 3 needed, there was a mix up between the batsmen – the ball went through to the keeper and Minzy ran the stumps down leaving the batsman well short!
Such a great win to be involved in, all the boys should be proud of their efforts, Go Monts!
Fourth XI
The 4s were back at home to take on East-Malvern Tooranga, keen to finally add another win on the board. We won the flick and decided to have a bat. We started slow as East-Malvern bowled well and the wicket made batting a little difficult early. However, we kept wickets in hand and this allowed as to ramp up the scoring as the day wore on and the pitch flattened out. We finished with a low, but respectable score of 209 for the day. The standouts with the bat being Rick Barker (45), Terry Smit (34), Simon Harris (27) and Rufus McLean (20).
We were keen to have a crack at East-Malvern week 2, but the rain came and forced us to shake hands and walk away with the draw.