VECC Round 4 results

Again a mixed bag of results for the VECC senior and junior clubs in round 4 of the competition.

Saturday November 1st
Valentine Eleebana U16/17 V Wallsend

Never Say Die

It was a typical early November Saturday morning, rain clouds hanging around. We lost the toss and were sent in to bat, but we were going to anyway. Let’s just say it was a typical bare concrete wicket with it keeping low at various time with no consistency.
We were struggling at 9:20 when the heavens opened up and stopped play for 20min. Wallsend were desperate to get back out and they even brought a towel out to dry the wicket at one end. Play resumed and Brendan and Caleb hung in with Caleb going for it with only 2 overs left.
We finished the innings at 8/54.Brendan Binks batted well for a great captains knock finishing on 12 and Caleb Hartwig dug in for a hard fought 17. We didn’t have many runs on the board but all the players were confident we could it.
Wallsend were very vocal to say the least, they thought they had us on the ropes and were going to do it easy. Obviously they hadn’t remembered our bowling attack from last time. With Alex Rodger and Ethan Morris opening the attack they were on the back foot from word go. They had no answer to our steam train as we rolled straight over the top of them. Alex was like a wrecking ball demolishing their batters and finished with 5/7 off 6 overs. All the other bowlers got into the action and there were some great catches taken.
I think Wallsend were shell shocked when Brendan took a great catch at the wicket and ran out their last batsman. They walked off at 10/42 off 20 overs. They are leading the comp but the boys from Valentine Eleebana should never be taken lightly.
It is obviously the Valentine Eleebana Never Say Die attitude that has kept them at the top table every year.

Carl Morris
Coach


GAME FOUR
VS ELLIOTS-LAMBTON

Another narrow loss to the Grizzlies, which was disappointing, the rainy conditions spoiling what should have been a closer contest, the Grizzlies getting the worst of the conditions! Still, the team should learn from the experience, as they will have to chase larger totals in the future.

The opposition’s innings was interrupted on two different occasions, heavy showers forcing the teams off the field. This, of course, left the ball sodden and slippery, and the reduction in overs to a 25 over game encouraged the opposition’s big hitters to take advantage.

Before the rain breaks, the Grizzlies were well on top. Ben Jenkins continued his excellent form, bowling with purpose and control on the cement wicket to capture 3 wickets; two bowled, one well caught by Nathan Birt in his customary short mid-off position. Josh Parson’s four overs cost only 11 runs, and after 9 overs Elliots-Lambton were only 22. Matt Mascord (1/11) and Mackenzie Morrison (2/7) kept the pressure on, holding down the runs as well as capturing wickets. Then the rain arrived, the ball became soaked, and the later overs produced more runs than would have been expected. Eli Love bowled two maiden overs before the second shower arrived, capturing his first wicket for the season. Ellliot-Lambton’s last five overs took the score from 41 to 83, despite the best efforts of Tim Rodgers and Rhys Cooper. Both bowled a batsman each, but took heavy punishment in the unfavourable conditions.

When the Grizzlies batted, the conditions improved immensely for the opposition. The wind dried out the outfield, and the opposition’s ball retained its shape and hardness. The opening partnership between Mark Rumford (8) and Rhys Copper (13) was excellent. They ran well between wickets, and early in the partnership were on top of the required run rate. It wasn’t until the 10th over that Mark fell, attempting to lift the run rate. Rhys fell soon after, unfortunately picking out a fieldsman at mid wicket. The middle order then became strangled by some tight opposition bowling, and the run rate mounted slowly. Tim Rodgers (6), Liam Guest (3), Nathan Birt (1) were unable to accelerate the scoring. Mitch Brown hit one magnificent four, but was run out in a bad mix-up. Eli Love and Matt Mascord fell very cheaply to the opposition’s leg spinner, and Josh Parson did not trouble the scorer’s too much. Mackenzie Morrison (3no) and Ben Jenkins (3no) were left unbeaten, but the team was 20 runs too short.

While well beaten, the team was not disgraced, and providing the lessons of the game are learnt another victory should not be far off.

Match Points
2 Rhys Cooper, Mackenzie Morrison,
1 Ben Jenkins, Mark Rumford

VECC Seniors Round Four

Mixed results in round four of the Newcastle C&S competition with the B5 team recording its first win in the competition (see the additional report) and the C6 team suffering its first loss. These were the player highlights of the round.
GRADE AR2 :Dora Creek Workers 5-84 (S Wratten 24, A Fitzhenry 4-18)
d Valentine Eleebana 83 (P Gray 26, B South 4-26)
GRADE B5 :Valentine Eleebana 2-173 (J Smith 108no, D Martin 37, B Cameron 1-7)
d Caves Beach 8-172 (S Howard 54, P Gosper 41, D Jackson 3-44, C Bonner 2-19)GRADE C3 :Hotel Jesmond 9-210 (R Williams 76, K Dryden 76, P Ostrowski 3-26)
d Valentine Eleebana 110 (G Ridd 50, D Woods 4-22)GRADE C6 :Mark Hotel Eagles 5-152 (T Neilson 117, A Cartwright 2-24)
d Valentine Eleebana 150 (P Davies 54, J Day 4-42)
GRADE D6 :Valentine Eleebana 4-108 (N Best 38, D Kemp 2-10)
d Toronto RSL Mudcrabs 92 (D Kemp 28, D Lowry 4/26)

GAME FOUR 1/11/08
VS TORONTO RSL MUDCRABS

A turf pitch! Cricket as it used to be played – a large oval where sixers are very big hits, where runs are scored by batsmen with sound techniques rather than blind eyed swipers and wickets taken by bowlers who attack the stumps.

With the pitch dry and flat, the Reds batted first, hoping to score enough to put pressure on the Mud crabs when they had to chase. Dave Lowry and Neil Best took up the challenge, and enjoyed a certain amount of luck, both playing and missing occasionally as the ball deviated off the turf. Neil relied on his customary leg glance for his early runs, David scoring through back foot drives through the point and cover region when the bowlers dropped short. It wasn’t until the 15th over that the partnership was broken, David not quite getting hold of a drive that “stopped” on the pitch. But his 16 runs, and a partnership of 43, were vital. Captain Paul D’Elboux, relishing his first game as skipper, came to the crease, taking every opportunity to drive, but batting sensibly. The running between the wickets between the two veterans had to be seen to be believed! Neil had been attempting to hit out, and had even managed to pull two / three times through the midwicket area, but he feathered a touch to the keeper, falling for a well compiled 38 in 24 overs, with the score at 80. Debutant Dominic Bizzarri showed the benefit of a sound technique, the young 14 year old combining with super veteran Justin Dunne after Paul’s dismissal for 21 to push the score over the century. Dom’s boundary showed his obvious class, the ball accelerating across the slow ground. With Dom sacrificing his wicket in search of quick runs, Tony Farnham graced us with a couple of his customary blows, and Justin too rolled back the clock, driving handsomely for two in front of the wicket (!), then whipping a ball off his legs to the square leg boundary. The Reds finished with 108, not a large score, but defendable on the turf pitch.

Despite several directions from his skipper, the first ball from Matt Steele landed on his toe and was summarily dispatched to the boundary – not a good start. At the other end Dave Lowry was much tighter, picking up a wicket in his first over and causing a number of miss-hits. In his third over he again struck, diving forward in his follow through to catch a ball that had hit the shoulder of the bat and ballooned upwards. Inspirational! Paul D’Elboux replaced Matt, his left-arm swing causing quite a deal of concern. He struck in his second over, a catch skying to point where Matt Steele took a well judged catch, pushing Tony Farnham out of the road. But the score kept mounting, the Toronto opening bat taking advantage of any loose delivery. Paul picked up a further wicket, and Elliot Best also chipped in, his wrong-un not picked by a left hander who was sensationally caught by Dave Lowry running in from the mid wicket boundary. Elliot gained quite a deal of spin, but his line tended to stray, as he found it hard to adjust to the left handed batsmen. The new right handed batsmen found it harder however, Elliot’s big turning leg break deceiving him, with ‘keeper Bizzarri deftly removing the bails. Matt Hardaker then produced the ball of the match, bowling the left handed opener who had been holding the innings together. Despite his shin soreness, Matt bowled beautifully, his six overs costing only ten runs. Dave Lowry’s re-introduction to the bowling crease also tightened the screws, the remaining batsmen firstly finding it difficult to score, then falling to the pressure exerted by Dave and Matt. The final wicket fell to a stunning right hand catch to the skipper, Dave Lowry inducing a false shot with a wicked delivery. The Mudcrabs all out for 92, the Reds home by 16 runs!

The fielding effort by the Reds was particularly good. Peter Steele covered miles, while Sunny Bhasin, also making his debut despite a back injury, chased everything. Tony Farnham’s diving effort on the pitch shook the surrounding suburbs. It was a well deserved win, in a game which was played in a combative but friendly spirit.