Report

Styles lost the toss and Goodwood elected to bat on what seemed like a good deck. It turned into a "good toss to lose" as more than a few balls rolled down the pitch. Dags (3/18) bowled with good heat and Hooky gave us an excellent first spell. Thommo (3/6) and Drew (2/21) also chimed in with wickets. Catching by Hurb and Dags was a feature. Goodwood all out for 100.
With about 17 overs to face on day one we wanted to put a reasonable dent in the chase. All was well with Hooky (30) and Richo at the crease, but 4 quick wickets left us at 6/70 at close.
In the first over of day 2, Lex smashed two boundaries that immediately released the pressure. Styles was in magnificent form as he steered us home and remained undefeated on 82.
With a lead of 113 and Goodwood 4/29 early in their second dig, an outright victory was an outside chance. This was put out of the question by an aggressive Shane Martin who made a quickfire 91. Thommo (4/29) and Phillips (3/80) were the best of the bowlers.

Report

The first game of the season was played on a well-prepared pitch and green oval at Park 9. PAOCCC captain Dave Gerner won the toss and elected to bat. Umpires Parsons and Kumar started the game at 12:00.

PAOCCC batted well in the first session and the openers Aust and Spencer put on a solid partnership of 30 for the first wicket. Aust was bowled for 14 and Spencer was out lbw for 24. When drinks were taken at the 25 over mark the Reds were 2 for 129.Michael Richardson and Brad Walter put on a third wicket partnership of 73 before Walter was bowled by Taylor for a well-made 27. Then began a middle-order collapse as Richardson was dismissed for 49 and PAOCCC were bowled out in the 40th over for 183. A disappointing batting effort after such a positive start.

Payneham opened with Baker and Zachat and lost their first wicket with 10 runs on the board, Zachat clean bowled by Sam Richardson for 6. Richardson then took another 2 quick wickets to put the Dukes on the back foot early while they skumped to 3 for 19 early in their innings. A partnership of 20 between Wait and Abbot saw them get back into the match before Dave Larkins had Wait trapped in front for 9 and Abbot was run out shortly after for a well-made 22. From there the Reds bowlers were all over the Dukes and took regular wickets to bowl them out for 100 in the 39th over. The Reds were home by 83 runs in a game dominated by the bowlers.

The game was played in great spirit and the umpires were faultless with their decisions all day. A great start to the season for the Reds, although their middle order will want to take a good hard look at valuing their wicket more highly.

Report

With three wins from as many outings the B Grade took on their first A Grade opponents in Modbury. Dave Gerner avoided persecution from his teammates after winning the toss and choosing to bat, on a day so hot that even a seasoned Sudanese nomad warrior would describe as "unpleasant".

The Reds got off to the best imaginable start, with Aaron "Another Richo" Richards and Brad "Swansong" Walter making light work of the Modbury attack. Whilst the Snicko Fairy was clearly favoring the elegant left hander, Richo took control with some remarkable strokeplay, in particular, a lofted cut that landed just inside the rope - cricket's equivalent to pornography, it was hard not to get excited.

After drinks, Walter began to find his feet (and the part of the bat located between the edges) balancing textbook strokeplay with aggressive, sensible running. After reaching his fifty (and some much needed fantasy points), Richo looked set to follow suit, unfortunately a fine catch at first slip saw him fall just one short of a well-deserved half century.

With the score now at 1/110, the Reds were well placed to compile a very large total. Unfortunately, a combination of tight bowling from Modbury and perhaps a lack of concentration, and in some cases fortune from our boys resulted in some quick wickets, with the game evenly poised at lunch. However, with the exception of Walter's brilliant 88, and some late hitting from the skipper (28), the highlights were few and far between, skittled for just 205 - incredibly disappointing considering the wonderful platform we had.

With 13 overs to bowl before stumps, the Reds were determined to make next week a little easier by taking a couple of early wickets. This didn't really look like happening until their opener got impatient, and tried (quite successfully) to smack the cover off a Larkins half-volley, smashing it straight back at the bowler's head (granted this could be anywhere between mid-on and cover). Fortunately for the Reds, and Extreme's health insurance fund, he was able to react and take the catch, leaving the game relatively evenly poised at 1/35 at the days end.

That was to be the one and only day of play, with week 2 washed out, which whilst disappointing that we didn't get a result, leaves us undefeated after our first four rounds in A3. Keep it going boys!

Report

Disappointing result for the D grade. Olly and Thumper got us off to a steady start after we lost an early wicket and in difficult conditions did a good job. In the last 20 overs we lost wickets too regularly and ended up with a score that was never going to be competitive. Matt Kildea batted well for his 33 late in our innings but we simply did not make enough runs.
Heito bowled well but with no luck and with the Ingle Farm batsmen chancing their arm and getting away with it the game was very quickly taken away from us. Nick Brooks had a tough start to his club career getting run out for a diamond duck and then getting hit around in his first 5 balls but he responded very well taking a wicket with the last ball of his first over then bowling 8 very very good overs to follow that. Will Farminer also got a couple of wickets despite his best efforts to convince the captain not to give him a bowl.
We can only improve from here and hopefully the hard work will be put in to ensure that happens.

Report

After having the first week of the round 2 clash with Penfield washed out the D-Grade was very keen to make the most of what will be a rare afternoon at Park 15 for season 2009/10.

Having won the toss for the second week in a row we decided to bat first on what looked to be a batting paradise. Robbo and Woody got us off to a steady start in the first 10 overs before accelerating the run rate to have us in a good position when Woody (20) was the first wicket to fall with the score on 53. Robbo (22) followed shortly after and with the loss of Cunners and Rosey in quick succession our good start had unravelled to leave us in a precarious position at 4/81. Thumper (18) batted patiently and tried his best to hold the innings together but when he fell with the score on 103 it sparked a collapse that saw us lose 6/14 to be bowled out for just 117 in the 38th over. This was a pretty disapointing effort considering the good start we had but we had to remain positive.

Having thought the wicket was a road at the beginning, during our innings we discovered it was not actually that easy to bat on. It was a bit two paced and gave the bowlers a good chance if they bowled in the right areas. Realising this and despite our poor showing with the bat we took to the field confident we could get the job done. Heito opened up and bowled a very good spell removing on of the opening batsmen with an unplayable inswinger. From the other end John Coop bowled 9 overs straight and kept it tight to end up with figures of 1/29. When Heito came off after 4 overs Peter "Ringmaster" Ingman was brought on and he turned back the clock with a match winning 9 over spell taking 4/20.

With the tailenders from Penfield closing in on our low total we needed a spark from somewhere. Enter Will "Wants A" Farminer. With his opening delivery he served up a juicy leg side full toss that should have gone over the boundary but somehow ended up in the hands of Cunners after he ran 30 metres to take the catch. That sparked a collapse with "Wants A" ending up with 3/6. The winning wicket would please many fantasy team coaches with 3 players involved in the run out that secured the victory by 9 runs.

In the end a great win but a lot of work needs to be done on our batting if we wish to remain competitive.

Report

Round 3 saw us tackle Pooraka on their home deck in our first two day game of the season. We won the toss and on a very nice looking wicket we not surprisingly decided to bat. Woody got his chance to open the batting again and after the early loss of Robbo, he and Thumper dug in. In a very good partnership those two batsmen saw us to tea only one wicket down. This was a great position to be in against a pretty good bowling attack and we were determined as a team to make the most of the great foundation that had been set.

After tea Thumper unfortunately fell nine runs short of his maiden half century but he had done a great job setting the side up for what was to come. Unfortunately for Cunners it wasn't his day as he fell for a duck which brought the skipper to the crease. After a 55 run partnership with the skipper, Woody eventually fell for a very well made 65. During the partnership (actually after about an over) the skipper realised he was more unfit than he thought and realised if he was going to contribute it would be through boundaries not running between the wickets. Conveniently he was joined by a willing accomplice in this plan in "Crazy" Jack Zacker. These two combined for a partnership of 122 with 110 of those coming in the last 10 overs. The skipper fell in the last over of the day for 83 with "Crazy" Jack Zacker finishing unbeaten on 69. In a very good batting performance we ended up with a very handy 5/284. Very pleasing performance after our poor start to the season with the bat.

Rocking up to defend our total in week 2 we found the wicket was yet again a batting paradise and we knew it wasn't going to be easy. Heito and Coopy bowled well but without success early as did Justin "Flipper" Mitchell. It wasn't until Robbo was brought on for a marathon spell of 26 overs on the trot that we managed our first breakthrough. It was then a great piece of fielding by Mitchell to catch the non striker napping and run him out that brought our second wicket in quick succession. From there the Pooraka boys continued to bat well but never truly threatened our score eventually being bowled out for 228 in the 70th over. Robbo finished with 4/86 from his marathon spell of 26 overs in a great performance. Cunners took 2 very good outfield catches and on the whole our performance in the field and with the ball was very good.

A good solid win with all contributing. We now sit second on the ladder and it is now time to consolidate our spot by playing some good consistent cricket in the weeks ahead.

Report

With an undermanned side without the skipper who was getting married, we travelled out to Argana Park to take on top side Penfield.

Buoyed by the second week inclusion of Chris Drew, the boys were keen to do the hard work week 1 and let "Drewy" off the leash in week 2. The stand-in skippers, "Thumper" and "Woody" got what they wanted and won the toss, deciding to bat. After the loss of early wicket, "Cunners" and "Woody" quickly went about building a competitive score. It was clear from the look in his eyes that "Cunners" was a man on a mission, leading from the front, and sending the odd ball onto Main North Road as he reached 50 with relative ease. "Woody" played the perfect anchor role, feeding him the strike and holding up an end while "Cunners" smashed his way to a hundred just prior to tea. "Woody" unfortunatley was dismissed for a well made 16, and we went into the tea break in a good position, only 2 down with 150 on the board, and "Cunners" well set 133 not out. "Cunners" planned to go out all guns blazing after tea, however, it wasn't to be, dismissed on the second delivery of the new session for 133, including 10 x 4s and 8 x 6s. Disasterously we lost 3/3 through the middle order, and all of a sudden we were in some strife. 'Heito' and "Baz" knuckled down and put on an invaluable 18 runs to help us lift our score to a competitive 9/182.

16 overs at the end of day 1 had the potential to either win or lose the game for us, and things were made increasingly difficult with only 9 in the field, with "Cunners" having left early for the wedding and "Drewy" standing beside "The Lobbster" at the alter. However, to our credit, we were able to take 3 vital wickets to have Penfield 3/20 at stumps.

With "Drewy" stepping in for his first D-Grade game for the club, we were hopeful we could pick up the points and it didn't take long before he had an impact, taking a wicket in his first over, a sharp catch to "Heito" (or shall we say, Heito's jatz crackers?). We continued to take regular wickets, with "Drewy" picking up 2, and "Robbo" bowling a menacing spell to take 3/11. "Brooksy" added to his 2 overnight wickets with a run out to help dismiss Penfield for 97 just after tea. With a lead of 85, the skippers decided to roll the dice and go for an outright.

We had a 6 over expression session to finish 1/54 and set Penfield 140 to win from 20 overs. "Drewy" belted 32 not out, while "Cunners" took his run tally for the match to 150 with 17 not out.

Fuming he wasn't bowled as much as he would have liked in the first innings, "Brooksy" tore through the heart of Penfield's top order taking 5/4 from 7 overs pushing into the breeze, however it wasn't quite enough, falling 3 wickets short of an outright with Penfield finishing 7/101.

Report

After the washout last week the E-grade were keen to kick off their season on the right foot as they headed to Webb Oval to take on Glenunga. New skipper to the side Matt "Clev" Kildea started the season poorly as the coin came down the wrong way and we were put into the field.

With an opening bowler absent Anthony "Pebbles" Pemberton took the new ball together with James "J-Lo" Thomas. J-Lo got things going as he hit the top of the off stump with his 3rd ball of the season and then completed a caught and bowled in his 2nd over, deceiving the batsman with a slower-ball. Justin "Mullet" Mitchell was thrown the ball next and proceeded to bowl full and straight, conceding only 5 runs from 9 overs, a great effort. Super-sub Simon "Buts" Butler then joined the party picking up another 3 wickets to his ever growing career tally. We wrapped up their tail in the 38th over to see them finish on 122. The pitch was two paced and there was a nasty patch outside the off stump at the far end but we knew if we batted out our overs we would win the game.

Andrew "Olly" Olsson got us underway with Nick "Vegas" Brooks and the pair were going along nicely before Vegas nicked one to Gully to have the score at 1/11 in the 5th. Henry Olsson then joined his Dad in the middle and faced a barrage of short pitched bowling playing them all with the composure you would expect more from Olly. After seeing off the opening bowler Henry unfortunately hit one in the air that held up on the wicket. Clev came and went fairly quickly and after drinks the third Olsson, Charlie, fell also caught bringing Buts to the wicket. Together with Olly the two wise heads combined patience with class as they waited for, and put away, the bad balls. We brought up the 100 with 7 overs to go and still 6 wickets in hand. Olly then fell for a well made 46 and when Pat Sadlier and Hugh Bond went in succession we had lost 3/1 and were still 22 runs short of the target with 5 overs to go. J-Lo came to the crease and with a cool head he knocked out 25 runs as we passed the target with an over to spare. We finished the game 7/133 with J-Lo and Buts taking the red ink.

A great start to the season, however with only 3 bats making it past 5, we have plenty of work to do if we want to challenge the top sides. Will be great to see as many as possible make it out onto the track in the coming weeks.

Report

Round 3 saw an opportunity to bring new faces to the side as players were called up to fill the gaps in the sides above. It would be a tough ask against the strong AHOS side, but a great opportunity for the new boys none the less.

Batting first the inform Olly was joined by Clev who had moved up the order. On a rock hard deck the AHOS bowlers were hitting the seam and the ball was jagging around. Clev qickly nicked one to the keeper and first gamer Luke then put one over the slips for four before being given out LBW. Henry then came to the crease and looked to get on the front foot as he took 6 runs from his first two balls before being fired without an appeal from the fielding side! Apparently he was out caught behind and we were 3/29 from 10 overs.

With Aaron "Chopper" Read and Olly at the crease we hoped wise heads would prevail however the wickets continued to fall however other than an 18 from Chopper and 13 from Olly no-one made double figures. We were skittled for 56 and hadn't given ourselves a total to defend.

Taking 18 from the first over the AHOS opening bat was still in good form coming off his 216 last week, so we proceeded to give him the single and attack the other bat. Charlie bowled well claiming 2/13 from 3. The Olsson boys then combined well as Charlie took a good running catch at fine leg off of Henry's bowling. Rather than just going through the motions, the Reds remained upbeat in the field and picked up 3 wickets from 9 overs as a result.

Report

Winning the Toss we took full advantage of the fact that Adelaide Uni started the day 2 players short and sent them out to field. Olly and Chappy got the ball rolling for the Reds as they made it through the first 10 overs without losing a wicket. Olly then fell and did the skipper bringing Chopper to the crease who quickly pulled his hammy. The Skipper returned to the crease to run for Chopper as the pair proceeded to pile on the runs. Chappy moved the partnership past 140 before falling for a well made 89. Chopper followed suit a few balls later to be dismissed for 78. We were 4/180 with a handful of overs to go so the tail came in swinging, with most leaving fairly quickly. Dalwood's 19 was the only score of note. We had moved to 8/211 from 39 overs and Pebbles was confident this would be enough as he blocked out a maiden from the last over.

Going out to Field we welcomed the Wild Thing, Josh Hall to the side with instant results. 2nd ball a healthy edge through to Chappy who must have been a little weary from his batting and the ball hit the grass. Two deliveries later Brooksy made up for it as he took a sharp catch at gully to have them 1/0. From the other end Dags quickly picked up one of his own as he took the top of off. Following this great start Uni started to put together a partnership and had ticked along to nearly 80 before Brooksy took another good catch, this time at Deep Mid-wicket looking directly into the sun. A couple of very adjacent LBW appeals were turned down however we pushed on and then claimed a 4th wicket shortly before Drinks, to have the match tightly poised at 4/105 at the half way mark.

After drinks we removed their set batsman as Brooksy picked up his first and with his 2nd we knew the game was in our reach. Hally and Dags were brought back on to wrap up the tail with James keeping things tight from his end, Hally knocked the stumps over a couple of times at the other. With 10 overs to go Uni needed nearly 80 runs with only one wicket in hand. Throwing caution to the wind they hit plenty from the pace bowlers so Olly was brought on. With no pace to work with Uni struggled to score and soon a dicey run saw the last wicket fall and we claimed our 2nd victory, this one by 22 runs.

Report

On a warm November day where the mercury was nudging 40, winning the toss was crucial. As the coin came down heads the skipper exclaimed "you beauty, we'll bat thanks". Once again it was Olly and Chappy who got the ball rolling for the Reds, and Olly punished the bowling attack with 6 fours in his 29 off 28 balls. Chappy was going along nicely at the other end and together with first gamer Ivan the pair pushed us past 100. Ivan soon fell for an entertaining 13 and after Chappy knocked up his second fifty in as many games he then stumbled as his on drive found the fieldsman. At 3 for 110 with 14 overs to go and two fresh bats at the crease Selth and Kildea pushed the ball through the gaps picking up many 2s and 3s. With the fieldsmen getting tired the skipper got out the way to allow Eske to come in and blast 22 from 15 at the end, including a monster pull shot over midwicket. In the end we made 5/190 from our 35 overs a very handy total.

It was a brown deck that was playing very well for batsmen and we knew early wickets would break the ROCS boys who had spent the best part of the afternoon in the hot sun. Fresh from 35 overs under the trees Hally took full advantage as he caught the edge in his first over. Unfortunately the ball made it's way through he slips and down to the boundary for 4. At the other end Hamish struggled with the new pill as a few got away from him, but tidy fielding kept the runs down and the pressure started to build. In just the 3rd over we picked up the first wicket as the Wild Thing was too quick for the batsman and his cut shot turned into more of a glide, straight to the waiting Selthy at Gully. Eske then picked up two from his end and we had them on the back foot.

Ivan was thrown the ball to see what he had and to everyone's surprise it was some heat matching the 40 degree sun that he fired down removing the key wicket being their #3 and then claimed our 5th wicket, with the two catches taken by the Olssons. At 5/14 we took a well earnt drink and then brought Hally back who picked up a couple of bowleds soon after to have them in all sorts at 7/19. Sharing the ball around their tail scored a few runs but when Ivan and the Olssons combined again, we picked up another two wickets with Ivan doing the catching this time. Hally was brought back on to claim the last wicket and get out of the sun as we wrapped them up for 71 from just 22 overs. A very nice 119 run victory and the Es now move to 3-1.

Report

Being put in we sent out the experience of A Olsson and G Carmody to get us underway. The pair held out the new ball well before Carmody fell in the 14th over. From there Kildea and Read upped the Run-Rate as Olsson pushed on towards his fifty. With 12 overs to spare we had 8 wickets in hand and were past the 100. This gave us a perfect platform to launch from however apart from Eske, the middle and lower order failed to fire a shot as they combined for 8 runs from 40 balls. In the end we finished on 137 and knew we would have to bowl well.

Ajay and J-Lo did just that and we had them at 1/13 from 10 overs. Carmody came on and picked up a caught and bowled as well as a run-out to see the Pulteney boys struggling at 3/30. Unfortunately we put a catch down off their hitter and he never gave us another chance as he powered home an unbeaten 84. We kept the pressure on and made the opposition work for their runs, but we were always 20 runs short as they passed the total with 4 overs to spare.

Report

Losing the toss and fielding on the back oval we knew anything under 200 would be a comfortable chase. Matty Thomas came down the hill and bowed over after over of heat but failed to take the vital breakthrough. At the other end J-Lo worked up and picked up the wicket. Buts and Lexi both rolled the arm over with mixed results and the Ingle Farm boys started to get a total going. At 3/100 after 20 we knew we would have to tie them down in the 2nd half. Overs 20-30 saw the runs continue to flow and things were looking ominous before the Thomas boys returned for their last 8 overs. In the end we managed to restrict them to just 225.

New face Quinny got us off to a flyer with 10 runs off the first over and soon settled in with Lexi to put on a 37 run opening stand. Chappy and Chopper quickly fell after Lexi and this brought N Selth to the crease. On Drinks Quinny fell for 48 and we were 4/95 needing a further 131. Kildea rotated the strike to Selthy who continued to put away the bad ball as the pair went about hauling in the total. With 6 overs to spare we required a further 33 runs with 6 wickets in hand. After doing most of the hard work Kildea fell for 39 from 32 and Selthy for 76 from 82. The Thomas boys were once again working together and knocked off the required runs with two overs to spare. A great run chase.

Report

Coming back from the break the E-grade were welcomed with a Friday night fixture at Daly Oval against Hectorville. Hectorville won the toss and elected to bat as the mercury hovered above 40 into the evening hours. We failed to take our chances early as three catching opportunities all were missed and we let them get away to 1/69. When we finally held a catch it triggered a couple more wickets and the reds quickly picked up 3/3. From there regular wickets fell and apart from two small partnerships of 29 and 18, we stayed on top and ran through Hectorville, bowling them out for 133. Buts once again had the goods with the ball grabbing 4/25. Nick Noblett claimed 2/4 as well as a great catch (off a no ball unfortunately) and a run-out.

As the natural light started to fade the Daly Oval lights were struggling to take over and it was crucial we picked up as many runs as possible before the ball lost its colour. With this in mind Nobby, Quinny and Chopper went in at the top of the order chasing quick runs. Ticking over at around 6 runs per over this was working well, however we also lost 4 early wickets to sit at 4/49 from 8 overs. Nick Selth and Tom Phillips settled into their work and pushed the ball into the gaps combined with a few bigger strokes. A partnership of 75 moved us to within 10 of victory with 6 wickets and 13 overs to spare. A couple of wickets at the end made the final score closer than it really was, however it was another solid victory for the E-grade as they won with more than 8 overs to spare, retaining 2nd spot in the process.

Report

With the D-grade picking up a forfeit win the E's had plenty to choose from this week. Batting first Lexi and Thumper got us off to a steady start before Thumper sliced one to fly gully. Noblett and Pup soon came and went and we quickly lost 3/2. Cunners joined Lexi at the crease and the pair went aerial. After 14 overs we had passed 90 before Lexi was caught in the deep for a well made 41. Cunners then brought up his 50 from just 28 balls much to the disgust of the complaining Glenunga boys. When he fell to make it 5/112 they thought they might be into our tail but Chopper and Eske had other ideas as they put on a 50 run stand. Despite regular wickets, we maintained a high run-rate throughout our innings and passed the 200 mark inside 35 overs before being bowled out for 206. It was disappointing not to bat out the overs but we knew anything over 160 was more than defendable.

Their opening bat went after our bowlers and they soon were matching the required rate. Ingers picked up the other opener and the guy that came in at number 3 struggled to hit the ball off the pitch, let alone the square. We decided to let the bloke bat out the day (this play is known as the "Robbo Rule") and we gave their hitter the single every chance. The run rate slowed and before we knew it they needed to take chances. Eske replaced Burra and soon the big hitter tried to pull a ball that wasn't there and he only managed to hit it straight down Nobby's throat. With him out the way it was simply a matter of bowling out the overs as no remaining bat was good enough to penetrate the boundary ring. Eske continued to bowl well claiming 4/24 from his 9 overs, together with Heito going for just 18 runs from his 7 we knew the game was ours. With 10 overs to go we threw the ball around and even with the required rate pushing 10 an over the still didn't have a crack at our part-timers. They batted out their overs falling 35 runs short with 5 wickets in the shed. It was a strange game where we didn't bat overly well as we were bowled out early, then failed to take wickets, but still won comfortably.

Report

Rd 12 was the replay of the Rd 3 clash where AHOS were very convincing winners. Keen to amends for this calamity, the Red's arrived ready to fire. Unfortunately things started in a similar manner to last time, as the skipper once again lost the toss, and was once again put in to bat. This similarity continued as once again, one side took a dominant position early. Thankfully, this time around it was PAOC on top, as Aaron Richards and Olly got us off to a flyer. When Richo was dismissed in the 13th over, we were on 99, with Aaron hitting 81 of those, off just 45 balls! A great knock. This triggered a series of wickets as we lost 5 for 65 over the next 15 overs. Only Pup (39 off 28) showed any form of resistance during this period. Dags was at the crease and played his natural game, top-edging his way to a quick 51 from 32 balls, which was enough to provide a small but useful partnership of 60 with Clev, who wasn't good enough to nick it to get out. Once again a series of wickets fell and we lost 5/19 to be bowled out for 243.

In the field we knew a good start would be the key to winning the game, and our opening bowlers didn't let us down. Dags marked out the long run and came down the hill at a rate of knots, mixing a good line and length together with some intense short balls. At the other end it was Jack Brabham bowling a tidy line protecting the short mid-wicket boundary. In just the 3rd over Jack got the breakthrough with a ball that was hitting middle 2/3s of the way up. To say the batsman was less than impressed would be an understatement. With the tirade of abuse continuing from the sidelines, Dags quickly got in on the act, as the batsman gloved a short ball through to Richo who was doing a very good job as stand in keeper. The maidens continued to roll in and in the 5th over the AHOS boys finally got off the mark with a quick single to pup in the covers. Sensing a run-out opportunity, pup pounced but unfortunately over-ran the ball. Turning for a 2nd as a result the AHOS boys only managed to score themselves a 3rd wicket as pup threw to dags at the bowlers end who deflected the ball onto middle easily. At 3/1 the game was all but over in just the 5th over. After a few more tidy overs Hally replaced Dags to continue the barrage and J-Lo came on from Jack's end. J-Lo did what was required bowling the balls in the right area. Unlucky not to pick up an LBW, J-Lo left no doubt in anyone's mind as he claimed the 4th, 5th and 7th wickets to fall. Another run out from a miss-field saw the AHOS boys move to 8/110, and it was time for us to clean up the tail and head to the pub early. This took longer than it should have, but Jack was finally thrown the ball for a 2nd spell and did the right thing hitting the stumps twice in his first over.

A solid victory by 86 runs have kept the E-grade in 2nd spot with 6 rounds to go.

Report

Winning the toss we elected to bat hoping to reproduce the 99 run opening stand from last week. McQueen and Olly got us off and it wasn't too long before Tim hauled out. The skipper came and went 1 ball later bringing J-Lo to the crease for an early knock. Scoring at a run a ball J-Lo moved along to 26 before hitting one down long-off's throat to see us at 3/54. Farminer joined Olsson and the pair set about steadying the ship. Will made it to 20 and was ready to start increasing the run-rate but was clean bowled as soon as the expansive shots started. At the other end Olly was grinding his way to a well made fifty. Selthy continued his good summer racking up more runs, but once Olsson fell for 62 (including a massive 6 over cover onto the tennis courts!), Selthy proceeded to run out three partners. In the end we scrambled our way to 9/197, with Olsson's 62 off 95 and Selth's 48not out from 46 balls the only notable scores. A little disappointing not to post 200, but we knew it was defendable.

With BA back for another round of 1-day magic he was given the pick of the ends and decided to work up the hill, as expected 9 tidy overs claimed the figures of 2/31 to get us off to a solid start. At the other end J-Lo continued his fine season, and when he broke leg stump, sending the top half cart wheeling towards Bazza, we were quickly into their middle order. Special mention must to go Olly for his diving catch at gully which really set the standard for the boys in the field. With an over to go before tea the skipper asked McQueen to bowl some tweakers to see if he could entice the batsmen into playing a shot. Tim did a wonderful job of this as he got smashed onto the 2nd story balcony, but 2 balls later the quicker ball snuck through and took out the timberwork, to send us into drinks on a high. Kurt showed why he is known as the specialist as he bowled his full 9 overs with their set bat at the crease. Tidy lines were the key as the runs were kept down to finish with 1/29 from his 54 deliveries. Buts was brought on for some left arm brilliance and was struggling for consistency, but the skipper had faith that this "natural variation" would be the key and before too long the wickets stated to tumble. Simon added another 3 to his ever growing season tally and the game was all but one. McQueen was brought back to finish off the tail and he picked up a 2nd as we ran out the game winners by 35 runs. Other than one ugly incident the game was played in a good spirit, the way LOE cricket should. Another enjoyable day for the Reds and we now look to posting another couple of wins to hopefully extend our season beyond the regular matches.

Report

In a crucial 2nd vs 3rd clash the LOE's arrived on the Rostrevor Main oval filled with plenty of confidence. We were advised that we could have a bat, after them, so took to the field. Sam Gunning showed why the selection committee moved heaven and earth to get him cleared as he fired down some severe thunderbolts to the ROCs top order. After a couple of streaky fours Gunning bent his back on the first short ball of the game, and as it was fended off, it flew 75m to the waiting Nobby at deep 3rd man. Right then and there we all knew this boy could bowl! Will Dalwood was toiling away at the other end but to be honest looked pedestrian and was dispatched with easy by the ROCs boys. ROCs were getting away to a flyer as they hit 1/48 from the first 8 overs and it was time to put on the breaks. Tyson "Rainman" Smith was called upon to replace Dags and did a wonderful job of mixing up his offies, leggies and the occasional medium to bowl 9 overs 6 maidens, 2/14. At the other end it was Greenslade who did a similar job bowling 5 overs for just 9 runs and we went into the drinks break with the game back under control.

After drinks Gunning took apart their middle to lower order, claiming the final figures of 4/29, while at the other end Buts continued the stranglehold we had bowling 8 tidy overs for just 16 runs. He should have had a wicket to his name as Vass completed a wonderful leg-side stumping, however the square leg umpire was unfortunately watching the game on the next oval across and was unable to give it out. With a couple of overs to go Nobby was thrown the ball and continued the story conceding just 1 run from his overs. So after allowing 1/48 from the first 8 overs, we then took 7/51 from the next 32 to restrict ROCs to just 99 runs.

Weidenhofer and Hockney made their LOE debut's and after the odd shaky shot, the pair settled in. Unfortunately Hockney fell to a runout at the bowler's end as a return catch from Weed's bat found its way through the bowlers grasp and onto the stumps. Weed took this chance and punished the ROCs bowlers moving into the 40s. Vass fell for a composed 15 right on the drinks break. With 23 required for victory, 8 wickets and 20 overs to spare, Greenslade was told to push the ball around giving Weed the strike so he could bring up his 50. Greenslade took the skippers advise on board and proceeded to smack 14 runs off the next over, leaving Weed unbeaten on 45.

Another comprehensive victory for the E-grade who were well supported by numerous A, B and C-grade regulars this week.