2012-13 Season Wrap – bring on the pre-season training in Sept

Cammeray Cricket Club celebrated another great year at the annual Presentation Night on the 5^th of May.  It was a terrific night that was enjoyed by a bumper crowd at Malabar restaurant in Crows Nest.  As a club we had a lot to celebrate this 2012-13 season including: 80th anniversary of entering the NSCA; A Grade’s Grand Final appearance; B Grade’s ferocious semi and great individual performances; C1-Day Grade’s Apender Gupta securing the player of the grade from the NSCA; and coming 2nd in the Club Championship.

A hearty congratulations goes to Jason Stonestreet for winning the John Bowtell Award for this season.

The largest cheer of the night was reserved for Kane Stavens, who was inducted as a Life Member.  He joins an extremely select list of just 25 members that have Life Memberships of our grand old club, and it was fantastic to have so many on hand to welcome him into the fold.  Just to give you an idea of Kane’s incredible numbers: he averages over 2 wickets a game; having taken 293 wickets @ 12.62 (mostly in A grade) Kane is just 1 run off joining another select club in the 2000 runs/200wickets set; and incredibly, of the 33 ‘5-wicket hauls’ that ALL active Cammeray players have taken, 13 of those belong to Kane.

In other news, a very cold and dewy Saturday 11^th May saw the annual trip down to Camden to play I Zingari.  IZ’s were rightly sick of losing to our Club XI for the last 3 years, and put in a rousing performance with bat and ball to emerge deserving 36-runs victors.  Duncan Struthers was the pick of the bowlers with 3/25, but the real highlight was Mark Newton rediscovering his batting form with a brilliant, effortless and technically correct 34, which more than doubled his run tally for the last 2 seasons.  Full details of the match can be found at below link:

http://mycricket.cricket.com.au/common/pages/public/rv/match.aspx?locx=MATCH&matchID=1315417

Thank you to all the players for a great season, new and old alike.  A special thanks to the committee for organising the season, and especially Scott and Em for welcoming us to Bar Tangles- which was the most fun Browny has had in someone’s backyard since Hugh Jackman left for Hollywood.  Next season will be on us soon enough, but in the meantime enjoy watching Australia fight for the Urn over winter.

Cammeray Cricket Club

CAMMERAY A GRADE MAKE IT TO THE GRAND FINAL!!!

A GRADE GRAND FINAL THIS WEEK

Great news – the A grade boys have made it through to the GF this weekend! It will be against Kirribilli Crusaders Red and played at Willoughby Park (McClelland Rd, Willoughby)

It was a great effort by the boys to knock off KCCC Blue. They rolled them for 120 (Vishal and Duncan instrumental in the wickets) and then posted 210 all out. KCCC then hit 120 odd in their second innings leaving 40 runs to get or bat out 15 overs. After 8 overs and 0/28, the match was called off.

So any support that you can give the boys this weekend down at the ground would be much appreciated. There will a good crowd there so come along and get involved also!

B GRADE JUST FALL SHORT

Unfortunately, the B grade boys just fell 27 runs short of chasing the 216 required for their semi-final win over NSL. It was a close encounter with some solid individual performance. However it was not too be.

I would like to congratulate the B’s for their stellar season. Next year boys for sure!!!

Obviously, whatever way the game goes on Sunday, celebrations or commiserations will be had at the Bridgey afterwards.

Cmo’n Cammers A grade. Briing home "Eric" so that we can all see just how good VB tastes from drinking from it!

Celebrating C1′s Season

C1′s season is officially over. Sunday’s match was an absolute ripper of a contest but in keeping with the story of their season the boys just fell short. Up against the top team in the comp, NSL, our C1s racked up 9/200 off their 40 overs. Big Jase (19) and G. Pauli (25) put on a 48 run opening stand, whilst Skipper Brown (23) and Silver-Fox Scotter (28) played a couple of great late cameos. With the ball Prakash and Timmy Wall took two wickets each as NSL chased the total down with 7 balls to go. But as usual Apender Gupta was the star performer 59 runs in a very measured innings plus 1/18 off 8 overs he helped push NSL all the way (even after a picking up an injury to his hand in the field).

C1s were a new team, with lots of new faces, playing in a new format for the club. They took the challenge head on and enjoyed some great wins, but unfortunately also many tight losses too. Everyone in the squad will be better for the run this year come next season. Some individual brilliance has been a big part of the success this year, with Dave Scotter scoring over 300 runs, Apender over 400, and Jase Stonestreet an amazing 500+ runs. Apender also took 20 wickets, while Mal Dorward, T Wall and Bunter McGrath all had double digit hauls.

Around the grounds, A grade got washed out on day 1, thanks to some unhelpful peg gnomes. B grade did get on and plodded their way to 172 off 60 overs, thanks to a good partnership form Dmac and some bloke called Gupta as well as a patient 20-odd from late call up Evanss. In reply Pigs are 3/16, with Phil Szabo bagging all 3 wickets, so the game is evenly poised with their aces in the pack still to come. It was a great day for spectators with half the A grade team coming down to watch and heckle, with Sinclair racking up another 2 clubman points*.

Training is still on Wednesdays for A and B grades as they surge to the finals.

*Not redeemable.

Bridgey to Re-open

The latest news on the Bridgeview Hotel is that it is up and running again. We will all be meeting there post match this Sat- Australia Day. Also- the reopening drinks celebration has been moved to this Thursday 24th , which means that training is back on for this Wednesday. The more the merrier for both. Hopefully there’ll be a lot to celebrate this Australia Day weekend at the Bridgey, so come down and support the sponsor

In game news, it was back to the 2 dayers for A’s and B’s. Vice-President Stavens took another Michelle (5-36) for A Grade. Cook served up another 3 whilst all the other bowlers kept it very tight to restrict Northbridge to 137 from 52 overs. Cammeray are 2/58 in reply, with Costain and Cook not out and ready to pounce on day 2.

In B Grade’s match Centrals have set them a total of 214 to chase. Szabo (2/39), Small (3/28) and Lekhwar (1/34) all bowled 15 overs a piece and toiled well in the rain. Herbert-Read’s quick-thinking run out of the non-striker was another highlight. B’s are 1/6 overnight. Jimmy G is not out on a glorious 2.

C grade had a bye, and should be fully refreshed for their next round match up. If not, I’m sure Thursday afternoon will be an ideal time for some refreshments.

Two Early Finishes and One Very Late One

Bar Tangles’ last stand was an absolute ripper. The works of Bon Jovi and Johnny Diesel got a good reworking by the Cammeray Choirboys. On the Saturday night session stumps weren’t pulled until after 2.00am. Four of A grade’s top six were there to the bitter end, lending their voices and polishing of most of Chez Tangles stock. But the club bonding worked a treat the next day as A Grade stormed back into the winners circle. After rolling NSL for 90 (Cooky 5/40), the batsmen knocked off the total in 16 overs just two down, with TufSkool Smythe, George ‘Prince Albert’ Anderson and Cooky all getting past 25.

B Grade kept rolling along nicely picking up their 6th win of the year. Playing on the most concrete of all astro-turf decks at Wellington Rd, there weren’t many wickets to go around all day. Mac Uni looked to have a set a hard target of 4/212. However with Philthy Phil Szabo (63) opening the batting because of a prior engagement his urgency to finish the game early was infectious. Boundaries came regularly and the running between wickets was devilishly good. The top 5 all got starts, but Wade top scored again with a brutal 67 n.o., and the total was overhauled in just the 28th over.

The C1ers had a different story to tell back at B.T. They were up against Kirribilli who racked up a cheeky 6/291. The guile of Wallie and Bunter picked up 2 wickets each. In C1’s reply Apender scored 82 out of their 211. Big Mal, Marto and Dane all got starts, but it wasn’t to be. Word on the grapevine is that run outs and dropped catches were costly throughout the day. Well ‘No der, grapevine’. That’s park cricket for you, and more specifically Cammeray CC. There is always next week, boys. Let’s finish the year with 3 wins!

The Finals Race Heats Up Before the Break

A Grade’s match was delicately poised before it resumed on Sunday. Unfortunately someone forgot to tell that to the opposition, who quickly took first innings points, before posting a 60 run lead and sending our boys back in. The second dig was a better effort on an extremely windy day with the openers, President Tangles and JOHN-son!, putting on 67 before the game petered out at 2/96 off 25. There have been some good signs lately despite the recent losses for A Grade- look for them to push back up the ladder in these last 2 rounds before the Christmas break.

B Grade took first innings points fairly early on then pushed on past lunch to post 7/277(dec). Paul Campbell (51) got his first half-century for the club, whilst Wader (68) scored about his thousandth. Phil Szabo also put on a classy 44 n.o. Despite a terrific effort, pushing for a 10 point win, B Grade could only manage 7 wickets in the 38 overs. Some good stonewalling by NSL, which is best shown by Raj’s figures of 2/3 off 9 overs, held out B’s attacking bowling. The fielding was excellent too with husky medium pacer Barney surprising everyone to reel in a beauty at mid-on. The council is still filling in the divot that was left after his landing.

Our C1er’s had another impressive win, to wrap up the double against Chatswood. Apender and T-Wall continued on their wicket taking ways with 2 each whilst Scotter sashayed two stumpings, as C1’s were set a target of 143 off 40. The top 4 of Big Jase, Great Dane (top score of 36), Medium Dave and Big Mal with a solid cameo from Arjun Sachdev made short work of the target in 25 overs. A couple of crucial weeks are coming up (as always) for C1’s. In the NSCA’s closest competition Brown’s Bombers are pushing hard to play finals cricket. Go the C1er’s

Hot Sweaty Men

After a 3 year hiatus, summer returned to Sydney on Saturday.  It was hot.  Damn hot.  Everyone who played showed a lot of ticker.

For A Grade it was Vishal (37 and 2/12 off 9) and Phil (33 and 2/34) who handled it best.  The 6 points will be decided early on this week with WP needing 29 runs or Cammeray 4 wickets.  B Grade lost the toss and were sent out to field.  Whilst all the bowlers toiled hard, Reno’s 3/18 was superb-ish.  Paul Campbell’s effort to wear the keeper’s pads for 60 overs and then swap them for his battings pads to open deserves a big wrap.  It was a top effort, as he helped the B’s get to within 130 of the opposition’s total with the loss of no wickets.  The C1 guys fell just 28 short against the top side.  It was a very encouraging effort lead by Apender (3/30 and 69) and Jase (85 with 8 sixes).  Great Cammeray spirit showed all round.

…Meanwhile on Sunday there was even better example of the great spirit of our club.  The Cammeray Blitz team of Scotty, Bunter, DMAC, Steve Si, Tough School Smythe and his wife Brenda-Brenda-Brenda smashed out some gardening at Chez Petey Eirth’s place.  The vibe was excellent and sweaty, with absolutely no profanities from an apologetic Bunter (who had been kicked out of Bar Tangles the night before after Shenanigans from the High Horse).

Tough School kicked off the fray by deciding to blast his way through an important water pipe in the first 5 minutes of action.  Suddenly, the gushing flood was everywhere and threatening to sink the excercise in a Bibical flood of horrid hydration.  Luckily things were kept under control by Steve Si, who by laying his massive tree trunk legs in the breech stopped the flow – a tight-fit that had most commentators noting that Steve had had some experience in laying a square keys in round holes.

A medium-term solution was then devised by the surpisingly handy Smythe by simply willing the copper pipe to bend (kind of like how he willed the ball to be contained and ‘caught in the shelf’ after a cut-out pass from Keeper Newton on the weekend.)

 After the exciting work was finished, and a few refreshing ales were consumed, Peirthy was seen enjoying the vegetable and fairy gardens by having a splash in the mud with himself and his favourite Barbie as we drove off! Well done to all involved.

A Little Bit from Column A, A Little Bit from Column B

All three Grades were in action this week, with a mixed bag of results.

Loss 1: A Grade’s shortened match against KC Reds resulted in a disappointing loss. The bowling was a bit short with the Reds racking up 8/232 off their 40 overs.    Michael Smith returned the best figures of 4-27.  El Presidente copped some stick with the ball but bounced back with a 60 to lead the run chase.  But in the end 7/187 was all our lads could muster.

 

Win 1: B Grade ran down Northbridge’s target (225) early in the 2^nd day of their round 5 match.  Northbridge bowled well, but Paul Campbell’s 46 on debut and great partnership by Pelly and Wader saw Cammers pass the target just 5 down about 30 mins after the lunch break.  This leaves B Grade on top of the Div 1 table for now.  The early finish allowed a few of the blokes to drop down to see C Grade.

Loss 2: Unfortunately it wasn’t great viewing as C Grade was struggling to chase down 185.    It’s fairly good going to keep a team to 187 at Gore-sons Creek, with Timmy Wall spinning his way to 4/33 with all the bowlers bowling with good economy.  However North Shore bowled better and restricted C1’s to 153.  Vijay KP almost got us there with a terrific 65, but it wasn’t enough as wickets fell around him.

 Win 2: Bar Tangles had a huge night.  Trading hours were extended till 12.30am, and there was a live show of aggressive air guitars by the Cammeray Four.  Next season of X-factor is calling.  Scotty woke up with a black-eye resulting from a miscued stage dive.  Remember guys, Bar Tangles is available for a limited time only so hurry to get involved post-play this weekend.

Too wet for A’s (somehow), Runs to Chase for the B’s and strong win for C1′s

A Grade didn’t get on to play.  It was a beautiful day on Saturday, but with the wet end to the working week the towel was seemingly chucked in fairly early on preparing a pitch.  The game will now revert to a One Day clash next Saturday.

 

B grade is in the middle of a very tight struggle up at Lofberg Oval.  Northbridge ground their way through 63.1 overs to set our boys a total of 225 for the win.  One of their batsmen scored 96 and extras was 2^nd best with 35- a total that was a bit more bloated than it should have been.  Steve Martin guiled his way 4 wickets and was very tight in a terrific spell of off spin bowling.  The rest of the wickets were shared on a hot, muggy day on a pitch that proved hard work for the bowlers.  The fielders really helped out with Wade Ridley leading the way with a couple of great catches and just generally stopping everything anywhere near him.  The batsmen now have their turn next Sat, as CCC finished 0/16 off 6 teasing overs. Should be a great day of tough cricket.

 

The mighty C1 lads racked up another very impressive win.  Batting first they were rocked early and staggered to 5/62.  However, with the evergreen Grant Ferrier smashing 81* and with able assistance from the talismanic no.8, Arpender Gupta (also 81), Cammeray managed to post 7/243 off their 35 overs.  Grant and Apender shared a 133 partnership for the 7^th wicket in very quick time.  The bowlers stepped up to defend the total, with the pick of them Mal Dorward with his first 5-fa (5/41) for CCC.  Big Mal is sure he got a stumping too, but it looks to be a run out in the book, which makes a lot more sense to the majority of onlookers. Timmy Wall (2/24) was also on a hat-trick, bowling in the crunch overs. Vijay KP took a screamer in the field as the boys got the opposition all out for 185.

Milestones and Bar Tangles opens for business

It was a week of milestones.  The biggest was Wade Ridley’s superb 150* which helped set up B grade to have a tilt at the 10 point win against Kirribilli Red up at Lofberg Oval.  Wade was abley assisted by Skipper Dan McKenzie’s 55* in a partnership 147.  It was DMac’s first 50 for Cammeray, which surprised more than a few given the lovely way he normally compiles his 17s.  B grade did end up grabbing those 10 points which has helped set them up nicely after a very good start to the season.  Good bowling and fielding helped take the 8 wickets needed despite a good fight from the Reds.

 

Down at Gore Creek our C1’s lads were set a farily imposing total of 240 to get from their 40 overs by Comenarra.  Quite unbelievable they did it with 15 overs to spare!  This was set up by a bashing 61 by Jason Stonestreet, who has been in top form this year.  However the real damage was done by Michael Smith, who in just his 2^nd game, piled on 129.  Super stuff that.  That is 3 centurions now in 6 games, keep that strike rate up boys.

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A grade couldn’t get the breakthroughs need to get them back in the game against KC Blues.  Earlier they had erased the first innings deficit and set the Blues a 195 to win, by batting quickly through the early afternoon.  The Blues never really went for the runs and just 1 wicket fell in the afternoon before the skippers called it off early.  Bar Tangles was the real winner on Sunday.  It got a good work out both days and the neighbours absolutely loved the ambiance wafting over the fence.  We’ll be back there this weekend, with a new beer of the month and Toughschool Smythe donning the vest to carry out barman duties.