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SMCA Div 15 Round 7: 4 August 2019 vs Malabar United A

Arthur Walker Reserve, Concord, was the site of a massacre at the hands Tim Bykov and Bryan Seymour this sunny Sunday, but even chasing a miserly total can’t be taken lightly…

The oval is a rather small ground with a hard and quick outfield, but otherwise picturesque – providing ample shade and a few nets to practice in as the day’s play unfolds.

We lost the toss and bowled first. A decision the opposition (Malabar) would rue.

It was immediately clear that anything short would be punished on the tiny ground. While the opening batsmen looked OK for the first two or three overs, it didn’t take long for cracks to appear.

First to strike was Tim, who took a sharp C&B to remove the captain. Bryan would take the next scalp, sending middle tumbling down towards the keeper. Bykov would strike again with an LBW, and then again in his fourth over courtesy of a reflex catch by Jeremy Holland at square leg. He’d go on to get another LBW in his fifth over and was therefore poised to take a five wicket haul.

In the meantime, Bryan was denied some big shouts for LBs of his own, eventually making up for it with another clean bowled. Bykov’s final over appeared destined for a 5/ when the first ball was hit to Will Sammuri at mid on, hard and low. It was a regulation catch regardless, but was unfortunately dropped to the team and Bykov’s disappointment. The second ball just missed John at first slip, and Tim, the world’s unluckiest bowler would finish on 4/45 when he really deserved a fifth wicket. Bryan would also end his spell on 2/14.

Smokey Hawkins was given some valuable time with the ball pre-finals, and tightened up after the first over to be 1/23 after three by dismissing the last man standing with a ball that took several ricochets onto the stumps. In the previous two overs, Sammuri had bowed one batsman, while another was caught at mid off by Nick Surman to finish on figures of 2/7.

We were chasing 89 for victory, and decided to rejig the batting order to ensure everyone made a day of coming to the cricket. As such, keeper and debutant Laurence Smith opened alongside Jeremy Holland. Laurence (4) looked superb before smashing a ball down the throat of long on. Surman played a customary cut shot for one before being bowled (1).

At this point, a few nervous laughs were running through the Apaches camp. Duncan Pryse-Jones went in at 4, consolidating nicely with Jeremy Holland to see off valuable balls from one of their fast openers. Dunc got impatient and was bowled slogging to mid wicket, and Jeremy was out LBW for 10.

Sammuri and Wright were therefore at the crease with about 50 runs to get and 4 wickets down against an opposition with their tails up. The two have steered the side home in the batting department a few times this year, and today was no exception. The roles, however, were reversed as Wright hit 6 4s on his way to 42* while Sammuri played the patient hand, picket-fencing his way to 17* bar one six late in the innings. The two never looked like getting out, however, they probably weren’t thrilling to watch. Simply noodling around until the total was reached.

While we were probably never in too much trouble with the likes of Bryan, Al, and Tim yet to come, it’s a valuable lesson that all totals can be a challenge if the opposition are bowling well enough.

Apaches chase 89 with 9 overs to spare.

1st inns. – Malabar United A won the toss and chose to bat
Malabar United A: 89
Bykov 4/45
Seymour 2/14
Sammuri 2/7

2nd inns. – Apaches 4/92
Wright 42*
Sammuri 17*
Holland 10

SMCA Div 15 Round 6: 20 July 2019 vs Smithsfield RSL B

Smithfield RSL remained the only team we’d never faced before, due to the miss-communicated washout from two weeks ago. Although lower than us on the ladder, anything can happen on a ground as small as Johnstone Reserve, Revesby.

Apaches bowled first, which was good considering our remarkable record in the past few weeks at chasing big totals. A par score seemed to be about the 230-240 mark considering the extremely small boundaries.

Isaac Williams (1/35) and Sammuri (0/35) were causing issues for the batsmen early on. Their figures were actually quite respectable considering the size of the ground. Any ball that caught an edge or was fortuitously hit either side of a fielder was going for a boundary. Isaac took the first wicket of the match, removing one of the openers with an outswinger accepted at slip by John, who took it like an AFL mark over his head.

The next 10-15 overs, however, were lean in terms of wickets. Morley (1/27 off 4) bowled extraordinarily, but again, anything that marginally missed a fielder was a boundary. Morley was zipping the ball past the edge continuously.

Nothing much by the way of wickets, but we managed to restrict the run flow as best we could. GG, (0/20 off 3), Smokey Hawkins (0/27 off 3) and John (0/38 off 6) were instrumental in keeping the run rate down. The fact that the opposition only hit one 6 the whole innings was a testament to the bowling.

Late in the match, the second wicket fell when John speared a ball in from deep mid-wicket, which ran out an opposition batsman. Even a ball that trickled to the boundary was difficult to run 2 on. It was a match where it was either 1 or 4 off the batsman’s blade.

Bryan Seymour bowled the final 6 overs having arrived late, but had immediate impact. Picking up two scalps, both bowled middle stump, and one of the more remarkable run-outs you’ll see, where a ball was smashed right back at him, nicked his hand, and hit the stumps at the bowler’s end to run out the batsman backing up. By the end of his amazing spell, Bryan had the figures of 2/20 off 6, and a run out to his name.

Rohit Ketkar (1/9 off 2) also bowled well at the death, forcing a rushing batsman into spooning the ball to Morley Goodchild at mid-off. Morley returned for the final over of the match, to claim a similar wicket, caught by John at mid on.

Overall, the bowling was tight without being spectacular. As someone put it, we only bowled one ball every couple of overs that deserved to go to the boundary, the rest were fortuitously hit there.

Apaches chasing 215 for victory.

As has been customary over the past few weeks, even 200+ totals have been chased with ease. Yesterday was no exception. Bryan (32) came out of the blocks firing, smashing a 6 into someone’s house within the first couple of overs, and smashing boundaries to all corners of the field, before he tried one too many and was stumped by an innocuous spinner.

Sammuri then came to the crease with he and Isaac continuing the onslaught. Isaac (40*) hit four 4s and two 6s before retiring, and Sammuri seven 4s and a 6 before also heading back to the sheds on 42*.

At this point John was at the crease noodling around and doing what John does. He was met by Rohit, before also retiring on 42*. Rohit was looking extremely solid in both attack and defence, playing a steady hand for those around him. GG was bowled for 7 off a full toss that may have been a marginal no-ball, and Duncan was also bowled after a few entertaining shots. Finally, Morley Goodchild and Rohit took us past the required total with 7 overs still to spare. Had Apaches batted first, they probably could have hit the 300 mark quite comfortably. Apaches end the match on 3/221.

Batting seems to be getting us across the line with ease, but the ruthlessness of the bowling needs to lift come the finals.

1st inns. – Smithfield RSL B won the toss and elected to bat
Smithfield RSL B: 7/215
Bryan Seymour – 2/20 from 6 overs
Rohit Ketkar – 1/9 from 2 overs

2nd inns. – Apaches: 3/221
William Sammuri – 42*
John Wright – 42*

SMCA Div 16 Round 6: 13 July 2019 vs Summer Hill C

For one day at least Chicago would have to give up its nickname, because if there was anywhere that was going to be called ‘The Windy City’ it was Sydney. The 50km/h winds were enough to shutdown flights at Sydney airport, but couldn’t deter Saturday morning park cricketers from doing what they love. With the wind blowing directly across the pitch swing was going to play a large factor, and several warmup deliveries showed that even balls sprayed wildly down legside had a good chance of being blown back on course for a good line outside off.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl the Apaches took to the field. Tim Bykov struck early with a leading edge that was skied to mid-off and was unlucky in his next over not to have their opener out with a chance being put down at first slip. Turnbull, Goodchild and Williams all chipped in with economical overs, but with a number of dropped chances and the wind blowing anything hit in the air towards Robertson Road for 6, the opposition was 2/106 at drinks with two retirees.

Chris Day entered the bowling attack after the drinks break and the wickets began to fall. Sharp bowling and good catching saw him finish with 3/24 off 5 overs, while GG tied up the other end with 1/35 off his 6. The flurry of wickets only succeeded in bringing the retired batsman back to the crease and while GG trapped one of them in front for 52, the dropped chance at slips earlier in the game cost us dearly as their opener took a liking to the short boundary. Consecutive deliveries were launched over Roberston Road. The first saw the match ball lost over the fence of one of the houses, and the second only narrowly avoiding the same fate by hitting a power pole halfway up and bouncing back towards Moore Park. Rob Turnbull eventually took the last wicket, but only after the opener had hit 123 runs and seen the team total to 237.

Summer Hill C: 9/237
Chris Day – 3/24 from 5 overs
Isaac Williams – 1/12 from 3 overs

2nd inns. – Apaches: 6/241
Bryan Seymour – 62*
Robert Turnbull – 47*