Forget Travis Dean, we’ve got Lenny Dean!

Two important wins for the Men’s teams this week, with the 1s and 4s cementing places in the top 4!

Men’s 3rd XI v Marcellin OC at Marcellin College

The 3s were away to Marcellin and bowled first after Jesse Parlane won the toss. Nails backed up that decision with some brilliant bowling, taking 5/49 from a marathon spell of 20.4 overs. Backed up by more fine bowling from Roadie (1/10 off 10), Will Crombie (1/18 off 10) and Auley (1/20 off 8), we knocked Marcellin over for 163 and went to stumps none down.

Chasing a gettable total we lost Cal Presidente early and wickets fell a bit too regularly from there. Asher (28) and Suvra (26) got starts and Will (16), Roadie (10) and Nails (10) all reached double figures, but we needed a half-century in there and didn’t get one, ultimately dismissed for 125, 39 runs short of a win.

CHICKEN: 5/49 must have had J Parlane close to earning the Tom Bellis, but he gets the chicken.

Women’s 2nd XI v Sydenham Hillside at Ramsden St. PRIDE MATCH
Match Report by B2

This week we were very proud to host the first of our two Pride Matches at Rammo, to further encourage inclusion and tolerance in our communities and in particuar, our sports clubs! We would like to thank Sydenham Hillside for their participation.

Our 1s will be hosting their Pride Match at Rammo this Sunday 26th February!

This week Sydenham Hillside won the toss and chose to bat.

Nan's recent consistency and effectiveness, have demanded that we begin our first bowling spell with her. Likewise, her formidable bowling partner, Laura, has been continually finding nice lines and testing opposition batters, and within the first spell, their pressure and Sherin's glovework had combined for our first breakthrough! Caught behind off Nan's bowling.

Eloise and Tylah followed their example and we then had another wicket - thanks in large part to Mum's appeal! Thanks Mum! Eloise, LBW!

Heather and Laura continued our bowling attack, creatively testing the batters, with Gemma and Georgia working hard and running distances to protect our boundaries.

Nan and Tylah came back on for another spell and Nan bowled one of the most extraordinary overs of our season! 2 wickets in one over, including the wicket of Sydenham Hillside's prolific opener, who had made 43 runs before Sherin snared another catch off Nan's bowling. The other wicket, Nan simply did all by herself, caught & bowled!

From her customary round the wicket position, Tylah then took her very first wicket for Clifton Hill! And like Nan, Tylah did it all by herself catching the high ball sent back to her! Good calling Tylah, congratulations!

Alex and Heather were dynamic in square leg and gully respectively, and everyone chased hard and backed each other up in the field! The support and chat amoungst the group was again one of our strengths and very important when we a do acknowledge, that we did have a few more extras than we would like. . .

Georgia and Mum also contributed overs before Sherin's monumental first stumping, again from Nan's bowling! 

By the end of the innings, Nan had 4 wickets! Sherin had taken 2 catches, made a stumping and was a little unlucky to not also be given a run-out.

Sydenham Hillside total: 6 / 220, from 32 overs

Afternoon tea was another triumph! This week Eloise and Sherin's treats were beautifully rainbow-coloured to celebrate the day!

Having been set a 221 run chase, from 32 overs, a required run rate of nearly 7, it was up to B2 and Alex to take on the challenge and try to set a platform.

Beginning with intent and some good defense, we survived the first number of overs before Sherin joined B2 at the crease, and having come off an epic innings last week, Sherin immediately found her groove! Both B2's and Sherin's innings were dominated by singles and together they shared a 101 run partnership, over the next 19 overs!

Having made 41 runs, Sherin was well caught looking to up our run rate! Tylah then came out to bat with a very considered and particular plan - go for it! And she did, making runs from the first ball faced! Georgia was in next and showed grit and bravery, first defending some very quick bowling, then making a quick single and carrying on after being hit hard on the hand. 

We lost 3 quick wickets with some very quick, full and accurate bowling - each bowled. Nearing the end of our innings, and B2 was joined by Nan, but only for  a moment before B2 was also bowled after making 66 runs. Mum then resiliently fended off more quick, full deliveries to finish off the over and our innings, with Mum and Nan remaining our not out batters this week!

Clifton Hill (2) total: 7 / 145 from, 32 overs

CHICKEN: Nan - for her 4 wickets! Sherin - for her 2 catches, a stumping and 41 runs! And B2 - for her 66 runs!

Thank you very much to Bobbie for being with us at the match and for scoring for us! But also for organising our Pride Match! Thank you very much also to Kate for selflessly putting the club first and playing with our 1s (who were short on numbers) at the last minute!

Well done Hillers! Just one more match left in the season…

Men’s 4th XI v Manningham at WJ Cox Oval

The 4s bounced back from last week’s loss with a huge win over Manningham. Batting first we compiled a more than formidable 3/279, thanks to star performances from Timothy Neal (50no), the ex-Pres (Adam Lewis 50no), Harro (51no), ETAC (36no) and Empty (46no).

Manningham fell well short in the chase, finishing on 9/191. Wickets were shared amongst all five bowlers (Jack Speed 2/28 off 7, Empty 2/37 off 7, Captain Jack 1/32 off 7, Timothy Neal 1/45 off 7, Harro (1/48 off 7).

The win keeps us in second place, and we’ll face Manningham again this week before resting up with a bye leading into the finals.

CHICKEN: Timothy Neal (50 and 1-fa)? Adam (50)? Harro (50 and 1-fa)? Empty (46no and 2-fa)? Jack Speed (2 wickets, 2 catches and 2 run-outs)? Hard to split them, really. But Captain Morgan has done so and given the chicken to… Timothy Neal!

Women’s 1st XI v Holy Trinity at Hayes Park

Just waiting on Razzle’s report but I will briefly mention that it was appropriate that we lost three wickets in defeating a team named Holy Trinity. Match report to come!

Men’s 5th XI v Northcote United MacGibbon Shield Ring-ins at Sir Arthur Rylah Oval

The dodginess of playing senior cricket on a ground the size of pea was exacerbated further on Saturday when we took on a Northcote United team that featured several players who have been starring in MacGibbon even this season. So dodgy is Arthur Rylah Oval, it should be named Arthur Daly Oval. (You need to be above a certain age to understand that joke.)

Anyway, in the absence of Billy ABC who had a minor operation on his neck last week, I took over the captaincy and maintained his toss-winning form. We batted out the 35 overs to make 9/125, with Jonesy (55no) starring, ably supported by yours truly (16no, including three 4s – if that doesn’t convince you the ground is too small for cricket, nothing will!), Dennis Cleary (13) and Anwar (11).

Northcote polished off the runs in 10 overs and one ball, as they should have given the disparity in the teams. Would Billy’s right-arm Greek Orthodox hand grenades made a difference? We’ll never know.

There was a highlight in there – Dennis Cleary took his very first wicket for the Hillers – courtesy of a superb catch at first slip by me that even Billy would have been impressed by!

CHICKEN: Jonesy, who also did an excellent job of organising the batting order.

Men’s 1st XI v Boroondara at Victoria Rd Reserve

This was a really important game against Boroondara who were half a game ahead of us on the ladder. They won the toss and batted but we took regular wickets to restrict them to 180 all out. Excellent work by all of our bowlers, including Malty (4/52 off 19.3), Jim Wright (2/32 off 16), Wardi (2/48 off 19), Louis B (0/7 of f 8) and Cottsy (0/21 off 8).

Chasing moderate totals has been a weakness for us in recent seasons but we’ve really improved in that area in 2022-23 and that was in evidence again on Saturday. We got the runs five down with four and a half overs to spare, with Lenny Dean (67no) leading the way, supported by Cottsy’s 34 not out and Ben Cap (25).

Well done 1s! Third on the ladder guaranteed a place in the finals!

CHICKEN to Cottsy for his 34 not out and tight bowling.

Men’s 2nd XI v South Camberwell STC at Rammo

A tough couple of Saturdays at the office for the 2s. We were skittled for 108 and overtaken on day 1. STC then declared at 5/214 and skittled us again, this time for 89.

In amongst the carnage were some notable efforts from the other M Jones (3/42 and 23 & 13) and J-Ho (21 in the second dig).

We’re out of the top 4 but still a chance to sneak in with a last-round win!

CHICKEN: The other M Jones makes it a double Jonesy chicken week!

TOM BELLIS

Cruelly left out of our team of the week because of a MyCricket glitch, Lenny Dean’s 67 not out helped the 1s clinch the win against Boroondara. He gets the Tom Bellis!!

Lenny Dean, looking unimpressed about being left out of the Team of the Week