Jessibill: Death By Multimedia. Episode 9.

This week on Episode 9:

There’s Something on the TV! – Jess tells us how she actually spends her time at school, by informing us about Miraculous Ladybug that has now got SEASON 2! as well as watching SEASON 2 of The 100, while Bill is breaking up watching the seventh season of the Big Bash League cricket with watching Season 4 of Sherlock

Crap Movies Bill is Forcing Jess to Watch! – It's time to strap yourself in for one of the biggest action films of all time - which also qualifies as a Xmas movie by being set on Christmas Eve - as we dive head first into the Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman explosiveness of Die Hard!

Album Review Switcheroo! – Jess is running out of albums to give to Bill to review, but she finds a way to entice him into listening to Melanie Martinez's "Cry Baby", while Bill has Jess indulging herself in the various artists release of he festive season, listening to "We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year"

Crap That Jess Has Been Watching On YouTube! – There is not one but two people to pay out this week as Jess relives Markiplier's Gingerbread House Building Challenge from 2016 as well as informing us of a new post from the channel run by Domics, while Bill has been delving into melancholy by chasing up old Xmas episiodes of the wonderful Morecambe and Wise TV shows.

We also have the result of last week's poll, and exciting news on this week's poll!

Jessibill: Death By Multimedia. Episode 8.

This week on Episode 8:

There’s Something on the TV! – Jess has been binging her way through "The 100" and gives us an update as she reaches the end of Season 1, while Bill has not only checked out the Netflix movie "1922" based on the Stephen King story, but vents on how badly the writers are butchering Season 2 of "Riverdale"

Crap Movies Bill is Forcing Jess to Watch! – It might be grasping at straws to suggest this is a Xmas movie, but when it is as good a movie as this is, you take any opportunity to expose your eldest daughter to it. "Better Off Dead" was this week's choice, and Jess has some thoughts.

Album Review Switcheroo! – It's a face off between modern day giants and veteran heavy metal legends this week, as Bill has asked Jessica to take a listen to Iron Maiden's "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son", and Jess has inflicted unnecessary pain and anguish upon Bill by forcing him to listen to Coldplay's "A Head Full of Dreams"

Crap That Jess Has Been Watching On YouTube! – Jess has pulled out another of her favourites, this time with the somewhat misleading title of "Kick the PJ". While she struggles to maintain some decorum in her segment Bill finds ways to work out what the hell she is on about.

APCC Under 11 Golds: Round 10 vs Kiama White

There are a lot of distractions around at this time of year. Kids go on school holidays, Christmas is approaching, Steve Smith is looking at another Test century, and parents have no time to juggle everything going on. And yet, despite this, the Albion Park Gold Under 11 team has stuck together, fought hard, and won their fourth consecutive match, a wonderful effort heading into the mid-season break.

Finally getting a chance to play a game at the Home of Albion Park Junior Cricket at Con O’Keefe Oval against Kiama White, skipper Lucas Brown won the toss and stuck with a winning formula in electing to bowl first. It was a warm muggy morning, and it appeared that it was difficult to retain concentration on the game going on in front of the kids. While some of the things done in the field were good and excellent for the age group, there are still some things that are basic errors that keep being repeated, something we are trying to improve on as a team. Unfortunately, the humidity seemed to affect the brainwaves at times and some chances went begging. Lucas took a great catch off Josh’s bowling, the only downside being that it was the only no ball Josh bowled all morning. Blake took a great catch at keeper off Charlotte’s bowling, which was celebrated with vigour by all. There were also two run outs, a brilliant direct hit from side on at mid on by Max Sciberras that found the runner just short, in what was the best piece of fielding of the season so far, while Lucas and Blake combined for a run out at the keepers end. Like I said, some of the fielding was excellent, and some not quite so much.

Blake Ison bowled better today but is still having trouble with his run up and length of bowling. His four overs brought him figures of 1/10. Lucas Brown too missed some opportunities by not bowling straight enough but he again bowled well, his three overs finishing with 1/6. Kane Rex had a bit of trouble with his action today, which had the ball moving further down the leg side than usual. His three overs were economical again for 0/10. Max Sciberras bowled better today, and found the straight green stuff on a much more regular basis. His three overs gave him excellent figures of 0/7. Josh Peters, apart from the afore-mentioned no ball, bowled his usual excellent line and length, and finished with 0/4 from his three overs. Charlotte Rodda was excellent again today, and she appears to have found her rhythm. Her two overs brought her the terrific finish of 1/11. Bohdie Rodda is still having a bit of trouble getting his arm past his right ear, but a little practice over the break will do him the world of good. He finished with 0/12 from his two overs.

Kiama White finished their 20 overs at five wickets for 67 runs.

The batting order was tweaked a little for the final game, with Lucas opening with Max. Lucas continued his great improvement with the bat this season, with his strokes along the ground streaking away to the boundary, while his shots in air almost costing him his wicket. Hopefully he will see what works best without being reminded, but his 14 runs was a good reward. He was well supported by Max who, though he only scored 1 run, he wasn’t dismissed and he ran well for his partner. Charlotte and Bohdie both didn’t score a run off the bat, but did their job by seeing off some good bowling from the Kiama team and being solid in their partnerships. Kane started off looking to hit the ball too hard and looking at the sky, but once he adjusted and watched the ball and hit through the ball, he hit two terrific boundaries in his 10 runs. Blake recovered after his tough week last week, and with Josh at the end put the finishing touches on the innings. Blake’s 25 runs included four boundaries, while Josh’s 16 runs included two fours of his own, and both looked to maximise their runs with some… interesting running between the wickets. At the end of their innings Albion Park finished at three wickets for 112 runs.

With wicket penalties added, Albion Park Gold won the match with 132 runs to Kiama White’s 79.

The kids had great support from parents of both teams and the match was played in a great spirit. Once again thanks to all of the parents and grandparents who show up each week, because it’s you that the kids want to do well for. Special thanks again to Matt Ison who takes the scorebook every week and makes a difficult job much easier for everyone.

With the Under 11’s competition to be regraded, it looks as though both Albion Park Under 11 teams will play in the A graded competition after Christmas. This will be a good challenge for the Gold team, as they will play much tougher and older teams than they have in recent weeks, and it will be a good indication as to their improvement they are making in every game.

Cheers to all families, players and supporters of the Albion Park Cricket Club for the Xmas and New Year break, and we look forward to resuming hostilities in 2018.

Until then, GO EAGLES!

Jessibill: Death By Multimedia. Episode 7.

This week on Episode 7:

There’s Something on the TV! – Jess has made a bit of an effort this week, and has found some time and a new show to share with us this week, being "The 100", while Bill has been preparing for Xmas by indulging in the latest series of "The Great British Bake Off"

Crap Movies Bill is Forcing Jess to Watch! – It's the start of the Xmas Month of Movies, and thus we come to the most watched Xmas movie over the last 15 years, and it's time to expose Jess to its wonderful complexities. Yes, it's "Love Actually".

Album Review Switcheroo! – Jess continues to find some way out there stuff when it comes to albums, as this week she's given Bill the Coyote Theory's "Color", while Bill has gone for the good stuff in bringing out Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell"

Crap That Jess Has Been Watching On YouTube! – Oh great, Jess has decided to inflict us all with one of her favourites, Dan and Phil, and their wacky December post-fest, while Bill tries hard not to mock them too much.

APCC Under 11 Golds: Round 9 vs Lake Illawarra

One of the most pleasing things as a junior coach is watching a team coming to believe in themselves, and beginning to realise their own potential and ability to win games. Much could be said in this regard to the Albion Park Under 11 Golds team, who once again played a terrific match to bring up their third consecutive victory over Lake Illawarra at Dawes Park at Barrack Point this morning.

Lake Illawarra won the toss and elected to bat, which excited the Albion Park team who now believe this is part of their winning formula. What was more important was that they bowled and fielded well, and for the most part this was the case. Our keepers today were Lucas Brown and Blake Ison, who both did an excellent job. They were tasked by the coach today to try to allow zero byes in the innings, a task they completed, which was important in helping to keep the pressure on the batsmen. Blake’s two overs were both maidens which gave him the figures of 0/0, while Lucas came on for his two overs late, and took two wickets in his final over, including yet another caught and bowled for which he is becoming an expert at. The young Malcolm Marshall finished with 2/6.

Kane “The Destroyer” Rex was the star once again, because he tends to listen to the coach who implores his bowlers to bowl straight, and wickets will come. Kane once again generally stuck to this task, picking up a wicket in each of his first three overs, and had the chance to take more with a fourth over, but he got a little tired and probably tried a little hard. His figures of 3/14 were again a fine reward for hard work and never giving up. Josh Peters continues to tie up all of the batsmen with his big turning leg spin, and changes in pace and trajectory. His 1/3 from three overs was again impressive. Charlotte Rodda’s first over was a bit nervous, but she followed it up with probably he two best overs she has bowled this season. She bowled only three no balls in those last two overs, and she was extremely unfortunate not to pick up a wicket. Her pressure did create a run out which was terrific. She finished with 0/12 from three overs and should be proud of her effort. Max Sciberras bowled three good overs, only falling foul of bowling wide when he tried a bit too hard to get a wicket. When he stayed solid to his technique the ball came out well, and finished with 0/13. Bohdie Rodda had a day he’d rather forget, but if he practices his bowling at home every afternoon he will continue to improve.

There were three excellent run outs today, one from Josh who picked up the ball and ran it in to the stumps to beat the batsman, while there were two direct run outs from great throws by Kane and Lucas. This was balanced by five catches being dropped which was a little disappointing, by all five catches actually went to hand before being dropped, so the kids made good efforts to take them. At the end of the 20 overs, Lake Illawarra had scored 9/67.

The same batting line up once again launched the Eagles kids assault on the total, and once again openers Lucas and Bohdie batted through the opening partnership without losing a wicket, a sterling effort. In an innings difficult to score with few deliveries available to play strokes at, Bohdie again looked good for his 1, while Lucas improves every week with the bat and the responsibility by scoring 10 with two boundaries. Kane looked good again, and even played a perfect defensive shot, which is the best way to show everyone he is taking on the lessons of training. He only made 2 today but it was the way he batted that was impressive. Well done Kane. Charlotte again looked terrific with the bat, playing out Lake’s best and fastest bowler with aplomb. Once she is confident enough to start calling and running for runs on her own she is going to start making some good scores.

It was tough at the end of the innings with some of the kids beginning to get tired in the field and with the ball. Blake was a bit distracted with the bat today and couldn’t get going like he usually does which obviously frustrated him. His 5 runs would have been more on a normal day. Max batted well again under difficult circumstances, none more difficult than being sold up the river by his batting partner when Josh called him through for a run that wasn’t his call and left Max terribly stranded. Suffice to say Josh will be reminded of this for some time. Max finished with 2, while Josh, apart from his calling, batted well again to finish on 13. Albion Park’s total was 3/83 off their 20 overs, with the most impressive part being the loss of only three wickets, and two of those being run out. It shows that their defensive techniques are beginning to tighten up which is good to see.

With wicket penalties added, Albion Park Gold ran out winners over the younger Lake Illawarra team by 119 to 79.

With one game to go before Xmas the Golds will be looking to continue their impressive improvement. But it looks as though a good dose of fielding practice – especially catching – will be on the cards this Wednesday.

Jessibill: Death By Multimedia. Episode 6.

This week on Episode 6:

There’s Something on the TV! – Three weeks in a row, and Jess claims she has had no time to watch TV, and yet she can go to school things. I mean, where are her priorities? Bill has caught up on some Netflix stuff, but has also checked out the year finale of "Have You Been Paying Attention?"

Crap Movies Bill is Forcing Jess to Watch! – There's no crap here I assure you, as Bill and Jess sit down to watch the 1994 classic action drama "The Crow" with the final magnificent performance in the sadly cut short career of Brandon Lee.

Album Review Switcheroo! – Jess has finally relented, and she has offered Bill an album from her favourite band Twenty One Pilots, their 2013 third release "Vessel". Get ready for the critique. Meanwhile, Bill gives Jess the middle ground of progressive metal with Queensryche's 1990 release "Empire"

Crap That Jess Has Been Watching On YouTube! – With time of the essence, Jess has retreated to a very late entry here, giving us the good news on Dodie's YouTube channel and her brand new release. Songs and videos, a classic mix.

We also reveal the final results in our quiz and discover the answer to the question - does pineapple belong on a pizza!

APCC Under 11 Golds: Round 8 vs Kiama Gold

In cricket there is the old saying “One bring two!” which generally refers to getting a quick second wicket after securing the first. This weekend, “One brings two!” refers to the Albion Park Under 11 Gold cricket team, who notched their second win for the season as well as their second win in succession in their match against Kiama Gold at beautiful Gainsborough Chase in Kiama Downs.

Skipper Max Sciberras won the toss and elected to field on a humid morning, which to be quite honest seemed to affect their efforts. The concentration levels were down, the energy wasn’t there and there seemed to be a lot of statue standing in the field. And that was just the coach at the bowlers end. The conditions didn’t help but it felt as though the team had switched off a little after last week’s win, and they were fortunate not to suffer a bit more on the scoreboard for it. Looks like it’s back to fielding training this Wednesday.

Despite this, much of the bowling was excellent. Skipper Max and Kane Rex shared the wicket keeping duties for the day, and did a good job considering both got a couple of tough bounces. Kane bowled two overs for 9 runs, but did not bowl a no ball which was an excellent effort to go with his three wickets last week. He took on board the lessons from training which was excellent. Max bowled two overs for 7 runs, and also picked up his first wicket with the ball, clean bowled. An exciting moment in everyone’s career, and his teammates were excited for him. Well done Max! Charlotte Rodda followed up her good spell from last week with two overs for 9 runs, while Bodhie Rodda couldn’t quite get the motor running today, with his two overs costing 13 runs.

Blake Ison is still mixing his deliveries up a bit, he probably needs to be running a bit harder through the crease to get his mojo back. You can’t argue with his figures though, taking 1/3 from his four overs. The speedster Lucas Brown got taken for four off his first delivery, but was again superb after that, finishing with 2/7 from four overs, and if only he bowled more than two deliveries at the stumps he would get a lot more wickets. And I know I sound biased, but Albion Park have got a pretty fair leg spinner on their hands in a few years, as Josh Peters improved on last week to deliver another great spell. He finished with 1/6 from four overs. At the end of the innings, Kiama Gold had scored 5/64 from their twenty overs.

With last week’s success we decided to keep the same batting order, to help the kids get to know their partner and hopefully improve the understanding between them in their batting and running between the wickets. And this seemed to be successful. Bodhie was unfortunate to firstly be run out for not getting back into his crease fast enough and to be nailed by a throw from the outfield on the arm, but apart from that run out he and Lucas once again were not dismissed as the opening batting partnership and got the team off to a great start. Bodhie once again improved on his highest ever score, which is now 5, and Lucas made double figures for his highest ever score of 14, and their calling and running was excellent. Well done to both boys. Kane also made his highest ever score of 6, but was dismissed a couple of times, though once we get that defense tightened up he will be scoring a lot more. One off drive in particular that he hit today was fantastic. Charlotte Rodda showed her patience and defense once again, bating through her innings for 0 but not being dismissed, and running well for her partners.

The excellent top half of the innings allowed the bottom half to do their job without any pressure. Max made a solid 4 runs this week, and could have made a few more had he set off for runs a bit earlier. No doubt he’ll get those next week. Blake batted well again for his 18 runs, with many more there for the taking if he can put out of his mind the previous shot and concentrate on the next ball. Josh continued on from last week’s good innings to post his best score this season with 21. It all added up to a terrific total of 4/109, with an excellent 68 of those runs off the bat.

After penalties were added, the final scores were Kiama Gold 80 to Albion Park Gold 129, and a victory to the Eagles by 49 runs.

It is pleasing to see the improvement in these kids every week, each and every one of them. Winning is nice too, so hopefully we can continue to do the right things at training and then bring them into the game on Saturday. Thanks again to all of the families who show up to watch them play every Saturday, the kids appreciate being able to play well for you as well.

And remember – two brings three!

Songs of My Life #70 - Queensrÿche - Another Rainy Night (Without You) - 1990

Songs of My Life #70 - Queensrÿche - Another Rainy Night (Without You) - 1990