APJCC Under 13’s: Round 15 vs Oak Flats at Des King Oval

The Albion Park Eagles Under 13’s team confirmed their place in this season’s finals, and also wrapped up the minor premiership, after a pulsating and exciting match against Oak Flats yesterday, a game that came down to the final over for the result to be decided.

Oak Flats won the toss and batted first, and a combination of solid batting and some poor execution in the field, with the Eagles dropping four catches that should all have been taken, saw Oak Flats reach the 17th over before losing their first wicket, with both openers retiring. Despite this, there was some excellent tight bowling from the Eagles boys which kept the scoring in check. Ryan Monaghan was given the role of opening bowler, and bowled just as well as last week, staying tall and giving nothing loose. His two overs for 0/7 were excellent. Noah Black also thrived on the pressure of being thrown the ball early, bowling a maiden first up and only two coming from his next. He bowled an over late as well, and finished with 0/7 from three overs, a terrific effort. Logan Goodway has been wonderful all season, and he too soaked in the pressure to deliver two solid overs, finishing with 0/8. Josh Peters and Ryan Cergovski then bowled in tandem, also showing great poise in keeping the pressure on the batters. Josh finished with 0/4 and Ryan 0/11. With the openers retiring they were replaced by another pair of representative players meaning the pressure was still on the Eagles bowlers. Kasey Barton bowled a fierce spell of fast bowling, and was only let down by some slipshod fielding. His third over late in the innings wasn’t quite so special, but his figures of 0/14 from three overs don’t equate to how well he bowled. Josh Schofield once again proved to be one of the few who found a way to swing the wet ball, but it was his length that cost him today, as well as some great strokeplay. 0/16 from two overs is no indication as to his effort.

Aiden Campion came out from behind the stumps, replaced by Josh Peters, and the move paid dividends both ways. Aiden found the first breakthrough where the bowlers before him could not, delivering a full straight ball that found middle stump. In the next over Tristan Denmeade came on with his impressive seamers, and he found the edge that was brilliantly taken by Josh standing up to the stumps for the second wicket. Tristan finished with 1/9 from his two overs and was unlucky not to get any more. Ethan Thompson would have been disappointed with his first over considering how well he has been recently, and having 17 taken off it was not ideal. But he didn’t drop his head, and his second over beat the bat four times and only conceded two runs, a much better indication of his form.
Aiden continued on to complete five overs today, and once again proved that bowling stump to stump is a proven method of picking up wickets.He found the stumps once again to pick up his second wicket, and drew the false shot late from the returning opening batsman to have him caught by Noah Black. Aiden finished with 3/19 to again show how important his bowling is to this team in the important part of matches.

Top of the pile again though goes to Lucas Brown. Lucas opened the bowling with two overs for just one run. He then returned to the teeth of the batting at the end and bowled immaculately. His ability to tie up scoring shots drew a drive in the air for Kasey to take a good catch at mid wicket, and then the perfect away swinger caught the edge to be wonderfully taken again by Josh at keeper. Lucas bowled his five overs to finish with 2/6 to again prove – in my humble opinion – that he is the premier bowler in this competition.

Oak Flats reached 6/135 from their allotted 30 overs, a chaseable target, but everything would have to go well to chase it down.

The best way to start would be to not get run out in the first over, however the Eagles did exactly this, with a mix up between Kasey and Tristan ending with Tristan short of his ground. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Noah Black came out after his golden duck last week, and showed his form hadn’t suffered from that, punching the ball hard and forcefully through the field. Kasey composed himself and also continued, playing strokes either side of the wicket. Both players reached their retirement quota and returned to the sideline to cool their heels.
Lucas and Josh Peters replaced them, before Josh played a loose lazy pull that got a top edge to be caught. It was only the second time this season he has been dismissed, so it probably had to come eventually. Lucas and Josh Schofield battled on, with Lucas playing especially well, before he smashed a full toss straight back to the bowler to be caught and bowled for 11. Now joined by Aiden, Josh Schofield played his best innings of the season, with some excellent drives and cuts along the ground into gaps mixed with some lofted straight drives that weren’t as warmly received by the coach. Still, he fully deserved to reach his retirement mark, and finished not out on 13, and a great innings looking towards the next few weeks. Aiden now worked well with Logan and Ryan Cergovski. The run rate steadied but the boys did their job. Though both Logan and Ryan were dismissed, they played the team game, looking to get off strike, and then to up the ante for the good of the team, which is something that is most pleasing about these kids.

Noah returned to the crease, and “The X Factor” pulled his party trick again, striking hard and moving the scoring along. His partner Aiden fought hard, often through his strokes too early, and eventually holed out for 20, an innings that he will learn from for the coming matches. This brought Kasey back out, and he and Noah kept ticking off the marks required. It came down to requiring six runs off the final over for victory, and as ever it was Kasey who calmly took the helm using all his experience gleaned from representative cricket to strike the first two deliveries of the over into the gap at cover for two before stealing a single next ball to level the scores. Noah sealed the victory with a boundary, and in a close, tight, tense match, Albion Park had triumphed by two wickets with two balls remaining. Noah’s scene stealing innings finished on 37 not out, and Kasey on 31 not out.

For Oak Flats, Kody Lawler and Cadence Waters batted sensibly and excellently at the top of the order, while Archie O’Hara again played some scintillating strokes in his innings. With the ball, Mason Grant was terrific, conceding only 8 runs in his five overs, and young Lucas Dell'Orefice again bowled a great spell of spin bowling. These teams are both evenly matched, and while cricket is indeed a funny game it would be surprising if these two teams were not playing against each other again in three weeks time.

No matter what happens in the next three weeks, these 13 kids fully deserve the mantle of minor premiers. They have not always been at their best, and they have not always had everything their way. Each of them at some stage during the season has stood up and offered a match-changing situation, through either an innings, a spell or a piece of fielding. They showed today they have the same frailties as all other teams. They dropped four simple catches, they made fielding errors that cost runs, they showed ill-discipline in running between the wickets. But what they didn’t do at any stage was drop their heads or ever give up. They play for each other like a true team does, and that is the most satisfying part of this season. I believe they deserve to be premiers, but it won’t be handed to them, they will have to fight just as hard as they have all season to get it. No matter what though, they have excelled themselves this season, and I am so very proud of each and every one of them.

Thanks to Peter and Dave for scoring this weekend, and for the great support from both teams. One round to go, and then these kids will get to experience playing a cricket semi-final. They don’t come around as often as you think, and it will be a great experience for them.

Podcast: Episode 33: 30 Years of Motorhead's "1916"

It's time for more reminiscing of albums from the past, just because it's a great thing to do to remember some albums from the past and consider how feelings may have changed about them over that time. Today, on the 30th anniversary of the release of Motorhead's 9th studio album, we look back on "1916" and check out the great and the average.

Australia's T20 Woes

Thoughts on 1st T20 NZ v Australia.

1. I just don't get winning the toss and choosing to chase. Runs on the board, pressure on the team batting second, etc, etc. I know these guys play a lot of this cricket now and they should know best, but if stats don't show that teams batting first win more than 60% of games I'd be very surprised.

2. Australia's death bowling still sucks. And it has for years really. Daniel Sams is not a death bowler in T20 internationals. That was shown against India and it showed again today. Why did Zampa only bowl three overs? Is there any chance our guys will ever learn to be able to bowl six yorkers in an over?

3. Australian batsmen are still incapable of batting against the swinging ball. Southee and Boult were brilliant, but because we don't use "real openers" in short form cricket, they don't have the technique to see them off. It's a joke really, which comes to the next point.

4. I know he's our captain, but we chose both Finch and Stoinis who are completely out of form, and they both showed it tonight. It was a risk to have them in, and it showed tonight in both of their innings.

5. Not only that, we have six batsmen batting in the top six who generally all bat in the top four in the BBL. None of them are 'specialists' of batting at 6, and being able to play that role. Ashton Turner is in the squad and that IS his role, he needs to be in the team for the remainder of the series. Seriously, how much better would it be to see Turner or Jordan Silk or Dan Christian in those positions?

Kiwis completely outplayed Australia after the first six overs of the match. Lots to work on if they want to recover.

APJCC Under 13’s: Round 14 vs Lake Illawarra at Morley Park

The forecast held off this weekend and bright sunny weather met the Albion Park Under 13’s as they took on celebrated rivals Lake Illawarra at Morley Park yesterday morning, in a match that produced some excellent performances and some questions that still remain unanswered.

Skipper Kasey Barton won the toss and elected to bat on the dew saturated outfield. With Noah Regan’s season ending injury, Kasey had a new partner in Tristan Denmeade, and both settled in against some accurate bowling from the Lakers. The initial confusion in calling and running between the wickets improved as the pair settled in, and by the time their partnership ended they had a much better understanding of what they were trying to achieve. Both batsmen retired when they had faced their allotted deliveries, and gave themselves a chance to return at the end of the innings.
Logan Goodway and Aiden Campion replaced them at the crease. Logan continues to show good poise at the crease and had made a good looking 4 runs before he was bowled by a terrific full delivery. Noah Black came out, not doubt full of confidence with his recent run scoring, but soon discovered how fickle the game of cricket can be, getting a great ball first up to be bowled for a golden duck. Well, you can’t make runs every week. Ryan Cergovski came out, and managed to keep out the hat-trick delivery by jamming down on the perfect yorker and squeezing out a single. He hung in there for awhile before he too found himself bowled for 3 runs. Ethan Thompson came out, facing one of the premier bowlers of the competition, and played two perfect forward defensive shots to see him off, which was pleasing for the coach because it shows that he listens and is learning. He also stuck in with Aiden for awhile before trying to glide a ball through third man and was bowled for 1. Ryan Monaghan came to the crease with intent, and hit three balls terrifically out of the middle of the bat. He has shown a great defensive ability this season, but today he showed that he also wants to move the scoring along. He was a little unfortunate to be playing a pull shot from outside off that caught the top edge and was well caught coming forward at mid wicket. Despite this there were some good positive aspects to his innings. TJ Nasome came out with a clear mind, but on his second delivery hit it straight to cover where he was caught.
Albion Park had lost 6 wickets for just 29 runs in the middle overs, and Lake Illawarra’s enthusiasm had brought them back into the contest.
Aiden had batted through all of this at the other end, but kept his composure and continued to play in a sensible fashion, curbing his natural aggression to ensure he batted through the carnage. He eventually reached his 35 delivery retirement quota, finishing on 22 not out with one boundary. It was a mature innings from a young man who is willing to bat for the team situation as required.
Both Tristan and Kasey returned to resume their partnership, and did so excellently against the best of the Lakers bowling. Both worked hard to increase their output in running and stroke play, and the intent of both was pleasing to watch. Tristan batted for 68 deliveries in total and did a terrific job in finishing on 21 not out. Kasey has been on an upward trend all season, and just hasn’t had the chance to cash in with a big innings. Today he took his chance, passing fifty for the first time this season, and eventually getting to 69 not out when the innings came to a close. He had his slice of luck, but it wasn’t undeserved in a season where he hasn’t had much luck with the bat. He led the team today and gave his side a total to defend, which concluded at 6/158 from their 30 overs.

Lake Illawarra came out with intent, and the pressure was on the early bowlers. Lucas Brown was on the money from the start as always, giving up nothing and making the batsmen play at every ball. He cam close to getting both openers and was as dangerous as always. Noah Black was giving the second over, and bowled some good deliveries, but as with his batting discovered that cricket is not always an easy game. Anything slightly off line was dealt with. He wasn’t the only one, as Ryan Cergovski bowled a terrific first over, but one off line delivery went for 6. His second over was too much down leg side and he was harshly dealt with again. Both Noah and Ryan have been great with the ball this season, and bowling against Lake’s best batsmen will give them a better appreciation of the importance of good line and length.
Aiden Campion came on to tie up the runs, and did so, while also picking up a wicket when the batsman struck him firmly to square leg where Ryan Cergovski took a good catch. At the other end Park’s greatest nemesis retired, but not after he should have been run out twice by metres. For the coach, given the team has spent the last three training sessions training for this exact scenario, it was what you might call… frustrating.
With the openers out of the picture, the Albion Park bowlers took the opportunity to rein in the runs and place pressure on the remainder of the order. Ethan Thompson seemed to have grown in confidence from his batting, and not only bowled a maiden to start his spell, but then picked up two wickets in his second over, one bowled middle stump with what could be termed a slower ball, and the second drawing the lofted shot that was taken well by Tristan. Ethan finished with 2/2 and a good day overall. TJ Nasome came off his varying length run off, and again bowled some excellent deliveries with a nice inswing. He also drew a drive in the air to mid-wicket where Kasey took the catch. TJ finished with 1/7. Logan Goodway continued his great line and length bowling that he has shown all season, and a couple of edges and glides were all that could be taken off him. He finished with 0/6. Ryan Monaghan produced a seasons best with figures of 0/2, but it was the deliveries he bowled that were most impressive, twelve almost like-for-like in line and length, exactly what we have been working on.
Josh Peters doesn’t always get the rewards he deserves for his bowing, and today again he probably deserved better, but his 2/2 showed how well he bowled. Both wickets were from lofted shots to cover for catches, and he had a close stumping chance turned down as well.
The opening batsman’s return to the crease brought some more excitement with it, with some lovely strokes coming cleanly off the bat. Kasey Barton had been held back to the end, and mixed some good deliveries with some wider deliveries, all at good pace. He bowled the penultimate batsman middle stump with a pearler, and finished with 1/11. His batting partner Tristan also bowled a superb spell today, and apart from Lucas was the only bowler to keep Lake’s best in check. He has a lovely outswinger going, and he was supremely accurate today. He finished off the innings with a ball hitting middle stump, and his figures of 1/6 topped off a great day for him overall. Lake Illawarra was bowled out for 89.

Lake Illawarra stuck to their task today and never gave it away. The 6/29 they took in the middle overs showed great heart in getting back into the match, and all of the batsmen fought hard and didn’t give their wickets away. Young Darcy Edis made his highest ever score with a hard fought innings, and Dean Welland bowed well at the end of the innings. Bohdi Robinson will never come closer to taking a hat-trick without taking one, bowling the perfect three deliveries and missing out on the third wicket by a gnats wing. He was excellent today as well in the field. And there is no cricketer I enjoy watching more than Jaycob Constantinou, even when he is on the other side. His bowling was terrific again today, his batting superb and his fielding sublime. And a terrific kid to boot.

For Albion Park’s kids, it was another win, and one not without its lessons. There were lots of good things to come out of today’s game – Tristan’s fantastic all round performance, from a kid in his first year of cricket, in particular was eye catching. Kasey and Aiden with the bat, and Ethan and Josh with the ball, all had good days. On the other hand, some dropped catches and missed run outs show there are still things to be improved on. Next week’s match against Oak Flats will give a good indication of just where this team stands in the Under 13 competition.
Thanks to Kim and Ty for scoring, and for the great support for both teams that showed up on the day.

APJCC Under 13’s: Round 13 vs Kiama Gold at Albion Oval Middle

With the rain chasing them all the way to the finish line, the Albion Park Eagles Under 13’s managed to do enough to gain a good victory over a tenacious Kiama Gold team at Albion Oval this morning.

Kiama won the toss and elected to bat, and found themselves under immediate pressure from the Park bowling. Noah Black was thrown the new ball, and despite two false start no balls then found his length, and enticed the lofted drive to cover where Josh Peters took the catch for the first wicket. He was again economical and finished with ¼ from his two overs. Lucas Brown moved the ball both ways off the seam, and bowled the ball of the day, a perfect yorker on off stump that dismissed the dangerous opening batsman by removing his off stump. Lucas finished up bowling four overs and took 1/1. TJ Nasome bowled with plenty of purpose but just drifted to the leg side a little which cost him a few runs. His two overs finished at 0/12. Ethan Thompson also found the ball on the pads too often, but when he found the right line, he also created a chance, and the catch was taken by Josh again at cover. Ethan would be pleased with his 1/11 from two overs. Ryan Cergovski, apart from a couple of wide deliveries, bowled his best spell of the season, a great length and swinging the ball away from the bat. He was very unfortunate not to pick up a wicket and deserved better than his 0/9 from three overs appears. Tristan Denmeade swapped between his spin and his seam, but it was his seam bowling that was impressive today, causing the batters lots of problems. He finished with 0/8 from three overs and looks to be building nicely towards the end of season games.
Josh Peters once again suffered from not keeping the ball bouncing over the stumps and hitting the pads, but was again economical with his 0/1 from 2 overs. Kasey Barton continues to be a threat with the ball in hand and is often too good for the batters he bowls to. He finished with 2/8 from his 2.4 overs today, which only goes to show the importance of bowling at the stumps. And Aiden Campion bowled a similar line, thus also missing out on possible wickets by being just slightly off the line of the off stump, and finishing with 0/1 from two overs.
The star with the ball today though was Josh Schofield, who after many good spells this season got everything together today. With his beautiful outswinger working overtime even despite the wet ball, he even merited a first slip, which came into play first ball after drinks when he caught the edge which was taken by Kasey. He also found the edge to have the ball skew to Tristan at point for another wicket, and finished it off with another outswinger that started on leg stump and took middle. Josh bowled three overs for brilliant figures of 3/2, and now that he has his bowling line on the stumps rather than outside he is reaping the rewards he deserves. Great job Josh.

Kiama Gold was bowled out for 61, and with the weather closing in it required a pro-active chase from the Albion Park team. Enter Kasey and Aiden, who played positive cricket mixed with good running between the wickets to push the score along. Aiden dominated the strike, and eventually retired on 19 not out. Lucas Brown replaced him, and between he and Kasey they chased down the remaining runs required, finishing on 0/64 from 12 overs. Kasey continued his excellent season by finishing on 23 not out, and Lucas finally had a good hit in the middle, finishing on 12 not out, an innings that better shows his potential with the bat.

Another good win by this young team, but not without a few stumbles in the field again, which only goes to prove that they still haven’t played the perfect game. Let’s hope that comes in five weeks time.
Thanks to Mark Brown for taking on the scorebook today, and thanks to all of the parents, friends and families who showed up to support the team, with special thanks to everyone from the Under 15’s who gave up their morning after their match was washed out. That is a great indicator of what a terrific club Albion Park is building when that kind of spirit and support is shown.

Albion Park JCC Under 13's: Round 12 vs Gerringong at Athol Noble Oval.

Rain was the winner this morning, as the game was called off at 9.30am after persistent heavy rain halted the Eagles innings at 6/107 after 19 overs.

A combination of good bowling and fielding from the Gerringong team, and average shot selection and running between the wickets meant that despite the rising total the Albion Park team was in danger of being bowled out well short of where they should have finished.
The two things out of today's innings that were poor were hitting the ball straight at fielders instead of gaps, and poor running between the wickets, both not running at 100% for every run, and then some crazy calls that resulted in one run out but could have resulted in at least five run outs. Maybe the weather rewired the brains a little today.

Kasey Barton anchored the innings at the top, retiring for 32, another sensible innings from our captain. Ryan Cergovski looked solid before hitting a drive in the air to be caught for 1. Tristan Denmeade took the initiative and ran well and placed the ball nicely, hitting his first ever boundary, but then chopping on next ball for 7. Aiden Campion played a sensible innings in taking the singles on offer in the gaps provided, before cracking a terrific pull shot... straight to the fielder to be caught for 17. Ethan Thompson has had to wait a long time for his next innings this season, and unfortunately was caught not playing a shot to a ball that rapped him right on his front foot to be plumb LBW. Good thing there is always next week Ethan! Lucas Brown looked in good nick again, hitting one great pull for four and running well with his partner, before following Aiden's lead in hitting the ball right out of the middle... straight to backward square leg, and was caught for 8. Noah Black picked up from where he left off two weeks ago, hitting the ball with enormous power, before cracking a ball straight to mid off and calling yes, and being run out by at least half the length of the pitch. Great brain fade there. A shame to see that innings end that way. The Two Josh's ended up together again, and when rain stopped play both had looked good in their short stay, J.Peters remaining 15 not out and J.Schofield remaining 5 not out.

The rain whooshed in, and the sodden state of players, parents and umpires soon forced the game to be called. Let's hope for some summer sun to come back next week to get a full game in. Thanks to all the parents for sitting through the wet - especially the Nasome's and Goodway's who literally got to see none of their boys doing anything!