Jessibill: Death By Multimedia. Episode 13.

This week on Episode 13:

There’s Something on the TV! – It's Japanese anime time in Jessie's headspace, as she has started checking out the 2003 hit FULL METAL ALCHEMIST, while Bill has been lost with no sport and The X Files on a mid-season break, so for him it has been the lifestyle stylings of LOVE IT OR LIST IT AUSTRALIA that has filled his hole.

Crap Movies Bill is Forcing Jess to Watch! – After some rich comedies in recent weeks it was time to go for something a bit more cerebral for Jessie's movie of the week, so we have checked out the brilliant acting, writing and directing that all came together in 1995's superb THE USUAL SUSPECTS, where you won't know what has happened even after the movie is finished.

Album Review Switcheroo! – With Jessie's albums having dried up it's time to go in a new direction, and so we present to you our weekly playlist of ten songs, five from each of us, and we give you a run down on why we like them, and even give you a chance to experience it yourself!

Link: https://open.spotify.com/user/jessicaher13/playlist/7zEeeGu0nn4Pso5kZ7xeTB

Crap That Jess Has Been Watching On YouTube! – So if you animate songs from bands that Jessie loves, and even do kazoo cover versions of them, you too can have your own YouTube Channel. Apparently, Jess gives us the run down on not even dust like wtf which is apparently HILARIOUS! Meanwhile, Bill has been tracking down the 'shittiest band in Newtown' called Scabz after seeing them at the SLF concert in Sydney.

PODCAST!

PLAYLIST!

not even dust like wtf @ YouTube

Scabz live at the Marlborough September 2017

The Usual Suspects

Full Metal Alchemist

Love It or List It Australia

APCC Under 11 Golds: Round 16 vs Kookas Maroon

After such a lengthy period of success, there always comes a time when perhaps you take it for granted, and ease off thinking it will always just happen. To an extent that happened today for the Albion Park Under 11 Gold team, who through the heat of the morning and the dropping of their high standards of recent weeks found that cricket cannot be won just by turning up and expecting the opposition to roll over for you.

The opposition, the Kookas Maroon team, won the toss and elected to field, and the eagles took to the batting creases this week with just the six players. And apart from a couple of moments, the kids batted well and pushed hard. The calling and running between the wickets was excellent, with several singles turned into twos this week by better running. Success was found by those that didn’t try to hit the cover off the ball, instead using the pacey leg side of the ground by timing the ball along the ground.

Charlotte Rodda hit some excellent strokes again today, but the all went straight to the fielders which stifled her run scoring. She is improving every week, and also called well today. Kane Rex played perhaps his best innings of the season today n the opening partnership, striking two perfect pull shots along the ground for boundaries in his innings of 14, his highest score this season. His hard work in working on his batting is paying off. Well done Kane. Blake Ison once again make a statement with the bat, stroking four boundaries in his score of 21 with the emphasis again of the ball along the ground. Bodhie Rodda also made his highest score today, including a lovely pull for four that brought cheers from the crowd. His 7 was another excellent innings and he called and ran well again. Great improvement from Bodhie.

Josh Peters played perhaps his three worst deliveries of the season to start his innings, which included being bowled off stump trying to whip to leg with his head in the air. It would have been a sad effort for him, but the opportunity to stay at the crease with the current rules allowed him to redeem himself, finishing with 25 runs including four boundaries. Lucas Brown concluded the innings with a fine display of sensible shots and good running which left him unbeaten on 9 runs, though he still has this inclination to try and work a ball a foot outside his off stump into the leg side.

At the conclusion of their 20 overs, Albion Park had lost two wickets and scored 121 runs, which included 76 off the bat, comparable to last week’s effort.

Despite the coach asking his team to ignore the heat and stay up and bright in the field, it didn’t really go to plan. The heat caused a few tempers to fray and a few heads to forget what they should have been doing, and the batsmen from the Kookas team played well and made it difficult for the Eagles kids to go well. After seven overs the Kookas were 1/43 and flying, and it appeared that the Eagles bubble was finally going to burst. The only wicket to fall had been from a great piece of fielding from Lucas once again, who threw to Kane at the bowlers end who found the batsman short of his ground. Just before drinks though the balance was restored. Lucas had bowled too much down leg side, but a straight ball found a top edge which he caught off his own bowling. Then with Charlotte bowling, the batsmen dared to take a single when the ball fell to point, where Lucas swooped in, took aim, and threw down the stumps at the bowlers end with a direct hit. Brilliant fielding from Lucas who does this every week. Two balls later, Charlotte sent down a rocket to bowl the facing batsman, and despite some lacklustre bowling and fielding the Eagles were back in the match.

The scoring stalled in the second half of the innings, while Blake was rewarded with a caught and bowled of his own after some close calls with his bowling, and Lucas picked up his second wicket with the perfect fast full yorker that cartwheeled middle stump. The last two Kookas batsmen batted well and were looking to attack, so I will make mention of the final over of the match, which Josh bowled. He was unfortunate not to pick up three wickets in the over, two that bounced half an inch over middle stump and had a catch dropped at mid off. Against two good batsmen on the rampage, Lucas and Josh bowled terrific final overs.

At the end of their innings, the Kookas had lost 6 wickets for 93 runs, with 51 coming off the bat.

The bowling and fielding overall today was a drop down on recent weeks. The heat had something to do with it, but it did appear that the team felt they just had to turn up to win, which certainly was not the case. Given their high standards of recent weeks they can be forgiven for this. Charlotte, Kane and Blake have been great, but today reverted to a lot of no balls and wide deliveries down leg. Charlotte for the sixth game in a row took a wicket again, finishing with 1/16. Kane took 0/20 while Blake finished with 1/9. Bodhie did well again but was unfortunate to go for a couple of boundaries in his second over which blew his figures out to 0/20. He bowled better than that suggests. Josh, after a slow start, finished with 0/10 from four overs and also bowled far better than those figures suggest. Lucas bowled like a demon at training on Wednesday, but didn’t quite get it together today. He was still the best performer today with 2/5 from four good overs, but it could have been so much better!

After wicket penalties were added, the Albion Park Golds ran out winners by 145 to 102.

With three weeks remaining, the Golds play Gerringong Green (2nd), Albion Park Green (3rd) and Oak Flats Blue (1st) in our last three games of the season. The kids are focused on putting their best cricket on the park in those three matches, to push those teams as hard as possible to finish off the season. Win or lose, they want to be able to show how much they have improved this season and that they can compete with any team on their day.

Metallica: The Call of Ktulu (MetOnTour - Copenhagen, Denmark - 2017)

The other brilliant Metallica instrumental of this era. What a superb song.

Metallica: Orion (MetOnTour - Turin, Italy - 2018)

Back in the band days... back in 1863... this was my favourite song to play on the drums. Ironically it was probably also my favourite song to sing \m/

Jessibill: Death By Multimedia. Episode 12.

This week on Episode 12:

There’s Something on the TV! – Jessie has gone retro this week (well, as retro as you can when you are 14 years old) and rediscovered the wackiness of the sci-fi animation of ADVENTURE TIME, while Bill has been throwing himself into the bleak and dark tales of Season 4 of BLACK MIRROR.

Crap Movies Bill is Forcing Jess to Watch! – When it comes to inappropriate humour and unadulterated genius, there is only one film that you can turn to. This week Jess finally gets the chance to watch Mel Brooks' amazing and brilliant BLAZING SADDLES, complete with the greatest campfire scene ever filmed.

Album Review Switcheroo! – We enter both ends of the music spectrum this week, as Jess decides to pass on to Bill the modern pop styling of ELLIE GOULDING and her hit album DELIRIUM, while Jess gets a real treat by getting to experience the legends that are DEEP PURPLE and their finest hour, and one of the most important albums in music history, MACHINE HEAD.

Crap That Jess Has Been Watching On YouTube! – This week we discover that apparently you can take videos of yourself playing video games, put it on YouTube and get 60 million followers. FFS. Jess fills us all in on the YouTube user PewDiePie.

PODCAST!

APCC Under 11 Golds: Round 15 vs Jamberoo

Are coaches supposed to suffer from constant heart palpitations? Is this the kind of thing that always happens? I’m not sure, and it doesn’t help when you have no idea of the score. But simply put, the Albion Park Eagles Under 11 Gold team took on Jamberoo at the picaresque Keith Irvine Mini Oval this morning, and the match was filled with magical, comical and exasperating moments.

First time captain Bodhie Rodda won the toss and elected to bat on a muggy morning, and the Park team changed the batting order around slightly to see how everyone would play in a different position. It was another solid opening from Charlotte Rodda and Max Sciberras who saw off the opening overs without losing a wicket in their partnership. Charlotte held her wicket intact once again, and once she learns to get that pull shot in order she will be scoring plenty of runs. Josh Peters came in at three, and promptly called Max through for a single, but an excellent piece of fielding from the Jamberoo fieldsman saw a direct hit and leaving Max about five metres short of his ground. Max played well again today, and just needs to work on getting his front foot to the ball to improve his run output. He finished with 2 runs today. Kane Rex joined Josh, and both took a liking to the short leg side boundary. Josh hit a six and a four in his 17, while Kane hit the ball particularly nicely today, with two boundaries in his 13. Both need to realise there is an OFF side to the cricket field.

Bodhie hit a terrific boundary with his favourite pull shot and was a little unlucky to bowled by one of the best balls of the innings. He ran hard when prodded and was excellent in both of his partnerships. His 6 runs was an important innings in the middle order. Lucas Brown played well with Bodhie, and only through trying to hit the ball too hard did he fail to capitalise on scoring more runs in his innings. He finished on 9 with one boundary but will feel as though he left a few out there. However, he was basically the running partner for last batsman Blake Ison in the final three overs, and his efforts there with his good calling and running between the wickets should not be overlooked. Well done Lucas. Blake himself played extremely well, hitting three boundaries and a six in his innings of 30, his highest score. He played the ball for the most part along the ground, and only failed to score more runs by not utilising the off side more. Despite this, it was a very good innings once again from Blake.

After their twenty overs, Albion Park had lost only two wickets – a season’s best effort – while scoring 113 runs – a season’s best – with 77 of those runs coming off the bat – a season’s best. Well done Gold Eagles! All this was achieved against a Jamberoo side that was fabulous in the field, with a number of stunning efforts by their players, and some good straight bowling.

Fielding has been the focus for the Gold team in recent weeks, and today it was shown once again to be the winning of the game for them. In the very first over, with five runs already on the board, a straight drive went to Bodhie at mid-off, and his return to Lucas at the bowlers end was straight and true, and Lucas lifted the bails for a run out. The jubilation of the team as they ran to Bodhie to celebrate his effort was terrific. Three overs later a ball was hit to mid-wicket where Lucas was fielding. He was at the ball quickly, looked up, and summed up the situation perfectly, picking the right end to throw to (the keepers end) where Blake took the ball and the stumps with the batsman meters short of his ground. Superb from the boys, just as they have been training for. The following over Lucas was at it again, getting the ball to the bowler Kane who had done well to get back to the stumps to take the return. The throw was not the best and it looked as though the chance had been lost, but the ball bounced off Kane’s hand and fortuitously fell on to the stumps to pull off the third run out of the innings. In the same over Kane’s straight bowling brought him another wicket for his season’s tally. This was followed up by Lucas in the following over with a straight full ball. It was excellent all round form the Eagles. Two overs later Charlotte again beat the batsman to comprehensively bowl him, and in seven over the Eagles kids had picked up six wickets. It was inspirational stuff.

The wickets dried up, but the bowling was tight and kept a close rein on the Jamberoo scoring. It wasn’t until the last batting pair were at the crease that the scoring took over, with some lovely shots by both batsmen finding the boundary regularly. While attempting quicker singles, the batsmen found themselves short to yet another super piece of fielding by Lucas, whose direct hit at the bowlers end found them short by inches. It was a super day in the field by Lucas, with a hand in three separate run outs. In the same over the batsman skied a ball to leg, where earlier Josh had dropped a chance that was going at some pace. This one swirled over his head as he ran backwards, but he never took his eye off the ball, and he held on to the tough chance over his left shoulder. More ticks for the fielding practice on Wednesdays.

There was entertainment and fireworks still to come though. Lucas bowled the penultimate over to the young Jamberoo left hander and was swatted for three boundaries and three singles in the over. Each ball he was implored by his coach to pitch the ball right up to the bat, but each ball just seemed to get shorter, and found its way to the boundary faster. To his credit, Lucas never dropped his head and kept a grin on his face. Good stuff Lucas. Blake was asked to bowl the final over, even though he had done about 10 kilometres running in the field for the left/right hand combination, and despite going for two boundaries he bowled a beauty, pulling off a run out at the bowlers end as the batsmen tried to sneak a second run, and also picking up a caught and bowled off the final delivery. It had been an entertaining innings from the two young Jamberoo batsmen, terrific stuff, and an important lesson for the Eagles kids that when things aren’t going your way, you have to find a way to combat it. Which they did very well under the circumstances.

After their twenty overs, Jamberoo had lost ten wickets while scoring 88 runs, with 62 of those off the bat.

Once the bowling penalties had been added the Eagles had run out winners by 153 to 96.

Lucas and Blake, despite getting some tap in the last two overs, were good once again, but just need to be fuller and straighter with the ball. Lucas finished with 1/26 from three overs, and Blake with 2/16 from three overs. Kane and Josh were their economical selves, Kane taking 1/9 from three overs and Josh 0/6 from three overs. Charlotte was again very good today, taking 1/14 from three overs, and has now taken at least one wicket every match for five games in a row. Super stuff from Charlotte!

Today though was about Max and Bodhie. Max bowled his best spell for some weeks, conceding only seven runs from his two overs and was very unfortunate not to pick up at least one wicket, with the ball beating the stumps by a coat of varnish, and also getting two edges that didn’t carry to the keeper. He also kept very well today. Well done Max. Bodhie must have felt as though he had captaincy responsibilities today. He batted well, and fielded well as already noted, but his bowling was great. He bowled two overs for 0/7, and with only four no-balls – Bodhie’s best ever effort. It was terrific to watch, and the beaming smile after the match was the highlight of the day. Well done Bodhie, great to see!

These kids continue to amaze, and their improvement and efforts every single week are a joy to behold. Seeing and hearing their parents support on the boundary is also fantastic, and it is a pleasure to come together every Saturday to be a part of it. With four games to go, the Golds are looking to make it as hard for those teams above them in the coming weeks. All of the teams looking to finish first in the Under 11 A competition have to play the Albion Park Golds in the final rounds and will have to beat them to do it. I can assure you that will be a very tough ask for those other teams.

Jessibill: Death By Multimedia. Episode 11.

This week on Episode 11:

There’s Something on the TV! – Two weeks in, and Jess is still falling behind in the old TV watching, so instead tells us about a series she watched in the holidays called "The End of the F**king World", while Bill revels in the return of the Red Dwarf crew with a couple of viewings of the most recent Series 12.

Crap Movies Bill is Forcing Jess to Watch! – The 80's continues to rule the movie world, and this week it was time to introduce Jess to one of the biggest stars and movies of that time, Eddie Murphy's terrific portrayal of Axel Foley in BEVERLY HILLS COP.

Album Review Switcheroo! – Jess knows where to hit where it hurts, this week enticing Bill to quell his feelings for rap music by listening to NF's debut album MANSION, while Jess gets to relive last week's movie by enjoying the QUEEN album that acts as the soundtrack to Highlander, entitled A KIND OF MAGIC.

Crap That Jess Has Been Watching On YouTube! – As Jess rediscivers a love for the band My Chemical Romance by burying herself in their YouTube Channel, Bill has been checking out all of the new movietrailers that have surfaced from the Superbowl this week, as well as remembering a great short film in Steve Martin's THE ABSENT MINDED WAITER.

PODCAST

APCC Under 11 Golds: Round 14 vs Gerringong Gold

Another humid and sweltering February morning greeted the Albion Park Under 11 Gold team at the beautiful surrounds of Albion Oval South, where they took on the visiting Gerringong Gold team in this week’s round of park cricket, and the opportunity to show off their improving skills once again to their families.

Skipper Charlotte Rodda won the toss and elected to bat, a move straight out of the Richie Benaud playbook. The Gerringong bowling and fielding was excellent. They were quick in the field and good with their throws, and importantly bowled straight, conceding only 20 no balls which meant the batsmen had to keep their eye on every delivery.

Kane Rex and Blake Ison opened the batting and made a good start. Kane’s calling was excellent, and he played one terrific stroke over mid on that flew away for four runs. He finished unbeaten on 7 runs, a good innings from him. Blake likes to go deep in his crease to pull the ball to the boundary, and often goes scarily close to his own stumps. Today his luck ran out when on one of these shots he did indeed hit his own stumps to be out hit wicket. His innings included three good boundaries, and he looked to find the gaps as well. Despite getting out once, his 15 was another good innings from him.

Charlotte Rodda played her best innings of the season. She called well, and she found a way to start hitting the ball into the gaps. She is improving every week which is wonderful to see. Her 3 runs was a good reward for hard work. Brother Bodhie Rodda was a bit unfortunate today, with the ball twice bouncing over his bat to find the stumps, for which there was not much he could do. He wasn’t able to produce his free flowing hitting today, but we look forward to seeing it next week. Max Sciberras was undefeated again, and received the best of the Gerringong bowling. His defensive technique today was excellent, and once he gets his drives going again he will get the scoreboard ticking over as well. Lucas Brown hit one very nice boundary today and ran hard and called well looking for runs for his partners. He finished unbeaten on 8 runs, and just needs to adjust his bottom hand to get better value for his shots. Josh Peters finally fell foul to pulling off his stumps, being bowled middle stump while looking at the sky in the third ball of the final over. The in-your-face celebrations that followed his dismissal weren’t endearing to him, and so he took the final three deliveries for a pulled four, a huge pull for six and a punched single to mid-wicket as a silent but effective response. He finished on 23 runs.

After their 20 overs, Albion Park had scored 82 runs for four wickets lost, with 56 of those runs coming off the bat.

The Eagles had to field and bowl at least as well as their opponents if they were to stay in the game, and to their credit they took their training efforts into the game. The skipper Charlotte opened the bowling and got a wicket with her fifth ball, a good catch by the keeper Josh from a top edged pull by the batsman. Max went one better, bowling the batsman with his first ball of the day, much to his delight and that of the crowd watching. Lucas then joined the party with good straight bowling and picked up his own pole with a fast full delivery. Then Max came to the party again, picking up another bowled in his second over which was a great reward for an excellent bowling effort. In the final over before drinks, Kane Rex then continued his great form when bowling straight and full by getting another batsman bowled. It was great to watch.

Four further wickets fell in the second half of the innings. Blake Ison deservedly picked up a wicket when he bowled the facing batsman in what was a great spell of bowling. Josh came out from behind the stumps, and picked up two wickets of his own, one bowled through the batsman’s legs and another a great diving caught and bowled, while Josh also fielded and threw the ball to Kane at the bowlers end to effect an excellent run out.

The bowling effort today was excellent, though again there were 33 no balls which the team is still having trouble eradicating. Bodhie bowled three overs today and is getting the ball on a good length now, he just has to get the ball straight and he will be right in business. Charlotte was solid today, and perhaps got a little too excited with the early wicket and tried too hard. Her three overs brought her figures of 1/12. Both Kane and Max showed when they bowl straight they can get wickets, they just need a bit more consistency. Kane’s three overs finished with 1/10, while Max was excellent with 2/13. Lucas only got two overs today due to the coach’s stuff up, but was again constantly dangerous, finishing with 1/3, while Josh again was terrific with 2/3 from three overs. The star today was Blake Ison, whose rhythm and action was spot on, and he bowled brilliantly as a result. He stood tall, bowled straight and full and if not for the excessive bounce of the astro could have finished with anything. His three overs for 1/2 was his finest of the season. Well bowled Blake!

The fielding was outstanding today, apart from a couple of over-excited throws. Everyone moved in with the bowler, they got to the ball quickly, they returned to the keeper or bowler, and they did their best to get to balls in the air. Both dropped catches were difficult ones that would have been brilliant if they were taken. The encouragement was great, and it was especially pleasing to hear Charlotte as captain every ball of the day. The kids are learning that fielding can be fun if you are good at it and work hard at it. This is what again set their game up today.

After their 20 overs Gerringong finished with 9 wickets for 68 runs, 32 of those off the bat.

With the wicket penalties taken in, Albion Park Gold ran out winners by 118 to 84, a well deserved win in a match that was played in good spirit and fun by both teams.

This team lost their first three games of the season. Since October 28, they have not been beaten, having won seven games, had three wash outs and a bye. It has been a terrific effort from all seven of these kids, and the efforts of their parents who have not only been there to support them on weekends but having been putting in the time with their kids to get them to improve. It has been a wonderful effort from everyone involved. The support on the sidelines is invaluable.

With some tough matches to come against the highest ranked teams, the opportunity for these kids to test themselves further is what they are setting up for in the coming weeks. No matter what the results may be, the APCC can be very proud of these kids in their Under 11’s teams.

Jessibill: Death By Multimedia. Episode 10.

This week on Episode 10:

There’s Something on the TV! – Jess claims she has 'not been watching much TV' which given the amount of time she's been staring at a screen seems unusual. Bill mean HAS been watching good stuff, and gives us an update on The X Files Season 11.

Crap Movies Bill is Forcing Jess to Watch! – There can be only one, and it's better to burn out than to fade away! We're reaching back into the mid-1980's once again as Bill brings out another classic film for Jess in the form of Christopher Lambert's greatest role of Connor McCloud in HIGHLANDER.

Album Review Switcheroo! – There's plenty of music around, and Jess is gearing up for the tour in march of one of her favourites by giving Bill the brand newie from FALL OUT BOY called MANIA, while Bill goes back in time again to give Jess a lesson in hard rock harmonies with DEF LEPPARD's awesome sophomore album HIGH N' DRY.

Crap That Jess Has Been Watching On YouTube! – Jess still claims to be not watching much on YouTube (which still seems slightly unusual) but she gives us a review of jacksfilms (or something like that) for everyone to have a bit of a look at, while Bill obsesses with finding the perfect metal cover of classic 80's pop songs.

We also have the result of our poll from December, being 'is Die Hard a Xmas movie".

APCC Under 11 Golds: Round 13 vs Shellharbour White

The two greatest words in cricket - wash out. Rain rendered Dawes Park too dangerous with the concrete wicket, and further downpours left the game being called off.

Huzzah!

APCC Under 11 Golds: Round 12 vs Shellharbour Blue

Cricket is a wonderful game when you can work on something specifically at training, and then see that hard work translated into perfect harmony on the cricket field that weekend. This is what happened for the Albion Park Gold Under 11 Team this week, when their intense fielding drills became the winning formula for them in their match against Shellharbour Blue at Dawes Park this morning.

With their opponents winning the toss and inserting the Eagles team, it was important to keep wickets intact and keep the scoreboard ticking over. It wasn’t easy against a team that fielded well, had good arms in the field and bowled straight and full. Still, the Eagles first three batters all kept their wickets intact, until in all three cases they were bowled off their seventeenth and final deliveries. Charlotte Rodda was again solid in defence and played a couple of nice shots that went straight to fielders. Once she starts to find the gaps her scoring will improve. Bodhie Rodda again showed great improvement in his stroke play, and though he only managed three runs he was again impressive in the opening position. Kane Rex played well against the better bowlers of the Shellharbour team, and was only undone by a fast full toss from his final delivery. He too managed three runs to his total.

Blake Ison was good again, playing some lovely shots along the ground including three boundaries, but still needs to try and keep his head and not try and hit the ball too hard and he will improve his output. His 18 runs was well made. Max Scibberas also had to face the better half of the bowling attack and also did well to keep them out when they were bowling fast and straight. He was bowled once in his innings of one run, but he can be pleased with his application today. Lucas Brown also found the going tough, also being bowled on one occasion, but a couple of nice strokes in his nine runs, including a last ball boundary, should have him in better form next week. Josh Peters again suffered from the slogging bug, head to the clouds and through the shot too early. He was fortunate not enough balls were fired at his stumps. His two best shots of the day were when he played real cricket shots, something he will no doubt hear about all week from his coach. He finished on 19, and was dropped once in his innings.

After 20 overs the Eagles had made 82 runs for the loss of five wickets, with 53 of those runs coming off the bat.

To win the match, the Eagles had to bowl and field spectacularly, and it would not be unfair to suggest that they did this amazingly well. The fielding was superb. They fielders were in to the ball quickly cutting off runs and causing the batters confusion, they backed up and threw wonderfully, and they supported each other magnificently in voice. They did everything that could have been asked of them, and it was terrific to see how well they took into the game what they had practiced on Wednesday. After the first ten overs they had Shellharbour at 5/31. Josh bowled the first batter with his fourth delivery, another wonderful piece of deception. Charlotte carried on from where she left off last weekend, with another fast straight ball knocking over the middle stump. Then came some wonderful fielding from Josh at mid wicket in consecutive deliveries from Lucas. He ran in and threw both balls accurately to Lucas who had returned over the stumps, where he calmly took the bails off, with the result being two run outs in two deliveries. It was great stuff and warmly appreciated by the excellent Eagles fan base who had gathered at the ground. Then in his second over Josh enticed a drive from the batter who hit it straight to Lucas at cover who took a good catch. It was just wonderful cricket from a young team who is taking all before them.

The great work continued in the second half of the innings. Charlotte picked up her second wicket exactly the same as her first. Lucas showed the persistence of straight bowling by picking up two wickets in his third over, one caught and bowled and one clean bowled. Blake followed this up next over by bowling a wicket of his own, and there were great cheers as Max fought through a tough couple of overs to pick up a great wicket with his final delivery, bowled middle stump. Ten wickets was exactly what the team needed to do to put themselves in with a chance of winning, and they had done so magnificently. Despite this, all looked lost as the final batsman took it upon himself to win the game, scoring 20 runs off the final seven deliveries of the match, and it was a tense time waiting for the scorebooks to be added up.

Of their twenty overs, Shellharbour had scored 91 runs for ten wickets, with 58 having come off the bat (yes, with 23 of those off the last two overs).

Both Bodhie and Max were a bit off with the ball today, Bodhie finishing with 0/17 and Max with 1/15. Both are still getting the hang of this bowling game and will continue to improve with more practice. Charlotte was again fantastic, finishing with 2/14 from three overs. Kane was economic but a bit too much down leg side to threaten the wickets column, with 0/3 off his two overs. Josh was still unplayable, putting a tizz through the batting line up and fully deserved his figures of 2/9 from three overs and two run out assists. Both Blake and Lucas were good today without being at the top of their game, and both suffered in their last over. Lucas finished with 2/12 from four overs, along with two catches and two run out assists, pretty fair day. Blake bowled four good overs for 1/16.

After wicket penalties had been added, the Eagles had run out winners by 122 runs to 111, to complete their sixth win in succession, this one against the team who had been running third in the competition. The kids fully deserved this win after the hard work they have put in, and you can see how much they are enjoying it. They had fantastic support today from the biggest supporter turn up of the season, and it sounded as though they enjoyed the performance as well. It was also great to see that the Albion Park Green team knocked off second place Oak Flats Blue today as well, a fantastic result for the Eagles. The kids in both teams are making great strides forward, and it is a boon for the Albion Park Cricket Club. Let’s hope there is even more success to come as we head into February.

APCC Under 11 Golds: Round 11 vs The Rail Red

After the holiday break, and the regrading of the Under 11 competition, the Albion Park Under 11 Golds have found themselves in the A competition after their four straight victories, and now set to face much stronger and sterner competition for the rest of the season. And it began with today’s local derby match against The Rail Red at Albion Oval South.

The Eagles were a player short today, meaning they had more to do with the bat but also had more area to cover in the field. Skipper Josh Peters tossed the coin and The Rail called correctly and inserted the home team in steamy and sweltering conditions. Bodhie and Charlotte Rodda opened for the Eagles, and put together a very handy partnership, holding their wickets intact throughout. While Charlotte again played a determined and solid innings, brother Bodhie showed his attacking intent again, and cracked his first ever boundary with a lovely pull shot to the square leg boundary. Charlotte finished 0 not out and Bodhie 5 not out.

Max Sciberras and Kane Rex both played some solid and excellent shots, especially off drives which is pleasing to see. Most of these unfortunately for the pair tended to go straight to the fieldsmen which hindered their scoring ability. Eventually Max decided to take on the field, calling yes immediately that he hit the ball, and was only undone by a fabulous pick up and direct hit from mid off. The Rail ground fielding was terrific and kept the run rate under control. Both Max and Kane finished with 1 when their innings concluded, but with some practice in hitting the gaps their run output will improve.

Blake Ison and Josh Peters both collected several boundaries in their innings, but left quite a few runs out on the field from trying to slog and taking their eye off the ball. No doubt a post-Xmas hangover from taking on younger siblings in the backyard. When they hit the ball with concentration they both looked good. Josh in fact hit the first six by an Albion Park Gold player, though it was to a noticeably shorter boundary than usual. Blake’s only blemish was doing exactly what Max did, by hitting straight to mid off and calling for a run, but again being undone by a direct hit at the bowlers end. Apart from this, both batted well, Blake finishing with 22 and Josh with 25.

From their 20 overs Albion Park Gold finished with 2 wickets for 92 runs, with 54 of those off the bat.

From the outset two things were noticeable – that some kids had been working hard since the last game, and that The Rail were confident of chasing down their target. Max’s first over was a gem, conceding only one no ball, and none that bounced twice. A terrific start. Then Charlotte Rodda arrived, and not only off the long run having spent all season off just two steps, but straight and full! An amazing improvement in just four weeks, and with no help at all from the so-called coach of the team. It was obvious that father Will for Charlotte, and parents Simon and Karen for Max have been keeping their hands in, and for me it was the best part of the day, a real pleasure to watch them bowl with such accomplishment and style. But The Rail batters were looking to force their hand, and they took advantage of any loose ball and hit it to the boundary. They looked the team to beat when they had reached 50 runs in the tenth over, but Charlotte got a just reward just before drinks, bowling a wonderful off cutter that took middle stump and sent the bails flying. Fantastic, wonderful stuff, and the smile on her face told the story. With ten overs to go the score stood at 1/50. Charlotte took her leave of the bowling crease to take over the keeping duties from Bodhie with a wonderful spell of 1/16 from three overs, and she probably deserved better.

For the Eagles to win they had to take wickets, but after 13 overs had the score at 1/63, things looked grim. However, three wickets in three overs turned the game on its head. Kane bowled a little short today and found himself pulled to the legside a bit, but he redeemed himself with an excellent caught and bowled in his third over which brought the Eagles back into the game. Blake was also a fan of the licorice allsorts today without conceding too many runs, but a good straight full ball was hit in the air straight to Kane at mid-wicket, who took a terrific catch to give Blake a deserved wicket. And, from the coach’s perspective, it was nice to finally see an outfield catch held. In the next over Josh, who was spinning the ball about three feet and confusing every batter, decided to throw in his variation, the faster ball out of the front of the hand. It may not have been a flipper but it was as close as a ten year old is going to get, and it hit the stumps before the batsman had even begun his downstroke. That earned him an excited high-five from his coach, which may have been inappropriate from an unbiased umpire but the coach was unable to contain himself after witnessing such a brilliant dismissal. This was followed three overs later when Kane “The Destroyer” bowled the perfect away swinger that pitched on leg stump and took middle stump to produce the fifth wicket for the innings.

It all came down to the last over when The Rail needed a thunder of runs to win, but Josh bowled the perfect over again – having brought in a first slip the coach was tempted and conceded to bring in two – which left The Rail’s total at five wickets lost for 97 runs, with 51 runs off the bat.

For the first time this season, the effort in taking more wickets than the opposition proved to be the turning point, for although The Rail scored 5 runs more after the 20 overs, after the wickets penalties were added, the Eagles Gold team had proven victorious by 112 runs to 105.

Charlotte’s figures of 1/16 was the star of the show today, she can be very proud of her efforts. Max also bowled probably his best spell of the season, and his figures of 0/18 off four overs don’t reflect his efforts. Kane added another two scalps to his season tally, finishing with 2/18 off four overs. Blake was miserly again with 1/8 from three overs. Once he gets his mojo back he will be taking bags of wickets in the weeks to come. Bodhie only had the two overs, but he too showed improvement in his bowling with several dot balls. He finished with 0/12 from his two overs.

It is impossible to convey how well Josh bowled today without being there to see it. He bowled 24 deliveries, two of which pitched on off stump and I had to call wides because they spun so much. He had two catches dropped off his bowling, the batsmen hit two others for a single and a two, and the other 18 deliveries they couldn’t get bat on. His four overs cost him 1/5. I know I am biased and I try not to be. This was the spell of the season so far bar none. If he was bowling at 14 year olds he’d have taken a bagful.

That’s five victories in a row for this Albion Park Gold Under 11 team. None of us thought we’d be in this position, and the good news is that there is still so much improvement in these players to occur. The bubble will no doubt burst once we take on the teams at the top of the ladder, but this team is ready to compete with them all, and maybe… just maybe… there are a few surprises yet to come…

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