We were sitting second in the SCA second division table mid way through the season and looking every bit a contender after flogging Deutsche Bank in the previous match. So the prospect of taking on the winless Singapore Cricket Club side at our home ground was seen as an opportunity to consolidate our position at the top of the table.

However, some ominous signs were there from the start. We arrived at our Turf City home all pumped up to “pump” the SCC2 boys, when in fact all the pumping had happened in the previous three hours. Someone (that mythical beast held responsible for indiscretions that lack an eye witness) had left the sprinkler on and the result was more than a little moisture in the pitch and beyond.

Singapore’s heat did its best to dry up the end of the wicket most affected, whilst skipper Darren Box came to terms with the fact that captaincy duties extend to ground salvage operations, including some vigorous sweeping and raking. A decision was finally made to delay the start for 30 minutes, the coin toss followed and you guessed it we lost, but bad was about to get worse.

When play started conditions were tough, Tony Greig’s player comfort meter would have registered more than a few sweaty jock straps on this Sunday afternoon, with the added moisture in the ground it was more like dripping, sogging, fermenting jock straps! (I’ll understand if you can’t read on). Its hot enough playing cricket in Singapore conditions at the best of times but now the keeper and slips corden had the pleasure of standing in their own personal steam bath at the southern end as evaporation did its thing. Simulate the experience your self, put some gloves on, a shirt, tracky pants, hat, runners and wander down for a session in your condo sauna.

The threat of bad karma conjoured up by the spinkler induced humicrib we were fielding in did not take long to spill over into the field of play when after bowling a couple of very tight overs, Steve Whiton final forced a mis-queued pull from one of the openers and the ball lobbed gently to the fielder at mid on……..who dropped it. In fairness catches should not be that easy. Steve dragged himself back to the top of his run-up and tore in seeking retribution and in a cruel a twist of fate the Cricket Gods saw fit to give us hope – caught behind the very next ball. As I ran in to congratulate Steve and keeper Toby Lendon for a great catch, I thought, “the sprinkler, the dropped catch, they were abberations, the Cricket Gods are on our side”.

What followed was some good tight bowling but 2 more dropped catches, then SCC guys that were struggling to put bat to ball suddenly seemed to be slapping it over our heads for boundaries. After 39 overs they had knocked up 208 for the loss of 5 wickets. We had been set a challenge, a test of our cricketing fabric. As modern day antipodean warriors we knew we were up to the challenge.

We feasted on watermelon and 100 Plus to recharge ourselves and then Rob Walpole and Scotty McAllister strode to the wicket with the air of modern day gladiators. The first over yielded 13 runs and the boys were looking good, Rob in particular hit a couple of slashing cover drives. Then with the score on 32 Scotty was out, seemingly against the flow of play. So it was my turn to take the challenge forward. Armed with my Duncan Fearnley I strode into battle for the handsome return of three dot balls and a cartwheeling middle stump…mmmm not really gladiatorial. It was about this time that the whole bad karma thing started to re-emerge. It turned out that the Cricket Gods weren’t really testing us at all they were toying with us. This manifested itself in the form of a succession of batsmen that joined Rob in the quest for a partnership but disappeared soon after. Rob to his credit scored a classy 54. Boxy (20) and Toby (30) put up some lower order resistance.

For the amusement of those gentlemen in white that look down from above upon the cricket pitches of the world, the result was a loss to the bottom team by 58 runs.

But the silverware is still within our grasp. Winning the last 5 matches would bring it home, lets hope the Cricket Gods seek their amusement away from the ANZA Cricket Club hereafter.

by Greg Joiner

Dream Team wins close game against British Club.

Saturday's game at Turf City was a close fought affair, with the Dream Team winning by 2 wickets. The British Club batted first and made 173 for 5 in their allotted 30 overs. Highlight of the bowling was Gary Higgie (3 for 26) making his first appearance if the season in the Dream Team. Fielding was generally good with only a couple of half chances missed.

In reply we were very quickly in trouble losing both openers in the first two overs. Gary Hawker (19) and Daniel l'Anson Rea (24) scored well until Daniel ran himself out in slow motion. Gary Hawker literally knocked the stuffing out of the ball with an off drive that saw the middle of the ball bobbling it's way towards mid off leaving the leather cover behind. After a minor collapse, Gary Higgie (52 retd) & Dave Robertson (24) steadied the innings leaving Raj Thangiah (31not out) to steer us home with 8 balls to spare.