Match Report - Anza Champs vs SCC Cheetas

ANZA Champs vs SCC Cheetas Match Report

Scorecard

This was the day that many of the Champs had been waiting for.............the opportunity to step out on to the hallowed turf of the Padang as we took on the might of SCC Cheetahs with the Champs fresh from a morale boosting win and with Dave "Rev" Goodwin still carrying the bat from his previous weeks undefeated ton.

But, as they say in the classics - "a week's a long time in cricket" and "you're only as good as your last game"!

And so it was to be.

A perfect day for cricket, ideal conditions, the wicket square looking true, Tony Greig and his bloody key nowhere in sight, a large crowd in attendance and toss won - the day was all set for a great contest and for the Champs to consolidate their position in the upper echelon of Division 4 (if there is such a thing).

Sometimes you look back at decisions that you've made and feel like giving yourself a stiff uppercut! After winning the toss (retaining a 100% record) - partly due to the fact that Geoff Forday was out of "toss" range viewing a teammates family photo album - the decision was made to take on the might of the SCC batting order and I promptly extended an invitation to SCC to bat. Oh how I wish they had declined!

The decision to field was made based upon a number of factors - to make use of the early morning moisture and movement, the strength of the Champs bowling line up and the belief that with how our fielding had improved we could limit SCC to an achievable target.

And this was certainly the case when we managed to limit SCC to 1 for 133.......outstanding performance, and certainly a target the Champs could chase down with confidence! Unfortunately, our confidence was shattered when it was brought to our attention that the remaining 15 overs still had to be bowled.

While there was significant improvement in the second 15 overs the eventual target was to be "248" to win! With SCC having lost 3 wickets , although it has to be said that one of them was retired.

Not a great deal can be said about the fielding/bowling effort - lost count of the number of dropped catches (I believe at least 7); 2 or 3 missed runouts - a couple of these with both batsmen stranded at one end, a hand injury to Footrot "Where's my gloves" and a near horrific collision between Shaun and Geoff (unfortunately both of them were closer to hitting each other than to taking the catch) being the lowlights. Difficult to find highlights of the effort in the field but 2 wickets to John "Disco" Dick, the least amount of wides bowled so far this year,a tidy effort behind the stumps by Chiro Gupta (an ANZA and Champs debutante), solid ground fielding by Ben and Munib holding the only catch worthy of a mention...........in an effort to protect the innocent will not incorporate any bowling figures.

As was pointed out after the game it seemed that while the days play started at 9 the Champs had only decided to turn up at 11!

Over to batting. And not a great deal better - a steady stream of wickets stymied any hope of chasing down the 248 required for victory eventually struggling to 138 before the cricket gods allowed us to make our escape. Highlights with the bat being Shaun Giacomo and Ben Yeoh both contributing 22 a piece and a solid partnership of 42 as well as 21 and 20 from Josh and Chiro respectively. And mention must also be made of Shaun's six - in which he hit his "missing since birth" twin brother out of the ground and smashing in to an SBS transit bus....great shot that!

But upon reflection and viewing the scorebook, this was never an even contest - a quick perusal of the sides indicated that the Champs had in fact taken on a side containing 15 players with 4 SCC players having hyphenated surnames! This is something we may have to work on.

Overall a disappointing result and one that is not a true reflection of the Champ's ability or the steady improvement that has been in progress . A week or so to reflect upon this performance before the Champs next game vs British Club on Saturday 26th April (1330) at Turf City B and the opportunity to get the season back on track.

Cheers Steve