Gryphons win way through to T20 Semis (The Gryphon)

Item by The Gryphon on 6/01/2009 2:19:52 PM EST
Sunday Jan 4, Monash University have qualified for the MCA Twenty20 Semi Finals, by winning group C in the first annual MCA Twenty20 Tournament. Starting at 9am at Fawkner Park Number 6 (South Melbourne), the Gryphons out-classed Gunbower United in the first match. The second match started after a 20 minute rest, which saw the Monash boys chasing once again against Power House, with the result the same despite a few more wickets been lost. GUCC v MUGCC Scorecard MUGCC v PHCC Scorecard The Semi Finals will kick-off at 11am on Australia Day (26th Jan 2009), with the other qualified sides been: Coles, Parkville District and Mebourne Uni.

MUGCC Women's 2nd XI Mid Season Report (Anna Broomhall)

Item by Anna Broomhall on 16/12/2008 4:43:10 PM EST
15th December, 2008 And so this is Christmas, and what have we done? Another year over� and still half a season to go baby! While I realise I didn�t take part in any games this weekend after the 1�s washed out, (I just KNOW this was going to be my week with the bat too� damn the man), since this is the last time in 4 weeks that I�ll have a legitimate excuse to say something I�m going to jump all over it. So to answer my own question, what have we done so far in season 2008/09? Well the obvious answer to that is that we�ve won some games baby! Aside from the obvious, I thought we might shine a light on some of the efforts this season to date that don�t get recognition in the scorebook. Before we get to that though, congratulations to Lush and the 2�s yesterday as they notched their second notch in the wins column against Pakenham � while some had it pegged as The Battle for Bottom of the Ladder, as Jules rightly pointed out, we saw it as The Battle for Second Bottom and after achieving that and with our win against top of the table Kingston Heath, I don�t think anyone will be underestimating us next year. Thanks go to Lush for taking the reins for the 2nd week in a row and everyone who took part yesterday, especially Ann, Raylene and Emily who pitched in and from what I can see on the website, made some massive contributions. I just wish it had been somewhere other than bloody Pakenham so we washed out people could have come down and cheered you all on! Anyhoo, let�s get into it. So The Dork Award goes to� (drumroll please)� Cat Jones! As Cat pointed out to me when I once lamented our co-Dork status, Dork�s do in fact rock and will one day rule the world. We are Dorks and we are proud! While she�s been in and out of both teams this year, when we�ve had her in the 2�s, looking across and seeing her standing at gully (occasionally spouting something about a beached whale?), I know that we�re going to have a good day in the field. Extra bonus points for stopping me doing stupid things on the occasions we�ve found ourselves batting together � double bonus points for not smacking me on the head the day that I kicked the ball straight to the close-in fielder and made her run to the danger end. Miss Sheeana gets the nod for the Loudest Noise Coming From The Smallest Person� who knew that someone that little could make that much noise? Despite broken and bleeding extremities, whenever she took to the field either behind the stumps or out and about, you knew that the noise level was going to increase � introducing cheer quotas early on in the season to try and get the quieter Gryphons to make some noise earns bonus points. In contrast, Kayla (sorry mate but I�m too old to use K-dub without feeling and sounding entirely ridiculous) gets points for the Least Amount of Noise Coming From Any One Person for the first few weeks � compared to then, she is now positively boisterous, and her work in the field has been outstanding all year, finally paying off in the scorebook vs Bayswater where she was involved in 4 of the 8 wickets taken. All year Kayla has been shipped to all parts of the ground, suffering through left-hand/right-hand combinations without complaint and doing great work throughout. The Helping Me Not Go Insane award goes to one Linda Morris � after hanging up her Skipper�s hat at the end of last season, Lush has still done a lot of the stuff for me that she was lumped with last season � particularly appreciated by me in Round 1 when I had absolutely no clue what I was doing and faced with a rapidly diminishing team list, no cones, no cordial, no cups or drink container, Lush stepped up and managed to fix things while I ran around trying to convince the umpire that yes we have 7 players, but no I can�t give you a team list yet. And then in Round 2 opening the batting when I asked her to and smashing her highest score. My sanity and I both are deeply grateful. Again in contrast, the Let�s Try to Make My Skipper Go Insane award goes to one Xenia �X/Attitude� Clark. She has nearly achieved this on many occasions doing various things, ranging from ignoring the 19 she scored on debut, to ignoring any wickets she took, to ignoring anyone pointing out her runs and wickets, right through to violence � balls she smacks in the nets or in hit-ups on game days always seem to be very attracted to me and various body parts of mine � always unintentional so young X tells me. Against this attempt to rob me of my marbles stands her absolute love of the game, her willingness to accept help and the improvement that she has shown because of it, her (very occasional) willingness to accept compliments and her eagerness to help out on game days. Just remember to stay positive matey � we play because we love it � it�s that simple! KB has nabbed the prize (I shouldn�t say prize, there�s not really a prize�) for Most Improvement Shown in a Single Game for her efforts in our win against Kingston Heath � mate you�ve put up with my bellowing this season and your fielding is coming along every week � your game against Kingston Heath was the best effort I�ve ever seen you put in while fielding and you stood up when I asked you to with the ball and bowled a fantastic spell to help get us over the line. Credit where credit�s due, it was a great effort. Scooby gets the award for I Do Whatever I�m Asked to do with a Smile on My Face. Jumping from 1�s to 2�s, from behind the stumps to in-close to outfield, from keeping to opening the batting on a hot day, whenever I ask her if she minds doing something for me, she always smiles and says �You tell me what you want me to do and I�ll do it�. And then does it awesomely. A quick look at her stats shows 2 runouts and 4 catches for the season and an average of 41.5 for her 3 games in the 2�s so far. Love your work Scoobs, thanks for making my job a whole lot easier. Talz and Emma share an award for My God *appreciative whistle* Look at Their Bowling! When Emma burst onto the scene we threw her in with the bat but over the course of a few weeks she went from just rolling her arm in the nets over to really starting to up the ante with her pace and getting a great off-side line and some fantastic away swing. Likewise Talia�s bowling seems to have clicked the last few weeks and bowling left arm around the wicket she is getting so much movement on the ball and the perfect line, the batters have absolutely no clue and both Emma and Talia�s bowling figures are showing the vast improvement. The groaning you hear coming from the slips is my version of the appreciative whistle. Far less ladylike than whistling, I know, I�m sorry. I can�t help it. The Mark �I Make Things Look Easy� Waugh award goes to Jo Moore � nothing�s ever done with too much fuss with Jo, from taking great catches in the field, to annoying the bejeesus out of the batsman with her slow turners, to opening the batting or doing the job further down the order � she just accepts what comes and has a laugh while she�s doing it. Special mentions have to go to our cameo performers this season � Hero and Sharni, Belinda, Ann Nicholson, Raylene and Emily, B and Gussie stepping in for a game with us when the 1�s were washed out, Helen and Katie Jones, Lynsey � without you there would have been a few more forfeits so far this season, so thank you all for coming down and helping us out when available, hopefully we get to see all of you at some stage next year! Finally to Mr Pearson � our improvements over the last few weeks (plus the luxury of having spare scorers) have seen Steve up and excited and away from the scorebook and bellowing support form the boundary. That�s him every week; twice a week at training and at as many games as he can get to, putting in the effort with all of us so we can make the improvements that we�ve been making. It�s easy to take for granted, but I�ve had coaches in the past that don�t take women�s cricket seriously so it�s great to have someone like Steve around doing what he does behind the scenes so we can get out on the park and do what we love doing. Thanks to you (as well as Bel and Matty!) for all the time you�ve put in. To sum up, we�ve had a busy 8 weeks! I�ve had an absolute ball so far this season and I hope you�ve all enjoyed the ride as much as I have. Hopefully the recent additions we�ve made in our wins column have shown you that the work we put in at training does pay off, so I encourage everyone who can attend sessions to attend � if you watch the senior girls like Lush, Scoobs and Cat, despite playing for years all of them are still striving to improve and learn various facets of their game, so over the break if you can think of a couple of things that you want to work on next year, bring them up at training. I hope you all have a fantastic holiday break whatever each of you may be doing, I�ll be at the Boxing Day Test, playing with my new niece or nephew that my sister-in-law is just about to pop out (literally, she�s having contractions as I write this so I can barely sit still) and playing beach cricket with my 6 year old cousin who thinks he is the best cricket player ever. Stay safe, stay well, have a very Merry Christmas and we�ll see you in the New Year! Bring on 2009 baby! Anna

Gryphon 1s vs. Bundoora @ Monash Uni (Anna Broomhall)

Item by Anna Broomhall on 9/12/2008 12:18:59 AM EST
Changes hit both teams yesterday as our State and Junior State girls headed off to represent Victoria - congratulations to Jods and Jules as the Vics took the points in both their games on the weekend, nabbing 3 and 2 wickets respectively over both games, and Jods not out in both. So while that left us 6 players short, Lush took the reins of the 2's, and X, Cat and I headed up to the 1's, along with a couple of Dandenong players who were good enough to come along and help us out. After rain robbed the 1's of a game for the last 2 weeks, it was nice to awake to some sunshine Sunday morning and after teasing Cat with the smell of hot chicken from my backseat on the way to Clayton, we arrived with plenty of time for me to put together some chicken sangas for lunch… with an increasing number of people hanging around staring hungrily I wasn't sure they'd make it to the tea break, but rest assured. Almost as bad as when the boys fired up the barbie in the middle of our fielding innings last week! A win of the toss later, we headed out into the field - 2 players down so the bowlers were all under strict instruction to keep it outside off as apart from a square leg and mid-on, we had no leg-side field. With that huge patch of space teasing the batsmen, Son and Saf got it on line early and they were playing some unorthodox shots trying to get it legside – the 3rd over it finally cost the opener her wicket as she left her leg stump open and Son knocked it over easy as you like. Throughout the first few overs the run rate was kept low thanks to some great fielding, particular mentions go to Scooby in at cover who I'm sure awoke with many bruises this morning, and X covering a lot of ground at square leg (as well as hitting a lot of ground as her lucky headband/wristband/tights/laces didn't keep her from falling over every chance she got – have fun spike shopping with Cat this week mate!). Penny came on for a shot at the batters, and we were joking that there was no pressure, but all I expected was a few wickets in her first over. Laugh laugh laugh... until first ball, pitched out wide, batter went for it, miscued, diving Saf at point, awesome catch by a diving Saf at point, wicket first ball. Not a bad start really. Her reaction to "no pressure" did seem to be to just take wickets so she kept at it – the skyed catch training for X paying dividends as she parked under one and finally snaffled that elusive high catch (I feel a lot better for smashing her in the face with a high ball at training on Tuesday now... we'll call that my contribution, as I'm sure X did not want to repeat the experience...). After Pen gobbled up another wicket through a caught and bowled, we decided to slow things down and bit and she tried some finger spinners – between Son, Saf, B and Pen, the only break from pace they'd had was one a trundling over from me thrown in the mix to kill the 2 and a half minutes until Son could come back on, so the batters eyes lit up as the ball slowed down. She kept her head for about 3 balls until she could no longer resist one that was tossed up, went down on one knee for the slog sweep and the ball snuck past and thudded into the stumps. So after Penny's "no pressure" spell, she ended up with 4 for 40 odd off 10 overs. Brilliant. With X's confidence growing after her efforts in the field, I threw her in to roll her arm over. A great first and last ball were rewarded with 2 dots in the score book, but the batsman took a liking to our young Attitude in between and went after her with 3 boundaries in 4 balls – 2 that probably deserved it and one that was just a good shot – can't do anything about those mate. Despite her offer to take herself off after that one over, she came on for a second. Tossed up outside off and swinging away, the Tonker went for her again but the swing outdid her, smashed the toe of the bat and popped up to Scooby's waiting (and sore by that stage) hands at cover. That's a wicket baby! Suddenly we had them 6 down for not that many given we had 9 on the park, and the noise was only getting louder. For the 3rd game in a row X decided that one wicket just wasn't enough so nabbed another before tea and we went in with Bundoora sitting on 7 for about 150. After we watched the sprinklers come on during tea break, once they'd stopped and we were suitably refuelled and Cat realised that the Pringles ads are in fact correct and that once you pop you indeed can't stop, we headed back out. I decided I wanted in on the wickets and the world decided that I can't always get what I want (although the umpire decided to tell me afterwards that if I had appealed for one I would have had one… damn my learned habit of assuming that umpires are useless in deciding LBW's!), B came back on to get her share as well – a well directed ball at the batter forcing a top edge straight up and getting Rowdy in on the action. Well scorebook action at least- there was plenty to do all day behind the stumps as Rowdy's grass - stained whites can attest. 2 wickets to fall and Bundoora starting to try and hit out, Saf grabbed one of them by smashing a runout from close in and one to go – B's eyes lighting up at the prospect of bowling to a tail and with Penny's "let's keep it under 200!" ringing in our ears, she did the job that all bowlers love to do and sent the bails flying and Bundoora all out for 195. Bloody fantastic job in the field by all 9 – an extra fielder would have come in handy, but if someone had given me the option to keep them under 200 at the start of the day, I would have grabbed it with both hands. Unfortunately the Bundoora bowlers got themselves off to a good start as well – with a seeming abundance of fielders and only 25 overs to get through, 6 Gryphons fell amongst the annoying clamouring of the fielders. It's a new tactic for me, annoying batters out, but it seemed effective last night, with X and I closing out the last overs and X giving me numerous heart attacks as she gave in to her natural aggression and went the tonk, nearly holding out to mid-on, nearly hitting her own wicket as she swung herself off her feet and then finally landing one through midwicket and the nasty non-striker only running 1 to prevent any more stress to her vital organs. So we ended the day 6/31 with work to be done but with the Victorious Victorians back plus a new player down next week, we go into Day 2 with an extra player – always a good thing. Thanks go to Penny and Saf for making it down yesterday – great work both of you, and hope to see you both again soon! Cheers Gryphs, see you next week! Anna

Women's 2nd XI Match Report Round 7 (Anna Broomhall)

Item by Anna Broomhall on 1/12/2008 12:56:43 PM EST
30 November, 2008 � Gryphon 2�s vs. Kingston Heath @ Home 8 weeks ago, Round 1, we walked out on the ECR to play Brighton as a new side for 08/09 � Lush running around doing the stressing for me about scoreboards, drink containers and cups, cones and match paperwork, as well as helping me do some major stressing about getting 7 girls to the ground on time to get the match underway. While the match did get underway, it was a one-sided affair and it was clear to all that there was work to be done across the board. The following week after another loss, a number of Frankston players made the special effort to come over to me and mention that despite the result, there was some major talent amongst our Gryphons, and they were looking forward to playing us again and seeing the improvement. Yesterday, 8 weeks of blood & breaks (both in Sheeana�s case � dude you need to start rubbing a Buddah or collecting horse shoes or something�), sweat and training later, we faced off against Kingston Heath � top of the table, unbeaten Kingston Heath. My sleep on Saturday night was interrupted on a few occasions with moments of panic as I heard rain fall on the tin roof outside my window. When I eventually opened my eyes for the final time, despite the forecast of thunderstorms, all I could see was blue sky and fluffy clouds. We�d had some team changes this week � Cat off at the Queenscliff Music Festival, Emma spending time with family down from Sydney, Kayla a late withdrawal with a migraine, while for the 2nd week in a row we benefited from the misfortune of the 1�s being washed out and scored Gussie and Scooby to bolster our numbers. Not quite Happy Full Team Day, but I�ll settle for 10 anytime. From the moment everyone arrived, it seemed that we had all come to play � everyone jumped out onto the ground to try and take some catches I was trying to make using the strange orange board I�ve seen for weeks in the clubroom. After nearly breaking at least 3 of X�s fingers and possibly both of her feet and Jo had resorted to fielding backstop for all those that flew in unexpected directions (read: every second ball), I gave up on the board. But the enthusiasm was there, and everybody seemed to be feeling positive on a cracking day for cricket. After finally managing to win the toss in a home game, I sent the opposition in to have a bat. With myself and X opening the bowling, Kingston Heath�s version of The Tonker set about making some quick runs early � but taking plenty of risks hitting the ball in the air. Despite the runs, the bowling was fairly tight, even the Umpire commenting on a number of occasions that we were closing in on a wicket. In my 3rd over, I managed to keep the ball on a good line outside off, not giving her any room to play a shot � eventually I strayed a bit further outside off, giving her the room to play the cut shot � straight into the waiting hands of one Jo Moore who took it easy as you like. One thing that KB brought up that I keep forgetting to mention is the notion of bowling in tandem � when one bowler is bowling well and keeping it tight, it means the other bowler is more likely to get a wicket. If someone is getting easy runs from one end, they are much less likely to take risks off a good ball from the other end. Unfortunately the score book doesn�t reflect the contribution, but nevertheless it is an important part of a good bowling performance. The very next over came a wicket that was greeted with the least amount of enthusiasm from all Gryphons that I have ever seen � X pitched a slower nut right up, bouncing it just before the bat and the new batter scooping it up and presenting a gift to Scoobs in close on leg. With half of us unsure if it was a bump ball and not reacting, the other half taking the cue from the first half, the end result was that Scooby casually tossed it back to the umpire, the batter walked off glumly with shoulders slumped and the rest of us slooowly made our way to the centre of the pitch to congratulate one rather confused X Clark. But a wicket all the same and suddenly its 2 wickets from 2 overs and the pressure back on the ladder leaders. With X finishing off her first spell with a maiden, on comes The Haberman. And my god � after a shaky last couple of weeks with the ball, something has certainly come good with Tals� bowling. Bowling left arm around the wicket, swinging the ball like a left-armed Damien Fleming starting the ball nearly on the edge of the pitch swinging right into the toes of the batsman. Standing in my usual possie at first slip it was awesome to watch. Her first over was a maiden as the baffled batsman tried to get a grip on what was happening, she followed it up with a beautiful dot and then in another case of Brit getting tickets, a full toss, a batters eyes lighting up, and middle and off stump doing the death rattle as a frustrated batsman lets out a moan of disbelief and walks off. KB at the other end also turned a corner this week and was bowling magnificently and keeping the run rate right down a the other end. So we�d gone from 0/20 off 4, to 3/35 off 12 � those 8 overs giving us 3 maidens and 3/15. The next few overs the runs started to flow a bit more freely again, when X came back on for another spell, teaming with Jo at the other end who was doing a great job of frustrating the batters with her slower bowling. After X started her new spell a bit too short and the batter pounced with a 4 and a 2, she quickly recovered and the next 5 balls she produced 5 dots, the 6th a ball popping up and despite more confusion between Gussie and Ann at first slip, eventually Gus held up her glove to show us the ball and X had her 2nd wicket for the day � a wicket maiden no less. For the next 15 overs or so it was a matter of keeping the good work of our first 20 odd overs up and keeping a lid on the run rate which we did successfully � the 5th and final wicket coming from Go-Go Gadget Scooby in short on the leg-side, the batsmen assuming the ball had gone over her head called a run, Scoobs jumped up and grabbed it in one hand over her head and piffed it down to the bowlers end and bang � the other opener gone. From then on I played the mean Skipper and picked on the young kid who was sent in, we had about 4 players close in around the bat. The kid had Lushy cheering as she got onto one and banged it through mid-on for a couple � while me as a bowler just wanted a couple more overs to deliver a couple of nasty Yorkers and see the stumps go flying. Damn those bowling restrictions. Anyways, the innings closed after 39 overs, the ladder leaders finishing with 5/125. Fantastic effort from everybody out there � all bowlers played their part, Sheeana managed to escape with her life after having a ball fired at her head but doing more damage to her hand at the same time, KB � mate whatever drugs you were on in the field yesterday, make sure you stock up � great effort both bowling and fielding, X we�ll work on those high catches through the week � it�s judgement, not the catching that�s the problem (remember to look up Phil Tufnell), and somehow in all the 39 overs my voice not only survived but only bellowed louder as the day went on, despite my sore throat. After a short break and without the benefit of a hit-up, Scooby and Gussie headed out into the middle � Ann and Tahls both got a hitup from an enthusiastic Lush, a less enthusiastic Skipper and Jo, and an altogether unenthusiastic X who gave up after a few balls and took a seat. Early on Ann made a mention that she would be quite happy to let our openers do most of the work, and after I ducked inside to check on the Aussies� progress against the Kiwis (I live with 2 Kiwis so this is Very Important Information!), I came out to watch. And god they were good to watch. The first 10 overs was very watchful as they got their eyes in, but still punishing the bad balls, and the running between our [no quite]oldest player and our youngest player was first class, demanding the opposition step up in the field. Cheeky cheeky running. Fantastic. After the drinks break (0/69 off 20 overs), I grabbed the opportunity to square leg so I could watch from a better vantage point, and Scoobs didn�t waste any time getting back into the swing of things � the first 2 balls after drinks being despatched behind square for 4. And from then on they both had it well in control, punishing anything short or wide, starting to play the shots of players in form, cutting through gully, pushing through slips, cracking through midwicket. Standing at square I was worried a couple of times that I�d be called into action for a runout as they would hit straight to a fielder in short and call a run, but the pressure was on the fielders and they couldn�t handle it � fumbles, wide throws and misfields. It was the end of the 30th over when we passed the target, and we suddenly had our first win of the season. Against the unbeaten ladder leaders no less. So let�s get on with the positives!!

Noise � awesome.
Walking in with the bowler � improving every week.
Bowling � it was tight, it was good quality, and each of you did whatever I asked. Awesome.
Batting � Scooby and Gussie�s exhibition � I hope everyone was watching, especially the running between wickets. Awesome.
Fielding � everyone was backing up, hustling in for the ball, and saving the runs wherever possible. Say it with me� awesome.
Teamwork � as Lush pointed out after the game, we�re now operating as a team � everyone knows what we everyone can do and we�re supporting each other as required. Brilliant.

That�s just about it from me Gryphs � we now know what we can achieve (and how good it feels to win!), but there are still improvements to be had, so let�s knuckle down and get cracking before Christmas. From a personal point of view, I�ve run out of words (hard to believe I know) to describe how fantastic it is to see the fruits of everyone�s labour � I know how hard you�ve all been working, and it�s great that we got the reward from it yesterday. Congratulations to everyone! Next week there�s going to be some team shuffling due to state week, so stay tuned for the teams. To sum up � We won baby! AWOOHOO!! Anna

Gryphon 2's vs. Bayswater @ Wantirna (Anna Broomhall)

Item by Anna Broomhall on 24/11/2008 12:25:07 PM EST
So this match report comes to you sans repossession men hanging around this morning so forgive me ? it may go for a while. First things first, as promised ? shout-out this week goes to Tracy! My Sunday morning began with a fair dollop of enthusiasm as I awoke to the peaceful sound of silence ? no rain baby! A few ?Happy Full Team Day? messages later, the Broomy Bus was on its way to pickup Sheeana and the Pearson boys ? Steve making the particularly astute observation that Sheeana was in fact Sheeana and not Cat. Just can?t fool the man despite my best efforts. So we piled in, and headed down to Wantirna. Once everyone had arrived, and after I had given sufficient ribbing to B over her lovely short ball scaring off a potential recruit at training (Little Miss ?It wouldn?t have even left a mark!?), the more enthusiastic Gryphons headed off for a run to warm themselves up. Naturally I warmed myself up by watching them exert themselves and marvelling how my new jumper was doing a lovely job of keeping me warm. Another win of the toss later (I tend to win only at away games?) and we were heading out into the field. A fairly innocuous start later, I took B's advice that she was bellowing from first slip while thumping her own shins and pitched one up ' a frustrated batsman playing a silly shot, ball hit straight up in the air and Lushy screaming for Scooby to take the catch' rather similar to the situation last week except this week it was Lush with the gloves on' despite Steve's astonishment at a keeper calling herself out of a catch, the catch was taken and we were on our way. Our way was slowed a little by one of the regular delights of women's cricket ' The Tonker. Faced with The Tonker our bowlers fell a little short of length and the runs started flowing. The opposition skipper fell to a shocker from B that the wonderful umpire had called wide halfway down the pitch ' she went for the big one and Kayla took a great catch low down at cover. The old adage that rhymes with 'Brit gets tickets' still applies Gryphs, keep that in mind for your own batting! Emma came on and had an absolute ripping spell at the new batsman ' it is a wonderful sight when the stumps are splayed all over the place and the batsman is shaking her head on the way back to the shed' after playing in the 1's for the last couple of games, I have to say I much prefer it from a fielding perspective rather than a batting perspective! After cameo bowling performances from KB and Talia, X came back on for a spell. Now what have I been saying all along' 'Wickets will come', 'it's coming mate, it's coming'' After B managed to tangle herself after having too long to get in position for a catch, I was also left apologising after I crept in too close at first slip ' a perfect swinging ball caught the edge and it came flying at my head, I managed to pop it up in the air and thought 'ripper I'll get it on the way down' oh wait' can't'quite'turn'argh! Cat! Ground! Ball'' Somewhere amongst all those thoughts and I'm sure funny noises coming from both Cat and I, we ended up in a tangled heap on the ground. To anyone reading that wasn't there' It was about as graceful as it sounds people. So that's two near wickets for our X' next ball, tosses one up outside off and with my heart in my throat Kayla finally snaffles young Attitude her first wicket ' The Tonker no less. Colour me very relieved as well as ecstatic that the work we've been doing at training is finally paying off in the scorebook. But of course for any bowler worth their salt, the taste of one wicket only leaves them hungry for more' so what's X's solution' Let's just knock middle stump out of the ground shall we' We shall! Bang! Suddenly X is a on a hat-trick, bowling the most controlled spell I've seen yet. And while I've been saying all season to aim on or outside off stump (which I will continue to say), there is not much more a satisfied feeling than to see middle stump knocked completely out of the ground while off and leg stumps stand and watch. Beautiful. While the hat-trick didn't come (and coming from someone who has been on a hat-trick at least half a dozen times and hasn't got one yet, 2 from 2 is still a fantastic effort), from then on we seemed to just flick a switch in the field and it was game ON. X's bowling just got better and better, and in the end was too good for the tail-enders ' I don't know how many passed the outside edge but I was making lots of strange grunting sounds from first slip watching the ball pass' perfect line and length. Beautiful. A debacle of a run-out finally took place when Kayla scooped it up and tossed it to X standing about a metre from the stumps who caught it and then decided to just hold on to it for a little while and tease the batsman who was pelting down the wicket ' with about 6 voices screaming 'Take 'em off! Take 'em off!' (this is a G-rated program I promise you), there was a sudden panic and X whirled around and dived at the stumps, knocking the bails off and sending the batsman packing and this Skipper's heart-rate skyward. For the next run out B decided to take it upon herself, giving Lush and I both a heart attack as instead of taking off the bails like a lady, she stood back and absolutely HAMMERED the ball at the stumps from point-blank range ' same end result and another batsman's on her way. This is what happens when we put the clamps on in the field and why it's so important to keep hustling and pressuring ' the batters start to panic and take risks to get runs in places they shouldn't. Last ball of the day resulted in yet another run out and we had our target ' a target that we managed to keep down in the 2nd half of our fielding innings ' The Tonker and opposition Skipper were the ones that did the damage early on, but our damage control once they were gone was fantastic and great effort from everybody. After a short break Scoobs and B headed out into the middle to open our innings. An unfortunate runout later Cat headed in to join B. The runs were ticking along when B was the victim of a terrible LBW decision ' LBW still means Leg Before Wicket does it not' Anyhow in I went. Just as a side note ' there is a $50 reward for anyone who can find the middle of my bat. There are apparently 100 edges, plenty of toes and a few splices, but the middle seems to have gone missing. Anyhoo, Cat managed to keep me from doing stupid things ' I seemed to be trying my hardest to run myself out so her calls started increasing in volume. Cat was left shaking her head at me after I decided to have a bit of fun with the in-close fielder and kick it a little to her left and call a run' of course it was more fun for me running to the safe end, I don't think Jonesy found it too amusing for some reason. It was about that time that Cat's back really started to make some noise at her, once Karma repaid her debt and the Umpire somehow missed the 16 times a ball hit her bat on the way to the keeper, and after I granted her license to swing, she turned into The Tonker (Limited Mini Edition)' nice lofted drives over the bowlers head and through mid-on started to get things moving when she gave one too many catches to behind the wicket. Tals came out to join me and I poked a little one onto the on side, set off for the quick run, halfway down when an evil D-warf hiding in the bushes with a BB gun shot me in my right calf' I suddenly lost any chance of bending my leg, nearly fell over, and dragged my now wooden leg over the line. The name's Broomhall. Anna Broomhall. Grace is my middle name. A quick drop to the ground and a few stretches later I determined that it may be ok' I did rob Tals of a couple of runs over the next over as I hobbled around ' my apologies mate. Once Tals' wicket fell, I took up the Umpire's offer of a runner and B started to pad up. Lush came and went, and once B was on the field that was when the fun really began. All manner of hell broke loose ' the umpire didn't have a clue, the fielders didn't have a clue, WE didn't have a clue and somehow we managed to be worse off as the umpire decided the best way to settle the craziness was just to call B short for every 2 she'd run. A debacle, much dissent and some jam jars lids later, we started to get things to make sense. I have to say, I quite like this runner business ' hit the ball and scream '2!' and then stand and watch! Brilliant! Might have to start pulling the ol' Arjuna Ranatunga tricks out of the book J X hit a couple of lovely shots, one was so great that she stood and admired it while having a chat to the keeper' you only get a score for it if you run them mate! After I was dared to be silly (and I can't pass up a dare), I gave my wicket to the Skipper, Emma followed my instructions a little too closely and Kayla (minus her ginormous bat after the girls picked it up and promptly confiscated it, Tracy's bat now has another fan) and X saw out the last 4 balls of the innings. Some positives and goals to come out of this week:

Noise! Finally! Now that I know you can make that amount of noise, I want it every week. I'm a demanding bugger I know. Keep it up J
Kayla ' mate you were brilliant in the field ' 2 catches, 2 runouts, can't ask more from anyone. Player of the Round performance buddy, great work.
X and Emma's bowling ' nice that you're both now getting the rewards for all the work you've been putting in. Awesome.
We do need to some work on the basics of running between the wickets- holding the bat, backing up, getting used to running in pads. There are more runs there if we can milk the singles.
General centre-wicket type stuff ' relay throws, the bowlers or nearby fielders taking the stumps if there's a runout chance. The backing up was fantastic though, great movement from everybody.

Ok now that I've finally made a match report stretch over 3 pages, I better sign off. Thanks to Lush for pulling on the gloves this week and for Scoobs and B for coming down after the 1's washed out ' hope everybody's injuries pull up ok, remember training this week is Tuesday and Wednesday, if you need details let me know. Great efforts Gryphs, bring on next week! Awoohoo!! Anna

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