Cricket Report

Round 6 First XI Match Report v St Joseph’s College

Saturday 26 November, played at SJC Number One Oval

Shore 156 (Axel Bailey 44, Will Sutton 28, Oliver Carney 27) defeated by SJC 228 (Lachlan Hunt 3/40, Tom Fuzes 2/32, Will Nutt 2/45)

The First XI turned up to Hunters Hill on Saturday full of confidence, following two strong wins in the preceding weeks. The team had one change, however, with Ben Hocking being forced to withdraw on Friday night, and that made way for Tom Fuzes to play his first game in the First XI.

Lachlan Hunt again won the toss, five of the last six, and sent SJC in on an even and lightly grassed pitch. The Shore bowlers did not make the most of the conditions, and SJC reached 28 before Sam Walton (1/41) claimed the first wicket, LBW.

Fuzes (2/32) then captured his first wicket, clean bowling the number three, and with Hunt (3/40) chipping in with a couple of wickets of his own, SJC’s innings was precariously placed at 4-69.

Unfortunately, some serious fielding lapses meant that Shore was unable to capitalise and SJC’s fifth wicket put on 88 before the partnership was finally broken.

This proved to be the defining period of the match, not only because it allowed SJC to post a larger total than might otherwise have been the case, but also because it shaped the confidence levels of both sides. SJC’s lower order batted with considerable freedom, and the Shore bowling became increasingly ragged.

The final wicket fell at the start of the 50th over, by which time SJC had reached 228, a score that included 27 wides and two no-balls: an extra five overs worth of deliveries. Tom Fuzes was the pick of the bowlers and demonstrated from the outset that he has a very bright future.

It was a good total, but an achievable one, given the short boundaries and fast outfield. The Shore openers began well before Josh Constantian (9) fell with the score on 15. Will Sutton and Axel Bailey then batted well together and put on 74 for the second wicket.

The introduction of spin changed the game, however, with Sutton (28), Hunt (1), and then Bailey (44) all falling in quick succession.  Shore was falling a little behind in the run rate, with the 100 brought up in the 29th over, and two new batsmen at the crease.

Shore was now in trouble but there would be no rescue mission. A combination of good bowling, injudicious stroke play, and poor running between the wickets saw wickets fall regularly, and the team was dismissed for 156 in the 46th over.

It was a disappointing result with bat and ball: Shore’s bowling and fielding allowed SJC to score considerably more runs than they otherwise might have, and Shore’s lack of resolve with the bat meant that the target was never quite within reach. SJC took their chances and thoroughly deserved the win.

The last game of the term is against a winless Sydney High side, at Northbridge. It is important that the Shore boys regroup and put Saturday’s setback behind them by playing much better cricket heading into the holiday break.

Mr T M Wallace and Dr R M Stobo
First XI Coaches

Round 6 Second XI Match Report v St Joseph’s College

Saturday 26 November, played at the War Memorial Playing Fields, A Ground, Northbridge

Shore 9/177 (Oscar Everett 40 (65), Fraser Pandit 27 (49), Matt Melville 34 (76), Toby Ogg 24 (35)) defeated by SJC 9/178 (Toby Ogg 2/36 (10.0), Ben Powell 3/36 (10.0))

The Second XI seem to do the hard work at the start of the innings, having teams in trouble, but the middle session gets away from us. This time, we set a very competitive total of 177 on Northbridge A.

We lost two early wickets sitting at 2/20, before Oscar Everett (40 off 65) and  Fraser Pandit (27 off 49) steadied the ship, getting us to 2/80.

Unfortunately, a run out broke the partnership causing a minor collapse. Matt Melville (34 off 76) and Toby Ogg (24 off 35) got us back on track and for the first time this season we managed to bat out the whole 50 overs.

Having lost our strike bowler, Tom Fuzes to the First XI due to a late withdrawal Friday night, it was going to be a tough task to fill the gap. However, once again, we got off to a flying start, having St Joseph’s College 4/30.

Once again, we were unable to finish off the innings and they managed to put on a solid partnership that got them close to the target. Then they had a batting collapse and saw them seven down needing just two runs to win.

In comes, Ben Powell (3/36) bowling his tenth over. He managed to take two wickets in two balls, with the game taking a huge twist.

They needed two runs; we needed one wicket. The next delivery was wide: the scores are equal. The number 11 batsman survived the rest of the over. Jack Mott (1/24) was given the ball to try and pull off a miracle tie.

The field was squeezed in, Jack bowled the perfect ball, full and straight, but credit to the Joeys batter who played a nice straight shot to give them the victory. Another heartbreaking loss, whereby we manage to rip through the top order, but just can’t seem to clean up the middle-order batters.

I can never fault the boys attitude out on the field, they keep turning up and giving it 100 percent. It is just the little things that seem to go against us, but we need to be good enough to create our own luck, which can be done by being more creative with shot selection and field settings.

Next week is our final game for the calendar year, before the long summer break, against Sydney Boys High School at McKay Oval. Hopefully, we can get back on the winner’s table.

Mr G S Tesoriero
Second XI Coach

Third XI: Nothing seems to be going right for the Third XI at the moment. On a bright, crisp morning Shore won the toss and batted. Killian Featherstone was in punishing form and with good support from the other top-order batsmen, Shore was looking comfortable at 1/44 nearing the drinks break. But plans to accelerate the run rate against the support bowlers came a momentous cropper as we lost 5/10 in a horrendous collapse.

The tail did well to hang around and add a few runs but 78 was never enough. Joeys played aggressively and the luck did not seem to go our way with multiple aerial shots landing just wide. The opposition’s positive approach, and a lack of good length bowling, meant the Shore team was quickly put out of their misery.

Mr R J Ward
Third XI Coach

Fourth XI: A new opening pair of Jack McRae and Tom Santow did a tremendous job of blunting the fast and skilful Joeys opening bowlers to ensure Shore was able to make it through the first six overs without losing a wicket.

Unfortunately, at this point when we had hoped there would be some relief from the genuinely quick bowling, it ended up becoming even faster as the Joeys bowlers, who were better suited in a higher grade, got every bit of pace and bounce out of the synthetic wicket.

So, while Shore was able to enjoy a strong partnership of nearly 50 runs between Sam Andrew and Sam Lewarne-Dale, it was always going to be an uphill task setting a defendable total against this attack. Full credit to Sam Andrew who did a tremendous job of blunting the Joeys pace.

As ever, Shore knew their bowling and fielding was capable of anything, resulting in Cal Forster in particular causing plenty of issues up front for the Joeys opening bats. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t snare the half chances needed when defending a low total, and Joeys were able to put on a few smallish partnerships which meant they were able to track down the Shore total with eight overs still in the bank. Full credit to the boy’s application on the field, and two tremendous run outs to our ‘tactical’ captain Sam Lewarne-Dale.

Mr N A Trumbull
Fourth XI Coach

16A: Shore 16As played Joeys away, with clear skies and a batsmen friendly surface. Losing the toss and bowling first proved difficult with Joeys scoring 7/165, with a flurry of runs in the death overs costing Shore a high run chase.

Highlights from the bowling inning included 2/21 off 5 from Daniel Becker and Will Penny spinning webs on his way to 3/32 off 6. The chase started slowly, with Shore consistently behind the required run rate. After a steady opening partnership of 40 runs, wickets fell regularly, ultimately falling 38 runs short of the Joeys total. Key performers were Josh Evans with 44 runs and Will Scott-McKenzie with 20.

Mr A Robinson and Mr A Nugan
16A Coaches

15A: Shore arrived at SJC with the hope of rebounding from last week’s last over defeat against SIC. SJC won the toss and chose to bat first. Shore started well with a build-up of dot balls from opening bowlers Nick Yates and Zac Roberts.

The first breakthrough came from Daniel Jonker in the 14th over and the score at only 41. At the drinks break, SJC were 1/49 which was very positive for Shore as they defended a very short side boundary well. SJC built some solid partnerships over the rest of the innings, with 125 runs coming off the second 16 overs to reach a total of 7/174.

The pick of the bowlers was Zac Roberts once again with figures of 2/25 off 5 overs. Shore started scratchy by losing their first wicket in the fourth over and second in the seventh over to a miscommunication resulting in a run out.

With the score 3/56 in the ninth over, Noah Quayle and Brian Thorpe absorbed plenty of pressure from the opposition and fought hard to transfer pressure onto SJC. They consistently hit boundaries and rotated the strike nicely to get a 68 run fourth wicket partnership.

With the game still in the balance, Noah Quayle took it on himself and guided the team to a four wicket victory by getting the winning runs in the 30th over. This game was a tight contest with many great battles within it, however, it was impressive to see some of the Shore middle order batters stand up and show their skill.

Looking forward to the last game of the term against SBHS where hopefully Shore can finish off the first half of the season well.

Ms S Horley
15A Coach

15B: Shore lost the toss for another week in a row and were put into field on a hot afternoon. Though Oscar Finlay and Olly Doy bowled with consistent pace and the Shore fieldsmen showed signs of great improvement, a strong opening partnership saw Joeys off to a great start, with their openers finishing with scores of 53 (retired) and 44.

With Finlay taking the breakthrough wicket, Shore then went on to dominate, with only one other Joeys batsman scoring double-figures. Finlay finished with figures of 3/20 and Liam O’Neill took 3/24.

The damage had been done by the openers, and Shore was set a commanding total of 154 to beat. Though Nick Evans made a good attempt to settle Shore into the innings, the Shore batsmen never really found their groove and could not reach the total set by Joeys.

A partnership between Tom Munn and O’Neill seemed to steady the ship and give hope, but Liam’s dismissal on 22 signalled the beginning of the end.

Special mention must be made to Liam who endured some heat from the Joeys field and responded superbly, enjoying his time at the crease, and ending up the highest scorer for Shore.

Mr A N Mason-Jones
15B Coach

14A: Shore lost the toss and Joeys elected to bat first. The match got off to an excellent start with Tom Hamilton getting a wicket in the first over. The accurate bowling attack kept the pressure on Joeys and reduced their runs to 49 after 16 overs.

Some outstanding bowling from Oscar Brown led to four quick wickets and slowed the run rate up even more. James Mathur took the final two wickets to see Joeys all out for 82.

The boys knew the job was far from finished and ensured they remained switched on and ready for a battle with the bat. Aidan Kurtis got a quick fire 11 before he was dismissed by an excellent catch. Unfortunately, the top order batsmen had a collapse and Joeys had Shore 5/15 after 12 overs.

Will Heiler, back from injury, had a great knock and steadied the ship by picking up the run rate. The Joeys bowlers were just too good and kept Shore to only 66 runs at the end of the 32^nd over. The team will look to bounce back against SBHS this week after three tough weekends.

Mr J Murphy
14A Coach

14C: The 14Cs came to Saturday’s game with a renewed sense of hope and a desire to get another win under their belt before the end of term. After losing the toss and being sent into bat, Shore seemed to fall under the spell of feeling like they have already lost the game before it began.

This was compounded when opening batsman and scoring leader Will Langfield was caught for a duck. But as the saying goes, when one hero exits early there is an opportunity for another to rise up… It was Henry Johnston who was that hero and he batted like it was his destiny to be at the crease.

Henry took it upon himself to energise and inspire his fellow teammates, as he and Jacob Chilton created a solid partnership to get Shore some early and much needed runs on the board. After doing his job in magnificent fashion, hitting three fours in one over, Henry was caught for 27 runs. Jacob Chilton also contributed with a solid 16 runs with Shore scoring a total of 97 for Joeys to chase.

Early in the innings, it looked like Joeys were on the ropes as Alistair Nieland nailed two early wickets from his first over. But it was soon revealed that they had reversed their batting order deciding to take matters into their own hands and finish the game early.

Their star batsmen emerged to the crease after drinks and easily reached the winning total in the next few overs. While Shore was competitive with the bat, it was their fielding once again that let them down. We look forward to a much-improved effort this Saturday against Newington.

Mr C D Burke
14C Coach

Player of the Week Nominations

1. First XI – Axel Bailey 44 from 70 balls
2. Second XI – Toby Ogg 24 from 35 balls and 2/36 from 10 overs
3. Third XI – Killian Featherstone 32 runs
4. Fourth XI – Sam Andrew 30 runs
5. 16A – Will Penney 3/32 from 6 overs
6. 15A – Noah Quayle 56 runs
7. 15B – Liam O’Neill 22 and 3/24
8. 14A – Oscar Brown 4/9 off 6 overs
9. 14B – Angus Brooks 50 ret.
10. 14C – Henry Johnston 27

Player of the Week: Oscar Brown 4/6 from 6 overs

Team	Results
First XI	Loss	Shore 156 (A Bailey 44, W Sutton 28, O Carney 27) defeated by SJC 228 (L Hunt 3/40, T Fuzes 2/32, W Nutt 2/45)
Second XI	Loss	Shore 9/177 defeated by SJC 9/178 (O Everett 40 (65), F Pandit 27 (49), M Melville 34 (76), T Ogg 24 (35), T Ogg 2/36 (10.0), B Powell 3/36 (10.0))
Third XI	Loss	Shore 78 (Featherstone 32) defeated by SJC 3/80 (Robson 2/10)
Fourth XI	Loss	Shore 5/81 (S Andrew 30) defeated by SJC 5/82 (S Lewarne-Dale 2/13)
16A	Loss	Shore 10/127 defeated by SJC 7/165 (W Penney 3/32 from 6 overs, D Becker 2/21 from 5 overs)
15A	Win	Shore 6/176 (N Quayle 56*, B Thorpe 36) defeated SJC 7/174 (Z Roberts 2/25, D Jonker 1/10)
15B	Loss	Shore 10/73 (L O’Neill 22) defeated by SJC 10/154 (O Finlay 3/20, L O’Neill 3/24)
14A	Loss	Shore 9/66 (W Heiler 28) defeated by SJC 10/82 (O Brown 4/9, J Mathur 2/7, T Hamilton 2/13)
14B	Win	Shore 10/136 (A Brooks 50 ret., W Howman-Giles 34) defeated SJC 10/122 (R Doherty 2/9)
14C	Loss	Shore 7/97 (H Johnston 27) defeated by SJC 4/98 (A Nieland 2/15)