1st Grade Archive

Dan Upward out early

Having eventually made my way from the Brindabella Bugle to Kippax 2 (the snow drifts had played havoc with the morning traffic along Southern Cross/Redneck Dr – thankfully Mr Plow and The Plow King were able to work in tandem to clear the way) for day 1 of a cricket match between The Ginninderra Tigers and Tuggeranong CC. A match that saw Ginninderra looking to post its first win for the two day comp and for Tuggeranong to continue a fairly good start to season 2010/11.

Tuggeranong called correctly and sent the Tigers into bat. Two of the new recruits to Tigerland Assad Vala and Jack Vare opened up and first ball Assad survived a very big shout to have the dressing room/treehouse a little nervous. Jack prolonged the nail biting by escaping with 2 chances in the first two overs before making the opposition pay by getting fired LBW a few overs later. Tim Reardon (30) steadied the ship with a 60 run partnership before trying to pull a half-volley and getting castled. Dan Upward showed some nice touches down the ground before attempting a rushed pull shot and getting caught with Tigers 3/80. Skipper Jeremy Bray strode to the wicket to put on another good partnership with Assad who was growing in confidence to take the score to 150.

However a little wobble started when Assad (88), Bray (29) and Getkate all went within 5 runs leaving the tigers 6/155. The tiger tail managed to wag and put on another 100 for the last 4 wickets, Cameron Suidguest (20), Tristian Du Toit (28) and Andrew Kiley digging his claws in for a fluent 12 not out. Special mention to Lochie Christian who cut one of the trees down and dragged it out to the middle to use as a bat, took guard half way down the wicket and then spooned a slow ball from Adam Ritchard to be C&B. He’s the kind of guy this seasoned reporter loves to go and watch, you never know what you’ll get but it’ll be entertaining. In fairness to the Tigers, tricky batting in the blizzard like conditions early on but 250 was always going to be hard work to defend with the Tuggeranong bowlers of Ritchard, Kellar, Wescombe and Devoy showing great discipline. The Tigers were able to extract a few Tuggeranong bats before stumps with Tristan Du Toit claiming two to leave Tuggeranong 2/58 chasing 254.

Tristan Du Toit throws one up

Day 2 and the weather was more accustomed to what we expect for this time of year, hopefully we’ve seen the last of rare West Belconnen polar bears going through garbage cans in the streets for at least another six months. Tuggeranong were able to build a few early partnerships at a fair clip with the Tigers bowlers punished for any width. Kiley and Reardon the pick of the bowlers sticking with quality lines on a flat track that only Rove McManus could dream of. At one stage Tuggers were 4/210 with contributions from Thornton, Wescombe, Matt Floros and Russo taking them closer to the score. The Tigers showed some persistence and were able to take a run of 4 wickets with 15 still to get (including some sharp catches by Bray, Jack Vare and Assad Vala with the latter also picking up a direct hit to remove Matt Floros). Lochie Christian picking up 3 wickets, some fine reward for bending his back. Devoy was able to steady the lower order to get Tuggeranong across the line with two wickets left in the hutch. Play was then called around tea so the both teams could gorge themselves on the feast they were presented without worry of getting a stitch post break.

A tight match in the end and one that I’ll enjoy on the return down at Chisholm where the press get the luxury of eating half a tub of ice-cream while watching Foxtel and reporting on the cricket. Bye bye belt!

My trusty intern Richard Smoka will be covering the next Ginninderra first grade match down at Stirling against Weston Creek for the Brindabella Bugle.

Matt Black
Brindabella Bugle