Sorry for the lateness of this post, but after umpiring for six days straight and eight days out of nine, exhaustion sets in, and you really don’t feel like doing anything. This blog post will re-live my experiences through grade and representative matches over the last few weeks.
Round 5 Day 2, 1st Grade: Terrigal-Matcham VS Gosford Duffy’s Road Oval 20th of November:
What was supposed to be a very wet week, turned out to be a rather beautiful week with only one day of heavy rain, and a couple of nights where it rained overnight. As a result, come Saturday, it was sunny, and the field was dry and ready for play. Unfortunately, the southern end of the ground was wet and had not been mown. Thus, we were forced to bring the boundary in. Not that it mattered in the slightest.
When it came time to begin proceedings, Terrigal-Matcham came out to bat again, and like the end of the first day, looked in complete control. The pitch was definitely playing better, and this helped, but at the same time, the bowling was pretty good. The two Terrigal-Matcham batsmen had a few lives, but when the declaration came 16 overs into the day’s play, both remained not out. The final score for Terrigal-Matcham was 3-220 declared after 55 overs, with Mitchell Smith left stranded on 93 not out, while Nick McGeever chimed in with 33 not out. Luke Beaven once again bowled well and was unlucky not to pick up more wickets. He finished with the credible figures of 2-51 from 20 overs.
Gosford came out in their second innings after a 10 minute change over and immediately came out with more intent than in their first innings despite losing an early wicket. They played a number of beautiful attacking shots that any batsmen would’ve been proud of. It was just a shame that the outfield was incredibly slow and robbed them of a good deal of runs. In the end though, they were unable to sustain this aggressive nature. As a result, they were bowled out for 138 after 64 overs. Adam Skinner once again looked good, top scoring with 34, while Simon Skinner posted a well made 27 that was worth so many more. Luke Beaven once again looked good with the bat, scoring 24 to complete a fine match. Justin Frost bowled with good intensity and was extremely accurate, and finished with the figures of 4-25 from 10 overs to complete a fine match with the ball. The best I have seen him bowl. Daryl Bateup also bowled well, finishing with figures of 2-28 from 16 overs.
Gosford’s 138 meant Terrigal-Matcham had to bat again. However, they were only required to chase 19 runs for an outright victory, which they managed to achieve none down after 4.5 overs, which was just as well as there were only 5.1 overs left until stumps. Todd Olynic was 13 not out, and Mitchell Smith was 3 not out. Luke Beaven opened the bowling on this occasion, and once again looked very threatening. He certainly has a lot of talent.
I also received an apology for abuse copped the previous week during the second day, which made life just that little bit better.
Under 21’s, Round 1. Kincumber-Avoca VS Gosford, Erina Oval, 21st of November:
It was another beautiful day to be out on a cricket field. However, with rain around, I was certain we were not going to have a full match. Thankfully, I was wrong. On another note, I’m glad this was a short day, as I had another four days straight lined up, which was going to bring my total number of days of umpiring to six straight. At the same time, there was also confusion as to the starting time, as it says on My Cricket that the Under 21’s matches start at 10:30AM, rather than 10AM. We ended up starting at 10:30AM, which made no difference to me, as I really had nowhere else to be.
As for the match, Gosford won the toss and elected to bowl, which I thought was a very strange choice. However, on reflection, it was probably their best chance of winning, because their batting is a little bit weak.
Deciding to bowl first looked like a very good decision right throughout the Kincumber-Avoca innings, as they continually had them in trouble. A slow outfield didn’t help matters at all, but at the same time, the majority of deliveries were either left, defended or hit to fieldsmen. The fielding was of a high quality too. Runs were kept to singles on most occasions. Furthermore, the majority of the Kincumber-Avoca batsmen could not deal with the accuracy of the Gosford bowlers. As a result, they were bowled out for 136 after 43.4 overs. Chris Masters top scored with a hard fought and well made 51, which was full of beautiful cover drives amongst other shots. It’s the best innings I’ve seen him play, and also the longest. Adam Danckert also looked good at the crease, scoring 24. Both of these players have a lot of talent, and will go far in their careers. The pick of the bowlers was Blaize Irving-Holiday, who for the first time since I have seen him bowl was accurate and really troubled the batsmen. He finished with the figures of 2-22 from 9.5 overs. Sean Wise (2-16 from six overs) and Jaan Smith (2-21 from six overs) also bowled really well, and could easily have taken more wickets had things fallen their way. Joe Woodhead (1-27 from 10 overs) also troubled the batsmen, and he too could have taken more wickets had things fallen the right way.
After a 10 minute change over, which I will admit I had a little bit of trouble deciding about at first, because of the starting time, but in the end, I was happy with my decision, and believed I was following the exact playing times.
Gosford wern't ever in the hunt to chase the target despite bowling so well. A couple of early wickets had them in trouble at lunch. I’m not sure of what the score was at the time, but I do know 11 overs were bowled. This meant just 39 more to go in the afternoon session, which was good for me, as my feet were really starting to kill me.
After lunch, the Gosford batsmen really struggled to hit the ball, and could not score runs. As a result, wickets eventually started to fall. In the end, Gosford were bowled out for 81 after 36.5 overs. Only Blaize Irving-Holiday looked good at the crease, taking the attack to the bowlers, top scoring 26 with the bat to complete a fine all-round match. Dustin Chambers was the pick of the bowlers with 5-17 from 10 overs in the best spell I have ever seen him bowl. Luke Sullivan, a leg spinner provided great support taking 2-30 from 10 overs. Despite some wayward deliveries, it is the best I have seen him bowl. He took more wickets on a previous occasion, but did not have the same control. He certainly has some talent, and with some extra coaching that will hopefully see him drop his arm and slow down, he could well be a very successful bowler in 1st Grade in the years to come.
Although the match was a good one in the end, in which I was able to converse with a lot of the players, it was soured by some after match comments. Unfortunately, I lost my cool later in the day, which I now know I cannot do. I’m all the better for that learning experience.
Round 6: 1st Grade: Wyong VS Kincumber-Avoca, Baker Park, 27th of November:
This was the third One Day match of our season, and it turned out to be one that was very interesting. I may have still been feeling a little tired from six straight days of umpiring, but that did not get in the way of this performance. The heat also did not play as much a part as I thought it was going to, as we had a breeze.
Kincumber-Avoca won the toss and elected to bat first. A couple of early wickets on a pitch that had inconsistent bounce and lots of movement in it, made life tough for the batsmen and had my colleague (Don Maisey) and I thinking we might just have an early day. A slow outfield also hampered the scoring. In the end, they were bowled out for 135 after 43.2 overs. Only Mark Robertson (44) and Steve McCabe (40) looked really comfortable at the crease. Danny Rowe (19) had the potential to produce a big innings, but came unstuck. Carl Kinghorne was the best of the bowlers, bowling accurately, as well as making the ball swing and cut in both directions. It was almost impossible to score off him, and as a result, he finished with the figures of 3-24 from nine overs. Matthew Day (2-23 from eight overs) also troubled the batsmen. Colby Gallagher picked up two late wickets. Tye Smith took six catches in a fine wicket-keeping display. He also did an admirable job as fill-in captain, and certainly has a future in the role if he wants it.
The total had Don and I thinking it was going to be a competitive one during the Tea Break. We both thought it was probably worth around 175 due to the slow outfield. It would be the afternoon session that would tell us if we were right or not.
A couple of early wickets during Wyong’s innings made me believe that the total was going to be more than enough. However, wickets than soon became hard to come by. At the same time, the runs dried up, as Brett Hanson (3-9 from nine overs) and Dylan Robertson (0-13 from nine overs) really troubled the Wyong batsmen. The wickets then tumbled, only for a late resurgence to occur. Mark Leard began to hit the ball to all parts of the ground, including two huge sixes in his knock of 47, which sent the match into a thrilling last over. It was an over that I don’t think any of us will forget either, as two wickets fell, including a run out, while the batsmen were attempting a third run to win the match. Thus, it was a tie as Wyong were bowled out for 135 after 44.4 overs. This is the first tie I have ever experienced in either my playing or umpiring career. Once again, I was feeling the tension, as I expected something to happen, but this had no impact on my decisions.
Two other batsmen, Hayden Murphy (23) and Kris Clouten (22) helped to achieve this total, while John Rainger (19) also looked settled despite not scoring quickly. Danny Rowe also deserves a mention, picking up 2-26 from 4.4 overs towards the end of the innings.
Certainly an exciting match, and one I don’t think I’ll forget for quite some time.
Under 16’s President’s Cup, Round 2, Central Coast VS Manly-Warringah, Mount Penang, 28th of November:
My eighth day of umpiring out of nine, and I was really feeling exhausted. However, I soldiered on for one last day. Rain really looked like ending this match early, but it held off throughout the first innings, which was very surprising. It kept rolling in but then passing over. Despite my feet being incredibly sore by this stage, I was happy that it wasn’t raining.
Central Coast won the toss and elected to bat first, but never really got going. They were never in a lot of trouble though, as the bowling, although good, was by no means perfect. An inconsistent pitch that had variable bounce and movement (it had only been watered on the Friday due to a burst water main) and a very slow outfield made scoring incredibly tough. At the first interval, (Morning Tea), the Central Coast team had only managed to score around 2-60 after 25 overs. In the end, Central Coast scored 10- 141 (can bat 12 players) from their 50 overs, which sent us to the lunch break. It was a score I believed they could defend, and I was told that they had scored 142 the week before and won, so I was quietly confident that they would manage to pull it off. This was as a cricket supporter and not an umpire.
Confusion over how many overs a bowler could bowl in a spell also arose, but at the end of the day, the extra over one of the opening bowlers for Manly-Warringah bowled had no impact on the match.
After lunch, the pitch had not improved, and was still offering plenty of assistance to the bowlers. However, this was the least of my concerns, as the weather began to roll in, eventually forcing us from the field at the first drinks break. It ended up being an 18 minute break, which culminated in a reduction of six overs as there is no allowance for time lost. Thankfully, we did not lose any more time before the Afternoon Tea Interval. However, after the Afternoon Tea Interval, the rain came tumbling down and prevented us from returning to the field, and just when it looked like we could return, it came back. After a further 50 minute break, and just before 5PM, we were able to resume the match. 23 overs had been bowled (Manly-Warringah were 2-62), meaning we required a further seven overs to constitute a match. We got these in easily, and Manly-Warringah came away the victors, scoring 4-106 after 30 overs. The match could easily have been called off a couple of overs beforehand, as the target of 86 (run-rate) had already been passed, but it wasn’t. It didn’t matter in the slightest though.
That is all of the Central Coast related matches since my last posting. Next posting should only contain one match, as I am not required to umpire on Sunday. We will see though.
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