2024 Over 60s State Championships - Dubbo
On October 14th to 18th we returned to Dubbo for this year's Over 60 State Championships. After a monumental struggle with numerous drop-outs and injuries we managed to field 3 sides:
Division 1
Port Jackson Red, captained by Stuart Ridge
Port Jackson White, captained by Mal Whittaker
Division 2
Port Jackson Blue, captained by Peter Remfrey
Below the skippers share their reflections on the week.
Port Jackson Red
Back row: Geoff Orme, Rick Howard, John Adamson, Paul Adams, Peter O'Reilly, Wasantha Hettiarachchi, Upul Dangalle
Front Row: David Bennetts, Graham Lego, Stuart Ridge (c), Darren Smith, Ed Cross
After missing out in the final last year, PJ Red, with a number of new recruits were looking to go one better this year and regain the Peter Richardson Trophy.
First up against Central Coast we lost the toss and were put in on a damp morning with the threat of thunder storms later in the day.
Following a brisk start led by Darren Smith (42 retired off 43) we were pegged back a couple of quick wickets and some tight bowling in the middle overs. David Bennetts (40 retired off 68) and Graham Lego (16 off 56) were able to consolidate and steer us towards a competitive total in the conditions of 7-171.
A great all-round bowling effort with all contributing kept the Central Coast behind the run rate with no let up in pressure through the bowling changes. Batters got starts but regular wickets checked the momentum and once a tricky 6th wicket partnership was broken we were able to close out a comfortable 36 run win.
Day 2 opponents were a very strong Greater Illawarra side making their debut in the competition. We won the toss and put them in on another day with threatening weather. This looked to have backfired when the opening pair came out firing and control was difficult with the wet ball. However, after a short rain break, Paul Adams (3-20 off 8 ) removed the top 3 in consecutive overs.
From 40 off 10, the innings then stalled with David Bennetts (0-4 off 8), Darren Smith (2-8 off 7), Wasa (2-12 off 7) and Peter O’Reilly (1-16 off 8) keeping them to a further 56 off 35 overs to finish with 8-96.
It wasn’t going to be an easy chase against a quality attack and Greater Illawarra were fired up after Darren was bowled by an unplayable off cutter for an early breakthrough. We ground it out to be 3-37 off 20 but Rick Howard (27) and John Adamson (27 not out) took some calculated risks to keep things ticking over and get us home for a 5 wicket win with three overs to spare.
The weather finally broke on the rest day and a deluge left another very damp ground for the day 3 fixture against Hunter and another easy decision on wining the toss to put them in.
Skipper Stuart Ridge (3-23 off 8) got his in swinger going and picked up his opposite number bowled second ball, adding another 2 in his opening spell with Paul Adams also picking up an early wicket to leave them 4-38. The 5th wicket added a stubborn 50 without really getting away from us and another tight all round bowling effort including a tidy death spell from Peter O’Reilly (2-10 off 7) restricted them to a total of 7-121.
After the loss of an early wicket, Darren (41 off 69), Geoff Orme (39 off 57) and Rick Howard (31* off 24) got us home comfortably for an early mark after 30 overs.
The final against Mid North Coast/Coffs Harbour was the one game completed on the last day thanks to the superb drainage and condition of the Victoria Park number 1 oval.
Mid North Coast won the toss, elected to bat and showed intent from the off with a couple of early boundaries before Stuart and Paul again picked up crucial early wickets. Darren and Peter also chipped in with wickets and a fine throw from Ed for a run out left them at 5/75 after 26 overs. A 44 partnership for the 6th wicket set them up for a final push but regular wickets from Ed (3-36 off 7.5) and a returning Stuart (3-27 off 8) kept them to a gettable 156 all out in the last over.
Relaxed skipper before the wheels fell off
There was little hint of the chaos to come as Peter (43* off 87) and Darren (41 off 75) reached their retirements and we moved to 0/95. MNC weren’t giving anything away and after losing a couple of wickets we needed 48 off the last 13 overs with 8 wickets in hand and both openers “in the bank”. A couple of quick wickets became three then four and we lost our collective composure. With 3 overs and 12 runs needed, Stuart was bowled and Paul run out to bring openers Darren and Peter back together. MNC skipper Higgins having bowled all his key bowlers out, brought himself on for the first time in the week. A single to Peter brought Darren on strike, and even at this stage I was confident we could scramble across the line, but not to be as he mistimed a drive to give extra cover a low catch and an amazing comeback victory to MNC by 10 runs.
A tough one to take but we shouldn’t let that detract from a previously great week and strong all round team effort with everyone contributing. In 24 odd hours of cricket over the week we had consistently played good hard competitive cricket with someone always ready to step up when needed - unfortunately undone in the last 30-40 mad minutes.
Dubbo was once again great venue for the tournament with plenty of quality grounds within a short drive and no shortage of options for a post game drink and feed. And somehow the weather gods smiled on us to get 4 full games of cricket in between the showers.
Thanks again to all the guys for your on and off-field support.
Stuart Ridge
Port Jackson White
Back row: Tim Jones, Martin Speiser, Tony Wright, Geoff Spotswood, Preethi Jayasuri
Front row: Ed Cross (borrowed from Red), David Glen, John Finucane, Mal Whittaker (c), Laurie Turner, Chris Carter (scorer), Murray Carter
PJ White played well at times, and most players had some commendable moments, but we didn't score enough runs to be truly competitive in any of three completed games.
We scored 98 in our first game against Riverina/Monaro and lost by 10 wickets in 17 overs.
Only Geoff Spotswood (40*) and Murray Carter (22) reached double figures.
Our best performance was in the second game against Mid North Coast.
We scored only 98 with Preethi Jayasir (27), Murray Carter (12), and David Glen (12*) the notable contributions.
In defence, we bowled well and fielded enthusiastically.
Laurie Turner (2/22), Mal Whittaker (3/21), and Martin Speiser (1/29) all bowled well,
and were backed up by solid fielding efforts all round.
MNC scored the required runs in 33 overs with 6 wickets down.
This one might have been different if we held our catches.
Aruna Wickramasinghe badly damaged his hand while attempting a catch, and had to fly home for surgery.
An inspired effort to drain the covers on Wednesday night paid off, and despite some overnight rain
we were able to start at 11:00 on Thursday, losing only an hour to weather.
Southern Highlands won the toss and sent us in.
Martin Speiser (13) got us off to a reasonable start, and
Ed Cross (21) provided some starch in the middle order, but we lost wickets just when
players looked to get going.
Tony Wright (10) and Laurie Turner (1) gave their wickets in the final over trying to do the best for the team,
and we scrambled to 99 in 40 overs.
Our defence started well again, with David Glen throwing down the stumps to claim our first wicket.
Ed Cross (1/9) bowled beautifully, as did Laurie Turner (0/22).
Tim Jones and David Glen were brilliant in the field,
but eventually Southern Highlands ran us down in 31 overs.
On the Friday we started the game against Hunter Taveners, but that game was abandoned after 12 overs.
Our results were not great in this tournament, but it was a lot of fun nevertheless.
I'd like to give thanks to John Finucane, our manager, keeper, and opening bat
who did a great job getting us all to the right places at the right time.
Chris Carter (Murray's wife) was perhaps our best performer for the tournament, scoring all the runs, and drawing actual ducks in the scorebook as appropriate.
Sadly, Chris had too many opportunities to practice her fine artwork.
Mal Whittaker
Port Jackson Blue
Back row: Balan Naidoo, Douglas Latto, Greg McLeay, Sittampalam Ragavan, Peter Remfrey (c), Keith Parker
Front Row: John Parker, Ian Pryde, Peter Willis, Ken Gilson, Nadarajah Gowripalan
A fine body of men.
After many changes due to injury and unavailability in the Port Jackson Squad a fine group of cricketers assembled in Dubbo for the meet and greet followed by an introductory dinner at the Commercial Hotel. Some veterans of ‘old man’s cricket’ and some new faces who we would come to know over the week.
Day One – What a fantastic start with a great win over Hunter Taverners who could only manage 6/119 in reply to our modest but competitive total of 7/166. The Bowling and Fielding were a highlight as we strangled the Taverners who struggled all innings. Special mention to John Parker (JP) who finally snared his great mate Bob Burnell for a rare duck – JP must have got right inside the head of the ever-dangerous Burnell who managed only 9 runs for the tournament. Solid batting contributions by Ken Gilson (40no), new gun Keith Parker (33no) and the captain (31no) along with 19 no from Ian Pryde ensured we had something to bowl at.
Our bowling was the highlight with Cuthbert Berringer 1 for 9, Ken Gilson 0 for 12, Nadarajah Gowripalan (Gowrie quickly anglicised to Gary and then simply the GOAT) 2 for 24 and Keith Parker 1 for 14 off their 7 overs. JP’ s critical wicket ensured no last gasp heroics and Ian Pryde also picked up a valuable wicket. The boundary riding by both Balasundran Naidoo and Greg McLeay saved us plenty and contributed to the exceptional bowling figures. All in all a fantastic start with Ken Gilson picking up a well deserved man of the match award.
Alas the second and third games did not go to plan with the captain getting the tosses wrong and we were sent in on both days confronted by wet wickets and slow outfields. The batting was nowhere near good enough to give our bowling unit sufficient runs to bowl at. The third game against the eventual winners, the Western Wildfires, was competitive for a time and with a few more runs and a few more catches sticking the result could have been different. Thanks to Upul Dangalle and Raga for coming in for the second and third matches – it was greatly appreciated!
A couple of notable performances in these games:
Game 2: Peter Willis 42 no, Upul 2 for 17 off 7, Keith 0 for 14 off 7 and 14 valuable runs to clinch Man of the Match
Game 3: JP 2 for 13 and 20 no, his brother Keith 2 for 14, GOAT 2 for 23 and Man of the Match
Special thanks to the mercurial Doug Latto who tool on the critical task of manager. These tournaments can’t happen without great managers, and we were indeed fortunate to have the best in the business!
Peter Remfrey
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