Port Jackson 60s & The COVID Cup!

After an extremely disrupted season the o60s are determined to pack as much cricket in as possible before the end of the season. There was no hesitation to support the Covid Cup being staged in Orange IN March 2021 with us sending three teams to the Tournament. PJ Red and PJ White competing in Division 1 against composite sides from ACT/Monaro and Mid North Coast/Coffs Harbour, along with teams from Southern Highlands and the Central Coast; PJ Blue competing in Division 2 with Hunter, New England and Western Wildfires.

Congratulations go to the White Team who won the PJ bragging rights by appearing in the Final against ACT/Monaro, Reds in the 3rd/4th play off. Blue battled valiantly with different line ups each day and were subject to a number of changes just before the tournament started.

We welcomed 11 players across the 3 teams that had never played for Port Jackson at a tournament previously, so it was great to introduce those new players to the VCNSW o60s community.

The close proximity of all matches led to Wade Park (including their great new facility Centre of Excellence with indoor nets that were available for use every day) being a central point for all teams to return after games. The increased number of partners/friends who attended also added to a very relaxed atmosphere and the three PJ teams had a very well attended catch up at the Hotel Canobolas on the Monday night.

Over 60s Port Jackson Red

After a convincing win against Central Coast in the opening encounter optimism was high. PJs batted first and made 7-173 thanks to the main contributions from Peter O’Reilly 44no, Russell Nation 38 and Peter Rolls 40no. Central Coast were knocked back with early wickets and never recovered being 9-84 at the end of their 40 overs. Joe Scarcella 2-7, Paul Adams 2-12 and Simon Lyon 2-13 doing the damage.

The first sign of wear and tear hit the team with the ever-fit Michael Collins straining a leg muscle while batting. Day 2 was a big day. The next opponent was ACT/Monaro at the Wade Park ground. Batting first Reds amassed 5-245 with contributions all the way down the order Russell 31, Peter O’ 31, Jim Robson 40no, Peter Rolls 28, Ross Greenwood a debut 40no and Simon 32no.

Surely, we could not lose from here! Strategies were discussed on protecting the boundaries and at half-way it looked as if plans were falling into place. From the very first ball of the ACT reply a wicket was taken with a fine catch by Wasa running back at mid-on. However, Russell pulled a fetlock on the boundary and with Michael hampered our fielding on the big fast Oval became pedestrian. ACT launched a counter-attack and with one ball of the 40 overs to go the scores were level. We brought the field in. Unperturbed the ACT number 11 calmly swatted the ball over the mid-wicket boundary. None of the bowlers could keep it tight enough, despite Wasa taking a catch on the boundary and throwing it back as he fell over to save a six, but noted figures were Joe 2-31 and Geoff Orme 2-24.

A great game of Cricket but a missed opportunity for Reds to play in the final.

Day 3 was also a big game against our favourite foes Southern Highlands at the Country Club who had lost to ACT on Day 1 in the last over. It could have been the final but ACT showed us how to close games out. Against Southern Highlands we batted first for the third time. After losing a few early wickets we recovered and posted 9-170 with contributions from again Peter O’ 41no and Paul Adams 37 and a good cameo between Joe and Ian Iveson (no ‘r’) at the end. Wasa went dizzy (?) hitting a boundary directed shot and stepped on his stumps…how costly would that be?

We thought we were a bit short but after an opening salvo from Joe 2-13 from 7 overs we were in the game. SH batted steadily in the middle order but then the wickets started to fall but they had kept their trio of van Beek, Bradburn and Jenson at the end. This was going to plan for them but they only kept up with the run rate and we again entered the 40th over, 2 runs needed and 2 wickets left. On the second ball van Beek was caught by a stationery Russell (who still managed to bowl earlier off one step!). However, Jenson scored the necessary 2 and we again went down in the 40th over. Adding to Joe’s fine return were Paul 3-28 and 1 wicket for each of Peter O’, Wasa and a hopping Russell.

Conclusion for Red is we are now looking for any 39 over competitions, not good in the 40th!

Over 60s Port Jackson Blue

A tough few days at the office for PJ Blues!

Another cricket carnival in Orange was met with much anticipation and ended in disappointment from a performance perspective. In hindsight the omens for a difficult campaign were there to see when Alan Wright tore a hamstring the Sunday before the tournament but his replacements (there were three) Phil Bray, Dave Massey and Steve Jones immediately volunteered to play a day each. Good cricketers and even better blokes – our confidence was undiminished. Then mid-week another blow with gun bat Mark Ridge called into the PJ White team leaving the indefatigable Paul Adams scrambling to find us a replacement. This time two were required. Briar’s stalwart, Stuart Lind, stepped into the breach and our confidence returned. Iggies old boy, Bill McKay, now an eminent Orange based GP, volunteered to play on Sunday and came back for more on the Tuesday after an injury to Opening Bowler Steve Lucas.

Alas our confidence was misplaced when we took on Hunter Taverners. These guys were spoiling for revenge after the PJ’s Grey team beat them soundly at the over 50’s carnival on the way to winning the Mark Bury Trophy on the Central Coast earlier in the year. After winning the toss on a belter our batting capitulated to be all out for 61 off 25 overs and the game finished before the lunch break. Nothing nice can be said about the batting with only John Parker reaching double figures (15) so nothing more will be said. Despite the best efforts of our bowling unit which included a wicket to Phil Bray and 3 overs for 5 runs by the evergreen slow bowler Paul Georgiadis the Novocastrian’s were untroubled passing our meagre total with the loss of one wicket in less than 10 overs.

As a testament to the character of the Blue’s batters we availed ourselves of a net at the Orange Centre of Excellence and one sensed a quite determination to put this embarrassment behind us. Day two and a game against the ever competitive hosts, the Western Wildfires, would see if we could put on a performance worthy of a team representing the state’s capital. The threat of rain meant the organisers called for a 20-20-20-20 format and this time we were sent in on a pitch known for keeping low and getting lower later in the day. One job for the skipper and I failed to get the call right handing a decent advantage to the locals.

Our batting showed far more grit and we were in the game scoring 8 for 126, a touch below par, but with our bowlers having a decent target we were quietly confident of taking this game to the wire. Steve Lucas tore his hamstring is spectacular fashion diving in for a second and being run out looking for quick runs – his 23 along with 28 from the Captain and contributions from Wicket Keeper Robert Burns (17) and Gamini Jayawardane (16) gave us a real shot on a deteriorating pitch.

Our bowlers stood up and the fielding was intense in a closely fought match against worthy and generous opponents. Paul Georgiadis with 4 for 17 off 7 overs was the pick and a worthy man of the match. Special mention to Steve Lucas who bowled the last of his 7 overs on one leg and effected a run out. Dave Massey and Charlie Rickard made important contributions keeping the scoring to a minimum. The Wildfires passed us 6 down in the 38th over – a really good competitive game of cricket thoroughly enjoyed by all involved but another loss.

The team celebrated at the PJ’s informal get together at the Canobolas with the lingering question could we back up the much-improved performance on Tuesday and come away with a win to restore pride in the cap? Fatigue and injury to Steve needed to be overcome and when we started positively with wickets falling regularly against the farmers from New England (who were also without a win) we started to believe. That was until a man named Jurd (brother of the former Bear and Eel, Stan) came to the crease and after a few lusty misses got his eye in and belted us to the boundary to get to his 41 in 27 balls – justly being judged man of the match. Steve Jones (our man of the match) shone with the ball in his 7 overs with 3 for 16 closely followed by Paul Georgiadis with 2 for 17. New England all out 172 which was gettable, but the wicket was diabolical – a challenge, but not beyond us.

Sadly, the habits of day one – lack of concentration and patience re-emerged. All out for 117 off 34 with only Bob Burnell (26) Rob Burns (20) and Charlie Rickard (18) showing application. A tough loss and duck eggs for the PJ Blues.

Whilst Paul Georgiadis made the competition honour board and other contributions from the bowlers with none of our batsman retiring its easy to see why this campaign was unsuccessful. Despite the disappointment PJ Blue team stuck together and supported each other but most significantly played the games in the right spirit.

Over 60s Port Jackson White

Game 3 was against ACT Monaro at Wade Park, the No 1 ground in Orange, capable of hosting Shield and international matches. We lost the toss and were sent into bat. After losing Raga first ball of the match Graham and Cuthbert, at first drop managed to see off the two opening bowlers. Graham 42 retired not out and Cuthbert 40 retired not out. Then came a classic innings from Mark Ridge. An effortless 40 retired not out off just 27 balls. We went on to score 4/202 with two more excellent knocks. An injured Peter Harrison at No.6 (31 off 26 balls) and Doug Latto at No.7 (31 off 29 balls).

This was a fourth day pitch with some balls keeping low and making life difficult for our keeper David Wright. Having played on the ground the day before, ACT Monaro batted well to score 3/203 off 38.2 overs to win the match and was presented with the Covid 19 trophy. Another great bowling performance from Laurie Turner (7 overs 2/17) and Peter Harrison (7 overs 1/34) with a hamstring injury.