Quokkas Cricket Club February 2018 - Quokkas Cricket Club

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28Feb

Post Match Report: Quokkas CC def by ANSC

ANSC, Dutchy, Post Match Report, Pup No Comments

From Cap’n Monty:

What a great Game between the Quokkas and the ANSC!

The toss was had and won by us (thankfully) and we sent it the All Nations guys for a bat. Luckily for us the we had the ball swinging and seaming and everyone managed to bowl good line and length, a rare treat for the quokkas. I managed to make the first breakthrough with a wayward delivery down leg which caught the back of the bat and was held on to in the deep by pup. The batsmen crossed and I had the other opener caught behind very next ball, on a hatrick!! We bought the field in and had 3 slips, a first for pub cricket, and I was belted back over my head.

Enter Dutchy: Some brilliant spin bowling and some excellent keeping by Radar had the batsmen stumped as he chased one down the wicket on the last ball of the over. His next delivery yielded the very same result, on another hat-trick!! Unfortunately no luck on the third ball but the Quokkas were in good nick thats for sure.

Some excellent batting by the ANSC got them in a solid position toward the end of the innings and left us with a decent but chase-able total to reach to win the game.

Radar and local opened and got us off to a solid start before Radar was clean bowled by a great delivery. Enter Pup. Pup played some great strokes early in his innings including a very nice cut shot for 6. Local departed soon after. We then lost a string of wickets quickly and were looking wobbly. Pup retired and I took his position. The first bit of bat I’d gotten on anything in 3 games was hit straight in the air and I was gone as soon as I was in.

It was up to Snipper and Alex to save the game and we were looking good until Snipper departed, sending pup back in to finish the innings. A strong fight between Alex and Pup wasn’t enough to save the day as the ANSC came out on top to take a much deserved win!!

All in all a great game of cricket.
23Feb

Match Preview: Quokkas v All Nations Social Cricket (ANSC)

ANSC, ASRC, Dutchy, Ed, JRod, Local, Match Preview, Pup, Victorian Quokkas No Comments
Match Facts

Ramsden Street Oval,

Ramsden Street,

Clifton Hill

Start Time

1pm

The Big Picture

And so the penultimate Quokka day of the Summer is upon us with this, the match against All Nations Social Cricket (ANSC).

The genesis of this match came from the games that The Quokkas used to play against the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) which came to an ending as untimely as any of my batting innings, though more due to the volunteer who organised their team leaving due to work commitments, rather than one of my brain fades.

The ANSC has picked up where the ASRC cricket program left off, providing a means for asylum seekers and refugees to access the game, and all the physical and mental health benefits that this brings – as well as engagement with the broader community. Indeed this game is more a celebration of what the game can bring, rather than a demonstration of the game itself, which is a good thing considering the strong Quokka involvement.

Here’s looking forward to a fun match.

Fun

Form Guide

Unbelievably, The Quokkas are coming into this match having won their last two.

In The Spotlight:

Monty returns to the field of dreams (Ramsden St) this weekend for his first crack at the Captaincy. Having shown that he obviously played quite a bit of junior cricket through his reticence to swing wildly at every ball and the ability to bowl on the pitch, it will be interesting to see whether he goes with 4 or 5 in the slips cordon.

The BIG DOG returns to the side this week with this seasons leading wicket takers award firmly in his sights. The soul of The Quokkas is sure to surprise the ANSC with his bowling technique, here’s hoping the deep midwicket fielders can surprise the rest of us by holding a few catches and handing the large hound the trophy.

Artists impression of batsmen facing The Dog

Team News:

With another 8 months without cricket staring them in the face with an expression as lifeless as the MCG pitch, its been all hands up in response to the call for availability at the start of the week.

The squad (at the time of writing) is:
1. Local
2. VP (vp)
3. Gaz
4. Roley
5. Pup (vc)
6. Jay
7. J Rod
8. Snipper
9. Radar
10. Big Dog
11. Monty (c)
12. Alex
Pitch and Conditions:

Ramsden Street Oval (aka. Revs-den) has been a happy hunting ground for The Quokkas for many a season, as well as their preferred training venue. With wide boundaries and short grass, the ground lets both the belters and the nudgers score runs, as well as open up many more opportunity for (dropped) catches.

Our last match their ended up not being there, but another place that wasn’t there, so we will be very happy to be there where it is.

The forecast for Sunday is a potentially damp 20 degrees, so there may be some swing early and better batting conditions later. A good toss to win.

Stats and Trivia:
- Dutchy is only 30 runs off 200 for the season, and 35 off one thousand career runs, which is quite remarkable really and quite a credit to him;
- Jay is sitting on 17 career wickets, a casual 3-wicket haul will bring him into the elite group of 20 wicket takers. Given he averages 0.4 wickets per over, he will need to channel his inner Chef (0.94 WPO);
- Snipper is only 20 runs off 400 career runs for the Quokkas, given he averages 47.5, he should get there this weekend if given the chance. Only 5 other Quokkas have hit more than 400 runs
- Alex is currently leading the team for balls faced this season, having faced 17.5 overs, narrowly ahead of Ed 15.8
- Ed is leading the team in legal deliveries for the season with 84, narrowly ahead of the reborn tweaker Dutchy, who is on 78. Of course, The Rev has the most number of total deliveries with 839
14Feb

Match Preview: Quokkas v VBCA 2 – This time it’s personal

Match Preview, VBCA, Victorian Blind Cricket, Victorian Quokkas No Comments
Match Facts:

VBCA Grounds,

454 Glenferrie Rd,

Kooyong

Sunday, Feb 18

Start Time: 11am

The Big Picture:

This match is the second-leg of this seasons bipedal series between the VBCA and The Quokkas, with the VBCA taking out the first match earlier this season (which was a warm up for them ahead of Nationals). The last match was relatively one-sided, The Quokkas happy just to get the majority of a team on the park.

This match, though, is a little different. The Quokkas have a full XI available at the time of writing, meaning there should be possibly (maybe) 8 ready by Sunday morning. The games against the VBCA are always good fun and played with a great spirit, at least once the bar is opened at midday.

Form Guide:

The Quokkas are actually coming off their first Tour win EVER, having beaten Nerrena in Nerrena in a tightly contested match last weekend. This is a matter that should illicit wonder as much as it does concern, I‘m pretty sure a Quokkas away win is one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Taken in context though, an away win won’t have too much impact on this game as the nuances of the rocking & rolling ball take hold.

Similar to touring games, The Quokkas are traditionally pretty poor at Blind Cricket matches, but perhaps all that is about to change too.

In The Spotlight:

J Rod returns for his annual Captaincy stint, fresh from the birth of his second child, full of vim and vigor. And sleep. ‘The Rod’ has been known to get so worked up at games that others can tell he is actually breathing, so it will be interesting to see how he approaches captaining a match when the soft, shaded outfields of Kooyong are available.

The Quokkas are also hoping to welcome back Gaz, who has been missing in 2018 due to a combination of sickness and cardigan-related issues. We all look forward to seeing how the casual cover-driver handles the rolled ball.

We also see the return of the only Quokka to get paid for appearing, albeit with what he calls “fizzy drink” and “twisted up chips”.

“I want Twisties!”

Team News:

The XI (at the time of writing) is:
1. Ed
2. Dutchy
3. Snipper
4. Radar
5. J Rod (c)
6. Rev
7. Roley
8. Jay
9. Pup
10. Gaz
11. Maxy
Pitch and Conditions:

The VBCA grounds are a real delight, with soft outfields, lots of shade and the comforts of the commentary box readily available. The slight slope to the ground also creates some challenges for the bowlers, similar to bowling into v with the wind in non-blind cricket.

Who in The Quokkas will be their Peter Siddle?

Artists impression of Peter Siddle

The BOM is expecting a top of 22 on Sunday, so it should be a very comfortable day out.

Stats and Trivia:
- This will be the 6^th match between the VBCA and The Quokkas (someone should really organise a trophy), the only Quokka to have played in all of them being The Rev;
- J Rod, Dutchy and Big Dog have all played in 4 VBCA games.
08Feb

Match Preview: Quokkas v Nerrena CC

Big Dog, Dutchy, Ed, Local, Match Preview, Nerrena CC No Comments
Match Facts:

Nerrena Recreation Reserve,

Nerrena Hall Road

Nerrena, Gippsland, VIC

Australia, The World

Sunday, February 11

Start Time: 1pm ???

The Big Picture:

This will be the third match between Nerrena and The Quokkas, and the first time we are playing for the O’Donovan – Gannon Trophy. The O’Donovan- Gannon Trophy is surely in the top 10 of Irish cricketing trophies, so there is plenty to play for there.

Samuel Beckett would be amused, or possibly bemused.

This match is an annual fixture that The Quokkas look forward to with great anticipation, the Nerrena ground being as beautiful a pitch as you will find in Gippsland, much like the representatives of the team itself. Despite all this, and perhaps unsurprisingly, The Quokkas have never won in Nerrena; which possibly explains why we keep getting invited back.

Last years game was great fun; The Big Dog got his opposite number out in the first over of the game, Tuesday hit some handy runs, The Rev knocked himself out while fielding, everyone had a laugh at that and a general good time. Oh yeah, we also raised some cash for Beyond Blue.

Form Guide:

After starting the season in imperious form, normal programming has returned on Channel Quokka, with 3 losses in a row. The efforts and attitude have remained high though, and some players (Radar, Dutchy, Alex and Ed) are arguably in career-best form. Should these 4 keep up their form (and the rest not play too badly), The Quokks are a good chance to push for a win here.

In the Spotlight:

After debuting against Nerrena in our first match against them, Jay, has gone on to play pretty much every game since, whether they be in Sri Lanka, Rottnest Island or Clifton Hill.

One of these guys has taken 17 wickets. The other has taken 15.

In his 16 YPCA games, Jay has taken 17 wickets at 16.12 and scored 254 runs at 25.4. All of this has been done with impeccable technique that speaks of afternoons spent at proper cricket training and an application that is possibly wasted at our level. More than this, though, has been Jays contribution to the team. Always positive and supportive, Jay has brought the spirits and the performances of the team up with him.

Team News:

It’s obviously been a long season, as we’ve had to scramble to get an XI together for the first time this season. While many weeks this season have started with 14 or so available for the coming weekend, this week started with horse trading and has ended with a high likelihood of a full squad.

Radar has managed to convince his Dad to play, which will be a real boon to the teams bowling stocks, as well as the general level of cool in the team. Can anyone else’s Dad casually talk about working with Sugarman?

Yeah, thought so.

Snipper is scheduled to make his long-awaited return to the team this Sunday too, though musical commitments may provide an obstacle.

The XI (at the time of writing) is:
1. Local
2. Radar
3. Dutchy (c)
4. Jay
5. Alex
6. Ed
7. Big Dog
8. Pete Sforcina
9. Snipper
10. Roley
11. Cat *
12. Rev *
* Cat will probably bat & Rev will probably field for her (this way he cant run anyone out – on either team)

Pitch and Conditions:

The Nerrena Recreation Ground is an absolute Quokka favourite and has an average rating of 5 stars on the Quokka Travel Guide**. With the green, undulating hills of Gippsland making up the background and pine plantations neighboring it, Nerrena is an empowering place for the spirit and the senses – kind of like the opposite to India. The weather forecast is for a cool 22 on Sunday with a chance of rain, here’s hoping that the wet stuff stays away long enough to get a game in.

** May not exist

Stats and Trivia:
- Local is only 21 runs off hitting 100 for this season, which he should do rather quickly as long as he stays in. His strike rate for the season is Darcy Short-esque at 1.61
- Roley got his first Quokka YPCA runs in the last match, scoring 14 in fairly quick time after deciding that hitting boundaries involved a lot less running that singles
- Captain Dutchy is only 35 runs off ONE THOUSAND career YPCA runs for The Quokkas. Given he is averaging 56.7 for the season (at a strike rate of 2.02), he could get there in a couple of overs on Sunday

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Post Match Report: Quokkas CC def by ANSC

Match Preview: Quokkas v All Nations Social Cricket (ANSC)

Match Preview: Quokkas v VBCA 2 – This time it’s personal

Match Preview: Quokkas v Nerrena CC

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