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2 years ago
Paul Ryan
Paul Ryan
Founder
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
503 Likes
513 Followers



Has Bazball spooked the Australians?

Day 5 of the first test of the Ashes series will an exciting challenge for both Australia and England.

The anticipation amongst fans around the world is what test cricket is all about. Who will blink first and who will take a one nil lead in the 5-test series?

Australia needs 174 runs to win with 7 wickets in hand. Warner, Labuschagne and Smith are all back in the shed so the heavy lifting will be on the shoulders of Khawaja, Head and Carey to get Australia home.

Irrespective of the result the most surprising aspect of the test is England have for whatever reason made Australia change the way they play the game, especially with the ball in hand.
The defensive fields and the ease of which the English batters have been able to get off strike is unusual at best. Ashes Test debutant Harry Brooks was again able to play a simple defensive shot to point to get off the mark in the 2nd innings.

After two successful ramps (one six and one four) by Root off Boland early on day 4, Alex Carey came up to the stumps and a fielder was placed on the boundary just behind 2nd slip. With a deep fine leg, deep square leg, short mid-wicket and mid on there was no mid-off.

If a keeper is up to the stumps the expectation would be for the bowler to bowl full and at the stumps. A straight drive for four back down the ground is far easier than a ramp to a yorker at leg stump or a bouncer with two fielders in the deep.

Apart from Roots ramp shots, what is Bazball?

The English batters are playing with freedom and intent. They’re playing attacking cricket, good cricket shots, moving the ball into the gaps and running hard between the wickets. It’s the same as how Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden played and the same way David Warner has played during his career. England’s batters are just doing it as a collective.

With defensive fields set there’s no real need to play Bazball, four singles and a two is still 6 an over.

It seemed odd in the 2nd innings how long it took Australia to bowl a few bouncers. I know the game has changed but if a batter ramped Dennis Lillee or Glenn McGrath, can you imagine where the next 5 balls would be bowled. A deep fine leg and a deep square leg and suddenly, the batter is being asked a question or two.

England are playing cricket with intent; they’ve been proactive and asking questions. Australia can still win the Test. Fascinating cricket, catches win matches.

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2 years ago
Matthew Mott
Matthew Mott
Cricket Coach
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
2 Likes
1 Followers



My Best Grade Team - Matthew Mott 1990 to 2006

Some of my great memories of my cricket career was playing Grade Cricket and I’ve been fortunate to play with a number of great players across my time in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.

I’m a proud member of the Gold Coast Dolphins foundation team that entered the Brisbane Grade competition in 1990/91 and played with the Dolphins until 1997/98.

On moving to Victoria I played for Frankston Peninsula Cricket Club from 1998/99 to 2003/04 and then in Sydney I played with Randwick Petersham from 2004/05 until retirement in 2006.

My best Grade team is based on performances and influence on the team when I played with these players at club level rather than when they played at higher levels.

In batting order:

1. Usman Khawaja - Randwick Petersham
2. Simon Katich (Captain) - Randwick Petersham
3. Dirk Welham - Gold Coast
4. Andrew Symonds - Gold Coast
5. Richard Chee Quee - Randwick Petersham
6. Peter Anderson (Wicket Keeper) - Gold Coast
7. Nathan Hauritz - Randwick Petersham
8. Bruce Oxenford - Gold Coast
9. Cameron Wallace - Frankston Peninsula
10. Peter Smith - Gold Coast
11. Scott Muller - Gold Coast

12. Darren Groves - Frankston Peninsula

Unlucky omissions: Bryce McGain (FP), Jeff Pfaff (GC) Steve Storey (GC) Greg Campbell (GC)

Social Committee: Jason Mills (GC), Brett Crichton (GC), Jeff Pfaff (GC), Richard Chee Quee (RP)

Coach: Keith Jansz (FP)

Team Managers: Billy Pippen (GC) Bobby Barter (RP)

Scorers: Archie Morris (GC), Dickie McCord (RP) & Glenn Davey (FP)

Presidents: Dennis Prendergast (FP) & Billy Pippen (GC)

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2 years ago
Matt Ellis
Matt Ellis
Cricket Coach
Dubbo, NSW, Australia
59 Likes
7 Followers



It is Wednesday 5 January 1994 and one of the more memorable SCG Test Matches is in the balance with Australia finishing day four at 4-63 with Allan Border at the crease with Mark Waugh with Fanie De Villiers on a roll having dismissed Slater, Boon, nightwatchman Tim May and opener Mark Taylor in an inspired spell late in the day.

High quality Test Match cricket was unfolding before our eyes in a low scoring game that could still go either way with Australia chasing the target of 117. Things were tense, AB was coming to the close of his career, and in fact this is the last time I would see him bat live. He had made 49 in the first innings before he was out caught behind off the bowling of De Villiers.

These facts all fade into the background for me however, with the highlight of the test match coming for me after stumps on day four when my brother and I were milling around

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/182/matt-ellis/blog/1176/allan-border-ndash-the-day-i-carried-his-bags-to-the-bus
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2 years ago
Sydney University Cricket Club
Sydney University Cricket Club
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
10 Likes
14 Followers



James Rodgers began his Sydney Grade Cricket Career at the age of 15 in 1968 with Northern District Cricket Club. For 42 seasons James played the game he loves so dearly with the utmost compassion and generosity.

He joined Sydney University Cricket Club in 1972 and took 869 wickets at an average of only 16.03.

James contribution to the game off the field has been equally significant.

He served as Hon Secretary to Sydney University Cricket Club from 1980-84 and was the club's delegate to the Sydney Cricket Association from 1985 to 1993.

James Rodgers was awarded Life Membership of Sydney University Cricket Club in 1996 and the Sydney Cricket Association in 2004. He is also the Patron of Sydney University Cricket Club

It’s been quite the journey, let’s find out more as James delivers his story.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/260/sydney-university-cricket-club/blog/346/james-rodgers-i-was-hooked
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2 years ago
Sunshine Coast Cricket Association
Sunshine Coast Cricket Association
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
0 Likes
1 Followers



Joshua Matthews - I love the competition

Joshua Matthews made his first grade debut for the Sunshine Coast Scorchers during the 2017/18 season.

An opening batsman with one first grade hundred to date, let’s find out some more about Josh's cricketing journey.

I grew up in Hervey Bay, played senior cricket for the Caveliers up there when I was pretty young and then moved down to the Sunny Coast when I was 15 to play for the Nambour Cutters. Moved to the Scorchers when I was 18 and have played there since. Greatest achievement would be making my 1st grade debut for the Scorchers.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/1047/sunshine-coast-cricket-association/blog/1175/joshua-matthews-i-love-the-competition
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2 years ago
Andrew King
Andrew King
Real Estate Agent
Mornington, Victoria, Australia
4 Likes
0 Followers



Mal Coutts started his cricket journey with Langwarrin and has carved an impressive career across the Mornington Peninsula.

He’s a multiple premiership wining player and is also the proud owner of first grade cap number 86 for Frankston Peninsula Cricket Club in Victoria Premier Cricket.

Mal is a tough competitor who loves to win and always delivers a significant contribution to the success of the teams he’s played for.

Let’s find out more about Mal’s journey in the game.

Tim Harper, knew thew the game inside and out and the game plan was always clear and simple. He detested losing and was always the first person to back you in when he needed you. Still to this day with his involvement and view on the game is second to none.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/900/andrew-king/blog/1173/mal-coutts-dont-over-complicate-it
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2 years ago
Western Suburbs District Cricket Club Sydney
Western Suburbs District Cricket Club Sydney
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
69 Likes
93 Followers



David Gilbert is the proud owner of Western Suburbs District Cricket Club first grade cap number 498 after making his first grade debut against Manly Warringah on 24 September 1983.

David joined Western Suburbs after playing first grade cricket for the old Sydney Cricket Club.

In 2006 David Gilbert was selected on the Western Suburbs team of the millennium and inducted into the club's Hall of Fame.

Gilbert became Australian Test cricketer number 330 when he made his debut in the 6th Test of the 1985 Ashes series between Australia and England on 29 August 1985.

He played 9 Test for Australia taking 16 wickets with best bowling of 3 for 48.

In 14 One Day Internationals for Australia Gilbert took 18 wickets with best figures of 5 for 46.

He played 127 first class games taking 354 wickets at an average of 32.39 with best bowling figures of 8 for 55.

With the bat, Gilbert scored 1,374 runs including one first class hundred and one half century.

David Gilbert was the President of Western Suburbs District Cricket Club for many years after serving Cricket NSW as the CEO from 2002 to 2013.

In 2018 David Gilbert was awarded Life Membership of Western Suburbs

Let’s find out more about David’s journey and insights into the game.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/161/western-suburbs-district-cricket-club-sydney/blog/1172/david-gilbert-deceptively-quick
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2 years ago
Anthony Caruso
Anthony Caruso
Business Development Manager
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
6 Likes
0 Followers



My best Warringah Cricket Club team - Anthony Caruso 2011 to 2020

Season 2020-21 was my 10th season at Warringah Cricket Club, after spending 17 straight years at my park club, Cromer Cricket Club. During that time, I have had the pleasure of seeing some amazing players staying at Warringah and some who have gone on to bigger and better things. The Pathway Program between Warringah Cricket Club and Manly-Warringah District Cricket Club has produced some truly amazing players and, when you see the players included in this list, it just gives an indication of the strength and talent that I have had the pleasure of playing alongside.

I have kept it very tight in terms of the rules as well in that the player had to have been in the same team as me in the Bottle Green and White at some point. There are also going to be some players who would have just missed out

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/1045/anthony-caruso/blog/1171/my-best-warringah-cricket-club-team-anthony-caruso-2011-to-2020
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2 years ago
Clontarf Cricket Club
Clontarf Cricket Club
Clontarf East, Dublin 3, Ireland, Ireland
0 Likes
0 Followers



The Leinster Senior Cup was one of the big days out in the Leinster season. The cup exists in a very different format now but in yesteryears, it was a closed date, on the Saturday of the August Bank holiday.

The closed date meant that it was a well-supported day and not just by the competing clubs. Thirty years ago, a long distant past too many, YMCA took on Clontarf in a high scoring game in Phoenix.

It was the third time the teams had met in recent years with bruising defeats for Clontarf in 87 and 89. It would be nice if memories came like a movie, a feature length version that we could play at will, at a time of our choosing.

More often they come as a series of snapshots, a long lost roll of film. Out of order and many out of focus but each one a part of the story. Cup Final 1992 is one of those rolls of film.

A dusty collection of memories when pieced together tell a story of a Cup win, long sought after by a club in thrall to the Cup but which had not been won since 1969.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/1044/clontarf-cricket-club/blog/1170/clontarf-cricket-club-defeat-ymca-in-the-1992-leinster-senior-cup
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2 years ago
Greg Bubke
Greg Bubke
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
0 Likes
0 Followers



My Best Grade team - Greg Bubke 1976 to 1989

I was a local product of the Easts club, starting in the schoolboys (u13) grade in 1970. The club had relocated to Bottomley Park from Langlands Park and a brand new clubhouse (later to become the famous Crab Pot) was in the process of being erected.

I remember Tony Dell providing some bowling advice to us which was a big buzz for us all. In those days the grade structure was very different to today. Intermediate (U15) followed schoolboy, then U18, followed by the open grades which started at C Grade, followed by B Grade, Reserve Grade and A Grade.

My journey in First Grade commenced in January 1976 when I was selected to play against Norths at Windsor Oval (a fun place to bat) and finished in February 1989. In between, my time was broken from 1980-85, while I worked in Gladstone for the Commonwealth Bank. During this time I played extensively throughout Central Queensland.

Selecting my team therefore excludes the “Gladstone” years and any players who achieved First Class honours.

A not so “fun” fact (for me anyway) is that Easts won premierships the year after I went to

Gladstone, the year after I retired, and my Gladstone team the year after I left. Perhaps a message in there!

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/249/greg-bubke/blog/1169/my-best-grade-team-greg-bubke-1976-to-1989
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2 years ago
Phil Wilkins
Phil Wilkins
Forster, New South Wales, Australia
0 Likes
0 Followers



NSW Cricket Golden Summer of 1984-85

For once in a garlanded life, Imran was house-bound, manacled by forces beyond his control. So, the much-awaited gathering of the NSW cricketing greats of the all-conquering 1984-85 team have received the grievous bulletin that the 35th anniversary reunion luncheon to celebrate their historic Sheffield Shield and McDonald’s Cup double triumph has been postponed.

Just a glance at the Blues squad of that summer promised it would be a special season for NSW, perhaps even a marvellous summer. But, cricket being the magnificently headstrong, unpredictable animal it can be, greatness was never set in stone for summer’s ending.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/220/phil-wilkins/blog/1168/nsw-cricket-golden-summer-of-1984-85
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2 years ago
Penrith Cricket Club
Penrith Cricket Club
Sydney, Australia
18 Likes
20 Followers



ON SAFARI: In June, 1992, at Trelawney in Zimbabwe, four ex-Penrith captains turned out for the Australian Old Collegians in a match against the locals.

They are (l to r) John Benaud, Tim Sullivan, Steve Kennaugh, (front) Ron Halse.

The tour would last two weeks, then continue for another three in England.

It was the catalyst for a social cricket bond between the Club and the AOC, which would endure into the future. Players like Luke Morrissey, Geoff Sullivan, Dale Turner, Rod Evans, Shane Stanton, Warren Buttigieg, Paul Goldsmith, Trevor Bayliss, Ryan Smith and Kevin Geyer toured mainly into NSW country areas to promote the game.

Typically the tour lasted a week, leaving by 16-seater Thrifty hire bus early on a Monday morning, playing three matches in relatively close centres (Mudgee, Orange, Dubbo, Cootamundra, Wagga, Armidale, Port Macquarie, Gloucester) and returning on a Friday.

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2 years ago
Max Bonnell
Max Bonnell
Lawyer
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
10 Likes
0 Followers



In 1985, I turned out for Stourbridge in the Birmingham League. Stourbridge is in the West Midlands, on the fringes of the Black Country, named for the thick seam of coal that sustained the region’s mining communities for a couple of hundred years. The locals speak a strange dialect of elongated vowels and swallowed consonants, which is recognisably English but at the same time impossible to understand.

Before the League season began, we played a single friendly match, against a team called Hagley. Hagley wasn’t in the League, but played its game at Hagley Hall, a magnificent Georgian building belonging to Lord Lyttleton. Since one Lord Lyttelton or another was often the President of the Worcestershire County Cricket Club, the grounds of Hagley Hall contained a perfectly-manicured cricket ground. That was where we played our first match in April, which I nearly called a warm-up game, except that would be stupid, because the temperature never rose above one degree.

https://www.cricconnect.com/profile/436/max-bonnell/blog/1040/rain-stopped-play
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