Waimate Cricket Club

Despite missing our chief reporter and star allrounder who prefers to holiday with the “brass monkeys” in Canada, the Waimate Second Grade team has continued on its winning way under the tutelage of captain (and wily old campaigner) Pete Wallace to be tied for first equal heading into this weekend’s match against Mackenzie/Geraldine at home, an always enjoyable and well contested match.

The selectors and the “two wisemen and a ginga” have got together and worked out the rest of the season plan, which we will tell you all about if it comes to fruition, otherwise we will be quiet but mostly we will be hoping some of these stalwarts of the ‘seconds’ can step up and that they deliver on their promise.

Now that the Festive Season is over Meds can go back into retirement (he took 2 wickets in an over and even bowled 4 dot balls), Jug can forget about fishing and come back to play more flowing attacking shots as depicted in the photo, Greg can leave Buck to milk the cows and regraded senior player (El Sheppo) can prove why he was up there in the first place.

It may have taken nearly 30 years but Murray (Muzza) Prattley is celebrating after scoring his first century (107) ever this weekend playing for Second Grade against Mackenzie/Geraldine in the annual match at Fairlie which has become full of notoriety (mainly due to the trip home), and I’m sure that after this effort nothing will have changed.

 Match Story:

 Murray Prattley and Connor Farrell opened the batting on a hot afternoon in the Fairlie sunny, muggy day. It was a slow and steady start and by drinks at 20 overs we were 87 without loss and Murray close to his fifty. The signs looked good for a big score as Murray was starting to dominate the bowling smashing 4′s at will.

After drinks Connor tried to lift his tempo to match and was out for 21. While Murray continued to smack boundary after boundary as well as push the single, he now was clearing the fence with some big 6′s.

Ruha Davis scored a good 14 before being caught, and Todd Bailey entered for a rapid 25 off 9 balls. This after captain Pete Wallace told him to take it easy and play himself in!

John Dyer saw Murray through to his 100 before going out for 6. With little time left in the innings Justin Thompson pushed and guided the score up over 200, while Murray finally holed out for 107 trying to save himself running he went once to often to be caught well, after a marathon 36 overs batting effort. He offered few chances and played extremely well for his century, his first for the club. Great effort Murray!

The innings continued and Brodie Devine tried hard to hit out but with little time was undone for 1. Zac Aikman batted well to push around in the last over for 3 not out, carrying his bat along with Justin 13*. To give Waimate a score of 211 for 6.

The bowling effort started well with Kerry Weir bowling tidily and taking two good wickets in his opening spell. Justin on the other hand, would like to use the heat as a factor but was a little more wayward than normal to only take 2 wickets for 15 runs from 4 overs.

Enter Brodie and Zac kept things tidy and tight as the both bowled very well. Zac bowling 5 overs 30-1, and Brodie 6 overs 21-1 both controlled the game well. At drinks Murray had recovered enough to get 3 overs in and took the valuable wicket of Bevan Guthrey for 28. Sam Newman got the other valuable wicket of Chris Galwey for 28 also with some interesting accuracy in his 2 overs.

The master Pete Wallace came in to bowl at the end along with Kerry to finish McKenzie/Geraldine off. Pete claimed both of the last wickets finishing 2-7 from 1.5 overs and Kerry 2-13 from 6 overs.

This was a good team effort and the trip home was made sweet by Murray’s ton, and our win. Good luck this week boys as you play the last game of the round at Knottingley Park versus Roncalli.

Last week Waimate hammered TBHS White, this week they did the same to the Timaru Boys High School Blue team.

A very slow start after Pete Wallace’s first coin flip win of the season saw Waimate in real trouble at 12 for 3. A dodgy pitch and poor shots saw Connor Farrell and Ash Shah back to the sideline quickly for a couple of ducks. Todd Bailey got a jaffa and was bowled for 6. Ruha Davis (28) Ryan Manson (14) steadied the ship scoring well as the team moved through to 83 for 5, when top scorer Brodie Devine battled hard for 32 and was supported by Ruha then Kerry Weir (28) who began to see some easier bowling and less variable bounce on the pitch.

This was of concern to the waiting batsman knowing they would have to bowl on this flatting pitch. Brodie went out to bring in Zach who pushed through to 17 and the score up to 143 when Sam Newman (4) entered nervously poking around some singles, before Zach tried once too often to hit a boundary and Kerry tried to up the run rate as overs ran out. They were both caught well and with 5 overs to go Justin Thompson joined Sam to finish off the 40 overs. Justin started slowly but got into his work punching some runs around the field while Pete did the same at the other end. Justin took to the last to overs moving through to 21 not out and Pete again left not out on 4. Waimate finished 180 for 9 from there 40 overs and were not sure if that would be enough, but were happier than what they were expecting after 5 overs or so.

With Justin finishing the innings off (and showing a serious lack of fitness), Kerry got the first over and let Justin relax for 6 balls at fine leg. Kerry didn’t waste it as he took a wicket with his first and fourth balls to have TBHS 0 for 2 after one over. Justin then took the ball and also took a wicket with his first ball finally getting his in-swing happening for the first time this season. He also took another wicket in the over after to slight chances went for singles.

TBHS after two overs were in huge trouble at 2 for 4. The next 8 overs proved wicket-less but also run less as Kerry finished 5 overs, 3 maidens, 9 runs, 2 wickets, while Justin closed with 5 overs, 2 maidens, 6 runs, 2 wickets. Both bowling very well and pressing the batsman at every delivery.

Brodie Devine fresh after his good bat bowled very well and caused a run out in his first over, letting Justin throw to the keeper for Todd to remove the bails and take the wicket of the TBHS best batsman. Brodie (5 overs, 1 maidens, 12 runs, 1 wicket) should have had his first wicket of the season the next ball but Justin put down another catch, but this reporter would like it known the person moved from Mid-on earlier due to a thigh strain would not of got a hand to the ball (don’t you think Ryzer!).

Sam Newman (4 0 13 3) then started up from the other end and bowled well without early success but then took 3 quick wickets to have TBHS 38 for 9. Brodie tried to get the last batsman without success, so Pete chucked the ball to Ryan Manson much to Ash’s disappointment and some laughs from the team he ran in at the number 11 batsman with the team closing in around him the number 11, J Gibb smacked 8 quick runs and killed Ryan’s figures before Pete Wallace took a good catch to give Ryan his first wicket of the season and finish off the TBHS team for 49.

After a few early stumbles Waimate dominated the game and have a bye next week to prepare for a road trip to play the MacKenzie/Geraldine in Fairlie.

Waimate Second grade team had their first win of the season on Saturday. They were playing Timaru Boys White in poor weather conditions. After the first week loss and rain affected second game the team was keen to put a win on the board and they didn’t disappoint.

The day started off wet and windy and cleared as the afternoon went on. Kerry Weir and Justin Thompson opened the bowling after a loss of the toss by Pete Wallace. They started well, going for 6 runs in the first 8 overs. Justin and Kerry got early success and at one point had TBHS 5 for 3. Then entered Sam Newman (4 Overs, 0 Maiden, 20 Runs, 0 Wickets) who struggled with the conditions. Brodie Devine (8, 2, 27, 0) bowled well down wind and had no luck as Justin put down an easy catch that would have taken the TBHS best batsman out. Zach Aikman (7, 0, 25, 3) the new player to the team bowled with speed and collected 3 good wickets after drinks. His accuracy will improve and I expect many more wickets and less beamers in his future.

Pete Wallace saving his back and experience for another day bowled only 5 overs but still took one wicket and controlled some attempts by the young TBHS side to smash him away. The old master Peter Wallace (5, 1, 21, 1) thought he better steady the ship and let Kerry and Justin finish the innings off. Justin (6.2, 2, 22, 4) finally got A Simpson (56) bowled, but not before he smacked Justin over the fence to kill his good figures. Kerry (9, 2, 20, 2) came back and collected one more wicket, and must have been very un-threatening as the TBHS scorers allowed him a ninth over by mistake. TBHS ended with 135 all out, a low score but the pitch was very lively and this target could be tough.

The batting effort was expected to do well, and today they didn’t disappoint. Connor and Ash made a good start with a 50 run partnership and no run outs today. Ash was first to go to a raising ball for 16. Connor batting extremely well kept going through to drinks with Murray Prattley (6) who had no luck today. Being caught by the chest of the smallest man on the field who still has not seen it and only held it because the dent it made in his chest made the perfect cup as he fell backwards.

Greg Paul (11) helped the team through to 108. Greg and Connor played well but after drinks when Greg went to a good catch at mid off and Connor well short of his 50 by 2 ending up being bowled for 48. Then Todd Bailey 19 not out and Justin Thompson 7 not out smacked some boundaries finishing the game off quickly. Todd crushing 16 off 5 balls to clean up the low total gave the Waimate 2nd Grade their first win of the season.

With Waimate playing the other TBHS team this week at the High School it could be a big challenge to get two wins in a row under our belts.

Waimate Second grade team had their first game of the season on Saturday. They were playing the other finalist Celtic. With a few promotions, self demotions, and knee surgery the team looked a little different to the one that won in 2007/08 season. We welcomed back some people too.

The day started off wet but cleared for a windy afternoon. Kerry Weir and Justin Thompson opened the bowling and after a way-ward start by Justin they both bowled well without success. Then entered Sam Newman (5 Overs, 1 Maiden, 14 Runs, 2 Wickets) who claimed the first wicket off an interesting bad ball. His second was a good catch by Connor Farrell and quickly both Celtic openers were gone.

Murray Prattley (4, 1, 28, 0) the new old master of the team also bowled but after 2 good overs, he was taken to the sword by the Celtic top scorer A Bailey who got a rapid fire 87. The old master Peter Wallace (7.4, 0, 49, 2) thought he better steady the ship and brought himself on. While going for the odd boundary he also was his miserly self as the batters tried to take to him and Brodie Devine (7, 0, 41, 1). Brodie bowled well in the batter friendly conditions, collecting the wicket of P Ryan (31) who batted well with A Bailey.

Justin (8, 0, 32, 3) then returned and took 3 quick wickets removing H Curtis 15, P Aitken for a golden duck, S Wallace for 11. As Celtic’s middle order faulted as it tried to hit the fence Kerry (8, 1, 40, 2) came back and collected the dangerous wicket of A Bailey. Then Pete not to be left out, tidied up the last wicket in the last over of the innings. Waimate looking at a large chase were happier with 208 than what was expected at the drinks back half way through Celtic’s innings.

The batting effort was expected to do well, but had some control issues with 6 players being caught. Murray made a good return to Second grade with 23 after being dropped on 10. Greg Paul played well for 7 before an edge was caught and I still do not think the catcher at first slip has seen it. Then Todd Bailey 24 and Ryan Manson 24 smacked some boundaries and were well in form before Todd went once too often to long on and Ryan being caught also on the boundary in a Don McFarlane trap, after 2 huge 6′s.

Kerry was solid with 12 before being caught, and John Dyer and Sam were out quickly to leave Waimate hopelessly in trouble at 112 for 8. Justin batted roughly to get the team to the second to last over batting with Brodie briefly and working the strike with Pete. Pete finishing not out 7, and Justin getting 28 runs before trying to give gully some catching practice. The team struggled to 151 all out with a 35 run last wicket partnership.

With Waimate playing at Knottingley this week it will be a huge test against the MVHS/Star team.