Page 18 - West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club

Anyway, they made it in the end. Full credit to Harry for role modelling social distancing, managing to keep himself at least 1.5m from any of his other players for the team photo. Unless Rick used Panoramic mode, the odds of him making an appearance in the final shot are slim.
On to the game. We opted for Hando’s at both ends to open the attack, and it didn’t take long for Jack to make an impact, with a skied ball flying straight to Scott Chapman at square leg. Just as he was about to swallow it, Campbell “The Seagull” Wallace snatched it from his grasp, after running 20 metres unnecessarily and making the latest call in the history of cricket. He held it though... Great start. 1/1.
Not to be outdone, Tom broke through in the next over with a lovely ball that nipped in and cramped their no. 3 who chopped it down onto his stumps. 2/2. Looking good.
Momentum shifted back to Castle Hill after this, as their skipper (who’s amassed a mountain of runs this year) kicked into gear and put on a partnership of 65 with their number 4. We were prepared for this and had strong fields set, but he still found the gaps and hit some cracking shots to all parts of the field. He gave one chance, a full blooded drive he smoked to Harry at cover who dove full stretch and looked to have grasped it, only to have it spill out after hitting the ground. Later, Harry would disclose the twisted pleasure he got from seeing older brother Tom get spanked for 16 runs in 3 balls soon before the chance came his way.
Did he drop the catch to see his brother continue to suffer at the hands of this fellow? Maybe we’ll never know...
In the end, it was Scott Chapman who made the breakthrough, with a short ball that held up in the pitch and got the opposing skipper playing a pull much too early, only to drag it down onto the stumps. 3/67.
Their next partnership was very park cricket in nature, with edges over the slips and cross-bat swings galore - but it was pretty effective for them until Steve found the perfect line to get a juicy edge which Tim gloved comfortably. 4/114... still feeling pretty confident.
This triggered the Castle Hill collapse, and in a stellar session we bowled 13 overs, 8 maidens, 7/14 to bring the innings to a close. Jack and Steve both ended up with 3 wickets each, 1 each to Scott and Tom, and Alec Silins had a lovely cameo in the final over taking 2/1 off 5 balls to clean up the tail.
130.
Definitely achievable... but in the back of our minds lingered the thought that we’d fallen short against this bunch twice in the regular season, largely undone by their slow bowlers tempting us into wild shots that rarely end up where we wanted them to.
Campbell Wallace opened up in the same way he has in a number of games this year, thumping the first ball of the innings to the boundary to make an immediate statement. But at the other end, Jack Hando fell cheaply and Campbell followed soon after. 2/19 off 8. Feeling a little shaky.
Determined not to see us fall to a similar fate as our previous encounters, Tim Worthington and Basil Butler dug in and got us through to tea and beyond, before Tim fell for 10 to an unlucky ball that came back off his pads onto the stumps.
Ben Dunkerley joined Basil and looked to be hitting the ball beautifully, but struggled to find the gaps with his shots and eventually was bowled for 13. The 36th over was a bad one for us, with Basil (16) and Steve Ozvatic falling in consecutive balls. Now it’s 6/64, drinks, and things were looking a little gloomy.
But this team bats long. Very long. And Tom & Alec were at the crease, who faced a similar (in fact, worse) situation in the grand final last year turned the game around. Tom took the lead, playing smart, getting well behind the ball, and picking the right balls to send to the boundary. Alec at the other end was ably assisting, not getting many himself, but playing an important support role as Tom stepped up the attack, until Alec finally misjudged a quick single and was run out for 6.
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