South Canterbury Cricket News Section

The recent rainfall certainly on paper seemed to affect the pitches as bowlers dominated in most matches with the exception being Knottingley Park where Geraldine’s first innings of 168-8 declared has already been passed by Waimate for the loss of only three wickets.

Star are ‘officially’ the home team after their match was transferred to Rockdale Rd but after a disastrous first innings they are already batting a second time and still need 140 runs to make Celtic bat again, while the Temuka vs Timaru match at Ashbury Park is also a low scoring affair with Timaru making 117 and Temuka after at one stage being 23-5 recovering to score 96.

With teams struggling for numbers in some matches, it was good to see some young up and coming players make their mark with South Canterbury U15 player Glenn Drake making an unbeaten 64 for Waimate, although he has had to retire as he is unavailable next week as he is playing in an U16 tournament in Brisbane. Matthew Walker also scored an unbeaten 50 in the same match for Geraldine and Temuka’s Nathan McNicol, the youngest regular senior cricketer in the competition picked up his first senior wicket, that of wily old campaigner Chris Leonard.

Contrasting these ‘young guns’, five Club Presidents were also on senior duty today, and while for many it was not unusual, I am sure Colin Cameron from Timaru will be telling those younger players about his not out for some time yet.

Temuka asked Timaru to bat first and Kevin Teahen soon put the pressure on Timaru as he took 2-30 from his 17 overs and was well supported by Les Humphris with 2-11 and Michael Geddis with 2-22. For Star the only real resistance came from Zane Sanders with 31 and they were always going to struggle to defend such a low score.

However Jordan Morrow had other ideas as he ripped through the Temuka top order on his way to 4-37. A middle order rally by Willie Stone (24) and Richard Opie (16) helped correct the ledger but Hayden Leonard with 4-28 dashed any hopes of a first innings.

The match is still anyone’s game though as Timaru are already 39-4 in their second innings after Michael Geddistook 3-10 and Timaru will be hoping that returning players for the second day can help them to a respectable total.

The Star and Celtic match began as a top of the table clash, but on Day 1 there was only one team in it after Celtic asked Star to bat. Dan Laming followed up his decision by bowling a fuller length than is his norm and was rewarded with two bowled victims. Willie Scott also enjoyed the conditions and chance to bowl as he took 3-19, while James Laming made the most of his two overs to remove the last three Star batsmen, helping to dismiss them for 70 in only the 31st over. It could have been even worse if extras hadn’t top-scored.

Although the pitch may have been more difficult than usual, most batsmen would be looking at themselves for the way they got out, often by not getting far enough forward, or over the ball, and some good fielding including a couple of great catches at short cover by Glenn Matthews made certain it wasn’t Star’s day.

Celtic’s response was solid if not spectacular, but you need to take everything going against Celtic. Craig Davies was dropped in the second over and went on to 38, and the run out of Jeremy Liddy for 15 only allowed Matt Mealings to find some form again before being out for 54, but by now the score was well ahead, and a powerful unbeaten 52 by Glen Matthews which included 4 huge sixes allowed Celtic to score 219 from their 50 overs. Mark Evans was the most successful Star bowler with 2-18, but Star will need to bat all day next week to save the game but have already lost an opener in the nine overs before stumps, and will be expecting big things from skipper Phil McGregor and maybe even night watchman Craig Hinton next week.

Geraldine batted first against Waimate and were also struggling at 50-5 but a 59 run partnership between Walker and Tom McKnight with 35 not out helped them to a respectable 167 when the compulsory declaration came. Matt Sew Hoy (3-61) and Alan Reid (2-53) bowled 38 of the 50 overs between them for Waimate in good workouts.

In reply Nathan Sew Hoy again started well before being out for 44, and Findlay Keen (28) helped Drake add 34 before Jason Sew Hoy joined Drake to post an undefeated 75 run partnership and at stumps Waimate were 187-3 and likely to try and add some quick runs in the 10 overs remaining next week to put further pressure on the Geraldine 2nd innings as they look for an outright victory.

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The final round of Senior One Day cricket started with five teams contesting the remaining three positions in the semi finals and after the first innings in each match, the outcomes had changed little. However in each match it soon became clear who would progress as Geraldine and Celtic had nine and eight wicket victories respectively, while Star won by 97 runs.

There are still plenty of calculations to be made as Star and Temuka are now tied for third and as their round-robin match was abandoned, final placings will be determined by run rate over all their one day matches. The loser in this mini battle will face unbeaten Celtic in one semi while the other team will play Geraldine for a final place.

Johnny Geddis continued his fine season scoring the majority of Temuka’s runs on the way to his unbeaten century (104) which included 16 fours and a six and helped his side score 162, but he would be disappointed that his fellow batsmen couldn’t hang around with six overs still available when the last man was out. For Geraldine the bowling attack was led by Tom McKnight with 3-33 and well supported by Phil Lill, Ben Millar and Richard Bruce with a couple of wickets each.

One of the Temuka batsmen was dismissed in a rare manner for handling the ball, and unfortunately this led to a poor attitude by some players for the rest of the match toward the officiating umpire, and this is certainly a worrying factor for cricket if a similar attitude is allowed to continue by other senior players.

One may not always agree with an umpiring decision, nor with the application of the laws, but without umpires taking the time out to officiate at matches, especially in cold conditions like on Saturday, it will not be long before it is player-umpires only, and the level of sportsmanship in some games I have seen this season without umpires certainly leaves a lot to be desired.

However, Geraldine’s reply was certainly not deterred by on field events as George Harper stroked the ball to all parts on his way to an unbeaten century (104 – 15 fours 3 sixes) and with Matt Barnes alongside him not out on 31, Geraldine chased down the 163 required in 30 overs with the loss of only one wicket, thus convincingly cementing second spot.

In the local derby at Ashbury Park a win to Timaru could create a three-way tie for fourth position, while a win to Star would guarantee them a semi. Star batted first and Captain Phil McGregor played a solid hand opening and was the fifth wicket to fall with his personal score 53 and the team’s total 152. Alexander McKenzie in his first match of the season after returning from injury made 30 before being one of three run outs in a generally improved fielding performance by Timaru. Hitesh Angrish with 3-30 was the pick of the bowlers but with Timaru conceding more than 40 extras, this helped Star set a target of 200.

Timaru’s reply faltered as they lost two quick wickets, but Jordy Morrow enjoyed his opener’s spot in his first match this season too and added 24 before becoming one of Craig Hinton’s four victims. Hinton took the first four wickets to fall as he bowled with good pace and rhythm, but the surprise package this week was Jeremy Lane who put last week’s wayward effort and a ‘dropped dolly’ behind him to bowl with accuracy and penetration. He ended up with 4-24, but could have had even better figures if more of the chances offered to the keeper and slip cordon had been taken.

Angrish benefitted from a few of those chances but was eventually out for 20. Tim Mackle was just getting going when he was out lbw for 16 and Chris Leonard, demoted from opener this week will be having words with his skipper after being stranded not out on 11. Star was far too strong this time and Timaru were dismissed for 102.

Aorangi Oval was the venue for the Celtic v Waimate match where Waimate batted first and got off to a quick start as they scored at 6 an over. Nathan Sew Hoy got going and enjoyed the opportunity of batting on a good strip, before he got it into his head that he could score off the good balls too and was caught off a leading edge for 47. After this wickets began to fall regularly except for Murray Prattley who batted patiently on his way to 35, but eventually Waimate were all out for 153 which was always going to be hard to defend against the Celtic batting lineup on the Oval.

The Celtic bowlers all contributed with skipper Dan Laming leading the way, bowling aggressively to take 2 wickets and only concede 14 runs from his nine overs while brother James was getting prodigious swing from the other end and regularly beat the outside edge to take two wickets as did Sam Carlaw and Glenn Matthews.

Celtic were untroubled in their chase with Ryan De Joux (49) again quickly out of the blocks (figuratively speaking only) and Andy Scott enjoyed being back at opener as he scored an unbeaten 66 and carried Celtic to victory in the 27th over.

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Celtic confirmed top spot in the Daily Freightways semi-finals with one more round yet to be played after easily scoring the 204 runs for victory set by Timaru, while Geraldine captain Matt Barnes disproved his own theory that when he scores runs Geraldine loses after compiling a classy 117 against Star and then was rewarded by a good bowling and fielding effort as he led his team to an 85 run win. Temuka also enjoyed their trip away to take the honours in Waimate and move up the table to second spot.

This means that next week will see some interesting match ups as five teams vie for the three remaining semi final spots. The winner of the Temuka/Geraldine match will definitely make the finals, while the loser could still get in as well, but Star have to beat Timaru to have a chance in their local derby, while if Timaru win then Star, Timaru and Waimate who will need to be at their very best to beat Celtic will all go to count back and probably run rates to decide the fourth semi-finalist.

Barnes the young English professional in his second season in South Canterbury showed his class as he not only battled the bowling attack, but also the elements as the wind gusts changed from a hot nor’wester to a frigid southerly. He dominated all the bowlers, seemingly with all day to play sweep shots to the spinners, drive through the covers or dispatch any short deliveries with classic pull and hook shots and South Canterbury will be looking forward to when he also does this at Hawke Cup level.

Barnes was supported in his initial partnership for the second wicket by Ben Millar (21) and later by George Harper (20) and he never looked in trouble until he masterminded his own downfall by giving a catch to Craig Fraser on the long off boundary. By then Geraldine were already on the way to a competitive total and a cameo of 35 not out by Phil Lill during the last five overs got Geraldine to 226-6 at the end of their 45 overs.

Fraser immediately showed his intentions as he went on the attack, but Tom McKnight soon got rid of him for 9, and then with Tim Butler following soon after, Star was 10-2. This became the story of the day as the often unheralded Geraldine bowlers kept making breakthroughs with Guy Metcalf (3-31) bowling well in the middle and with the ball following Gary Muff who took 3 catches in the outfield or edging through to keeper Matthew Walker who added a stumping to his 3 catches, Star were never in the game and soon slumped to 39-5.

When all seemed lost at 92-8 Mark Evans decided he would prove to his captain that he should be batting higher up the order as he scored a typically belligerent 42 adding nearly 50 runs with Gareth Sutton (12) for the ninth wicket before McKnight had the last say to finish with 3-10 and Star were all out for a slightly more respectable 141.

Timaru batted first at Rockdale Rd and would have been reasonably happy with their effort after Gerald Piddock again got the innings off to a good start before being run out for 38. Grant Brookland also continued his recent good form and had just brought up his fifty when he suffered the ignominy of being run out by Grant Watt. Zane Sanders (33) and Tim Mackle (20) contributed to a solid looking middle order, but Timaru never really pushed on after at one stage being 160-4 and ended up scoring 203-9.

For Celtic Glen Matthews with 3-27 continued his fine season with the ball while James Laming also picked up 3 wickets from his nine overs to keep his allrounder’s mantle intact.

In reply Celtic led by Ryan De Joux never looked troubled after he quickly took the Timaru attack apart on his way to 87. In one scoring sequence he hit seven fours in a row and all up his innings included 15 fours and 2 sixes, and his dominance could clearly be seen in his partnerships. The first wicket of Craig Davies (21) fell at 77 and then when De Joux was second out the score was 120.

In contrast Jeremy Liddy appeared to be putting up a new picket fence and his boundary to bring up his fifty was only his second, but again it was a solid knock and in partnership with an unusually patchy looking Dan Laming (35 not out) they added 87 runs to give Celtic their fourth consecutive win in only the 34th over.

Temuka and Waimate fought out a low scoring affair at Knottingley Park but with starring performances for Temuka firstly with the ball by Dillon Lees who took 6 wickets for 28 runs and then an unbeaten 65 by Johnny Geddis, Temuka scored the 125 required for a win and still had 4 wickets in hand. Scoring runs proved hard work making the Geddis innings even more significant since extras was the second best score by both teams, and on the day this innings was probably the only difference between the two teams.

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The first round of the Tweedy Cup two day cricket competition with a new rules format got under way this weekend. Although compulsory declarations must be made by both teams after 50 overs in the first innings, and bonus points only apply in the second, this did not happen in any match as Timaru and Temuka were both dismissed inside the 50 overs and Celtic were able to declare at 295-5 from only 45 overs after Craig Davies scored the first senior century of the season with a run-a-ball 132 not out.

Geraldine won the toss but soon learnt the lesson about letting Celtic bat first, as Ryan De Joux scored 40 quickly before being dismissed with the score at 55. Davies survived a sharp caught and bowled chance before taking control as his innings mimicked that of Brendan McCullum earlier the same day, both scoring 14 fours, while Davies scored one more six and one more run to win the “big hitting” kudos.

Geraldine’s attack was further dented by Glenn Matthews who has equal rights to the man-of-the-match award at present after scoring 69 with the bat and then destroying Geraldine with 6-21 from his 13 overs of left-arm pace bowling and thus helping enforce the follow on.

For Geraldine there were not a lot of highlights, although Phil Lill’s perseverance paid off as he top-scored with 32 including one over where he scored 14, but it was as though the game was played on two different pitches, after Celtic turned a flat deck when batting into a minefield when bowling. Credit must go to the bowlers and especially Matthews who this week certainly made the batsmen play at more deliveries and justifiably got the rewards. He swung the ball consistently and mixed with a couple of very quick bouncers had the batsmen very watchful and already has an early breakthough in the second innings as Geraldine will resume next week 4-1.

In Temuka, it was the bowlers turn to shine too as the home team collapsed from 73-3 to be all out for 98. The main Star weapon was the spin of Todd Elliotte as he beat batsmen through the air, off the pitch or forced them into silly shots on his way to 5-10 from his 10 overs. John Geddis with 42 batted with aggression, but after his partnership with Captain Ritchie Preston was broken, the rest of the Temuka team succumbed quickly.

In reply Star were soon in trouble as Kevin Teahen picked up a wicket in his second over, but then Star settled in with regular partnerships with Chris Anders leading the way with 49 and Elliotte 26 completing a fine double. Kevin Teahen Michael Geddis and Willie Stone all picked up 3 wickets each but not before Star had secured the first innings points and a sizeable lead eventually making 169.

Temuka then had to bat a further 17 overs before stumps and after a solid start lost four quick wickets to be 39-4 still 32 runs in arrears, and facing a mammoth task to save the game

Timaru travelled to Waimate and batted first with openers Gerald Piddock (19) and a rejuvenated Chris Leonard (24) who was no longer the oldest senior cricketer on the field adding 41 for the first wicket in what was the best partnership to eventuate. The availability of Kris Howes probably dampened Waimate’s day as he top scored in the middle order with 33, and Hayden Leonard again thwarted the attack on his way to 21 not out as Timaru posted a competitive 157.

Alan Reid put in the hard yards as he bowled unchanged from one end for Waimate and was rewarded with 5-76, while Craig Booth took 3-11 and is wishing he had been brought into the attack earlier.

In reply Waimate were soon in trouble at 38-4 before Craig Booth (24) and skipper Jason Sew Hoy (35) added 54 runs to get things back on track at 92-5, but another mini collapse to be 116-8 at stumps has Timaru in the strongest position going into day two to not only gain first innings points, but also to try and push for the outright.

Most of the Timaru bowlers had success, but again it was Howes with 5-21 who was the standout, and Timaru will be hoping he is available a lot more this season.

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Guy Metcalf continued his fine start to the season with an impressive 87 not out with the bat alongside his two catches and two wickets in the field to help Geraldine pick up their first win of the season. His batting was full of powerful drives and pulls interspersed with deft late cuts to keep the score ticking over as they chased down the 219 set by Timaru. All the bowlers were dispatched equally if they strayed and his partnership of 134 with Ben Millar (58) batting at No 6 took the match away from Timaru.

Timaru won the toss and decided to bat first on a low slow pitch. The spinners found there was quite a bit of turn available, but the slow nature of the wicket meant batsmen were well advised to get onto the front foot, and the bowlers soon found that anything short generally sat up waiting to be hit (and was).

Gerald Piddock and fellow opener Chris “out of retirement” Leonard added 38 runs quickly to get the innings under way, before a double breakthrough by Andrew Coombes and Timaru slumped to 41-3. Grant Brookland set about consolidating the innings before again falling short of his half century when caught for 47. He was helped by new Aorangi Oval groundsman Greg Hull (18) and a very slow 19 from Zane Sanders. Tim Mackle missed a full ball to be out lbw and Timaru was again teetering in the 140s before Hayden Leonard and Avon Proctor helped Timaru through to 218 with Proctor scoring a cultured 41 and Leonard 29.

For Geraldine all the bowlers had success with Ben Millar feeling the most aggrieved as he had a hat-trick of catches put down at ‘cow corner’ alone when the long handle came out. He was not the only bowler to rue mistakes as the fielding display by both senior teams left a lot to be desired.

Young Geraldine openers Matthew Walker and Garry Muff added 25 in reasonable time with Muff making 18, while Phil Lill struggled to get the ball off the square in a slow 10. Captain Matt Barnes came and went quickly and later reminded us that when he doesn’t make runs, Geraldine wins. At 53-4 Geraldine still had a lot to do when Millar joined Metcalf and the pair set about building what turned out to be the match winning partnership.

Both batsmen had lives, and the dropped chance off Millar at mid wicket early in his innings may have been crucial to the outcome as he took a long time to find his timing and placement, while Metcalf had already scored a half century when he gave a chance.

Eventually with victory in sight Millar was out which allowed his younger brother the chance to redeem himself for earlier mistakes which he did as he raced to 22.

At Knottingley Park a depleted Waimate team batted first against Star, but with only Sam Devlin (34), Murray Prattley (20) and Extras (12) making double figures the score of 101 was always going to be difficult to defend. Medium pacers Mark Evans (3-16) and Hamish Dickson (2-24) were the most successful of the Star bowlers, although wicketkeeper Matt Moodie may argue he has the best strike rate with one wicket from one over.

In reply Waimate started well with both Star openers out lbw quickly but then Todd Elliotte with 32 supported by Chris Anders (10) saw Star consolidate, and Tim Butler (14 not out) and Hamish Dickson with 28 not out saw Star home with 9 overs to spare and 6 wickets in hand.

The third senior match saw Celtic win by 165 runs in Temuka after scoring a massive 320-9 from their 45 overs led by Jeremy Liddy who will be annoyed to be dismissed 2 runs short of his century on 98. In reply Temuka captain Ritchie Preston scored another half century, but Temuka were never really in the hunt.

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