2008-09 - University of New South Wales Cricket Club

UNSW Cricket Club Annual ReportPoidevin‐Gray Shield ReportPOIDEVIN GRAY SHIELD REPORTThe 2008/09 PG’s season was one of missed opportunities which were evident from Game 1 againstEasts. Finishing the season with 4 wins from 7 could be described as a little disappointing consideringthe talent and skill of the 08/09 squad. After losing our first two games we put ourselves in theposition of chasing bonus point wins and relying on results to go our way to make the semis. Alsowith your skipper only managing to win the toss once and chasing a total 6 out of the 7 games doesn’tmake life much easier. But it did make for some highly entertaining and nail‐biting finishes. Therewere excellent batting displays in the chases against Blacktown and Fairfield, and also some verydisappointing ones, against Easts and Hawkesbury.Take the Easts game for example. At one stage we were 3/200 in the 37th over chasing 259 for victoryat the VG. One would say that it seems a straightforward task considering the lacklustre attack. Welost 6 wickets in the final overs to fall short by 4 runs. This result would then be the story of ourseason.The team had a wealth of batting talent at its disposal. The only problem was we found it difficult totap into when we needed it most. There were flashes of individual brilliance but at no stage was therea game‐breaking partnership until the final game against Mosman when Ryan Medley and BlakeDean put on 106 for the 3rd wicket. An area that we really needed to improve in was consistency,easily said now but we need to start converting on the field. We have some promising up and comerswith the likes of Angus Robson and Charlie Wakim. They seem to complement each other with theirstyle of play. Huus builds his innings whereas Chuck belts the cover off it from ball one. GreenShield skipper Scott Gray had his first taste of PG’s and never looked out of place. Also SamCrichton only managed 4 bombs this PG’s season, a statistic that will tell the tale that he may bematuring into a batsman or that he underachieved and will be filthy with himself. Overall the battingwas solid but no‐one went on and got a hundred, with the likes of Huus, Deano, Wako and myself inthe top four we should have had at least one of us dominate an attack for a good part of the innings.We have all seen Murray Creed bat and should take a leaf out of his book.In each of the seven games we bowled and fielded exceptionally well. The quality of bowling andfielding was definitely our strong point for the season. When it seemed that a team was getting awayfrom us, there was always someone who stepped up and took that catch or made that run out. Out ofthe seven games we affected 10 run outs, which is quite remarkable and reflects the effort put in bythe lads every game. Some great individual performances included Meds’ 6/23 against Parramatta,who seemed to have never faced leg spin before, and Deano, who produced some quality bowlingspells in the middle period of matches as well as making the ‘point’ position his own over the courseof the season. Evergreen Hugh Le Lievre once again had a good season taking 12 wickets at 19.The future PG teams look good with several players still with a couple of seasons to play. With thelikes of Van Ders, Huus, Chuck, Jimmy, Choppy and Scotty Gray to name a few, the future of the clublooks very positive especially with so many young guys playing first grade last season. We are goingto be dominant club in years to come if we can stick together.I would like to thank Wally Reid for his efforts, they were hugely appreciated and when we makeroad trips to Blacktown, Penrith and Mosman we realise what a great club man he is. He could haveeasily pulled the pin and left the job to the 12th man. Also to Jebby, for the decks he has becomefamous for and to the parents who helped out along the course of the season.Some notable highlights include:• Crito bowling offies at 110 k’s and turning them... somehow.• The efforts of Mickey Rea at Penrith, when the ball beat him over the fence and he tried also toSeason 2008/2009 Page 69