“The person, be it a gentleman or a lady, who hast not pleasure in a game of red ball cricket, must be intolerably stupid.” - Jane Austen in the first draft of Northanger Abbey (Probably).
Jane was right, and so she’d be delighted that this week, red ball cricket returns for the men, while the women’s season gets going for season 24/25 on Sunday.
Women’s Shield 1
After a lengthy preseason, the wait is finally over the women’s teams will bounce into action for their first matches on Sunday. Under the leadership of Rachel Webb, the Shield 1 side will be keen to make a strong start against last year’s T20 premiers, Coburg.
Out at Hallam Reserve – incidentally nowhere near Hallam (no excuses not to make the meet time!) - the Students boast a very strong team and will be confident of making the best possible start to the year.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Anushka Mehta
How much does Anushka love cricket? Well, 74 matches throughout season 23/24 is a fair indication... Time well spent, she compiled 1504 runs in that time and also managed 27 wickets, so if that form continues, Coburg might find themselves hit all the way to Hallam...
Women’s Shield 2
Runners-up in last year’s T20 section of the competition, the MUCC Shield 2 side will be keen to go one better when their campaign kicks off at the Uni Main on Sunday. Rumour has it the wicket could be flat come Sunday, so big runs could be on the cards.
Against cross-town rivals, Youlden-Parkville, this one could have some added spice. Despite the burgeoning inner-city population, there remains space only for one team in Parkville, so look for Uni to nail their colours to the mast and claim bragging rights.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Cath Grant
Captain, committee member and the club’s most recent Life Member, it is nigh on impossible to go past Cath as the player to watch. To that end, with those rumours of a batter-friendly wicket circling, expect Cath to cart the YPCC attack to all parts.
Men’s First XI
“Good, and you?”
No, your ears are not deceiving you. You really did hear a Scouse accent utter that phrase 44 times last night, as George Lavelle made his return to the Uni Main. Much loved and perennially curious, George is back for his second season as a Student and will assume the number three spot this week. His first day back in Melbourne included the following:
2 flat whites and a chilli scramble at Alimentari
A nap
A net at the Main
A Clyde parma
3 scoops and Nutella sauce from Pidapipo
A return to the white Honda Jazz
Welcome back, CG.
George bolsters an already strong batting line-up, who will be keen to continue on their merry way from last Saturday. As for that batting line-up, they’d better be organised enough to avoid being timed out on Saturday; Melbourne Marathon preparations set to wreak havoc with the Lakeside precinct. As it relates to marathon preparation, someone keep an eye on the coach, as Daniel Hutton gets ready to run his first marathon on Sunday – good luck, D!
As for other members of the XI, Doug is expecting a little more turn at Harry Trott than was offered over the road at the Junction Oval this week, while Henry Melville will pounce on anything drivable tomorrow after the week he’s had...
PLAYER TO WATCH: Harrison Barnes
Although his housemates keep a keen eye on how many forks Barno takes to work and doesn't bring back home, Pencil keeps an even keener eye on the ball. A good trait for a top order bat, he failed to engage with clubmates at the Clyde on Thursday, busily setting up a date. Perhaps the only way to avoid being quizzed on how it went is to spend a long time batting in the middle...
Men’s Second XI
***To the preview in a bit, but first a story, celebrating the return of Second XI red ball cricket at the Main, with a look back at an iconic red ball moment:
In a Second XI fixture in 2018/19, Uni was desperately trying to get through one more over before the tea break. Alas, as fielders sprinted to position, the umpire called time and removed the bails.
“It can’t be!” cried (a more than usual) disgruntled Elias Karageorgiou. “The bells haven’t rung, if they haven’t gone, it’s not the hour, we’ll bowl another!”
“That’s great Kara, but you know tea is at 3:30?” replied the umpire.
A sheepish Kara hurriedly pulled out the form guide and hoped nobody heard.***
A well-executed rain dance at the lunch interval saved the Second XI last week, so it is fitting that they welcome back (at least middling) dancer, James Horn into the line-up. Equally, after his strong first showing as a Student last week, Salman Afridi has been selected to make his Second XI debut.
Keen for Uni to take heed from Harry Brook and Joe Root, captain (and pom) Tim Young has asked for an earlier than usual meet time at 9:30, presumably to watch the highlights of England’s innings. If asked to do so, expect Australian patriot Harrison Emms to take a work call and excuse himself.
Jeremy Peacock will again forego double-bubble cash jobs to play a valuable role as an all-rounder, while Ali Khan will look to replicate the 11 hours of sleep he banked last Friday night.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Luca Van Der Sluys
Luca has recently joined ‘Bear Sticker Bat Club.’ BSBC is a collection of MUCCers who have added a sticker of a bear drinking a coffee to their bat. One member hit a six last week, and credited the bear, so don’t be surprised if Luca does the same thing. Moreover, Luca was keen to let teammates know that he got his Birkenstocks refurbished during the week, so expect him to come into the game comfortable and ready to perform.
Men’s Third XI
Four remarkable inclusions headline a bumper Third XI team, set to dismantle a congregation of Saints at Ian Johnson Oval over the next fortnight. They are, in PlayHQ team sheet order:
Connor Hastings: Batsman extraordinaire, Hasto can beat mid on’s left-hand with a straight drive, and upsize your meal. He even served club volunteer Glenn Beard at Northcote McDonald’s during the week. He also likes crows.
Janak Prakash: International cricketer, best dancer at the club and owner of a mean goatee, Janak will play as a batter as a finalises his return from injury. Get yourself an all-rounder who can break dance, and break bowlers’ hearts.
Eddie Steele: Fresh from the plane, Eddie returned from the UK this week, with a peroxide rinse for the ages. Eddie will take the gloves in his return as a Student, and add his fair share of decibels from behind the stumps.
Hunter Kremer-Slevin: Scotty will curl the new ball away from the top order. Then he will curl the ageing ball away from the middle order. After that, he will curl the old ball away from the tail. He will not be stopped, maybe ever. Red ball, too, the edges behind will carry all day.
Elsewhere, captain Stevenson has spent the afternoon catching a 4k reimagined version of Seven Samurai at The Astor, so there’s some context to any daring field positions, bowling changes, or batting order decisions he might make.
PLAYER TO WATCH: ********
That might be how he is listed on PlayHQ, but there’s no hiding here @Hugo Bienvenu. Although he has spent large parts of this week conducting strength and flexibility testing for the club’s fast bowlers, Hugo will dial into his own skillset as a batter this week, his plundering style likely to deposit 156g of leather onto Fitzroy Street. If the match enters a lull, Hugo is also great value to talk movies.
Men’s Fourth XI
Their first outing at PP3 for the year, the Fourth XI welcome ‘Lefty’ into the side. Torren Arthur might be making a charge through the ranks for club nice guy, but he also loves charging through batting orders (and national parks as a national orienteering champion).
As it relates to dismantling the opposition, it was Tom Uhr-Henry who did it last week before rain intervened, his nagging line and length likely to pose a whole host of problems with a red ball over the next fortnight.
Flush with all-rounders as well, the Fourth XI can look to the likes of Little Cohuna and Tharindu Perera to offer plenty with bat and ball as they look to take the points off the Saints.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Hayden Lim
As it relates to club nice guys, they don’t come much nicer than Limmy. Also coaching in the Women’s program, it’s a big weekend for Limmy, but his first priority will be gloving them cleanly and making big runs on Saturday.