FIRST XI
Arguably the easiest – if not the quickest – drive in Premier Cricket, the First XI travelled around the bay in order to turn off the heat.
Remarkably, McKenna won the toss. Slightly less surprising, the Frankston wicket was uninspiring at best. Batting first, the Students top order forwent fibonacci in favour of, well, just regular counting as they made 9, 10 and 11 respectively. Happily, the Polish Conundrum went unsolved for another week, as Yaksender went steadily about his work at one end. The number four, whose Premier record beggars belief, made his way to 50 on a very difficult wicket, before unleashing some characteristic off-side brutality to race past 80. An innings described by the skipper as Andrej’s “best ever,” it held the innings together. Joined with cameos by the younger (but not youngest) Hatzaglou (27) and Peacock (29), Uni posted 8/189 at the compulsory closure.
With the ball, perhaps inspired by having met Beef’s date at the innings break, Uni made a hot start. Stafford broke through for the first wicket, before Blake Reed dove almost all the way back to WA to snaffle a superb catch at first slip. Steady wickets (2 for Squid and 3 for Slug) kept the Students in touch, but decent scores of 50, 32 and 29 from the Heat middle order were enough to put them into a winning position. Although Uni took it to the last over, 189 just wasnt quite enough as the Heat got the chocs.
SECOND XI
Back at the home of the Students, all felt right for the Second XI on Saturday morning, save for one thing; the lack of a referee. In his place, the President was willing to suit up and stand at square leg for the batting innings, but Nic Brian would have to wait for the second dig – as Uni bowled first.
At the top, JB was superb. Having enforced SMUCCWUP with aplomb, he quickly found his own rhythm – and the edge of the bat – to get Uni away. While the Students got into their work, the pole vaulters couldn’t quite face theirs, a broken bar and a bruised ego the order of the day on the athletics track. In any case, a reasonably flat wicket was met with a consistent and disciplined bowling performance as Browning (3/40) Barron-Toop (1/37) and UV Index Sing (0/29 off 10) led the charge. Ultimately restricting Frankston to 7/196, it was Uni with the upper hand.
Once again, Larry Emms looked a million bucks at the top of the list. A drop in the ocean though that amount may be for him Mon – Fri, it’s a pleasure to watch on the weekend. His run-a-ball 24 was followed up by (K)nightingale, who made a stylish and impressive 42. Nourished by a plentiful supply of turkey rolls, Floz has found his feet in Oz, and is commanding the crease at the minute. A flurry of wickets handed some momentum to the Heat, quickly extinguished by Horn (18) and Yuvraj Singh (50*). A fine knock from Yuvi, his first half-century at the club came at the perfect time as he steered Uni to victory. Ably supported by Wagon (28 off 25) at the end, the pair were composed and crafty in securing the win.
THIRD XI
It was Barno’s Birthday Bash in the Third XI on the weekend, as the boys went out the back at the Heat Pit.
Bowling first, Gus Molden led the charge to a poor, unsuspecting Heater, thumping into the pads to claim the first of the day. From there it was an even contribution from the bowlers, as captain Ritchie threw the ball around. Even willing to throw it to the left-arm wrist spinner for a couple of sets, it was Harms (3/46) Molden (2/43) and the skipper himself (2/27) who did the majority of the damage. A handy run out as well kept things in check, but the Heat piled on a decent score; their 8/222 going to take some chasing from the Students.
In his own Birthday Bash, Pencil sharpened up and put the boys on his back at the top of the list. Finding his straight drive again, a typically measured, composed and classy knock from Barnes anchored the Uni innings as he compiled 82. Ably supported by Melican (30) and Ritchie (36) Uni made a very good first of the big chase, a swashbuckling 16 from Lim at better than a run-a-ball taking the Students to just short of 200 in the chase.
A disappointing loss, Uni now find themselves in sixth position with one round to go before Christmas.
FOURTH XI
Juggernaut
a huge, powerful, and overwhelming force.
“the juggernaut of public expenditure”
The boys just keep rolling on in the Fourth XI, Shen and his troops utterly dominant once again on the weekend. Maybe it’s got something to do with the amount of bling – specifically earrings – that members of the Fourth XI don?
Batting first at PP3, it was an entirely even contribution that helped the Students to an imposing 4/213. At the top of the list (with bat and ball) Om Patel made 32, Before Epstein (44) and Dias (45) continued to build from a steady platform. Harrison Preiss was again impressive, the left hander part of a proud Uni clique; those who find a way to hit the ball to funny places, as he recorded 55. Toby Rawling took Heed from Joe Root – although he didn’t quite bat left-handed, instead blasting 24 from 13 balls to really knock the wind from the Frankston sails.
Ball in hand, Wizard broke through straight away, as Uni made life hard for the Heat. Uhr-Henry also nabbed an early one, before Abhit Singh got into his crafty leg-spinning work. Coming from a nice height and bowling with good pace (as is tradition for MUCC spinners) Abhit bamboozled the Heat batters for the impressive figures of 3/40. Enough to break the game apart, Frankston were never really in with a chance, ultimately falling 50 runs short of the Students.
WOMEN’S XI
Fresh off their Premiership glory, the MUCC Women’s XI made another statement on the weekend, showing nerves of steel in a close one against Clifton Hill. Now into the longer-form part of the season, Uni were impressive batting first, compiling 6/144 from their 36 overs. Herman (49) and Grant (43) were the standouts with the bat, while a late cameo of 15 from Norrman helped to push the score up towards 150.
With the ball, Tandon broke through early, before a strong 80-run partnership gave Clifton Hill the upper-hand. Unperturbed, all-round stat Cath Grant claimed three in quick succession to pull the rug out from under the opposition, even including a hit-wicket dismissal! Edmonds was also impressive claiming 2/12 and from there it was BAU for the Students, as they took the remaining wickets to win by 3 runs!
