Round Five

First Century and Some Bonus Points

Round 5 saw Melbourne University’s Premier grade teams take on Footscray Edgewater. The highlight of the round was a superb 130 by 4th XI player Jude Fernando. Comfortable wins by the 3rd and 4th XIs secured vital bonus points leaving both sides a big chance to play 1 Day Finals. Unfortunately the other grades were unable to win.

After a weekend of rain affected wickets, the 1st XI won the toss and batted on what we have come to except at University Oval - a flat road! After a disappointing start where University lost 2 early wickets Scott Sanders and Brett Murphy put on a good partnership of 70. With Sanders falling for 60, the rate slowed again until Nick Williams came together with Murphy to get University to a competitive total of 208. Murphy was back to his reliable best and batted through the innings for 74 not out.

A good start with the ball was crucial to defend 208 on a good wicket and fast outfield. 4 overs in and 0 wickets for 58 wasn’t that good start University where after. From here the Dogs did it easily and chased down the score with 16 overs to spare and 8 wickets in hand. 

Although a disappointing end to the one day start, the 100 over format will suit the 1st XI team better and some encouraging signs through the first month of the season hold the rest to the season in good shape.

In the 2nd XI we lost the toss and were sent in on a deck that looked like it would do a little early. Unfortunately the pre-innings plan was left in the sheds and instead of accumulation and occupation we found ourselves 5-72 from 15. A partnership of 80 from the returning Nick Elsmore and skipper Pete Murray added some respectability to the scorecard and we finished with 186 and didn't bat out the 50 which was not good enough. We knew that the bowling effort would need to be first class to defend on a quick outfield with a true and fast deck, wonderful for batting.

Tim Rankin and Hugh Van Cuylenburg's opening salvos were very good, and FECC started to bat themselves into a hole allowing the run rate to climb. That said, and to the Dogs' credit, they kept wickets in hand and gave themselves a chance to attack late in the innings, something we denied ourselves that would end up biting us in the proverbial. As a group, the bowling was sound with all contributing. Rankin and Van Cuylenburg produced the best spells, with Rankin producing another hostile, fast and disciplined spell. A cursory glance at the scorecard would suggest in taking 4 wickets that MUCC didn't create many chances. The truth is somewhat removed from this. We dropped 7 (count them…) chances ranging from a half chance early at cover to regulation "gozzers" that Andrew Burridge would take with his eyes closed. Fielding is a selection criteria MUCCers should be reminded…

In all, this is a loss that hurts and has killed our chances to play 1 day finals. That said, we can attack the 2 day stuff with vigour, knowing we have huge amount of upside left in us as a group and there have been some very positive signs from Nick Hutton, Terrence Dixon and Rankin in this opening stanza of the season.

The 3rds lost their third toss in succession and where asked to bowl on a perfect day for cricket. With 8 new players in the side from the team that played round 1, this was a new side that was looking to keep its unbeaten run intact. Steve Carlile picked up where he left off before going overseas having one of the openers caught in slips, not before both slip fielders juggled it between them. But from there FECC looked solid moving to 1-34 with little trouble. Andy Thomas then did what he does, bowling full with lots of swing taking three quick wickets (3-20 off 8) and from there Uni was right on top. Steve Flight came on in his first game for the club and bowled tightly and quick, picking up his first wicket. Sean Kirby showed his ability in the field forcing a direct hit run out and at drinks that visitors were reeling at 6 for 50. MUCC then went for the kill, Matt Doyle (2-11) and Carlile (3-18 off 8)  finished off the tail grabbing two each with FECC bowled out for just 66 in 25 over's.

Pat Halpin and Eben Martin opened up and had the score board ticking over at a good rate early. Martin was unlucky when he got a good one nipping back but it did little to stop Uni chasing down the target as Grant joined Halpin to take the score along to 62. Things went a little wrong from here though as Halpin (31) threw his wicket away and then Uni proceeded to lose 4 for 5 in the space of a couple of over's. Grant steadied the ship and saw the last few runs off to remain unbeaten (17no) and continue his fine start to the year with bat and gloves. Uni passing the score in the 22nd over 5-67 with a handy bonus point. Apart from the minor collapse at the end it was another fantastic effort from the 3rds and especially the bowlers. That makes it 3 from 3 and sees us move into 2nd position entering the two-dayers.

The 4th XI arrived at Tony Dodemaide and were confronted by an amazingly disorganised Footscray Edgewater team. After winning the toss and electing bat MUCC took full toll on the fact that there were just 8 in the field. Promoted to open the batting Dave Gonsalvez made the most of the many gaps by racing to 51 before he was dismissed in just the 12th over with the score on 87. By this stage the opposition had managed to find their full quota of 11 with Merv Hughes 12 year old son Tim being the 11th player. This did not affect Jude Fernando who batted sensationally to score MUCC’s first century of the season. Fernando was the backbone of the innings and made a sensational 130 before he was ran out. His innings included 13 fours and 3 sixes – the first of which brought up his hundred. Young keeper James Graham continued to show good form with the bat scoring an unbeaten 41 which helped the side reach 6 for 291 off its 45 overs.

With the result almost in the bag the main task in the field was to collect the bonus point. Things didn’t start that well with the Bulldogs scoring at a run a ball until Englishman Chris Guy managed to snare a pair of wickets. This combined with a great run out by Jesse Hristovski saw FECC 3 for 40 needing over 7 an over. The fourth wicket proved harder to take. Fortunately skipper Mark Bhattacharyya was able to take a key wicket as the batting power play was called. In the 4 over power play veteran spinners Bhattacharyya and Hamish Bull collected 2 for 3. The rot was well and truly set in now and it was just a matter of time. Lincoln Loi then chipped in with a couple of wickets to have the Bulldogs 9 for 101 when the youngster Tim Hughes arrived at the crease. Unfortunately the umpires requested we ‘go easy on the little fellow’ and the fieldsmen took this to mean drop any catch that comes to me. It was left to James Graham to complete his first stumping for MUCC to finish the innings. Loi finished with 3 for 12, while Guy, Bull (2 for 4 off 5 overs) and Bhattacharyya all collected 2 apiece. In the end the Bulldogs were dismissed for 116 meaning the bonus point was well and truly collected in a super team effort against a disappointing opponent. 

In the 5s MUCC won the toss and batted. The innings started well, scoring at 5 an over for the first few before wickets started falling and so did the scoring rate. We ended up making 99 all out in the final over of a shortened 40 over per side match. Matt Kiely the clear standout making a well judged 54 before getting out near the end trying to accelerate the run rate. The only other batsman to make double figures on a slow and variable pitch was Scott Leggett with a very hard fought 14 before getting run out.

Bowlers started well, with Adam Pustola 2/17 off his 8 overs the standout, and with the opposition 3/30 we were in the hunt. However, a strong partnership from Burnley's two key batsmen got them home with 10 overs to spare. Burnley chose to bat on and finished at 4/154 with another batsmen retired hurt with a torn hamstring. Other bowling and fielding highlights were Jaryd Crysp's first MUCC wicket, Liam Alexander bowling 8 overs of tight but unrewarded off spin and a stunning high catch by Matt Kiely at first slip.

The VWCA XI had a bye in the first round of the Twenty20 Competition.