OVER 60s STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS, TAMWORTH 21-26 NOVEMBER 2021 (David Wells SHCC President)
Rain, two matches, two losses then more rain. The 2021 State Championship ended early for the SHCC a damp squib.
With the weather dominating from the outset and initial matches compressed to T20 and relocated to bush synthetic grounds, our team never really found their feet.
The first match at Nemingha Oval against old foes ACT-Monaro saw SHCC bat and make a great start with openers Dave Talbert and Glyn Chivers attaining not out scores. With the first wicket at 62 runs (13th over) and Captain Peter Jensen making 30 not out our total of 7/129 looked unassailable.
Wrong! ACTs free hitting Tom Purcell - 28 runs from 13 deliveries - plus Captain M.
Campbell’s retirement score saw ACT looming in the 18th over and passing the SHCC total in a nail-biter on the final ball. While SHCC bowled reasonably tightly most of the time a lack of wickets taken and six ACT innings sixes to our three really spelled the difference between the two sides.
ACT-Monaro 5/130 def SHCC 7/129
G Lewis 1/1, M. Rowles 1/22, J. Lindsay 1/24. P. Jensen 30* G. Chivers 27* D. Talbert 26*
After an unusually dry night, the following morning dawned sunny with the news we would be playing 50km to the West at Manilla beside a fast-flowing Namoi River. Our rivals Port Jackson (Red) were sent in and it was immediately obvious conditions were very heavy. PJs toiled hard for runs with only Peter O’Reilly retiring on 25 while others came and went. A flurry of skied balls off Paul Cullen’s brilliant left-arm around deliveries saw no less than six PJ wickets fall for 20 runs. The innings ended on the final ball - 10/89.
SHCC similarly struggled making runs and pressure steadily built with both a slow run per over rate and wickets falling regularly. A mere 2/27 runs after 10 overs heightened the challenge. Mark Preddey accelerated the scoring giving us hope momentarily but unfortunate run outs and other wickets at crucial moments continued to dog the chase. In the end we could only muster 81 runs.
Port Jackson (Red) 10/89 def SHCC 10/81
D Talbert 22*, M Preddey 12. P. Cullen 6/10, M. Preddey 2/20, R van Beek 1/7
Paul Cullen’s exceptional 6 wickets for 10 runs (3 overs) is thought to be a wicket taking record in Over 60s T20 competition. The septuagenarian was cheered off the field by team-mates after his extraordinary performance.
