So the last time I posted I had just played against Beaumauris and we had had a convincing win. Next up were Spotswood, a team struggling towards the lower end of the table. Unfortunately they won the toss and decided to bat first on a hot day. Thankfully our bowling attack was far too strong for them and they were bowled out for 90 with yours truly getting 5/29! We had passed that total easily in the first day. The next week we came back and piled on the runs to end up on 320ish all out, helped by some excellent lower ordering batting! I myself made 48, but our number 9 and 10 both made very entertaining sixties!
Over the next few weeks I managed to get some work in a warehouse through some people at the cricket club. This involved taking magnetic fly screens out of one box branded as 'Buzz Off' and putting them in boxes branded as 'Mozzie Free'.
The next week the seconds were due to play against Airport West. Unfortunately they decided to forfeit the match!! This did however mean that we came top of the ladder and were guaranteed a home semi final. Luckily for me I received a call up to the 1s for that week so I still had some cricket on. The day kicked off with me being presented with my baggy blue ( this is a tradition at australian clubs for people playing their first game for the ones). On a stiflingly hot day we were put out to field . Despite having the opposition nearly down and out at 7/140 they recovered to 9/270 dec. I had a reasonable performance with the ball, bowling 15 overs 1/40 with two drops in the corded! Unfortunately we didn't do so well when we went out to bat and were two down at the end of play on the first day!!
During the following week I was fortunate enough to go to the Autralian Grand Prix on the Friday practice session! This was an amazing experience as I have never been to a formula 1 before. The noise those machines is incredible and I was suffering until some kind woman offered me some ear plugs!! Whilst I was here I was lucky enough to meet one of my friends dad, Mark Wilkin, who is responsible for producing the BBCs coverage of the formula 1. He kindly showed me around the BBC studios, which was a very eye opening experience!
The second week at Airport West was one to forget as we got bowled out for less than the follow on target! I contributed a meagre 1* at number 11 before my partner was out. Things didn't get much better second time round and I was one wicket away from having to bat twice in a day at number 11!
The following week I was lucky enough to catch both a rugby union game, where the Rebels lost to the Reds, and also a rugby league game, where Storm beat the Bulldogs.
Now it came down to the semi final. This saw us face up against Old Mentonians. a team we hadn't faced during the home and away season. This was a two day game played on consecutive days over one weekend. Sent in to bat first we made several good starts but unfortunately lost regular wickets and struggled to a score of 183 off 80 overs. Coming back the next day looking to make amends for our batting we started brightly and at one stage had the opposition 7/80. However a few strong partnerships saw them get to the final over with one wicket in hand requiring just 3 to win. This created some unbearable tension and saw a made dash single with a near run out to seal the game for the oppo. Needless to say this was pretty devastating for the team who had dominated the league for the whole season! Hopefully next year they will be able to go one further and being back a flag!!
This saw the end of my cricket in Australia and the next two weeks saw me relaxing enjoying the sites before heading on to Adelaide and the East coast!!
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