to Tatts Cricket Club Match Reports

Defending Narrabri first grade premiers Tatts crushed the minor premiers, RSL last Saturday to win a history making five straight first grade cricket crowns in what proved to be a disastrous grand final day for the RSL team. Tatts big game experience came to the fore as their bowler’s exerted tremendous pressure on the RSL batting line-up. RSL won the toss and had first use of a dry wicket protected from the rain the previous night by the covers. The toss would be the only joy for the RSL side as Daniel Lowder 1/10 from 6 overs and Nathan Ford 2/8 from 9 overs claimed the early wickets of Tony Dampney (3), Mick Davis (9) and danger-man Jim Pitman for an uncharacteristic duck to leave the minor premiers reeling at 3/15 in the 11th over. Russell Wood then followed up the work of his team-mates to apply even more pressure and dismiss Allan Munroe (9) and Mick Spalding (10). The dismissal of Munroe came about with a brilliant slips catch by rugby convert, Matt Panton. RSL captain Jason Trindall shared a brief but promising partnership with Tom Williams to take the score to 56 before he became Panton’s first wicket when he picked out the trusty hands of Nathan Ford on the deep mid wicket fence. RSL’s day of woe didn’t get any better as the Tatts fielding and bowling kept the pressure on to dismiss the remaining batsmen for a season low score of 71 for the RSL team. Matt Panton bowled with good variation to record the figures of 3/5 from 6.1 overs of off spin while his spinning partner Russell Wood also bowled well to return 2/17 from 9 overs. Neil Hatton also played his part in the RSL collapse by running out Rod Tomlinson with a direct hit. Tatts captain Tony Meppem praised the high standard of fielding and tight bowling as the catalyst for the RSL collapse. Meppem gave his previously out of form openers Craig Gleeson and Rod Kirk different instructions with Gleeson to be more aggressive and Kirk to provide the anchor role. The openers performed their roles to perfection as Gleeson slaughtered the RSL attack to belt 55 runs from only 36 balls in a display that saw three sixes and four fours struck as victory was achieved in only 13 overs with out the loss of a wicket. Gleeson was a deserving winner of the Man of the match medal for the grand final after a sharp display in the field and a devastating batting display. Tatts captain Tony Meppem later accepted the Col Cameron First Grade shield from association Treasurer Tony Longworth after the second grade grand final at No. 3 Oval and commiserated with his opposition on what had been one of those day’s they would rather forget.

Tatts continued their domination of Commercials in finals matches last Saturday with a resounding victory over their historical arch rivals in the final of the Narrabri & District Cricket Association first grade competition. Tatts had beaten their rivals for the last four years in a row in tight grand final matches and hadn’t beaten them all season in the round robin matches. Tatts began the day on the right note by winning the toss and choosing to bat first. The openers again went cheaply when John Manchee had Rod Kirk caught and then bowled Craig Gleeson with the score not yet past 15. Captain Tony Meppem (29) helped steady the innings with partnerships of 17 with Greg Noonan (12) and 43 with Nathan Ford (33). Once again Tatts looked to Daniel Lowder to set a competitive total and the man they call “Mr. March” didn’t fail to live up to expectations. Lowder scored two valuable fifties in last years finals series and again contributed 58 runs in an innings that included three sixes. Lowder and Nathan Ford pushed the run rate up with some lusty hitting before Bill Constable gained some revenge for earlier punishment by bowling Ford. Russell Wood (17) and Josh Booby 20* showed signs of their past form to set Commercials the demanding target of 196 to tie. The Tatts innings was remarkable in that they were 5/81 with 16 overs remaining and that 10 sixes were struck into the Collin’s Park playground.

The Commercials innings didn’t begin well when run machine, Adrian Schwager was caught at cover by Russell Wood for 8 off the bowling of Nathan Ford with the score on 9. Jeff Brummell followed shortly after when he was bowled by Ford for 9. Ford then dismissed Rob Butler when Nathan McGinnity took a screamer of a catch behind square off the very next ball. Commercials were now reeling at 3/28. Ken Campbell then joined Sid Brummell to attempt a rescue mission however he only succeeded in becoming Ford’s 4th victim when he was trapped in front. Commercials then lost Sid Brummell to take the score to 5/59 and the Commercials big match jinx against Tatts looked likely to be cemented in place for another year. Greg Cameron (28) and Bill Constable (17) looked dangerous for a short time however the result never looked in doubt as Tatt’s forced the required run rate up with excellent fielding by Gleeson and McGinnity in particular. The Commercials innings was given its last rights when John Madden was caught by Craig Gleeson off the bowling of Nathan McGinnity with the score on 135. Tatts star with the ball was Nathan Ford with 9 overs 4/9 while Russell Wood 9 overs 1/23 also did his job well.

At No 2 oval Tatts continued their return to form with a convincing 43 run victory over RSL. Tatts batted first and as usual lost early wickets with Rod Kirk (0) and Craig Gleeson (2) dismissed with the score not yet past 4. Matt Panton (4) and Josh Booby (1) continued the trend to see Tatts in the familiar territory of 4/19. Tatts captain Tony Meppem (48) finally found a willing partner in Neil Hatton (32) and the pair took the score to 84 before Hatton was caught off the bowling of Jim Pitman. Meppem followed with the score on 101 and Greg Noonan 34* and Paul Hulbert 18* showed they had no problems with form to post quick runs at the end of the innings on a slow pitch that was proving difficult to score on. The pair took the total to 6/144 and for the first time in a number of weeks Tatts batted out their overs.  Noonan hadn’t finished his contribution to the game when he bowled nine overs straight to claim 5/31 and wreck the RSL innings and restrict them to 9/101 after their 45 overs. Noonan received good support from Nathan Ford 2/20, Daniel Lowder 0/5 from 6 overs and Russell Wood 9 overs 0/15. RSL’s batting failed to fire with Tony Dampney 33 and Vince Woodgate 15* showing good form. This weeks preliminary finals will see Commercials and Tatts play each other at No 1 oval.

Commercial’s 1st grade cricket side took back the lead of the Palmerframe Narrabri and District Cricket Association first grade competition last Saturday after skipper Ken Campbell steered his side to victory over arch rivals Tatts. Campbell claimed 3/25 from nine overs with the ball and scored an unbeaten half-century in his team’s run chase. Tatts won the toss and batted first with pinch-hitters Russell Wood and Daniel Lowder elevated up to the opening position. Unfortunately for Tatts both were dismissed before 10 runs had been scored. Rod Kirk was next to go for 11 before Tony Meppem (12) and Craig Gleeson (54) put on 40 for the fourth wicket before Adrian Schwager bowled Meppem. Gleeson continued to strike the ball powerfully until he holed out down the ground off the bowling of Lachlan Cameron. Tatts lost Neil Hatton (8) and Paul Hulbert (8) before Tim Balcombe (20), Josh Booby (37) and Brad Higgins (21) all scored well to post Commercial’s a formidable target of 194 for victory.

The Commercial’s chase started in quick fashion as Jeff Brummell (29) and Adrian Schwager (16) posted 44 before Craig Gleeson bowled Schwager in the 10th over. Two runs later Daniel Lowder bowled Jeff Brummell. Sid Brummell (15) and Greg Cameron (31) pushed the score up to 78 before Brummell was well caught off the bowling of Russell Wood. Commercial’s lost another wicket when Lachlan Cameron was trapped LBW by Greg Noonan without scoring. A short while later the Tatts spirits were high as Greg Cameron was caught behind with Commercial’s run chase in trouble at 5/98 in the 24th over. Ken Campbell 52* and Bill Constable 34 played vital innings to guide their side to victory with three overs to spare.

The RSL first grade cricket side proved too strong for competition front-runners, Tatts at Collin’s Park on Saturday in the local Palmerframe cricket competition. In the second week of a two day game RSL resumed their innings at 2/113 with Jim Pitman on 48 and Tony Dampney on 34. The RSL pair again played sensible cricket to increase the run rate up before Pitman was trapped in front by Greg Noonan for 64. Tom Williams joined Dampney and immediately lifted the scoring rate as wickets began to fall around him to an inspiring Greg Noonan spell that returned figures of 5/67. Williams hit the ball very well when it was short and made the Tatts attack pay for bowling too short on a good batting wicket to top score with 68 not out as his side eventually ended their 80 overs at 9/262. Tatts resumed their innings at 5/180 needing another 82 for victory with five wickets in hand and 40 overs to achieve their target. The Tatts batting depth failed to surface on this occasion as they lost regular wickets to be bowled out for 241 with 16 overs of play left for the day. Tatts innings was highlighted by a fine innings of 81 by Rod Kirk and an equally impressive 59 for Matt Panton. RSL showed a keen fighting spirit to fight back and claim victory with Jason Trindall bowling very well to claim the figures of 4/35 while Jim Pitman continued his great season to help out with 3/44.

Tatts took on Namoi Bowling Club on Hogan Oval. Tatts had first use of a flat pitch and fast outfield and quickly had the NBC bowlers on the back foot as Craig Gleeson and Rod Kirk struck boundaries regularly to post 45 runs in only 7 overs before Kirk tried to pull a bowl and was well caught by Mick Dowdell for 20. Paul Hulbert was next to go as Matt Finlay bowled him for 2 with the score on 51. Tatts then had a mini collapse to lose Craig Gleeson (29) and Tony Meppem (1) with the score on 51. Matt Panton (49) and Neil Hatton came to their sides rescue to push the total along to 103 in the 19th over before Bruce Bushby bowled Hatton. Panton departed shortly after and it was left to Nathan McGinnity (44) and Josh Booby to push their side up to the 200 mark. The departure of Booby in the 39th over gave Tatts veteran Russell Wood his chance to pound the NBC attack for what proved to be 6 overs of pain for the bowlers. Wood struck 6 fours and 1 six in his short stay at the crease with the last over being the most fruitful as he struck 24 runs from the bowling of Mark Page. The Tatts batting depth had again come to the rescue with the team at one point struggling at 4/57 only to end their 45 overs at a massive 9/266.

The NBC began poorly with Daniel Lowder bowling with good pace and direction to claim the first four wickets in his first spell for only 20 runs. Bowling Club’s run chase was always going to be difficult after losing big hitting Jason Duff to a an earlier fielding mishap in the last over of the Tatts innings. Despite the loss of early wickets Bruce Bushby (43) and Matt Finlay again comprised the backbone of their side’s innings as they put some respectability into the score to help their side to be all out for 160 in the 37th over. Tatts best bowlers were Daniel Lowder 5/20 and Russell Wood 2/24.

In the other PalmerFrame first grade match Tatts took on Namoi Bowling Club at No 3 oval. Tatts won the toss and started with a revised batting order after some late appearances by regular top order players (i.e. some slackarses turned up late!). The ever-reliable Paul Hulbert relished the opportunity to open the innings and he continued his good form of the week before to score 45 in quick time. Tony Meppem (27) and Neil Hatton (38) controlled the game well to have Tatts cruising along at 2/132 in only the 26th over. Mark Page then bowled a very eventful over as he dismissed Meppem and Josh Booby (0) and Rod Kirk managed to commit the cardinal cricketing sin of being run out for a duck off a no ball. The Tatts batting depth then came to the rescue as Russell Wood (22), Daniel Lowder (13), Greg Noonan (26), Matt Panton (23*) and No 11 Craig Gleeson 13* pushed the score up to an imposing 246 after 45 overs. The Namoi Bowling Club run chase got off to a bad start despite a bout of dropsy in the Tatts slips. Daniel Lowder bowled with good pace to claim 3/29 to instigate a NBC collapse and Matt Panton found form to claim season best figures of 4/17. Only Steven Page (24) and Dean Pattison (36) showed any resistance as Bowling club were dismissed in the 32nd over for just 114. The win and the Commercials loss has seen Tatts jump past Commercials to lead the competition.

Commercials 1st grade cricket team again got the upper hand over their arch rivals, Tatts in their Palmerframe Narrabri 1st grade cricket competition match at Hogan Oval last Saturday. Commercials batted first on an excellent batting wicket and fast outfield with openers Adrian Schwager and Jeff Brummell taking advantage of some poor Tatts fielding to post 91 runs before the aggressive Brummell was trapped in front of the wickets by Russell Wood for 47. Schwager then continued his innings with Sid Brummell (15), Greg Cameron (19) and Bill Constable 41* before he was tragically caught at fine leg by Greg Noonan for 92. Schwager struck the ball very well with a feature of his innings being a number of sweetly timed off drives to the boundary. Commercials ended their innings at 5/248 to set Tatts a massive run chase.

Tatts openers Rod Kirk and Craig Gleeson were off to another flying start with 66 runs on the board after only 9 overs. Craig Gleeson was the first to fall when Andrew Cory trapped him in front for 34. Kirk (41) and Paul Hulbert then combined briefly to take the score to 97 when Kirk was also trapped in front by David Whan. Tony Meppem then joined Hulbert and the pair looked to have steered their side into a winning situation as Hulbert in particular belted the ball to all parts of the field and they pushed the total to 180 at the 30 over drinks break. Tatts needed another 68 runs with 15 overs still to be bowled however, Meppem was dismissed for 30 shortly after drinks and Hulbert was also dismissed for a well made 77 with the score on 192. Commercials introduced Bill Constable he capped off a top match to mop up the remaining batsmen to claim 5/20 and get his side home with just 7 runs to spare.

Meppem hits first ton of season.

Tatt’s veteran Tony Meppem turned back the clock by scoring his first century in the Palmerframe Narrabri 1^st Grade cricket competition last Saturday against Namoi Bowling Club on Leitch Oval. Meppem opened the batting for his side in the first day of a two-day match and returned to some form of a few years ago to post 126 not out in his sides total of 8/216. Neil Hatton also showed glimpses of form to score 30 runs and assist his captain. Namoi Bowling Clubs best bowler was Bruce Bushby who bowled his leg-spinners well but without luck. Bowling Club took their turn at the crease only to be routed by Tatts to be all out for 115 with Bushby capping a fine game with 49*. In a day out for the older brigade Russell Wood lead the Tatts wicket takers with 3/17. Tatts have secured first innings points and will be attempting to bat on and build a big lead to attempt to bowl their opponents out again four an outright victory.

2nd Grade

ROUND ONE: With the aid of many phone calls and bar room promptings the first round of the Narrabri District Cricket Associations Sunday social competition was completed last Sunday. The Association received wide support for the social competition format that will see eight sides split into two pools of four sides with each side in the pool to play each other once. The leading side in each pool will then play off for the as yet un-named Challenge Cup in early March next year. Due to a dire need to space games at recuperative intervals of about six weeks many first time cricketers and some former cricketers will have the regular physio visits needed to be able to raise the arm above bar height in the next round.

Tatts Legends with an average age of close to 45 took on the Golf Club Whackers at Leitch Oval in a close encounterthat saw the Tatts boys win the toss and have no hesitation in giving The Golfies first use of the 100 degree heat and howling northerly while the majority of their side argued over who was 12th man and not required to move from the esky. Mark Campbell continued his former domination of Tony Meppem when he had him caught off his off spinners early on. Tatts relied on current second grade captain and true legend Wayne Knight (45), club President Steve Maher (19), Big Steve Davison (19) and Graham Thomas (17) to post a respectable 146 from 30 overs. The greenkeepers Cameron Lennox 2/12 and Mark Campbell 2/15 were Golf Clubs leading wicket takers. In the run chase Adam Taylor (12) Shane Kirk (15) got their side off to a good start and Jamie Anderson (27) looked in good form until he was unluckily caught by a current Tatts first grader who normally features at the top of the dropped catches lists. The Golfie challenge fell away quickly when John Cavallaro was brought on and claimed three wickets with his seamers. It was rumoured that Golf Pro Brad Baker found a few muscles he didn’t know he had on Monday morning after his three over spell and extremely short innings with the bat. Brad was disappointed to be the only player so far given out LBW in the four games and vowed revenge on umpire Adam Taylor in the next game.

ROUND TWO: The battle of the old boys at No 2 Oval saw the over 35 Tatt’s Legends take on the Daves from Country Energy. The Tatt’s boys won the toss and batted first. Legends captain Graham Thomas knew there would be some rusty players involved when one of his men picked up 8 sticks to umpire and another hadn’t seen Velcro pad buckles before. Tony Meppem 36* and Steve Maher 21 got a solid start with Maher hampered in his running by a muscle strain. Maher had to battle on as no runners were willing to help the club president out and he was deemed to be still faster than most of the options. Wayne Baker came to the crease with Maher’s departure and after some ferocious swings eventually achieved his goal of hitting one out of the ground. The hit brought up his 30 and he retired. Tatt’s captain, Graham Thomas kept the scoring racing along as he struck a boundary and several of his trademark ones and twos to remain not out on 19. Wayne Sing looked good in his brief stay that yielded a mighty four to square leg. However the rotten luck of Darren Pitt with the bat continued as he became only the second man to be given out LBW in 8 matches despite a protest to the umpire that he hit the bail out of the middle of the bat. Umpire Russell Wood ignored his teammates appeals for a reprieve and the innings finished at 9/169. The “Daves” most successful bowler was Terrance Duncan with 2/21.The “Dave’s” innings commenced after Trevor Druce gave a short but informative lecture on the precise art of scoring cricket matches to his teammates. Dave Britten 43* looked solid and was not perturbed by Darren Pitt steaming in off the long run with 8 slips in his first over. Russell Wood, 3 overs for 2, bowled tightly to slow the scoring while John Rumsby showed he still was the leading leg spinner in town with 3/8 from nearly four overs. Captain Thomas also bowled well with 2 for something (obviously Trevor’s talk didn’t get through to everyone). Warren Kelly smashed a big six. However only Britten could handle the Legends slow attack and the “Dave’s” were dismissed for 111.

ROUND THREE: Jason Barnes’s RSL All Stars took on the Tatts Legends for the right to top pool A. RSL bowled well to have Tatts 3/20 with Rick Fry showing why he is leading the second grade wicket takers with 3/6 from 3 overs. Evergreen Tatts legend Wayne Knight hit the ball sweetly to score 32 in the middle order that included two sixes in a row off Sam Mensah. Bert Evans showed he still had an eye for more than a good fillet with 16 at the tail while Darren Pitt had his team-mates watching with envy as he struck the ball like a top line batsmen to also score well with 14 at No. 10. Tatts were dismissed for 116 in the 28”’ over with Fry and first grade keeper Jade Magner claiming the majority of the wickets with 3/6 and 2/4 respectively. Tatts poor total was never going to pose a problem to an RSL side bursting with first grade talent in Torn Williams, Allan Munroe, Jason Barnes, Jade Magner and Mick Davis. Jade Magner took full advantage of a rare chance to have a bat with 30 well compiled runs at the top of the order. RSL passed the total with the loss of only five wickets with Vince Woodgate 17* Sam Mensah 13* and Allan Munroe 24* all batting well to get their side into next weeks Grand Final. Tatts paid the price of too many dropped catches with one bowler commenting that they may need to put bells on the balls in future matches.