Match Details
Round Round 1
Opposition Ferns
Date 17-Sep-2005 & 24-Sep-2005
Ground Maccabi Park


Match Summary
Result
Kurrajong Gypsies 1st innings all out, 185 runs
Ferns 1st innings 9 wickets, 190 runs


Match Report
The whole world heard Steve Waugh's comments to Herschelle Gibbs during the World Cup: "You've just dropped the world cup". Whilst I would not dare compare any of the Ferns players to Steve Waugh, nor the 3rd Grade MPSECA competition to the world cup but what I will say is that the Gypsies dropped a fuck-load of catches and it cost us the match.



That is not to say that there were no highlights. The Gypsies’ coffers have been significantly boosted with a healthy injection of funds. Most players have found themselves making a deposit for a potentially luxurious end of season trip.



Like some sort of omen we lost the toss and were sent in to bat. The eight Gypsy debutants had barely been given the list of fines before Mark ‘Galvo’ Galvin distinguished himself by firing the skipper Dave ‘Tap’ Colman LBW for 1. Whilst there was some discussion on the merits of the decision, there was none about the automatic fine – one of the fastest on record for a player on debut. The ship was steadied by a patient innings from Jason 'Bruiser' Abbruzzese (37), with some support from the middle order from Anthony 'Batho' Bathurst (28 and thanks for the email reminding everyone about it); Brett 'Brett' Glishannon (25), Ben 'B3' Barnett (22), and Galvo (17no). The Gypsies express limped into the station with a total of 184 all out.



With an hour to play on Day One, and the light fading we saw one of the quickest spells of bowling from Galvo. Too quick for the batsmen, but also for the keeper and the slips who managed to drop 6 catches. Some blamed the freezing temperature; others suggested that they never saw it, which was probably true. Regardless, the Ferns opening pair were terrified. In spite of the dangerous combination of blinding pace, bad light and balls directed at the rib cage the Ferns finished the day at 0-21 and two pairs of brown trousers.



Day Two saw a newly confident Gypsies take to the field. Putting last week’s fielding performance behind them, Galvo (1-41 off 16 overs) continued to fire them in. He was well supported by Bruiser, who ended up with the handsome figures of 4-38 off 14 overs. The Ferns opening pair were dropped at gully on 35 and it looked like the Gypsies were doing their best to give the game away. It was going to take something extra special to lift the Gypsies out of the doldrums, and it was Chinmay who produced a brilliant catch at point to lift the team. I am sure Chinmay will manage to describe the catch to each of us in painful detail throughout the season - I need not say any more.



With the wicket the team lifted. In walked the new Ferns batsman. He took centre as a right handed batsman then just before Bruiser was about to start his run up he realised that he was a left handed batsman. After a quick field readjustment play continued and within an over this tosser was sent back to the sheds. Galvo was desperately unlucky all afternoon, whilst Bruiser kept it tight from his end. Tap made a great decision and brought the man of the moment Chinmay on for a bit of variation. The result was 2 quick wickets to the young man (2-25 off 5 overs) and the Gypsies were holding their heads high. But despite Steve Orman and Steve 'Pricilla, Queen of Moore Park' Bradley offering many valuable pieces of advice to batsmen & umpires, another breakthrough was not found. The Gypsies did their best, but some lose (sic) bowling from Hugh 'Hughie' Ross and David 'Dickie' Tracey resulted in some quick runs to the Ferns. Some tight bowling from Ben Barnett kept the score respectable. At tea the Ferns were looking very comfortable at 3 - 141. After lunch Bruiser was rewarded for his efforts with a handful of wickets and the game was just within reach. This combined with a fine spell from Batho (2-21 off 8 overs) made the game very close. At one stage the Ferns were really under the pump 8-179. However, they managed to avoid fielders and get to 8-184.



Cricket is a numbers game, and with 8 debutants taking the field, winning was always going to be a stretch. Even so, with such a large squad the axe will surely swing this week, probably starting with the skipper. Still, the Swans won so who cares!



GYPSIES 185 lost to FERNS 2 9/190
Kurrajong Gypsies 1st innings
Orman, Stephen 11
Colman, Dave 1
Abbruzzese, Jason 37
Trivedi, Chinmay 8
Gilshenan, Brett 25
Bathurst, Anthony 28
Barnett, Ben 21
Tracey, David 6
Bradley, Steve 6
Galvin, Mark 17*
Ross, Hugh 1
Ferns 1st innings
Galvin, Mark 16 overs, 1 for 43
Bathurst, Anthony 8 overs, 2 for 21
Abbruzzese, Jason 17 overs, 4 for 38
Trivedi, Chinmay 5 overs, 2 for 25
Barnett, Ben 7 overs, 0 for 19
Ross, Hugh 3 overs, 0 for 19
Tracey, David 2 overs, 0 for 16