In This Issue:
Next weekend's matches
Match reports
Congrats Cassie
Subs & selection
Cricket literati
Training on Friday


NEXT WEEKEND:

Firsts v Sacred Heart at Herring Res, Domain Rd, S.Yarra (2K, K2), Sunday 1pm
Seconds v Canterbury at Straw Field #1, Saturday 1pm
Thirds v Barnawartha North at Straw Field #2, Saturday 1pm

U14A: v Greenvale at Straw Field #1, Saturday 8.30am
U14E: v Pascoe Vale Central at Straw Field #2, Saturday 8.30am
U12B: v Pascoe Vale Central at Oak Park Swim Centre #2, Pascoe Vale Rd (16 H7), Sat 8.20am
U12E: v Haig Amateurs at Parker Res, Keady St, Coburg Nth (17 J7), Saturday 8.20am
U10: v Flemington at Walter St Reserve, Ascot Vale (28 D10), Friday 5pm

MATCH REPORTS

A weekend of tight finishes, but only one win and a tie to show for it.

Firsts: Carnegie 153 d Reds 143 & 3-70
As the supreme court said to al gore " close but sod off who do you think you are" reigning premiers carnegie shy 1 or 2 but still pretty strong with sutah the most sylish axemurderer since t bundy et al beat the reds on the home of cricket in a thriller by 1 wicket, our second such loss on this ground this year and our only close calls so far. 6 tosses all losses, 6 matches all losses for poor scores but 1 draw rained.

On a road batsmen getting the hang of the noble art again showed improvement which is good but 280 pitch 143 runs, they'll be getting 220-250 on such pitches against these

Steady, handy bowlers soon enough and we'll be winning most games. In the mean time funk got a vote with 28 to show not a whole lot were scored, but good innings funk whos had some good time in the middle of late, murph, Darcy (2nd inns well done - on the road again), rogo, keiren, maurice all had fairly handy knocks. Bowling actually looked top class again at times, adi and troy are street fighters with 20 overs in their legs and are the backbone, Rogo bowled very well indeed on a dead pitch in his old school, magilla style, Kringsy cleaned up tail, hard to get away, very handy back up to say the least, back to having best attack around after shaky start , fielding great (one catch a bit sad, troy, rogo brilliant.)

in case you cant tell i did not sleep a wink last night due to p brain up stairs neighbor and must spend the day continuously typing and taking benzardrine blend 43 to stay awake. See ya tamorra champs

(The Firsts are in last place and not sleeping well)

Seconds: Emmanuel 152 d Reds 93

Our first game on Cordner for the year, and it was hot and we were playing the Krushers: two factors that have always appealed to the ageing REDS.
Trying opponents in difficult conditions often bring out the best (or is it the worst) in certain players - are you there Travis - you talking to me - one day a real bowler will come along and wash all the scum out of the Park - how old are you - you talking to me?
Does Sandeep really know what he is doing getting a job as a Taxi driver?

And so it was: REDS lose the toss (4th time in 2 seasons) and are asked to enjoy the outfield, with a bowler down. The new ball can be a sinister object if the bowler possesses that sinister streak when it comes to batsmen, and aren't the REDS lucky to have in their fold just this sort of bowler, in fact a couple, who operate on the three principles of "Fast" bowling -Pace - Pain - Pleasure.

The Krushers top order was soon reduced to 4/35 by Travis Bickle and Radio Roberts, with the senior partner hogging the wickets on the back of good work at the other end and still arguing the symbiotic nature of thick and fat. This great start soon petered out as their middle order batsman(1) decided it was best to charge and hit straight- simple but effective - which allowed the Krushers back into the game with a 95 run partnership. Once this was broken by Sandeep who bowled a fantastic 15 overs with very little luck, the tail just vanished when Amit revealed a hidden golden arm to take 3/1 off 8 balls.

Krushers all out for 152 with one player making 78 in a 95 run partnership! And they are the top side in this division. Special mention to Bruce who became our 5th gloveman in 6 games and showed a clean pair of hands and a not so clean verbal approach to the job (Jim and Maurice have invited him into that special faction). With 19 overs left on the first day REDS batted out very well against some good challenging bowling to finish 1/18.

The second week was just as hot as the first, but with some REDS still recovering from Haggas' wedding of the day and night before and the love of Jesus showered upon those present by Father Wahid Raid - redemption seemed close at hand.
Two balls later, Deadly was back under the trees, and was soon joined by Clarkie - REDS 3/25.

Then the best of the day with Paul and Sandeep showing the team how to bat with a solid partnership that took us through one and a half sessions - good running and stroke play had the Krusher worried with the REDS 3/63 in sight of tea and some tired bowlers. With this, both batsmen lost their wicket in the space of two overs, and REDS were taken to tea by Travis and the Doc at 5/83 - half way there with half the side to come. Sounds good.

After a couple of post tea overs, reality set in with the return of their opening bowler to the crease - the last REDS fell for 10 runs - all out 93. Krushers on top, but REDS still in the 4, and the leafy eastern suburbs family values aspirational Canterbury to come in one final game before the break.

If the REDS can bat with the same application as we bowl and field, this division is wide open and for the taking! (Apologies if this has the ring of Rumsfeld to it!).

The Doc.

Thirds: Reds 127 & 1-19 tied Sacred Heart 127 & 88

Resuming at 2-40, the day began full of intrigue. Would accurate left-arm spinner Jayakody be called? Would he run through us with his testing repertoire of leggies, offies and quicker balls? The answers of course being no and sort-of. We lost Rob early, but Ravi (13) and Varun (25) hit merrily against the medium pacers while Calypso (24) stonewalled Jayakody. At 4-91 we were looking good. Then Jayakody bowled Calypso behind his pads with a quicker ball, Varun and Scorge followed quickly and at 7-103 the game was wide open. Trots and the Rickster batted very sensibly to get us to 7-119 and the game had swung back our way. Then Trots smashed a short ball into the covers, we rose to celebrate a four, but Sacred Heart's captain got in the way and held a pressure catch. Graham hit two lovely back foot drives, we felt good, then Jayakody picked up the Rickster at short leg - 9-125. Paulie survived a tense four balls, Graham's glance beat fine leg's dive for a two -- scores level! Jayakody to Paulie again -- a sweep found square leg in the way -- no run. Then the next ball jumped off a length, Paulie popped it up and we had to settle for a frustrating tie. We ripped into Sacred Heart in the second innings, but despite very good spells from Ravi (4-23), Graham (2-14) and the Rickster (3-3) time was against us and we had just three overs to bat again. (The Thirds are 6th)

U14A: Kensington-Reds 8-cc-71 d Merlynston-Hadfield 7-cc-64

This was a tough match against our traditional rivals (tied grand final in U12A 2002/3). We batted first and posted a disappointing total of 71. After a solid first ten overs by openers Ewan (25) and Cassie (19) we failed to capitilize and finished with 8/71 off 25. Main sin was to forget that singles
win matches. We must pay tribute to some very tight bowling by Hadfield. In the field we were a different team- we showed a very positive attitude and great determination to defend a meagre total. The bowling and fielding was superb. All catches were taken and all bowlers bowled good line and length. Highlights were first gamer Chris Scott 0/3 off 2, Tom Reilly (2-11 off 4), Ewan (2-6 off 4), Cassie (1-8 off 4), a crucial maiden by James Deveney, and a brilliant 2 wicket last over by Tom Ward to seal the match. (The U14As are on top.)

U14E: Taylors Lakes 4-cc-128 d Kensington-Reds 41

On a bumpy windswept school oval, top side Taylors Lakes smacked 28 off our first four overs. We fought back well to make it 4-67 after 16, thanks to good bowling from Hugo Everist (2-10 off 4 overs) well supported by Tom O'Brien (2 wickets), Daniel Irving and Max Grant. Too many short balls in the last nine overs saw them get away again to finish 4-128. We started our reply aggressively, Daminh Bui (5) and Hugo (7) playing their shots and pinching singles. But Taylors Lakes kept the ball up and held their catches, and we crashed from 1-17 to 9-31 before Lewis Carson (7*), who batted very soundly at no.5, and Max Grant (2) added 10 for the final wicket. A tough game against an impressive team who could easily play two grades higher. (The U14E's are 7th)

U12B: West Coburg 5-cc-156 d Reds 8-cc-92

The U12B team played second placed West Coburg and bowled first on a pitch that may have proved difficult for the batting team but was also hard on us due to the slippery run-ups. We made a bit of a mess of it with some poor bowling and worse fielding that allowed the opposition to score an impressive 5 for 156. The bowling honours were shared between Marcus 1/5, Tom 1/8, Curtis 1/9 and Fergus 1/17 with a great direct hit run-out from Marcus the other wicket.

Our run chase started badly with early wickets seeing us tumble to 4 for 28 and we were not likely to get the large target despite wonderful batting efforts from Sam Ward 25no and Ruairi Cleary 23 (his highest score). These two showed great determination and skill in a 33 run partnership which was followed by good efforts from Jack (9) and Marcus (7). We finished 64 runs short on 8 for 92.
A much better effort is required this week against top side Pascoe Vale who just beat us in the grading games. (The U12B's are 4th)

U12E: Brunswick 5-cc-72 d Reds 8-cc-69

The U12E's fell agonisingly short by three runs. We had plenty of good bowling efforts with Rory 1-2, Conor 1-4, Anthony 1-9 off 3, Mitchell 1-8 off 3, George 1-6, and Max a very miserly 0-2 off 3. But our run chase never quite got going, and despite good efforts from Max 13*, Conor 7, Seb 7 and Anthony 7, we came up just short in a game that on previous form we should have won. (The U12E's are 4th)

U10: West Coburg 4-cc-105 d Reds 7-cc-64

No report received. Rumours of more big hitting from Nicky Phillips and a good knock from Declan Reilly.

CONGRATS CASSIE -- VICE-CAPT OF VIC UNDER-15 SIDE!

Congratulations to Cassie Brock on being selected in the Victorian girls under 15 team - and better still on being made vice-captain of the team. Cassie is one of our most enthusiastic and hardest working U14 players and it is a great reward for her efforts. Well done Cassie and good luck in January.

SUBS

Several senior players are still unfinancial. The club has a second payment of $3150 to make this month for ground rental, and we need all subs in fast. If you haven't paid yet, please bring your money to training immediately or you will be first to miss out if we have an excess of players as expected this round. If you have started with the club mid-season, your subs are reduced pro-rata. Season's subs are: Seniors $210, First-year players & unwaged $160, Juniors $140, Under-10s $100.

CRICKET LITERATI

Two cultural highlights coming up:

Wed Dec 15 -- 6pm -- rushing straight in from training at Arden St, Reds cricket speculator Nick Whittock launches his book of new ball poetics "Covers" at the Vic Writers Centre, 1st floor, Nicholas Building, 37 Swanston St.

FANCY A NIGHT OUT

This week until Saturday -- 8pm each night -- Carlton Courthouse, 349 Drummond St -- Barnawartha's Scott Hatcher invites all Reds to his new play "A Horse Named Resurrection".

A 40-something suburban cricket club captain contemplates suicide, relationships and the problems of providing ham-free sandwiches for tea to the opposition. Special price of $5 if you mention you're from Reds at the door.

TRAINING ON FRIDAY

... is at Princes Park ... unless you want to jump on the jumping castle at NMFC's Family Day at Arden Street.

Support Care2 Email: 1,400 whales may be killed this year. Take action!

http://www.care2.com/go/z/17954