Davo steps up to (almost) save the day!

...Dave had even made his own poster for Saturday's game!...

In a first for a lot of the boys, we had a tie on Saturday, which could quite easily have been a loss if not for the heroics of one man and his new bat. Dave Allen had a bit of a rough call when throwing down his grenades with a shout for LBW, but alas his appeal was turned down. After that, he bacame more Mr Cricket than Mr Allen for the afternoon. He was as active in the field as Dunko's mouth and when he went out to bat man, did he mean business..

Merimbula had hit 192, Bemboka had grassed a couple of chances(unfortunately the two loyal fill in players), and we'd drank 30 litres of water in our 40 overs.

Bemboka went out after chasing the ball around in the dry Bemboka heat for 3 hours. They started poorly when they lost Brett Dunham playing his Tendulkar like wristy flick (maybe you should leave the wristy flick for the bedroom) and Dan Southam early-at 2-17, 192 looked a long way off. Dave Allen and newly crowned batting king Jamie Glen came together and added 60, Duncan O'Reilly added another 50 with Allen before Bemboka were 5-48.

All this time Grimmer was looking like death warmed up due to his strenuous hydration schedule of vitamin B. Would he survive the day in the field?

The lower to middle order didn't have much luck- Dave trying unsuccessfully to run them all out, but Anthony Foord joined Dave Allen 26 in a truly gripping final overs runchase and found himself on strike with scores level.

Ball by ball commentry from Foordy obviously calmed his nerves as he looked pretty relaxed out there. A well flighted ball had Foord's eyes lighting up, but unfortunately his ambition did not match his timing and he lost his off stump. A fair result really between two of the most evenly matched teams in B grade this year, played in oppressive heat.

Cricket (and the sun) the winner on the day.

You could say Grimmer was too, bearing in mind he was still alive(when he left).

Tahtra in Bega this weekend (read up Kenty). series level at 1-1 with them, so hopefully we can finish 2-1 for the season. God knows we need to keep winning! Table below...

Far South Coast Cricket B Grade One Day Competition
Team	P	W	L	D	Total
Pambula	14	12	2	1	78
Wyndham	14	9	5	1	63
Bemboka	14	7	6	2	**54
Eden	14	7	7	1	53
Kameruka	14	7	7	1	*52
Merimbula	12	4	7	4	47
Tathra	14	4	10	1	38
Bega Angledale	14	2	12	1	28

Jimmy the hero! (again)

Joah Bartlett nailed the headline on the back of the BDN...

Christmas came a few weeks late for Jimmy Glen on the weekend. A superb unbeaten ton, not seen since the likes of the great man McLoskey at Kammy this year won the game for the boys in the run chase.

Yeah, there was other stuff happening-Jimmy went for 28 off one over(all is forgiven), Dunko got Chilli first ball, some dude dived across the concrete path feilding for Bega for our entertainment, Bretto starred with the ball, Donnie bowled another of those unplayable yorkers, Maz took a wicket, Dave got himself out again, Mick Motbey was more economical with the ball than Fox with his wallet at the pub, etc etc, but it was Jimmy's day.

Jimmy had all the shots. He hit 16 boundaries (66runs in total), cut like a master, took the quick singles, had a couple of chances, but in the end, the freight train that is Jimmy on a mission ground Bega into the dirt and erased the memory of his final bowl for the year in the process.

Bretto started well again, Bobby was kind enough to give his employer an early wicket, Dave clocked up #39 for his book 'how to get yourself out 6000 dufferent ways in a season', Dunko got a rough one from his favourit brother, then Barney came out and blasted along at 10 an over to have the game won with 8 overs to go.

After a post match conversation with Mick Wooley who told him the day he hit his forst ton was when the lovely Kylie said- 'hit 50 today and I'll give you a BJ', jimmy was left wishing he'd had the same inspiration. Alas, that will have to wait for the big man.

The boys have given Whyndam a repreive this weeknd forfeiting in lieu of Barney's wedding (get married on Sunday next time) , but will be looking to roll on strongly into finals (if we make it), and give the oppositon some more Jimmy and McLoskey Curry with the Bat.

Don't forget to get on down and keep that bowling machine spinning over the next week- great timing practice for batting...

Merry Wedding day to Emma and Barney!

Belated match report- V Eden @ Pambula...

Jimmy said being 100kg+ was no barrier to athletic performance...

Twas the last game before xmas, and all was well, except that Kenty T decided to go to the wrong ground and then go home with the shits instead of ringing someone to ask where we were...

Oh well, we had enough with C grade having the day off anyways, so nothing hurting there. Funny stuff though. Worried about the lack of team hirearchy 15 minutes before kickoff, Dunko went and took the toss, lost, but still got sent in to bat.

With the grass a little long on the field and the boundaries fairly long, it was never going to be a high 200's day from the 40 overs. Mcloskey and Bretto started well, keeping some accurate handy Eden bowling out. Mcloskey with 69 (he he), was second only to the great Jimmy Glen with 81 for the day. Both the big men running a vast majority of their score. only 10 boundaries were hit and as many as 23 '3's were run during the innings. Lucky we do all that fitness training:)

In the end, Bemboka finished on 215 odd- which would have been closer to 280ish on a field with shorter grass. Also would have been about 70 against a team that could catch- something we could work on after xmas!

After the usual B grade cake and biscuit fest at lunch, the boys headed out, Woolley and Donnie with the new cherry. Funnily enough, they both found that the Eden boys couldn't drive, so had a thousand 'plays and misses', Donnie directing a couple of great yorkers to send a couple of the top order packing early. That driving thing is fairly common in our grade- keeping the ball up may just prove to be useful after all!

Home team hero for the day, Jimmy Glen was brought into the pace attack despite protestations that he was 1) knackered and 2) ain't that good a bowler. After throwing down a few pies off the 7 metre wide pitch and getting sledge from his own teammates, he was glad to give way to the team leggie for a giggle.

Speaking of giggles, the fat tosser that Bobby Taylor was going to kill, hit a shot towards the boundary. Mick Woolley shouted ' throw that back love' to his lovely gal Kylie who would have, if the ball didn't stop 3 inches inside the boundary. Mick trotted over to collect it and they ran 6!

Only an over or so later, after getting some sledging from the 1st slipper (Jimmy), Dunko launched a ball at his head when he bowled(almost connecting), which shut him up and added a bye to Barney's otherwise impeccable day behind the stumps.

Special mentions for the day go to Maz for going out to bat and showing a bit of mongrel, Emma (soon to be Barnet), for being the most hungover female on the far south coast and Bobby Taylor for doing his best to have a blue on the field. go Bob:)

Pambula is up next- we're a few short- Maz and Barney(wedding related antics), Dunko (Oceania DH mountainbike champs at Threadbo) and probably K Taylor when he heads off to Dalmeny by mistake and goes home in disgust at it being a home game...

Also a short farewell (we hope) for the great McLoskey who is moving house to Canberra in a desperate attempt to avoid paying his fees. Hope to see you finals time big man.

Speaking of fees- PAY YOURS! We've only got $100 in the bank and need a new box of balls ($400), so please get some money in asap. We'll have to get serious about it in the new year.


Go Bemboka!

OMG we won!

Read Dave Allen where it says Shane Warne...

Bemboka B grade returned to winning ways on Saturday after a solid performance with the bat and ball. Tathra were admittedly a little underdone admittedly, but the Bemboka boys did not dissapoint the throngs who had come to watch the match.

With Maz the only one not making double figures, and Dunko doubling his season tally(after giving away about 7 chances), and Davo finally finding his form with a fine 54, Bemboka knocked up 235, which is a great tally on the big field and was always going to be hard to chase down.

The boys headed out into the field with much enthuiasm, Motty and Donnie bowling well, Donnies figures might have been much better but for Dunko ripping one past the stumps for 4 overthrows on his bowling. Mcloskey backed up after his marathon 32 with a magic 'Matrix type" catch after he charged in from the boundary and slightly overcooked his approach. One hand reaching back up over his head- easy....

Then came the tweakers. Jimmy, Dave and Dunko alll used to good effect today. And Davo just topped up his great knock with a five(5) wicket haul. One tweaker was quoted as saying that he had done all the hard work only for Dave to pinch all his wickets. The same bloke won his second toss on the bounce.

Al provided another fielding highlight hitting one stump to run out one of the Tathra openers after a dodgy call from his captain. That same captain was out LBW according to one of the tweakers (Jimmy needs to host a rules meeting), but he had to run him out instead just before drinks to get his man.

In all a solid performance from the boys, great to see Davo leave with a (big) smile on his face and we'll all be drawing straws to see who tells Kenny and Mick they're down in C Grade next week!

Go Bemboka!!

Parker set to Dump Bemboka B Grade to C grade!

The reality of another shite batting performance hit home hard...

The Bemboka B grade boys were gracious enough on Saturday to hand Merimbula their first points of the season at Berimbool. In a day that promised so much, after a change of captain, Dunko did his only useful thing for the day and won the toss. Fat load of good that did as he was out for bugger all after filling the captains shoes and facing up first. Man of the moment with the bal, Mr Cricket Dan McLoskey wandered out with his refurbished bat- a kneejerk reaction after his brand new stick didn't do the job last week. Dunko didn't even have his pads off before he metaphorically 'handed the duck over' to Dan. First ball duck. might just write that twice. Golden duck. Might not have a chance to repeat that this year.. Bretto put a few together, Jimmy and Barney scratched about for a few. Maz practiced his padding up early (bad news when Jimmy 'Dickie Bird' Glen umpiring). Mick W wacked a few about, Donnie had a swipe with his new bat, Dave was nice enough to accept the 'Golden Duck' from McLoskey and Bobby didn't quite make 50 today. 76 to win for Merimbula...

Boys came out firing with two men in close till Bretto done a heart muscle after almost having his leg broken by a middled drive that struck his knee cap. Real men cry too Bretto. Real men also drive manual cars too, but we'll leave that alone Bretto:)

McLoskey bowled well, Kenty picked up a couple. Maz finally gave McLoskey his reward with a nice slip catch, graciously vacated by Mick for the young fellas to play in.. The spin twins of Glen and O'Reilly finished off the innings, but in the end, despite some pretty tight cricket from Bembokie, Merimbula made the small target. Dave swore at least 374 times during their dig in frustration at their batting.

Later that evening Steve Parker was in touch with the tempoary capitane asking if they wanted the association to drop the Bemboka B Grade boys to C Grade. He was told to piss off and that he would regret his comments when we take out the premiership come season end.

Watch this space. Tathra to be our first victims at home next week. I can smell their fear from here...

Town now in crisis

Davo suggested the team nudie run to boost morale. someone just happened to be walking their dog at the cricket ground at the time...

In what was a fairly interesting day in cricket, Bemboka contained competition high flyers Wyndham to 150 on the weekend, only to be bowled out themselves for a bit over 80. There were moments of high joy in the Bemboka feilding- McLoskey playing enforcer and putting one of the Wyndham bats in a coma, Maz taking a wicket, Dunko's amazing run out, Mick Woolley's 100th dropped catch, Barney's dummy spit, Kenty's 100m run for a great outfield catch, Maz getting hit over the fence (Bretto and Dunko were relieved to see someone else getting hit about), Dave's fielding/ running/throwing and the fact that we had a genuinely full team for the first time this year.

In all, the game was going pretty well. Until we batted. And even then, Bretto and McLoskey (still in a form slump- average has now dropped below 60), started pretty well. It's just a shame we couldn't send them back in as the rest of the batting lineup resembled a Tulgeen cricket challenge( I can say that as I worked for them once). Oh well, Dunko did say 'we can't win without McLoskey' that day...

A knee jerk reaction was to slash player wages, go for a nudie run, and have an unprecedented Tuesday morning training run- so with newly demoted A grade rejects Merimbula this weekend, it should be a stern test of the intestinal fortitude of the underachievers that are Bemboka B grade. With the Global financial meltdown affecting Bemboka community morale,it's up to us to raise spirits of everyone in town by winning again this week!

Watch this space..

Club in Crisis!

McLoskey decided to work hard on his fielding during his batting slump...

After some reasonable opening performance for the year, Dan McLoskey has hit a major slump form with the bat, throwing the whole B Grade team into dissaray. Failing to score 50 (narrowly) for the first time, Bemboka's one man team has spent most of his working week with his head in his hands wondering how he will get his average back up above 75.

Luckily, he works with another inconsistent Bemboka Sportsman, JMac, who is off to Melbourne to become Ben Cousins' manager, so he's had plenty to talk about as far as mediocre performances go.

A week in C grade beckons this week for McLoskey, but the decision will be pending on the BCC Crisis meeting this afternoon to discuss his form.

Luckily, the main joke teller (and not much else) of the team will be back from a scouting mission in the Land of the Long White Cloud, so McLoskey will be able to leave his joke book at home and concentrate on his cricket instead.

Match at home from 1 this weekend- bring your mowers to trainin!

Later