2000/01 1st XI Premiership Team VTCA North B1

Back Left : Glenn Groves, Peter Lowe, Stephen Wright, Robbie Senior (12th Man), Nathan Wilson, Chris Frydas, Mark Tapungao, Barry McEntee (Team Assistant)

Front Left : Ross Malcolm, Steven Carroll, Alan Torrance, Mick Andreadis (Capt.), Craig Mackley

The Scores :

Albion 79 (M.Andreadis 4/8, M.Tapungao 4/18, R.Malcolm 1/11, P.Lowe 1/33) & 9/87 decl. (R.Malcolm 5/33, M.Tapungao 4/37)

defeated by

APWSTC 114 (A.Torrance 23, S.Carroll 16, N.Wilson 14, R.Malcolm 14) & 4/54 (R.Malcolm 18no, C.Frydas 17)

Grand Final Narrative :-

Day 1 - Saturday 17th March

The Grand Final was played against Albion at the home ground of Yarraville Club down in West Footscray (Hansen Reserve might have been a good omen). Although the weather had deteriorated somewhat since summer had left (all of 17 days prior), covers were being used for the grand finals so play should not be a problem.

WRONG - high winds combined with covers pegged down with perhaps toothpicks saw most of the covers blown off the wicket overnight. This left over half the track sticky and getting a start on day 1 seemed doubtful. Half-hourly checks of the wicket didn’t reveal anything new (still green, still sticky) and by mid afternoon, day 1 had been declared a wash-out. No problem - 3 days still to play and a result should be a formality one way or the other. Still, West Saints slightly worried with Albion being the higher qualified finalist.

Day 2 - Sunday 18th March

A brighter but still “cold as hell” type day greeted us. A start on time seemed likely so the coin was tossed skywards and the man upstairs did the rest. Mighty Mick (MM) won another toss (must have direct line to the man upstairs only having lost 3 all year and one of those he won the first throw but lost in a best of 3) and elected to bowl. The obvious choice really with the track still a little soft and we clearly needed to bowl Albion out if we are to bring home the bacon (and the flag) in this match.

Ross ‘Bossco’ Malcolm shared the new pill with Mark ‘Tappy’ Tapungao and immediately both lads were into a good rhythm and bowling a superb line. Tappy had the pill jumping about on the damp end of the wicket and in his second over had Albion 1 for 1 with a snick going to Nathan “Who Loves Ya” Wilson behind the wicket. Albion manage to steady the ship a bit, surviving multiple ‘beat the bat’ deliveries from Bossco (sums up ya season hey Lucky) before Tappy striked again with a good caught and bowled.

Two for eight then became 3 for 13 when Tappy in his the next over encouraged the Albion captain to play a lofted cover drive which held up in the breeze and Glen ‘Horse’ Groves made good ground from square to take the catch.

With the Albion captain gone for a quacker in the 12th over, it was time for someone from Albion to knuckle down and the ‘Money Men’ Bell and Magafas were up to the job. Some intelligent batting saw them survive some 14 overs, force a bowling change and add 17 valuable runs to the tally. Their good run was finished by Tappy who in his 13th over picked up his 4th wicket in succession removing Bell with a lovely sliding caught and bowled.

Peter Lowe continued from the other end but bowled without luck (must have just been that end of the wicket). Tappy bowled another over and then was rested with the impressive figures of 14 overs, 4 maidens, 4 wickets for 14. ‘Bossco’ rejoined the action and after sending down 3 maidens in a row, he removed Peter Magafas, caught off the glove at short leg.

In sight of tea and with Albion were 5 for 50, MM came on for one over and sent down some off-spinners which were turning more than Warney’s classic Gatting ball! To illustrate the spin further, “Who Loves Ya!” behind the wicket had only let through 10 byes in our previous 11 matches but couldn’t stop 2 of MM balls going through for 3 byes from his first over! Anyway, at 5 for 53 and the ball spinning a country mile, we headed into tea full of enthusiasm for the next session.

After tea Lowey and MM continued the attack, looking for quick wickets and an end to the Albion innings. Although the Albion batsmen managed to get the score to 70 without losing another wicket, MM was turning the ball sharply and relentlessly attacking the pegs. In the 50th over, this finally paid dividends when he took the 6th wicket bowled (bottom edge onto the stumps) and then backed up in his next over to remove the 7th wicket also bowled. Then for Lowey’s next over, MM asked Bossco to field at a short square leg. Lowey was up to the challenge and with his second delivery had the batsman turning the ball off his ankles and into the mitts of Bossco (another Albion quacker).

At 8 for 73, the Albion boys were right to start looking for their bowling attire, as MM was about to send the remainder of their line up back to their very very silent bunch of disappointed supporters. MM first bowled their number 10 and then the following over encouraged the knick to Chris Frydas at slip who did the rest. Albion were all out for 79 with MM finishing with a tidy 8.3 overs, 3 maidens, 4 for 8. Bowling figures for the other 2 bowlers used were Bossco 18 overs, 11 maidens, 1 for 11 and Lowey 17 overs, 6 maidens, 1 for 33.

With 27 overs to bat and still 2 days to play, spirits were high as we started our innings. Some very poor bowling from their Money Man ‘Bell’ saw us off to a great start with Tozza and Chris Frydas knocking the trashy deliveries (many of them short balls) to all parts of the ground. In the 6th over, with the score already on 25 runs, we lost Chris who dabbled at one outside off stump and was caught behind for 5.

Willo then joined Tozza and the pair kept the run rate humming along. At 1 for 42 in the 14th, a first innings result was looking likely before the close of play but the dismissal of Tozza for 23 (caught at square leg) sort of slammed on the brakes. MM and “Who Loves Ya” knuckled down against a bowling attack which was starting to find some form. The pair batted well to get us through to stumps at 2 for 54, requiring a further 26 runs from the 2 remaining days for a first innings victory.

Day 3 - Saturday 24th Mar ch

With a wet week forecasted, we had tried everything during the week to ensure the wicket was kept dry for the final 2 days cricket on the weekend. Unfortunately “someone” removed the covers during the night on Wednesday and the arrival of heavy rains in the Western Suburbs on Thursday morning (100ml fell in just a few hours which later was called the heaviest rain for 25 years) turned the pitch into a swimming pool. Not surprisingly there were some disappointed chaps at the clubrooms on Thursday night as the rain continued to fall, and with it, Airport West St.Christophers hopes of a 1st innings result.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the weather improved and remarkably we got a start on Saturday arvo with only 26 runs required for first innings honour. Getting the runs though was never going to be easy and we all knew that taking a few deliveries on the body thanks to the damp track was going to be the order of the day. Late rain was also forecast so our day could also be cut short.

MM and “Who Loves Ya” took up the run chase in the difficult conditions and could only add 3 runs before Willo was caught at bat-pad for 14. Bossco was then elevated in the batting order to hopefully send a few balls to the fence and break the back of the runs chase. He was lucky to survive a confident (and rightly so) bat-pad appeal from the 3rd ball he faced and then continued to ride this luck as the runs came trickling in. Runs were not easy to come by though as the ball continued exploding from a good length, and flying around their ears (even into Bossco’s jaw)!

The pair moved the score along to 73 before MM on 9 charged the bowler (looking for a big one) but only succeeded in skying a catch to point. Knackers joined Bossco and the pair added another 5 runs before Bossco was out bowled for 14 (score 5 for 78). With rain clouds threatening and only 2 runs to pass the Albion total, Knackers tried to end it quickly but was caught behind for a blob.

At 6 for 78, Stephen Wright finally settled the nerves of all and sundry by driving one back down the pitch for 3 to get us over the line in the first innings.

Occupying the crease and compiling a lead were next on the agenda but the pitch was continuing to be hard to handle. Wrighty departed caught with the score on 82 and Tappy departed soon, after also caught for 3. At the end of the 26 overs to be played on Saturday, we were 8 for 89 with Lowey and Shags at the crease.

Day 4 - Sunday 25th March

Heavy rain overnight (yes more rain) and more covers leakage (yes more leakage) meant another delayed start (13 overs lost). When play started, we lost Lowey on the 3rd ball of the day when he tapped a slower ball with the bottom of his bat back down the wicket to be caught and bowled. Glen ‘Horse’ Groves joined the action and batted superbly with Shags to soak up another 12 overs and added 27 valuable runs. Their partnership ended with the score on 114 when Shags (16) had his stumps dismantled. Horse remained not out on 4.

Albion headed to the crease needing 35 runs to make us bat again and presumably a lead of 100 plus to make a game of it. Things didn’t go well for them though as the combination of the slightly damp track, Bossco’s and Tappy’s bowling, and some excellent fielding had them under the pump immediately. Their innings (and wickets) went as follows:

1-1 : Skyscraper of a catch by Shags off Ross the Boss. 2-7 : Catch behind taken by “Who Loves Ya” off Bossco. 3-9 : Bossco delivery takes top edge, flies to “Who Loves Ya” who juggles the catch. 4-28 : Magafas slaps Tappy to outfield where Tozza snaps up a brilliant diving, yet controversial, catch. 5-28 : Bottom edge off Bossco taken by “Who Loves Ya”. 6-32 : Tappy creates simple caught and bowled. 7-44 : Immediately after tea, Tappy bowls Bell for 6. 8-61 : Bossco takes his 5th wicket (caught by Wrighty). Note: This wicket should have been Tappy’s as moments earlier Bossco dropped a catch from this batsman (thereby taking his number of embarrassing outfield catches dropped during the finals to two - shame Bossco shame). 9-76 : Tappy takes his 4th wicket (8th for the match) caught by Lowey at mid on.

Albion declared shortly afterwards at 9 for 87 in the 29th over leaving APWSCCC needing 53 runs from 31 overs for victory.

Chris Frydas and Tozza added 7 before Tozza went caught behind for 1. Nathan Wilson joined Chris and the pair batted superbly to get us to 31 before Chris departed LBW. This was followed by 2 quick wickets as first “Who Loves Ya” went caught for 7 and MM was caught behind for a quacker.

At 4 for 32, the game appeared far from over but Knackers and Bossco were ready for all Albion could dish up. The pair managed a few runs here and there and when the spinner was brought on, they picked up 5 quick runs from some poor deliveries. Now 4 for 48 and the smell of a well earned brewsky was in the air. Bossco had strike to their quickie Bell as the first ball of the new over was shown some respect. The next ball Bell dug in the bouncer and Bossco promptly dispatched the delivery over the backward square fence for 6 (the only one of the match, and it was a ‘biggy’) to secure the victory.

The euphoria that followed was a wonderful sight as players and supporters congratulated each other on taking the flag. The action continued back at the clubrooms as players were welcomed back to the club in true celebratory fashion. As Tozza would say and did say about 300 times through the night “winners are grinners and losers can please themselves¨.

Finally, a few people deserve to be singed out and thanked for their efforts as follows: - Robbie Senior for being the most energetic 12th man ever throughout the finals (nothing was too much for this man). - Donna Frydas for doing the match scoring duties during the finals. - Barry (or Bazza) for always assisting around the clubrooms for home games. - Billy Torrance for supporting our efforts over the year (and every year). - All our regular supporters (including the “Green Can Munchers¨) for supporting us throughout the season.