Congratulations Rafe Bjork who Saturday took his maiden 5 wicket bag for the club for MP 4A Rebels in their derby match against MP Accessman 4A at Edgar Mac 2. Rafe's effort of 5 for 21 helped to dismiss the Accessman side for 94 to give the Rebels a 119 run win as they defended their 1st innings 213/3. Congratulations also to Jamie "Nana" O'Connor (5009) whose innings of 19 not-out for MP Identity Signs Presidents on Saturday helped the side to a win and saw him become the 11th player for the club to have scored 5000 runs and finally congratulations to MP Accessman Presidents all-rounder Gavin Strachan whose 70 not-out against Lancaster Park helped set-up a match winning total of 206/6 and took him past 1000 runs for the club following on from having taken his 100th wicket the previous week.

  Great to see the club well represented in the CMCA Senior A Rep side for this Sunday's upcoming encounter against South Canterbury being played at Edgar Mac. Congratulations to Rory Hawes, Mitchell Dimond, Eddie Commons, Sam Gillespie & Nathan Columbus on their selection and we wish them and the rest of the side all the best for the match.

Match Reports from Saturday 18th November ...

MP Sporting Edge Sen.A vs LP-Addington @ Garrick 2 (1 Day)(Loss)

  The Sporting Edge MPCC Senior A team played against Lancaster Park-Addington at Woolston/Edgar Mac/Garrick/Ilam Park and after the match began after farcical circumstances, they had a day to forget in the 7th match of the One Day competition. Ryan won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that resembled State Highway 1 however that was as good as the day got for the Merivale team as they were dismantled by LP-Addington. The opening pair of Hawes and Commons both fell to half trackers and will be disappointed with their execution, Stuart Knox looked in good touch before mistiming a full toss to short cover. The experienced duo of Watts and Mayo looked to dig in but ultimately couldn't halt the Merivale massacre as Watts fell LBW and Mayo was bowled, both by LP-Addington pack leader Ben Cochrane. The remaining wickets fell in quick succession. MPCC bundled out for 52.

  The LP-Addington response was mercifully quick as they knocked off the 52 runs in 6.4 overs. Van Zanten (37*) and Patel (1*) the not out players. MPCC could only claim one wicket, that of Reynolds, bowled by the MP player of the day Ryan Hawkins (1 wicket, 8 runs, 1 toss won). MPCC still sit 3rd on the table with 2 games remaining. One win would secure a semi final spot while 2 wins would more than likely secure a home semi.

Thanks Rory AKA "troubles", AKA "naughty boy".

MP Sporting Edge 2B vs OBC @ Edgar Mac 1 (1 Day)(Loss)

          2B hosted its first game of the season at Edgar Mac 1, taking on the undefeated OBC. We won the toss and bowled. However, this proved a bad move as our bowlers were unable to hit regular lines and lengths throughout the innings, while the OBC batsmen punished nearly every loose ball delivered. Jacob Wilson and Kyle Sloane opened up but after a loose couple of overs Dave Monger replaced Kyle. We got our first wicket in the tenth over courtesy of a nick through to James Duncan off Dave, with the score already at 67, and picked up a second ten runs later through a good catch by Jono Collins at mid-on. However, OBC continued to build up the runs. At drinks they were 133-4 with Dave finishing with 4-37 off his 10 thanks to an LBW and an agile diving slip catch from Ross Patterson. Jono also bowled a decent first spell, going for only 20 off his first six overs either side of drinks. Sloaney returned and picked up our 5th wicket to dismiss Singh for 76, caught by Dan Bushby off a hook to fine leg. 148-5 after 28 overs. However, this was as good as it got for us as Hebden and Braid put together a 130-run sixth wicket partnership. Sloaney ended up 1-62 off his ten, Milky mixed some good deliveries with a few loose balls (0-44 off 7), while Srinath Basaboena topped up the innings with 3 overs. It was left to Jacob and Jono to finish off the innings. Jacob (1-57 off 10) did well to restrict the runs to 20 off his last four overs, as well as picking up a sharp caught and bowled to send Braid back for 46, while Jono left it to the last ball of the innings to dismiss Hebden for an excellent 90, caught by Matt Arscott at cover. OBC ended up 288-7 after a disappointing overall bowling effort, which included 33 wides. Fielding-wise, our catching improved from last week, though a couple of chances went begging.

          Chasing a big score, Ash Reddy and Kyle opened up, and we got off to a good start, getting to 28 by the sixth over before Kyle was caught at cover for 7. Matt went for a third-ball duck, also caught in the covers, before Ash (8) lobbed up a catch to mid-off, and we were 3-30 after 8. Patto and Comet rebuilt for a while before Comet was caught at mid-on for 4 (4-44), while Steve Devereux was caught playing the same shot off the same bowler for 0, and Sri ran himself out chasing a second which was never there. 6-54 in the sixteenth over, and the remaining batsmen turned to building an innings through the remaining overs. Patto and Milky combined for around 7 overs before Milky was trapped LBW for 4. Jono joined Patto and they worked the ball around for a little longer before Patto was bowled off a ricochet for 25 – he looked to be in good touch and hit some lovely shots before this, and will hopefully kick on with similar quality in the next few innings. So we were 8-86 just after drinks, and looking at a very hefty defeat. However, Jono and Jacob frustrated the opposition, batting for fifteen overs and accumulating runs off the bat and from extras, to bring us up to a more respectable total. Jacob was eventually caught for a good-looking 29 off 55 balls; Dave then scrounged 1* before Jono missed a slog to be bowled for 13 off 60, as we were all out for 142 in the 43rd over. OBC sent down more extras than we did, with 33 wides and 6 no balls, but we can reflect on a lot of false shots for wickets. Patto, Jono and Jacob showed runs could be accumulated with patience, and we need to improve our batting in partnerships in future to avoid the habit of losing wickets in clumps.

          Overall, a tough match against an OBC team with lots of Premier-grade experience, but things that can be improved on by both the bowlers and the batsmen for our remaining games.

          Dave M.

MP Little Brown Jug 3D vs Southern Districts @ Bishopdale 1 (Loss)

  This week we played Southern Districts at Bishopdale Park. We decided upon winning the toss to keep the successful formula of batting first going. The Bishopdale pitch was keeping pretty slow and low so if we could somehow get 150 on the board we could be confident of defending it. Andy and Rob both got starts before getting out with Rob in particular looking dangerous. The big boundaries and slow outfield made scoring difficult early on but Nick Kirk again helped build a foundation with the middle order allowing Boom Boom Sanjay to cut loose towards the end. He formed a great partnership with Tom Mitchell who returned from the wilderness looking sharp with bat in hand. They managed to propel us towards 146 all out which we thought was about par. Other highlights of the innings included Ronnie being harassed by grown men for his autograph and Kyle Bradbury was married to a man with burger rings as wedding rings. A strange man in a dress was also spotted lurking in the tree line early in the innings. Sadly no banana loaf was provided this week so with no slow dogs or local wildlife within reach the rigs had to battle through on an empty stomachs. 

  Sanjay took the new ball as always and shared it with Tom Mitchell. Unfortunately the ball wasn't swinging much and aided by a few dropped catches the opposition got off to a positive start. Tom was able to snare one of the openers and should of had the other in a probing spell. With bowling options pretty limited this week the skipper Joel stepped up to the bowling crease and bowled an over of absolute filth including two no balls before snaring a wicket last ball. Ronnie bowled well at the other end while flicking his tongue out in that cold blooded reptilian manner of his. Joel meanwhile managed to find the pitch in his second over and snicked off another batsman to keep the game alive. Their best batsman Deshmukh was scoring freely however and looked to be the wicket if we wanted to win the match. Young North West recruit Braydon showed some promise with a couple of ripping leg breaks and had Deshmukh caught behind with an edge so loud that even somebody talking to Jase Steeman would have heard it clearly. Deshmukh however claimed his innocence almost causing a boil over. Its a bit of a shame that a young school boy cricketers first introduction to adult cricket is blatant cheating by the batsman. Joel managed to get him out a few overs later finishing with 4 for 25 but the damage was done and a win was slipping away. Sam Chan had other plans however and the Fijian international cut through the opposition lower order in Viliame Waqaseduadua-esque fashion to bring us roaring back into the match. Sadly their tail managed to squirt a couple of boundaries and got to the target 7 wickets down. Definitely a match we could of won if we had held onto our catches.

Joel.

MP Accessman 4A vs MP 4A Rebels @ Edgar Mac 2 (Loss)

  The biggest game this weekend, unquestionably, was the local derby between the 4A Accessman team and the 4A Rebels, played at the picturesque Edgar MacIntosh #2 ground. We lost the toss, and for the first time this season we were put in the field by the Rebels. The early overs were very good for us – Sam Brunie bowled with speed and control, with his first 3 overs all being maidens. Hari Murthy made an early breakthrough in his first over, leaving the Rebels struggling a little with a wicket down with very few runs on the board. From that point on, though, we essentially lost control of the game. Our fielding was generally very good, with very few unnecessary runs conceded. However, our bowling unfortunately followed the trend of our previous matches, with 21 wides and 6 no-balls and the Rebels batsmen took full advantage (I’ll let Jason give the details around that) – from a very slow start they built some fine partnerships and ended their innings on 213/3. The standout bowler for us by some margin was Sam with 0/19 off his 7 overs, which could have been even better had a relatively easy catch not been put down near the end of the innings and that was despite being in considerable back pain meaning a greatly shortened run-up for his last couple of overs.

  Then it came to our turn to bat, and truth be told it was almost a complete reversal. The Rebels bowled extremely well, taking full advantage of a deteriorating pitch and bowling excellent lines and length. Our innings never really got started. We lost a wicket in the first over (naturally, to Jason, who then promptly took himself off!), which brought Darren to the wicket. The partnership of 50 for the 2nd wicket between Darren and myself was the only one of note. I departed with the score on 54, and it all fell apart really from there. 5 of our next batsmen scored ducks, with Darren top scoring with 46 (taking him to a season tally of 499 runs!). The innings ended in the 31st over with us being dismissed for 94. So a win to the Rebels by 119 runs, and, to be fair, an extremely well deserved win at that.

Cheers, Richard.

MP 4A Rebels vs MP Accessman 4A @ Edgar Mac 2 (Win)

  On Saturday we finally got a home game even though we were the away team. I won the toss and decided to have a bat. We opened up with Rafe and Sam. Rafe in the second over was walking back after being judged lbw. Lucan joined Sam and they batted through to the 26th over when Sam was out bowled for 56 and the score 2/146. Flats came out and got off the mark with a 6. In the 33rd over Lucan was caught and bowled by Dakesy but he had done his job batting 31 overs and finishing up on 61. Chris joined Flats and they batted to the end with Chris 10 not out and Flats picking up another 50 with 54 not out. 213/3 off the 40 overs, we felt we had something for the bowlers to defend.

  We opened with Jase and Hamish. Jase burgled 1 in the first over but was bowling crap. Hamish at the other end looked a lot better so after 1 over Jase decided that Sam should replace him. Sam bowled well and Hamish was doing the same at the other end and being well supported by their field. But wickets weren't falling so we brought on our secret weapon John Costello and Rafe who had been the pick of the bowlers the week before. Rafe picked up 2 wickets in his first over. Then John picked up a couple, 1 in his 3rd over and the another in his 5th over with a slick stumping by Chris. John after 6 overs had figures of 2/4. At the other end Rafe was keeping it tight. Rafe picked up a wicket in each of his last 3 overs to finish with figures of 5/21 off 8 and the prized 4A wicket of Darren Leigh out for 46. Flats came in and finished off the tail getting 2 wickets for 2 runs off 2.3 overs. John finished his 8 overs with 2 wickets for 17 runs. Hamish bowled 7 overs for 22 runs bowling pretty well. So Accessman 4A all out for 94 in the 30th over.

  Thank you to Harry from North West who filled in for us. He missed out on a bat but took a catch and fielded really well stopping a lot of well hit balls at point. Thanks to all my guys for a great effort and also to the Accessman 4A side for an enjoyable game of cricket that was played in good spirt. Player of the day Rafe with his 5-21.

Cheers, Jase.

MP Identity Signs Presidents vs Sydenham Cardinals @ Burnside 3 (Win)

  Identity Signs Presidents played Sydenham Cardinals at Burnside Park. As per usual the opposing captain got to choose what they would like to do first and chose to have a bat on what appeared to be a belter. We opened the bowling with Tonka and Wagga and both did a really good job with Tonka (2) and Wagga (1) picking up early wickets. Kim came on and bowled a tidy spell as well, picking up a wicket in the process. She also got a run out by tipping the ball onto the stumps leaving the non striker stranded. At the 15th over Sydenham were 45/5 and things were going well for us. Walker (38) and Bennett (6) put a hold on things for us in getting a 42 run partnership for the 6th wicket. Bellsy broke it by bowling Bennett and then getting the very dangerous Walker caught in quick succession. 83/5 went 89/10 with the Sydenham tail unable to last long. Andrew Jefferies who Ice found for us at the show took the spoils at the end with figures of 2.3-1-1-2. Nana also chipped in with 1. Best figures of the day went to Bellsy though, 7-5-6-2.

  Out to bat we went with the batsmen told to take their time and value their wicket. Must have fell on deaf ears though as Ice (6), Ants (11), Jefferies (0) and Wagga (8) were all sitting back on the grass watching by the 10th over. When Grunta departed (18) we were 52/5 and the bowlers who had packed their gear up expecting to just relax and enjoy the sunshine had to hurriedly change back into uniform. Fortunately for us Bellsy and Nana saw us through to the end with Bellsy 29* and Nana 19*,doing the job in the 23rd over with an unbroken 41 run partnership.

  So an early finish for us which was good as it was Presidents Day. With all the Pressies teams playing at the ground we were able to wander around watching the other games while sipping on a nice green tea or two.

Cheers, Fish.

MP Accessman Presidents vs Lancaster Park  @ Burnside 2 (Win)

  Presidents day at Burnside... Another well run event, as we have come to expect, 8 teams went head to head across the playing expanse. We were drawn to meet the re-emergent LPW. Weather as most of you know had a hard time making up it's mind as to what it wanted to do, overcast and threatening rain to bright sunshine and heat stroke, you name it, we had it. Pickle, being the beneficiary of an incorrectly called toss, took a second or so to make the decision to bat first on the number 2. A call which looked like a mistake early on having been reduced to 27/3 after 8, Stace and Danny Moot applying the screws. Humey, still in a rich vein of form, dug in with the big G (Graeme Brechin) to put together a 76 run partnership which made it passed drinks, before Wayne induced a false shot from Graeme and being caught for 23. Gavey promoted into the middle order, started scratchily while Hume continued to blast, but while he stayed out there the more comfortable he became. It therefore came as a bit of a shock when the crazy frog (Hume (78)) chased a wide one from Blair nicking behind and took a quick trot back to the sideline. Our ring in, Scott Parker, was thrown in to the mix and did a great job in supporting Strachan, on their way to a 51 run stint ended only when Webby latched on to a scorcher of a pull shot, Scotty out for 12. Winz (5*) and Gavey (70*) finishing off in style, Calvin rotating the strike while Gavey punished. 30 off the last three to bring it home, 206/6 on the board. This late flurry denting a couple of very good figures, Stace 8/1/42/2, Moot 8/2/33/2 and Wayne 8/0/35/1.

  A sizeable score which we were quite happy about, setting the scene for the second innings. Winz and Pickle opening with the ball, put the squeeze on early, keeping the LPW batsmen very quiet, to the point that after 10 the score was a stunted more than “Half Price” (Josh) at 17/1. The second quarter of the innings was even better for us... conceding another 14 for an additional 5 wickets with Winz, Boycey and Gavey sharing the spoils and Muzz proving once again very tidy behind the stumps. Matthews trying to see through on one leg and a runner showing the only form of resistance to this point. After drinks was a different story, as Wayne Derham opened up and bullied his way towards 50. When Matthews finally gave up the ghost on 22, young Daniel Moot showed what he was made of and stuck around under all sorts of pressure, battling his way to an unbeaten 17* while Wayne fell agonizingly short of the half century (49) courtesy on an unrecognizable Hume dog ball and the safe chest of Skudz. The LPW boys batted out the rest of the innings posting 111 in reply, 8 down. Bowling figures of note Winz 8/2/16/2, Boyce 8/1/22/2 (one legged most of the time), Pickle 8/5/5/1 and Strachan 6/3/11/1.

  Overall a successful day both on and off the park, we wish to thank Burnside for their amazing hospitality and hope everyone had a great day out.

Cheers, Steve.

Sporting Edge MPCC Draw for Saturday 25th November:

• MP Sporting Edge Sen.A vs New Brighton @ Edgar Mac 1 (1 Day)
• MP Sporting Edge 2B vs Hornby @ Denton 1 (1 Day)
• MP Little Brown Jug 3D vs Sydenham All Stars @ Edgar Mac 2
• MP Accessman 4A vs Richmond Gold @ Nunweek 1
• MP 4A Rebels vs Riccarton Thunders @ Polo 1a
• MP Identity Signs Presidents vs Hornby @ Denton 2
• MP Accessman Presidents vs BWU Foxes @ Bishopdale 1

Subs for Season 2017/18 ...

• Mens Subs for Season 2017/18 … Men’s full subs to be $260 for a season if fully paid by 31 October, 2017 or if an AP has been established in writing with the Treasurer by 31 October, 2017. Otherwise the subscription to be increased to $300 for late payment. ($130 for students and team captains, or $170 for late payment).
• Womens Subs for Season 2017/18 … Women’s full subs to be a flat rate of $100 for all players if fully paid by 31 October, 2017 or if an AP has been established in writing with the Treasurer by 31 October, 2017. Late payment would incur a further $40.

Internet Banking ...

When paying your subs by Internet Banking ...

• The clubs bank account details are:
• Westpac 03 0866 0269318 000
• Merivale Papanui Cricket Club Inc
• When making a transfer please state your full name as a reference.

Facebook ...

Both the Senior and Junior sections of MPCC can be found on Facebook ....

• Click Here for Merivale Papanui Cricket Club
• Click Here for Merivale Papanui Junior Cricket Club
• Be sure to "LIKE" both pages.

If you have any queries send us an email to mpcricket@xtra.co.nz