After a fantastic spell of weather over the Christmas & New Year break we knew it was time for cricket to start again when it rained Friday night! Regardless all MPCC sides were able to get underway for 2019 and needless to say there were some economical bowling spells recorded due to the damp nature of most of the pitches with the best example being Daniel "Milky" Bushby's outstanding spell for LBJ Div.5 of 8 overs, 5 maidens, 2 wickets for 3 runs!!   

  Congratulations to Darren Leigh (13,021) whose 26 for MP Little Brown Jug Div.8 vs Riccarton on Saturday saw him become the first MPCC player to have scored 13,000 runs for the club.

  Congratulations to MP Sporting Edge Championship XI skipper Henry Winchester (103) whose leg injury earlier in the season had left him stranded on 99 club wickets. His wicket in a T20 win against Riccarton on Saturday became his 100th for both Seniors and the Club and was followed up with another 3 wickets in the sides 2nd game of the day to help them to a win against Heathcote. Congratulations also to MP Sporting Edge Championship XI batsman Rory Hawes (1043) whose innings of 50 in the T20 win against Heathcote took him past 1000 runs for MPCC.

  Congratulations to MP Identity Signs Presidents player Mike Stocker who having passed 1000 club runs for MPCC back on the 6th of October went past the same mark for Presidents Grade with his innings of 12 on Saturday 12th January in a winning effort against MP Pickles Presidents. Mike also became the 10th MPCC player to have played 50 Presidents Grade games for the club and the 6th batsman to have scored 1000 runs.

  No Thursday net training this week (17th Jan) as the MP Sporting Edge Championship XI have their 3rd round T20 against East Chch Shirley on Edgar Mac 1 with the match due to start at 5:30pm. The bar will be open and the BBQ will be in operation so get along and lend your support if you can.

Sporting Edge MPCC 6-A-Side Tournament ...

  Sunday 24th February has now been scheduled for the 6-A-Side Tournament with matches due to start at 12:00pm. Bar and BBQ will be in operation throughout the day. Entry fee is $5:00 per person so get your teams together now (Maximum of 2 Championship players per team, classified as those who have played 5 or more games this season) and register with Jono Collins or Sam Gillespie. Everyone welcome so if you don't have a team let the organisers know so that they can sort you out.

Match Reports from Saturday 15th December ...

MP Sporting Edge Championship vs Riccarton @ Edgar Mac 1 (T20)(Win)

  After an enjoyable Christmas and New Year break had by all we were straight back into cricket with a couple of T20’s against Riccarton, and our One Day Final opponents Heathcote. This format has not been a kind one for us in the past, in fact in the last 2 years we had not registered a single win from 10 matches, and we were hoping to change this. With a slightly damp wicket given overnight rain and our recent success batting first we were unsure about what we wanted to do should we win the toss and when Riccarton won it and elected to bat first we weren’t too bothered. Despite struggling to take wickets we managed to restrict them quite well to a score of 113/3 from their 20 overs the wickets courtesy of an LBW from H.Winchester, a smart runout from B.Allcock, and S.Gillespie spinning one through the gate. However, you have to give props to the whole bowling unit with the majority managing economy rates of under 6 the key reason we managed to restrict them to what we did. We would have been slightly disappointed with our fielding effort however with a couple of dropped catches and misfields potentially costing us the better part of 20 runs but overall we couldn’t not be happy restricting them to 113.

  So needing 114 to win we started the innings off reasonably well reaching 40-0 off the first six, largely thanks to B.Allcock (24 off 22) manipulating the field with relative ease. Now you’d think it’d be easy enough to push the ball around from here given that we only required 74 off 84 balls. However, we knew we wanted to give our man of the match J.Dyer the opportunity to show some heroics and decided to collapse to 80-8 thanks to some questionable shot selection and niggly bowling. This brought J.Dyer to the crease to join E.Waind who was happy pushing for his 2 day position finishing with 10* off 20 balls. J.Dyer however was more than happy with that as he knew his power hitting would be more than enough to get the team over the line so long as we didn’t get bowled out that is. That is exactly what the pair did as well knocking off the remaining 34 runs with a few balls to spare 25 of which came off the bat of J.Dyer who finished with 25* off 17 balls including a stand and deliver bunt straight down the ground for 6 onto the field where his father was doing the exact same thing. Shout out to J.Dyer and E.Waind for really showing some fight but we have to consider ourselves a bit lucky to get out of that game with a win and hope to learn some valuable lessons moving forward.

Click here to view the match scorecard on CricHQ

Sam Gillespie.

MP Sporting Edge Championship vs Heathcote @ Edgar Mac 1 (T20)(Win)

  With one win already under our belt for the day we knew going 2-0 would cement our place as a real contender for the T20’s. After winning the toss we definitely knew what we were going to do this time and decided to have a bat. Things didn’t start quite as well this time losing M.Ling for 0 (3) and B.Allcock for 12 (10) in the first few overs. However, J.Sukhon and R.Hawes began to rebuild and established a good partnership while still maintaining a good run rate, largely thanks to a more than filling breakfast of pancakes for the pair after being on early morning covers duty. At 40-2 after 6 we were quite happy at where we were given the early wickets and the pair continued to go until J.Sukhon (29 off 24) was caught at deep square trying to replicate the 6 he hit the over before with the score at 70. H.Winchester nudged it round while R.Hawes continued to go hard reaching his well deserved 50 off 42 balls but didn’t go any further getting trapped in front the very next ball. J.Chapman (15 off 13) managed one huge maximum down the ground and J.Wilson (4 off 2) just the one boundary before E.Waind came out and hit a 6 straight down the ground to finish our innings at 149/6 off our 20 with H.Winchester (23* off 24) and E.Waind (8* off 4) the men with the red ink.

  So Heathcote needed 150 to win, a total we were more than happy defending or at least we thought so until N.Columbus was hit for 14 off the first over thanks to some lusty blows from their captain J.Horrell. However, J.Sukhon soon gave us the confidence we needed taking a wicket maiden the very next over including the important wicket of the grades leading run scorer M.House. The game remained close for a while but with runs on the board and only needing a few good overs to make the run rate skyrocket the spinners really put the squeeze on to do just that with Jamal finishing with figures of 4-1-15-3, S.Gillespie with 4-0-14-2, and E.Waind 4-0-25-1 including a magical caught and bowled sticking his left hand out to dismiss N.Durham. With them needing 12’s H.Winchester came on at the end to burgle some wickets getting 3 and finished with tidy figures of 4-0-25-3. In the end they could only muster 121/9 off their 20 giving us a 28 run victory and an undefeated start to our T20 campaign. One would say we were quite happy but none more so than Henry Winchester who registered his first competitive cricket victories in almost 3 years (after a couple of winless seasons with Marist-Harewood) so hats off to him.

Click here to view the match scorecard on CricHQ

Cheers Sam.

MP Sporting Edge Div.1 vs Suddenly Sydenham @ Sydenham 2 (T20)(Win)

  First game after Christmas saw us come up against bottom of the table Sydenham 3rds. After winning the toss stand in captain (3rd of the T20 competition) Dave Monger decided to have a bat. With a few top order batters out, we gave Nabin a promotion to open with Comet which unfortunately backfired to see him back in the shed for 1. Comet and Scott put on a quick 20 run partnership before Comet was caught behind for 13. Eder wasn’t in the mood to muck about and was caught at point for a second ball duck. With the team on 25-3, Collins was promoted up the order and assisted Scotty with the recovery. Scotty dominated the partnership with Collins only getting 7 out of the 42 runs before having visions of an inside out over cover resulting in his leg stump doing cartwheels. Sri “The Cleaner” Basaboena came in at 5 and together with Scott got the team to a good position with a couple of clean sixes included in his knock of 33 in the 50 run partnership. Having claimed all break that he is the best player in the grade, Sloane found himself being shown who the alpha was with Scott bringing up his 50 and seeing the team through to the end finishing on 67 not out. Sloane was caught on the last ball for 4 and we finished on 143/6 off our 20.

  Out to bowl and we started off with Sloane and Wilcock. Our two military mediums caused some early issues with Matty getting an early caught behind and Sloane hitting the poles in the next over. Both bowled with good discipline with Matty finishing 1-16 off 3 and Sloane 2-10 off 3. Both were replaced after the powerplay with Monger and Collins who have both been very cheap in the previous games. They continued that trend finishing 1-12 and 1-9 off their 3 respectively. With the game all but over at this stage Beattie and Sharma both came on to clean up the tail and did a good job of it with Sharma finishing 2-18 off 3 and Beattie impressive figures of 3-8 off 2.5. Sydenham all out for 73 job done.

Click here to view the match scorecard on CricHQ

Jono.

MP Sporting Edge Div.1 vs Lancaster Park @ Garrick 2 (T20)(Win)

  Match 2 saw us up against LPW who have been our bogey team during the previous encounters. Again, winning the toss Dave elected to have a bat. This time we tried Eder opening with Comet and he ended up having a day to forget following up his 2nd ball duck in the previous game with a golden in the next bowled by mystery spinner Ben Pimm. Unfortunately for Comet, Kendell (Mrs Comet) turned up and distracted him from the cricket leading to him being bowled next over for 4. Nabin joined Scott and showed us what he had to offer, taking an aggressive approach putting on 71 with Scott in 10 overs to set a good platform. Scott was looking good till a terrible bit of hesitation cost himself back to back big scores, run out for 34. Sloane was promoted up the order and found more fresh air than leather, but the few times he did connect it stayed hit. He got to 15 before finding air one too many times to be bowled. The MP of old was back as we went from 106-3 to 117 for 9 in the space of a few overs as Nabin fell for a hard fought 47, Sri falling for 1 and Beattie, Matty and Sharma all getting ducks. Collins (11*), Monger (4* including one of the best shots ever seen over backward point) and a few extras combined to see out the remaining overs seeing the team through to 133-9 off the 20.

  Out to defend 133 we started off with a very tight spell with Sloane bowling some negative net lines to restrict them to just 12 off his 4 overs with no wickets. Wilcock at the other end got the dangerous Philpott early and finished his first spell 1-9 off 3. Monger replaced Wilcock and bowled 3 cheap overs while also picking up a couple of wickets. Collins replaced Sloane and bowled very erratically and was expensive, appearing to be intimidated by the Samoan powerhouse Toalii. He was pulled quickly from the bowling attack but not before sneaking a wicket. At 47 for 5 after 12 overs the game seemed in the bag but some lower order resistance by Pimm and Baker kept LPW in the game. Beattie replaced Collins and also struggled to bowl to the unorthodox batting style of Pimm being hit for 18 off his 2 overs. Monger’s fourth over was violated blowing his figures out to 2-26 off 4. Sharma bowled too short and only ended up bowling the one over. Equation came down to 33 required off 3 overs. Collins was brought back and picked up the wicket of Baker (32) and Wilcock had a tight over except for a 6 at the end of the over to finish 2-19 off 4. Last over LPW needed 16 and after 2 dot balls Pimm (47) hit Collins for possibly the biggest six in the history of cricket with air traffic control picking up the hit. Fortunately, after another dot ball Pimm was bowled and the game was won by 10 runs, Collins finishing on 3-29 off 4. 6 wins from 6 games in the T20 campaign.

Click here to view the match scorecard on CricHQ

Jono.

MP Little Brown Jug Div.5 vs Southern Districts @ Beckenham 1 (Win)

  This week we took on Southern Districts at Beckenham Park. What greeted us was a moist pitch which had the roller taken to it in the drizzle that morning and 3 weeks of grass clippings all over the outfield. We won the crucial toss and put Southern into bat. Milky and Daddy Devo took the new ball, immediately putting the batsmen under pressure with tight lines. Devo got just rewards, taking 2-12 off his spell of 6 (something to tell the grandkids about!). Mani (0-10 off 4) and Sharma (3-16 off 6) kept things quiet, chipping a couple more away to the safe hands of Rochie to have them 4-40 at drinks. The only way to score was to go aerial, which they finally figured out. After drinks Nick pitched it up, and not much happened (0-13 off 4) though Andy took the brunt of the counter attack, his 3 overs conceding 20 runs. He did take the wicket of their only positive batsman, a misjudged catch by Milky at long on, thinking he would carry it over the boundary, took it one handed behind his back, only to see he had several meters of space. Milky came back for his last two overs, unlucky not to pinch a hat trick, finishing wth figures of 2-3 off his 8 overs. Young Brayden (1-11 off 2.4) wrapped up the innings for 87 in the 34th over.

  With a tail as long as a Manx Cat, Taity and Young Brayden opened away, Brayden playing around a low straight one for 2 (8). Saint Rochford in at 3 looked to not mess about, hitting hard through the line, occasionally riding the boundary through the shag rug of an outfield, often running a hard 2, and after 6-7 overs deciding that was too hard and settling for singles. Tait compiled a steady 20 (32) before becoming frustrated at not having a boundary of his own, losing his off stump. Patto pattered away for his 6 (19), playing it back onto his stumps, and almost getting away with it, only the square leg fielder noticing the dislodged bail after they had completed the single. Milky and Rochie knocked off the remaining 30 runs in the 24th over, Milky 15 not out and Rochie 39 from 57. A good game all round, only tainted by the disgraceful state of the outfield. Thanks to Taity, Devo, Rochie an Caleb for your efforts, and a great way to start 2019.

Click here to view the match scorecard on CricHQ

Milky.

MP Rebels Div.7 vs Prebbleton @ Prebbleton 1 (Loss)

  First game back and we were out at Prebbleton. We won the toss and decided to have a bowl. First wicket coming off a misfield by the keeper and Andrew getting a direct hit run-out. Another moment of magic was a stunning catch by Andy Bagshaw at point. Some great bowling in the middle overs from John (the silver fox) Costello picking up a couple and keeping it tight. At the other end Tut bowled her 8 overs straight through in tandem with John. She went for 10 off her first over and finishing with figures of 2/20 off 8 clean bowling 2 of their better batsmen showed the guys a bit about line and length. Ross Hastings (3/25) took up Johns end to lob grenades very slowly down at the batsmen. It worked! With the batsmen swinging in the wind before the ball had made it 2 thirds of the way down the pitch. At the other end Hamish came back and bowled a really good spell getting good movement off the pitch and picked up a couple. Prebbleton all out for 123 which I thought was a good effort from the guys and girl.

  Id like to say we put up a fight with the bat but we didn't we collapsed worse than a 90 year old with low blood sugar, all out for 29. But in this game we love you have those days (especially when you don't practice) the life of a lower grade cricket player!

Click here to view the match scorecard on CricHQ

Jase

MP Little Brown Jug Div.8 vs Riccarton Thunders @ Bishopdale 1 (Loss)

The LBJ Div 8 team was up against the Riccarton Teluga Thunders on a cloudy day at Bishopdale Park. Malcolm won the toss, and predictably inserted us on a damp-ish pitch that still seemed quite hard and true. The innings was opened once again by Masood and myself. The first couple of overs were uneventful, until I was run out (for the third time this season) without scoring. The pitch proved to lack any demons, but was difficult to score on. From that point we lost wickets reasonably regularly, while also not scoring many runs. Masood also went reasonably cheaply for 6, as did Darren (by his standards) for only 26. Dean, Joel and Sam also did not hang round very long. However, after being on only 55 runs at drinks, we added a further 100 runs in the second session. This was due to a fine 49 from Ricky Dhingra, and some superb hitting and running from Josiah Leigh (32 not out) and Charles Simpson (13 not out). At the end of the 40 overs we were 155/7. Considering how the pitch was playing, and the runs we scored in the first half of the innings, it was a total we were relatively pleased with, and was one we felt we could defend.

  Riccarton came in to bat, and proved very difficult to remove. Their opening partnership extended well into the innings, and was only disrupted when one of their batsmen was forced to retire hurt. That opened up one end a little, and we started to make some inroads, removing a number of their batsmen cheaply. When we finally dismissed their other opener, who batted superbly for a well earned 50, their retired hurt batsman returned to the crease, and unfortunately hung around to help his team across the line in the 37th over, only 5 wickets down. So a 5 wicket loss with around 3 overs remaining. Our bowlers actually did well, without a lot of luck. Our fielding let us down, with a number of dropped catches. Sam bowled well for 1/24 off his 8, and Joel was handy with 2/32 from his overs. Josiah was excellent, again without much luck – 1/22 from his 8. For the first time this season Masood went wicketless, with 0/28. In the end, if we had supported our bowlers and taken our catches it may have been a different story. We fought hard until the end though, and it was a thoroughly  enjoyable and competitive game of cricket. 

Click here to view the match scorecard on CricHQ

Richard Judkins.

MP Identity Signs Presidents vs MP (Pickles) Presidents @ Edgar Mac 2 (Win)

  The aging MPCC Identity Signs Presidents took on Pickles men in the home derby touted as "Clash of the Codgers". With all the rain around on Friday we were certain that it would be a bowl first day and so as Fish went out to do the toss the rest of us prepared to bat. We opened up with Grunter and Stocker but disaster struck in the first over with Winz achieving the impossible and getting a ball under Grunter to have him bowled. Stocker was then joined by Stu and they put together a small partnership before a ball stopped on Mike and he was caught. This seemed to be the theme for the innings with wickets falling regularly throughout. With only a few small partnerships throughout and no one timing the ball captain Fish strode out to bat. Until then there wasn't any momentum in the scoring but with him arriving at the crease he almost immediately took to the bowling hitting 4 sixes in his 29 not out off about 15 balls. All the way through the innings we had been  focusing on getting through to a hundred but with his lusty blows we managed 133 which we thought was well defendable.

  Pickles men then had a bat and right from the start showed a positive intent. Throughout the innings a few of the batters got starts with Brownie top scoring but we managed to keep chipping wickets out all the way through. At drinks the score was 99 for 9 (And yes the batters wanted drinks?????) and it was all over in the first over after drinks with the score on 100. For us Nana was the absolute star of the show taking his first ever 5 wicket bag for the Pressies securing 5-24 in an inspired spell. I can't be sure but I think he may have even thrown in the odd slower ball. 

  So we managed to debut our fancy new playing strip with a win although moving forward we're going to need more runs at the top of the order but with all the talent there I'm sure the runs aren't far away.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and best of luck for your cricket in 2019 unless your playing us that is!

Click here to view the match scorecard on CricHQ

Classier Clothed Cricketers, Bellsy.

MP (Pickles) Presidents vs MP Identity Signs Presidents @ Edgar Mac 2 (Loss)

  Derby day at Edgar Mac, obviously meant the two MP sides squared off on a damp back track. I won the toss and made the call to bowl first (having "mostly" stuck to the traditional out of the hat first game of the year), opening with Winz and Wade. Got off to the best start, Grunter back in the hutch second ball and Winzey looking menacing with his lack of pace. Adhering to the two over max spell (plus additional one if you got a wicket) the overs chopped and changed which made it quite hard for the Identity Signs lads to get to grips with a constant rhythm resulting in regular wickets falling to six different bowlers (out of 8). Stocker (12) falling to Browne, Nana backcutting to gully for 10, Rooney trapped in front for 16, Rendel (1) playing over a straight ball, Ants tried to muscle a shot down the ground caught at mid off for 2, Zane got caught off the glove for 6, Kim (4) also caught trying to launch. Bellsy was the calm in the middle of this maelstrom of wickets, picking up singles and knocking off the bad ball, compiled a good score of 36 before, he to succumbed to the pitch. That left Fish and Tonka left with overs rapidly running out and 110 on the board. Que the changing of the momentum... Gavey "Shooter" Strachan, coming off 3 overs 1 for 5, left the fourth over 1 for 26 figures to his name, as Fish took him apart, throwing caution to the wind and bullied three sixes into the trees, taking a degree of confidence away and rubbing it into the dirt. However we did get him next over for a quickfire 29, Tonks left two not out. 132 was going to prove tough to get so a little strategy was needed...

  From the get go, Mayo was never going to be opening the batting and was swapped with Gavin whom I believe drew 8 in the order, Josh drawing number 2 (and was not overly happy about it) was thrust forward with the instructions to hit out if he could, and came away from the crease, score on 17 having scored... 2 off 15, think he did it just to be perverse, knocking off to Nana. Gavey came in the next over for 15, walking on a caught behind that Stu didn't see. Hume lasted only 4 balls caught brilliantly down the ground after not timing a drive at all. Pickle and Browne put on 37 quick runs, before Bellsy trapped Pickle in front for 22, two overs later Crimp was caught top edging for 1 and Parker stumped the next ball, giving Glen three wickets in quick time. Browne (25) next to go, not getting enough on the drive caught on the boundary by Rendel giving Nana his third, the score 79. When Ralfs was bowled for 4, Mayo was introduced (shifted again from 8 to 10, runner included) and set about holding up an end and tried to allow Wade to do the scoring. This really didn't pay dividends as the scoring rate plummeted and we crept from 91 to 98 over four overs with lots of calls of no coming from three different directions. This forced Wade (18) to play away from the body to be very well caught by Ants, scurrying away and taking the ball over his shoulder. Drinks were taken after Nana's successful over 8/1/24/5, Mayo insisting on hydration and a regroup at 99/9. Whatever he had in mind failed to materialize as he lasted only one ball after Winz took a cheeky single off Fish on the off side, and we went on to lose by 32. Again the call for patience was unheeded, but to be fair Identity Signs were the better side on the day and we are again consigned to hoping for a better result next year. My boys moved to the warmth of the clubrooms to watch the first team win their second game of the day, while IDS basked in the warmth of their win lasted a little longer outside, but eventually saw the light and joined us to continue the banter.

Click here to view the match scorecard on CricHQ

Thanks guys, we'll give it a better go next time, Cheers, Pickle.

Sporting Edge MPCC Draw for Thursday 17th January:

• MP Sporting Edge Championship vs East Chch Shirley @ Edgar Mac 1 (T20)(5:30pm)

Sporting Edge MPCC Draw for Saturday 19th January:

• MP Sporting Edge Championship vs BWU @ Burnside 1 (T20)(10:30am)
• MP Sporting Edge Championship vs St Albans @ Hagley 5 (T20)(2:45pm)
• MP Sporting Edge Div.1 vs BWU @ Burnside 2 (T20)(10:30am)
• MP Sporting Edge Div.1 vs OBC @ Elmwood 4 (T20)(2:45pm)
• MP Little Brown Jug Div.5 vs LP Sunrisers @ Bishopdale 1
• MP Rebels Div.7 vs Scots Raiders @ Edgar Mac 2
• MP Little Brown Jug Div.8 vs Heathcote SOC's @ Ferrymead 1
• MP Identity Signs Presidents vs ECS Gold @ Burwood 3
• MP (Pickles) Presidents vs St Albans @ Edgar Mac 1

Mens Subs for Season 2018/19 … 

Men’s full subs to be $260 for a season if fully paid by 31 October, 2018 or if an AP has been established in writing with the Treasurer by 31 October, 2018. Otherwise the subscription to be increased to $300 for late payment. ($130 for students and team captains, or $170 for late payment).

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 

Article added: Wednesday 16 January 2019