And, we’re off – Magpie Chatter 21st October 2015

Time for the first edition of Magpie Chatter for the 2015/2016 Barossa & Light Cricket Season and boy, do the seasons sneak up quickly! An exciting year ahead for the Club with 4 senior sides and 7 junior sides taking to the field each week to fly the flag and play great cricket in the right spirit.

With the Tanunda Oval repairs work taking the oval out of action for a couple more weeks, the A’s headed to Faith East to tackle Light Pass, with the visitors deciding to bowl. Led by an exceptional effort from “First Game Skipper” Nathan Justin with a hard hitting knock of 102, well supported by brother Jon with 55. Shaun Akkerman, Lachy Scott-Hoy and Luke Samain all made 20’s helping Tanunda to a very competitive total of 270. Light Pass faced 10 overs, making it to 24 without loss in reply when stumps were drawn.

Line and length bowling and a solid fielding effort should see the first win for the year for the A’s. The Clubhouse player of the week goes to Nathan for an excellent start to his captaincy career at Tanunda.

The B’s headed to Angaston to try out impressive new turf deck, with Skipper Kym Farley winning the toss and having a hit. After losing an early wicket, the experienced duo of Toby Mifflin and Darren Graetz saw the score to 72 before Toby was dismissed for 39. Darren was next to fall for a well-made 33, with new player to the club Nick Norman the only other bat to make a significant contribution making 18. Tanunda was eventually bowled out for a patient 126.

In great signs for the future of the club, 5 excellent overs from our up and coming bowlers have Angaston on the back foot at 3 for 8, with Brodie Robinson bowling 2 exceptional overs to end the day on 2 for 1, and Nick Mills backing up from winning the C grade golf in the morning taking a wicket in his only over. Good luck to bringing home the points. Tundarri player of the day goes to Brodie for ripping through the Angaston top order at the end of the day.

The C’s took to the dog track to commence the premiership defence against Gawler Centrals. Batting first Tanunda compiled a very competitive 6 for 199, with comeback kid Matt Fechner with 43, skipper Jamie Roehr 30 not out and young Bailey Smith 23 not out.

Story of the day must go to Nick Lienert, who woke up on Saturday a happily retired cricketer. With a player pulling out of the B’s at 11 am and Nick being near the selector’s eye line, umpiring his lad at square leg during the Under 12’s at Faith, the question was asked if Nick would consider coming out of retirement… “No, I can’t sorry.” 11:10 am, Nick was heard to say “where is the game”, 11:20 am, “what time is the game”, 11:37 am – “Okay, I better go sort out some whites.” Nick’s long retirement was over, much to the amazement of his lovely wife Chris, who nearly fell over when she arrived home to see Nick about to leave the house in his whites. But, boy was it worth it, with Nick making his first 50 in over a decade, looking fantastic on his way to top scoring with 56.

Taking to the field Nick decided that he should really show his new team mates that batting wasn’t the only thing he had to offer, taking a blinding catch at cover to kick things off. Sam Cox had an outstanding day with 7 quality overs yielding 5 wickets for only 7 runs. Stuart Swan chipped in with 2 wickets, Darryl Hean and Matt Fechner 1 wicket each as the hosts finished their allotted 40 overs at 9 for 102. WFI player of the day goes to Sam for his first 5 wicket haul, with Nick an honourable mention for top scoring, taking 2 catches as well as bowling the last over of the day, a fair comeback to cricket!

The D’s hosted Angaston at Faith West and batted first, compiling a competitive 7 for 181 off their 40 overs. Skipper Bob Smart had a great day making 74, with Chris Collins (who also wasn’t playing cricket Saturday when he woke up) chipping in with 33. Another comeback kid Matt Pick was next best with the bat with 15.

Catches win matches, and unfortunately dropped catches can also hurt in the opposite way, with the visitors chasing down the total with a few overs in the bank. Chris Collins completed and solid all-round day with a wicket, with young Cooper Ratsch taking the other wicket to fall. Barossa Valley Brewing player of the week goes to Bob for his captain’s innings.

Mia Pizza Senior player of the week is a tie between Nathan and Sam for their efforts with bat and ball.

The Under 16’s took to Nuri High to tackle the lads from Greenock. Skipper Jake Hartigan won the toss and Tanunda had a hit. Greenock bowled well to restrict Tanunda to 49, with Oscar Harms top scoring with 12. Cricket’s a funny game boys, tight bowling might see you pull off an excellent victory.

After a long spell without rain, the combined Tanunda Under 14’s teams could consider themselves pretty unlucky with their historic match on the turf at Chateau Tanunda being called off due to rain, what are the odds!

Continuing the theme of Tanunda derby’s to kick off the season, both Tanunda Under 12’s took to Faith East to kick off the year. Tanunda White’s skipper James decided that he’d like to bat first. Tanunda Black bowled well taking 9 wickets, with Hugo and Joshua the stars with 2 wickets. Harry L, Syd, Hayden, Nick and Ben (Tanunda Black Variety!) all got amongst the wickets with super sub from the opposition Sam N taking a catch against his team mates. Mitch was the best with the bat for Tanunda Whites hitting an excellent 4.

Tanunda Black followed on from their good bowling performance with a good effort with the bat, with Hugo hitting four 4’s, Harry L two 4’s, and Hayden and Ben hitting a 4 each. Sam “sticky fingers” took another 3 catches for his side (Tanunda Whites), taking a remarkable 4 catches for the day. Darcy showed he’s an all-round talent with an excellent caught and bowled with excellent support from first gamers Malik and Nick with a wicket each. Ben (Tanunda White Variety!) and Chloe both kicked off their bowling seasons by taking a wicket.

Spectators witnessed a great start to the season on Saturday morning at Faith West with both Under 10 teams facing each other in the first game of Under 10 cricket for the season. Exciting to see 15 new players out of a total of 22, with all players playing with great enthusiasm and respect for the spirit of the game.

Special mentions to Oscar, Axel, Noah, Nash, Tom R, Patrick, Thomas, Ned, Banjo, Remi , Henry, Finn and Daniel who all scored runs in their first game. First time wicket takers were Oscar, Noah, Tom R and Patrick – welcome to our great game!

Well done to Jonte who returned to cricket this season after having a break, and scored 11 runs and was amongst the wicket takers. There was some great fielding with 2 run outs achieved which resulted in appropriate enthusiasm all round. Special mention to Tanunda’s Veteran Under 10 players, Ben, Giles, Zavier, Hudson, Max and Walter who all lead the way by showing their new team mates how to play the game.

Great to be back to playing cricket!