FAREWELL VICTORY SETS UP 4TH SPOT SHOWDOWN

by Ian Gason

With 2 lads, Marty and Crockie Dave, playing their last game with the Wombats, it was pleasing to send them on their way with a convincing win, as the Wombat revival continued at Koiwa on Sunday. Appropriately, it was those 2 boys who set up the victory, helping themselves to 3 wickets each, as Tokyo Bay proved to be no match for The Wombats, running out winners by 8 wickets.

With the mercury pushing the mid 30s,we would have liked to have wrapped up The Bay Stars batting quicker than we did. The bowling varied wildly – miserly accurate one minute, woeful wide the next. 23 wides padded the Tokyo account. Their openers saw off the opening bowlers, although we managed to contain the runs. First changers Bird and Crockie soon got amongst the wickets, and Wombats wrestled control from Tokyo’s hands. The morning’s highlight surely must be The Stumping, The Dinosaur’s new Adam Gilchrist keeping gloves paying for themselves already.

When Crockie let one slip down leg, Tokyo’s opener was down the track trying to hit him straight into the river. He missed, and Dino moved sharply to his left to glove the ball. Not content just to save the bye, he flicked the ball 10 metres out of the back of his hand, hitting the stumps, leaving the batsmen stranded in freeze-frame, metres short.

Tokyo went to drinks 5/59 after 20. What these boys lacked in talent they made up for in determination, with a very stubborn 9th wicket partnership, producing a plethora four letter words from some frustrated bowlers. With both bats playing nothing but the block, my advice to Bird was (im)pure and simple: “Put one up around his f***king ears”. On a true pitch, it might well have done that, landing bang in the middle of the pitch. However, this is Koiwa, and the ball came through about 5’5″ lower than expected, into the woodwork. Dr Dave’s juggling act at silly mid off removed the last man, Tokyo all out 99.

Marty was the pick of the bowlers, cleaning up the middle and the tail, grabbing 3/6. Crockie grabbed some big top order wickets to finish with 3/30.

Ken Wandano’s Shoaib Ahktar impersonation (running in from the ‘sightscreen’) wasnft enough to phase Bird and Dinosaur, as the set about comfortably chasing down what is on the Koiwa pitch a decent total. Bird was the first to go, leg before, with the score on 27. Experienced Wombats were heading for cover shortly after, when Jarrad was given -somewhat unfairly- leg before. Anger management classes must be paying off though, as, to his credit, he saved obscenities till he was well out of earshot of the umpire!! (In all fairness, even Tokyo Bay’s boys agree that he’d hit it. Still am I one to pass up a chance to rib Cap’n Grumpy??)

The wild man from the Transvaal, Zulu, and Chuckles, left me once again all added up with no where to go. Zulu even survived a ball going THROUGH his stumps! Both batsman played good shots all around the ground, Chuckie in particular letting loose some big shots over mid wicket and long on. The pick of the 4 batsman, he brought up the winning runs with a four, followed up with a big 6 over the mid-wicket fence, to finish not out on 35. Jarrad made a solid 22.

Sunday 31 we take on Pakistan Eaglets. Both teams are on 8 points from 5 wins. Although Lalazar are still a chance to make the finals, they must first get past Tokyo Bay and an in-form Indian Engineers, never an easy game at the best of times. So, the winner from Wombats v Eaglets is most likely to see some ‘September action’ (thatfs finals, for you non-Aussie rules fans!). We’ll be missing a couple of good bowlers, but we’ll be going in confident and in-form, and will back ourselves all the way to win. Dig deep Wombats: this is what its all about!

We bid farewell to Crockie and Marty and wish you the best of luck in Australia. Maybe we’ll have a wombat tour to the Gold Coast!?!