Cornwall Park Slideshow

Once again you can download any of these excellent photos provided by our "official" photographer; Chris Newey. (Here)

Game v. Cornwall Park (Summary)

Whilst we did not win today, it was good to see that we made sure that Cornwall Park had to fight really hard for their victory. I think on the balance of it, and much as it grieves me to say it, they probably deserved their day in the sunshine. We set them a good (although not great) target which would mean that they had to work to beat us. Ried Hastie (40 Not Out) and Sam Hinds started us off well. Donald Coleman (19) batting at No. 5 started the engine and Cole Briggs (24) and Max Lewis (11) had a good partnership at the end that allowed us to set them 143 to win off 35 overs.

We had a strong game plan; which had been to apply pressure and restrict their runs. However, they did very well at the start and this is probably where they beat us; they attacked our bowlers early and we gave them too much space. We tended to field too deep and it was just too easy for them to score runs. A couple of tough chances went down and a couple of opportunities missed but, to be fair, they really took to us in the first 7 overs. Angus Nicoll was unlucky with a peach of a first ball and Steven Newey and eru Hudson both bowled very well with no reward. Jack Stevenson gave it more air than Michael Jordan and had their batsman in real problems. Max Lewis, Bronson Marshall all battled the wind and bowled tightly. Chris Woodard (1/15) bowled well and took the ball for the last over - which is always a good sign.

We worked hard and came back in to the game. We took a couple of wickets and closed them down for a while by bringing the field in and being more aggressive but, a couple of errors and maidens turned in to frogs as we let them off the hook with some fielding errors; each time we looked like taking control, they had a strong over and took it away from us. At the end they won the game in the last over but, by that time it was their game to lose.

In summary, we stepped up as a side (compared to Manukau); our batting was better and more urgent and our fielding/bowling was good. We need to be more aggressive with the bat, earlier in our innings (dotballs in to 1's, 1's in to 2's ... etc) - we moved on well and looked after our wickets but, must work at finding ways to score. Similarly, in the field, we should be taking charge of games and not letting the other team dictate to us. We are as a good as anyone that we will play and we certainly have the team spirit and in Reid Hastie we have a really good thinking captain.

NHY6 142/7 from 35 Overs (Reid Hastie 40 Not Out, Cole Briggs 24, Donald Coleman 19)

Cornwall Park 143/2 from 34.3 Overs (Chris Woodard 1/15, Reid Hastie 1/9)

Cornwall Park won by 8 wickets

Have a great break; you all looked like you need a break! See you all refreshed and ready to go for Wanganui! Merry Xmas!

v. Cornwall Park (21 December)

It is going to be a beautiful sunny day but, unfortunately, not sunny enough to dry the Stanley Bay wicket out in time. We have decided therefore, to accept Cornwall Park's offer of hosting us on their 1a pitch in front of their pavillion.

The team selected to play Cornwall Park at Cornwall Park will be:

1. Reid Hastie (Captain)
2. Sam Hinds
3. Eru Hudson
4. Christopher Woodard
5. Donald Coleman
6. Bronson Marshall
7. Cole Briggs (Wicketkeeper)
8. Steven Newey
9. Max Lewis
10. Jack Stevenson
11. Angus Nicoll

Be at the ground for 9:15am for a 10am start.

NHY6 v. Manukau (Slideshow)

Once again, we have Chris to thank for these amazing photos. Please feel free to download any of the photos from the online album (here).

Games v. Manukau (Summary)

Wonderful weather and setting for our games against Manukau. Their teams were made up of players from Howick Pakuranga and Papatoetoe Cricket Clubs. They had selected and A and B sides whereas we were happy to remain with our even teams and therefore, knew that potentially we could have had anything from a really hard game to a relatively easy one ... as it happened, this is pretty much the way it ended up. However, that is to take away nothing from either our sides or the Manukau teams.

Their A team set Don's XI a daunting target of 142 from 28 overs. Batting first, Manukau started their innings slowly and surely and we were complimented on our tight bowling and field settings. However, they built on this base and we started to get flustered and tried to bowl too quick - we ended up spraying the ball around and bowling too short (17 No Balls is too many at this level against a team like this) and they went to town on the latter part of their innings with our fielding losing its' shape a little as we got a little bit ragged and under pressure. We then went to bat and whilst, Jake Skellern and Reid Hastie kept their wickets safe, we got bogged down by some very tidy slow bowling. We had set ourselves some batting targets and after 10 overs were already behind our target by 25 runs and by 15 overs were 31 runs down. These are obviously meant to be a guide but, we do need to start thinking about where we are and how we can move forward. To their credit though, they bowled and fielded very well however, we never really looked like we were going to threaten them despite a last gasp swashbuckle from Oliver Peterson and Cole Briggs (Man of the Match). We finished on 102/3 after the 28 overs. A good learning experience for us and hopefully when the dust settles, we can sit down and think through some of our decisions and perhaps, how we might have done things differently.

In the other game, the roles were reversed as Colin's XI put their B team to the sword. Regular wickets and continued pressure in the field. It was only a last wicket partnership of 32 that held us up. They finished on 71 all out - we only bowled 9 extras. Their team currently plays in their prem grade but, due to a mix up at registration time, have been graded outside the top league. They have won all their games against 3rd and 4th teams with great ease and this was an eye opening experience for them. We knocked the runs off in the 20th over with the loss of only 4 wickets. We probably have not learnt a huge amount from this game but, we did bowl very well (Eru Hudson and Max Lewis taking 3 wickets each) and Eru Hudson looked at ease with the bat and deservedly too the Man of the Match medal. It was good to see both Kieran Seedall and Ben Beecroft settle in to the team well and I hope that they get a chance to play again at some point in the future.

Don's XI v. Manukau A
Manukau A 141/4 (Asher Robb 3 overs 0/2, Donald Coleman 3 overs 2/24, Oliver Peterson 4 overs 1/14 and Jake Skellern 2 overs 1/18)
Don's XI 102/3 (Reid Hastie 29 Not Out, Cole Briggs 19 Not Out, Oliver Peterson 12 Not Out)

Manukau A won by 39 runs

Colins XI v. Manukau B
Manukau B 71 All Out (Max Lewis 3 overs 3/4, Eru Hudson 3 overs 3/8, Jack Stevenson 3 overs 1/9, Kieran Seedall 3 overs 1/9 and Ben Beecroft 2 overs 1/10)
Colins XI 72/4 (Eru Hudson 25 Not Out, Luke Dewar 14 and Steven Newey 15)

Colin's XI won by 6 wickets

Well done to both teams, this is a learning year for the boys and both teams will need to take the positives and the negatives from their games and look to the future. The results are supplementary to the knowledge that they will get from playing stronger (and to a lesser extent weaker) teams. I really enjoy being a part of this squad and feel that we have a fantastic set of boys - the team spirit is good and we look like we enjoy our cricket. Keep up the good work.

NHY6/7 v. NH U15 Girls (14 December)

I am looking after a joint NHY6/7 team that will be playing against Simon Down's U15 Girls side at Takapuna Grammar School (Grass Wicket) on the 14th December. I am looking for 5 NHY6 boys to play in this team, preferably boys that are not involved in the Cornwall park game. So far my list is:

1. Rory Douglas
2. Kit Freeman
3. Luke Dewar
4. Matt Strain
5. Max Lewis or Steven Newey

We will look at a 9am start (be there at 8:30am) and we will be playing 40 overs - so should be done by 2pm ish.

Please let me know by email if you are interested (rupertlewis@mac.com).

v. Manukau (7 December)

The two teams to play Manukau at Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club (Lloyd Elsmore Park) are as follows:

Colin's Team (Field 7A)
Luke Dewar
Harry Bartlett
Matt Strain
Bronson Marshall
Eru Hudson
Oliver Petersen
Kieran Seedall
Steven Newey
Max Lewis
Jack Stevenson
Angus Nicoll


Don's Team (Field 8A)
Reid Hastie
Donald Coleman
Evan Cronje
Kit Freeman
Benjamin Beecroft
Cole Briggs
Jake Skellern
Chris Woodard
Bjorn Wojt
Ben Reidy
Asher Robb

Unavailable
Sam Hinds
Rory Douglas
Faisal Ganchi
Jake Meenhorst

Meet at Lloyd Elsmore at 8:45am for a 9:30am start. HPCC and Papatoetoe are two of the strongest clubs in Auckland; this should be a real test of your game. Make sure that you sleep well on Saturday night and don't forget your sunscreen and caps.