No Avoiding the Drop

Season 2009-2010 was a disappointing one for the OCCC 1st XI, winning just the lone game and subsequently being relegated to A Grade in the ECA.

Dunstan Shield
Played 11 Won 1 Lost 10
Finished 12th (relegated to A Turf)

The season started brightly with a good pre season showing of our core group plus an influx of 2nd XI players that we hoped would increase pressure for spots in the 1st XI.

We had also secured the services of Murray Smith from England through our connection with ex-player and Club Legend, Jeff Chapman. Murray came with very high regards from Jeff and certainly proved himself on the field with his bowling which just got better as the season went along, and also off the field where he proved to be just as good a bloke as cricketer.

A close loss in the first game against Deepdene was followed by a thumping at the hands of Mulgrave and it was clear our output was going to have to increase if we were going to turn the season around.

We put in a solid batting effort in Round 4 against North Balwyn, but some late innings slip-ups prevented us from posting the 250+ that was probably needed.

The next week we again struggled for wickets (a common theme as the season progressed) and eventually went down by 7 wickets. The reserve day for Round 1 was the next day and again we suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Bulleen.

This left us 0 and 4 and in need of some victories to get our season back
on track. Unfortunately those victories didn’t eventuate and after a close loss to Ashburton, followed by defeats at the hands of Mont Albert and fellow cellar dwellers Donvale, we entered the Christmas break still searching for that elusive victory.

Refreshed and ready to go after the break we had the worst possible return to the New Year with heavy defeats to Hawthorn and then Canterbury where we were forced to follow on both occasions. Unfortunately these two losses sealed our relegation fate and left the last two games as dead rubbers and searching to regain some respect amongst the competition.

Easily our most disciplined and best batting effort came in Round 10 against Richmond City where we posted 5/207 on a very slow ground. Our bowling the next week was equally as good as we ran out 100-run victors – our first 6 points of the season.

If anything could be gained from this victory it was summed up in both weeks. Firstly our batting in week one where each and every player put the highest value on their wickets and shelved the somewhat cavalier attitude
that had been shown in some earlier matches. I think this shows that sometimes it’s not about how hard and fast you play but about how SMART you play. There are times for big shots and there is a time for steady and disciplined batting.

This should be a minimum requirement for every batter in EVERY match next season.  Secondly our bowling in week two was just as disciplined as the week one batting effort.

At our level of cricket we are not going to blast opposition out, we are going to take wickets with consistent bowling in the right areas and a build up of pressure both with the ball and in the field. This match was our best fielding effort for the season and our best bowling effort of the season in terms of hitting the right areas all day.

We forced the other team to play out of their comfort zone. Again this needs to be a model we follow ALL of next season.

Unfortunately we weren’t able to finish the season off on the right note and a loss to cross town rivals East Doncaster ensued. There was certainly a look to the future in this game however, with the selection of Thomas Byrnes and Drew El Moussalli. Tommy is 12 and Drew is 16 and both are fine bowlers and we look forward to them remaining at the club in the coming years.

Simon Wood, Nick Brock and Stephen Vitali also made their 1st XI debuts during the season and all three should strive to be a part of the 1’s next season.

Murray Smith Proved a stand out with the ball all season and we look forward to him returning for the 2010/11 season.

Relegation to A Grade will not mean automatic victories or automatic finals appearances. It will require hard work at training and during games and being able to follow a game plan that will bring us our success. In my mind we have the core group of 1’s players plus improvement from existing 2’s
players ready to take the next step.

Couple this with some savvy recruiting both on and off the field and I envisage a successful 2010/11 season for the 1st XI and the club.

Congratulations to both Grant Christiansen and Phil Pitts on their jobs done as 2nd and 3rd XI Captains respectively. The 2’s narrowly missed out on finals yet again and I am sure next year is the year they will make that step up to C Grade.

The 3’s were much better represented from a numbers level this season which is very encouraging for the club and also unearthed some good talent which bodes well for the future.

China led from the front with a career year and showed us all that an Old Dog can learn new tricks. Peter Weymouth ably Vice Captained the 2nds this year
stepping in to skipper the side to a victory in the last round.

I would like to thank Dino for the amount of work he put in to the club this season. He is an invaluable resource to me and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Thanks also to Gavin Macrae as Vice Captain of the 1’s. I am certain that 2009/10 was not what he expected or wanted on field but with any luck Gav is back next season help lift us back to Dunstan shield. His impact on our side
both statistically and from a leadership point of view is immeasurable.

Jordan Ciuro as president this year excelled and will preside over one of the best financial years the club has had. I am sure he will be keen to see that off field success transfer to on field success in coming seasons. The amount
of work put in by Slug and Dino is impossible to recognise and I think the entire club should be thankful for their efforts as much as I am. Well done guys.

Phil Pitts this year stepped onto the committee as secretary and apart from some minor teething problems with junk email filters he didn’t put a foot wrong. A lot of work goes into getting the club to the line each week and the bulk of this work this season was done by Jordan, Peter and Phil. Thanks guys for your consistent efforts in keeping the club a float and making it the great
place to be a part of that it is.

Robyn & Paul Ciuro and Bec Bowshall again took care of the afternoon tea at home matches and if it waspossible to outperform last years efforts they certainly did. Not one home game went by where half the room commented on how good “the spread” was today. Thanks to both Robyn, Paul and Bec and we hope to hang onto your services next season.

Jim Keppell and his staff once again provided us with the best wickets in Melbourne and maintained the turf training wickets for us almost all season whilst also providing wickets for mid-week T20 matches and centre wicket
practice.

We are certainly spoilt at OCCC to have the services of such a curator.

Thanks also to the OCGA for their continued support of the club. It’s tough times these days to find funding to keep amateur sporting clubs afloat and the assistance we receive from the OCGA each year is invaluable.

I hope everyone enjoys the night and comes back ready to go at pre season training in August.

Tad Merry (aka Christmas)
First XI Captain