The MRCC "Christmas on the hill" was held at Traeger Park on Saturday night (19th Dec.), and once again, was a huge success.
This yearly tradition is fast becoming "THE" Christmas party to attend. With numbers up around 160 this year and more expectant mothers at the club, it's likely that the numbers will grow for next year. People started to arrive around 5ish to watch our A Grade get stuck into the Westies lads and the flood gates opened around 6ish when the other two grades secured victories in their respective matches. A good crowd of around 160 had gathered by 7:15 and not long after, Santa appeared from nowhere and caught a few overs of the match from the Grandstand before being noticed by the throng of children at the ground. He wandered down to greet the kids and made his way, pied piper style, to the northern hill to distribute gifts to all the kids. He waved goodbye, shouted a few ho ho ho's, and with that, he disappeared just as quickly, no doubt to attend various other christmas functions going on around the globe.
While this was happening the A grade continued to chase the target set by the opposition and the now well lubricated crowd, erupted when skipper, Cornford, bought up his 50. Jacques and Blayne put on a clinic of how to run between wickets, before both being dismissed just short of the tagret and the Big Mac waltzed out blocked one and then smashed a six to finish the game, much to the delight of the rowdy crowd on the hill.
A big thank you goes to everyone that turned up to take part in this night, especially the kids, who seem to enjoy every minute of it. Watching these kids run amok and keep themselves entertained while they wait for Santa, then accept their presents in a polite and orderly manner, then go and run amok again, is a highlight in the MRCC calender. The club is good hands at the moment and events like this only show that the future of the MRCC is very, very bright.
Thanks also to all the sponsors and their families for turning out, the club relies on your support and would not survive without you all. Remember to utilise these businesses when requiring anything done in their respective fields.
Fantastic to see a few life members in attendance, Terry Weeks, Craig Murphy, Bob Colbey and his wife Sue, it is always a pleasure to have your company at club functions and we hope to see more "lifers" at future events.
These things do not just happen, there are a number of people who pull together to get such a large event over the line and I am going to try and thank you all here and now, if I miss you, I am truly sorry and your efforts do not go unnoticed.
Annie Derham and her band of salad ladies for providing for us all and catering perfectly, there was very little left over and everyone got fed.
Chris Rudd for his now famous, spread sheet, which proved invaluable in keeping track of everything, and ordering the meat from Milner Meats.
Weeksy, Guv, Scotta and Cherie for their continuous support, advice and assistance in all areas.
Lester and Lyndsay for the bread, again, catered perfectly with just 2 loaves left over.
Deb "Jones" for the pre dinner platters of cheese and kabanos.
Quanni for his assistance in getting things up and running.
Santa and Karen Nicolai for ensuring all the kids got their presents.
The chefs on the night, who I am pretty sure were, Dusto, Gaz V, Patto and others, somebody has to cook for the masses and this is a huge job on the night that is well received by all.
"Tugga" who suffered some injury early on, but managed to break the pain barrier and provide hot food and cold drinks late into the night.
Craig and the crew at Mad Harry's, what can I say? A massive effort from you guys to help Santa keep the kids happy, a huge thank you to you all.
In closing, it was a great night, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Another three victories on the day with all teams performing well, adds to the enjoyment on the night. A safe and happy Xmas and new year to you all.
Welcome back from the Xmas break, hope you enjoyed the time off and if you got away then hope you had a safe trip.
During the break the Northern Territory under 15’s team traveled to Queensland and once again dominated the carnival held in Bundaberg with the assistance of our very own Akash Patel, yep that’s right Akash not only represents our senior A, B Grade and junior Division 1 teams he is also eligible for Under 15’s. Quite remarkable and we are fortunate to have him part of the MRCC. During the carnival Akash took a handful (5) of wickets in round 3, well done Akash, great effort.
Training for Division 1, 2, 3 & 4 will be on next Monday (25th January) at 5.00pm due to Australia Day on the Tuesday, if you are unable to attend please contact your coach below. Games continue on Friday 29th January for Division 1 and the remainder of the juniors on Saturday 30th January.
Division 3 Rovers Thunder - Brendan Smith 0403 173 840 - David Quan 0400 885 991
Rovers Lightning - Scott Nicolai - 0438 524 208
Rovers Storm - Glen Bull - 0447 399 761 Division 4
Rovers - Chris Rudd - 0401 115 615
Congratulations also go to the parents for Jacob Watson (plays in the Division 4 team) Sue & Strop on the birth of their son Mark, we wish you all the best.
Any questions you may have please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thanks
Ruddy
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After finally winning a toss, it seemed right to send the Razzle in for a bat. Early scanning of the players present gave us grand thoughts of an early day. Apparently, they had other ideas. After a slow start (2/51 after 15), the accelerator was found, and thanks to some big hitting by "Herbie", RSL ended on 8/254. A couple of big overs of 23 and 20 off Dillon and Mick Niven at the end didn't help our chances any. A couple of dropped chances, and a couple of extra potholes (thanks Ruddy!) later and it was our turn.
Facing a total like that, we sort of knew how other teams have felt against us in earlier games, and it's not good. An early wicket, then a steady procession saw us at 7/184 after 30 overs. Not a bad effort, and hopes were on the rise. 3 runs later, it was all over, and we were well short. MPN scoring 52, ably supported by Ruddy (21) and Redders (37) gave us a half chance, but to no avail.
On a positive note for us, Wests lost to Feds, so the gap from top is still only 5 points. A win next round, then against Wests will see us back in top spot.
Well done to the A's, C's and Div 2 boys. A Grade and C Grade posting Bonus Point wins. Keep it up fellas.
Not long to go until finals, and then the headaches will really start. There have been a huge amount of blokes keen for games this year, but we can only fill 33 playing spots if all teams make the Grand Final. There are bound to be some disappointments, and some surprises, but that, as they say, is cricket.
Round 11 back where the 2009/10 season began against Feds at CDU.
Once again, the opposing captain failed to call the coin flip correctly and I elected to bat, I am getting pretty good at winning the toss.
Ty and Pies strode out to get things underway and it wasn’t long before Pies was back in the sheds with the score on 15 and Pies gone for 7. Ty joined his opening partner shortly thereafter with the score at 21 and Officer Murphy and water guru Vanstone joined forces for a brief partnership that saw Murph out in the 11th over with the score at 39, and the job ahead of us. The in form Jake Wilson entered the fray and the “guru” departed, the situation resembled a house of cards that just started rocking in a stiff breeze and could topple any second! 4 for 53 and the lads from the East with the upper hand. Juddo returned after a couple weeks’ hiatus and he and Jake set about getting things back on track. The partnership blossomed and saw JD and Jake slowly dismantle the Feds attack, carving out an 89 run partnership before Jake fell 2 runs short of back to back 50’s in another fine display of valuing ones’ wicket and choosing the right ball to hit. JD continued on his merry way and reached 50 and he and I saw out our 35 overs without further loss. Our total was 5/170, on a huge ground, thanks to some interesting cone placement and a slow outfield.
Our turn to bowl came and it took 7 overs for us to pick up our first wicket when I had young Gaynor play all over one and removed his leg stump. Jake Wilson replacing Betteridge at the southern end picked up the dangerous Feds skipper Filmer, 2/25. I was lucky enough to bag the scalps of Sam Day and Duncan to have Feds reeling at 4/35 after 14 overs. The old stager/life member Weeks grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and picked up the wickets of CD, Ericsson and Jose and it was all but over for the lads in red. 7/64. Quinn departed when he skied one and the “out of sorts” Betteridge called everyone out and collected the catch off his own bowling. Monty Nixon held his own and saw out the innings but ran out of partners when Caney picked up Ross, and Hollywood snared Hunter with the first ball of the 32nd over. Feds well short of the required total, all out 94.
Another solid outing for the C grade that saw Juddo not out 61 and Jake Wilson 48 doing the damage with the willow and Myself 3/17 and Weeks 3/23 taking the honours with the Kookaburra. Some good catching once again but a few little errors in the ground fielding that need to be tidied up in the coming weeks. Another bonus point in the bank and the likelihood of finishing top and going straight through to the last Saturday in March is now a very real possibility.
A big week ahead with us having the weekend off due to the Imparja Cup. Thursday night will see a get together for the C grade at an undisclosed location for some team bonding and a bit of fine tuning before our run to the finals. Good luck to the A grade facing off against Feds in the one-day final next week, we will be there to support the lads and hopefully bring home the first bit of silverware for the season.
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