Results from last weekend’s Round 16 match included a comprehensive victory to A grade, a very close win to B1, a nail biting loss to B2 and C2 going down for the 2^nd week in a row.

In Round 17 games on the weekend of 27^th February  we see A grade venture to Ranelagh to take on second place side North Huon, B1 are down the road to Longley, B2 are at home to North Huon and on Sunday, after our Boat Cruise, C2 take on Huonville at home. This will be the penultimate round of Roster Matches for the HCCA competition when wins for all sides are always important. This year, with exception of B1, wins are absolutely crucial to ensure either a finals place or at least give our teams the best possible finish in the four.

Round 16 saw the Kingston Crows A grade team at home to Woodbridge. With 32 degrees forecast it wasn’t looking too much like an ideal day to play cricket. The “Wombats” won the toss and elected to bat and one could almost be accused of saying their innings was over as soon as it began as they were 2/1 off the first over. The procession of wickets continued as they slumped to 9/31 before their Nos. 10 & 11 added 17 to enable them to total 48 off 21.2 overs. Jamie Knott started the rot and finished with 3/12 while Nick Townsend 2/6, Dale Punshon 2/10 and Scott Sward 2/13 joined the party.

The Crows opted to give their lower order some batting practice and they knocked over the required runs in 5 overs, 1 of which was a maiden, and the game was over by 1.30. Mal Godfrey was 18no and Robert Chapman 15no. It was a good result for the team, but not so good in terms of revenue for the Club.

B1 took on North Huon at Glen Huon. Having personally played many games on that ground over the years it is fair to say that when it is a hot day in Southern Tasmania it can be very oppressive in the small valley. Saturday was no exception and I’m sure that both sides found the conditions extremely trying.

The Crows batted first and openers Levi Treptow and Jason Cripps got us off to a good start adding 72 for the 1^st wicket. Cripps and James Murray then added 104 for the second wicket that set up our total of 7/293. Cripps made a fine 91 with 13 4s and 1 6, Murray 56 with 9 4s and 1 6, Heath Lovell made 37 and Treptow 25.

With Treptow suffering an injury and being unable to take the field, let alone keep wickets, we saw the captain’s son, 8 year old Josh Henley take the field as the substitute fielder. Jason Cripps also was injured during North Huon’s innings and with no other fielder available he had to remain on the field although severely restricted.

Despite these handicaps our players stuck to their task and restricted North Huon to 1/27 off the first 8 overs. Ken Voss then played a typically rapid fire knock and kick started the “Warrior’s” innings but the Crows were able to make a breakthrough when it was desperately required that kept them in the game. However at the start of the 45^th over when the scoreboard read 7/264 it appeared that we had run our race. Ash Woodhead was brought into the attack to bowl with a ball that looked 100 overs old and after 6 runs were added off his first 2 deliveries he unleashed some unbelievable “reverse swing’ to snare 3 wickets in 4 balls and finished off their innings for 270. Of those 3 wickets 1 was LBW and the other 2 clean bowled. Ash finished with 4/41, Shannon Woolley 3/51 and Jason Jones 2/35. A terrific win when all seemed lost and special thanks to young Josh who was absolutely exhausted at the end of the game.

B2 batted first at Huonville and opener Michael Langford with 4 4s and 1 6 got the Crows off to a good start as he made 61. With Andrew Denton making 29, Gareth Percey 23 and Manning Parkinson 22 we appeared reasonably well placed at 5/147 after 40 overs. Unfortunately our tail failed to wag and we were dismissed in the 47^th over for 172.

The Huonville “Bulls” began their run chase in fine style and after 25 overs looked to be heading to an easy victory when their score was 3/125. The Crows then fought back and with the experience of Andrew Denton and Andrew Downie together with the youth of the Scriber brothers we started taking wickets. When the 8^th and 9^th wickets fell with the score on 170 it was anybody’s game. Unfortunately for the Crows they were able to muster the runs required as Huonville won a cliffhanger. It is ironic that early in the season the Crows won the game by 1 wicket with the same result in reverse on this occasion. Denton was the leading wicket taker with 3/30, Zac Scriber took 2/17 in an impressive display, Downie, filling in, bowled 10 overs on the trot for 2/25 and Malcolm Scriber took 2/37. Well done to all the regular C graders who filled in.

A very under strength C grade traveled to Snug on Sunday where the home team batted first and looked in a bit of trouble at 2/33. A 3^rd wicket partnership of 87 set up their innings and they were dismissed in the 42^nd over for 212. For the Crows Alistair Triffitt, Dale Hayers, Daniel Woodhead, Gab Lefleur and Brendon Norris all took 2 wickets.

We started our run chase in the worst possible manner losing a wicket with the score on 3. Our 3^rd wicket fell at 55 and when Daniel Woodhead 40 and Shane Hall 37 were together adding 55 for the 4^th wicket we were still well in the game. Once that partnership was broken however, we fell away to be dismissed for 169 in the 41^st over. Thanks to the 3 or 4 young guys that helped us make up a team. As a Club we need to get more of our players available to enable C2 to break their losing streak and ensure they make the finals.

As alluded to earlier in this column our social committee has organized a “Cruise” at the Clubrooms on Saturday 27^th. These types of functions are always fun and enjoyable and a good night should be had by all. Anyone wishing to attend should see Amanda Foster or Nick Townsend but hurry as numbers are filling fast.