20th May 2011
HPCC U13 TOUR TO AUSTRALIA 2011
TOUR DIARY by RAJ SHARMA
Greetings from a very sunny Brisbane, yes the sun has come out this morning to farewell us and remind us what could have been.
Sorry for the late report.
Yesterday Brisbane presented us with beautiful weather to give us a chance to go 4 from 4 on Tour. A tough ask, given the quality of the opposition. It was like playing the Manukau U14 District Rep team, only in this case the Sunshine Districts team was made up from up to 11 clubs, not 2.
We got there with plenty of time to the headline in the local paper saying "New Zealand a Class Act" with a report of our game against Gympie U13's.
The coaches asked for the "A" game during warm up's to finish the tour off.
We won the toss and put the opposition in. These boys were big, some turning 15 in a few months time. Josh Sowman and Sudharkar opened the bowling and what a power packed effort it was. Sunshine Districts were 3/9 in the 9th over. J.Sowman had figures of 1/6 and Sudharkar 2/5 from 5 overs each.
Michael Woud had a wicket in his first over and SD were 4/19 in the 12th over and Areeb came into the attack and after bowling 2 maidens took his first wicket and SD were 5/33 in the 25th over. In between there was good bowling from James and Michael. The spin twin of Areeb and Ben dominated the SD batters and Areeb finished with figures of 2/10 and Ben 1/9 from their 10 overs. They both bowled 4 maidens each. J. Bickford finished things off with figures of 1/7 from 4 overs. SD all out for 63 in the 45th over, leaving the locals shell shocked.
We than headed off to lunch and once again, we were spoilt. I am sure some of the boys ate a little bit too much.
We then went back to the ground to chase 64 for our 4th win and to finish the tour unbeaten. The team felt confident this could be achieved since our batsman were in form. Rehan and Jamie opened for us.
Their 2 opening bowlers were the quickest the boys have faced so far in their short cricket careers and the local supporters had a feeling even 64 to win could be a bridge too far. In fact, their top 3 bowlers were all bowling over 100km/h. Jamie was very patient in his innings, picking the right balls to attack. Rehan was all concentration and was solid as usual. He hit a 4 and looked good in defence. He was out for 8(19) and we were 13/1. This brought Kieren to the crease. This was not billed as a test match for nothing and Kieren soon found this out as thunder bolt after thunder bolt was aimed at him from both ends.
Survival was the key and Kieren stood up to the challenge and played his best cricket of the tour. It was a joy to watch this young man accept the challenge and once he settled down, dished his own punishment out. Jamie kept the score ticking and was finally out for 11(39). We were 26/2.
Jamie's dismissal brought Satiam in, the form batsman of the tour. Word had gone around the locals that he was the danger man and had to be removed early if they had a chance to win. Satiam played some good defensive shots and was not given any loose ball to make his mark on this match as he had done in earlier matches. SD had their man early, caught off a full toss for no score. We were 36/3, still needing 28 to win, and Kieran still to get off the mark.
Josh Bickford went in at 5 and had to stay in as he had showed on tour that he can make the runs. He got off the mark with a single and 2 balls later was dismissed to the catch of the tour, leaving us 4/38 and in serious trouble. Michael joined Keiran who was watching all this from the other end wondering when he will get off the mark. Bowling was tight and SD's fielding stepped us, sensing an unlikely win. This seemed to wake Kieren up. He started playing his shots leaving Michael to settle down.
Kieren mixed his singles with a couple of 4's and raced to 17(51) and Michael carried his good form from the last game and made 12(24), also hitting 2 4's. We reached 64 in the 25th over.
Victory by 6 wickets and unbeaten on Tour, where all 14 boys played their part in achieving this graet result.
Areeb was named man of the match.
This impressive win prompted the Sunshine Coast District hierachy to invite us to their U14 District tournament to be played in Brisbane in January 2012. It is a 11 team tournament and if we come over, it will make it 12. We have already defeated the 2011 champions on tour, the Gympie U14 side.
So, what a tour, from the wet start to 3 consecutive wins to finish the tour unbeaten. Gympie were fantastic as hosts and even the local paper covered one of our games and advertised the Test match in the paper.
We checked out of our hotel soon and fly out at 6 tonight.
Home sweet Home, here we come.
The baton now passes on to Patrick Low and his tour team of 2013 to keep the tradition going and also to keep the 100% record intact from the '11 tour.
On behalf of the HPCC U13 Tour Team, this is Raj Sharma signing off.
DAY 7 - 29/04/11
Hi all,
Another beautiful day for cricket this morning. We set sail for Gympie around 7 30ish and reached Gympie around 9.
On arrival, Ben Westerlund felt a bit sick and sat out the game. he is all right now.
That meant a new Captain was appointed for this match and Hayden Gardener, our coach chose James PARANTHIOENE to captain the team.
We found out that we were playing Gympie Districts U14's, not GSHS U14's.
We chose to bat so no toss was made since the other team agreed.
Jamie and Rehan opened and once again we lost early wickets. We were 3/30 with Jamie making 7(8), Rehan 8(30) and Kieran 11(29). Areeb made a patient 6(47) and Troy made 4(18).
It was left to Michael and Satiam to steady the ship. Michael played some beautiful shots and was very mature in selecting which shots to play. He built his innings nicely and made 19(37).
Satiam once again set out to dominate the bowling early on. He looked to play his power shots early and hit 2 sixes to get his innings going. Once again, he had the fielders around the boundary giving him chance to take singles and build his innings. Satiam was finally out for 27(32).
J. Bickford made 1 batting at 8. Josh Sowman made 8(16) and Sudharkar 13(31) which included 1 four. William Tims was last out on the last ball of the innings (run out) for 5(26). We were 152 all out.
After lunch we started the task of defending our score to record the third win of the Tour. The weather also changed during the lunchbreak. There was a passing shower and the strong wind made it very cold, like LEP.
Sudharkar and Yatin opened the bowling and bowled well, unfortunately with no reward. Sudharkar had figures of 0/6 from 5 overs and Yatin 0/9 from 3. J.Sowman and James took over the attack and had immediate success reducing Gympie to 2/31. Sowman had figures of 1/7 from 4overs and James 1/9 from 4 overs as well. William came on and took a wicket in his first over. Gympie 34/3. Rehan bowled a solid 10 overs and had figures of 0/23. It could have been very different if catches were taken off his bowling.
Areeb continued with spin and reduced them to 4/77. Jamie's sharp fielding led to a run out and Gympie were 80/5. Their batsman then started finding the gaps and raced to 100 before Yatin came back for his second spell and took 2 quick wickets and Gympie were 102/7. James and J.Bickford took a wicket each leaving Gympie reeling at 111/9. One wicket away from victory number 3.
Simple catches were put down, and yes, the tail wagged taking Gympie to 138/9. 15 needed off the last over.The ball was given to Jamie to bowl the last over and yes, he delievered. Only 5 runs were conceded with some terrific fielding effort. Gympie finished with 9/143. Win to us by 9 runs.
So, 3 from 3.
The quiet talk amongst the locals is that our biggest challenge will come tomorrow against the Sunshine Districts U14 Rep Team, to be played in the same ground as today's game.
We got home around 7pm, The boys had dinner and straight into Team meeting for tomorrow's game.
The coaches have named the following batting order
1) PARKER
2) AHMED
3) MACKENZIE
4) SHARMA
5) BICKFORD
6) WOUD
7) ALAM
8) WESTERLUND
9) TAPSELL
10) SOWMAN
11) BACHARAM
James is the batting 12th man and Tapsell is the bowling 12th man.
Till tomorrow when we sign off
DAY 6 - 28/04/11
Hi all,
It was a beautiful morning to wake up to. There were bits of rain clouds around but also lots of blue sky were visible.
After breakfast, we boarded our vans and headed towards Gympie. The relief on everyone's face was sooooo obvious.
We arrived in Gympie to the sights of groundsman mowing the lawns on the outfield. YES, GAME ON!!!!!! What a feeling.
It was on artificial turf, so the boys changed from spikes to rubber soles. As the boys were warming up, David Parker and the travelling adults helped get rid of the mowed grass from the outfield.
We won the toss and invited Gympie to bat.
Gympie are the current West Bay Districts Champions and included 2 U14 fast bowlers in their team to play us. J. Sowman and Yatin opened the bowling and ripped through their top order. Once again J.Sowman was bowling brilliantly. Yatin took the 1st over to settle down and than was very impressive. Gympie were 3/16 early on. J.Sowman's figures were 1/8 and Yatin was 2/7, both having bowled 4 overs each.
Michael and Kieran bowled consistent line and length and returned figures of 0/11 from 4 overs and 0/16 from 5 overs respectively. James and Areeb were pick of the bowlers. James bowled with pace and accuracy and finished with figures of 3/13 from 7 overs and Areeb was all class with his spell of 8 magic overs. The batsman tried to take him on, but at their own peril. They just had no answer to his spin and Areeb took 3/15 off 8 overs that included 3 maidens, 2 of them wicket maidens.
Ben also bowled impressively and had figures of 1/10 from 7 overs. He didnot give the batsmen any loose deliveries to put away. Sudharkar finished the innings off in his first over. His figures, 1/2. Gympie were all out for 95 in the 40th over. They batted 12 batsman so were 11/95.
We than had lunch and Gympie spoiled us with a very yummy lunch topped up with fruits and ice cream.
The boys than started the task of scoring 96 runs to go 2 from 2 on Tour. Gympie opened their bowling attack with their 2 U14 fast bowlers and knocked our top order off. We were 3/13 in the 4th over. Jamie made 8(10), Areeb 0(3) and Kieran 1(10). Satiam and J.Bickford than settled down and began our run chase, Satiam batted with a lot of confidence and played shots all over the park, putting the bad balls away. Josh played safely and fed the strike to Satiam as often as he could. Satiam made 66 no from 47 balls. His innings included 6 fours and 5 sixes and J.Bickford was 13 no from 50 balls hitting 1 four.
In the end, victory by 8 wickets. The boys finished with 3/96 in the 21st over.
Once again, a total team effort where everyone contributed to a great win.
Gymie State High School came to watch the game since we were playing close by.
The coach of the GSHS U14 team invited us to play his school team tomorrow. We accepted his invitation to play and weather permitting we will play them tomorrow.
We went to Caloundra Bowling Club for dinner and the coaches had a team meeting after that. Troy and Melissa had a few dances while we were at the Bowling Club.
The coaches have not settled on a line up yet for tomorrow's match since the game was arranged at short notice and have to think tactics since we are playing an under 14 team. One thing is certain that all 14 will play some part tomorrow.
William TIMS says "I miss you dad, mum and Olivier".
DAY 5 - 27/04/11
Hi all,
The game was postponed today due to the outfield being wet. The game against Yandina will now be on Fri, hopefully.
We went to the Zoo today rather than Fri. It was a good day out.
The boys had a swim once we came back and then then went for a run.
After dinner the coaches had a Team meeting where the Team for the game against Gympie was named.
Hopefully when I write tomorrow I have good news to share with us all.
DAY 3 - 25/04/11
Hi all,
A bit of a lazy morning today. No game so the boys had a sleep in. Just as well, cos it was pouring down.
After breakfast, we attended the 96th Anzac Day Service. It was a very special day since it was the first time most if not all the boys attended an Anzac Day Service. Make sure you keep this going next year onwards.
After lunch, the team went to surfing shool for surfing lessons and tried surfing for an hour or so. There were lots of hesitant boys at the beginning, especially Areeb, but once they got in the water, it was amazing how much fun they had. It was time well spent.
After surf school, the boys had a relaxing session in the pools, had some free time and had dinner around 6ish.
Straight after that was Team meeting and naming of the team for the 2nd game, once again against Caloundra tomorrow.
The coaches named the following boys for tomorrow's match, in no particular order.
1) J. PARKER
2) A. ALAM
3) K. MACKENZIE
4) S. SHARMA
5) T. TAPSELL
6) M. WOUD
7) J.BICKFORD
8) J.SOWMAN
9) B.WESTERLUND(c)
10) J.PARANTHOIENE
11) Y.RAMESH
12th man R. AHMED and 13th man W.TIMS.
The boys have an early night tonight, lights out at 8pm.
Catch up with yous tomorrow night.
DAY 2 - 24/04/11
Hi all,
The day had finally arrived for our first match, 1 year in the making.
A pleasant morning greeted us as we woke up from 5am onwards. After a healthy breakfast we were in the vans at 7ish making our way to Yandina Cricket Club to take on a rather strong Caloundra Rep team, which was made up of 3 Premier Teams of which 1 made the District final (ala our Blue Team), 1 just missed out and the other also putting up a strong showing this season.
The atmosphere in the vans was very different today compared to all the joking and laughing yesterday on our way here. The boys were very quiet, listening to their music and you could see the realisation that it was game day. The only voices heard were when they saw the cricket ground.
We lost the toss and Caloundra invited us to bat. After the warm ups, the boys changed into their whites and at 9am the first ball was bowled. Jamie took the attack straight to their fast bowlers and hit 2 consecutive sixes before he departed for 17 off 16 balls. Rehan and Areeb made 6 and 3 batting at 2 and 3 respectively.
Satiam came in at 4 and once he got his eye in, batted agressively and made 29 off 37 balls, hitting 2 fours and 1 six. His power hitting quickly had the fielder's scattered around the boundary. Josh Bickford made a patient 39 off 53 balls, playing shots all over ground. His score included 4 fours and 1 six. Troy made 2 and Ben batting at 7 compiled 26 off 59 balls. He played some beautiful cut shots and his running between wickets was outstanding. Josh Sowman's was another agressive innings of 31* from 35 balls. Josh played some brilliant attacking shots. James made 1 and William 4. We were all out for 206 in the 47th over.
After lunch we started off with the task of defending our total to get the Tour off to a winning start.
The opening pair of Josh Sowman and Sudharkar bowled with accuracy, pace and aggression. Caloundra lost their 1st wicket at 16 and were 2 down for 17. They were 3/23, 4/45, 5/81, 6/91 and after their allocated 50 overs finished at 7/94. Josh Sowman ended with figures of 2/12 off 7 overs and Sudharkar 2/3 off 6.
Other figures were James 1/10 off 8, Josh Bickford 1/7 off 4, Ben 0/15 off 10, William 0/9 off 4, Areeb 0/17 0ff 7 and Satiam 0/8 off 4.
In the end, a very impressive first up effort.
Player of the day as chosen by Caloundra was Josh Bickford.
Tomorrow we are off to Anzac day celebrations.
DAY 1 - 23/04/11
Hi all,
We have reached Caloundra safely and the boys have finished their dinner and have just come out of their first team meeting of the tour with the coaches.
Getting here was quite an adventure with the vans coming late, with no trailer etc and especially Pete's driving, with Melissa the co-driver. We lost track of the number of u-turns we had to make.
We also celebrated Josh Bickford's b/day on the plane and then with a cake during dinner. By the way, Josh didn't share his cake with anyone.
The boys had a swim session this afternoon to get rid of jet leg followed by a light run and the coaches said the boys were really focussed, so it looks very promising for our first match tomorrow.
The weather here is nice and warm and looks good for tomorrow.
Troy says "Hi mum"
The team as announced by the coaches for the 1st game is as follows: (in batting
order)
Jamie PARKER
Rehan AHMED
Areeb ALAM
Satiam SHARMA
Josh BICKFORD
Troy TAPSELL(wk)
Ben WESTERLUND(c)
Josh SOWMAN
Sudharkar BACHARAM
James PARANTHOIENE
William TIMS
12th man is Kieran MACKENZIE with Michael WOUD the 13th man.
Captain's comment: " We are really looking forward to our first challenge. The mood in the camp is extremely positive. Having studied the conditions I'll be electing to bat......"
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