Australian Team Zone

[MOD-wmchamps]

Please welcome reymatt to the team as well, it is nice to see a new face joining.

[Drewyface]

Everyone please welcome Drewyface to the NAT management team, I am very happy to have him here with us and hopefully we can guide the team to success together.

Thanks for having me mate, glad to be back involved again

[MOD-wmchamps]

Please welcome Zalt to the team as our 3rd assistant.

We might have another assistant joining us to make it a rotating assignment so more people get exposure to the national scene.

[MOD-wmchamps]

NAT ODI Tour Division 1

Tour Dates 05 Feb 2024 - 09 Feb 2024
Hosting Rights Won By New Zealand
Hosting Country New Zealand
First Preferred Pitch Dry
Second Preferred Pitch Crumbling
Third Preferred Pitch Even

We will be discussing squad selection on our discord and association forum so just let us know if you would like to be involved.

[MOD-wmchamps]

First ODI tour sees us travel to our neighbors New Zealand from 05-09 Feb, and games will be played at 00:00 FTP time.

Touring Squad

Batters
Tim Breen (NAT Debut) Mighty Tigers CC
Andrew Embley (NAT Debut) West Coast Eagles
Shaggy McCosker (NAT Debut) Pink Flag
Robin Greening (NAT Debut) Marvellous XI
Richie Polec (NAT Debut) Direwolves
Allan Spry (8 caps) Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Gregory Watson (3 caps) Rustars

Keepers
Robbo Dickie (3 caps) Caterham Crusaders
Curtly Senior (NAT Debut) Sydney Cricket Club

All-Rounders
Orren Barsby (RFS) (NAT Debut) Rustars
Daniel Kerr (LWS) (NAT Debut) West Coast Eagles
Luke Shuey (LM) (NAT Debut) West Coast Eagles

Bowlers
Chris Lewis (RFS) (NAT Debut) stresseddesserts
Roy Stephen (RWS) (NAT Debut) Tobago Saucers
Peter Fleiter (LWS) (5 caps) stresseddesserts
Brian Calusky (LFM) (5 caps) Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Walter Payton (RF) (3 caps) Jolly Boys of Peckham
Todd Voss (LF) (5 caps) Pink Flag

Pitches

04 Feb vs West Indies: Dry
05 Feb vs India: Dry
06 Feb vs Bangladesh: Crumbling
07 Feb vs New Zealand: Dry
08 Feb vs Kenya: Crumbling

[MOD-wmchamps]

First game of the ODI tour saw us face off against the West Indies in Dry/Sunny conditions.

WI won the toss and elected to bowl first.

Our openers put on a solid 62 run stand in the first 10 overs but it got worse from there as we suffered two collapses from 62/0 to 67/3 and from 184/4 to 225 all out which saw us put up only a below-par total. Robin Greening top scored with 86.

We got an early wicket and even had them at 123/5 at one point, but their lower order rallied well to guide them home to a 3 wicket win despite the best efforts of Roy Stephen, who achieved figures of 9-1-41-4 and is also our Macca's Player of the Day.

Match Ratings
Australia West Indies
Batting - Top Order 15,623 15,135
Batting - Middle Order 13,064 13,496
Batting - Tail 6,284 6,659
Bowling - Seam 15,575 (20) 15,859 (20)
Bowling - Spin 15,062 (30) 15,082 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 18,637 18,377
Overall 265,850 266,600

Onto India next in the same conditions as today

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 2 vs India in Dry/Sunny conditions, where India won the toss and batted first.

They raced out of the blocks with a fast start, getting to 102 in just 16 overs. Our spinners then came on and we picked up 3 wickets, then India managed another good partnership of 63 runs. Our bowlers had the final say though, coming back well to dismiss them for 241. Daniel Kerr was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 8.2-0-29-4 and Chris Lewis also picked up 3 wickets.

Our chase also started well with the openers putting on a 103 run stand with both of them crossing 50. We lost a couple of wickets but then managed to get home with 6 wickets to spare. Robbo Dickie top scored with 99 and Gregory Watson gave a good hand with 56.

Macca's Player of the Day is Robbo Dickie for his 4 catches and 99 runs, with honorable mentions going to the bowlers Daniel Kerr and Chris Lewis for their efforts.

Match Ratings
India Australia
Batting - Top Order 14,813 15,556
Batting - Middle Order 14,763 13,919
Batting - Tail 6,006 8,236
Bowling - Seam 15,109 (20) 14,552 (20)
Bowling - Spin 14,569 (30) 15,624 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 18,526 18,204
Overall 265,829 273,200

We face Bangladesh next in Crumbling/Cloudy conditions.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 3 vs Bangladesh in Crumbling/Cloudy conditions, where we won the toss and batted first.

Turned out to be the wrong decision as none of our batters could really get going in an innings that was dominated by the Bangladesh bowlers. Andrew Embley top scored with 36 but no one else could cross 20 as we were all out for just 139.

We got a wicket in the very first over but that was as good as it got for us, as what followed next was just Bangladesh cruising to their target with no RR pressure but we were extremely unlucky in the sense that none of our spinners got even a single wicket and we ended up losing by 8 wickets.

No Player of the Day for today since no one really stood up.

Australia Bangladesh
Batting - Top Order 15,025 14,689
Batting - Middle Order 14,000 13,304
Batting - Tail 6,132 7,484
Bowling - Seam 15,264 (20) 14,945 (30)
Bowling - Spin 14,682 (30) 14,609 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 18,045 17,229
Overall 263,211 260,172

We play New Zealand next in Dry/Sunny conditions and now face 2 must-win games coming up.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 4 vs New Zealand in Dry/Sunny conditions, we won the toss and batted first.

Had a disappointing start with the bat in a performance where only 3 of our players crossed 20. Allan Spry top scored with 52 but it was an unusual display from our team given that we lost 7 wickets to seamers in conditions that favored spinners and only ended up with 187.

We picked up 3 wickets in the first 4 overs to start the defense but a 4th wicket 128 run partnership for the Kiwis took the game away from us and despite a couple of late wickets we lost by 5 wickets.

Macca's Player of the Day goes to Walter Payton for his 18 with the bat and 2 wickets up front.

Match Ratings
New Zealand Australia
Batting - Top Order 14,865 14,529
Batting - Middle Order 12,991 13,368
Batting - Tail 5,190 5,951
Bowling - Seam 14,744 (20) 14,298 (20)
Bowling - Spin 14,691 (30) 14,753 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 17,564 17,426
Overall 253,251 254,576

We are at the bottom of the table and face Kenya in a must-win clash to avoid relegation.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 5 vs Kenya in Crumbling/Hot conditions, we lost the toss and Kenya went in to bat first.

We had a decent start with the ball but then we let their lower order take the game away from us as they managed to go from 160/7 to 216/7, which meant that we were up against it in trying to chase it down. Pick of the bowlers was Chris Lewis with figures of 10-1-35-2.

Lost 2 early wickets but we had lengthened our batting in the hopes that we could either set a good total or chase down a target, but it did not pay off as other than a 3rd wicket partnership of 56 runs, nothing went right for us and none of the other batters could hang around and help Curtly Senior, who scored 61. We slipped to a 69 run loss which sees us demoted after a disappointing tour where we could only win 1 match.

Match Ratings
Kenya Australia
Batting - Top Order 14,432 12,542
Batting - Middle Order 13,096 14,324
Batting - Tail 6,389 8,243
Bowling - Seam 13,533 (20) 14,809 (20)
Bowling - Spin 14,408 (30) 14,726 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 17,480 17,496
Overall 252,010 258,479

The management team is really disappointed with the overall performance and as the manager I take full responsibility for the disappointment that we have caused our supporters as well.

Our next tour is the T20 one where we find ourselves in Division 2, so the immediate priority is to try and promote back to Division 1 in both formats.

[MOD-wmchamps]

Tour Dates 26 Feb 2024 - 01 Mar 2024
Hosting Rights Won By Bangladesh
Hosting Country Bangladesh
First Preferred Pitch Dry
Second Preferred Pitch Crumbling
Third Preferred Pitch Slow

Please head on over to our discord channel if anyone would like to be more involved in the community.

[MOD-wmchamps]

T20 Division 2 Tour for this season sees us head to Bangladesh from 26 Feb - 01 Mar where matches will be played at 02:00 FTP time. Touring Squad is below:

Batters

Tim Breen (T20 Debut) Mighty Tigers CC
Andrew Embley (T20 Debut) West Coast Eagles
Shaggy McCosker (T20 Debut) Pink Flag
Troy Rowan (NAT Debut) Sydney Cricket Club
Allan Spry (T20 Debut) Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Swerve Strickland (NAT Debut) The Elite
Gregory Watson (T20 Debut) Rustars

Keepers

Robbo Dickie (2 caps) Caterham Crusaders
Wallace Shepherd (NAT Debut) Marvellous XI

All-Rounders

Orren Barsby (RFS) (T20 Debut) Rustars
Daniel Kerr (LWS) (T20 Debut) West Coast Eagles
Luke Shuey (LM) (T20 Debut) West Coast Eagles

Bowlers

Chris Lewis (RFS) (T20 Debut) stresseddesserts
Roy Stephen (RWS) (T20 Debut) Tobago Saucers
Peter Fleiter (LWS) (6 caps) stresseddesserts
Shawbie Sheahan (RFM) (T20 Debut) Thumbtacks
Brian Calusky (LFM) (T20 Debut) Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Todd Voss (LF) (3 caps) Pink Flag

Pitches

26 Feb vs UAE: Crumbling
27 Feb vs Pakistan: Dry
28 Feb vs Bangladesh: Slow
29 Feb vs Zimbabwe: Crumbling
01 Mar vs Ireland: Dry

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 1 of the T20 tour vs UAE in Crumbling/Sunny conditions.

The Emiratis won the toss and put us in to bat first.

Had a decent start but our batters were hot and cold for the most part, with only 4 of them scoring in double figures as the middle order underwhelmed and it was only thanks to all-rounder Luke Shuey with some late hitting that we were able to muster up 125/7 from being in deep trouble at 91/7. Luke Shuey top scored with 35 not out.

Got an early wicket with the ball which UAE followed with a good 2nd wicket partnership. We then managed to get 2 quick wickets and were in with a shout after having them 56/3. Then followed over number 12, which was the game turning over as we dropped 2 catches, suffered a misfield, and conceded a 6 to hand the advantage over to the UAE.
We did get a few late wickets but it had already been too little too late and we lost by 4 wickets.
Chris Lewis picked up 3 wickets on a solid NAT Debut for him and Roy Stephen got 2.

Macca's Player of the Day goes to Chris Lewis for his 3 wickets.

Match Ratings
Australia UAE
Batting - Top Order 15,985 15,195
Batting - Middle Order 12,903 14,995
Batting - Tail 6,405 5,738
Bowling - Seam 15,068 (8) 15,240 (8)
Bowling - Spin 15,794 (12) 15,266 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 18,707 19,593
Overall 268,406 273,036

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 2 vs Pakistan in Dry/Sunny conditions

We won the toss and went in to bat first.

Lost 2 early wickets but then our middle order came to the rescue. Swerve Strickland and Shaggy McCosker steadied the ship for us before Wallace Shepherd and Andrew Embley provided us with a good finish to end on 147/4.
Shaggy McCosker top scored with 66 not out.

It was a good bowling performance as 2 early wickets got things rolling for us before NRR pressure meant that the rest of their batters could not form partnerships, and with our bowlers providing regular breakthroughs we were able to dismiss them for 92 and earn a 55 run win.
Brian Calusky and Orren Barsby picked up 3 wickets each and Shawnie Sheahan and Daniel Kerr picked up 2 wickets each.

I cannot pick out one Macca's Player of the Day since we had different players stand out so we will not be awarding one for this game.

Match Ratings
Australia Pakistan
Batting - Top Order 15,617 13,967
Batting - Middle Order 14,047 14,142
Batting - Tail 6,984 6,779
Bowling - Seam 15,651 (8) 15,478 (8)
Bowling - Spin 15,013 (12) 15,375 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 18,150 18,156
Overall 270,401 264,326

[MOD-wmchamps]

Game 3 vs my former side Bangladesh in Slow/Humid conditions.

Bangladesh won the toss and bowled first.

Tim Breen gave us a good start with a couple of boundaries in the first over but we then lost 4 wickets for just 13 runs, going from 28/0 to 41/4. Swerve Strickland (32 not out) and Troy Rowan (31) then came together and formed a 42 run partnership between them for the 5th wicket, which got us out of trouble but just when we got to the death overs, we ended up losing both set batters and wound up with just 114/7 in the 20 overs.

Bangladesh also had a quick start to their chase but we then bowled 3 maidens in a row and also managed to pick up 2 wickets in those overs. This built up some pressure on the Bangladeshis as we were then able to pick up regular wickets and despite a late scare managed to dismiss them for just 103.
Chris Lewis was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-0-13-4 and Brian Calusky picked up 3 wickets.

Once again we cannot pick out a single player for Macca's Player of the Day, but we can pick out our Macca's Impact Player Award, which goes to 4 players for their performances with bat and bowl:

Swerve Strickland and Troy Rowan for their partnership and crucial runs.
Chris Lewis and Brian Calusky for their wickets.

Match Ratings
Bangladesh Australia
Batting - Top Order 15,512 15,322
Batting - Middle Order 12,843 12,633
Batting - Tail 5,692 6,838
Bowling - Seam 15,004 (12) 14,818 (16)
Bowling - Spin 15,408 (8) 16,220 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 18,389 18,238
Overall 261,492 262,545