Sticky Wicket - January / February 2016

Sticky Wicket January / February 2016 Edition Newsletter of the South Australian Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association Established 1911

South East Style for ACC Champs

Nodda’s Night of Nights Bradman Medal -

Sticky Wicket - January / February 2016 Edition

A Bright Night Beckons Page

Your Umpires & Scorers Association SACUSA Committee - Main Contacts

SACA

President: Craig Thomas

0434 165 310

Umpiring & Coaching Manager: Neil Poulton 0416 623 518 or 8300 3211 npoulton@saca.com.au

Vice President: Tony Trist

0408 828 129

Secretary: Michial Farrow

Treasurer: Lynton Donisthorpe

0435 872 215 secsacusa@hotmail.com

Umpiring Coordinator: Sarah Fry (appointments, availabilities, reports, votes and match coaches) 8300 3212 sfry@saca.com.au

0418 317 856

SACA Information Line (including details relating to inclement weather) 1900 950 598

Patron: Neil Dansie OAM Sticky Wicket Editor Kristen Thomas 0414 326 978 cricketwidow@y7mail.com

facebook.com/sacricketumpiresandscorers

@SACAUmpires

Contents From the President ............................................................................................................... 3 Australian Country Cricket Championships ................................................................ 4 Oh Pellew's!! ............................................................................................................................ 8 Nodda ....................................................................................................................................... 9 Graham’s Gags ................................................................................................................... 10 VALE - Graeme Bugge ....................................................................................................... 11 IMPORTANT DATES ........................................................................................................... 12

COVER PHOTO: Sunday 6 December 2015, SACUSA umpires. Richard Scott and Kevin Tuting, (officiating during SACA Premier Cricket Women’s 1st Grade match between Sturt and Southern Districts at Price Memorial Oval) caught up with Peter Nelson, grandson of our 1950 Life Member, Reg Nelson. Reg will be posthumously inducted into SACUSA’s Hall of Fame at our Presentation Dinner on Saturday 14 May, 2016 at the Adelaide Pavilion on South Terrace.

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From the President Welcome back to the 2015/16 season, Everyone. I hope your break over Christmas and New Year was fantastic.

Adelaide once again showed the cricketing world it has a public that loves to watch cricket live, as the crowds at the Adelaide Oval Big Bash games demonstrated. Hometown lad, Travis Head, certainly made his own fireworks on New Years Eve when he landed in the zone to belt six after six to win the Strikers the match. I’m sure a lot of our members were amongst the huge crowd that night and heralded in their new year on a very positive note. A special ‘thank you’ to all our members, too, who gathered in the Chappell Stand to watch the Strikers take on the Hobart Hurricanes on January 13 in lieu of attending the usual monthly member meeting. We decided to cancel the January meeting because we thought there would be a large contingent who’d attend the Big Bash instead. So with the adage, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” we went with the flow of spectators to BBL05 and were treated to a great night of sporting entertainment.

The inaugural Women’s Big Bash League also showed that with some innovative marketing the public will attend in person to see this form grow and grow.

And while the state sides have been battling it out in the T20 form of the game via BBL and WBBL, Premier Cricket, too, saw the format culminate in a win to Tea Tree Gully over Adelaide Uni on Sunday 31 January, with congratulations going to James

Sticky Wicket - January / February 2016 Edition

Edwards and Michael Williamson for officiating in the T20 Grand Final.

As we enter into the business end of the home and away season I would like to remind everyone of the Stanton Cup contest which will be played at Ford Oval, Kensington Gardens on Monday 22 February. This annual match was resurrected in 2014 after a lengthy hiatus, and is a great opportunity to meet our friends from ATCUSA for a friendly rivalry and relaxed dinner. Named in honour of ATCUSA’s first secretary, Roy Stanton, the competition was created to remember a man who was clearly held in high esteem by members of both Associations. Sadly, the ever-popular Mr Stanton was involved in an accident during his first year as Secretary of the Turf Umpires in 1938 and didn’t survive his injuries. But his legacy is this match and I hope to see you all there for another superb barbeque dinner and fun night for both SACUSA and ATCUSA. From what I have heard from umpire coaches and clubs alike our umpiring panels over all grades have been doing a tremendous job in Premier Cricket. I encourage you to continue this good work through February and into March and keep taking pride in your professionalism and skills. As we all know in umpiring circles you’re only ever as good as your last outing.

Best wishes for an enjoyable 2016.

SACUSA President,

Craig Thomas Page 3

Australian Country Cricket Championships 3 to 12 January 2016 Mt Gambier, South Australia 2016 has started very busily for SACUSA Treasurer, Lynton Donisthorpe. He was appointed to fixtures of the annual Cricket Australia ‘Australian Country Cricket Championships’ in January, which this year was held in the beautiful South Australian town of Mt Gambier. By all accounts the competition was a wonderful success.

The photo above shows Lynton at the presentation ceremony, accompanied by (from left); Les Bennett (Qld); Nick Frampton (Vic); Phil Ranger (NSW); David Rodgers (Tournament Referee); Herbie Hart (WA); and Nigel Morrison (East Asia Pacific, Vanuatu).

Lynton was kind enough to record some of the championships photographically, so we’ll be able to share his pictures on Facebook soon.

However, for those not on Facebook, we’ve Sticky Wicket - January / February 2016 Edition

published some of the pictures on the following pages. If you’d like to see highlights of the championships, Cricket Australia has put together some footage which can be accessed online via www.countrychamps.com.au and clicking on the ‘videos’ tab at the top of the page.

You’ll be provided with a list of links to all available highlight videos to watch on YouTube (the Round 2 highlights video, in particular, features Lynton in action).

The following pages detail the report from the Championships which Lynton generously prepared for our readership. Additionally, he wore his ‘photo-journalist hat’ and recorded the event visually whenever possible. Sticky Wicket is always interested in any cricket-related event which our members are involved in, so feel free to record your cricket career experiences to share with us via this publication.

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2016 Australian Country Cricket Championships

By Lynton Donisthorpe I was fortunate to get another opportunity to umpire at the ACCC following my previous attendance to Mt Gambier in 2004 with Peter Weeks. Umpires were all from country regions of each state (except for me, unless, of course, you subscribe to the interstate view that Adelaide is nothing but a large country town!!). Other umpires were: Les Bennett (Rockhampton, Qld.), Phil Ranger (country NSW), Nigel Morrison (Vanuatu), Nick Frampton (Warrnambool, Vic, returning to Premier Cricket in Melbourne next year), Herbie Hart (Albany, WA).

I travelled to Mt Gambier on Saturday January 2 by coaster bus with the SA Team (or at least about the half of them who used it) driven by whoever had a license to drive one—in this case, SA Coach, Paul Pasculli.

I attended the opening ceremony at the Town Hall to welcome all participants before enjoying a pleasant finger food lunch. This was followed in the afternoon by an exhibition match between last year’s team of the championships (and a couple of past guest ACCC players) and a team of current and past Mt Gambier ACCC participants at Frew Park,. It was well attended by a good local crowd.

Day 1 Round 1 of the competition started on Monday January 4 with a two day round,. I had ‘Victoria vs Queensland’ (current champions), standing with Queensland umpire Les Bennett, who it is fair to say “did things his way” (his words not mine), but a very sound umpire nonetheless. Les gave me one bit of advice - to enjoy the expected performance of indigenous Queensland opening bat, Brad Stout. Sure enough, he hit the first ball for four (almost six) straight down the ground, and the second for six in the same place. He certainly started the championship as he intended to continue! The match went quite smoothly from our perspective, with the only complaints I can remember being from the Victorian coach about the length of the outfield grass, which was much shorter when Victoria bowled on Day 2 than on Day 1 when they batted! A storm in a teacup in the end, as Victoria won the match by Ben Smith (left) and Andrew Frick - Andrew was about 30 runs.

SA Captain this year and Ben Smith won the player of the championship

Former WA and Australian player, Jo Angel, finding his stride in the ‘Australian Country vs Mount Gambier’ exhibition match held at the start of the ACC Championships Sticky Wicket - January / February 2016 Edition

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Day 3 Round 2 meant I was off to McDonald Park (a stone’s throw from our motel) for ‘Victoria vs East Asia Pacific (EAP)’ in a 50/50 limited overs match. This time I was partnered with Victorian umpire, Nick Frampton, who is a 30 year old up-and-coming umpire I would see quite a lot of over the championships during three matches. The EAP team provided an interesting experience, as they chatted continuously in the field in a language the officials were unable to understand. They are also very passionate about cricket and very moved by it. This was particularly evident when things didn’t quite go to plan!! A plus for me was a chance to catch up with an “old umpires friend” from the Adelaide Grade and State Cricket past, Shane Deitz. Shane was a coach of the EAP team and is currently head cricket coach in Vanuatu. It was a good opportunity to catch up about old times and hear news of his recent marriage. The strongest memories I have from this match are of calling EAP bowlers for a lot of no balls (I’m wondering if there’s much use of creases at practice!) and complaints from the Victorian coach when we suggested his captain may like to bring the opening bowler back onto the field if he was intending to bowl him again, given he was off for 40 minutes and his 13 th man was on the field (a case of players and coaches not knowing all the rules, which is not necessarily new!). Victoria were victorious by around 90 runs.

Day 4 This was a rest day for the male competition, and the day on which the women’s competition began. I spent most of the day at Frew Park watching the two back-to-back T20 matches and catching up with John Frick, who is an ATCUSA umpire appointed to umpire the women’s matches. John played state cricket for SA and is the father of Andrew (for those who know him from Northern Districts) and current Northern Districts player, Alex.

Also umpiring was Deanne Young, from the ACT, who is on a NSW panel and stood in a number of women’s Big Bash matches this season.

John Frick, ATCUSA Umpire, and Deanne Young, ACT Umpire, officiating at the SA vs Vic Country Women’s match during the ACCC

Day 5 I was back to cricket, with Round 3 being the second and final 2-day round. It saw myself and Nick Frampton off to Penola for the grudge match of the competition, ‘Queensland vs New South Wales’, and that it was! If there is any doubt that there is no love lost between these states, it was quickly dispelled! Plenty of sledging and comments, etc, but no real spite. It wasn’t at the point where we had to get involved, but it did get a bit trying nonetheless. It was a sensational match, with Queensland making 171 and NSW just winning with two wickets in hand in the final over. It was very tense with the match swinging one way and the other later on Day 2, but was one of the best matches you could see. NSW and Queensland scorers - both long time ACCC participants - agreed it was, without doubt, the best match they have seen.

Day 6 This day saw me umpiring a Round 4 one day match between NSW and EAP, with Phil Ranger from NSW. We umpired at Malseed Park, which is quite a nice ground with a picket fence, but the outfield is destroyed by lorikeets every night as they dig it up looking for food. The match was very one sided, with EAP bowled out for just over 100 while NSW chased them down in the 15th over. It was an early day for us, resulting in NSW collecting 2 bonus points, putting them right back in contention for the championships. It was a good match for umpires, except that the EAP captain was not very happy with LD giving him out caught bat pad.

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Day 7 After Round 4, with one round to play, four sides were all equal on points and all four were scheduled to play each other in a ‘1v2 and 3v4’ format. I was appointed to the ‘1v2’ match between SA and WA (the first time I’d seen both states for the competition) and the winner would take out the championships, unless the ‘3v4’ winner received one bonus point more than the winner of my match.

I went off to Blue Lake Sports Park with Nick Frampton. WA won the toss and chose to bat. Part way through the innings (it had to happen) it began to rain and we left the field, covers down. We lost the better part of an hour and the match was reduced to 43 overs per side,. WA completed what was a relatively uninspiring batting performance, dismissed in the 39 th over for 126. As we left the field for lunch, sure enough, more rain came down and this time it was heavier than before. It was about 90 minutes before we could recommence, and we were on the phone to the control room where the Duckworth Lewis calculations were done, giving us a further one over reduction to 42 overs for SA and a one run correction to the target score.

SA started quickly chasing a win with a bonus point, which they got thanks to Ben Smith, Adam Somerfield and Ben Hutchinson winning inside the bonus point limit while rain started again South Australia’s first championship win was beyond doubt.

The presentation dinner that night was a very good event at “The Barn” function centre. A very nice three course meal with the usual speeches, presentations of awards and the championship trophy presentation which was enjoyed by all. One very nice touch was Queensland, the 2015 champions, standing and applauding the SA team as they were announced as the winners and presented with their trophy. It’s good to see that sportsmanship is still alive.

Photo courtesy tripadvisor.com

I returned to Adelaide in the SA Coaster bus this time driven by state Women’s captain, Lauren Ebsary, who flew to Mt Gambier on the early plane in order to drive us back to Adelaide.

In cricket terms the competition standard was generally very good with a lot of current and recently ex grade/premier players participating and a strong traditional state rivalry.

The championship was again a great experience - meeting umpires from other states and overseas and renewing past cricket acquaintances was brilliant. I would have liked to umpire a match with each of the other umpires who attended but that didn’t work out.

Still it was an excellent experience for myself and the other umpires, who enjoyed it very much.

Editor’s note: The women’s competition debuted at the ACC Championships this year and was won by the EAP. Women’s cricket is gaining significantly more recognition in recent years and is providing many more opportunities for women to play the magnificent game of cricket at all levels. Similarly, SACA is looking to recruit more women to umpiring at present and has embarked upon a recruitment drive aimed at attracting female cricket lovers to consider officiating as a valuable role. One hundred FREE community officiating courses are on offer, so if you know someone who might be interested please encourage them to register their interest via umpires@saca.com.au

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Oh Pellews!!

I was recently forwarded this recollection from SACUSA member, Steve Warren, which may be of interest to our readers.

Unusual umpiring and scoring incidents are always gratefully accepted from contributors.

“An unusual situation occurred yesterday that I cannot remember seeing before in over 30 years of umpiring – Extras was the top scorer for both teams! On numerous occasions, usually when a team is dismissed for a low score, I have seen Extras be the top scorer for one team but never for both teams in the same match.

Shane Roberts and I were umpiring the 3rd Grade match between Adelaide and Port Adelaide at Park 23. Adelaide was put into bat and scored 187 in their 50 overs, of which 58 came in Extras (4 no balls, 52 wides, 1 bye and 1 leg bye). The highest scoring batsman contributed 26 to the total. In reply, Port Adelaide was dismissed for 118 in 29 overs, of which 35 came in extras (2 no balls, 26 wides – including two lots of 5 wides, 4 byes and 3 leg byes). Again, the highest score from a batsman was 26.

Thus, overall in 79 overs, 305 runs were scored including an astonishing 93 Extras, of which 78 were wides!

Shane and I are booked in with the physio this week for treatment of a Repetitive Strain Injury to the shoulders and arms! (joke) If you need further details, you can check My Cricket.”

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On Saturday 6 February the Leukaemia Foundation and Newton Jaguars Netball Club held a testimonial at Adelaide Oval to our beloved and amazing patron, Neil Dansie OAM. “Nodda” - as he is affectionately known, allegedly due to an incident in his past when a severe jaw injury rendered Neil unable to speak and all he could do was nod when visitors came to chat with him - was honoured by SA dignitaries including Tony Pilkington, Daryl Harper, Marg Angove OAM and others from his colourful life. Held in the ‘Ian McLachlan Room’ the namesake himself was in attendance, and Tony Pilkington’s performance as Master of Ceremonies was nothing short of poetry in ‘breakfast radio’ motion.

By far, the most notable emotion that was strongly present in the room was a genuine love for the man we are fortunate enough to know as our Patron. There is much to Neil far beyond his services to cricket, and representatives from his wide-ranging interests were present on the night. SACUSA committee member, Bruce Stribley - a friend of Neil’s through both cricket and netball - represented SACUSA, along with our own beloved Martin Bradshaw (Neil’s local newsagent) and SACUSA President, Craig Thomas and Mrs T. But the room was genuinely packed with individuals from Neil’s family, his netball friends, families who were helped by him during his days coaching cricket at St Peter’s College, SPC staff colleagues and SACA associates. And without exception, every one of those people who attended agreed that Neil ALWAYS made them feel like he was delighted to see them.

It would be a mistake to think that our Patron in 2016 is only a figurehead of our Association. SACUSA is blessed to have the endorsement of a man who truly cares about cricket officials and the contributions they make to both the game and to South Australian sport. As the public face of our Association we have the man who - at the age of 15 - batted with Bradman during his final innings, and who holds the actual experiences of a golden age of cricket within his memories. We are, arguably, the luckiest cricket officials’ organisation in the country, if not the entire cricketing world.

Cheers Nodda!

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Graham’s Gags -

chuckles from the coaching ranks

Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!

A cartoonist was found dead in his home. Details are sketchy.

I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.

I changed my iPod’s name to Titanic. It’s syncing now.

Jokes about German sausages are the wurst.

I know a guy who’s addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.

Milking the cow A farmer is milking his cow. He sees a fly go into its ear and then come out in the milk.

It went in one ear and out the udder.

Something to give you a laugh Those who jump off a bridge in Paris are in Seine.

A hangover is the wrath of grapes.

Reading while sunbaking makes you well red.

A bicycle can’t stand on its own because it’s two tyred.

The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.

A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.

Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead-to-know basis.

Acupuncture is a jab well done.

And one from the internet Heckling the umpire In a local match, the umpire was being jeered and heckled unmercifully from the crowd.

At length he walked over to the boundary and sat down next to his chief critic.

"What are you doing?" asked the spectator.

"Well," said the umpire, “it seems you get the best view from here."

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VALE - Graeme Bugge SACUSA sadly received this information during the week from our VCAUSA friends, Darrell Holt and Dan Bomford:

Graeme Bugge passed away this morning, Sunday 7/2/16.

Graeme joined the VCA Umpires Panel for the 1977/78 Season, and retired from the Panel after the 1986/87 Season.

He was VCAUSA Social Organiser for 2 terms, 1978/79 and 1979/80. He was Secretary for 5 terms, 1980/81 until 1984/85; Vice-President for 3 terms, 1985/86, 1986/87 and 1989/90; and President for 2 terms, 1987/88 and 1988/89.

He was made a VCAUSA Life Member in 1987.

Graeme was a great supporter of amicable and robust relationships with Cricket Victoria. He was an excellent cricket umpire; a strong supporter of all VCAUSA matters including social events and social cricket matches, and especially of the biennial festivities between SACUSA and VCAUSA. He appeared in 7 SACUSA/VCAUSA Crockett Shield Matches, and was captain in 1981. Unfortunately, ill health in recent years prevented Graeme from attending even the Melbourne-based events.

With his close friends, Test umpires and VCAUSA Life Members Rex Whitehead and Ray Isherwood, Graeme was a stout supporter of western suburbs cricket. He and his wife Sue attended all VCAUSA functions with their children when he was an active Cricket Victoria umpire and, for many years following the 1989/90 Season, both he and Sue supported the Footscray/Footscray-Edgewater Cricket Club.

Graeme was very good and dear friend, and his wise counsel will be sorely missed.

The VCAUSA President, Committee and Members extend their heartfelt sympathy to Sue, the Bugge Family and their friends.

SACUSA’s Valued Sponsors:

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IMPORTANT DATES 

Monday 22 February 2016 Stanton Cup Match against ATCUSA @ Ford Oval, Kensington Gardens - BBQ dinner provided



Wednesday 16 March 2016 Bradman Medal Presentation @ Adelaide Oval



Saturday 14 May 2016 Terrace

Presentation Night @ the Adelaide Pavilion, South

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