Story Dream To Wear The Baggy Green ? A C2007 Career Story

[Cricket_60]

:laugh

You're the perfect example of a team player

 

[Short Leg]

Ha ha thanks mate i like to think i do my bit for the team. Cheers

 

[Short Leg]

Friday Training
17th November 2006
3:00pm

Training day again and following is the team section for our Pura Cup game in Hobart, which will start on Tuesday. It was an indoor session today as the weather has been below par for the past few days and a bit of wet weather is tipped next week during the game. It?s not easy for us professional cricketers (or so it says on my tax return) to keep switching from one day mode to the long version but a solid net session has me in good spirits when it comes to facing Hilfenhaus who is second on the wickets tally for the season as well as the other bowlers Tassie posses.

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It?s been said before but the Tasmanian?s really are a class outfit and will prove a challenge for us come Tuesday as both teams battle to retain there unbeaten record which stands at 2 wins from 2 games at the moment. International duty wont play to much of a role in this match as both sides will only miss one player which will be Ponting for Tassie and Warne for Victoria as the Australians do battle with Sri Lanka in the 3 mobile test series.

The teams were announced after training for the Pura Cup game but also the ING cup game, which will follow just the day after. It will be a special occasion at the MCG for a few Bushrangers who will make their debut as Jon Moss and others are rested. However there is 4 days of cricket to play before then so the focus at the moment is at Bellerive Oval for the next match.

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The plane departs for Hobart on Sunday which will give us plenty of time to get set for battle in what will be another big game for the Bushrangers. Again one that will reflect where we stand in terms of winning the Pura Cup this season.

 

[Bala]

White -?Sorry about that catch mate but I guess sometimes they just don?t stick hey mate. Still mates?

Slatter ? ?****
off?

Ha! Ha! Classic! :rtfl

 

[Short Leg]

Sunday ? Melbourne To Hobart
19th November 2006
11:00am

It?s off to Hobart today for the Pura Cup match, which the boys are all looking forward to after finally getting a break from the game for more then a 48 hours period. The Hobart flight is neither a long or draining one but in my opinion it still counts as travelling international.

The interesting part of the journey is that the big cats in charge have paired us all up with a teammate in which we will room with and also sit next to on the flight. Unfortunately for me I drew the short straw and have to sit next to Shane Harwood. There is nothing less desirable then rooming with a bowler as they are known to leave anything where ever it hits the floor and pretty much just talk crap about how unlucky they were when ?So and so dropped there catch? or ?I was so unlucky not to get a wicket then.? For this reason the headphones went in and I read through this month?s issue of The Wisden Cricketer. In it was an article on Australia?s upcoming tours.

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Touchdown in Hobart was pretty straight forward as we head for the hotel for what I suspect will be a short nights sleep as Stickers (Shane Harwood) will probably keep me up all night explaining how he should have twice the first class wickets he?s got. Tomorrow is a light training session on Bellerive Oval before the game on Tuesday.

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[Short Leg]

We are now just one day away from clashing with the Tasmanian Tigers at Hobart and the belief amongst the team hat we can win this is at boiling point. A quick net session to build confidence for tomorrow was in order for around about an hour before training was over.

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Hodgey hits out in the nets before tomorrow's game​

During the week the domestic season has carried on as well as the start of the 3 mobile series between Australia and Sri Lanka which looks like it?s going to be a very one sided series. Here are the results.

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An innings win for Australia was made possible from a Justin Langer hundred and 6 wickets for the match for Shane Warne. The series already looks like it?s over with 2 tests still to play. The stats leading into the next Pura Cup match look like this:

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[Short Leg]

Apologies for the lack of updates in the last few days but I haven?t had a lot of spare time lately.

 

[Short Leg]

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Pura Cup ? Game 3
Tasmania Tigers Vs Victorian Bushrangers
Bellerive Oval, Hobart
21st November 2006

It?s time again for the Pura Cup to take centre stage here at Bellerive for what will be a good contest between the Tasmanian Tigers and the Victorian Bushrangers. Both teams stand with 2 wins from 2 games on the Pura Cup table so there is plenty to play for as the loser will fall into the lower half of the standings.

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The Pitch Report

Some unexpected good weather down here as we have very hot conditions and a pitch that will play neutrally throughout the game The winning captain would be smart to bat on this pitch but it wont play to much into the hands of whoever wins the toss. The game may just get interesting on day 4 when overcats conditions may just bring rain to the parade. Expect the best team to win this one.

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The Weather Report

Day 1 - Sunny, Hot 32
Day 2 - Sunny, Hot 30
Day 3 - Sunny, Warm 24
Day 4 - Overcast, Warm 22

The Coin Toss

Cameron White calls heads and loses the toss

Jamie Cox ? ?We?ll have a bat first. We?re looking to start positively in this game and hopefully we can make up for our loss in the ING Cup against these blokes. It should be a good game that we?ve been looking forward to.

Cameron White ? ?I would have batted but it wont have a major impact on the game bowling so it will be business as usual. We?ll look for early wickets but we know that if we play our best cricket we will win.?

The Teams

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The teams are making there way onto the field neither of which have any dramatic changes from the one day sides that did battle. The key for a Tasmania lies in Birt and Cox opening up followed by Bevan and the aggression of Di Venuto and Dighton. Victoria will rely on it?s 3 pace bowlers to get the job don early followed by the spin of White and part timers from Slatter. The Tasmanian bowling attack looks strong headed by Hilfenhaus who will be looking to exploit the weaknesses of struggling top order batsman Jon Moss and Jason Arnberger. A beauty of a match is set so lets go down to it now.

 

[Bala]

Pitch is looking dead! Feel that this is going to be a high scoring match. Poor bowlers!

 

[Short Leg]

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Pura Cup ? Game 3
Tasmania Tigers Vs Victorian Bushrangers
Bellerive Oval, Hobart
21st November 2006

The early wicket of Travis Birt (5) was just what the doctor ordered as he edged an away swinger from Lewis and was taken comfortably by Moss. Whitey took a gamble throwing the ball to Brad Hodge early. I don?t know why but the skipper must have seen something in it for him that wasn?t really there as he was taken off after 5 overs. Michael Dighton (15) was next to go caught at mid on off the bowling of Allan Wise and it proved to be the best bowling change that Cameron White has made in a while when he then picked up Michael Bevan (7) LBW shortly after. Wisey has a knack for making breakthroughs like this and he has done it all season, which makes him a valuable part of our team.

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Wisey has a knack for breakthroughs​

The skipper Jamie Cox proved to be the resistance against our boys but my roomy Shane ?Stickers? Harwood had him LBW after making his half-century. Big hitter Michy Di Venuto was then run out to complete a miserable start to the match for Tasmania.

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Coxy realises his mistake on the way back to the pavillion ​

A disgraceful start for the Tasmanian's on a track that has no demon's in it sore Kremerskothen and Clingeleffer fighting to stay alive in the 1st innings when Cameron White turns to me and says ?Im giving this one to you Slats. Warm up mate.?

Tasmania Tigers 5/125
2:17pm ? Day 1
45 overs

Kremerskothen 15(35)*
Clingeleffer 16(34)*

Lewis 1/37
Harwood 1/51
Hodge 0/14
Wise 2/15
White 0/4

 

[Left_Hander]

Tasmania in a shocking position! Good work

 

[Mr. Kurns]

c'mon Slats

 

[Short Leg]

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Pura Cup ? Game 3
Tasmania Tigers Vs Victorian Bushrangers
Bellerive Oval, Hobart
21st November 2006

Slatter gets the ball with 5 Tasmanian batsmen already in the shed so there realy isn?t to much pressure on him here. This is the Tigers last chance with Kremerskothen and Clingeleffer the last of the recognized willow wielders. After this it?s only bowlers remaining.

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Slats set?s his field and prepares for his first ball to Kremerskothen. 2 slips and a gully are set as Slatter and the Victorian?s ask the question of ?how long will it take for the Tasmanians to go over the top??

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With Cameron White brining himself on from the other end without any spin visible the boys could have questioned the decision but instead decided to go with it and encourage the skipper. It paid dividends as Whitey picked up the wicket of Clingeleffer caught and bowled for 26.

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Cameron White again showed no end to his talent as he picked up another wicket this time the scalp of the lower order Wright for a duck caught behind by Pilon. The pressure is really on the home side now who are in real trouble at 7 wickets down as the crowd slowly starts to desert the stadium. A poor first innings total here could mean game over for the Tigers already, as it isn?t that hard to score runs on.

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After conceding also a boundary an over the skipper is beginning to lose patience with me and between overs and said ?Your getting to expensive mate we need wickets at the moment. I?ll give you one more over to get a wicket.?

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The wicket didn?t come for Slatter but the spell wasn?t all that bad. However White decided to replace the youngster with Allan Wise who had been spot on earlier and was the obvious choice for a bowl with the Victorians in need of the final 3 wickets in the Tasmanian innings.

Together with the help of Kremerskothen running himself out White and Wise picked up a wicket each to wrap up a mediocre innings from the local Tasmanians. The home team in real trouble now with a lot of time remaining on day 1 for the Victorians to establish themselves at the crease and prepare to bat the Tigers out of the match.

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Tasmanian Tiger has a lead of 191 runs

 

[Short Leg]

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Pura Cup ? Game 3
Tasmania Tigers Vs Victorian Bushrangers
Bellerive Oval, Hobart
21st November 2006

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Adam Griffith achieved exactly what the Tasmanians needed in getting the early wicket of in from Victorian Michael Klinger. Jon Moss is in with the score still in single figures at 1/8. Ironically it?s the two batsman that have been struggling this season Jason Arnberger and Jon Moss who have to get trough the new ball now.

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There wouldn?t of been to many people that would predict the 137 run partnership that Arnberger and Moss shared before the opener was beaten by a Xavier Doherty quicker ball and trapped LBW for a well deserved 81.

That wasn?t even the end of it as Brad Hodge who is still up the creek about being dropped from the Australia test team joined Moss for a partnership of 204. The pair made batting look effortless placing leather in whatever gap presented itself and the boys in the dressing room loved it. The Moss 100 was a great achievement for him as the selectors were beginning to think he was past his best but a remarkable 151 off 357 balls soon had everyone believing in him again. In the end Griffo bowled him and he walked back to the pavilion to great applause from the locals.

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You can see what runs meant to Mossy​

Dave Hussey joined Hodgey at 3/345 with Brad in the 80?s but it wasn?t long before Hodgey was raising the bat for a memorable century that will send a message to the Australian selectors. Surprisingly it was Dave Hussey who actually missed out for a change having miss judged a Doherty off spinner and hitting it straight to Kremerskothen to be out for 21 on the stroke of stumps on day 2 which means im in with the score at 4/380 and a few balls in the day to go. Most people would say that this is a dream time to bat but to the bloke that?s actually going in it?s a terrible time to have a dig because your not going to get remembered in front of the other hundreds and failure is never to far away.

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Hodgey peels of a ton​

Victorian Bushrangers 4/380
Stumps - Day 2
132 overs

Hodge 104(243)*
Hussey 21(43)
Slatter 0(4)*

Wright 0/80
Griffith 2/81
Kremerskothen 1/55
Doherty 1/102
Hilfenhaus 0/41
Bevan 0/10

Victorian Bushrangers lead by 189 runs

 

[Cricket_60]

Unlucky for Slats, He gets out there, faces 4 balls then he has to go straight back in.