The Valley Of Peace Cricket Club Inc.

Christchurch, New Zealand

Month: December 2020

Valley of Peace vs Christchurch Golf Club, 13th Dec 2020

We were greeted to overcast but muggy conditions, with a stunning outfield and a hard but fresh deck. Our opponents for the day were Christchurch Golf Club (CGC) who seem to lift a notch when they get to oppose their former teammate, Tom Music.

Winning the toss we elected to bowl and had Dan Hooper (0-30 off 8) & Rumesh (1-20 off 10) starting off with some tight, challenging bowling. CGC battled hard with some good hitting from Bakermans (19) at the top of the order, and a resolute inning of 24 from Sanders.

House (1-37 off 9), Carter (0-19 off 5) and Levenger (0-11 off 2) all bowled well from the city end while Larter (4-19 off 10) and Frickleton (3-23 off 7) made good inroads from the pavilion end with Music picking up two very good slip catches.

At 80 for 5 in the 30th over VOP had the edge, but were aware that Wisneski was a threat as he continued to step down the wicket and hit strongly against the moving ball.

With an invaluable innings of 48 and a 51 run partnership for the 7th wicket with Reed (12*) Wisneski lifted CGC to a more than competitive total of 165/9 as VOP struggled to tie him down and pick up wickets from the other end.

In reply VOP had a number of starts from Music (11), Carter (10), and Larter (19) with Eathorne anchoring the innings with 18. This unfortunately left too much to do for Rumesh (22) & an injured Hooper at the end as VOP managed 121 all out in reply.

Injuries to Hooper & Levenger, and 3 dropped catches didn’t help our cause but CGC were deserved winners by 44 runs.

As always the game against CGC was a good battle and played in the right spirit.

Many thanks for Messrs Eathorne and Tritschler for hosting us on the day and Mr Polson and his team for the hard work as always on preparing such a great pitch and excellent setting to play cricket in.

Ben Larter
VoP Captain for the Day

[ezcol_1quarter]

Participants for the VoP vs CGC 2020 match

[/ezcol_1quarter] [ezcol_1quarter]

Valley vs CGC Dec 2020 from the Watershed

[/ezcol_1quarter] [ezcol_1quarter]

The Watershed ‘fill-up bowser’ at the Valley

[/ezcol_1quarter] [ezcol_1quarter_end]

Presentation time after the CGC match Dec 2020

[/ezcol_1quarter_end]

Valley of Peace vs Millbrook Cricket Club, 6th Dec 2020

The toss was won by Valley of Peace Cricket Club and elected to bat for this 50-over match against Millbrook Cricket Club from Arrowtown.

Weather:
1st innings – sunny, 17 degrees
2nd innings – overcast, 12 degrees

A solid opening partnership of 49 between Ryan Eathorne 25 and Tim Frickleton 29 laid a good platform for the middle order Niven Boyle 31 and Hamish Cochrane 32 to progress the innings to over 100 by the 35th over. Although wickets began to fall in quick succession past the 40th over Dan Hooper 16 managed to help VoP finish at a defendable score of 163/9 after 50 overs.

Millbrook lost early wickets at regular intervals in reply as the wicket got slower as the day went on. Great opening bowling spell by Dan Hooper of 10 overs straight 3 for 11, and Greg Jones 9 overs 3 for 32. Riley Smith chipping in 5 overs, 2 for 21. At one stage Millbrook were 27/7 and then 38/8. VoP was looking forward to having the game done and dusted by drinks – 25 over mark. The last wicket partnership of around 70 by Rob who smacked his way to 50 and Billy 25 started to annoy the VoP bowlers and made the VoP captain get a little nervous. Luckily for VoP Graham Aveyard finished the Millbrook innings off with 5 overs 2 for 8, making it a handsome win for VoP by 36 runs.

Great day’s cricket played in good spirits and pleasing to have chalked up my first win as captain for VoP at our wonderful new look home ground.

Thanks to the ground/bar staff the hospitality was good as it always is!

Tim Frickleton
VoP Captain for the day

Wiley Niven Boyle facing the might of Millbrook for his 31 runs

Niven Boyle scratching around for his 31 runs

Valley of Peace vs Canterbury Over 60’s XI, 29th Nov 2020

The second home match of the summer started with the best-dressed team – the Canterbury Over 60’s XI – that we’ve greeted for some time arriving in their #1’s. The NZ Veterans Cricket blazers pictured are available to players who have represented NZ in their various age grades, and the number on display gave the home skipper some cause for concern before the toss. It was also great to see so many familiar faces in the visiting side, as 7 of their players are Valley members also.

The Valley won the toss and elected to field given the damp outfield and the covered pitch having sweated slightly the night before.

Kurt Bayer opened the bowling well for the Valley and some hard work all round in the field paid off keeping the run rate down. After 10 overs the Over 60’s had put on 21 runs, then by drinks at 25 overs they’d got through to 43\3. Mike McHaffey (10) was unlucky to be run out by a piece of individual brilliance by Dan Byrne, and Kurt Bayer took a very timely and well-made catch in the deep to remove R Steele (16) who had settled in well as part of the Over 60’s opening partnership. Ollie Dugdale held a couple of sharp catches too, and when Bob Masefield (13) came out and drove his first ball for a superb straight boundary we had to change fielding placements quickly. Bob and Tony Gray (22) batted very well together putting on 33 for the 9th wicket, with the Over 60’s eventually dismissed in the 46th over for 123. The bowlers worked hard for the Valley, in total 7 being used, with Kent Gillman leaving the field after injuring his calf during his second spell. The wickets were shared around, only two bowlers snared more than one wicket – Warren Guy (8-2-19) and Tom Byrne  (8-2-13), his older brother Dan Byrne bowling in tandem well at the other end with great stats of (8-1-9). Kurt Bayer had a good day out too returning (8-0-15).

A lovely setting for lunch under the trees (thanks again to hosts Scott, John and Nick) as the sun came out and the temperature increased noticeably as the Over 60’s took to the field. The Valley openers provided just the watchful start we needed and Stan Wooliscroft (8-1-33) got the first wicket of Ollie Dugdale (16) trapped LBW in the 14th over. The spinners continued the form with Tony Gray (8-1-19) bowling out Jono Collins (4) in the next over. Tom Music retired after a well compiled 51* leaving Dan Byrne (16*) and Kurt Bayer (11*) to finish the runs off in the 34th over with the total at 125\3.

A special mention must be made of the work Ant Polson and Geoff Olson have done at the ground – it looks an absolute picture, with the outfield playing very truly and the new block bedding in well.

We hope the match served its purpose for our visitors as they get game time to prepare for some tough competitions ahead – next weekend in Wellington and then National Championships in February 2021. Good luck to the Canterbury Team from us all at the Valley of Peace!

Jesse Tritschler