Wombats Reclaim Shearer-Thurgate Cup

by Joe Lewis

The Wombats finally managed to snap a winless streak stretching back half a decade against their old foe Chiba Sharks by securing a tense win under wet skies. To snap the losing streak, the Wombat committee had decided that neglecting tradition had been a root cause of the slump, opting to rent a small bus (emphasis on “small”) from Shibuya to cart 10 Wommies to the old hunting ground at Fuji.

Confidence was high in the Wommie camp, with a strong line up promising to take the field. A psyched Max Turnbull was already planning the match after party: “FYI, I’m not playing if we don’t have a speaker for the bus so someone bring one.” “I’m thinking [our group name] The Whining Wombats.” 10 soon became 9 when Max Turnbull had failed to rise from his bed to get to the pick-up, and further offense was given when he declared that he hadn’t even been drinking the night before. (Alleged reports of Max calling our president in the wee hours in a questionable disposition is still currently under review by the committee.) This was probably for the best, as the “bus” rented only had 9 seats, 6 of which were child size if you ask my 193cm self!

For the game itself, an overcast setting greeted the teams with rain promised from noon onwards; understandably, Captain Ali opted to bat first to put the Sharks under pressure. Concerned about the oncoming weather, the Sharks were already a little nervous having unveiled a bowler-heavy lineup, with certain key batters required for division 1 duty on the neighbouring ground. The Wombats, meanwhile, had a well-balanced unit with the loss of Max being conveniently shored up by the experienced Kamran making his debut.

However, it did not go as planned for the Wommies, losing the normally stalwart Masaki for 1, meeting his end by chipping a simple catch to the bowler in the second over. Second man in was new player Hamza. While Ieuan was purring at the scoring table at Hamza’s straight defensive technique, Hamza got bowled for 0 four deliveries later through his defence, but he looked sexy doing so according to Ieuan. After that with Samad still yet to arrive, Kavin stepped up to help Ali (who had decided to reject doctor’s orders and play with a fractured thumb — “as he should” says Dino’s generation; “what a nutter” says 2025).

Kavin played cautiously with Ali as they attempted to survive a shark attack with its fins very much up. Strike rate was put on the backburner as they tried to establish a top order partnership reaching 20 after 6 overs (11 of those runs were extras given by an overzealous Shark attack.)

Just when the partnership looked to have ridden the storm and with both batters showing signs of opening up, Kavin was adjudged LBW and kicked off a dummy spit nomination. Arguing with the umpires before storming off throwing his bat, this honest journalist cannot confirm whether his bat touched the ball, but I can attest that said bat hit the innocent Arron Regin when flung, Kavin thus making his own version of LBW: Launched Bat at Wombat. At this moment in the game the first raindrops were starting to fall and the threat of a D/L finish loomed large and at this moment the Sharks were firmly in the driving seat, but unfortunately for them a certain Samad had just exited his own seat and was casually walking towards the Wommie gazebo as wickets tumbled out in the middle. With one nod of ‘good morning’ he began to get ready, and strutting in at 5, he would leave the Sharks fishing in the bushes no less than four times as he smashed 51 (50), himself and Ali taking the Wommies to the end of the first session at a suddenly favorable 75-3.

This is a rivalry though and the Sharks were not done yet, as they came out with a new strategy and game plan. Ali fell LBW in the 16th over to suddenly leave the Wommies vulnerable, and Kamran swiftly followed, caught for 0 when stuck in two minds with his shot. Samad fell shortly afterwards, getting bowled by a decent spin delivery. The Wombats were now 94-6 and any real hope of batting 40 overs were over. However, a crucial part of the Wommie team is that it bats deep—Tanzeem and Ieuan played good sensible cricket, rotating the strike and getting some vital runs. Ieuan was caught off a dead ball and like Jesus, made his resurrection short but sweet. Launching a big 6 before getting caught behind, that’s a religion I can convert to. Tanzeem squeezed what he could with Archit (who ran himself out quite spectacularly) and Arron before departing himself. The tail was soon finished with the Wombats reaching 129 all out.

With the rain only promising to potentially get heavier and the umpires on-hand looking rather miserable, the Sharks went into their innings confident that if they preserve their top order wickets and protect their soft underbelly, a win would be assured. They started positively against an attack spearheaded by Archit and Samad and were beginning to look comfortable when Archit found the right line and length to take 3 wickets in quick succession (18-0 to 20-3, maybe an lbw or two were a little generous by the wet umpires). These 3 wickets cracked the lid off the Shark batting lineup to reveal a soft and vulnerable middle order. From this point on the Sharks were a wounded team and defeat seemed to loom large like the grey skies as they drowned in the tight spin bowling of Kavin and Samad, surrendering their wickets when pressured to attack. The remaining opener, Sud, maintained decent composure to carry his bat through the innings but couldn’t find anyone to stay with him.

Kavin and Samad did not need the Wombat fielders, except to hand back the ball, as they were almost exclusively in the lumberjack trade of knocking over timber (occasionally the umpires would help by lifting a finger). It wasn’t until the penultimate wicket when 9-digit Ali took an impressive diving catch that the fielding team had anything to really take note off, except drying the bowler’s wet balls. There was one dolly drop at the end where Joe Lewis misheard the keeper’s call and thought that Tanzeem would be willing to run 20 yards next to him to take a catch in his rubber gloves. Embarrassingly, the ball dropped 5 feet away unchallenged by either. Technically not a drop lads! Sharks all out for 75 and the Shearer-Thurgate cup was reclaimed! Kavin finished with 5-27 off 7. Archit 3-13 off 5. Samad 1-19 off 7.

It was then time for the bbq organized by Jarrad “Dino” Shearer and Co where all enjoyed an excellent spread of sausages and onions, even as the rain grew ever harder outside. The Sharks slowly dribbled in from the Div 1 game and we even had a surprise guest: a 15-year-old policeman in an immaculate white raincoat arrived five minutes into the bbq to strongly request that it cease and desist. Dino took the strategy of striking up a conversation to buy time for all to get their feed while Mark McTamney and others diligently served up. After 15 minutes Masaki took over and spoke for another 30 minutes in what looked like a positive and animated discussion, but at the end Masaki came back to say that the popo was not happy at all. Showing a staying power that no batsmen could achieve on this day, the policeman stood for the best part of an hour a few feet behind Mark, boring holes at the bbq as if that would put it out faster. Reports state that once the bbq was cleared and folks departed, he was still guarding the overpass a couple of hours after. He may still be there!

Golden Wombat votes were counted. The MoM Samad, his job done with bat and ball, had already faded away into the mists at the match’s conclusion, promising to return like a fable for the next match. 2nd was Kavin who may be the first Wombat to get a 5-fer in a low scoring match and not be voted No.1. Perhaps repeatedly downplaying his 5-fer by calling the Sharks’ batting shit affected his votes! In 3rd it was Archit who’s opening spell was integral to giving Kavin the opening the Wombats desperately needed.

All in all the Wombats prevailed over the Sharks thanks to the difference in middle order batting depth, some individual performances, and a more disciplined bowling attack (Sharks conceded 22 wides). Two wins in a row and sights are now set on a hat-trick against the MIB on the 28th!

Big up the Wommies!