2009 Nudeballers Goldfield Ashes
The Cooks were our hosts at their Macrossan Turf farm.
It pelted down rain, but we somehow played all three games.
The Burdekin later reached its second highest ever level at Macrossan.
There was an epic streak by the Ranga.
The legend of the Nudeballers at the Goldfield Ashes was born.
Game 1 v WHOGAF
The one where Tav was speechless.
Saturday 24 January 2009 at CT Airport Reserve Field 29
Batting first, WHOGAF all out 86; 21.1 overs. Nudeballers 8/150; 35 overs.
Nudeballers win by 4 Wkts in 24.4 overs.
First wicket: Chief King; Bowled
First catch: Chief King off Paul
First 50: Paul 51 (56) six 4s
First maiden: Half-A-Night
First wide: Ben “Getitonthepitch”
First 4: Rusty
First BBQ: Brettski by Rusty
First 50 partnership: Ben and Paul 56 (75) 7th wicket
Old Tav started the campaign with a win of the toss; a trend that continued all weekend. The plan was to field first to take advantage of early moisture in the concrete wicket; a tactic that proved a winner over the three days! The circus acts started soon after, with Trav’s first effort drawing threats of annulment from Godfather, Bald Tav, on the sideline. Bald Tav may have spoken too soon however, as he dropped one of his own rendering him speechless for a few moments; a rare occurrence. Mario deputizing for Brettski, who dropped his first catch at the casino the night before, was unlucky not to strike oil after circling the ball in a tight circle before it struck him on the foot. Mario redeemed himself a few overs later; taking a screamer diving to his right. There may have been a dropped catch by Old Tav behind the stumps, but the conditions were poor and who can remember anyway.
There was also some cricket. Ranga and Trav the surprises with the ball taking, four wickets between them in a hot spell which crippled the Whogaf batsmen. Good catching by Mark saw Whogaf struggle to 86 from just 21.1 overs.
It appeared that 86 may have been a good score as the Nudies crumbled to 6/63. A stubborn Benny was then joined by proud Dad, Paul, and the pair saw the Nudies to victory and beyond with a 56 run partnership. The Nudies saw out the 50 overs compiling a further 31 runs; thanks to lusty hitting from Paul who reached the Nudies first compulsory retirement at 51.
Game 2 v Outcasts
The one with the crash tackle.
Sunday 25 January 2009 at CT Airport Reserve Field 35
Batting first, Outcasts 9/148; 25.4 overs. Nudeballers 7/200; 26 overs
Nudeballers win by 9 Wkts in 19.1 overs
Today’s circus act was the opposition. Clearly the enjoyment side of the weekend had taken over to the extent that the cricket was hardly existent apart from a tail end partnership which added 51 and one known as Clint, who managed a 53 not. The appropriately named Outcasts managed 148. Ranga again performed with the ball and was rewarded with a crash tackle from Trav that rattled the teeth of the scorers in the tent. With friends like that… Benny and Davis also lived up to their billing, chiming in with 2 wickets each.
The Outcasts did not see fielding as a priority allowing the Nudies to dominate with the bat. Brettski and Mark both reached retirement in quick time and Ben contributed again with the bat. A 55 run opening partnership between Brettski and Ranga and a 69 stand between Mark and Benny set the Nudies up for a good total. With the retirement of Brettski, then Mark, the second wicket did not fall until 177. Ben nobly retired to offer the rest of the team the opportunity to bat in the face of a fast deteriorating opposition. It’s quite possible that a few of the Nudies may have received dubious decisions in an effort to get the team the hell out of Dodge.
Play of the day: Crash tackle by Trav on Ranga.
Game 3 v Weedies
The one with Ken’s screamer
Monday 26 January 2009 at FCG
Batting first, Weedies 9/87; 20 overs. Nudeballers 6/109 in 20 overs.
Nudeballers win by 4 wkts in 17.4 overs
The weather threatened to interfere with the Nudies Ashes tour. Officially, the conditions would be re-assessed at 9.00am, but a chance encounter with a Weedies representative, brought an invitation to play anyway, as the FCG was playable. At the Fordyce property, the Nudies found a pristine field unheard of in B2. A game commenced and the Nudies had the Weedies in trouble, thanks in part to a catch in the slips by Ken which was later to be labeled a screamer by…Oh Yeah.. Ken. Unfortunately, the catch did not make the stats as the news came that a 20/20 was to be played. The Nudies offer to continue the existing game was rejected by the opposition (surprise, surprise) and a new game was begun.
Weedies struggled again and were 6/27 thanks to some tight bowling and good fielding; easy to do with grass under foot. A revival at the tail-end took Weedies to a final total 9/87 from their allocated 20. Wickets were shared, but special mention to Davo who took two and a run out.
The Nudies did not have this match all their own way. Bowling was tight and it was the eighth over before 20 came up on the scoreboard. With Li’l Tav anchoring, Keefey came on and blasted 22 from 17 to take the Nudies to 61 from 12 overs. There was a little bit of panic when 3 wickets fell in five balls to have Nudies 5/61 with 6 ½ overs to go and then another fell at 72, with 20 balls to go. Davo and Trav then exploded, taking 37 from the next 20 balls to eclipse the Weedies score and take the Nudies to a third consecutive victory.
Retrospective Weekend Awards
Orange Cap: Benny; 65 runs
Purple Cap: Ranga (Shut-the-f@#$-up) edging out Mavis on averages. 6-0-5-30
Pink Cap: The Tav (Chief King); 4 catches, 1 stumping; 1 run-out
We’re The Nudies
(To the tune of the Flintstones)
Nudies, we’re the Nudies.
We’re your Goldfield Ashes cricket team.
We’ve been to the Towers,
where our cricket whites turned into creams.
The Cookies looked after us a treat
While the water kept rising in the creek
Nudies, we’re the Nudies
We’re taking wickets
We’re clearing pickets
Nudeballers Cricket Team
