ON October 18, the “Gentlemen of Nowra Eleven” began their one and a half year cricket qualification on the road to the West Indies in May 2017.
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Their first opponent in a list of many was the powerful and skilled team from CBC in Sydney’s North Shore.
On the previous encounter with the CBC legends, the GONE team was left floundering as their northern counterparts wielded the willow and put the six stitcher to all parts of Hayden Drexel Oval, in a very one sided affair.
Things were different this time at Bernie Regan Sporting Complex, with moisture in the pitch, as captain Ducie decided to bat first .
That was his first mistake, as the top order had little to show for their time at the crease and at one stage were 7-74.
With a seemingly endless batting line-up, Ducie and Muggleton were relegated to numbers eight and nine, which was his second mistake.
However the pair put some respectability into the total with scores of 22 and 46, as the team scrambled to 156.
Ted Stevenson scored 22 at the top of the order, after a mammoth 13 overs, while Steve Wooley swung his bat like his life depended on it and added a handy 18.
Blackjack Wooley and Muggo opened the bowling and kept things in check with a couple of early dismissals and then the captain decided to bring himself on.
This was mistake number three, as two of the biggest sixes ever seen in golden oldies were the result of that decision and a quick bowling change took place.
About-time Innis and Dave Sloane bowled in the zone and made scoring very hard.
Michael Godfrey (man of the match), Mr Semmler and Malcolm Marshall got among the runs for the visitors with 35 retired, 33 and 30 respectively, but they had little help from the others and fell seven runs short. Their next encounter will hopefully be against Berry on November 22 at Berry.
Teams for Barbados 2017 include; Gentlemen of Nowra Eleven (GONE), Vagabonds (RSA), CBC Golden Oldies (AUS), Toronto Lumberjacks (CAN), Fingletoads (INT), Hawkesbury HOCs (AUS), Revesby Workers Cricket Club FORCE (AUS), Newcastle Lord’s Taverners (AUS), Springwood Royals (AUS), Valley Diehards (AUS), Queensland Cricketer's Club 1st XII (AUS), British Columbia CC (CAN), Nidderdale Taverners (UK), Queensland Cricketer's Club President's XII (AUS), Brisbane Old Boys (AUS), Keilor Vets (AUS), Australian Sri Lankans (AUS), Nobros (AUS), Lake Macquarie Dinosaurs (AUS), PGH Fender XI (USA), Townsville Old Crocs (AUS), Vancouver Island Vagabonds (CAN) and Wollongong University 61 Club (AUS).