In bitterly cold conditions - summer is a distant experience seemingly - NSW (second place) played third placed Queensland in the second phase of the competition - a top four shoot out. The round robin series to date had delivered the top four who did battle today (South Australia played Victoria Blue in the other match). Queensland's tall timber were suntanned and undoubtedly more uncomfortable than us with the weather conditions, however they were highly enthusiastic, well prepared and energetic.
Nicholas Eckberg (5 hits, 1 run) started pitching for us and did a great job again pitching four innings before Zac Moran (3 hits, 1 run) supported this in the final three innings. We looked solid, catching well and chasing hard in the field.
Unfortunately, our batting was desperately poor. Joel Dyer had two hits, while Ben Hunt had yet another one. But that was it. A bit like the band 1927 or The Cockroaches - just three hits. Not one other batter had a hit. Not sufficient to win a raffle.
Numerous skied balls found safe gloves. Nine strike outs by our batters spoke of uncertainty, nerves and an inconsistent umpire whose back problems changed the zone as the game progressed. It also spoke of poor judgement and yielding to pressure at other key moments.
Our defence was actually very good in spite of this. However errors at key moments in throws from third base and short stop compounded our woes. There were plenty of nerves - not helped by cold, blustery and awkward conditions. Sometimes with the sun on one's back, the game seems easier and the tension lessens.
Not today. They squeezed out two ugly runs and we could not do a thing to reverse it. We were not aggressive and lacked a composure that had been with us in recent days. A 2-0 loss was the final result.
Liam McCallum was appointed to look after the scoreboard and probably did less than everyone. By the time the curator re-started the mower we had done our warm downs and bunkered down for a self evaluation to salvage our campaign.
A win against fourth place South Australia is now compulsory tomorrow.
James sat out today's game, resting after yesterday. His bat sat idle despite the desperate need for hits. However his early tournament form meant that this was a justified coaching choice. His opportunity to assert himself in the team as a hitter was surrendered to others. He now sits desperate to wrest back control and contribute to the improved team performances in coming days.
He may be handed a lifeline - especially with the form of some going into a spiral. For some, tournament statistics, scouts, academies and the like have clouded their view of the ball of late. These distractions must be put aside, before the trophy engraver looks up his dictionary to check the spelling of another state.
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