The Big Picture
Walhalla is not widely known outside of Victoria, but those that know it are inevitably aware of the mystery that is synonymous with the place.
Not only does it share a name that has a verisimilitude to Valhalla, but it is also supposed to be the most haunted place in the State.
The Cricket Ground in the town also carries a sense of intrigue, having had the MCC (including Warwick Armstrong) play on it and being located on top of a mountain that is only accessible by foot / sherpa.
The ground was established while the town was thriving around its gold mine, but fell into neglect with the decline in local industry.
Thankfully, Blackridge Cricket Club was established and managed to not only get the ground repaired, but have also helped attract touring teams to it. Enter the Quokkas.
Personally, this is a game I have been trying to get established for years and am very excited about exploring the region and having some fun.
Blackridge have agreed to most of the YPCA-rules, though have a few modifications of their own (see below). We may try for a 30-over game, depending on what time we can start by.
Pitch and Conditions
As mentioned above, the ground is located on the top of a mountain:
Which we can all agree is pretty great. The pitch itself is reportedly very narrow, so (thankfully) the YPCA no-wides rule may become very useful.
We have also been advised by the other team to make sure we wear pants, as it can be a bit abrasive to slide on. I’m guessing they haven’t seen us in the field. Still it will mean an end to our mid-90’s Victorian Bushrangers style of dress.
The other big consideration for the game is that hitting 6s is out. Not really an issue for me – apart from having to find the ball in the scrub. 6s are a dead ball. I think we should make the batter do some push ups too to penalise them for too much energy.
It has been unseasonably wet of late, and it promises to continue this weekend unfortunately.
Team News
We have a full eleven at the time of writing, though as is the way with most of our games, that could definitely change by Sunday. We have Sam in reserve, who is a proven wicket-taker on tour (see Nerrena 2022/23), though may challenge the bowlers not to bowl bouncers.
With the narrow pitch in mind, some of our more accurate bowlers (TBC, Animal) may get an extended spell, while I dare say I will be happy with the scorebook in the trees.
- Radar +
- F1
- Fargo
- Ed
- Dusty
- Maxy
- Daisy
- TBC
- Gelder
- Animal
- Rev (c)
Facts and Stats
Given this won’t be a YPCA match, the only statistic counted will be towards matches played. That being said, there have been a few milestones from the last (YPCA) game:
- Fargo played his 20th YPCA match and took his total runs scored to 175 (from 172);
- F1 also played his 20th YPCA match and took his 11th wicket (going at an unbelieve RPO of 5.48);
- The Animal played his 40th YPCA match and took his total YPCA runs to 251 – currently on a healthy average of 14.76;
- Hendo smashed his batting average from 36 to 75;
- Ed played his 80th YPCA innings, 42 of which have been not out. This has helped lead to an average of 40.87. His run out in the last game also took him to 40 fielding dismissals (33 catches, 7 run outs).