Both Riding Mill and Parkdale haven named strong line ups for their highly anticipated dice cricket fixture which is scheduled for the virtual Gerry Green Reserve at 6am Thursday in Australia and 9pm in the UK.
Riding Mill are looking to bounce back after their most disappointing performance of the tour so far while there is little known about the dice cricket credentials of the Parkdale Cricket Club who are celebrating their 100th anniversary this summer.
Two very strong line ups set to do battle in what should be a game to remember
It is the final game of the Victorian leg of the virtual tour which started at Burrabadine in NSW last month before heading to Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and Sydney. There have been mixed fortunes for the visitors who now have four wins and four losses on the tour and looking for a strong finish with remaining games against Parkdale in Victoria, Bayswater-Morley in Perth and of course the final game of the tour in virtual Hong Kong against the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI.
We are looking forward to bringing you all of the action via the @cricketlibrary on twitter.
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The Australian Cricket team had a period where the Julios and Nerds were a big part of the culture. In his chat with Matt Ellis on the Cricket Library Podcast, Wayne Holdsworth shared who he thought was the leader of the nerds during his time on the 1993 Ashes tour.
St Kevin’s Old Boys (SKOB) have produced the most dominant display we have seen on the Riding Mill Virtual Tour of Australia with a crushing 7 wicket win at the virtual Olney Oval in the magnificent Yarra Bend Complex.
After winning the toss and bowling in their last fixture, skipper Andy Watson had a change in tactics electing to bat first on what looked to be a good wicket for dice Cricket. This looked to be a positive move when despite losing Burns LWB for 2 to one that nipped back in from Andrew Smale, the score had raced to 1-19.
Pat Turnbull then applied more pressure for the home side removing the in form Dave Cox who was out to a good catch by Jack Marshall for 9 and then bowling Steve Kent with an absolute peach for 11. While the run rate was still looking solid, certainly losing three wickets in the first two overs was not part of the plan for Riding Mill.
When Tom Norris bowled Aly Hall for 0 things were looking gloomy for Riding Mill and this was compounded further when Andrew Fernon took a smart catch to remove Iain Longstaff for 11 off the bowling of Jack Marshall.
The carnage continued when Fernon took the ball finishing with 3-8 after having the dangerous Scott Dickson caught behind for 21 off 9, Cam Longstaff stumped by Brebner-Griffin for 4 and producing a beauty to bowl Kev Frazer for 1.
The tail did not wag with Sam Browne claiming Joel Marks plumb in front for 6 and skipper Andy Watson out to another neat piece of work behind the stumps from Brebner-Griffin who had the bails off in a flash completing a smart stumping.
Incredibly Riding Mill, who’s previous lowest score on the tour was more than double this total, were licking their wounds all out for 66 after just 5.3 overs.
Riding Mill needed to re-group immediately which they did when Scott Dickson claimed a sharp chance behind the stumps to remove SKOB skipper Nicholas Trapani for 2 off the bowling of Ben Smith.
Runs were still flowing though despite Watson trapping Gheller in front for 0, SKOB were still very much on top with Brebner-Griffin and Turnbull putting together a solid partnership.
Kev Frazer took one of the better virtual caught and bowled chances you will ever imagine to remove Turnbull for 25 off 7 but the damage had been done.
Brebner-Griffin finished off the job hitting consecutive sixes and a three off Cam Longstaff to finish on 42 not out to go with his two stumpings and a catch.
A seven wicket win had been secured and Riding Mill left to head back to the drawing board before their virtual tour continues during the week against Parkdale before heading to Perth next weekend.
Recently Matt Ellis caught up with Ryan Harris for the Cricket Library Podcast. Ryan shared just how much winning the Sheffield Shield with QLD meant to him.
A massive virtual crowd was on hand for game number 7 of the Riding Mill dice cricket virtual tour of Australia. Conditions at the virtual Willowbrook Reserve were perfect for dice cricket with some early morning cloud cover likely to assist the bowlers.
Riding Mill skipper Andy Watson although having some reservations having sent Kissing Point in last week in Sydney only to have them pile on 170 decided to send the home side in hoping the dukes dice may provide the assistance his opening bowlers have been looking for.
The move proved to be a master stroke and despite skipper Tarek Moughanie looking in fine touch, wickets were tumbling at the other end with Ben Smith picking up Pearson LBW for 0 and Lambeth falling to a good catch behind the stumps from Liam James for 2.
Lance Mallinson was then into the action removing Jimmy Campbell who was stumped for 3 and Ben Walker who departed next ball caught by Ali Raza for a duck. It was fair to say that the visitors were feeling right at home in the virtual conditions.
Chinthaka Jayasinghe joined skipper Tarek Moughanie at the crease and were building a partnership when Riding Mill skipper Andy Watson found something special to trap Moughanie in front for a magnificent 29 off just 8 deliveries with the final ball of his over.
After some further consolidation from the hosts Cam Longstaff was able to become the third bowler of the morning to claim a double breakthrough, this time the two marquee players Chinthaka Jayasinghe and Danny Law departing. Chinthaka’s innings was the shining light for the home side with his 36 coming off just 12 deliveries before he was stumped by Liam James. While Danny Law was on his way thanks to a neat return catch from Longstaff off his own bowling to see Law back to the virtual pavilion for six off two.
When Aly Hall had Kosteas out to a good catch from Lance Mallinson and Chris Neilson caught by Kev Frazer for 6 off 2 Riding Mill were well on top with the Warriors primary objective now to bat out the remaining overs with the score at 9-102.
A thirty run stand from Craig Byron who finished 17 not out and Aaron Smillie who was last to go, LBW to Scott Dickson for 24 off 9 saw the Westmeadows total reach 132 but not able to bat out their allotment of ten overs.
Early wickets put Riding Mill in the driver’s seat before Chinthaka Jayasinghe led a recovery mission and the tail wagging to take the total to 132
Rob Burns preparing for the game against Westmeadows Warriors
Riding Mill in their chase took the go hard or go home approach with a blistering start from openers Dickson and Burns. Dickson was adjudged LBW in the second over with a good seed from Neilson seeing him on his way for 15 from 4. The runs kept flowing however with the agricultural approach from Burns making it very hard to set a field with balls landing in unconventional places.
Dave Cox continued his fine tour having made back to back half centuries in the two previous fixtures providing excellent support to Burns who was on a mission bringing up his first half century on virtual Australian soil.
When Burns was plumb in front off the bowling of Chinthaka Jayasinghe for 66, the damage was already done. Dave Cox and Liam James finishing the job seeing the tourists home with 8 wickets in hand.
Rob Burns was unconventional but very effective notching up his first half century on virtual Australian soil & claiming man of the match honours.
Thanks to the generosity of the hosts, Rob Burns will take home a magnificent Westmeadows hoodie as a permanent reminder to his team mates of one of the better innings you will see in a game of dice cricket.
Rob Burns will be sure to turn heads with this magnificent man of the match award
Riding Mill will continue their tour on the weekend against St Kelvin’s Old Boys before playing Parkdale next week in the final game of the Melbourne leg of the tour.
The team then head across to Perth to play Bayswater-Morley before a final fixture that was announced at the start of the week to take place in virtual Hong Kong.
Thanks again to Westmeadows Warriors Cricket Club for being such wonderful hosts for game 7 of the Riding Mill Cricket Club dice cricket virtual tour of Australia.
Two very strong line ups have been selected for the first game in the Melbourne leg of the Riding Mill dice cricket virtual tour of Australia
After starting their virtual tour of Australia with a bang, Riding Mill are looking to bounce back when they take on Westmeadows Warriors at the Virtual Willowbrook Reserve in the shadows of Melbourne airport.
The hosts have had a very successful period of late winning two of the last three flags as well as two of the last three T20 titles and it will be interesting to see if this on field form will transfer to success into the virtual conditions of dice cricket.
The virtual strip at Willowbrook Reserve may do a bit early on with the new dice
Westmeadows selectors have chosen a strong line up which will be captained by Tarek Moughanie and featuring Sri Lankan star Chinthaka Jayasinghe & Danny Law who has over 100 1st Class games to his name representing Durham, Essex and Sussex.
Chinthake Jayasinghe will be a key man in the Westmeadows middle order
Riding Mill have made some changes to their team after their loss to the UTS North Sydney team of the decade on the weekend. Kiwi Dave Cox, who has already notched up two half centuries on the tour will be key at number 3 as will Aly Hall in the middle order.
An issue for the Mill on the tour of late has been leaking too many runs in the early overs and captain Andy Watson will be looking to Smith and Mallinson to set the tone with the new dice.
There could be some overnight rain in Melbourne in the lead up to the game which may add some spice to the wicket early on in the T10 fixture. This may also have whoever wins the toss in two minds as to what they will opt to do. Runs on the board have been a premium on the tour thus far but with rain around who knows what we may see.
In a very kind gesture from the hosts, they have offered up one of their magnificent club hoodies to the Riding Mill player of the match. This will certainly provide some extra incentive for the visitors to bring their A Game.
The Riding Mill player of the match will receive one of these magnificent Westmeadows hoodies
We will be bringing you all of the action via our social media channels from 6am Eastern Standard time in Australia and 9pm GMT in the UK.
Marty Rhone is a well known Australian Actor and Singer who has shared the stage and screen with some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry. Devoted listeners of the Cricket Library Podcast would know Marty is also very much a cricket tragic.
Marty Rhone was a very popular guest on the Cricket Library Podcast and is set to make his dice cricket debut in virtual Hong Kong
Last year Marty added another chapter to his illustrious career as an Actor and Singer when he released the highly popular single We had a good thing going and follow up ballad Jealous of the Sky.
Marty will join captain Nina Stevens as the latest addition to the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI who are set to take on Riding Mill team which has some very big inclusions with the return of Brian Watson and the addition of Mark Butcher and Adam Holioake.
It is expected that there will be further new inclusions in the final XI creating some healthy competition amongst the squad which we believe has already arrived in Hong Kong for a secret virtual boot camp.
In the meantime, Riding Mill are in last minute preparations for the Victorian leg of their tour and will be looking to re group after some disappointing returns in Sydney.
In what is one of the biggest announcements since it was revealed Riding Mill would be involved in a virtual tour of Australia is the official news that there will be an extension of the tour with the squad stopping over in virtual Hong Kong to do battle with a Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI.
It is understood that the Cricket Library Podcast XI are currently in Hong Kong taking part in a virtual boot camp following their loss to Riding Mill in one of the tour openers at Burrabadine and looking for ways to improve before taking on the tourists once again.
In massive news for the touring party, team manager Brian Watson has declared himself available selection as has number 1 supporter Mark Butcher and former England ODI captain Adam Holioake. It is unclear how much dice cricket experience Butcher and Holioake have had but just their sheer presence will be a boost to the tourists.
Our sources can confirm that there will also be some new inclusions to the Cricket Library Podcast XI, though we are told that captain Nina Stevens will retain the lower case c with the brackets around it beside her name.
In a major blow for the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI, Robbie Mackinlay has withdrawn from the squad due to his extensive media commitments covering the tour. Although this will leave a gaping hole in the top order, we are hearing that there are some big inclusions expected to be announced in the coming days to try and fill the void.
Riding Mill still have three matches to play in Victoria before heading to Perth en route to Hong Kong and it will be vital that team management keeps the squad focussed on the job at hand whilst also putting plans in place for what is being billed as the biggest match of the tour at virtual Hong Kong.
Join your commentators Robbie Mackinlay and Matt Ellis as they bring you the key moments from the highly anticipated dice cricket fixture between the touring Riding Mill side and the UTS North Sydney team of the decade from the picturesque virtual North Sydney Oval.
