AN incredible nine-wicket haul from Woorinen veteran Gurmander Singh helped Woorinen secure a commanding win over Ultima-TUF, with the opening bowler falling agonisingly short of creating history on the weekend.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the decision to bring Robert Rush back into the attack, Singh could well have cleaned up all 10 Roodogs batsmen on his side’s way to a crushing nine-wicket win, in a match that will also be long remembered thanks to a crushing century from Woorinen captain Dean Morpeth.
But it was Singh’s performance that took the spotlight, with the 15-year veteran taking nine for 14 off just 10.3 overs, including the first eight wickets of the match, with Woorinen bowling out their opponents for just 43.
Singh spoke with The Guardian following his achievement, with the veteran still waiting for the enormity of his accomplishment to hit him.
“I’m not sure if it’s really sunk in yet,” Singh said.
“I suppose it’s pretty special because it doesn’t happen very often, it certainly hasn’t happened to me before and it’s not something anyone ever expects to happen on a cricket field.
“I took eight wickets against St. Mary’s-Tyntynder a few years ago, but that was a long time ago and back when we used to play over two days, but the last couple of years I have been struggling to take big bags of wickets.
“I’m not sure whether everyone bats a bit more defensively now or not, and I’ve always felt I bowl better with a red ball too, so playing less red ball cricket probably hasn’t helped, but it’s been a while since I’ve even taken a five-for.”
As impressive as Singh’s haul was, it almost never occurred however, with the veteran injuring his back after an intense training session on Thursday night following the Tigers 41-run loss to St. Mary’s-Tyntynder five days earlier.
Having pulled up sore and after seeking medical advice, Singh went into Saturday’s match with the view of not bowling, especially with his team set to play in the Kookaburra Cup grand final in seven days time.
But having completed the warm-up, Singh and Tigers captain Morpeth decided to chance their arm – and the rest as they say is history.
“I’ve had a bit of an L4-L5 problem for a long time and I’ve been careful about how I’m using my back in recent years, but I couldn’t really walk properly on Friday after training so I was far from 100 per cent fit,” Singh said.
“I wasn’t going to bowl but I did the warm up and it felt a bit better, so I thought I’ll just give it a couple of overs and if I don’t feel right, I’ll stop.
“My first over was pretty slow and then I got a wicket in my second over and from then on it all started happening.
“After five wickets ‘Morpy’ (Morpeth) told me to have a spell, I said give me another couple of overs after drinks and then I took a couple more and from then on, I wasn’t coming off.
“I suppose there is a bit of a lesson in that sometimes you just need to push through the pain barrier when things get a little bit hard.
“I was telling my son Aarav afterwards that there are days when you might not be feeling you best, but sometimes they can end up being your best day, be it making runs or taking wickets.
“If I had of given in early and said my back is sore, but sometimes you just need to push through it because you never know what’s waiting for you on the the side.”
Singh’s nine-wicket haul also set a new Woorinen club record, with Tigers captain Dean Morpeth full of praise for his long-time teammate.
“It was a nice reward for him (Singh), I said to the team after the game that Guri has given 15 years of service to our club and he’s been one of our best players and it was just nice to see him get rewarded for that longevity,” Morpeth said.
“He first played with us in 2009 and he’s been wonderful, not just as a player, but as a person too.
“He has his children coming through the ranks now and Saturday was just an all-round nice moment to be a part of.
“He’s bowled pretty well all year to be fair, but he put it all together on the weekend and hit a better length – he’s always consistent with his line, but he hit that top of off-stump length, swung it in early and caused a bit of trouble.”
As for Jordan King, that one solitary Ultima-TUF batter who didn’t fall into Singh’s clutches, Singh was reflective on what could have been.
“In hindsight, you’d reckon he (Robert Rush) could have bowled it a bit wider of off-stump,” Singh laughed.
“If only ‘Rushy’ (Rush) didn’t take that one bloody wicket, I would have got 10 I think.
“In fairness, it was the perfect ball first up and there wasn’t anything ‘Kingy’ (Jordan King) could do about it, but I’m pretty happy with nine (wickets) all the same.”
