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Principality of Hutt River
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Royal Hutt River Dedication Cricket Club is the national cricket team of the Principality of Hutt River.
 The team plays annually in the Willowfest Australian Cricket Club Championships
 held in Mildura, Victoria, Australia in December each year.


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Royal Hutt River Dedication Cricket Club

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RHR Dedication’s Willowfest carnival in 2016 see's the Captain of the team, Sir Geoffrey Pascoe return from the UK to co-Captain this years team with Tyler Hankinson.
Lets hope that 2016, the teams 12th year in the competition and 8th year under the PHR Flag, is the year that shines upon the RHR Dedication Cricket Team.

Reporting below thanks to: Sir Geoffrey Pascoe KSOL

Game #1

   Royal Hutt River Dedication CC Vs Kangarilla CC
27/12/2016

Hutt River Dedication kicked off their 2016 Willowfest campaign in the best possible way with a big win over old rivals Kangarilla.
Captain Geoff Pascoe lost the toss, prompting an immediate coup, with Tyler Hankinson being installed as captain for the remainder of the tournament.
Having been sent into bat, openers Pascoe and Jarryd Mills got Dedication off to their traditional Day 1 start, both dismissed early with a score of 2/8. The innings was steadied by Mitch Smith (18) and Haydn Falconer (30), putting on 37 for the third wicket. When those two fell however, a run of wickets followed, prompting fears of the Dedication collapses from years gone by. Only Jakob Sluiter, with 15 from 47 deliveries in a Jarryd Mills-esque performance put up any resistance in the middle order. Even Sluiter's favourite type of bowler - a 12-year-old bowling off spin - couldn't coax Sluiter out of his watchful play. Eventually, Sluiter was run out, and Dedication fans feared the worst.
Hankinson's completely arbitrary batting order, however, paid dividends with Matthew Brooks (44) and Adam Burke (63) putting on 92 runs for the 9th wicket, propelling Hutt River to a final score of 211.

After his fearsome hat trick against Kangarilla last year, there was never any doubt that Ian McMahon would be opening the bowling in this game.
McMahon didn't disappoint, bowling an unhittable delivery first up. Unfortunately the umpire decided the ball was too unhittable, signalling a wide.
At the other end, Matthew Brooks was striking fear into the hearts of the batsmen, taking 2/5 from his three overs. Three of those five runs were extras.
Jake Sluiter was brought on at first change, but bowling to batsmen well and truly past puberty, he was out of his depth, and took just one wicket from his five overs - a wicket that was enthusiastically celebrated nonetheless.
At the other end, however, Haydn Falconer ripped through the Kangarilla middle order. Having given up on his long run after less than an over, Falconer nevertheless sent down heat for eight solid overs, finishing with figures of 3/16.
Luke Ayling, who had turned up unaware that one wore long pants for cricket, sent down three tight overs, before Geoff Pascoe (2/6) and Tyler Hankinson (1/10) mopped up the tail, and gave the team an early finish on a hot first day.
 

Game #2

   South West CC Vs Royal Hutt River Dedication CC
28/12/2016
Dedication started Day 2 cowering in fear, with Haydn Falconer telling everyone who would listen that the opposition's opening bowler was faster than Brett Lee.
Bringing back memories of Hadleigh Sirrett, however, the bowler turned out to be nothing special, taking a total of zero wickets.
Unfortunately, with all the focus on one bowler, the Hutt River batsmen appeared to forget to bat at the other end.
Nobody in the top seven made it to double figures, and only a rearguard partnership by Jarryd Mills (22*) and Ian McMahon (2) saved a total rout.
Some freakish catches from fielders who looked like they could barely catch a basketball put the nail into the Hutt River innings, finishing on 73.

An early wicket thanks to a magnificent catch from Ian McMahon off the bowling of Ben Aworth, the Hutt River fans dared to dream of a famous victory. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.
Whilst the South West batsmen never dominated, the wickets didn't quite tumble fast enough for Dedication.
A couple of late wickets to Ben Massey gave a glimmer of hope, but South West ended up making the total comfortably with several overs to spare.
 

Game #3

Royal Hutt River Dedication CC Vs The Mighty Ducks
28/12/2016

After a long lunch break, Dedication took to the field full of renewed energy.
An early wicket to Geoff Pascoe (1/17) got the innings off to a good start, but Hutt River's first dropped catches of the tournament let the Mighty Ducks back into the game.
Finally, a suicidal run attempt allowed Jarryd Mills to run out the opposition no. 3, and the wickets started to tumble.
In one of the least clinical run outs in cricket history, Jake Sluiter picked up the ball at cover and lobbed it to Ben Massey at first slip. Luckily, Massey had plenty of time to saunter up and whip off the bails.
Ben Aworth (1/9) destroyed the stumps with a slow ball into the wind whilst Jake Sluiter (3/19) showed his typical ferocity against a young opposition.
Sluiter dropped a simple catch off his own bowling, before rattling the stumps the very next ball, and giving the batsman a massive send off.
The next over he bowled, however, Sluiter was put into the trees in one of the largest sixes Onion Patch has seen.
Brought on to stem the tide of runs, Ian McMahon delivered, taking two wickets in the penultimate over to help prevent the Mighty Ducks reaching 100.
The innings was finished with Hutt River's third run out for the day.

The Hutt River run chase got off to an uncharacteristically confident start, racing to 1/43. Mitch Smith (36) drove the innings, whilst Jarryd Mills (6) and Adam Burke (6) provided valuable support.
Two quick wickets then saw Dedication at 3/48, with Smith's dismissal making Dedication's fans very anxious. Wickets continued to fall regularly after that, with no batsman between 3 and 10 reaching double figures.
For the first time in his life, Jake Sluiter was given a bigger send off than he dealt, when he was caught for zero from seven balls.
After a controversial drinks break at 15 overs, (a privilege not offered during Dedication's stint in the field), the required run rate started to creep towards a run a ball.
When Tyler Hankinson was dismissed due to a dubious stumping, Hutt River were left with nine runs to get and just a single wicket remaining.
Coming in at number 10, Jack Leo quickly reduced that deficit to five with a magnificent boundary down the ground.
A two off the next ball, and a single from the second last ball of the penultimate over brought the equation to two runs needed from seven balls.
A solid defence from number 11 Ian McMahon left Leo with the task of finding two runs from the last over to win.

Drama struck two balls into the final over, when McMahon, striving to get back to his crease, rolled an ankle.
Barely able to support his weight, it was clear that he was not going to be running the winning runs.
The umpires requested somebody of the same age or size to be sent in as a runner, but as none were available, Adam Burke was sent instead.
Deciding to place the maximum pressure on himself, Leo steadfastly faced out five dot balls, setting himself the task of scoring two from the final delivery for victory.
With the field up to prevent singles, Leo calmly blasted the ball over cover for an easy two, giving Hutt River the victory by a single run.
 

Game #4

   Royal Hutt River Dedication CC Vs Jerry's XI
29/12/2016

Losing the toss for the fourth time this week, Dedication were sent in to bat, and got off to a slow start.
The unusual opening combination of Tyler Hankinson (5 from 29 deliveries) and Jarryd Mills (14 from 48) were solid in defence, seeing off 13 overs without loss of a wicket.
Once Hankinson fell, however, Hutt River quickly tumbled from 0/35 to 3/35 in the space of three overs.
Fears of a traditional Hutt River collapse swelled up into the hearts of the Dedication faithful, but on this occasion those fears proved unfounded.
Jack Leo (39), full of confidence after yesterday's final ball heroics, partnered with debutant Mitch Rogerson (66) for a 144 run stand, taking the game away from the opposition.
Both were scoring freely, until Leo was bowled from a no ball, at which point he appeared to realise he was in fact mortal, and went back into his shell.
The damage was done, though, and by the time Rogerson was dismissed, the score had reached 4/179, and the opposition were struggling for enthusiasm.
Mitch Smith chipped in with a useful 28 to finish off the innings, leading Hutt River to one of their highest scores in history.

The Dedication defence got off to an inauspicious start, with three players apparently deciding that a meatball sub was more important than being on time for the start of the innings.
Tyler Hankinson, Jakob Sluiter, and Jason Harris didn't rock up until well into the second over. As a result, for the first time in Dedication history, the first ball of the innings was bowled with fewer than nine slips.
The first two balls of the innings were dispatched to the boundary for four, no doubt due to the lack of available fielders.
Even under this extra pressure, however, the Hutt River fielders never lacked dedication, and broke the opening partnership thanks to a Haydn Falconer run out in the second over.

With a full complement of fielders for the third over, specialist opening bowler Geoff Pascoe (2/36) struck twice to place himself on a hat trick and the Jerry's XI run chase in tatters.
Keegan Macdonald (4/21) followed up with two more wickets in the next over to put the score at 5/19 and the result almost beyond doubt.
Hutt River's first successful fake wicket celebration for the tournament thoroughly confused the umpire, and appeared to make him think he had miss something - he unceremoniously triggered the batsmen for LBW just a few balls later.
The Jerry's XI tail put up a solid fight, but some solid shenanigans in the field kept the Dedication players' spirits up.
Jakob Sluiter was forced to run from deep long on to deep point to chase a ball as designated fielder, a wonderful sight for the children on the boundary that had been terrorised by him.

When Jason Harris (2/13) rattled the stumps to take the score to 9/86, even the umpires started to talk about having an early day.
The batsmen, however, were determined to see out the innings for as long as possible, and frustrated the Hutt River bowlers with a partnership of 40 runs.
Fearful of an unprecedented comeback, Hankinson brought back the opening bowlers, and it took Macdonald just three balls to finish out the innings with a simple catch to Jarryd Mills behind the wicket.
 

Royal Hutt River Dedication Cricket Club have qualified for the final of Willowfest 2016 after a convincing win on the penultimate day of the carnival.
 

Game #5
"Tournament Final"

Royal Hutt River Dedication CC Vs South West CC
30/12/2016

For the first time this week, Hutt River won a toss and had to decide what to do first.
After much discussion, and with supposed captain Tyler Hankinson nowhere to be seen, the decision was made to bat first.
Following his magnificent form so far in the week, Jack Leo was sent in to open the batting with Jarryd Mills.
The two gave no chances to the fielders, although unfortunately for Hutt River they also gave no runs to the scorers.
With the scoring rate below two runs an over, the Dedication fans were starting to get worried.
The calming presence of injured great Ian McMahon kept emotions from spilling over, however, and after the first drinks break Mills and Leo attempted to push the scoring rate upwards.

When Leo was dismissed for 7 from 42 deliveries, Hankinson sent in Haydn Falconer to try to score some quick runs.
Falconer's scoring rate was quick, but unfortunately so was his innings, scooping a ball to mid-on for  score of 5 from 6 balls. Jarryd Mills continued on until finally being dismissed for 42 with the score on 94.
This brought together the two Mitches, Rogerson and Smith, upon whom the Hutt River fans placed great hopes. Their partnership was going along brilliantly, taking the score to 4/116, and looking as confident as Jakob Sluiter playing U12s. Unfortunately, at this point, Rogerson and Smith had a joint brain melt, and sat up the bowlers end together having tea and biscuits whilst the keeper whipped off the bails at the other end.
Rogerson was run out by about 2 pitch lengths for 25, and was not happy about it. From there, the Hutt River tail end showed little resistance, with three ducks in the bottom four, and only wides helped Dedication scrape together a score of 134.

Hutt River's bowlers knew that tight bowling would be required to defend a small total, but clearly didn't take this to heart, with Keegan Macdonald and Mitch Smith conceding 7 wides in the first 9 deliveries.
The tenth delivery, however, was a slower ball from Smith, which took the top edge and delivered a catch to a supremely confident Jarryd Mills.
Macdonald (2/21) and Smith (4/22) continued to terrorize the South West top order, and brought the score to 6/35.
Having seen defeat snatched from the jaws of victory last year, however, the Hutt River bowlers refused to get complacent.

At first change, Jakob Sluiter started off with a maiden, but his next three overs went for 25 runs.
His short balls, that are bouncers to the children he typically bowls to, were easy picking at waist height for the adults from South West, and were dispatched to the boundary with ease.
Sluiter did, however, take a magnificent catch at mid off, fooling everybody into thinking he was nowhere near it, before sticking his huge arms into the air and grabbing hold.
Whilst the South West tail certainly showed more fight than their top order, the score was eventually reduced to 9/82.
At this point, Jason Harris (2/3) snuck one past the bat, prompting Jarryd Mills to go crazy with delight, but the rest of the team had no idea what was going on.
Eventually, Mills settled down enough to point out that the ball had clipped off stump, and the rest of the team joined in the celebrations.
 

--- --- Royal Hutt River Dedication Cricket Club --- --- --- 2016 Willowfest Tournament Champions! --- --- --- Royal Hutt River Dedication Cricket Club --- --- --- 2016 Willowfest Tournament Champions! --- --- ---

TROPHIES

The winner of the 2016 Sovereigns 'Most Developed Player' trophy was : ?????????

The winner of the 'Horses Arse' Trophy was : ?????????????

PHOTOS SOON

(PHOTOS BELOW!)

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