The HICCUP cricket tournament, sponsored by PESA (Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia), has a rich 45-year history as a social tradition in the South Australian Oil & Gas industry, bringing together government, private, and academic personnel.
HICCUP is appealing due to the relaxed environment of playing a social, yet competitive, format of cricket after work in the Adelaide parklands while providing a fantastic avenue for strengthening working relationships between colleagues and peers from opposition teams.
Teams play with 12 players, and everyone gets to have a bowl and a hit in the 20 over format. The emphasis on participation is supported with a well-balanced Bonus Runs system, a system that regularly has positive influence on the result for the teams playing with a broader mix of gender and age demographics.
A tradition has been forged over the years where there is an expectation of the batting side to make sure that the opposition fielders are adequately supplied with cold refreshments while they stand in the warm afternoon sun. The friendly banter and commentary that occur throughout the game are also key highlights of the day.
This season, the HICCUP tournament saw two significant structural changes:
- The long-standing tradition of Friday afternoon cricket was changed to Thursday afternoons this year, to accommodate teams who had 9-day fortnight working arrangements.
- The consolidation of the two Santos teams meant there were only four teams participating this year (Beach, Amplitude, DEM and Santos), resulting the competition evolving into a round-robin format with finals played at the end.
Both changes positively influenced the tournament, and the introduction of Major and Minor Finals games kept participants invested in the competition across all four weeks.
The final game was celebrated with a BBQ, adding to the event’s strong social and networking theme, a tradition reinstated by Beach last year.
Santos Reclaim the Trophy!
The Santos team, which used to be split into two teams, was able to forge out a hard fought win in the final against DEM. The top three teams, in the four team competition, were only separated by net run rate, with the over achieving Amplitude Energy team missing the final by only a few runs.
The Grand Final was a super competitive match (by HICCup standards) with DEM batting first and setting a competitive total in the 130’s. But, during the innings break, the Santos team were able to get fully hydrated, and were able to chase the runs down with a couple of overs to spare.
In the minor final, Beach Energy, were able to get a win against Amplitude Energy. Having won the tournament last year, Beach Energy suffered from what the sporting world often refers to as “a premiership hangover”, finishing the first three round-robin matches without a win.
Image 1: Participating players across the four teams at the conclusion of the tournament, with Santos claiming the HICCUP trophy for 2025.
This season, the competition had nearly 100 participants take the field across the tournament, or indulge in the refreshments, some of whom had never played HICCUP before or were returning to the field after extended breaks from the competition. Special thanks to Phil Lemon and Christ Toft for organising the competition this year and also to Dave Lemon for doing a great job of cocking the BBQ during the final.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the tournament and to the colleagues and family members who came along and show their support. If you are interested in participating in the PESA HICCUP Cricket Tournament next year, please reach out to any PESA or SPE member.
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