A big weekend of cricket. I’ll let the captains take you through it…
First XI
Roy Taylor had a great weekend with ball in hand.
We headed to Surrey Park to take on Surrey Hills brimming with confidence after a commanding win over Heathmont the week prior, even though we had been struck by injuries and unavailabilities. We won the toss and chose to bat on what looked to be a good wicket. We got off to a good start with Wright and Watkins playing sensibly, working the ball around and ensuring their two quicks didn’t take bulk wickets at the top. They put on 86 runs for the first wicket before Wright was caught for a well made 43. From that point on we were unable to post a significant partnership, losing regular wickets. Watkins (29) and McClure (21) were the only batsmen to contribute as we concluded our 40 over allotment at 8/170 – realistically 10-20 runs short.
We didn’t start with the ball well as Surrey had an unorthodox opener who swung from his backside. We just weren’t able to execute our line and length, until Taylor came on and bowled beautifully… often without luck. Surrey’s overseas came in at 4 and took the game away from us, smashing 7 sixes and chasing down the target in the 37th over – 3/173. We had our chances and we were closer to victory than the scorecard suggested. We had a chance to bounce back on the Sunday vs Ashburton in a make-up one-day game.
We arrived to Ashy on Sunday ready to make amends for our loss on Saturday. We won the toss and elected to bowl on what looked to be a lively wicket, with plenty of cracks. We started much better with the ball, bowling better lines and consistent lengths, restricting Ashburton’s ability to score. We took regular wickets throughout the innings, eventually bowling them out for 112 in the 38th over. Standouts with the ball were Patel (3/12 off 8 overs) and Taylor (3 wickets) who both bowled beautifully.
We knew we would have to bat well to chase down the target, with a slow and low Ashburton wicket. You would only believe what happened after the break if you were there. We lost 4/3 at the beginning of our innings and were staring an embarrassing defeat in the eyes. It wasn’t until McClure and Topham came to the crease to rescue the innings, both batted brilliantly putting on a 74 run stand before McClure (29) was adjudged LBW when he seemed to smash it. We then lost another quick wicket before Topham (43) was also dismissed LBW when he looked as though he hit it as well! With only a couple of runs to get Patel and Jackson snuck us over the line, to the relief of Taylor who was sweating bullets as he was next into bat. We got out of jail but it was a great character builder, as we have been tested with depth and to win was great. Wonderful effort by McClure and Topham!
Second XI
On what was finally a great weekend for cricket with the sun shining and blue skies, it was an otherwise gloomy couple of days for the Second XI, as we lost both tosses and were asked to field on a flat track which didn’t offer much for the bowlers, and went on to lose both fixtures.
Saturday: The bowlers toiled but it was hard going, Richmond City amassed 227 and we were well short in reply, 8/142 after our 40.
Batting: Cooper (49) Johnsen (37)
Bowling: Johnsen (1/21) Thorn (1/33)
While Sunday was a closer affair, it ended similarly. We bowled well upfront to restrict them to 8/177, but another slow start in reply and a strong bowling effort from our opposition made it tough for us, all out for 139 in the last.
Batting: Cooper (42) Joel Guley (25)
Bowling: Power (3/38) Chippindall (2/24)
Third XI
The thirds traveled to Marcellin in round 7. A place that has produced some talented sportsmen over the years such as Stephan Silvagni, Gavin Brown, Leigh Montagna, Dale Greedy, Greg Cull… The list goes on.
On a good day for cricket we won the toss and elected to bat. We didn’t get off to a start losing both openers early. Credit to Josh Willams coming from the fourths and stepping up and taking on the unpleasant job of the opening the batting. At 3/19 the innings gathered a little momentum. Sammy the Athlete created some nice highlights with some beautiful off drives through the covers as Greeds Edged and French cut his way to 21, which spectators could only describe as ‘painful’ to watch. Westy came and went (appreciate helping us out thanks mate) and with the score 6/51 in the 13th over it was obvious we were in dire straits. To the credit of our lower order they put some respect back into the scoreboard. Dave Laird and Bobby C really toughed it out, making Marcellin work hard for their wickets. However the innings of the day was Ando coming in at number 10, making a brilliant gritty 20* to get us to 102 and give something to bowl at.
My advice if you play a one dayer at Marcellin would be bowl first. The spread is too good, more food just keeps coming!
As we waddled out onto the field we definitely had the belief that we could win. But with such a low score it made things difficult for our bowlers. Marcellin started well with the openers putting on 55 before a brilliant direct hit by Josh Williams gave us our first wicket, although it didn’t quite stop Marcellin’s momentum. Scotty picked up our second wicket with Sammy taking a screamer at gully, but unfortunately the damage had been done with Marcellin passing us only 2 down.
Not a great day but we have the chance to make amends against them again next week.
After a disappointing game against Marcellin the day before, the 3’s faced a tough task coming up against top of the table Heathmont at Heathmont. Greeds won the toss and elected to bat on what looked to be a good batting strip.
In what seems to be a bit of a negative trend, our innings didn’t quite start the way we wanted, with 5 of the top 6 out cheaply leaving us with a bit of deja vu reeling at 5/59. Young gun Fraser Baddon (22) once again showed great technique and composure and with wickets falling around him showed great resistance. With the help of a brilliant performance by Dave Laird (43*) and some magnificent hitting in the final overs from Bobby C (22*) we were able to set Heathmont a total of 140 to chase.
We got off to a great start with Bobby C (4/30) removing both openers and with Dave Laird taking 1/11 off his 8 overs we were right in the game. The innings produced three run outs (Smit 2 and Greeds) brought on from some well executed tight bowling and when Ando chipped in with a wicket in his first over we had Heathmont right on the back foot at 6/68 needing 8 an over for victory. As expected, Heathmont fought back with a 38 run partnership before Bobby C made the breakthrough leaving Heathmont to get 31 off 24 balls with 3 wickets in hand. Heathmont threw everything at us but some great bowling at the end from Udhav and two crucial wickets from Bobby C, Heathmont needed 17 from the last over. Greeds had no hesitation in handing the ball to 14 year old Lachie Smit. Lachy executed the over perfectly, straight and full giving the batsmen no chance of hitting a boundary, leaving Heathmont 7 runs short!
Another great hard fought win keeping us in touch with the four! Well done fellas proud of the effort! Go Monts ?
Fourth XI
The 4s were once again at the Gar, this time facing off against Donvale. We won the toss on a beautiful day for cricket and decided to have a bat. In a similar vein to the previous week, we got off to a slow start with scoring hard to come by in the first 20 overs. After drinks, we were able to get some momentum going and finish with a competitive total of 146 from our 40 overs. Harris and Tonn top scoring with 33 apiece while Dean (27) and Gason (23) provided the support. With the score still a touch under par for Elgar, we knew we had to come out and bowl well.
We came out after tea and got Donvale’s skipper straight away, which set a positive tone as we consistently took wickets to have Donvale 5/70 and their chase looking a little shaky. Unfortunately, a partnership of 52 for the 6th wicket broke our backs as they edged closer to the total. We were able to pick up two late wickets to make the chase tight again, but the damage was already done and Donvale chased the runs down with 2 wickets in hand and 2 overs to spare. Fill-in Tate Spiteri was too good for the Donvale batsmen and was unlucky not to get more wickets, finishing with 1/25 off his 8. Morgan Gason was at his economical best, taking 2/17 from his 8. Rufus McLean battled hard for his 2/29 off 6 and Jordy Dean finished with 3/15 off his 8. Another heartbreaking loss, but with only 2-day cricket ahead of us, hopefully we can get a roll on and collect some wins.
Fifth XI
The 5ths were away this time playing against Kew at their home ground: Willsmere Reserve.
We did not start well.
The captain finally won the toss and choose to bat. It turned out to be an interesting, but worthwhile decision. We lost a early wickets. The captain was bowled for a miserly 11, so he wasn’t at all helpful. At one stage we were 4/38 after 12 overs. Then Tom Richards and Trevor Roddam came together. They put on 64 until Tom eventually went out for a hard fought 27 giving Mont Albert hope. Trevor made a well earned 34 and Bill Allen chipped in at the end for a very handy 20 not out. We closed the inning out with a defendable score of 8/143 of 35 overs. Top scorer was T. Sundries on 39 not out.
After tea, we took to the field, knowing that we had a chance to win this game, but we had to bowl and field well.
We started well, bowling 2 maidens in a row, then out of nowhere, bang!, bang! bang! One of Kew’s opening batsmen started to smack the ball to all parts of the ground! They started to take the game away from us. They were cruising at 0/48 off 8 overs.
But Luke Pitch then broke through with the wicket of Kew’ gun opening bat. Luke went up with a strong appeal for LBW. He thought it was plumb and he was given out caught behind.
The wickets then fell at regular intervals and we bowled them out for 82. Quentin took an absolute screamer of a catch. Ask him about it.
The pick of the bowlers were Terry Smit taking 4/18. He was on a hatrick at one point. Terry was well supported by Bill Allen 3/15, and Lachy Thompson who took 2/22.
Overall it was a great team effort where everybody contributed.