I certainly don’t get the chance to say that often… Five Wins! Not only that, Five strong wins. And four teams in with a real chance of going deep into finals yet again.
First XI
We arrived at Mont Albert for one of the clubs big annual events (Ladies Day – in aid of the McGrath Foundation) and a big 2-day match vs equal top of the table – East Doncaster. The morning rain cut short preparations and warm-ups for the game, however the sky’s cleared for a toss of the coin not long until scheduled start of play. We won the toss and elected to bowl, knowing the wicket had been under covers for a good 48 hours and there was overcast conditions to assist the quicks.
Unfortunately we were unable to take advantage of the bowler-friendly conditions, bowling two lengths and two sides of the wicket. Credit also to East Doncaster openers, who were able to punish anything loose from our bowlers. It wasn’t until a special effort from Ben Howes in the field, where he picked up a ball at square-leg and threw the stumps down at the bowlers end to run-out and claim our first wicket, that we looked to improve our efforts with the ball and in the field. East Donny continued to bat well and went into tea 2/119. The writing was on the wall – we knew that we had to improve – lift our energy in the field and our execution with the ball, if we wanted to keep East Donny to a chasable target.
To our credit – we improved in both areas and were able to take regular wickets during the last 2 sessions, while also keeping the run-rate at a constant 3 runs per over. Roy Taylor claimed the last 5 wickets (5/39 off 11.5), while Watkins bowled brilliantly, claiming 3/38 off 15 overs. Padbury (1 wicket) and Howes were also strong contributors with the ball throughout the afternoon. East Doncaster bolwed out in the 78th over for 235.
We knew we had to bat well to chase down the target on day 2. Partnerships were the key, with someone in the top 5 getting a big one. Wright continued his good form and made a fluent 56. Brown (59) came in with the score at 2/48 and was able to consolidate the innings, playing shots to all parts of the ground, with the highlight being his ability to manipulate the field with 1’s and 2’s. Blair-Holt (39) came in at an important time of the innings and was able to build a strong partnership with Brown and club some lusty blows to get us in a strong position for victory. Padbury (22no) and Guley (13no) then put on 39 for the 7th wicket to steer us a well-paced victory, with 8 balls to spare. A terrific effort, after a poor first couple of sessions with the ball.
This now puts us 6-points clear on top + % with only 1-game to go against Surrey Hills away.
Go Monts!
Second XI
Round 13 saw the 2nd XI come up against East Doncaster out at Zerbes Reserve. Day One was wet to start with and EDCC won the toss and elected to bat. The game was very stop-start for the first hour or so and EDCC got off to a reasonable start and were looking ominous at 1-45 – before Greg Cull turned the tide picking up the first 5 wickets of the game, finishing with 5-33 off his 20 over spell. A stubborn 6th wicket partnership of 62 frustrated Mont Albert, but a combination of some sharp catching by Will Cooper and good bowling from Lachlan Power and Colin Orchard brought the EDCC innings to a close shortly before stumps for 168.
Paul Devine fell before the close of play and night-watchman Cull fell early on Day Two before a strong counter attack from Jack Woods (53) put Mont Albert in a strong position at drinks. After his dismissal wickets fell consistently but there were not enough runs on the board to stop MACC from getting over the line with 4 wickets in hand. Mont Albert batted on – eventually being bowled out for 204 – rounding out a reasonably comfortable, yet scratchy win leaving the 2s three points clear going into the final round.
Third XI
After being washed out the week before, the threes took on top of the table Ashwood at home and took care of business!
We started well with Daff (29) and Minzy (18) getting us going before a great partnership in the middle overs from none other than pommy maestro Davo Rawlings (74) and Mr. Sleepyhead himself Joel Guley (33) set us up for a match winning 5/209 off our 40.
We bowled well early without much luck, but struck in the 13th over for the loss of 50 runs just before they were about to put their foot down. We chipped away at them after that, bowling them out for 126 in the final over.
Davo the star of the show again with 2 in 2 balls at the death! Ably supported by Brendo ‘Lawrence’ Laird (2/8), Johnsen (2/13), Guley (2/19) and the evergreen Gaj (2/22).
The win secures a finals berth with a match remaining to sew up second spot and a home final. Carn the monts!
Fourth XI
The 4s again had a must-win clash, this time we were away against East-Malvern Tooronga who were above us in 5th place. Rain delayed the start week 1 and the game was revised to 62 overs per side. Losing the toss, we were sent into bat on damp wicket. We fought hard and got ourselves to a respectable total of 207 off the 62 overs. The stars with the bat were Callum Beasley with 48 and Jeremy Burrill who hit a well controlled 72.
We arrived on week 2 and were happy to see the pitch containing large cracks up the wicket. East Malvern started off okay as they fought off a fiery spell from Bob Carruthers and tight bowling from Lachy Smit. With no wickets after the first 18 we continued to suffocate East Malvern with fantastic fielding and tight bowling. Morgan Gason and Craig Vollmer bowled the entire second session with only 9 runs coming from the last 15 overs before tea. The pressure we built from this session resulted in us bowling out East Malvern for 123 and winning by 84 runs. Morgan Gason picking up 1/13 off 15 straight overs with 8 maidens. The star with the ball however, was Craig Vollmer who picked up 7/29 off 14.5 overs, a great reward for some sensational bowling. All round our bowling and fielding was the best I have seen from the 4s all year. We were able to bowl an amazing 18 maiden overs and there were barely any misfields or dropped catches.
This win means we know face Ringwood at the Gar in a playoff for 4th place and a spot in the finals.
Fifth XI
