This weekend saw all grades of cricket in action, bar women's cricket, in some trying conditions not helped with the rain and wind throughout the week.
Let's kick off the recap in the Solahart A Grade Competition, where Lucknow played host to West Bairnsdale at the Hudson Alvin Oval. It was a good start from Lucknow Captain Jarryd Floyd as he won the toss and decided to have a bat and sent in the openers, Myles Danaher and Naveen Subbiah. With the opening bowlers unable to strike, WBCC captain Ryan Halford decided to make a change in the sixth over and bring on Brodie Anderson. Anderson eventually managed to break through in the 12th over, getting Danaher caught. It was a good run for West, with four wickets in five overs thanks to the bowling from Anderson & skipper Halford. The wickets felt pretty consistently, unfortunately for Lucknow, with Ryan Halford ending up with two top order wickets, and the Anderson Brothers combining for five wickets (Brodie with bragging rights). Luke Hedger and Aaron Cameron dug their heels in as much as they could to maintain the innings, but in the end the Magpies were all out for 77 runs in the 38 over.
Sam Stewart and Brodie Anderson got off to a good start for West Bairnsdale in their dig, with Stewart falling first to young gun Archer Watt for 16 runs of 38 deliveries. Thomas Hudson was next in and out, caught and bowled by Drew Owen for 7 (29). In came Halford, But before he could face a ball, his deputy B. Anderson Was Captured LBW by Aaron Cameron, dismissed for the first time this season. Jake Anderson and Ryan Halford rode it home for WBCC, chasing the total in the 33rd over three wickets down. It was a good result for West, who had to dig in and do it tough today.
Next we head to Glenaladale, where Wy Yung were playing visitors to the Bulls. Again we saw the captain who won the toss elect to bat, with Darcy Murray sending in his two openers, Nick Carroll and Todd Murray. It was a short stay at the crease for Carroll, bowled by Seth Smith, for only two runs. Stevie Bertino was in and out for just one run, thanks to the bowling of Smith as well. Todd Murray batted well to hold the innings, before eventually falling for 21 (39), LBW to Hayden Erfurth. Ben Saxon played a great innings, but at the other end of the crease were wickets just falling far too consistently to build a parnership with. Radford and Phillipson were both out for ducks, which brought Captain D. Murray out to the crease. If he didn't have to face up to the Red Hot Bulls, he would have been questioning his decision to bat first, with his team 5/34 at his arrival. Another few quick wickets fell before Connor McMahon came out to the crease and stuck around with Ben Saxon, making 22 runs of a hard fought 50 deliveries. He eventually let his guard down, bowled by Logan Dunkley with the score now 9 /113. It was a 60 run partnership, which definitely gave the Tigers the Best chance of going home with the dub today. The standout performer of the Lindenow South/ Glenaladale bowlers was Erfurth, who got had the return of 8/4/11/3. He was paired well with Mel Irish in the middle part of the innings, who had one wicket but only 13 runs from his eight overs, and Seth Smith who ended up with two wickets for 17 runs.
It was a great start by the Bulls in their innings with Scott Dare and Zac O'Keefe making it to 30 runs, before O'Keefe was eventually bowled by Bertino, who was lightning fast bowling with the breeze. Dare played a great innings, 34 (38) with 1x4 cementing LSGCC's position as the likely winner in this match. After Dare's dismissal at 2/52, Erfurth followed soon after for one run. Smith and Dunkley both had good innings making 12 and 17 respectively, before they were dismissed. The job wasn't over for Wy Yung, who now had to deal with Mel Irish and Scott Davidson at the crease. Darcy Murray was able to capture Davidson on the pads right in front LBW, which was a vital wicket for Wy Yung. This was now going down to the wire- a true battle of the captains. Wy Yung skipper had the initial win, dismissing Mel Irish, caught by Ben Saxon for his 4th catch of the day. The equation was simple, 5 Runs was all that Lindenow South/ Glenaladale CC needed to seal victory, and they had 16 deliveries left to do it. New to the crease batsman Jamie Donnelly had no interest whatsoever in making this a dramatic finish though, as he scored the last five runs required by the end of his first over in the middle! Lindenow South/ Glenaladale got away with one there, scraping through with the victory of two wickets, which is closer than they would have liked, and a close but disappointing loss for Wy Yung.
We head back into Bairnsdale for the next match with St Mary's Nagle hosting Lakes Entrance at Nagle College. Lakes captain Jake Le Maitre won the toss, and decided he fancied a bowl. It was a shaky start with a few wides, a couple boundaries, and plenty of dot balls before the first wicked fell- Brayden McCarrey, caught by Ben Rotherham, bowled by opening bowler Jack Kesteven. Lakes Entrance got another one next over with Harvey Saxman, the first drop batsmen, caught off the bowling of Dane Tinsley. Tinsley struck again In the 10th over with Randall Stewart, caught by Kesteven for the score of 1 (15). This brought out to the crease Nagle Captain Ricky Tatnell, who was able to score quickly before being eventually dismissed for 42 runs of 67 deliveries from the bowling of Daniel Bryant, In the 33rd over, just as he would have been raring to push the scoreboard along. As the innings wound up to a close, wickets were falling opposite to Johnny Lash. He was nearing his half century but before he got there, he was dismissed off the bowling of Kesteven for another score of 42, again coming from 67 deliveries. Jack Kesteven bowled really well for Lakes Entrance with figures of 7/2/10/4, and his Captain Le Maitre was very tidy with only three runs coming off his eight overs, with the bonus of two wickets as well.
Andrew Perrin and Tatnell opened the bowling, with Ryan Hooper and Le Maitre reaching 35 runs before the bowling change of Johnny Lash dismissed both both batsmen 16 (34) & 23 (44). Lakes Entrance had a very well-rounded innings with five batsmen reaching double figures, before they were able to reach the target in the 28th over, with the score in the end 5/117. Johnny Lash had a superb game but it wasn't enough to get the Saints over the line, this being their first loss this season.
To close out the Solahart A Grade Round 2, we head out to The MCG, where Orbost had the long drive to play the Tussocks. Orbost was without 4 key players this week, including their Captain Max Welsh, due to an end of Season Footy trip. Meerlieu Skipper Rowan Blandford won the toss and elected to bat first. He was the first wicket to fall, bowled by Luke Endley, for 16 runs with the scoreboard at 1/25. Reagan Kyle was next, 11 (19) caught by Alex Hulme off the bowling of Nick Davis. This brought the Duo of Bilal Kamal and Frank Mostert, who both scored over 40 runs before they were eventually dismissed after an 84 run partnership. At this stage of the innings, Meerlieu was 5/130 with 8 1/2 overs left to go. With some great bowling by Nick Davis and a run out from Luke Endley the Blues were able to restrict the Tussocks to 8 for 152 from their allocated 40 overs. Nick Davis was bowler of the innings with three wickets for 26 runs, Lindsey and Endley both had two wickets apiece as well.
It's at this stage where it all started to go downhill for Orbost. It was a great opening spell from Meerlieu opening bowlers, Simon Hunter, and Nick Adendorff. After three overs, Orbost was finding it tough going, not able to score a run off the bat before Hunter got Michael Hulme caught behind in the fourth over for 0 (8). Adendorff had Govender caught as well at the end of the fifth over without troubling the scorers. A. Hulme was able to reach 11 runs, including a boundary before he was dismissed by youngster Campbell Moncrieff. After Hulmes dismissal, the wickets fell fast, and for very little runs. Orbost lost 7/13 to be bowled all out for 30 runs within 18 overs, losing by total of 122 runs to Meerlieu. Simon Hunter was the pick of the day. Five wickets for 14 runs off his eight overs, with Moncrieff returning a very neat total of 4/2/3/3. Next week Orbost welcome back Captain Max Welsh as they attempt to get their season back on track when they host St Marys Nagle CC.
After two rounds of the Solahart A Grade Competition, Lindenow South Glenaladale are atop the ladder with the competition one or more games behind.
We will check in on A Reserve now, where Wy Yung was hosting Bruthen. This time last week the oval was under water, so credit has to go to the Wy Yung ground staff for getting everything right for this week. Wy Yung won the toss and sent Bruthen into bat. Opening batter Jayanga Peiris was the Key player of the innings, scoring better than a run a Ball 80 (69) deliveries, including nine boundaries. Josh Weeks and Rhys Kennedy scored 13 and 15 runs, respectively. Wy Yung bowler of the day was Harrison Forbes, who had the return of 6/0/24/4.
Going into Wy Yung's batting innings now- It couldn't start much worse for opener Thomas Condon retired hurt in the third over. The Tiges were always behind the eight ball in the run-chase with only Callum Forbes and Harry Forbes reaching double figures, 26 extras bring the score up to a total of 9/83, all out in the 28 over. The Bruthen bowlers shared the wickets around with Jordan Hack and Peiris snagging two apiece, overall winners by 65 runs.
In the West Bairnsdale v Lucknow A Reserve match, It was WBCC who won the toss and decided to bowl. Top order batters, Benjamin Powell and Jack Bull both got into the 20s before being dismissed by last weeks centurion David Wolfe. Confirmed participant Steve Montant scored 13 runs before he was dismissed by Clarke. The lower order of Lucknow wasn't able to stick many more runs on the board, eventually all out for 101 runs. Wolfe had three wickets with Clarke and Kellow two each.
West Bairnsdale Vice Captain Steve Goodluck was only able to reach 10 runs before he was dismissed by Scott Latta, but this wasn't before David Wolfe was already beginning to pile on the damage. Wolfe carried the bat and closed out the innings with another big score, 57 runs from 72 deliveries, nine boundaries included at strike rate of 80. He will be one to watch this season as West will look to push for the premiership. Lucknow first change bowler Latta had two wickets from his six overs, with no other Magpie able to grab a pole themselves.
In the final match of this A Reserve round, Swan Reach Rec Reserve played host to first the battle of the birds for this season. The Swans won the toss and decided to bowl. It was a superb decision as they had the Gulls all out after 33 overs, for just 59 runs. There was bits and pieces from the batsmen with Willmont, Smith and Keown all able to break the double digits, but not before the damage of the Swan Reach bowlers had been done. Adam O'Brien had a really tidy return of 3 wickets for 8 runs from his 8 overs. The chase proved no problem for Swan Reach with Hopgood top scoring with 28 runs at just under a-run-a-ball. They were able to reach the score in the 15th over three wickets down for a dominant 7 wicket victory
After all is said and done, West Bairnsdale sit at the top of the A Reserve ladder, with two wins followed behind by Swan Reach, Bruthen and Paynesville with one apiece.
Into B grade we saw wins from Lucknow and Orbost, and in C grade Swan Reach and Lindenow South Glenaladale CC got the chocolates. No results available in the other three matches as the time of publishing. Under 16s extraordinarily had a Tie Between Lucknow and Meerlieu/Lindenow, with Nagle getting a win as well over the Glen Swamps. Many U13's games have not been finalised as of publishing, but you can check the scores at bairnsdaleca.com.au.
Tomorrow sees GCL Cricket return with both Seniors & U18's taking on SMCA. We hope you all had a great weekend. Until next time…
