Welcome to the weekend write up for the first round of action for season 2023-24! What a weekend of cricket, with a total of 12 sides dusting off the kits and rolling the arm over. We saw a number of teams bowled out, and only 1 match was won by the team setting a target.
With a large amount of rain falling in the region over the last few days, we started the round off with the Wy Yung v Orbost clash abandoned. Not a surprise as about half of the oval was under water.
Lakes Entrance played host to Lucknow and could not have started the season much worse with opening bowler Matt Corbett getting 3 scalps within the first 3 overs. Lakes were fighting back through the bat of ex- Magpie Daniel Bryant, who ended up with 35 (47). He built a strong partnership with Dane Tinsley 13 (33). Both ended up falling soon after, and the tail followed, all out in the end for 98. Corbett and I. Love finished with 3 wickets a piece.
It was a nervous start for the Lucknow batting lineup, who lost wickets regularly, but kept the scoreboard ticking over in the meantime. Luke Hedger top scored, with a run-a-ball 42 including 9 boundaries in his stay. King & Tinsley ended up with 4 wickets between them in the 5-wicket loss to Lucknow.
Over to Nagle College now, where West Bairnsdale were sent into bat. B. Anderson & Stewart got to a slow but steady start before the latter lost his wicket to strike bowler Perrin. Anderson was the highlight for West, with his teammates continuing to fall at the other end of the pitch. Stevens hung around for some time and was eventually dismissed for 25 (65) with one boundary included. At the conclusion of the innings, Anderson had carried the bat and finished 62* (116), with 2x 4’s. The wickets were shared around the Nagle bowlers with Bolton and Perrin finishing with 2 each from their 8 overs. West Bairnsdale finished their 40 overs at 7/123.
St Mary’s Nagle batting innings went a lot smoother than their opposition, with 4 of the 5 batters reaching double digits including opening batter McCarrey who ended the day 42* (82), and captain Tatnell 27* (30) including 3 consecutive boundaries to secure the win for his side. West Bairnsdale skipper Ryan Halford had tidy figures of 0/8 from his 6 overs, but it wasn’t enough to stop Nagle reaching the target in the 34th over.
In the last of the A Grade fixtures, we had last year's Grand Finalists Lindenow South/ Glenaladale hosting Meerlieu at the Lindenow South Oval. Meerlieu captain Rohan Blandford won the toss and decided to have a bat. Blandford & former captain Reagan Kyle got off to a shaky start and were back in the sheds soon after. Returning Tussock, and a past BCA Cricketer of the Year, Francois Mostert was able to build a partnership with Nick Adendorff before they were both dismissed through an Irish C&B, and a Seth Smith runout, respectively. The only other batter to reach double digits for Meerlieu was wicketkeeper Morgan, who had a tough innings of 19 (66). Meerlieu were bowled out for 79, with 5 batsmen failing to register a run. Mel Irish was the key player for the Bulls, with superb figures of 5/9 including 4 maidens coming from his 8 overs.
It wasn’t easy for Lindenow South/ Glenenadale in the chase, with a start from Scott Dare 28 (48) with 5x4’s, but with 5 batters failing to reach double digits, the innings went deeper than they would have liked. Scott Davidson & Irish finished the job off with a 29 run unbeaten stand to reach the score 6 wickets down in the 26th over. Adendorff and Mostert had 5 wickets between them in a day dominated by the bowlers.
In A reserve, we saw David Wolfe’s 107 from 139 balls set a target too strong for Wy Yung to chase down, with West Bairnsdale winning by 115 runs.
Early promotion candidate Paynesville had a strong win over Lucknow, chasing down the Magpies’ score of 100 runs in the 24th over in a well-rounded team result.
Metung Swan Reach and Bruthen closed out the round, with Bruthen winning the match by chasing MSR’s total of 106 in the 35th over after choosing to bowl first. The star player of the match was Bruthen’s Graeme Gardam, who had a great return of 4/14 off his 8 overs in the win.
Next weekend we see all 4 senior grades in action, and the return of U13’s and U16’s too.
Until next weekend …
