LIAM DURKIN
CRICKET
LVDCL
By LIAM DURKIN
LVDCL
By LIAM DURKIN
LOW scores were the order of the day for most teams in Round 8 of the Latrobe Valley and District Cricket League.
A number of sides batting second found the going tough, netting some early finishes for those involved.
While team sheets from Saturday suggested clubs had much greater availability than the week before, the threat of COVID continues to cast uncertainty over just what the rest of the season has in store.
Like the proverbial elephant in the room, players and officials do not want to talk or deliberate on the implications a cancelled season will have, but by the same token this is sure to have entered at least the back of the minds of some captains and club leaders.
Although it is often dangerous to look too far ahead, there could now be even greater impetus for teams to finish on top or as high on the ladder as possible given the precedent that was set in 2019/20 when grand finals were abandoned due to COVID and premierships awarded to the highest ranked team following the semis.
With this considered, the margins in some of the games last weekend may prove critical in
determining just who finishes higher on the ladder when the season does reach a conclusion.
ANDREW Philip once again made sure teammates and opponents of this generation will be telling their grandchildren they played with and against a man who could well end his career as the greatest cricketer to ever play for Moe – if he isn’t already.
Philip scored his second century for the season, making 103 from 137 balls to see the Lions to victory over Jeeralang-Boolarra by 82 runs at Ted Summerton Reserve.
Not for the first time, Philip was pencilled in to bat at number three but played essentially as an opener as Moe was 1/4 when he strode to the middle.
From there, Philip and Riley Baldi combined for a 68-run partnership, with Baldi making 31 from 66 balls.
Chris Robinson also spent some time with Philip, helping himself to 25 in an 88-run stand for the fourth wicket that went virtually to the end of the 50 over allotment.
Philip brought up his ton in the 48th over and the Lions ended at compulsory close a short time later at 5/193.
Stan Urbanic took 2/33 for Jeeralang-Boolarra, while left-armer Ossy Brennan returned tidy figures of 1/17 off eight overs.
The Panthers never really got going in reply, and were denied by some work of biblical proportions by Clinton Taylor, who’s day in the field netted 3/10 off nine overs with four maidens, as well as a run out.
Fittingly, the man known as ‘The Reverend’ saw that Moe’s prayers of early wickets were answered, as his first scalp came with the score on one and the second on 24.
Fellow opening bowler Robert Blunt joined the party soon after, taking a pair of wickets himself. Before too long the Panthers were staring their fate in the face at 6/32, with all six wickets coming thanks to the hands of Blunt and Taylor.
Things didn’t improve much for Jeeralang-Boolarra, who slumped to 8/51.
Some late hitting from Matt McGrath, who made 36 not out off 44 balls got the overall score into triple figures, but the Panthers were eventually bowled out for 111 inside 40 overs.
Taylor and Blunt proved an effective partnership, taking five wickets and bowling seven maidens between them, with Blunt’s figures reading 2/23.
Ash Savige backed up the work of the new ball operators, taking 2/12.
CATS had a win for insurance purposes against Raiders.
While the result might just add another tally in the W column for now, it could help fifth placed CATS in making sure games in three week’s time do not all of a sudden become ‘must win’ matches to keep their finals hopes alive.
CATS compiled 186 batting first at John Black Oval after being asked to have a hit.
Tinashe Panyangara proved the backbone of the innings, making an aggressive 84 from 85 balls.
The Zimbabwean sent five sixes over the fence in his 104 minute stay, and amazingly, when he was dismissed with the score 6/130, only 46 other runs had come from either teammates or extras.
Raiders wrestled back some control after the Panyangara onslaught, and managed to keep CATS under 200.
Wickets were shared between Liam Maynard (3/28), Brayden Hickey (3/40) and Madura Perera (2/36).
The Raiders innings started innocuously enough, with the visitors losing only two wickets up to the first drinks break.
However, the dismissal of skipper Maynard with the score 2/44 triggered a dramatic middle order collapse. Maynard became Panyangara’s second wicket, and then Tim Hutchinson and Mick Higgins were dismissed within six balls of each other to see the score 5/57.
The situation only got worse for Raiders, as young CATS spinner Harry Cooper took the keys wickets of Higgins and Perera before tearing through the lower order on the way to his maiden A Grade five wicket haul.
At 8/66 the contest was as good as gone, but Hickey provided some late fireworks for Raiders making an unbeaten 20 ball 32 to get the final score to 114. Cooper took 5/52 and Panyangara completed an exceptional day taking 3/19.
MORWELL crushed Mirboo North.
The city Tigers showed no mercy for their country namesakes, winning by 245 runs.
A Nasser Hussain moment at the toss backfired spectacularly for Mirboo North, as Morwell
compiled 5/277 after being sent in.
Runs came at will, with Blair Clymo, Connor Seymour, Sam Mooney and Jordan Campbell all cashing in.
Clymo led the scoring, making 81 after being shuffled down from opening to number five, while Seymour compiled a mature 57.
The innings of Seymour was noteworthy as he is still eligible for Under 16 level and looks to be a player for the future. He added 110 with Clymo for the third wicket, while Mooney made 46 off 61 balls and returning captain Campbell ended the innings in ablaze with 34 off 19.
There wasn’t much joy for the Mirboo North bowlers, although Logan Anders finished with three wickets and Mirboo North officials would have been happy to see the name Dale Banks back in action bowing his leg breaks.
The batting effort for Mirboo North turned into an absolute train wreck, as it appeared they were batting on a different surface to the one that had seen Morwell make close to 300.
Travis Pickering produced a breathtaking
performance with the new ball, nabbing the first five wickets to see the home side on its knees at 5/17.
Morwell did not let up, with the fall of Mirboo North wickets then reading 6/19, 7/22, 8/25, 9/32 and eventually all out for 32 inside 22 overs.
Only one Mirboo North batsman managed double figures, while extras second top scored.
Pickering returned the extraordinary figures of 5/5 off 10 overs with six maidens, his second five-wicket haul of the season.
For Morwell to win so comprehensively even without star allrounder Brendan Brincat will surely act as a reference point for the remainder of the season.
LATROBE made an emphatic statement against Churchill.
Playing at the neutral venue of Morwell Recreation Reserve, the Sharks won by seven wickets after routing the Cobras for just 69.
Latrobe got to work after signalling their desire to have a bowl, and struck at regular intervals thanks to efforts of club legend Anthony Bloomfield.
Bloomfield took three of the first four wickets to see Churchill reeling at 4/22.
Wild scenes erupted when the left armer found the edge ofJohn Keighran’s bat into the prying gloves of Adam Duncan for a fourth ball globe, sending the Churchill dugout into a state of shock.
With one of the competitions best batsman back in he dugout, the Cobras did their best to stabilise their innings, but couldn’t string any partnerships together.
Izayah Terrick made further inroads for Latrobe, taking three wickets, along with Navin Gomez who took two as Churchill lost their last six wickets for 18 runs.
Terrick took 3/9 and Gomez 2/18, but it was Bloomfield who was the most superb, nabbing 3/11 from eight overs with six maidens.
The Sharks got the required runs with minimal fuss, and made the short trip home to Peter Siddle Oval even sweeter after securing the bonus point.
Captain Benn Zomer top scored with 27 not out.
Lion-hearted Churchill opening bowler Ryan Harvey bent his back as always, and ended with 2/13 from eight overs.
CENTRALS was the only team to record what could be described as a ‘regulation’ win.
The Lions successfully chased the 150 set by Traralgon West, getting over the line with five wickets in the hut and plenty of overs to spare at Jack Canavan Oval.
A familiar face greeted Centrals bowler Marc Fenech for the first over of the game, with Traralgon West captain Rob Wilkie coming up against his old team.
Fenech got bragging rights for the first encounter, trapping Wilkie in front early to see the Eagles slip to 2/16 following an earlier breakthrough by Lions captain/coach Rob Webber.
Traralgon West was teetering at 4/50, before a 51 run stand between Josh Monacella and Ben Edebohls took the score forward.
Wickets fell at a steady rate around Monacella after Edebohls departed, but the youngster played with a calm head to see his side to a 150 score, and himself to a career-high innings of 81 not out.
Corey Pollard took 3/39 for Centrals, supporting the work of Fenech (2/14) and Webber (2/20).
Monacella was in the game early with the wicket keeping gloves when the Eagles went out to defend their score, taking a sky ball off the bowling of Brenton Howe to see the back of Wayne Henry.
South African Reghard Hefer played a busy hand of 30 from 37 balls, before Traralgon West was able to create an opening.
Hefer and Webber were dismissed either side of each other to see the scoreboard reading 3/54, and when Sam Gray was bowled by Adam Thow not long after it was well and truly game on.
Tye Hourigan cooled proceedings following that period of madness, batting through the rest of the innings to make 48 not out from 86 balls. He and Lachlan Patterson put on a winning partnership of 47 for the sixth wicket, with Patterson again showing he is an underrated batsman, scoring 28 from 21 balls wth two sixes.
Thow took 2/37 for Traralgon West and Howe was miserly, taking 1/19 from nine overs.
TRAFALGAR had the bye.
THIS WEEKEND sees Morwell and Churchill clash at Morwell. Jeealang-Boolarra is back at Ted Summerton Reserve, although this time to play Centrals. Raiders and Latrobe meet at Yinnar, Mirboo North travels to Traralgon South to play CATS and Trafalgar will look to address its recent shoddy record playing at Traralgon West. Moe has the bye.
A number of sides batting second found the going tough, netting some early finishes for those involved.
While team sheets from Saturday suggested clubs had much greater availability than the week before, the threat of COVID continues to cast uncertainty over just what the rest of the season has in store.
Like the proverbial elephant in the room, players and officials do not want to talk or deliberate on the implications a cancelled season will have, but by the same token this is sure to have entered at least the back of the minds of some captains and club leaders.
Although it is often dangerous to look too far ahead, there could now be even greater impetus for teams to finish on top or as high on the ladder as possible given the precedent that was set in 2019/20 when grand finals were abandoned due to COVID and premierships awarded to the highest ranked team following the semis.
With this considered, the margins in some of the games last weekend may prove critical in
determining just who finishes higher on the ladder when the season does reach a conclusion.
ANDREW Philip once again made sure teammates and opponents of this generation will be telling their grandchildren they played with and against a man who could well end his career as the greatest cricketer to ever play for Moe – if he isn’t already.
Philip scored his second century for the season, making 103 from 137 balls to see the Lions to victory over Jeeralang-Boolarra by 82 runs at Ted Summerton Reserve.
Not for the first time, Philip was pencilled in to bat at number three but played essentially as an opener as Moe was 1/4 when he strode to the middle.
From there, Philip and Riley Baldi combined for a 68-run partnership, with Baldi making 31 from 66 balls.
Chris Robinson also spent some time with Philip, helping himself to 25 in an 88-run stand for the fourth wicket that went virtually to the end of the 50 over allotment.
Philip brought up his ton in the 48th over and the Lions ended at compulsory close a short time later at 5/193.
Stan Urbanic took 2/33 for Jeeralang-Boolarra, while left-armer Ossy Brennan returned tidy figures of 1/17 off eight overs.
The Panthers never really got going in reply, and were denied by some work of biblical proportions by Clinton Taylor, who’s day in the field netted 3/10 off nine overs with four maidens, as well as a run out.
Fittingly, the man known as ‘The Reverend’ saw that Moe’s prayers of early wickets were answered, as his first scalp came with the score on one and the second on 24.
Fellow opening bowler Robert Blunt joined the party soon after, taking a pair of wickets himself. Before too long the Panthers were staring their fate in the face at 6/32, with all six wickets coming thanks to the hands of Blunt and Taylor.
Things didn’t improve much for Jeeralang-Boolarra, who slumped to 8/51.
Some late hitting from Matt McGrath, who made 36 not out off 44 balls got the overall score into triple figures, but the Panthers were eventually bowled out for 111 inside 40 overs.
Taylor and Blunt proved an effective partnership, taking five wickets and bowling seven maidens between them, with Blunt’s figures reading 2/23.
Ash Savige backed up the work of the new ball operators, taking 2/12.
CATS had a win for insurance purposes against Raiders.
While the result might just add another tally in the W column for now, it could help fifth placed CATS in making sure games in three week’s time do not all of a sudden become ‘must win’ matches to keep their finals hopes alive.
CATS compiled 186 batting first at John Black Oval after being asked to have a hit.
Tinashe Panyangara proved the backbone of the innings, making an aggressive 84 from 85 balls.
The Zimbabwean sent five sixes over the fence in his 104 minute stay, and amazingly, when he was dismissed with the score 6/130, only 46 other runs had come from either teammates or extras.
Raiders wrestled back some control after the Panyangara onslaught, and managed to keep CATS under 200.
Wickets were shared between Liam Maynard (3/28), Brayden Hickey (3/40) and Madura Perera (2/36).
The Raiders innings started innocuously enough, with the visitors losing only two wickets up to the first drinks break.
However, the dismissal of skipper Maynard with the score 2/44 triggered a dramatic middle order collapse. Maynard became Panyangara’s second wicket, and then Tim Hutchinson and Mick Higgins were dismissed within six balls of each other to see the score 5/57.
The situation only got worse for Raiders, as young CATS spinner Harry Cooper took the keys wickets of Higgins and Perera before tearing through the lower order on the way to his maiden A Grade five wicket haul.
At 8/66 the contest was as good as gone, but Hickey provided some late fireworks for Raiders making an unbeaten 20 ball 32 to get the final score to 114. Cooper took 5/52 and Panyangara completed an exceptional day taking 3/19.
MORWELL crushed Mirboo North.
The city Tigers showed no mercy for their country namesakes, winning by 245 runs.
A Nasser Hussain moment at the toss backfired spectacularly for Mirboo North, as Morwell
compiled 5/277 after being sent in.
Runs came at will, with Blair Clymo, Connor Seymour, Sam Mooney and Jordan Campbell all cashing in.
Clymo led the scoring, making 81 after being shuffled down from opening to number five, while Seymour compiled a mature 57.
The innings of Seymour was noteworthy as he is still eligible for Under 16 level and looks to be a player for the future. He added 110 with Clymo for the third wicket, while Mooney made 46 off 61 balls and returning captain Campbell ended the innings in ablaze with 34 off 19.
There wasn’t much joy for the Mirboo North bowlers, although Logan Anders finished with three wickets and Mirboo North officials would have been happy to see the name Dale Banks back in action bowing his leg breaks.
The batting effort for Mirboo North turned into an absolute train wreck, as it appeared they were batting on a different surface to the one that had seen Morwell make close to 300.
Travis Pickering produced a breathtaking
performance with the new ball, nabbing the first five wickets to see the home side on its knees at 5/17.
Morwell did not let up, with the fall of Mirboo North wickets then reading 6/19, 7/22, 8/25, 9/32 and eventually all out for 32 inside 22 overs.
Only one Mirboo North batsman managed double figures, while extras second top scored.
Pickering returned the extraordinary figures of 5/5 off 10 overs with six maidens, his second five-wicket haul of the season.
For Morwell to win so comprehensively even without star allrounder Brendan Brincat will surely act as a reference point for the remainder of the season.
LATROBE made an emphatic statement against Churchill.
Playing at the neutral venue of Morwell Recreation Reserve, the Sharks won by seven wickets after routing the Cobras for just 69.
Latrobe got to work after signalling their desire to have a bowl, and struck at regular intervals thanks to efforts of club legend Anthony Bloomfield.
Bloomfield took three of the first four wickets to see Churchill reeling at 4/22.
Wild scenes erupted when the left armer found the edge ofJohn Keighran’s bat into the prying gloves of Adam Duncan for a fourth ball globe, sending the Churchill dugout into a state of shock.
With one of the competitions best batsman back in he dugout, the Cobras did their best to stabilise their innings, but couldn’t string any partnerships together.
Izayah Terrick made further inroads for Latrobe, taking three wickets, along with Navin Gomez who took two as Churchill lost their last six wickets for 18 runs.
Terrick took 3/9 and Gomez 2/18, but it was Bloomfield who was the most superb, nabbing 3/11 from eight overs with six maidens.
The Sharks got the required runs with minimal fuss, and made the short trip home to Peter Siddle Oval even sweeter after securing the bonus point.
Captain Benn Zomer top scored with 27 not out.
Lion-hearted Churchill opening bowler Ryan Harvey bent his back as always, and ended with 2/13 from eight overs.
CENTRALS was the only team to record what could be described as a ‘regulation’ win.
The Lions successfully chased the 150 set by Traralgon West, getting over the line with five wickets in the hut and plenty of overs to spare at Jack Canavan Oval.
A familiar face greeted Centrals bowler Marc Fenech for the first over of the game, with Traralgon West captain Rob Wilkie coming up against his old team.
Fenech got bragging rights for the first encounter, trapping Wilkie in front early to see the Eagles slip to 2/16 following an earlier breakthrough by Lions captain/coach Rob Webber.
Traralgon West was teetering at 4/50, before a 51 run stand between Josh Monacella and Ben Edebohls took the score forward.
Wickets fell at a steady rate around Monacella after Edebohls departed, but the youngster played with a calm head to see his side to a 150 score, and himself to a career-high innings of 81 not out.
Corey Pollard took 3/39 for Centrals, supporting the work of Fenech (2/14) and Webber (2/20).
Monacella was in the game early with the wicket keeping gloves when the Eagles went out to defend their score, taking a sky ball off the bowling of Brenton Howe to see the back of Wayne Henry.
South African Reghard Hefer played a busy hand of 30 from 37 balls, before Traralgon West was able to create an opening.
Hefer and Webber were dismissed either side of each other to see the scoreboard reading 3/54, and when Sam Gray was bowled by Adam Thow not long after it was well and truly game on.
Tye Hourigan cooled proceedings following that period of madness, batting through the rest of the innings to make 48 not out from 86 balls. He and Lachlan Patterson put on a winning partnership of 47 for the sixth wicket, with Patterson again showing he is an underrated batsman, scoring 28 from 21 balls wth two sixes.
Thow took 2/37 for Traralgon West and Howe was miserly, taking 1/19 from nine overs.
TRAFALGAR had the bye.
THIS WEEKEND sees Morwell and Churchill clash at Morwell. Jeealang-Boolarra is back at Ted Summerton Reserve, although this time to play Centrals. Raiders and Latrobe meet at Yinnar, Mirboo North travels to Traralgon South to play CATS and Trafalgar will look to address its recent shoddy record playing at Traralgon West. Moe has the bye.
