CRICKET
CRICKET LATROBE VALLEY
By LIAM DURKIN and BLAKE METCALF-HOLT
THE progressive score section was frequented by those with pen in hand on the opening day of Round 8 in Cricket Latrobe Valley Premier A.
All games saw more than 200 runs peeled off, as a number of batsmen made use of favourable conditions.
Away from the top flight, the league continued its experimentation with some innovative ideas, the latest of which saw third grade teams play twenty20 double headers.
Latrobe opener Robert Borlase provided plenty of fireworks in his C Grade game, smoking an unbeaten 102 off 66 balls against Rawson on the Maryvale astro.
With Cricket Latrobe Valley now into its second season, officials appear to be adopting a ‘see what works and what doesn’t’ mentality after the inaugural season was all about getting the second-biggest country cricket competition in the state up and running.
So far, the league has trialled two day games in Premier B, while Moe and Ex Students are set to play a day/nighter in Premier A next month.
Premier A Grade
Glengarry 237, Centrals yet to bat
GLENGARRY posted 237 against Centrals.
The Magpies elected to bat first at Apex Park, and found a number of contributions from the middle order.
Ben Marks made the most significant ‘mark’ with 74, while Connor Robson and Sam Marks scored 53 and 37 respectively.
Centrals toiled manfully across more than 80 overs, and wouldn’t have felt the game was slipping away when all was said and done.
Veteran Marc Fenech was rewarded for his persistence, walking off with figures of 5/46 across a huge but familiar shift of 20.3 overs.
Raiders 123, Ex Students 3/128
EX STUDENTS hold the advantage at Yinnar.
The Sharks have already defeated Raiders on first innings, and are well and truly in the driver’s seat to take the game in whichever direction they choose.
The visitors bowled Raiders out for 123; the home side’s batting falling away dramatically once Akila Silva was dismissed for 37.
Jimmy Pryde cleaned up with 3/5, backing up the good work of seamers Adam Brady (2/27) and Mitch Harris (2/29).
Matt Dyke and Pryde then got to work with the stick, with the former making 27 in a 50-run opening partnership.
Jackson McMahon and Rick Battista took the team to first innings points, and will resume with a lead of five runs with seven wickets still in the shed.
Both returning batsmen are on 24 not out, and will look to build a sizeable lead before possibly sending Raiders back in.
Tom Robertson has picked up 2/26, and there remains the chance Raiders can wrestle back some momentum if they go into the first drinks break with a few wickets.
Toongabbie 204, Moe 1/44
MOE need 160 more.
The Lions are 1/44 in pursuit of Toongabbie’s 204.
The Rams recovered from an indifferent start at home, with the middle order going about their business.
Amal Athulathmudali continued his stellar form, making 72 off just 42 balls – five of which went over the picturesque white pickets of Roger Reis Oval.
There was some friendly-fire in the encounter, with former Yarragon teammates Athulathmudali and Laytten Smith coming up against each other.
Smith ended up taking two wickets, while his new ball partner Keenan Hughes had a busy day, snaring 4/64 and nailing two run outs.
Further runs came from Gayashan Munasinghe (26) and Toongabbie legend Tom Shippen (33) playing his second game for the season.
Munasinghe now has something in common with former Australian opener Joe Burns, who was recently announced captain of the Italian national side – the same team Munasinghe captained.
Much as the Rams probably don’t want to keep relying on Shippen, they would be happy to have him in the side whenever he’s available.
The same could be said for Moe and Rob Phoenix, who took 2/21 and got to stumps 30 not out.
How the Lions approach Day 2 remains to be seen, but if history is any indication, they will view it as a 300 rather than 150 chase.
Morwell 247, CATS yet to bat
MORWELL kept CATS in the field all day and put up 247.
In a strong team performance from the Tigers, virtually the entire card made double figures.
Perhaps most pleasingly for them, the highest individual score was 42.
This came from Kris Fortuin, who played a very uncharacteristically slow innings, making his runs off 162 rocks.
Fayaz Homyoon (39), and skipper Blair Clymo (29) also saw off their share of deliveries, making life easier for Brendan Brincat to come in at eight and pound a run-a-ball 39 (three bombs).
CATS used nine bowlers, six of whom went at around 2.5 an over.
Cal Stewart proved a handful, taking 2/30 off 21, while Rory Hare had success against one of his old sides, claiming 2/59.
Spinner Harry Cooper (who bowls and throws with opposite hands) also helped out with 2/52.
A Grade
OPENING the final match of 2024 in Cricket Latrobe Valley A Grade, it appears that while the weak are getting weaker, the strong are getting even stronger.
Day 1 of Round 8 displayed the likes of Churchill and Mirboo North favourably – while others are dealing with similar performances week-to-week and familiar setbacks.
Imperials 109, Churchill 9/205
JUST looking at the ladder at this current stage, there would be no denying the two of Churchill and Imperials are the best outfits in the competition.
In the midst of a lull period, Imperials are however in danger of dropping two matches in a row after being bowled out for 109 at Andrews Park, before Churchill ran the table with them in their first innings to 205 – netting a huge lead.
Imperials would have wished to draw a somewhat modest start to hold of a raring Cobras outfit, however bar captain Ryan Morley shining with 62 not out, Imperials featured seven ducks on their scoresheet.
Dennis Caulfield was second-best with 26, but Imperials were unable to get anything going whatsoever.
Ryan Harvey took 3/14 and Ross Whelpdale 3/11 including six maidens for the home side.
Once the field switched, Churchill past their nearest opponents well short of the 30 over mark through 141 combined runs from Brae Kelly (61), Steve Warr (41) and captain Ryan Ayres (39).
Archie Norman sits with 21 not out after passing 200 before stumps.
Tom Starkey has taken 4/70 across 17 overs and Dominic Thompson 3/51 in 12.
Willow Grove 142, Mirboo North 1/72
MIRBOO NORTH is etching closer to their fourth win of the season just before the Christmas break upon holding Willow Grove to 142 and building themselves at Mirboo North Recreation Reserve.
It took Mirboo North 58 overs to bowl the Wolves out with marginal damage sustained from the likes of captain Josh Hammond (35 off 66 balls) and Brody Hams (26).
Max Woodall took 4/38 including nine maidens and Dale Banks 3/21.
Matthew Snell (47 not out on return) and Tigers captain Ben Heath (11) are currently lining up for Day 2.
Traralgon West 176, Rovers 3/65
AN inner-Traralgon matchup looks possible to go the way of Traralgon West after posting 176 against Rovers at Jack Canavan.
Sitting bottom of the ladder, the Eagles are going through quite the weird season so far with a tie to their name (Round 3 against Willow Grove) and securing their first victory in a Duckworth Lewis Stern (DLS) situation against Gormandale.
Hayden Kimpton led from the front with 67 off 100 balls, while Luke Phillips (25) and Bryan Griffiths (22) followed suit.
Rovers bowler Navdeep Singh dismissed Jack Cooke during the 66th over to end their first innings.
Simon Duff took 5/67 in 24 overs and Singh 2/41 in 11.2.
Rovers have seen effective batting to start their stint, and will go into Day 2 at 3/65.
Latrobe 7/185, Gormandale yet to bat
LATROBE are proving to be a tough fixture, remaining at the crease for 97 overs to be 7/185 against Gormandale at Maryvale Recreation Reserve.
Salman Rasool was undeterred, making 49 off 233 balls while captain Steven Freshwater is not out on 48.
Anthony Bloomfield was sound with 38 off 82 including six fours.
Tigers captain Matthew Hibbs has taken 2/12 in five overs, Tyler Reynolds and Campbell Peavey have 2/27 each.
The Sharks have the option of batting for another 10 overs into Day 2, which will need to see close to 100 overs completed to match Day 1.
Premier B Grade (Round 9): Glengarry 0/74 (P Henry 33*, C Dunn 31*) def Mirboo North 73 (P Henry 2/10, J Sands 2/12, G Waack-Hawkins 2/14, J Porter 2/17); Churchill 5/93 (R Johnson 41*, C Seymour 2/12) def Morwell 92 (R Johnson 4/10, S Freeman 3/20, R Marks 2/8); Ex Students 5/80 (H Canny 37*, J Brierley 2/18) def Jeeralang-Boolarra 78 (N Cameron 26, Z Bastin 4/16, D Churchill 2/4, K Duncan 2/10); Toongabbie 4/146 (M Whitechurch 75*, B Grieve 29) def Traralgon West 6/154 (S Varsaci 55*, G Stephens 33, M Whitechurch 2/9, J Love 2/23); CATS 9/134 (S Webley 29, L Pass 25, J Fahey 3/20, R Kerrison 2/21, L Morphett 2/27) def Thorpdale 117 (R Kerrison 32, J Bellingham 3/19, T Hagley 2/11, J Motta 2/21, M Anthofer 2/39).
B Grade (Round 11): Rovers 9/182 (J Pearce 101, A Van Zuyden 39, P Grima 5/12, L Cumiskey 2/15, J Grima 2/21) def Willow Grove 106 (S Carney 4/20, L Woolan 2/3, A Van Zuyden 2/13); Centrals 3/145 (H Berry 51*, J Downs 37*, B Ould 33) def Imperials 141 (R Williams 39, L Hegarty 32, J Downs 2/20, B Ould 2/23); Gormandale 9/140 (F White 61, R Duncan 6/18) def Latrobe 139 (A Antony 37, G Swan 4/28, C White 2/22); Moe 161 (A Johnstone 28, J Dhillon 3/24, Z Quinsey-Munro 2/18, P Mills 2/25, R Sidhu 2/25) def Raiders 156 (R Webber 48, A Joshy 29, J Atkinson 4/23, A Johnstone 2/25).
Premier C Grade (Rounds 9 and 10): Toongabbie 8/194 (D Veale 72, D Elms 34, B Hood 33, K Borsato 25, D Cochrane 3/38, L Balakrishnan 2/22, T Miller-Mowat 2/27) def Glengarry 9/118 (D Cochrane 44, G Mowat 30, B Hood 3/30); Ex Students 6/114 (P Richards 55, D Millington 26) def Moe 47 (M Isles 4/15, J Kee 2/1, L Bastin 2/9); Imperials 5/90 (P Dunstan 41*, D Shields 2/22) def Mirboo North 5/91 (G Vanderzalm 37*, D Morris 2/23); Morwell 4/124 (L Singh 40, C Johnson 25) def Centrals 3/123 (H Pettie 54*, A Foley 50 C Johnson 2/21); Rovers 5/116 (B Monks-Hamilton 41*, D Brain 26, R O’Donnell 25, M Cochrane 3/21) def Glengarry 9/112 (J Lawrence 31, A Agustin 3/4, A Singh 3/15, C Schmidt 2/5); Imperials 6/102 (M Twomey 53 ret, M Burridge 2/16) def Moe 9/85 (F Manduci 27*, H Martin 4/15, L Sykes 2/8, J Jones 2/18); Ex Students 2/37 def Mirboo North 36 (D Millington 4/2, A Ferguson 4/11, M Isles 2/10); Toongabbie 6/105 (K Borsato 38, D Veale 29*, A Agustin 3/26) def Rovers 9/104 (D Brain 36, B Hood 3/21, B Briscoe 2/3); Morwell def CATS via forfeit; Centrals def CATS via forfeit.
C Grade (Rounds 9 and 10): Latrobe 1/99 (D McDougall 68*) def Willow Grove 6/93 (A Heatherington 2/27); Rawson 2/66 def Gormandale 6/65 (S Gamble 26*, M Metcalfe 2/7, J Wiseman 2/18); Raiders 3/90 (J Macfarlane 31, R Hardy 2/11) def Jeeralang-Boolarra 6/88 (S Blines 26, S Darby 2/20); Latrobe 2/168 (R Borlase 102*, D Mcdougall 42) def Rawson 8/131 (M Williams 27, J Ratcliffe 4/28, B Atkinson 2/23); Churchill 3/136 (L Urand 74, R Adams 2/13) def Jeeralang-Boolarra 4/86 (L Smith 54*, C Dekaste 2/3); Gormandale 6/118 (B Peavey 34, L Walsh 2/11, J Redman 2/14) def Willow Grove 9/97 (J Redman 27, M Dykes 3/10, M Smallwood 3/16, G Batchelor 2/19); Churchill def Imperials via forfeit; Raiders def Imperials via forfeit; Traralgon West – BYE.
CLV T20 (Round 2): Pool A: Ex Students 6/171 (L Stockdale 64, A Jaensch 47) def Traralgon West 83 (A McCormick 4/9, J Zappulla 3/26); Toongabbie 9/114 (K Stoddart 33, L Sykes 2/11, T Donoghue 2/14) def Imperials 85 (A Anubhav 27, K Stoddart 4/3, M Barry 2/27). Pool B: Raiders 7/140 (B Rivers 39, G Cheshire 32, L Cumiskey 2/17, J Hammond 2/22, L Payton 2/22) def Willow Grove 107 (K Mulley 25, G Cheshire 3/10); Churchill 2/92 def Mirboo North 7/86. Pool C: Centrals 1/104 (J Matthews 54*, T Hourigan 33*) def Gormandale 102 (N Soyza 25, M Fenech 3/22, C Whitehead 2/17, C Pollard 2/20); Glengarry def Jeeralang-Boolarra via forfeit. Pool D: Moe 2/125 (J Pheeney 40*, K Hughes 34*) def Rovers 2/124 (E Williams 57*); Morwell 2/65 (M Cukier 27*) def Latrobe 64 (M Cukier 4/11, L Day 2/3).
Women’s Championship (Round 9): Willow Grove 3/108 (H Ferguson 17*, M Parker 14*, A Davey 13*) def Rovers 6/29 (K Grima 2/9); Mirboo North 2/132 (K Collins 32*, C Rainbow 32*, C Johns 29*, S Williams 21, A Shine 2/15) def Ex Students 3/90 (A Hood 30*, D Godenzi 23*, K Collins 2/19); Morwell 2/86 (N Freeman 21, C Mayberry 18*, K Stockdale 15) def Raiders 5/84 (D King 31*, F Hall 13*, A George 2/10, C Mayberry 2/15).
Women’s Premier (Round 9): Latrobe 4/82 (S Rockliff 21, T Anderson 15, Z Spencer 13*) def Churchill 3/60 (S Forbes 20*, E Doolan 2/6); Raiders 0/113 (Z Quinsey-Munro 31*, S Blines 29*, Z Hustwayte 27*, O Allen 14*) def Centrals 4/61 (K Doble 22, S Blines 2/8); Willow Grove 0/51 (M Donoghue 28*) def Imperials 5/44 (R Reid 30*, K Wheildon 2/9, K Mann 2/13).
Under 16s (Round 8, Day 2): Willow Grove 7/267 (D van der Stoep 124*, D Walsh 85, J Keily 27, H Boothman 3/43) def Moe 7/72 (W Addison 30, N Sallee 3/10); Ex Students 153 (J Kee 26*) def Raiders 112 (P Mills 51, R Conway 3/5, L Richards 2/7); Centrals 4/201 (N Gamage 50 ret, S Rajapakse 49, A Hurley 41, H McKay 2/50) def Morwell/Latrobe 71 (E Dissanayake 2/2, O Speairs 2/5); Toongabbie 5/169 (R O’Donnell 2/15) vs Gormandale 5/19 (game not completed on PlayHQ), Glengarry – BYE.
Under 14s (Round 6, Day 2): Moe 4/197 (A Nardone 41, H Boothman 34*, B Savige 26*, D Higgins 21) def Morwell 81 (C Gray 29, N Keltie 4/9); Ex Students 8/132 (J Churchill 23*, T Churchill 22*, S Darby 22*, R O’Brien 2/8, C Stanton 2/26) def Jeeralang-Boolarra (O O’Brien 19); Mirboo North 9/139 (L Chila 47*, F Gannon 36, J Bull 3/6, X Clark 2/15, P Pantha 2/19) def Gormandale/Rovers 8/95 (J Armstrong 21, L Chila 3/5, O McCarthy 2/3, C Taylor 2/9); Centrals – BYE.
Under 14s Girls (Rounds 2 and 3): Raiders 0/61 def Traralgon West 3/46 (M Varsaci 19*); Ex Students 4/50 def Willow Grove 2/49; Traralgon West 2/68 (A Hodson 25*, M Varsaci 15*) def Willow Grove 4/59 (L Blackshaw 13*, A Hodson 3/4); Ex Students 2/63 def Raiders 0/57 (H Baker 14*).
