CRICKET
AUSTRALIAN COUNTRY CRICKET CHAMPIONSHIPS
By TOM HAYES
THE Latrobe Valley was fortunate enough to have both men and women represent the region, as well as Victoria, at the 2025 Australian Country Cricket Championships.
This year, the ACCC made its way to South Australia’s Barossa Region, as the Victoria Country side utilised the services of four locals.
In the men’s team, Nathan Freitag (Glengarry Cricket Club) vice captained the side, while Ex Students’ Lee Stockdale earnt yet another call-up – however he would not captain the team for the first time in a while.
Battling it out for the Victorian women’s team included Erica Kershaw of Traralgon Imperials and Latrobe’s Stacy Rockliff.
Victoria solidified itself as one of the best cricketing states, winning the double across the men’s and women’s competitions played from January 3-10.
Men’s
Round 1: South Australia def Victoria by 67 runs
VICTORIA Country Men got its campaign underway against the hosts, who simply showed the Vics who was boss in the first one dayer.
Beginning with the ball, Freitag, Stockdale and the entire Victorian bowling quartet had South Australia on the ropes. Freitag took 1/11 from his four overs, and Stockdale 1/23 from his 10.
Victoria looked as though they would easily walk to victory when they had the hosts pinned at 8/86, but they weren’t to expect an innings-saving ninth-wicket partnership.
South Australia’s Evan Gregoric and Angus Glazbrook worked together until the expiration of the 50 overs, combining for 128 runs. Gregoric made 95 not out, with Glazbrook making 33 not out.
Finishing on 8/214, South Australia was now in the box seat with all of the momentum on its side.
Victoria was unable to get going at the beginning of their responding innings. Freitag walked for a two-ball duck, and Stockdale went soon after for one – at that point the score read 5/85. The middle order put up a fight, but the total was too stretched, as South Australia claimed victory by 67 runs.
Round 2: Victoria def Tasmania by 5 wickets
VICTORIA bounced back in the second one-dayer, claiming a five-wicket win over Tasmania.
Starting with ball in hand, Victoria skittled Tasmania for just 133 inside 47 overs. Freitag claimed figures of 2/9 from five overs, and Stockdale chimed in with 3/18 from 8.2.
Freitag and Stockdale worked together in the chase as the middle order became exposed. Just as it looked like the two might conclude the run chase, Freitag was dismissed for 14, with what would eventually be the penultimate ball of the match.
Stockdale finished the chase with eight not out.
Round 3: Victoria def Queensland by 56 runs
THE third round introduced the T20 portion of games into the mix, with Victoria coming up against Queensland. Victoria would start the T20s with a 56-run win, beginning a dominant run of success.
The Latrobe Valley locals flexed their muscles from the get-go, as they began with bat in hand – Stockdale opened the batting.
He reached 22 before his dismissal, which left the score reading 2/66. Freitag’s innings was already underway by the time Stockdale left, as he launched himself into gear. Freitag smashed six sixes and three fours, cruising his way to 74 not out.
Victoria’s position of 4/147 after 20 overs was with many thanks to Freitag, while no other batter scored more than Stockdale.
With work to do with the ball, Victoria was up to the task, and while it may not have come directly from the locals, the job was done nonetheless.
Freitag had 19 runs hit off his two overs, while Stockdale managed 1/12 from 2.4 as Queensland came nowhere near Victoria’s total.
Round 4: Victoria def NSW by 20 runs
TWO in a row soon became three with an important T20 win over New South Wales, bowling them out with 20 runs up their sleeve.
Stockdale was once again able to get going, scoring another 22 runs in the opening position – the score at 2/92 upon his dismissal.
Freitag again was already underway before Stockdale left him. However this time around he would only go on to make 18 runs, leaving Victoria at 3/120. McKenna would help the rest of the order reach 9/150 after 20 overs.
In return, NSW put up a good fight, but a middle order collapse saw Victoria gain ascendency. NSW went from 3/81 to 7/94 in a matter of overs which flipped the game on its head. Stockdale claimed 2/13 from four overs, as Victoria fended off NSW’s efforts, bowling them out with an over to spare.
Round 5: Victoria def South Australia by 6 wickets
UP next, Victoria was faced with a rematch against the hosts – the only side to undo them so far this campaign, this time around it was a T20.
Again, Victoria started with the ball in hand, and this time when they had South Australia pinned against the wall, they made sure to finish the job as soon as possible.
At 5/38, the hosts were in strife, but a small counter made things more respectable. However, Victoria was still able to halt their progress, as the host finished with 9/113. Stockdale went for 20 runs from his four overs.
In return, the local duo of Stockdale and Freitag failed to make an impression of much importance. Stockdale made nine runs, while Freitag only managed six. Thankfully, the rest of the top order could get the runs, as Victoria sailed toward a six-wicket victory, getting the runs with a little under three overs to spare.
Round 6: Tasmania def Victoria by 4 wickets
THE Vics eventually hit a bump in the road, and it came against Tasmania in the fourth T20.
Not one Victorian batter could get their innings going, with the highest scoring player only scoring 25. Stockdale got 10 runs, and Freitag only just outdid him with 17.
Only three Victorian batters struck the ball at a rate of over 100 too. Thus, Victoria had to defend a measly total of just 115.
Tasmania chipped away at the required runs at a quicker rate, but not much better than Victoria.
Stockdale claimed two wickets during Tasmania’s chase, taking 2/17 from four overs, to no use.
Tasmania handed Victoria its second loss of the championships, getting home with four men left in the sheds with two balls remaining.
Round 7: Victoria def Queensland by 128 runs
RETURNING to the one-day format, both Stockdale and Freitag stepped up as Victoria got back on track against Queensland.
Starting at the crease, almost every Victorian batter this time around had a hand in adding to the total. And when someone scored runs, they made it to double digits.
Freitag accumulated 26 from second drop, but Stockdale went one better, making 39 from number five. They were both outdone by number eight Kyle Mueller, who helped the Vics step over 200 runs.
Queensland was left with little chance when you read that seven players scored less than 10 runs.
Stockdale claimed 3/29 from 9.2 overs, cleaning up the tail to close the innings with Queensland only on 95, allowing Victoria to claim its biggest win of the championships, home by 128 runs.
Round 8: Victoria def NSW by 5 wickets
A WIN in the penultimate round – a one day showdown against NSW – would have Victoria finish on top of the ladder.
In a match that came down to the final over of the day, Victoria just wouldn’t be defeated, picking up their sixth win of the campaign, and solidifying itself on top of the ladder, winning by five wickets.
NSW batted first and looked primed to put together a perfect innings, all thanks to opening bat Dylan Hunter. He smashed 130 from 75 deliveries, including 17 fours and seven sixes.
His dismissal was just the second of the innings, which left Victoria in a trying state as NSW had 2/173 on the scoreboard.
With the rest of the innings to bat with little care, they did just that, as no other player scored more than 20 runs. Freitag bowled two overs for 23 runs, while Stockdale was more economical with 2/31 from his 10. NSW were eventually skittled in less than 45 overs for 226, setting up an ultimate run chase for the Vics.
Victoria was in trouble early as NSW held all momentum with two early poles which had the league leaders at 2/6. Following the third wicket with the score at 42, Freitag and Stockdale had to build a partnership at the crease.
The two added 48 runs together before Freitag was dismissed on 49. But Stockdale powered on without him, forming a new partnership with captain Jake Toohey. These two would add another 105 before Toohey was bowled.
In the meantime, Stockdale had surpassed 50 and was powering toward a century. But as the required total drew closer, he was running out of runs to achieve both the win and a century.
He needed seven runs for a century, but Victoria only needed four for victory as they headed into the final over of the match.
Doing the sensible thing, Stockdale and Mueller knocked the New South Welshmen around for singles, getting the job done with the second-to-last ball of the innings. Stockdale finished with 95 not out, his best score of the campaign.
Victoria confirmed they would finish on top of the ladder, claiming their sixth win. Heading into the final round, Victoria was two wins clear of South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania – leaving it up for the rest of the sides to decide their fates.
Round 9: Victoria def Western Australia by 138 runs
VICTORIA rounded out the championships in style, soaring to 9/203 against Western Australia.
Unfortunately from a local point of view, not much was contributed from Freitag (one) and Stockdale (19), as captain Toohey flexed his muscles with 55 runs. Chris Galvin helped out with 40, guiding Victoria to a defendable total.
Western Australia had no response. Their only hope was 23 runs from opener Michael Tassone, otherwise no batter scored more than 11.
Victoria took care of business with just four bowlers, knocking WA out in under 27 overs for just 65, sealing the championship with a kiss.
Stockdale claimed his fourth RM Hooper award – awarded to the men’s player of the series.
Women’s
THE women’s side dominated the initial 10 rounds of play, with a record of 9-1, as they confirmed their place on top of the ladder ahead of a final four showdown. During the women’s competition, only T20s were played.
Notable performances from Kershaw were highlights of the first 10 rounds, as she totalled 218 runs from the opening 10 T20s. Kershaw also took nine wickets with the ball.
Rockliff’s best performance of the initial phase was during the Round 7 clash against Queensland, where she went run-a-ball scoring 19 runs.
SF: Victoria def South Australia by 7 wickets
IN the first final, Victoria put the fourth-placed South Australia to the sword, keeping them to just 59 runs during their 20 overs. Only three players made it to double digit scores. Kershaw was dangerous with the ball, taking 2/1 in two overs.
Needing just 60 to win, Kershaw made eight with the bat before she was dismissed, but the rest of the Victorian batting quadrant got the job done with a little under 10 overs to go.
GF: Victoria def Queensland by 59 runs
In the other semi-final, the third-placed Queensland upset the second-placed NSW.
Starting with the bat this time around, Kershaw scored 29, which set the tone as after her dismissal as Victoria was already 2/83.
Victoria tipped over triple digits before the innings was out, setting a total of 110 to win for Queensland.
The third-placed Queensland got off to a horrid start, losing their first two wickets for just four runs. After picking up the third wicket at 27 runs, Queensland lost their next five poles for just nine, as in the blink of an eye they were 8/36.
With the game all but over, Victoria claimed the last two wickets to not only see themselves claim victory by 59 runs, but also the championship – losing just one game in the process.
Victoria also went two-for-two when it came to having the best players, as Kershaw was crowned the women’s player of the series, awarded the Raelle Thompson award.
