CRICKET
CLV
By LIAM DURKIN
WHAT better way to spend Valentine’s Day than playing cricket.
Much like dating, fortunes were mixed for Cricket Latrobe Valley teams when Day 1 of Round 13 ended.
Games particularly in A Grade appear fairly predictive heading into Day 2.
Premier A
Toongabbie 7/215 to Imperials
THE perfect man doesn’t exis …
A Tom Shippen rescue mission helped Toongabbie to a strong position at stumps against Imperials.
Staring down the barrel of sub-par total, the Rams’ veteran came in at number seven and ended the day 94 not out.
Shippen displayed incredible discipline on the Roger Reis Oval turf, striking just one four and one six across 173 balls faced.
Toongabbie captain Tim Dunn will surely bat on this Saturday to give Shippen the chance to score his century.
The Rams are 7/215, having batted an insane 96 overs.
Dunn (26 not out) will look to push the total toward 250, adding to the contribution of Sam Moran (27) further up the order.
Imperials shone bright with the ball until Shippen came to the crease, with Charlie Pilling (3/29), Tylah Donoghue (2/30) and Scott Aitken (2/81) decimating the middle order.
The trio was forced to bowl more overs than usual, as opening quick Todd Mann was serving a one week suspension after running his mouth in the game against Moe.
Mann will come in for Day 2, a slightly strange arrangement that will see him play in the same game he’s suspended in.
Glengarry 10/118 to Morwell 1/76
DO Glengarry just sacrifice this game?
The Magpies are as good as gone against Morwell, with the Tigers needing just 42 runs with nine wickets in hand.
After electing to bat first at Keegan Street, the visitors became the latest line-up to suffer at the hands of Tim Ford.
The seamer, who would have to be one of the finds of the century, returned figures of 5/38 off 22 overs.
His haul included Nat Freitag, Cam Graham and Frank Marks.
Only Sam Marks with a patient 54 off 171 balls was able to offer any resistance, as Glengarry was skittled for 118.
Dylan Day took 2/21 for the Tigers, adding further to the ‘good problem to have’ for Morwell, as he hasn’t had to bowl much this season.
The home side resumes at 1/76.
Mark Cukier is 36 not out, while Kris Fortuin earlier knocked 34 runs off the total.
Few sneaky wickets from club legend Craig Giddens in the twos as well at the weekend.
Glengarry may just look to get out of this match with a first innings loss, given it should still stay in the top four if other games go as expected.
The Magpies are third on 33 points, equal with Churchill in fourth and a point clear of Imperials.
The Cobras will most likely lose to Ex Students, and Imperials will be chasing more than 200 against Toongabbie.
Glengarry plays Imperials in the last round, which could determine the finals fate of both sides.
Centrals 10/177 to Moe 3/36
GOOD news, Centrals has runs to play with.
Bad news, Andrew Philip is not out.
The Traralgon Lions need to take seven wickets before Moe scores 144 runs.
Given this is looming as a genuine chance for Centrals to win its first game of the season, one expects the home side to come out firing when play resumes.
Batting first at Apex Park, the boys in light blue compiled 177.
Jaxon Murdoch top-scored with 53, and was assisted by Tye Hourigan (41) and Lachie Speairs (27).
Royce Colgrave took 4/45 for Moe, while Rob Phoenix ended with familiar-looking figures of 3/15 off 10 overs with four maidens. (A dollar for every time he has taken those sort of figures).
Moe had 19 overs to bat before stumps, and lost three wickets along the way.
Philip and skipper Matt Hibbs will resume with the score 3/36.
Note the name Joel Jacovou in the Moe line-up.
Anyone’s guess when he last played A Grade. Even MyCricket doesn’t have an answer.
Ex Students 8-d/286 to Churchill 2/5
CHURCHILL might want to stay in the snake pit.
The Cobras are 2/5 chasing 287 against Ex Students.
The home side’s decision to bowl first at the toss backfired, thanks mainly to another Lee Stockdale masterclass.
Stockdale scored a sublime 134 off 144 balls, enabling the Sharks to declare eight down after 80 overs.
His brother Michael scored a brisk 43 off 41, while Woodside footy teammate Matt Dyke kept things in order with 33, facing the exact same number of balls as Lee.
Ex Students picked their bowlers to target, taking three for fives while sitting on their stick against three others.
Chris Williams took 4/74 off 18 serviceable overs.
Not to be outdone, Lee took two wickets in the five overs before stumps.
Just where will Stocky rate among the greats of Gippsland cricket in years to come?
He would have to be right up there.
A Grade
Rovers 10/171 to Willow Grove 1/49
ROVERS and Willow Grove are in the middle of a competitive match.
The Wolves need another 122 runs with nine wickets in hand at Duncan Cameron.
While mathematically, WinViz would have the visitors in the majority, collapses have been common across the A Grade competition this season.
Batting first after winning the toss, Rovers scored 171 off 63.4 overs.
James Hayter was the standout with 73, and was supported by skipper Dougal Williams with 26.
Nathan Findlay helped with an unbeaten 30 batting at number nine.
Darcy Walsh showed no signs of fatigue from country week, taking 5/46 off 15.4 overs.
Dylan van der Stoep added to his wickets from the weekend, snaring 2/11. The youngster took a five fa playing juniors for Trafalgar the night before.
Willow Grove had plenty of time to bat before stumps, and knocked 49 runs off the total in 28 overs.
CATS 10/70 to Raiders 4/158
YOU do have to wonder how much CATS rely on a handful of players.
The team from Traralgon South was knocked over for just 70, and has already lost on first innings against Raiders.
One look at the CATS team sheet was enough for Raiders captain Liam Maynard to bowl first.
There was no Callum Stewart, Josh Keyhoe or Jamie Cochrane, and with that, Raiders went in for the kill.
In somewhat farcical scenes, the home side only used two bowlers.
Keenan Hughes and Will Robertson bowled unchanged for 35.4 overs.
The former took another five wicket haul (5/38), making it 40 wickets and no tattoo for the season.
Robertson meanwhile grabbed 4/30 in just his second game for the season.
Raiders officials will be hoping the Yinnar footballer qualifies for finals.
Raiders batted 50 overs to stumps, and are 4/158.
Maynard will resume on 54, after Mick Higgins juiced 45 off 53.
Tinashe Panyangara (2/35) and Ben Hagley (2/48) bowled most of the overs for CATS on Day 1.
Latrobe 8-d/223 to Mirboo North 0/11
HE’S probably still their best player.
Latrobe veteran Anthony Bloomfield scored 81 out of his team’s 223 against Mirboo North.
Batting first on the Mercer/McKenzie wicket, Bloomfield came in at five, backing up the work of opener Ed Hopper (44) and youngster Izayah Terrick, who saw off 137 balls for his 28.
Bloomfield struck at a perfect clip for a two day game, going at 72.97.
He hit 12 fours and a six, well and truly showing age is no barrier.
In fact, Bloomfield is reportedly hitting the ball further than he ever has.
Not surprising given he was coached by BBL great Chris Lynn as part of training for the national over 50’s team recently.
The Sharks declared eight down, as George Fairbairn (3/68) and Dale Banks (2/36) toiled manfully.
The Tigers were given the old one over to survive before stumps.
Gee looking at that Mirboo North team, Banksy is about the only one left from the club’s premiership era (flags in 2013/14, 2015/16, 2020/21, 2022/23).
Gormandale 10/92 to Traralgon West 5/85
THIS one is a good chance of going reverse.
Traralgon West needs just eight runs to defeat Gormandale, but has half its side already in the sheds.
In a somewhat ‘ffs boys’ scorecard, the Eagles are 5/85 chasing 92.
The Tigers were again bowled out cheaply, with only Cal Polo (33) and Yohan Soyza hanging around for any considerable length of time.
Alfie Peck continued his wicket-taking ways for Traralgon West, finishing with 4/32.
Criminally underrated off spinner Reece Falla took 3/11.
With 26 overs to bat before stumps, the home side made a meal of things, struggling to contain Soyza, who walked off with figures of 4/8 from 12 overs.
Captain Kimpton (Hayden) made a quick 35 off 33 balls, yet he will now have to watch from the sidelines as his team goes about getting these last eight runs.
Assuming the Eagles pass the total, there will still be virtually an entire day ahead, leaving the gate open for Gormandale to bat again and set up a fourth innings chase.
