Despite an inspired bowling burst by Wycheproof-Narraport’s Bryce Gaylor, St. Arnaud was able to overtake Wyche’s modest total, thereby holding fast to fourth place after seven rounds of Wimmera-Mallee’s “A” grade cricket on Saturday.
Batting first on their home turf, the Demons were dismissed for 64 by an evenly-balanced St. Arnaud attack, in which all seven bowlers shared the wickets. Leading the way were Carl Torney, 3/9 (7), and Kyle Torney 2/29 (8). Double-figure scorers for the home team were Thomas Cotton 16, Will Ison 14, and captain Tom Trewin 11.
St. Arnaud needed only 25.4 overs to reach a winning tally of 7/65, those into double figures being Brad Williams 19, Jacob Patching 18 not out, Bruce Hando 12 and Ned Gorrie 10. For Wyche. Bruce Gaylor’s memorable bowling figures were 5/11 from 6.4 overs, while Tom Trewin took 2/18 (7).
At Anzac Park, Warrack-nabeal, Marnoo’s unstoppable Nic Baird gave yet another game-defining performance with both bat and wicketkeeping gloves. First he had a hand in four dismissals, as St. Mary’s was restricted to a total of 109, from 37 overs. Marnoo’s wicket-takers were Ben Newton 3/17 (8), Jack McAllister 2/11 (6), and Brendan Marrs 2/13 (7).Top scorers for St. Mary’s were Paul Rowe 46, and Nick Germano and Bailey Watts 16 each. Then Marnoo lost only two wickets in reaching 111, with Nic Baird not out joining Jimmy Duxson 32, in assuring the visitors victory in 30 overs. Nick Tonasco and Chad Hartnett took a wicket each for St. Mary’s.
Donald-Jeffcott made it six wins in a row with an impressive 5/216 at Birchip. Among the runs were Lachie Jones 74 (with 9 fours), Daniel Atkins 47, captain Eddie Landwher 28, and Noah Berry 25. Connor Lee took 2.26 for Birchip, while the other three wickets were shared by captain Jonty Randall, Lachy Randall, and Charles Barber. Birchip wickets then fell steadily after Will Marks had scored 10 and Jonty Randall 13. Two “fill-ins” stopped the rot with 23 and 17 respectively, but Birchip was all out for 92. For Donald-Jeffcott, Lachie Jones rounded out an outstanding performance with 3/7 (3.4), while Daniel Atkins also took 2/12 (7), and Brady Griffiths 2/19 (8).
“B” Grade
Battling through its 40 overs at Watchem, Brim K.S.H. lost 5 wickets in posting a challenging total of 161, chief contributors being captain Sandon Schultz 51 not out, Joshua McPherson 31, Royce Bennett 27, and Ethan Schilling 13. Watchem’s 4 wicket-takers were Austin Dean, Harvey Lewis, captain Seamus Lowry, and Sam Milne. In reply, Watchem was all out for 67, the one double-figure scorer being Lukshan Kasthuriarachchi, 23. All seven Brim K.S.H. bowlers shared the wickets, those to take two each being Kobe Macgregor, Ethan Schilling, and Barry Schilling.
Winning the toss and batting on the Jeffcott oval turf, Donald-Jeffcott reached 9/156, largely through the batting of Joseph Praveen 39, Kalon Green 33, captain Jack Tellefson 27, Colby Anderson 23, and Jacob Donnellon 15 not out. Wicket-takers for Birchip were James Paley 3/21 (8), Cam Bennett 2/33 (8), “fill-in” 2/7 (4), Bridie Casey 1/17 (4), and “fill-in” 1/5 (3). Dominating Birchip’s innings after tea, a “fill-in” scored 63 (with 6 fours and 2 sixes), Brad Ryan remained 19 not out, and the total reached 94. For Donald-Jeffcott, Jacob Donnellon completed a very handy double with 3/13 (4), while Tom Reekie took 2/9 (5).
On their home wicket, Charlton’s top order players had a batting feast against St. Mary’s, with Patrick Soulsby, 82, and Hugh Sait, 28, contributing an opening partnership of 91. In-form Billy Sexton added 61, and Patrick Sait 28, and the total climbed to 6/217. For St. Mary’s, Jed Hartnett’s 3/45 (7) were the outstanding bowling figures. In reply, St. Mary’s Nathan Priest, 40, stood almost alone as wickets fell around him, the last one at 80, in 33.4 overs. In Charlton’s bowing line-up, Patrick Soulsby claimed 3/13 (4), Patrick Sait 2/7 (8), Angus Soulsby 2/15 (5.4), Elliott Fitzpatrick 1/19 (4), Jacob Olive 1/18 (3), and Joseph Monaghan 1/2 (4).
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 5 December 2023.
