Gruyere tests big cheese

By Keith Thompson, YVCA secretary
THE first day of round seven in the YVCA’s D. J. Strachan Shield Gruyere District hosted neighbour Wandin and dismissed it for 239, with Justin Mays getting a fine 69 to be his team’s top scorer.
Wandin coach John Aumann followed last round’s century with 44, while Gruyere’s main man with the ball, Matt Tilney, did not let his team down with 4/67. He was ably assisted by Dave Riddell with 3/66.
At stumps Gruyere District was 1/37 needing 202 from 75 overs with nine wickets in hand and it may well trouble the reigning premiers if it gets a good start.
Mount Evelyn away to Healesville batted first and was all out for 177 with Kane Jones on 57, Paul Mitescu 30 and Chris Anderson 28.
Alan Pearce (4/42) and Darren Edwards (3/44) both bowled well in the fine but overcast conditions. Healesville, 0/58 at the close of play, would have to have a momentous collapse to lose from here.
Warburton-Millgrove bowled first in its home match against Seville, which batted slowly against the steady and experienced Warburton attack. It ended the day at 9/165.
Andrew Kay batted well for 61, assisted by Mark Johnson on 19, to establish an early stabilising partnership. Tim Dwyer with 29 also helped out in the early stages.
For Warburton-Millgrove, the Darwall brothers bowled well but the better figures for the day came from Adam Humphrey 2/12 and Michael Walker who bowled 21 overs to take 3/24.
Seville will need to bowl at its best to keep its winning run intact.
Silvan travelled to Woori Yallock and batted first, ending with 175 runs on the board. Mark Appleby on 31, Andrew Sharp (3/35) and Michael King (3/42) led the Woori Yallock attack in this contest. At stumps Woori Yallock was 0/6.
Hoddles Creek was 4/53 at stumps in the home match against Yarra Junction. Stuart Thompson did the damage, taking all four wickets for just 12 runs. That was in reply to Yarra Junction’s first innings of just 126, Scott Simmonds having a great time with 5/18. Brad Jones applied some resistance with 26.
The R. A. Finger Trophy grade saw no information from the Mount Evelyn/Yarra Glen match, as was the case in some other matches. Fines will be issued to the defaulting clubs.
Seville at home batted first to be all out for 218 with the Dicello brothers, Richard and Paul, both scoring 51.
Nathan McGill batted steadily for a well-built 38. The Warburton bowlers did a fine job right from the start with Damien Egan taking 4/61 and Trevor Ottrey 2/42.
Coldstream was all out for 220 with Matt Stark 104, Scott Reece 71, A. Oxley 3/62, Nick Crossland 2/20 and B. Johnson 2/23. Wandin will chase that target next week at Wandin.
Yarra Junction made first use of its home wicket and had a successful day, ending on 7/229 with Andy Doolan on 87, Glen Thompson 53. James Shambrook 2/35 off 24 overs was the best of the Healesville bowlers.
Healesville does have the batting order to reach this tally so it will require a top effort from the Yarra Junction bowlers to keep them below the 229.
This Wednesday, at most of the YVCA main venues, the junior grades – under 12s, 14s and 16s – play the first round of the midweek Twenty20 event. The matches start about 5pm and should provide some great cricket for the juniors. Most clubs will run sausage sizzles and activities to make it the first of the fun cricket evenings, and to add a party feel just prior to Christmas.