By Anthony Sequeira
The first day of cricket for 2020 in the Yarra Valley greeted players with warm conditions and a light smoke haze in the air.
However, the haze was nothing of the substance to cause interruption to the return to cricket.
After a well deserved break cricketers were right back into their stride with a series of impressive individual performances with both bat and ball.
In the YVCA’s premier grade, the DJSS, Gruyere were on the unfortunate end of a brutal display from Wandin.
Batting first, the Bulldogs were put under pressure early by Matt Tilney and Jared Carroll.
Four wickets had Wandin on the back foot and searching for someone to lead a recovery effort.
Bryce Edwards and Taylan Hall put on a useful 30 run partnership to steady the ship and at drinks, the score read 4/65.
Wandin’s formidable batting lineup flexed their muscle after the break as batsmen the whole way down the order found the boundary with freedom.
Joel Galvin cleared the fence five times in his free-flowing knock as Wandin found themselves all out in the final over for 202.
The Scorpions’ batsmen would not have known the storm they were walking into as they walked out to bat.
As they came and went it became apparent that Wandin was intent on ripping Gruyere’s batsmen to shreds.
Opening bowlers Stuart Thompson and Taylan Hall bowled unchanged to dismiss Gruyere for a paltry 46.
Yarra Junction cruised to an easy win over Healesville to start the year off on the right foot.
Max Minney and Ash Hamer were again the only two to make a useful contribution in what is a worrying trend for Healesville.
The Yarra Junction attack was led by Caleb Hrabe as the Eagles’ bowlers shared the wickets to dismiss Healesville for 119.
The Eagles had no trouble chasing down the small total.
Andrew Cowan hit a half century and the only point of resistance was Jordan Poyntons two wickets as the Eagles reached 122 in 25 overs.
In Finger Trophy, Yarra Junction continued its success against Healesville with another convincing victory.
Batting first, the Eagles had a solid start with Ray Turner and Matt Hammond putting on 29.
Tyson Gaskett joined Turner for a productive 40 run partnership before Scott Fawdry removed Gaskett.
Turner’s resolute innings of 78 not out was the backbone of the Eagles’ total of 204.
In reply, Healesville was under the pump early as the Yarra Junction openers scythed through the top order, reducing the Bloods to 4/9.
Healesville was never able to build momentum as Brad Nightingale returned to the attack to pick off the middle order and finish the innings with a five wicket haul.
Healesville’s innings finished at a disappointing 9/132.
Coldstream completed a dominant win over Wandin to start the year in style.
A batting masterclass from Ben Walsh (101) and Daniel Vaux (84) lasted a majority of the innings.
David Marshall would add some respect for Wandin as he took four late wickets and Coldstream finished 6/268.
In reply, Coldstream’s relentless bowling attack refused to give Wandin room to breath.
The side’s batsmen shared wickets and restricted Wandin to just 62 in 27 overs.
A dominant batting display saw Launching Place topple ladder leaders Woori Yallock in Raft Gold.
After a pair of early wickets, Clint Sharman and Jordan Birnie put on a 120 run partnership to take the side past drinks.
Sharman would fall short of a half century and Birnie for a well made 88.
As Andrew Van Der Vlugt walked to the crease with just over 10 overs to go, no one expected the batting blitz still to come.
Van Der Vlugt struck nine sixes and six fours against a Tigers attack with no answers.
The scene was set, only needing one run to complete a stunning century from the final ball.
Van Der Vlugt agonisingly faced a dot ball, to the dismay of spectators, to finish 99 not out, having led Launching Place to 5/285.
In reply, Woori was in trouble early as regular wickets tumbled and the Tigers found themselves 6/51.
From there, Woori recovered well but the damage was done.
Despite a half century to Dwyer and an unbeaten 43 to Dennis Dunn, Woori fell short with a respectable 203.
