After a tragic week for the cricket community following the untimely passing of young cricketer Ben from the Ferntree Gully Cricket Club, only the senior men’s teams took to the field this week.
The club came together to support one another, honouring Ben’s memory with a moment of silence before play commenced.
The Lusatia Park First XI faced off against Eastfield at home.
Batting first, 200 plus would have been a defendable score but the First XI were bowled out for 144, Adam Dunn was the top contributor with his best innings so far this season with 48, but an unfortunate run out brought upon his dismissal while Tim Diggins made 37.
Eastfield chased down the target, securing victory in the 29th over.
Eastfield approached the chase confidently, taking advantage of some loose deliveries early on.
Lusatia Park bowlers fought hard to make inroads, picking up a couple of wickets courtesy of Adam and Angus Gelly to keep the contest alive.
However, Eastfield batsmen maintained composure and steadily accumulated runs.
While the result didn’t go our way, the team showed glimpses of promise and determination.
The First XI will be eager to regroup and work on building stronger partnerships ahead of their next game against Kilsyth.
The Second XI travelled to Benson Park to take on Eastfield.
After Eastfield won the toss and sent us in to bat, the openers didn’t trouble Eastfield too much with both the Deans going early. In came young Flynn Pritchard and Matt McConnell to settle the innings, putting on a 60-run partnership.
Following on from his good knock in the T20 on Tuesday, Andy Vandervlugt came to the crease for a quick-fire 51 off 41 deliveries.
In the end, Eastfield bowled us out for 189.
The Lusatia Park bowlers struck early, with Jacob Frankovic removing the opener to set the tone.
Captain Steve Morgan led from the front, delivering a standout spell of 5/18 from his eight overs.
The bowling unit maintained relentless pressure, eventually dismissing Eastfield for 146 and claiming the points.
The Third XI also travelled this week to take on Warranwood.
With a mixture of youth and experience, the challenge was on for the Thirds.
The team was sent in to bat by the opposition, with Paul Broussard and Caitlyn Parker leading the team.
Runs were hard to come by; however, they persevered, putting on an opening partnership of 128 before Caitlyn was dismissed by a direct hit run out on 36.
Dan Madsen joined Paul at the crease to complete the innings with a handy 22 not out.
Paul ended up batting the entire innings and was bowled on the final delivery, setting Warranwood a target of 181.
Sharing the load among the bowling attack, Lusatia Park utilised 10 bowlers during Warranwood’s chase.
Matching his efforts with the bat, Paul Broussard bowled superbly to claim three wickets, two of which came from sharp stumpings by Bill Ahmad.
The bowlers maintained pressure throughout, but Warranwood managed to surpass our total with just two balls remaining.
The Third XI showed great composure under pressure and will be keen to carry this momentum into their next game.
All teams will be back on the park next week, including our Fourth XI side in the shortened competition.
