Second XI:
With the wet and wild weather seeing our Firsts and Thirds abandon their matches, as well as the U14s and Women’s teams; it was great to get a full day’s play in for our Second XI.
Playing Healesville at Queens Park, we batted first, hoping to take advantage of the conditions and make it hard for them to bowl with a wet ball.
The ball held up well however, a testament to the ground being in good nick.
Opener and “Mr Consistent” Michael Dwyer was up to his usual tricks, with a bit of luck thrown in.
The entire team batted around him; facing many balls, but not scoring many runs and falling cheaply, while he made a hard earned 51 off 160 balls.
He was eventually dismissed as the ninth wicket at 9-115.
The last wicket partnership was a valuable one; Youngster Alexander Mason played a fantastic role, seeing out 28 balls against some fierce bowling, while number 11 Jackson Wright freed the arms and played some big shots, bringing the total to 157 with his 37 off 46. With the ball it was a great start, both Jai Gupta and Luke Thomas struck early, and then Jai struck again with an unplayable ball skittling Healesville’s opener.
At the conclusion of play, Healesville are 3-52.
Fourth XI:
Wickhams Road Reserve held up brilliantly in the poor weather, and our Fourth XI were also able to get on to play a full day’s cricket. Taking on Warrandyte for a second week in a row and bowling first our Fourth XI were up against it again; Paul Broussard able to take the first two, with good catches to Mason McNeill and Dale Fisher.
Ella Amore chimed in also with two quick ones of her own, and young Oscar Broussard took his first senior wicket, with the catch taken by his dad Paul.
Warrandyte ended with 141 runs from their 36 overs.
Our batting innings started positively, with Joel Pritchard and Paul Broussard getting off to a 39-run start.
Losing Joel and Paul relatively quickly, Lee Philpot set to scoring some runs, but he was playing a solo hand, with many ducks falling around him.
Lee ended with 34 runs, and our innings ended at 97, falling short once again.
U/12 and Mini-Bash
Friday nights’ games also beat the rain, with our U12s taking on Montrose at Wickhams and our Mini-Bash side taking on Hoddles Creek at Hoddles.
Our U12s scored 3-112 with many retirees, Joel Pritchard scoring 25 off his 15 including a big six.
The youngsters won the match in a tight finish with some tight bowling.
Our Mini Bash team gained valuable experience in their match, with Toby getting a good run out, and Luca scoring some great runs in front of the wicket.
