2nd Grade

Midland-Guildford 8/151 (Sadik 4/29) def. Wanneroo 9/134 (Holly 33)

The season ended with a disappointing loss for the Magoos who travelled out to Lilac Hill only to watch the pitch dry for 2 hours.  Luckily there was an old man there to get the deck up to standard for a 33 over a side game, although we are not sure if he was the curator or some sort of homeless good Samaritan. WDCC won the toss and bowled, immediately Spang had the new ball on his mind, unfortunately it was not to be.  The bowling was led by Riley Holly who proved to be a handful on a moist deck taking 1/22 off his 7, well backed up by Cody Billington with 1/7 off his 4 overs.  Unfortunately for the boys, their overweight, aerodynamic swooped in and stole the wickets they deserved.  Special mention to Maf Carroll who took his first 2nd grade wicket.

Chasing 151 proved to be a little too much with Riley once again batting brilliantly but falling for 33, others chipped in but it really needed someone to take charge and guide us home. WDCC finished with 9/134 off 33 overs, falling short.

Overall some very positive signs for the 2’s going forward.  Bowling was extremely strong all year with opposition teams only surpassing 200 on a couple of occasion all year. Batting proved to be our Achilles heel all year but with our top 6 having an average age of 18 for most of the year there is some serious improvement around the corner.

4th Grade

Midland-Guildford 148 (LJ Carroll 3/19, Haddrill 3/28, Bandara 2/18) def. Wanneroo 114 (LJ Carroll 39, Quelch 28)

A day covered in grey skies did not provide much hope for either team that rocked up on the Saturday morning with the Roo Boys needing nothing less than a win to give them a finals hope. With the 15’s game being called off in the morning, the hope of playing dwindled even further until about midday when the tide changed. All of a sudden, the umpires were decided on a start time and a reduced-overs game of 40 overs per side. With another toss win from the skipper he sent midland in to bat on a horrendous batting wicket which enthused the bowlers of the Wanneroo team. With good lengths deliveries rifling past the batsman’s helmet, the tails were up from both Josh “pool cue” Quelch and Jesse “won’t stand the seam up” Haddrill. We talk about bowling in partnerships, but this bowling partnership was involved in the early run-out to dismiss the opener for not many after he took a slip on the still damp wicket. After a good start, a bowling change was invoked, with the captain Liam “Zorba” Carroll bringing himself on to take a catch off his own bowling in order to dismiss the remaining opener. The next batting partnership was a hard-fought effort to crack, with Sharm “the reverse sweep specialist” Bandara toiling away to eventually get the breakthrough. Wickets began to fall steadily from the 30th over, including another run-out from Josh Quelch, two more wickets from the Skipper to round his figures to the economic 8.0-2-19-3, Jesse Haddrill chiming in at the end with 6.5-0-28-3, and the Olympic canoeist himself; Sharm Bandara with 8.0-1-18-2. Midland-Guildford was determined all-out for 148, and the target of 149 was set for victory.

The batting innings began, and oh no. It wasn’t long (2 overs) until the first wicket fell. Unfortunately, due to some impeccable fielding by the home team, the new-fandangle changerooms at Lilac copped a beating by most of the top-to-middle order. Being 7-44, it was a scene that many wouldn’t like to see, one man that definitely didn’t like seeing this was Liam “beer-fest form” Carroll who at first tried to play himself in with Josh “long boundary isn’t that bad” Quelch then decided to channel his ball-hitting ability from a certain Sunday in recent memory and figured he’ll start scoring at a rate of knots. The partnership taking the Wanneroo hopefuls from 7-44 to over 100 in a matter of minutes with 2x 6’s from Liam Carroll and 1x 6 from Josh Quelch until the wicket of Josh Quelch fell at 104. The plan was simple, two more wickets in the shed, rotating the strike was key, just about three runs per over was the equation at the time, but it was not to be. With the ball holding up in the wicket, and the leg-spinner turning the ball prodigiously, it was almost inevitable that a wicket was forthcoming. And forthcoming it was with the Captain being dismissed caught & bowled for 39 from 35. Whilst there was hope in some, it was not to be as the number 11 was given out not much longer and Wanneroo were eventually dismissed for only 114. The rebuild was inspiring, and to have only missed out on finals by 35 runs disappointed majority of the team, but positives can be taken out of this season for the next. To have only missed out on finals by 35 runs is a big improvement from years gone by, finals hopes and the premise of a flag in the next few seasons for a more distinguished Fourth Grade side may be more promising given moments from the season gone by. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Match Report – Round 5

Wanneroo 154 (Crafford 41, Nicholls 26*) def. Subiaco-Floreat 7/111 (Jesani 2/21)

We welcomed Subi Floreat to Kingsway who won the toss and asked us to bat on a pitch that again looked healthy for runs. Another tentative start from our openers provided only a few runs before Tene and Shayna applied some stability. Shayna threatened to build another innings but missed out alongside Eva who also stuck around for several overs. Tene continued to compile on the runs and delivered a fine innings of 41 from 37 balls. Other contributions were much more consistent than previous weeks, Ella 18, Mathilda 16, Emilie 26 & Grace 11 provided much needed partnerships for us to post a healthier final total of 154. What remained to be seen was how we would now look to defend against a more robust total.

In summary our bowling stood up to the test although we were made to work for every wicket through some useful partnerships that Subi pulled together. C Bekker 36 from 50 an K Johnson 19 from 70 provided the backbone to their innings. Notable bowling displays again returned pleasing figures, our opening pair of Emma and Emilie sharing 5 overs apiece and allowing Subi just 15 runs between them.  8 over allocations went via Ella 1/21 & Shayna 2/21 with useful cameos from Erin 1/1 and Talia 0/11 applying more pressure seeing Subi fall well short on 7/111. Wickets were aided with some high quality catching, ground fielding and run outs although some fielding was on occasions was more basic. However toil and graft over a full 40 overs provided a valuable test for our Female Roo’s, such a test may return what is required to perform against Midland Guildford in the Youth Premier League 40 over Grand Final.

Match Report – Grand Final

Wanneroo 91 (Crafford 36) def. by Midland-Guildford 9/92 (Stewart 3/15, Harvey 2/20, Nicholls 2/24) 

Winning the toss we chose to bat and our start which had stuttered in the 40 over comp all season got off to a great start. At 1/50 we looked rosy with Tene looking confident scoring 36 from 34 balls. Talia patiently contributed 15 and departed when the score was on 59, we had lost 3 and 4 cheaply and our middle order this time stuttered with from numbers 3 to 11, all reaching single figures only. It was light even by our standards and would take a monumental effort to defend.

Focused and together in the field we set about our work with Emma and Emilie opening in their usual fashion bowling tightly and with good line and length. Emilie snagged their opener trapped in front when the score was just 1/2. A Midland partnership began reaching 34 and with an element of control on the game. We needed to stem the flow of runs but more importantly take wickets. Shayna and Ella did both and also bowling their full allocation of 8 overs, Shayna 1/8 and Ella 3/15. At 7/78 Midland didn’t look so in control and the game really could have gone either way. It’s at this point that all those hours spent together pays off, the chat in the field, the supporting, the nods and winks to each other are what make the bond so special. Emma Harvey also bowling her full 8 returned 2/20 and we were within a whisker of pulling off a fantastic win. I McKeon was stubborn to the end 23 from 53 balls but she took on the arm of Josie Beckett at her peril and came off second best. Watching Midland bat at the end was not pretty but effective. The 38^th over produced the winning run for Midland, what happened next for Wanneroo again tapped into the bond that has been building all season, it was about the squad at that point looking out for one another and sharing loss and learning from it. I have every confidence that come next season it will make Wanneroo 17’s stronger and more hungry to finish it off when the opportunity presents itself.

1st Grade  

Perth 286 (Richards 4/17, Poulter 2/43, O’Day 2/56) def. Wanneroo 66

The 1s travelled to the home of cricket to take on Perth in a big clash with 2nd playing 4th. Perth won the toss and had a bat with the message of the day being to go out and enjoy the WACA. The debutant, Michael “Moogs” O’Day got things going early, wrong dogging the opening pair within a couple of overs before the hard graft kicked in.

Was a tough toil for the boys with Perth running their luck with edges falling short, going over the top or chances being missed. Matthew “Cold and Flu” Dzozdos very stiff with edges constantly falling short (speed related). Wickets kind of gradually fell as Perth were 5 for 150 after “The Big Chicken” Lachlan Poulter grabbed a couple to spark some life into the Roos. The boys cracked in without luck until Rob “Retired from Cricket” Richards decided to extract some life out of the wicket which none of the other fast bowlers could do. Perth collapsed at the end of the day for 286 with “Cho” grabbing a sneaky 4fa in his final game.

This left a sneaky 11 overs for the lads at the end of the day to bat out. Unfortunately, some high quality fast bowling left the boys in trouble at 4/20 at stumps with Connor Spangenberg holding tough in his second game.

There was a sense of optimism as the group rolled up Sunday. Unfortunately, this was wiped very quickly as Perth continued on from the previous evening’s events rolling through the Wanneroo bats. Jimmy “Box Lid Pig” Newnham was the pick of the bats with 22 but with 35mins left till lunch the optimism picked up as Covid had struck again. You could hear the roar around the stadium, especially from the “SACA Cowboy” Kelvin Smith, who thought he was off the tools for the week. Unfortunately once again, the bubble was popped by Perth with O’Day 18no and the boys rolled for 66.

Not the result the group was after as things just didn’t go their way. Stay safe everyone, let’s keep the train rolling when we all hit the track in the very near future.

2^nd Grade

Wanneroo 184 (Holly 42, Varsani 32, Douglas 25) drew Perth 2/98 (Millar 2/31)

The Two’s boys won the toss and batted on Kingsway 2. We got off to a steady enough start, before losing wickets fairly consistently. With no real standout performer, a lot of starts which we’ll be looking to improve on. We were eventually bowled out for 184. With several overs to bowl on day 1, we made one early inroad with big Leeroy getting one in his first over.

We came back the next day and fought well to have Perth 2-98 at lunch when the game was abandoned. Shared points for the twos.

3^rd Grade

Perth 4/106 def. Wanneroo 104 (Harris 25, McDonald 25)

It was a beautiful day at Fletcher Park as skipper Smudge won the toss against Perth and elected to bat. A little bit of added excitement was added to proceedings with a live-stream camera set-up in anticipation of a high class 3^rd grade cricket match against the undefeated Perth.

As the game got underway we unfortunately lost debutant Keagan early but Jack “old” McDonald and Tim “lofted drive” Harris recovered, and then attacked, getting us to 1-62. Unfortunately with this launching pad set we could not capitalise. Tim got out trying to hurry up the run rate and Michael “close the gate” Kelsey followed soon after for 0.  After that you can’t really describe it as anything else other than a classic batting collapse with no-one else making 20 against a capable Perth attack. Highly disappointing result, all out for 104.

Needing early wickets to have a chance Adam ‘Could-you-not-interrupt-me-while-I’m-speaking’ Smudge and the John Lloyd Jnr. opened the bowling, as Perth made their intentions clear immediately playing some extravagant shots. Smudge bowled well and took the first wicket, well caught just off camera. Youngster Cody “Rocket League” Billington collected a wicket and young Matt “WACA” Carroll collecting his first 3rd grade wicket thanks to a beautiful stumping by Tim.  However the pick of the bowlers was probably John “slips” Walter. He ended up with only the 1 wicket but had several hard chances dropped. Perth comfortably chasing down the runs in the 24th over and Winning by 6 wickets.

4th Grade

Wanneroo 149 (Quelch 61) def, by Perth 4/150

This week the roos were back home for the last one dayer of the season against Perth. Wanneroo lost the toss and were sent into bat on what looked like a good deck. After losing an opener in the first over, a top order batting collapse was to follow until Jayden “WACA Expert” Rae steadied the middle order. Some more wickets were to fall until Josh Quelch and Sharn Bandara posted a tenth wicket stand of 40 runs which helped the boys get to 149, Quelchy earning himself a 60 in the process.

Perth’s innings started off strong until the debutant Owen Brown took the first wicket for the innings. Perth continued with skilful batting until some magic in the field by Josh Quelch broke things open again. Ultimately Perth chased down the target of 150 quite easily, winning the game by 6 wickets.

Seventeens Men

Perth 6/148 def. Wanneroo 8/90 (JR Maraldo 38)

Maraldo did ok with the blade. No further comments.

Fifteens Men

Wanneroo 9/109 def by Perth 7/116 (O Brown 2/15, Marinovich 2/26)

Winning the toss our bowlers led by O Brown 2/15 R Walker 1/16 and J Marinovich 2 wickets held Perth well however with catches and run outs missed Perth were able to reach 116 with cleaver batting and putting pressure on the field.

Our chase started well with B Holly 19 (21) however we couldn’t maintain partnerships which hurt our run rate in return. To their credit Perth’s fielding was very good preventing strike from being turned over. Late order hitting from R Walker 20 (23) O Brown 16 (6) and B Carmignani 12 (6) wasn’t enough to reach the target needed.

1st Grade  

Claremont-Nedlands 4/208 (Eaton 2/51) def. Wanneroo 9/207 (Richards 65, Newnham 50)

The Ones rocked up to Cresswell to take on Claremont-Nedlands in a top of the table clash. The day started well with the Roos winning the toss and electing to bat first on a good looking wicket. The game began with a good contest between bat and ball. At 2-61, James Newnham (50) joined Rob Richards (65) at the crease, the pair putting on 94 to put the Roos into a strong position. From there however the innings went downhill with the Roos losing 7-35. Wanneroo ended up on 9-207 at the end of the 50 overs.

Needing early wickets, the Roos started well with the new 21 year old Jordan Slattery finding Whiteakers edge. From there unfortunately the Tigers built a strong partnership for the second wicket which proved to be the difference. The Roos bowled without luck. The tigers eventually ran out winners chasing the target 4 down with 3 and a half overs left. The Roos will be looking to bounce back next week against Rockingham-Mandurah at home.

2nd Grade  

WDCC 6/173 (Spangenberg 40, Slattery 36, Farrant 30*) def. CNCC 172 (Ardagh 2/26, Millar 2/27, Sadik 2/32, O’Day 2/35)

Round 9 saw Claremont-Nedlands venture out of the Golden Triangle to take on the might of Roos 2’s.  Based on their warm up starting at 8.30am we can only assume they were excited to escape the harsh critique of their Mummy’s and Daddy’s after a long Christmas break.

Claremont won the toss and threw us in on a deck that surprisingly looked to offer something for the seam bowlers for the first time this season.  This had Big Leeroy salivating and he proceeded to put on swing bowling clinic with the new ball for the large crowd of 5 after a first over mishap! He was well backed up by Michael ‘Son of Googs’ O’Day who banked his weekly 2fa.  As usual the bowling from the 2’s was exceptional barring 15 wides from the skip.  A special mention to Michael ‘Be Ready When I’m Ready’ Ardagh who absolutely closed the door on any prospect of a decent CNCC total putting the clamps on with 2/26 late in the innings. 173 to chase for the win.

Jacob Bonner and Mitch Slattery proceeded to get us off to a slow but solid start putting on 38 for the first wicket until the Claremont spinners really put the clamps on, on what was turning out to be a difficult deck to score off.  Connor Spangenberg battled away for 40 before being dismissed by an excellent caught and bowled with Slattery run out again after a well-made 36.  From there on the nerves started to set in, with the required run rate getting up to 7 an over in the 45th over.  Thankfully Kealey ‘The finisher’ Farrant combined with a brilliant cameo from Michael O’Day to ice the game in the last over of the day.

Big win, the 2’s sitting in equal 3rd.  All business from here on.

3rd Grade

Claremont-Nedlands 154 (Smith 4/21, Fryer 2/18) v Wanneroo 187 (McDonald 61)

On a warm afternoon at Melvista things started well when Adam came over and told us that we are batting, on a deck that looked a treat. After losing Tim in the first over things went very positive to, oh no. Luckily we have a Kelsey and a McDonald to steady and steer the ship. Together putting on a show for a classy 49 run partnership until Claremont saw the back of Kelso after a sharp piece of fielding which left Kelsey short of his ground. Another little partnership of 39 was formed between Forssman and McDonald until Darcy was adjudged by the umpire to have impeded the ball from hitting the stumps by using his pad for a well-made 18. The McDonald show continued as the runs continued to flow until we lost another wicket of third grade debutant Kody. With the scores 4/101 the roos were looking good to make a decent and respectable score. Harder done than said as Mr McDonald departed for a well-made 61 and wickets then seemed to fall consistently as we lost Fryer, Maraldo and Smith in pretty quick succession. A lot is now left on the last few batsman. With Jaxon deciding to turn on the four burner matador BBQ the score fell to 9/154. A last stand of 33 gave the roo boys a score of 187 after being rolled in 44 overs.

With the scorebooks a mess courtesy Darcy and Kelso, the roos went out to have a field. Things started well with another fiery spell from Donny and Smudge, which led to an early wicket and Pujara-esque strike rates. The rebuild was on for Claremont until their number three chopped on for 20. Things seemed to flow for Wanneroo, never really letting that quick flow of runs happen which Claremont would have been looking for. Containment and pressure bowling had Claremont 4/100 after 30 odd overs. Things kept looking more and more positive and thanks to a top-3 catch by Kelsey, Dumb running by batsman and dot ball pressure, roos had them 7/141. With the run rate climbing to a freakishly high number captain Adam Smith decided he wanted a go at a hattrick, but not prevailing despite Donavinn’s enthusiasm. Wanneroo ended up rolling Claremont with one ball to spare to beat them by 33 Runs.

4th Grade

Wanneroo 168 (Montgomery 45, Hardiman 32) def. by Claremont-Nedlands 5/172 (Bandara 2/30)

The 4ths were looking to start the second half of the season in a positive manner against the boys from Claremont Nedlands. After inspecting the pitch which looked like a seamer’s dream the boys unfortunately lost the toss and were sent in to bat. The openers Tom and Yusuf were up for the task but unfortunately both falling cheaply while the debutant Keagan stepped up and took Claremont’s Bowling attack around the park with a very impressive 45. Coming back for the second half of the season Nic “Can I have the power surge?” Santich came in also putting the Claremont’s Bowling attack around the park and posted a very convincing 20 with 3 boundaries. Later during the innings some very impressive pinch hitting from Alex and excellent running support from Matt “The better” Carroll posted a very handy late innings partnership with Alex posting 32 which brought the 4th to a competitive total of 168.

The 4th took to the field with the task of defending the total of 168 but unfortunately the innings started with losing one the strike bowlers Alex due to a shoulder injury, which meant that Sam took over the duties with the new duke alongside with Josh Q. The 4th got off to a flyer having the Claremont Batters 2/17 with both Josh and Sam taking care of the openers. Some resistance from the Claremont batters took a little bit of momentum from the 4th. Spin twins Sharma and Matt “The better Brother” were the pick of the bowlers with both challenging the Claremont Batters with unplayable deliveries with Sharma ending up with 2/30 and Matt ending up with 1/17. But unfortunately, there were not enough runs posted on the board which Claremont comfortably chased down with 2 overs to spare.

Seventeens Men

Claremont-Nedlands 3/110 (Billington 2/16) def. Wanneroo 4/108 (Maraldo 57, Montgomery 35)

The first round of the T20s arrive and the roos were 3 from 6 going into the game. After winning yet another toss, Captain Dargie decided to bat first. An early wicket was lost which then brought Jack Maraldo to the crease, Joining Keagan Montgomery. The two paired up for an 88 run stand, Maraldo with 57 and Montgomery with 35, both innings including large sixes. Wanneroo batted out the full 20 overs ending up with 4-108

The Roo boys got their bowling innings off to a flyer with Cody “The Goat” Billington taking a wicket with the first ball of the innings and then another wicket three balls later caused by some good fielding from Kane Pearce. Claremont finished off their innings early with some skilful batting from their number 3, 4, and 5 batsmen, along with some undisciplined bowling by the Roos which helped Claremont win the game early from only 15.1 overs. Finishing 3-110. Wanneroo conclude the match 3 from 7 games, optimistic about a must win game against the Mariners the coming game.

Fifteens Men

Wanneroo 38 def. by Claremont-Nedlands 7/39 (O’Shea 2/18)

Claremont Nedlands won toss and sent Wanneroo into bat. Looking to take the ascendency early, Wanneroo got off to a bad start losing early wickets. From there the team struggled to consolidate after some real good bowling and fielding from the opposition, who were relentless in keeping the pressure on. Wanneroo could only manage a total of 38 with Riley Gillespie top scoring with 17 no.

In return Claremont (7/39  15.3 overs) made hard work of the modest target, also due to some great bowling and fielding from Wanneroo, led by Jake O’Shea 3:3 overs 2/18, Matt Carroll 4 overs 1/3, Tarun Jessani 3 overs 1/8 and Reece Walker 4 overs 0/8.

It wasn’t the greatest start to the T20’s for Wanneroo with plenty areas to improve on, however 1 positive was that they never gave up during their fielding innings.

U/17 Female 40

Wanneroo 114 (Jesani 69) def. South Perth 59 (Nicholls 3/13, Harvey 2/1, Stewart 2/5)

Cresswell Park offered an unusual scenario as it was billed as our home game. Winning the toss we chose with confidence to bat and our intent was to bat long. A new opening partnership of Talia and Ella provided a steady start but we lost Talia early and Ella a while later with the score on 26. What followed added further pressure with us again not adapting to spin bowling and losing our middle order. Thankfully we were provided with a fine example of how to build an innings and adapt to the match situation by Shayna. Shayna was eventually dismissed for 69 having come in when the score was just 14, she batted until the 36th over and faced nearly 17 overs herself.  Along the way Shayna was well supported by Grace and Breanna, both players showed a focus, courage and how to value your wicket. Our innings ended on 114 which felt and looked a bit light.

We have defended low totals before and again we were on our game and bowled as we should do with intent and in partnerships. Some areas still needed some attention with more wides than we would like but as a collective bowling unit we were strong. Wickets were shared Emilie 3, Emma and Ella 2 each and Talia, Kristin and Erin 1 apiece; importantly economy from all was excellent with us giving very little away.

Game management and seeing a game out is an important part of Premier Cricket and against South Perth we achieved this. We remain on the road next week travelling to Melville, another strong bowling display coupled with a much stronger batting display could provide an interesting outcome!

 Fourteens Men

Wanneroo Districts 7/151 (Wooden 49*, Lucas 29) def. Midland-Guildford 107 (Rotham 3/9, Cavanagh 2/28)

Thirteens Men

Wanneroo 5/106 (Deckert 38*) def. by Midland-Guildford 4/158

Congratulations to the four WDCC players of 24 who have been selected in an U15 Invitational Game following the State Talent Carnival in December.

The game will be played at the WACA on the 17^th January.

• Owen Brown
• Tyler Brown
• Matt Carroll
• Blake Holly

Good luck boys!

Welcome to 2021 folks. Just as we are about to get cracking into a competitive back half of the season let’s first sit back and enjoy some cracking wraps from the last round prior to Christmas, where the boys were only a Kingsway 2 away from a third Golden Roo of the season.

1st Grade  

Wanneroo 5/235 (Newnham 121*, Millar 59) def. Joondalup 220 (Smith 3/47, Billington 2/23, Eaton 2/34, Millar 2/35)

The Roos lost the toss and were sent out to field on a sneaky hot day for the last game of the calendar year against Joondalup. It didn’t take long for the Roos to get underway with Doz taking a wicket in the first over of the day. From then on the Roos toiled away throughout the day before the spin trio and Slug Eaton took wickets consistently to bowl Joondalup out for 235.

With 20 overs left in the day the Roos faced a tricky period and finished the day 4/65 with Kyle ‘Chumtown’ Millar and Jimmy ‘Melbourne Football Club’ Newnham not out overnight. The next week the Roos got through a tricky period early with the boys going to chumtown throughout the first session and remaining 4 down. Kyle Millar delighting the crowd with his audible ‘no run’ yells from the centre. After lunch, the runs began to flow with Kyle bringing up his 50 before getting out for 59 and Jimmy, Jimmy , Jimmy bringing up his first WDCC 100 before then getting the boys over the line, finishing unbeaten on 121*.

2nd Grade  

Joondalup 151 (Sadik 4/30, Quelch 2/39) def by Wanneroo 199 (Farrant 50*, Spangenberg 38, Sadik 33)

Round 8 saw the Scooby Doos take on Joondalup at Illuka. After rumours circulated of a dispute between curator and Club Captain the week prior, we were optimistic there might be some life in the deck. That optimism faded quicker than a pair of black bonds on a summers day, with the wicket resembling a recently cured slab from Cockburn Cement. Nevertheless, we lost the toss and were in for a bowl. Our bowlers bowled exceptionally well given the lack of life in the wicket, with Leeroy “will he stay on the park?” Millar and Jordan “Plums” Slattery restricting JO to bugger all early on. Chris “hates an expensive Avocado” Quelch kicked us off with two from two, then bowled one of the worst hat trick balls you’ll see….but hey, happens to the best of us. Along with Michael “Tell us another story” O’Day, they both kept the heat on the opposition and were in an ordinary position come lunch. The People’s Skipper came on post-lunch, bowled the session and finished with figures of 4 for not many, an unbelievable result given he had little to no sleep overnight (kids eh). We ended up rolling JO for 151 halfway through the last session.

Batting started well with Bonner and Slats opening up. Slats smoking a couple of lovely Michael Hussey like cover drives, leaving Senior Slats very firm indeed as we headed to stumps on Day 1. Unfortunately Bonner hit the only one that moved all day, and left us with Slats and “Bunnings Spangs” overnight.

Day two started in interesting fashion, with the changerooms succumbing to a fire the night before. Speculations were running wild, however we have it on good authority that the culprit just wanted “a bit of airflow” in the rooms, given they were like a summers day in Mumbai the previous week.

As the batsmen went to work again and were travelling well for a while until Spangs sent Mitch (29) on his way with a brand new Weber Q and questioning whether the umpire had superior 20:20 vision given he was run out by “an inch”.

Spangs (38) whacked a couple more and then edged one to gully, with another couple wickets falling cheaply and leaving the away team a little nervous needing another 60 with 4 wickets in hand. But once again, the People’s Skipper came to the party, and with Keeley “Do you know I study law?” Farrant put on a match saving partnership and got us to within 15 runs. Keeley ended up notching up his second 50 for the season, we got the runs and called it a day at tea.

A solid win before Xmas leaving the 2’s a bees you know what outside the 6, and 4 points from third position. Bring on 2021!

3rd Grade

Wanneroo 187 (Lloyd 49, McDonald 26) def. by Joondalup 6/189 (Lloyd 2/23, Fryer 2/63)

Day One saw a modest start to the batting having only lost one wicket at Lunch. But after losing a quick few after the break Jack Mcdonald went about his work, striking boundaries and putting the pressure back on the opposition. However despite the impressive start the top order couldn’t find that big score as the Roo’s went to Tea 5 down. Joondalup after the break would look to continue their late session success, but Adam Smith got in their way, doing his usual and picking up some handy runs. However it wasn’t until the model himself Jaxon Lylod came to the crease that the tables did turn. Jaxon whipped and flailed at everything in his zone like a Rashid Khan Energiser bunny. A 50, not to mention a proud dad moment, was well and truly on the cards, but in typical Jaxon style he settled for 49 instead.

The Roo’s ending the Day on a competitive 187, a score definitely defendable with the fierce 3s bowling attack.

Day Two saw not just a hot day, but a fiery spell from Donny ‘is he a bowler this week?’ Fryer. Donny seemingly having the ball on a string early in the day, easily making the top order look silly. Donny grabbing 2 early wickets in a row, meaning the hat trick ball was on. A red hot Donny and slips packed eagerly waiting for the new batters impending demise. A full ball swinging away… catches the outside edge… heading towards third slip and…. dropped. A tough chance going down along with Donny’s hatrick. But at least he gets free drinks til the end of the season.

The chances didn’t stop coming however, but some bad luck and poor fielding saw them fly through. Whilst the batter’s didn’t look flash thanks to some great bowling, the runs whilst not pretty kept ticking along and brought Joondalup into the game.

A wicket on the final ball off the session saw Joondalup 4 wickets down for 112 at lunch, a critical 2nd session was to follow. But Joondalup would own the 2nd session only losing one wicket and within striking distance going into the last session. Despite 2 quick wickets, not enough runs were on the board, with Joondalup going over the line 6 down. A well fought game with some good bowling not being rewarded, with notable efforts from Donny and Jaxon with 2 wickets each. A solid first part of the year and well deserved break.

4th Grade

Joondalup 95 (Quelch 3/20, Russell 3/20, Carroll 2/18) and 5/67 (Billington 2/2) def. by Wanneroo 4/220 (Kelsey 93, Blythman 56, Mulcahy 39)

On a warm day at Iluka Sports Complex at approximately 12:00, it was decided that the Roo boys were to be bowling as Liam “tosser” Carroll decided he’d like to win a toss. It was an economical start on Iluka 2 with Matthew “John” Russell and Josh “Pool Cue” Quelch taking part in some tremendous partnership bowling, Josh Quelch coming away with 2 wickets in his opening spell. There must’ve been something in the air that day as there were a plethora of dubious LBW shouts and/or caught behinds not given by the umpire on the day, none more so than that off of Jared “Appeal If It Goes To Second” Maunder. But with the umpire somewhat against us and the warmer conditions at Iluka, the Roo Train was steaming along as Codi “Attitude” Billington decided to just casually bowl what is touted to be the 4th Grade ball of the century to remove yet another Joondalup scalp before tea, heading into the clubrooms requiring only one more Joondalup wicket. Coming back out onto the pitch only needing one wicket, Jared Maunder removed the tail-ender just 15 balls after the resumption of play. The Joondalup innings was ended having made only 95 runs.

The umpire advised Wanneroo that there would be 25 overs bowled to play out the rest of the day, a task that openers Tom “No Knees” Blythman and Michael “Hates being NO Overnight” Kelsey were very much up to. It was only day one but the tone was set very early, as both openers put on a partnership of 71 in that 25 overs, with Tom Blythman and Michael Kelsey making 17 and 48 respectively after a boundary hitting masterclass from Michael himself.

Coming back on day 2, there definitely was something in the air that day, smoky remnants of Joondalup’s burnt down change rooms, almost reminiscent of their barring efforts the week prior. But with no proper change rooms, the mighty Fourth Grade side persevered hitting the winning runs within the first session. Now this next part may be hard for some to read, but for some it may be quite the opposite. Tom Blythman and Michael Kelsey are both playing their game nicely, accelerating exquisitely after securing the win in order to chase down the outright win, showing no signs of getting out and a few shots later, all of a sudden Michael “I’ll Guide It Through Gully Even Though It’s Stacked” Kelsey finds himself on 93. The off spinner is bowling from the Northern end, the man on 93 is looking to make it into triple figures, the ball leaves the bowlers hand towards Michael, looking to play the ball through the offside, he manages to chop the ball onto his own stumps, sadly being the first dismissal of the day on an unfortunate 93. A moment’s silence was taken, until Kodi “Don’t Wanna Hit Into The Wind” Mulcahy came out and decided to take Joondalup downtown and smash them all over the park, racing to 39 with 1 six (hit into the wind) and 5 fours. Quietly in the background of this innings, Tom Blythman was playing the game he knows and decides he’d like to notch up his maiden Fourth Grade half-century, ending his day on 56. It got to the 54th over of the Wanneroo innings where Liam Carroll decided to declare with a 120-run lead.

Wanneroo went in to bowl hoping to give it back to the Joondalup side that had been so dominant in Fourth Grade for many seasons gone by. Requiring 10 wickets and not caring about runs, some very aggressive fields were set, some including a short leg and others a silly mid-off. Matthew Russell almost floating in with a gale force wind behind his back provided some hope before tea by taking an early wicket. Once again, the umpire made decisions that didn’t go down too well with the fielding side but this time he had the smoky after-taste lingering in the air to blame for his lack of judgement. But that didn’t stop Codi “Really Just A Lot Of Attitude” Billington decided to bounce out the Joondalup batsmen, removing one with a bouncer that found itself caught somewhat ordinarily at fine-leg by Jared Maunder and then sending another one off with what can only be assumed as concussion after getting hit on the helmet within his first few balls faced. Unfortunately an outright win wasn’t to be for Wanneroo, only taking 5 wickets by the end of the day, however the main allotment of points were secured which is more important and sets the Fourth Grade side up for a promising finals run.

1st Grade  

Wanneroo 193 (Smith 76, Richards 69) and 2/97 (Smith 40, Holly 30*) def. Bayswater-Morley 127 (Poulter 4/34, Eaton 3/27, Smith 2/5)

The 1’s batted first on a fresh Kingsway 1 deck on what looked to be a good batting day for the Roos. However some early trouble showed with the wicket of Riley Holly in the 3rd over, however the boys steadied with a 137 run partnership between Kelvin ‘Kelvo’ Smith (76) and Richo Man Richards (69). Kelvins wicket at 2/151 brought a steady flow to the falling of wickets with a collapse of 9/42. Despite a strong start the boys found themselves all out for 193 and in the field just after tea. Top scorers being Richo and Kelv.

The 1s bowlers looked to claim a couple of wickets before the end of the days play, ultimately claiming 2 at the hand of Doz (M. Dzodzos) and Slug (C. Eaton) before the end of day 1 with Bayswater at 2/71 and acting as if victory was already theirs.

Come day 2 and with dryness the theme of the new day’s play Doz did just that securing an end and toiling into the breeze. Lachy ‘Bowled L. Poulters’ Poulters claiming 2 wickets in his opening spell as a result of pressure from the other end. Following some sanitary controversy thanks to Delba being unable to break old habits of shining the ball with intent, Bayswater again seemed to steady the ship. A disciplined spell from the Slug alongside the left handed Tim Bresnan (Doz) saw the end of ex Roos skipper C. Smith, the game in the balance with Bayswater at 5/110. Enter golden arm Kelvin Smith, with W.W to start his second over – absolute scenes with Bayswater now 7/114. Next over C Eaton strikes, 8/114. Leading into lunch the Roos had taken 4/4, the game well and truly back in their grasp. After lunch Poults started up and with the ball showing hints of reverse swing (and with some mid-off coaching from Doz) he claimed the final two, both bowled. A come from behind victory with a dominant bowling display from the left arm cartel + Kelvin was achieved. Poulter – 4/34 Eaton – 3/27

With game time still left the boys batted again and after an early wicket Riley Holly and Kelvin Smith batted until just before drinks. With the wicket of Kelvin, Delba came to the crease and along with Riley steadied until tea when game was called, followed by the loudest song of the season. A fantastic win from the boys.

2nd Grade  

Bayswater-Morley 244 (O’Day 4/65, Slattery 3/30, Jessani 2/45) and 2/194 (O’Day 2/45)      def. Wanneroo 144 (Spangenberg 49)

‘The magoos were off to Hillcrest coming off 3 wins in a row. After losing the toss, we were far from disappointed when asked to bowl on what looked like a deceivingly spicy pitch. It didn’t take long for Jordan ‘smaller steak’ Slattery to make inroads in the Baysie top order taking 2 wickets in his first 2 overs. He was supported by Michael ‘Mooga’ O’Day who also took an early wicket. From then on, the wicket flattened out and Baysie were able to string together partnerships and some late hitting helped them reach a total of 244. O’Day who finished with 4 and Slattery with 3 were the pick of the bowlers. We finished the day at 1/57 with Tim ‘Norman’ Harris falling before the close of play.

Needing only 188 more runs, we got off to a steady start in the second week but as Jacob ‘quickest of the slow people’ Bonner fell, what followed was an embarrassing collapse with the 2s losing 9/85 before the end of the first session. Connor ‘Kumar Spangakkara’ Spangenberg being the only batter to pass 25 with a well-made 49. Baysie then batted until just past tea finishing 2/194. A disappointing performance from the 2s batting with the team looking forward to bounce back against Joondalup next week

3rd Grade

Wanneroo 259 (Fryer 153*, Smith 35) tied Bayswater-Morley 259 (Smith 3/51, Forssman 3/51)

After a convincing win against University, the third grade looked to continue the momentum against a strong Bayswater-Morley side. The day started off on the right direction with Skipper Adam winning the toss and electing to bat on what looked like a beautiful deck on a beautiful day. Yusuf and third grade debutant Sam ‘vroom vroom’ Williams looked for a steady start, pushing through the first session wicketless. However a mild batting collapse occurred with only Sam posting a solid 21 for the top order batsman.

However, at 7/95 this just brought the two experienced campaigners Donavinn and Adam together who brought the boys back into the game posting an impressive 8th wicket partnership of 130 runs. Adam ‘batting award’ Smith posting a skippers knock of 35. Donavinn Fryer then did a madness, continuing the onslaught and bashing an exhausted, defeated bowling attack all over the park. An excellent team saving knock, the Don finishing the day carrying his bat off the field with a very impressive 153*, leading the team to 259.

Returning to the next week, the boys looked to defend the mammoth total of 260 but wickets were hard to come by as multiple opportunities were not taken from ball 1. With some class bowling from Donny and Adam it was a matter of time until wickets fell, with Adam eventually trapping both opening batters and snicking up the number three batman sending some momentum towards the Wanneroo camp.

With some resistance from the Bears middle order batsmen, leading team-spinner Darcy took 3 crucial wickets in the middle and along with a brilliant direct hit run-out from Sam Williams Wanneroo kept themselves in the hunt. With all results still possible, John Walter and Donavinn formed a restricting partnership, taking one wicket each and squeezing the runs. The game came down to the wire with the Bears needing 4 to win in the final over. After the earlier heroic run-out normal service returned for Sam in the field, and a tense final over led to Bayswater needing one run off the last ball of the game. In absolute chaotic scenes where half the field sans the umpires thought a catch had been taken, ultimately Yusuf “throw the f*cking ball” Zain took the last wicket with a close run out ending the match in a tie.

Good, tough cricket against a strong opposition we will probably see again this year. Tough result to accept but as everyone keeps telling me, ‘it’s better than a loss’.

4th Grade

Bayswater-Morley 8/260 (M Carroll 4/40, Russell 2/32) def. Wanneroo 195 (McDonald 68, Maraldo 54)

This week the 4th grade roo boys were sent out to Hillcrest to take on the Bears. After losing the toss and being sent in to field, the newly crowned opening batsman Matt Russel and Josh Quelch got things started with the ball. Bayswater got off to a steady start seeing off the new Kookaburra, only losing two wickets until young Matt Carroll on debut was handed the ball. Maff took 4 wickets and was denied an obvious 5th and was the pick of the bowlers with 4-40. Bayswater declared 8d-260 witch gave them 4 overs bowling at the Wanneroo batsmen, the two openers put on a 66 run stand with Jack Maraldo hitting himself a 54 and Matty Russell with 21. The middle order ship was steadied with Jack McDonald who hit a handy 68 and almost batted out the rest of the innings. Lower scores from the rest of the batting team which resulted in Wanneroo being unable to get over the line in the end, being bowled out 10-195.

Roos T20

Wanneroo 3/147 (Smith 59, Birt 55*) def. University 6/145 (Eaton 3/23)

In the second T20 the Roos came up against last year’s runners-up University. Bowling the first the Roos got off to a shaky start with University cruising at 0/73 before the first wicket fell including an aggressive first ball from Michael (Moogs) O’Day. However a late innings squeeze with some good bowling in a return after the first over from Moogs, as well as Ards, Slug and Kelvin all taking middle-late innings wickets and keeping University to 145 off their 20 overs (could’ve been 5 less if I had working hamstrings). C. Eaton with 3 and 1 each for Poults, Ards and Kelvin.

Delba and Kelvin opened up the run chase with all signs of first ball bad omens for Kelvin seeming to disappear with 59 off 53 balls. With the wickets of Delba and the Box lid (Jimmy Newnham) at the other end Travis Birt entered the crease with his new theme song. With a few large sixes and a couple of lives due to 60m high sky balls he once again flew to 50. Kelvins wicket after being given out LBW off his glove seemed to be all but too late for University with Riley and Travis getting the Roos over the line to another T20 win with the support of the past players watching on from the bar. Top scorers T Birt (55 off 33) and K Smith (59 off 53)

Seventeens Women T20

Wanneroo 7/85 def. Midland-Guildford 7/84 (Jesani 2/8, Jones 2/14)

Kingsway 2 presented a good track that Midland-Guildford attempted to exploit but were again hindered by the accuracy of our opening pair of Shayna and Ella who both returned good figures especially Shayna with 2/8 of her 4 overs. First change added to Midlands pressure with both Emilie and Erin bowling 3 overs each with Kristin mixing it up nicely for her 2 wickets and Josie going for just a tad over 4’s for her spell; reducing Midland to a very gettable 84 for the loss of 7 wickets.

We stuttered at the beginning losing both Tene and Shayna to the impressive I McKeon although Talia again batted with intent and finished with a well-made 23 from 32 balls. Game management and seeing a game out is an important part of Premier Cricket. Our middle order creaked adding to our pressure apart from Emilie who provided our exit with a well-made 15 from 18 balls.  Our well deserved win took us to a final standing of 3rd in the T20 ladder, above our guests for the day and provided us with the same finish position as it did last season. Our three season growth should be positively acknowledged with an appropriate ambition for next seasons T20 competition to have our sights set on finals, still plenty to work on but next season will bring fresh opportunity.

South Perth and Melville play out the final at the WACA this coming Sunday at 9am.

Seventeens Men

Wanneroo 10/167 (Rae 36, Billington 26, Hardiman 26) def. Bayswater-Morley 157 (Carroll 3/28, Billington 2/28)

Months of preseason were leading to this. All those hours of throw downs and Virat Kohli highlights all came down to this. The anticipation was over. The Alex Hardiman cup was here.

We arrived at the home of cricket seeking to break the drought. After a few trips home and back for the young man Jack, the boys had completed the warmup and were ready to rip into the Baysie lineup who were oblivious of what was to come. After a not so great first spell from Cody and some good bowling from Mitch Lonnie, the roos saw themselves in a comfortable position.  Pace was done, time for spin.  Matthew “I use my degrees” Carroll tore through the middle order taking 3/28 including an above average catch from the debutant Keagan Montgomery for the first wicket.  In came Jayden “outies” Rae who took his first wicket for the season! Congratulations Jayden.  A few injuries later we were left with a dilemma. Who was going to bowl? Surprisingly, Lachy “did you see that?!” Dargie began to roll the arm over and took a nice catch off his bowling followed by a celebration we wish to forget. The bears were left all out for 157.

The second day of the cup was here and the boys were keen to chase down the win. 10 minutes before play was to commence Jack Maraldo was kind to turn up with a supposed “sickness”. The start of the innings was not a memorable innings for the team where at one point were at 5/48. Hope was almost lost until a legendary partnership of 54 between Jayden “Frisbee King” Rae and Alex Hardiman to guide the boys to safety.

Fifteens Men

Bayswater-Morley 10/187 (Gillespie 4/32, Brown 2/20) def. by Wanneroo 198 (Brown 55,Gillespie 43, Carmignani 34)

Wanneroo won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that looked the goods for some runs. We got off to a steady start losing our first wicket at 29 then lost a few quick wickets and were looking a bit shaky at 6/97. Enter our number 7 and 8, Ben Carmignani and Owen Brown, who pulled together to put on a very important 76 run partnership getting our score up to 173. The tail chipped in in the final few overs to get the score to 198. Pick of the batters were Riley Gillespie (43). Ben Carmignani (34) and Owen Brown (55).

Day two and the boys were confident that they could defend their target. Bayswater got off to a good start losing their first wicket at 32 and then steadying to be 4/117 with still plenty of overs to go. The boys were not switched on in the field and were not fielding to their usual high standard with numerous misfields and overthrows helping Bayswater tick the score over. The boys looked flat in the field and some positioning was questionable. Some ‘supportive’ words from Ewan in the tea break seemed to help. The boys came back and went with the bowling attack that has seemed to work over the last few seasons against Bayswater of ‘spin to win’. The fielding improved slightly, and the wickets started to fall. It came down to the wire with Bayswater needing 27 runs off 6 overs with one wicket in hand. We got the last wicket with a few overs to spare with Bayswater falling 11 runs short. Pick of the bowlers were Riley Gillespie 4/32 (10) and Owen Brown 2/20 (8).

Colts

Wanneroo 5/176 (Holly 58, Billington 50, Slattery 25) def. University 7/123 (Slattery 2/24)

The young Roos won the toss on a typical flat kingsway deck and had a bat against University. The colts boys got off to a terrific start with Riley ‘Goggles’ Holly and Mitch ‘Rabbit’ Slattery leaving the Roos 0/42 after the PP.  From then on the young Roos continued the flow of runs with knocks from Aryan ‘VK’ Varsani and Deon ‘Jaddu’ Billington. The colts boys finishing with a huge score of 5/176 after the 20 overs.

Holly (58 off 49) Billington (50 off 30) M Slattery (25 off 21)

The Roos got off a tidy start without striking early until the introduction of Jordan ‘Cutters’ Slattery struck. From then on the Roos took wickets consistently throughout the innings and restricted Uni to 7/123. The Roos locking in a finals spot after going 2/2 to start the year.

J Slattery (2/24 off 4) Jessani (1/19 off 4)

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Roos T20

Joondalup 164 (Sadik 3/21, Millar 2/13, Smith 2/20) def. by Wanneroo 7/174 (Birt 74, Newnham 30)

At an overcast windy day ay Iluka the Roos batted first in the 20/20. Losing Kelvin (triple fig) Smith on the first ball, the Roos were off to a shaky start. Out walked Jimmy (Pigrat) Newnham. Carrying out with him half a house he put the sculptured log to good use. Flaying the fast bowlers through cover on multiple occasions to turn the momentum in favour of the Roos. The crowd at Iluka was treated to a 20/20 batting masterclass by captain of the Truck XI Travis Birt. Hitting a brilliant 74(45), showing no bowler any mercy. The innings was finished off by a solid partnership formed by Callum Douglas and 20/20 debutant Mike O’Day. Topped off by a classy leave on the last ball of the innings by Callum. Saying post game “It just wasn’t in my zone”.

With Joondalup sending out their big boi’s at the top The Roos had a hard task for trying to minimise boundaries while trying to take wickets. With the fast bowlers having no luck the ball was thrown to golden arm Deon (Wild Bill) Billington. This move brought about the first wicket. With Deon bowling Morgan for 29. The Roos realising a change in momentum spin came on from both ends and the “squeeze” was in effect. This swing in momentum brought a few wickets in as many overs with Kyle (mint, wicked, beers) Millar dismissing big wicket Josh Inglis. Daniel (Van Gerwen) Sadik made the middle order look silly, the spinners bowled excellently combining for 8 wickets. With 3 to Sadik, 2 for Kelvin and Kyle along with 1 for Deon respectively. Joondalup got within a slight sniff towards the end but the Roos were never in doubt. The Roos ran victors 10 runs!

Colts

Joondalup 7/91 (Holly 3/11, Slattery 2/14) def. by Wanneroo 3/92 (Holly 28, Varsani 25)

The Colts took the Butler Line up to the gale-force winds of Iluka for what looked to be a close encounter with the boys of Joondalup. Deon “Chief” Billington lost the toss and were sent to bowl first on what looked like a very dead wicket. The Roo boys began their masterclass of powerplay bowling in the first 6, with Darcy “Liam Duggan” Forssman, Jordan “pisswreck” Slattery and Lachlan “Calf Skins” Poulter running the show to have Joondalup 4/15 off the first 6 (which included two maidens) to set the colts boys off on a flyer. Joondalup ended their inning on 7/91 with the fielding and bowling performances from the Roo Boys being top class.

With the stick, Riley “Degen” Holly and Aryan “Mr WACA” Varsani led the way with a run-a-ball 28 and 25 respectively. Aryan wanting to go home early with a straight six over the bowlers head as his first scoring shot. Deon “Indian Wrists” Billington and Caiden “Slug” Eaton finished the job to chase the score with 6 overs to spare, a very clinical performance from the colts who now look towards the students of Uni back at Kingsway this week.

U17sF T20

Wanneroo 5/148 (Jesani 43*, Salisbury 41) def. Rockingham-Mandurah 5/47

Our Female Roo’s won the toss and chose to bat first on what looked like a track that had runs in it. Indeed that was the case with a good start from our openers setting the pace that was further embraced from the introduction of Shayna Jesani at 3 and Eva Salisbury at 4; interestingly both appear in the top 10 across the whole league of top run scorers. Both played sensibly and both were rewarded with a 43* for Shayna and Eva falling for 41 off just 31 balls. We lost a bit of momentum towards the end of the innings but were quietly confident that 148 was going to pose some issues for Rocky.

It did as they lost early wickets with all our bowlers returning to a better and more consistent line and length than from 2 weeks ago in Round 6. Our all-round display of bowling and fielding was back to our expected high standards, all figures were excellent with wickets for Shayna, Ella and Erin and vital contributions from Kristin, Emilie and Emma who leaked only 16 runs from their collective 8 overs; partnership bowling at its best consistently applying pressure. Both Rocky openers went in quick succession leaving S Mollett to dominate but her time ran out and she returned just the 1 run in 22 balls. Equally the remaining Rocky batters struggled with our attack and they eventually stuttered to 47 with the loss of 5 wickets.

We enjoy another home fixture next week in Round 9 where we entertain Midland Guildford.

And here we are. A 2nd Golden Roo in successive rounds. The boys from Wanneroo in fact having not lost a game in three rounds (seems easy – doesn’t it Kealey!?). 1s, 2s, 3s steamrolling the students in strong team showings and the 4s getting up in a late close-one to secure the gold!

No 3 figures or ‘Michelle’s’ this week – everyone chipping in and doing their job.

1st Grade  

University 144 (Smith 3/38, Millar 3/39, Billington 2/18) def. by Wanneroo 7/261 (Del Borrello 62, TR Birt 56, Richards 51, Smith 45, Billington 33)

Playing an ODI due to rain in the first week, Wanneroo were sent in to bat at James Oval getting off to a great start with a 99 run opening stand between Richards and Smith. Smith departing first for 47 and Richards 51. After losing 3 quick wickets in the middle another partnership of 90 between in-form Del Borello and one-day bully Birt and some lower innings heroics by Billy Billington (33) got the boys to above average total of 261.

Bowling got off to a good start also with Matthew Dzodzos the human Waterbird and Caiden ‘slug’ Eaton both getting a wicket in their opening spell. Caiden continuing his stranglehold over their Pro. From there the spinners took control of the game to get the last 8 wickets between them, Smith with three, Millar three and Billington two. Good all round performance.

2nd Grade  

Wanneroo 8/245 (Ardagh 87, O’Day 46*, Holly 33) def. University 116 (Sadik 3/21, Stumpers 3/43, Slattery 2/26)

Preview / Plan for the Day

We rock up at 10, dougo has a win early on the tab, so everyone dives in as well. Sads wins the toss again, we have a bat. Riley goes why am I wasting my time in 2s and knocks a tonne. We hit 270 for like 3.

Slatts and stumps come in have them 5 for 20 roll em for 100 games done by 5 and liquid hits your mouth 510. Magoos slide into like 4th and we get messy.

Review

The Ripper Magoos headed to the home of cricket as they welcomed the Students from the “GT”. As predicted in Friday’s pump up speech, Jason Dunstall won the toss and told the students we will have a bat again on a flatty. Jacob Bonner must’ve seen the pitch a little differently as he got departed for 0 in the first to set the Magoos off to a flyer.

This ended up being a good ploy from Bonner as in came “The Fossil” Mick Ardagh. Riley “loves a punt” Holly and the Fossil began rebuilding and got the boys right on the front foot before some absolute pearlers (half trackers) from their leggy stopped the Magoos from really dominating the game. Riley made a solid 33 but the Fossil kept his foot down to make an outstanding 87 (another half tracker, another dismissal) to set the Magoos up for a little onslaught at the end. In strode Mickle “Slap and Tickle” O’Day, who finished the students off knocking 24 off one over to get the Magoos to a solid 245.

With the rock, things started a little slow before Hayden Stumpers decided he was going to join the fast bowling cartel. The Big Stump was angry, showing emotions that the boys had never seen before (lots of bottom lip and inappropriate language) and bumped out the top couple. This then got Jordan “Mitch’s Brother” Slattery rather feisty and got in with a couple himself including a seed through the gate of their number 4 needing some pickle juice.

From here, the clamps were put on and our fearless leader Sads ran through the middle order to ruin the Students. Angry Stumpers ended with 3, Chief Sads 3 and Slatts with 2.

Clinical performance from the Ripper Magoos who can now look forward to the Bears in a ripsnorter.

3rd Grade

University 5/155 def. by Wanneroo 4/159 (Forssman 50*, Wiggers 42, Fryer 32*)

The Threes were sent out to field first and got on the board early with Yusuf and Donny combining for an easy run out that was made to look very difficult. The bowlers toiled hard on a flat wicket and kept the runs down however wickets were hard to come by. The spin twins of Sharad and Darcy kept the pressure on in the middle overs thanks to some very tight bowling. Walts, Jaxon and Donny all took 1 wicket each while Yusuf got another run out and Dargie took a sharp chance. Some good bowling from the threes to restrict Uni to 5-155.

The threes started their chase on the back foot losing three early wickets- some to good balls, some to not so good balls. But rest assured because Darcy and Wiggers combined for a great partnership and controlled the innings beautifully making 50* and 42 respectively. Donny came to the crease and made to quick 32* that featured more fours than singles. Darcy hit the winning runs which also brought up his fifty and finished the game with 10 overs to go. A good win for the threes who have now won 4 in a row.

4th Grade

Wanneroo 122  def. University 104 (Haddrill 3/14, Billington 2/17, Russell 2/26)

After the whole round was changed from a two-dayer to a one-dayer due to poor weather in the first week, the Roos went in to bat first getting off to a steady start. After the first wicket fell however the Roos collapsed losing a lot for not many reeling at 8/87. But a 50 run partnership between Josh “make America great again” Quelch and Jared “Scorer” Maunder got the Roos over the 100 mark and to a tricky total of 122 after 43 overs.

Once again it was time for the bowlers to stand up and pull the Roos out of trouble and that they did. The Roos ending up bowling Uni out for a dismal 104 with Jesse “mute” Haddrill being the pick of the bowlers taking 3/14 off 7 closely followed by Matt “Rhino” Russell and Cody “Goat” Billington taking 2 apiece. The Roos winning comfortably by 18 runs to seal the second Golden Roo in a row