Female Youth League

Wanneroo 1/149 (Williamson 66*, Bartholomew 54*) def Rockingham-Mandurah 9/75 (Bartlett 25, Haddrill 2/9)

Home against Rocky-Mandurah on a glorious looking Kingsway 1, the Roos were sent in to bat. After losing an early wicket, we were treated to a superb undefeated second wicket partnership of 140 between Tegan (66*) and Chloe (54*). Both girls batted very sensibly to see the final score to 1/149.
Rocky were in early trouble at 3/10, with Talia (1/14) hitting the stumps of the opener before Aymie (2/9) chimed in with a quick 2-fa, including a skied chance taken nicely by Abbster. Bowling changes produced more wickets, with Ella (1/4) removing the other opener and Tegan (1/5) turning one into the stumps. In a great day for the bowlers, Layla (1/6) also hit the pegs while Spud bowled a very economical four over spell with great control. Polly delivered a couple of accurate overs (and a maiden) while Chops also had a roll for the first time at this level.

Standout fielding from our girls, with Tegan running out the non-striker from fine leg with a great throw to Layla, Tegan and Abbster combining to catch the Rocky captain well short trying to run a second, and Aymie with a direct hit from a widish mid on (well left Spud!).

Rocky finished at 9/75 and our Roos heads to the T20 finals next weekend.

Female B Grade

South Perth 8/94 (Nicholls 3/10, Giandzi 2/17) def. by Wanneroo 6/98 (Crafford 47*)

Down at South Perth, the Roos found themselves unusually in trouble with the bat early in this game at 2/4. However, Tene and Kristin added 28 runs to steady the ship before Kristin went for 10.
Three more wickets fell in the 50s, but Tene was still there, ticking over the score. Fresh off the plane from Bali, Sarah joined Tene in an important 7th wicket partnership of 41. Sarah finished 15* while Tene carried her bat for a great knock of 47*. The runs in this partnership would prove crucial in the game, as the Roos reached 6/98.

That was going to take some defending against South Perth. Utilising just the five bowlers, the Roos kept the pressure on from the get go, with the opposition really under the pump. Skipper Em claimed an opener (1/19) while Emilie struck twice to see South Perth at 3/12. Then some expected resistance, but the introduction of Bree (2/17) into the attack brought immediate results while Kristin (1/19) also maintained her wicket-taking form, as Shayna completed a sweet stumping.
Emilie picked up a clutch run out with a great throw to Emma with South Perth in the 70s, before coming back into the attack to collect another wicket, finishing with 3/10.

Kristin bowled the last over, keeping the runs down, with South Perth finishing behind at 8/94. Well done to the Roos on a well fought victory – T20 finals await this weekend.

First Grade

Claremont-Nedlands 6/271 (Sabburg 3/61) def. Wanneroo 98

No report this week.

Second Grade

Wanneroo 104 (Bonner 27, McGhie 27) def. by Claremont-Nedlands 5/105 (Spangenberg 2/9)

The Two’s won the toss at Kingsway and decided to bat first. Bonner and McGhie got the boys off to a good start, batting positively to lead the score to 51 when Bonner eventually lost his wicket. Unfortunately, after this opening 50 run partnership, not much else went to plan for Wanneroo. A combination of poor shot selection and decent bowling from the Claremont-Nedlands attack meant that we were eventually all out for a total of 104.

We went out to bowl optimistic that a few early wickets could lead to a close finish. Despite bowling tightly and building pressure, Wanneroo just didn’t have enough runs on the board and Claremont eventually got over the line making 5 for 105 in the 37th over. Spangenberg picking up 2-9 from his 3.2 overs.

It was a disappointing days cricket from the Twos, in which we will all learn valuable lessons from heading into our next game against Bayswater-Morley.

Third Grade

Claremont-Nedlands 9/188 (T Jessani 4/43, Slattery 2/27) def by Wanneroo 9/189 (T Brown 65, Gardner 50)

After a good break the 3rd grade boys resumed their season away to Claremont at Melvista, Jordy (Slattery) won the toss and made the easy decision to bat first on a very flat looking deck. Our openers Marc (The) Gardner and Tom (Silver Lightning) Blythman got off to a very decent start (0/32) before Tommy chopped one back on to the stumps in the 7th over. In came Tyler, starting slowish but still turning the strike over effectively. In no time Marc and Tyler were in Cruise Control making a beautiful 100 run partnership before Marc skied one straight up a ball after raising the bat for his well-made 50. Brown continued on, raising the bat himself on his way to a strong 65. Otherwise there wasn’t much to write home about as we lost our bottom 6 for 20 in the dying overs.

In reply Jordan (Skip) Slattery and Alex (Fitta) Fitzmaurice gave nothing away for the first 10 overs (1/15) with Jordan taking the early wicket from an ABSOLUTE SEED, the ball landing on middle and kissing the top of off. Heading into drinks having them 1/32 we needed to make sure we stay switched on, with our 2 youngest players and only spinners, Tarun (Taz) Jessani and Hayden (Cleveland Cavs) Cavanagh having a job to do through the guts of the innings. Claremont were aggressive in the middle session and kept the run rate on track with some lusty blows but thanks to some professional looking boundary catching the wickets also fell frequently.

Coming into the last session the equation was 70 to defend off the last 15. Fitta (Alex Fitzmaurice) made the breakthrough of the set batsmen with his worst delivery of his spell, a rank full toss outside off caught at point (it is true sh*t takes wickets) ending with 1/28 off 9 overs. More six’s were hit and more wickets fell to good boundary catches (two to Marinovich who was well-fed after an earlier barbecue).

With 5 overs to go it was going down to the wire with CNCC needing 20. Left to bowl were Jordan and John the Clutch Brothers. Only allowing singles and with Jordan cleaning up the #10 batsmen with a reverse-swinging ball in the 2^nd last over, it all came down to the last over and then the last ball of the innings. Needing 5 to win, 4 to draw and the high drama of time-wasting complaints of us being behind time, the final over proceeded…

Dot

Single

Dot

Single

Dot

Wanneroo two ahead with a ball to play, John Walter speared one in, the ball was hit to Hayden (Cleveland Cavs) Cavanagh at mid-off who calmly (despite changing his mind three times) lobbed the ball to Walts to take the bails off with the returning non-striker several strides short.

Exceptional win by a run, the song was boisterous, ‘twas a good start to the back half of the season. Jordan Slattery 2/27 and Taz Jessani 4/43 were our best bowlers.

Fourth Grade

Wanneroo 7/223 (Gillespie 102*, Hall 69) 2/50 def Claremont-Nedlands 163 (Carroll 3/34, Singh 2/19, Santich 2/29, Skouros 2/36)

The elite XI started the day well with Captain Carroll winning the toss yet again this season and sending the poor Claremont 4s into the field.

The day started rough with the Roos losing Yusuf in the first over of the game bringing in Gillespie. Riley (Labuschagne) rode his luck second ball by hitting it down the throat of first slip only for it to be put down. At this stage first slip was probably thinking, “hope this bloke doesn’t hit a 100 now…”. We then lost Maraldo the next over for a well-made 0 off 2 deliveries. Things were looking down for the Roos as we were 2/3 after two overs. Things didn’t look much better when we also lost Kane for a tidy 7 boosting his 4th grade average to 2.33! Kanes dismissal left us 3/20 but all that did was bring in the ol’ reliable of Allan Hall who put together one of the finest innings of Sixes, Sightscreens and Sledging you would ever see. Gillespie and Hall put together a mammoth partnership of 149 before Hall departed on a very nice 69. We then lost a few quick wickets with Santos stumps getting cartwheeled, followed soon after by Rhys Walkers – the latter’s off-peg would have required a visa to go any further. With 2 overs to go Riley Gillespie was in the nervous 90s with the whole team’s heart rate gradually increasing ball by ball knowing time was running low for the magical three figures. With a perfectly timed glide through backward point into one of the smallest of gaps, Riley pinched a single and brought up the magic milestone of a 4th grade 100. It’s really not for everyone to make a 4th grade hundred against Claremont. Seriously though well-done Riley on your first senior hundred. Was a masterclass to watch and I am sure there are many more to come for you.

We ended up setting a whopping total of 223 for 7. Claremont were shaking.

We couldn’t have asked for a better start with Captain Carroll finding the outside edge of the Claremont opener. Wickets then just kept coming, with Skouros finding some luck with the ball trickling onto the stumps and then not long after Yad taking the 4th wicket leaving Claremont in a spot of bother. We reached the first drinks in a commanding position of 5/46 with the thoughts of an early pint of Great Northern reaching everyone’s mind. Post drinks Claremont found some resistance with 6,7,8 all making 30+ which only just frustrated the Roos 4s and in particular Nic Santich as he had to wait a lot longer to find out the result of the re-running of the Perth Cup. We finally decided to stop toying with Claremont and finally bowled them all out for 163 leaving the elite xi with a convincing 60 run win at home, nicely boosting our finals chances.

Female B Grade T20

Perth Cricket Club 5/86 def by Wanneroo 1/88 (Reichelt 40*)

Our match this week was against T20 League leaders Perth, away at Fletcher. Perth won the toss and elected to bat but were immediately in trouble at 1-5 thanks to a great pill from Josie (1/18).

The pressure from our bowling unit was awesome in this game, supported by tight fielding. Wickets fell steadily and the runs were restricted. Emilie (1/12), Emma (1/11) and Kristin (1/17) all bowled their maximum allotment of overs and collected wickets. Shayna completed a neat stumping and Sarah and Emilie combined for a run out, as Perth reached 5/86 off their 20 overs.

The Roos set out to run the total down in a positive manner. Tene wasted no time and built a solid opening stand with Shenae before being dismissed with the score on 38. Shenae continued her great form and finished on 40*, with Shayna also undefeated on 23*. Wanneroo across the line one wicket down in the 12th over.

Female U17 Grade T20

BYE

U/17 Male

Claremont-Nedlands 7/84 (Marinovich 3/12, Skouros 2/6) def by Wanneroo 4/85 (B Jones 41*)

The boys travelled away to Melvista Oval to play in a must win game against Claremont-Nedlands in a 20/20 fixture. Wanneroo won the toss and chose to bowl.

Claremont-Nedlands were 0/60 after the 11th over when a change of ends for Jordan (Gordo) Marinovich saw him take two wickets from two balls to be on a hatrick.  A flurry of wickets and a Claremont-Nedlands collapse saw them on 7/64 by the start of the 16th over.  Jordan ended up with figures of 3 for 12 off his 4 overs with 1 maiden. Matt Skouros contributed with 2 for 6 off 3 overs with 2 maidens and all the other bowlers bowled well on the day. Claremont-Nedlands ended up on 7 for 84 after their 20 overs.

Our turn to bat and the standout for the day was Ben Jones who hit a well composed innings of 41 not out from 38 deliveries which included 5 fours. He was well supported by Matt Skouros who hit 18 from 31 deliveries and Reece Walker rounded out the innings with Ben to end up on 11 not out from 10 deliveries with 2 fours. Wanneroo chased down the runs in the 19th over to finish up on 4 for 85 and taking the points.

U/15 Male

Wanneroo 3/137 (Prance 29, Deckert 28*) def Claremont-Nedlands 54 (von Bergheim 3/9, Prance 2/5)

14 Female Carnival (double)

Game 1: Wanneroo 0/129 (Wallis 52*) def Rockingham-Mandurah 44 (Syahril 2/5, O’Connell 2/8)

Game 2: Wanneroo 4/132 (Wallis 44) def South Perth 8/119 (Syahril 2/13, Krynauw 2/17)

Our young Roos had a fantastic time at their double header on the weekend, turning in two very solid team performances.

There were numerous individual highlights, including a maiden half century to Addison Wallis, who scored 52* in Game 1, and backed this up with 44 in Game 2. Improved batting partnerships were also a feature, with our top order batters (Addy, Summer, Sarah, Kitty, Emma and Molly) working so well to build big scores across both games. The value placed on wickets was also high.

Game 1 saw each of our eight bowlers claim a wicket – how awesome! Samira (2/5) and Sophie (2/8) picked up the best figures in this game, with Molly and Chelsea both taking a couple of great catches!

Game 2 also saw Emma (2/17) pick up a brace, while Samira rounded out a good day with the ball with another 2/13. Fielding from our Roos was awesome in this match with five different catchers plus run outs involving Arabella (direct hit), Sarah and Samira.

The girls looked really settled as a team and super happy both on and off the field. Fuel and hydration were also managed well – great to see!

The standout development moment of the day was the Wanneroo fight back in Game 2 when South Perth were 0/77 after 9 overs and racing towards a win – our girls really dug deep to collect 8 wickets for just 42 runs in the next 11 overs. Fantastic work from our emerging leadership team was the key and the focus from our athletes to achieve this outcome was excellent to see!

First Grade

Wanneroo 212 (O’Day 37, De silva 37, Stumpers 28*, Holly 27) def. by Midland-Guildford 9/215 (Billington 4/26, Dzodzos 3/38)

After Christmas break cricket has finally arrived to Kingsway, thanks to Vinny Clarke for his hard work to get us up a decent deck. At a special and atmospheric Pink Stumps Ladies Day event, Deon lost the toss and Midland Guildford put us in to bat first.

Sam de Silva and Harry Swindles opened the batting for us and got a decent start, losing our first wicket at a score of 47 from 7 overs when Harry ‘the tenant’ Swindles was removed for 12. From there Sammy and Connor Spangenberg carried on to drinks, but both were unfortunately removed within minutes of each right after leaving us 3-70.
The rest of the day was a procession of starts as the engine room of Aryan, Riley, Deon and O’Day all looked good but were unable to convert to a big score. O’Day and one H. Stumpers made the largest partnership of the innings, coming together at 6-144 and fighting well to push the team total above 200. We were ultimately bowled out for 212 with two overs left in the tank.

Midland-Guildford in form openers started well in their chase, but our golden left-arm Lachlan ‘chooks’ Poulter struck to remove their best bat Beaton for 22. From there it was the Deon Billington show as he spun a web around their top and middle order to finish with 4-26. He was ably supported by Mathew Dzodzos who cleaned up their other obdurate opener to expose their tail to his left arm angles. He finished with 3-38.

Unfortunately despite getting the opposition to 9-145, we were unable to take the last wicket as their wicket-keeper and number 11 batted well the take the game away from us in the final overs.

Second Grade

Midland-Guildford 219 (Smith 3/36, Fryer 3/44, Forssman 2/36) def. by Wanneroo 9/227 (McGhie 103, Forssman 37, Millar 32*)

Smudge won the toss and elected to bat on what looked like a bit of a flatty, Brodie McGhie getting us off to a flyer straight away. A few early wickets fell but Brodie was still scoring at an extreme rate. At 3-46 extras were the 2^nd top score on 3, will let you do the math there.
From there Brodie found an able partner in Darcy as they put on a 82 run 4^th wicket stand which really steadied the ship. Brodie batted extremely well and notched up his maiden century for the Rwo’s. Kyle then helped the tail wag with a run a ball 32. We ended our innings on a very competitive 227.

Midland got off to a very good start with not losing a wicket until their 13th over and scoring at a good clip. This was until the ever-reliable Donny was brought into the attack and after a few very good overs with pressure building, got the first breakthrough. We then got a few quick wickets which really turned the momentum to our side. Midland were cruising for a bit and the game was getting down to the wire. It came down to the last over where Midland needed 12 off the last over to win. Adam Smith then proceeded to take the first hat-trick of his career at a clutch time. This last over helped us to an 8 run win and the Twos remain top of the ladder.

Third Grade / Fourth Grade

Bye

Female B Grade T20

Rockingham-Mandurah 52 (Reichelt 3/9, Giandzi 2/9) def by Wanneroo 4/134 (Crafford 48)

Female U17 Grade T20

Midland-Guildford 7/98 (Spadaro 3/26) def. by Wanneroo 3/106 (Bakker 36) 

U/17 Mens (double round)

Saturday
Wanneroo 179 (TD Brown 45, Marinovich 43, Glamuzina 30) def. by Midland-Guildford 5/224 (Rotham 2/17, Marinovich 2/41)

The first game back after the Christmas holidays and the weather gods put on a treat. With a 9:00 start that was welcomed by both players and parents. Midland won the toss and sent us in. We got off to a great start with a 3 off the first ball from Riley. The scoring continued at a good rate early with solid contributions from Xander (in his first game back after a wrist injury) (30), Jordan (43) and Tyler (45). However, the loss of 6 for 35 towards the end left us all out and just 179 on the board.

Needing to take wickets early we had them 1 for 2, then 2 for 43, however a stand of 139 before we could take another wicket meant that the game was lost Midland-Guildford 5/224. There were however some good performances with the ball with Jayden 2 for 17 off 7, Jordan 2 for 41 off 9 overs, Matt 1 for 14 off 2 overs and Nathan 0 for 27 off 9 overs.

Sunday
Willetton 3/111 def. Wanneroo 6/108 (Skouros 36)

The U17’s headed south to play Willetton in a T20 for their second game of the weekend.

We won the toss and decided to bat. We nearly lost Xander before a ball was even bowled with him being a minute late out of the change rooms to face the first ball. Mirror time needs to be monitored. Xander & Tyler got off to a great start with 20 on the board after the first 2 overs, including 3 fours in a row from Xander. Momentum swung a little after losing our openers at 2/36 after 7 overs, with some tight bowling restricting our scoring. Captain Matt Skouros steadied the ship with a handy knock of 36 from 32 balls and Rhys finished the innings off with a quick fire 14 from 8 balls, leaving us with a total score of 6/108. Opener Xander scored 17 off 14 and Jordan made 16 from 31.

Willetton came out with great intent and were quickly 0/23 after the first 3 overs. A bowling change saw Hayden Davey claim the first wicket with wicket keeper Joel completing the catch. Hayden was so ecstatic with the dismissal that an over-exuberant aerial high-five with keeper Joel, ended with Joel floored on the ground wondering where that truck just came from. After 10 overs Willetton were 2/66 and continued scoring freely seeing them pass our score only 3 down after 16.3 overs. Matt Skouros took 1/14 off 1.4 overs and also got a direct hit run out. Hayden Davey ended with 1/10 from 2 overs and was unlucky to not have a couple more wickets to his name. Rhys bowled well with 0/8 off 2 overs and Jayden also, with figures of 0/21 off 4 overs.

U/15 Mens

Wanneroo 7/85 def. by Willetton 5/93 

U/17s

South Perth 5/137 (Walker 2/16) & 1/11 def Wanneroo 9/137 (Walker 41, Marinovich 32) & 0/10(cc)

On a perfect Saturday morning we travelled to Richardson Park to play South Perth. After winning to toss we elected to bowl in the hope of early wickets. With Rhys Walker and Riley Gillespie taking the new ball and bowling 4 and 3 respectively we had South Perth 2/30. From here South Perth controlled the middle part of the innings until our next wicket in the 14th over. South Perth finally making 5/137.

Batting second and needing 138 for the win we lost an early wicket and were 1/9. With Jordan Marinovich moving up to number 3 and batting really well for 32 of 28 balls we were in a reasonable position. A strong partnership between Rhys walker 41 off 26 and Ben Jones 23 off 17 which put us in good position with the run rate under control. Unfortunately the loss of some late wickets we finished tied on 9/137

Super over and Wanneroo batted first with Tyler Brown and Rhys Walker making 10 runs and giving us a target to bowl at. The South Perth batters reached the target with 1 ball to spare in a tight contest.

U/15s

Wanneroo 8/103 def South Perth 5/102 (Redman 2/17)

On a perfectly presented Kingsway 2, South Perth won the toss and elected to bat. After a spritely start, Ollie Hudson (1/14) clawed back the progress with the wicket of their chief aggressor before Aiden Rawlins (1/10) took the other opener when the score was 2/50.

Three quick wickets then fell to Mitch McArthur (1/24) and the wizardy of Josh Redman (2/17), stemming the flow of runs. Coach Andy Billington was seen actually pulling his hair out as the Roos sent down twenty wides and let South Perth off the hook somewhat, to see them set a target of 103 to win off 20 overs.

Hudson showed little contempt for the bowling before he was found short of his ground for 15. Liam Deckert then fell for one before the middle order accumulated runs between the steady fall of wickets to keep themselves on target. With the seventh and eighth wickets then falling quickly in the 80s, McArthur, minus his free-flowing locks, decided that he was the boss just when his side needed him by spanking a brilliant 14 off 9 balls to seal the game with three balls remaining.

The win leaves the Roos knocking on the door of the top six as they break for Xmas.

First Grade

University 181 (Poulter 5/68, Sabburg 4/29) and 2/7 def by Wanneroo 197 (Varsani 44, De silva 35, Swindells 33, O’Day 27) and 5/77dec (Swindells 29)

Day 1 started off with a toss win for Deon so the Roos went in to bat. Openers Sam De Silva (debut innings) and Michael (Moog) O’Day started steady, opening with a 50-run partnership before Moog was dismissed for 27. Harry Swindells and Sam then steadied and got the boys through to lunch. Unfortunately just after lunch Sam was dismissed for 35, with Chris Sabburg soon after. Aryan came in to bat making a very steady 44 however wickets unfortunately fell at a steady rate alongside some questionable umpiring decisions (not the most questionable thing to occur this week) leading to the Roos to be dismissed by an unknown spinner for 197 (Varsani 44, De Silva 35, Swindells 33). Coming to the end of day 1 after being dismissed on a tough to score wicket we found ourselves bowling. To our shock, they sent out two night-watchmen to start, second ball of the innings Lachy Poulter struck removing the first night watchman LBW. New batter in, another nightwatchman (unusual stuff from UCC), the Roos continued with aggression and challenged the batters every ball, with a good joint spell from the 3 quicks. Uni CC finish the day at 4/13 with Bailey Richards removing the skipper with his first ball after taking over from Caiden due to injury. Poulter 3/10, Richards 1/0.

Day 2 comes around, the boys are ready to go at the actual opening batters who wanted to wait for ideal conditions instead of doing their job to see off the new ball late on day 1. It was a struggle early with UCC getting off to a good start and the quicks struggling with the task of bowling on the Mitchell Freeway Southbound. The breakthrough then came at 4/126 from the hand of Chris Sabburg. The Roos then began to squeeze, Sabburg and Poulter/Richards with a good bowling partnership either side of lunch seeing 4 wickets fall (all to Sabburg). With UCC 8/180 chasing 197, Lachlan Poulter came on removing the last two batters in 3 balls leading the Roos to the win. Poulter 5/68 (first premier cricket 5fa), Sabburg 4/29.

The boys were tasked with batting again in the lead up to tea and lost a couple of wickets meaning Uni felt in the hunt and wanted to continue to bowl. Harry Swindells and Riley Holly (gaining Pujara status with 8 off 64) defended well to bat Uni out of an outright sniff. The Roos declared after being made to bat for most of the afternoon taking 2 wickets off 2 overs to end the day.

Special mention to Aryan Varsani who goes to the U19 champs this weekend. Go well AV!

Second Grade

Wanneroo 8/356 (M Slattery 136, Bonner 61, Forssman 59, Holly 27) def. University 335 (Stumpers 4/86, Billington 3/36, Forssman 3/80)

The two’s boys lead by Joel Charles in the absence of Smudge rocked up to Kingsway eager to bat first on a flat Kingsway one track (shock). Starting the Roo boys off were Jacob (hates a 100) Bonner and Mitch (CC) Slattery, the two looked unphased as they both made their half century’s without a chance. The partnership came to an end when Bonner decided he didn’t feel like batting anymore. Mitch decided to take the load and double up scoring a fantastic 100. With the help of Darcy Forssman scoring a quick fire 50 against his best mate pinky. The  mighty roo boys ended up on a total of over 350.

The next week Charlsey exclaimed that we should all be looking forward to these next 90 overs. With a slight chuckle everyone thought the game would be over by tea… especially Kyle funky Millar. Our complacency caused a day in the dirt and we watched a student make 170. Charlsey under the pump (and possibly concerned about the spray Smudge would give him) decided to take the new ball after the 80th over. Hayden took it upon himself to get the first ball to swing all game and take the big wicket of Edmondstone (fair play, well batted). With the help of Cody Billington the two of them skittled the rest of the tail for nothing. Securing the roo boys another win and continuing the undefeated run.

Third Grade

University 207 (Walter 6/55, J Slattery 3/42) def. by Wanneroo 262 (McGhie 80, Harris 43, T Brown 36)

Day One of the 8th round rolls around as Wanneroo shapes up to play University in the penultimate game before the illustrious Christmas break, a time sought upon by many a bowler. With a few Roo boys’ enjoying a spectacular sight at a pre-game brekkie (cheers Nic), it was seeming like the morning was won – implying the rest of the day was to be won as well. Rocking up to the awful sight that is UWA Sports Park (East) it was with an alarming surprise that the marked wicket was being used as a runway for an unsuspecting father and his child with their respective remote-control airplanes. It was only as the few of us that were there at an unusually early time went down to inspect the wicket that they realised the game of cricket, which is played by upwards of 550,000 of the adult Australian population, involves the use of the grass/clay combination more commonly known as a wicket or pitch. The warm-up began and the Top Six vs Bottom Six (Five) ensued with surprising technical abilities with the final score Top Six 1 – 4 Bottom Six (Five) as Maunder notched 1 assist and 1 goal as he headed the ball straight down into the bottom corner, nutmegging Kelsey in the process. Slattery with 1 assist and 2 goals however missing a very open chance skying the ball over the crossbar only 5 metres out. McGhie did receive a yellow card for the unsportsmanlike conduct of booting the ball into Walters’ face, inducing blood from the bridge of the nose.

Eventually the toss was won and it was decided Wanneroo would bat first. A nice start to the first session as Sam “Panklet” Williams and Tom “Bali XI” Blythman kickstarted the run-scoring mission. Both of the openers lost their wicket with slight indecision in their shot and movement between wickets respectively which lead to the Roo boys’ heading into the first break 2 wickets down. With the nearest food outlet being at least an estimated hours drive away (round trip), Brodie “No Lunch” McGhie was desperate for some form of sustenance, so he turned to one man who would always be on standby to come to the rescue, one of 12th man-ing nature, Jared “the 12th man” Maunder in pursuit of a very well made egg and lettuce sandwich. It was the sandwich that would be key for the next session as B. McGhie and Tim “Open the Face” Harris went on to add 120 runs to the tally. Unfortunately T. Harris decided to sky one the over before tea, but in the process of this partnership B. McGhie was successful in attaining his half-century milestone, eventually being dismissed for 80. A steady addition of runs was added to the score throughout the rest of the day with Michael “Race 2 at Morphetville” Kelsey and Tyler “Tin Man #2” Brown adding 27 and 36 to the score. Single digits are synonymous with the rest of the batting line-up as in the 79th over the 3rd grade were finally dismissed for a total of 262.

The following week rolled around and the mighty 3rd grade side was mentally prepared for a day in the field at what is yet again a poor excuse for a grade cricket ground. The pre-game involved the second leg of the world game affair with the Top Six failing to increase the aggregate with final score Top Six 0 (1) – 3 (7) Bottom Six (Five) as Maunder (1G 0A) opened the scoring with a mistimed back-pass from opposing player Harris, Slattery (1G 1A) once again getting his name on the scoresheet with another goal and to round it out, Singh (1G 0A) put his name up there with a superb finish.

Once we moved to the cricket half of the day, Jordan “Slender Western European Country” Slattery opened the bowling. Scoffing at the idea of going over 2 runs an over for the whole day he got us off to a very handy start in compliment with John “J. Maunder Apparently” Walter, who likewise appeared to have rocked up to the ground with the same dream of not going above 2 an over in his opening spell. Unfortunately wicketless for all three bowlers before drinks with a replacement at the into-the-wind end of J. Walter by Jared “Into the Wind Specialist” Maunder a few overs prior to the thirst-quenching intermission. Chances aplenty in the spells of all three bowlers as J. Slattery continued (selfishly) with the wind for a few more overs until swapping ends (selflessly) and finally providing a breakthrough, leaving the batsman to ask the umpire if he is allowed to be out clean bowled.

The lunch break shortly follows and because the three pace bowlers hate runs being scored off their bowling, University were sitting on 42 runs from the first session. At the interval, Brodie “Fan of the Egg and Lettuce” McGhie requested yet another sandwich in the hopes it would teach him how to catch. The middle session began and it wasn’t long until spin was introduced through the likes of Yadwinder “Wake Up Please” Singh and Nicholas “Have You Seen His Cousin?” Santich. A beautiful bowler/fielder partnership was created with N. Santich and Cameron “Suspicious Stain” MacDonald as this one batsman found C. MacDonald at cover point anywhere between 20-40 times during the spell. Wickets fell for J. Walter and J. Slattery prior to the tea break making it a tricky chase for the students at University (A.K.A. Wanneroo medium-pace bowling clinic).

We will skip right over tea and head back into the third session where wickets fall nicely as J. Maunder (10.4-3-23-1) picked up one wicket and then unfortunately suffered what can really only be described as a career ending side strain which forced him to stop bowling mid over (just as he was informed by the great Portuguese leader that he would finally get an over down breeze) and forced him out of an event in Northbridge later that night. This brought Tom “His Protégé” Blythman on to bowl, who did a very handy job into the gale-force winds as he somehow finished wicketless (5.2-1-26-0). J. Walter was settling in, sun setting, shadows on the pitch, tail-enders facing, safe to say he was in his element having already pocketed 4 wickets, he would then go on to take another 2 and finish the day with 6 (20-2-55-6). The day finishing with none other than that man who left a mark at 452 Rua do Breiner, Porto, Portugal J. Slattery taking the 10th and his 3rd wicket (23.5-7-42-3) bowling University out for 207 runs and resulting in a hard-fought victory and very well sung club song.

P.S. It may be noticed that the tea break went undescribed and was skipped over, this is a direct result of the tea being supplied by the players only and must not be subsidised by the club as it was very much Woolworths-biscuit/dessert-aisle heavy with lamingtons, pikelets, a bag of popcorn, and almost every kind of Arnotts biscuit available on a Saturday morning.

Fourth Grade

Wanneroo 205 (Skouros 72, Hall 52) def. University 9/198 (De Villiers 3/33)

..And for the last 2-day game until the Christmas break the 4s looked to finish with a bang.

Liam won toss which looked like a beautiful batting deck (which it was), but things panned out poorly to start with the Uni bowlers tearing through our top 4, resulting in a score of 4-14 before the game reached a hour of play. But no need to worry with one Allan Hall steadying the ship with a gritty 52. However the main batter of the day was none other than young Matty “the better” Skouros with an impressive 72 which brought momentum back for the fours batting innings. With some late handy runs by grade debutant Hayden ‘Cav’ Cavanaugh the Fours were bowled out for a competitive 205. With still some time left in the day the fours had 23 overs at the Uni batters before the day was called. Uni mostly shut up shop, with Skipper Liam taking the one wicket over night as Uni crept to 1-14 at stumps.

Day 2 started off with an interesting twist with pretty much half of the fours team going MIA due to reasons that we can’t explain, so we knew that it could be a long day in the dirt. Nevertheless, the day started off positively with the fours getting a much-needed run out (ball did hit the stumps first BTW).

From here the grind began for the four’s bowlers. With limited bowling options the Uni batters’ approach was attritional, hoping to wear down our stocks and cash in late. With SAS level physical and mental endurance, the four available bowlers kept it tight right to the end of the day, with Uni unable to chase 205 within 102 overs in the dirt on a Kingsway 2 wicket.

Another fourth-grade debutant Nathan De Villiers (are you related to AB by any chance??) was the pick of the bowlers taking a well-deserved 3/33 after 15 overs. Liam Carroll and Josh Quelch each took one, but although not breaking through for wickets scraped the mighty Troops across the line in the end with supreme fighting, grinding performances. Liam, Josh, Nathan and Hayden Cavanaugh bowled 94 overs between them. Josh Quelch with a mighty 15 maidens.

With one more game left off before the break the Fours will continue this momentum going into the last game before a well-deserved present from Santa.

Female B Grade T20

Perth 1/156 def. Wanneroo 10/105 (Quinn-Schofield 38)

Female U17 Grade T20

Rockingham-Mandurah 5/87 (Bartholomew 2/7) def. by Wanneroo 1/90 (Williamson 48*) 

U/17 Mens

Centurions 6/191 (Gillespie 3/31) def. Wanneroo 156 (Skouros 54)

The boys headed up to South of Geraldton for a top 6 clash against Centurions.

We lost the toss but got the result we wanted as were sent into bat. Losing a wicket early, Cavanaugh and Gillespie started to rebuild and worked ourselves into the game until we unfortunately also lost Cavs. The Roos boys 2/47 at this stage but still in a good position with plenty of fire power to come. Matty Skouros and Chips Gillespie dug in and continued the fight on until Chips was dismissed at 3/82. Unfortunately from then onwards the boys lost wickets at 10-20 runs intervals and finished the day at 155 with 2 overs remaining. Matty Skouros pick of the bats as he continued his great season with the bat again finishing with 54 of 69.

Centurions faced the last 6 overs of Day 1 and finished 0/17.

Day 2 – The Centurions opening pair continued to bat on with the Chips finally getting the breakthrough we needed at 1/63. The other opener was dismissed by Jayden Rotham at 2/93 but with the boys making a small total on a fast outfield, 156 was always going to be hard to defend. Centurions finished the day 6/191 with Chips Gillespie being the pick of the bowlers. 10 Overs 2M 3/31.

Next week finds the Lads heading past the zoo and onto a T20 Clash against South Perth.

U/15 Mens

Wanneroo 9/172 (Prance 50, Pugh 46) def. by Centurions 10/179 (Redman 3/25, Hudson 2/5)

In perfect conditions to play cricket, the Centurions won the toss and elected to bat. After early wickets to McArthur (1/28) and Rawlins (1/18) the Centurions settled in to steadily accumulate runs with the aid of a barrage of wides. Harshil Halai (1/23) broke a productive Centurions partnership at 3/106 before a reasonably steady procession of wickets saw the centurions all out on the final ball of the innings for 179.

Josh Redman bowled well for 3/25 off 10 overs, with Dylan Prance and Liam Deckert also picking up a wicket each whilst Ollie Hudson used his opportunity with the ball taking 2/5 off his 3 overs.

Greeted by perfect conditions again for day 2, the Roos began their run chase by losing Hudson early for 4. Lincoln Pugh (46) and Dylan Prance (50) consolidated the innings before sharply accelerating the run rate after some motivation from Andy Billington. Whilst both of these batsmen fell in quick procession, the required run rate had been reduced to a manageable 4.5 an over and at 3/123 a win looked like the logical outcome.

Unfortunately, apart from a handy 20 from Kane Gosltlow, the innings fell away and the Roos fell 7 runs short.

U/14 Mens

Wanneroo Districts 139 (Prance 46) def. by Centurions 3/187

Another home game this week and after winning the toss, the Roos elected to bat first. The Centurions managed to get on top early, having the boys at 5/54 at the 20th over.  Some great shot making by Brock Prance managed to keep the score board ticking over but he unfortunately fell on 46. Liam Mayo-Hopkins played a great role making 22 but the boys weren’t building partnerships, eventually being bowled out for 139 in the 46th over.

With Centurions having some big hitters in form, the Roos had to be sharp in the field to defend 139. The opening bowlers, Aiden Rawlins and Jace Von Bergeim, started strong with maidens but unfortunately the horror run of not making the most of opportunities continued. After three catches missed, the boys were still in the game when Blake Jones and Ben Furlong got their openers out in consecutive overs, the visitors were 2/47 in the 17th over. The inform pair from Centurions had a couple of lives again but the Roos didn’t take them and the game slipped away.

The boys need to have a good break over Christmas and come back to firing in the New Year. They have the talent but just need to fire together on the same day.

U/13 Mens

Wanneroo 4/117 (Harvey 50, Ferguson 41) def. by Centurions 8/123 (Van de Velde 2/15, Young 2/17, Bloxsome 2/19)

First Grade

Wanneroo drew Joondalup 5/265 (Poulter 2/37)

Not much to write home about this round. The wet weather wanted to get involved in our game so there was lots of sitting and waiting on day one before the umpires deemed the pitch unsafe to play on. Day 2 started with promise, with fiery opening spells from Matthew Dzodzos and the returning Lachy Poulter accounting for three early wickets. Unfortunately our selfish Northern brothers didn’t want to share their toys, batting out the day for a draining draw. Congratulations to debutant Sam De silva – didn’t get a chance to bat, but I am sure there will be more opportunities.

Second Grade

Joondalup 10/158 (Carroll 3/24, Stumpers 3/42, Jessani 2/31) def. by Wanneroo 238 (Slattery 60, Bonner 59, Charles 39, Forssman 25)

The roos lost the toss and got sent into bat. Jacob Bonner and Mitch Slattery got us off to a good start after surviving the first session to allow the middle order batters to go a bit harder. After Jacob past 50 he was shortly after dismissed by a very good delivery. The Roos kept creeping towards a good score but wickets were being lost at wrong times as Mitch Slattery was dismissed for 60 which who was soon followed by Connor Spangenberg to leave the Roos 4-151 with work to do. Darcy Forssman and Joel Charles steady the ship a bit but were both dismissed at similar times. The Roos ended up being bowled out for 238.

Hayden Stumpers and Connor open the bowling for us as we were short on pace bowlers. Few tight overs from them at the start put the Roos on top early but we couldn’t quite find a wicket. But closing in on lunch Sharad Jessani produced a beauty of a ball to get our first on the board. That brought another 3 after that with spin to win at Iluka. Leaving Joondalup 4-80 at lunch. Joondalup came out attacking after lunch but the Roos kept finding regular wickets through Maff Carroll and Sharad every 6 or 7 overs, with Hayden finishing the end of the Joondalup innings by cleaning up the tail. A very good bowling performance by the Roos as we ended up winning by 80 runs which leaves us a game ahead on top.

Third Grade

Wanneroo 5/136 (McGhie 42, Kelsey 38*) drew Joondalup 7/215 (Mcdonald 5/64)

After the first week was washed out, Joondalup won the toss and chose to bat. Skipper Jordan Slattery got us off to the perfect start, taking a wicket with the very first ball of the innings. The next wicket proved hard to come by as the Joondalup batters put the foot down looking to get a quick score on the board and force a result. Jack McDonald toiled hard through the middle overs, ending up with his very first five wicket haul.

After Joondalup declared on 215, the Roos felt they could chase the score down. After losing a couple of early wickets, Brodie McGhie hit a quick 42. Despite our best efforts we weren’t able to push on and reached a point where batting out the day for a draw would be more beneficial. Michael Kelsey saw off the remaining overs, finishing on 38 not out. We tried hard to get a result but end up walking away with shared points.

Fourth Grade

Joondalup 162 (Maraldo 5/12, Singh 4/46) def. Wanneroo 145 (Kumar 35, Hall 25)

The 4s boys made their way to Iluka hoping to get on after the rain had already affected other games. The match was able to go ahead with Joondalup winning the toss and putting us in to bat.

The openers started well with Cam and Anil putting on a 50 run opening stand before Cam departed with Anil following a few balls later. We then lost a few quick wickets being 4/59 before the stand in captain Hall steadied the ship with Santich to get us to 100 runs before Hall was caught behind. Nick did well to hang around with wickets falling around him, but we ended up being rolled at the not quite high enough score of 145 in the 56th over.

With time still left in the day we went in to have a bowl at them with Anil taking the first wicket straight up having them 1/1. That was the only wicket to fall by the end of play and we knew we would have to bring our best the following week still needing 9 wickets for a win with Joondalup needing 100 runs.

Day 2 saw the return of the esteemed Captain Carroll and with him, hope and belief. The boys were backing themselves to get the wickets needed but despite numerous bowling changes to mix things up, we couldn’t get the breakthrough needed only getting the second wicket once Joondalup had coasted comfortably to 104 with them only then needing 42 runs for the win. The boys still backed themselves however but then disaster struck with Ajay going down with a hamstring injury. This left us with 10 on field as Brendon and Greg scrambled to find a sub fielder. They managed to really scrape the bottom of the barrel and got one of the dads watching their kid play to fill in…….enter Jimmy Skouros, the second best cricketer in his house. May have been a better option to ask Matt’s mum instead, we will never know.

Wickets then fell regularly as we had them 7/141 which included an absolute blinder of a catch by Carroll. A direct hit runout (thrown in by the younger, better Skouros) being given at this point would’ve been handy however it was hard for the umpire to give as he was running away from the throw coming in with his back to the stumps. But that is the joy of this great game, some calls go your way, some don’t. We did get a wicket a couple balls later to have them 8/145, tied with our score, but they unfortunately just got away from us being rolled for 162.

We had two bowlers who were outstanding. Okay, scratch that, we had one bowler who was outstanding and then the other one. Mr Y Singh was once again his consistent self, bagging 4/46 off 18 overs with some great bowling. Then we had Mr J Maraldo. Yes, you read that right. Through a smart (some would say genius) strategy of bowling rank half-trackers, Jack ended up with figures of 5/12 off his 9.3 overs. To be fair, one of his wickets was off a good ball……This just goes to show all you boys and girls that anything is possible in this great game of ours and that you should never give up on your cricketing dream. It also proves the old saying that s**t really does get wickets.

This loss still keeps us in the six only 10 points off top spot. We will regroup and get ready for our upcoming match against University to hopefully get the win.

Female B Grade 40

Wanneroo 4/211 (Crafford 98*, Reichelt 38, Jesani 32) def. Midland-Guildford 92 (Jones 4/23, Nicholls 2/17, Quinn-Schofield 2/26)

B Grade’s run of home games continued as they took on Midland-Guildford on Kingsway 2. This week the Roos welcomed another debutant in Aymie Haddrill, who has been having a stellar season in the 17s and is Wanneroo through and through!

Shenae and Tene put on another fantastic opening partnership – they’re a couple of master technicians and it’s great to watch. The stand was worth 96 before Shenae was run out in bizarre circumstances for 38. Shayna and Tene put on a neat little 50 run blitz, with Shayna notching 32 off just 28. This was followed by a run a ball 22 from Talia and the score was really ticking over. As the Roos chased 200 and looked to get Tene to triple figures of her own, Sarah was out trying to sneak a quick one while Kristin (11*) did her best to get Tene on strike. On 98* with two balls to go, Tene took a leg bye – ever the team player – and that remained her final score in a career best performance. Well done!! 4/211 after 20 overs was a fantastic effort.

MGCC started fairly well – sitting top of the ladder that wasn’t unexpected, but the Roos plugged away. Emilie (2/17) was rewarded with the first two poles after bowling with some good rhythm at the top of the order. Layla and Sgayna combined for a run out while Emma bowled a super line and length and pulled two maidens in her five overs (nice one, Skipper). Aymie’s first roll in Senior cricket was right on the money, with her characteristic dip and deception! This built great pressure on the Midland batters as the run rate started to get away. Cue the spin twins Layla and Kristin who had a field day, picking up 6/49 between them off 16 solid overs. Layla bagged another two fa to go with last weeks effort (including an opener and the No 3 – great work Schoey). In a second career best moment for the day, Kristin claimed a fantastic 4/23 and bowled an absolute treat, with the Roos catching everything hit their way! Special mention to Shayna who kept like a boss with a catch, a runout and a lightning fast stumping!

MGCC all out as Bree (1/1) claimed the last wicket for the day with the total at 92. Great team effort this one – well done!!

Female B Grade 40

BYE

Premier T20

Gosnells 7/125 def. Wanneroo 9/124

Colts T20

Gosnells 3/176 def. Wanneroo 8/132 (Spangenberg 37)

U/17 Mens

Wanneroo 6/201 (Marinovich 87, Lucas 65*) drew. Joondalup

The 17s turned up to Kingsway on a very dull and gloomy morning hoping they were going to get the game underway. But unfortunately, when the covers were removed, the pitch was too wet for any play.

Returning back to Kingsway on week two on a much better-looking morning weatherwise, WDCC won the toss and chose to bat. With only one day of play being done this round, it was a good opportunity for some of the lower order bats to bat up the order and spend some time in the middle. We started off with the regular openers but they both fell for not many, with number three batsman then coming in and hanging around for a while making a good little start but then getting out on 16. This bought Jordan Marinovich and Joel Lucas together at the crease who put on a great partnership of 140 runs, before what appeared to be Jordan running out of gas and being bowled for a well put together 85. Joel got red ink on a great knock of 65 not out. We finished the morning on 6/201. We came away with 2 points for our runs and 5 for the draw which keeps us in the top 6 for now.

This week we come up against Centurions who are on top of the ladder, so a tough game ahead for our young Roos.

U/15 Mens

Joondalup 8/90 (Rawlins 2/12, von Bergheim 2/14, Redman 2/16) def. by Wanneroo 8/100 (Pugh 30, Hudson 27)

Everyone slept in on day 1 with wind and rain the night before which lingered into the morning to see the day abandoned at Belridge Secondary College. This meant that when the Roos arrived for week 2, the game was rescheduled as a T20 in which Joondalup won the toss and sent the young Roos in to set a target.

With a very solid start from Lincoln Pugh (30) and Oliver Hudson (27) the opening partnership set the innings off well. Liam Deckert sparkled from the first ball before being bowled in unusual circumstances on his second delivery for 4. Kane Gostlow was the mainstay of the middle order compiling 18 before coming the third run out of the innings. The lower middle order gave their innings away chasing quick runs for the team and after the allotted 20 overs, Wanneroo set a marginally competitive target of 8/100.

Despite a volley of wides in the opening overs, Joondalup were never able to get their innings going and their required run rate grew from the start with the regular fall of wickets. All bowlers returned quality T20 bowling figures with the two U14 quicks impressing with Aiden Rawlins taking 2/12 and Jace von Bergheim also chipping in with 2/14. The spin twins of Harshal Halai and Josh Redman were as reliable as ever with Josh also taking two wickets for just 16 runs off his four overs.

Joondalup finished at 8/90 after their 20 overs giving Wanneroo first class honours at Belridge Secondary College.

First Grade

Wanneroo 317 (Sabburg 110, Swindells 70, Holly 34, Varsani 32) def. Rockingham-Mandurah 10/300 (Sabburg 3/54, Billington 3/76)

The first two-day game at home for the 1’s got off to a good start with captain Deon winning the toss and without hesitation electing to bat. Not the best of starts with the Roos being 1/1 but a partnership was built between the visa evader (Harry Swindles) and two-stroke (Michael O’Day).

On the stroke of lunch Michael had enough of batting and decided to run himself out by half a pitch. This brought in big red (Chris Sabburg). With Swindles and Sabburg going about their business and picking off the Rockingham attack with a precision that was a pleasure to watch. Swindles departed for an excellent 70. Strawb was measured with his aggression as the opposition set interesting fields with 5 men out for 25 overs. Strawb was happy to oblige and happily went at 3 an over with ease. He made a terrific 110 in a stunning return to form. He was supported well by Aryan’s 32 and Goggles Holly’s 34. The Roos finished an excellent day on 317.

Week two came around and it was the Roos turn to bowl. It was a good contest early between bat and ball with Rockingham making a decent start with the Roos also grabbing two wickets early. The Roos were less then desirable in the field and lacked consistency in their bowling. Great spells by all-rounder status Michael O’Day and Hayden Stumpers, wrestled momentum back and were unlucky to not grab a wicket for their efforts. Spin twins Billington and Carroll came on and struck with Billington breaking the big partnership and “Maffa” Carroll picking up the incoming batsmen soon after.

Once again the momentum swung and the game was on a knifes edge. The skipper Deon stood up, paired with Chris Sabburg bowled for majority of the last session and controlled the game excellently. Made scoring hard for the batsman as the run rate was creeping higher with every over. This culminated in numerous chances for wickets which the Roos took most of them… definitely not all though. An excellent catch by Riley Holly all but won the game for the Roos. And the Roos registered their first 2-day win of the season.

Second Grade

Rockingham-Mandurah 181 (Fryer 4/30, Forssman 3/25) def by Wanneroo 7/231 (De silva 70, Spangenberg 61, Bonner 40)

Saturday 5th of November, we were off to a great start on a windy day down at Retravision Oval (Lark Hill) – the boys were warming up, Smudge (Adam Smith) ready for the coin toss and Sharad Jessani took a wrong left to get lost in Rockingham.

Smudge lost the toss (very first one for the season) and we told to get the whites on and have a bowl on a nice flatty. We got off the best start with Donny Fryer taking the first wicket in the very first over of the day, Adam (what shoulder injury) Smith bowling an exceptional opening spell into that Lark Hill winds to get us into a decent position heading into lunch. After Lunch it was all Wanneroo, the spinners twirling into the breeze and pace bowlers bowling down breeze, rolling Rockingham for 181, Donny Fryer (4/30) and Darcy Forssman (3/25) pick of the bowlers with Sam (The Wall) De Silva with 2 run outs to end the innings. With 9 overs left in the day Blake Holly and Jacob Bonner were the boys to go out and face up, successfully navigating their way to 0/16 to end day 1.

Day 2 started in a bad fashion with Blake Holly being bowled around the legs on the first over of the day. Alex (Fitta) Fitzmaurice was digging into the fine food facilities watching the boys in cruise control heading into Lunch. After lunch everything was looking on track with the boys batting beautifully before Jacob (Doesn’t like a 50) Bonner chipping on straight to the bowler ending on a well-made (40). In came Connor (Spang) Spangenberg and from the get go was on the attack, batting sensationally to bring up a compiled 50, not long after Sam (The Wall) De Silva bringing up his 50. With 7 runs to win Connor tried to hit the boundary but was caught at covers for a well-made (61).  We kept batting on till the tea break in hope for Sammy to bring up a 100 for the club but fell on 70 -take nothing away from the innings, it was sensational. The boys really were having a centre wicket session with Alex (Fitta) Fitzmaurice hitting 2x 4s in his late cameo of 3 balls to take it to tea. The game was called with the score at 7/231, Wanneroo 2s remaining undefeated after 6.

M T20

Wanneroo 7/161 (Swindells 37, Billington 30) def. Midland-Guildford 5/160 (Carroll 2/20)

The Roos lost the toss against Midland-Guildford on a sunny Sunday and were sent out to field. Midland got off a to a bit of a flyer and we’re 0/56 after the powerplay. It didn’t take long for young Maff Carroll to get into his work as he broke the opening partnership and helped build some momentum back for the Roos. From then on, the Roos worked hard throughout the middle overs and at the death to try and restrict Midland as they ended up finishing on 5/160.

With the bat, Wanneroo didn’t get off to the flashiest of starts but kept wickets in tack and run rate in reach throughout the first part of the innings. Harry ‘Howay the Lads’ Swindells played a crucial role throughout the middle overs with a cameo of 37 off 27 balls. From then on Billington (30 off 25) and Spangenberg (17 off 11) played handy little innings to keep the run rate within reach. Then when it all looked too much, Caiden EatonBurgerz and Hayden ‘The Stumptruck’ Stumpers entered the crease. Needing 37 from 3 overs the pair were clinical hitting 2 4s and 3 maximums between them. It took until the very last ball as the Roos needed 1 off 1 to win the game but Caiden was too clutch for Midland as he scampered through for one of the great t20 wins.

Colts T20

Wanneroo 4/155 (Spangenberg 55, Holly 42) def. Midland-Guildford 7/145 (Stumpers 3/33, Carroll 2/18)

Captain Varsani won the toss and chose to bat – before hitting a four first ball. We lost an early wicket, but Blake and Conner steadily batted throughout the middle overs getting us to 115 before losing Blake. A few cameos by Stumpers and Tyler helped Conner get to 50 and lead the team to 155 after the 20 overs.

We got off to a rough start with the ball, Midland taking early charge before Sharad and Stumpers took a wicket each to shift momentum. Ultimately Stumpers took two and Matt ‘Maff’ Carroll took two in the final over to seal a win in the first Colts match of the season.

Third Grade

Wanneroo 7/308 (Harris 89, Blythman 70, Brown 62*, Kelsey 31) def. Rockingham-Mandurah 128 (T Jessani 3/15, O Brown 3/34, Walter 2/32, Slattery 2/33)

The time has finally come – first 2 dayer of the season taking on the gold ole Rockingham-Mandurah at the home of cricket Kingsway 2. Day 1 started off very nicely with Skipper Jordan winning the toss and electing to bat on an absolute road.

The innings however did not start off very smoothly as we lost both Cam and Yusuf very early in the day resulting of the threes being 2/1. However, a classy 3rd wicket stand of Tim (89) and Tom (70) steadied the innings with a mammoth 157 run partnership to lay a brilliant platform for the rest of the line up to launch off. The middle order contributed very nicely with Kelso providing a classy 31 and Tyler “Falcon destroyer” producing a well-made 62 with late handy runs from Walts and Jordan putting the team total to a mammoth 308 at the end of innings.

Day 2 produced a cloudy day but the deck was flat and with only 5 bowlers we knew it was going to be a tough day in the dirt. We knew a couple of wickets in the first session was key to put the pressure straight on the Rockingham batters and boy did the bowlers produce a serious start with Owen “Mr worldwide” Brown producing an outstanding opening spell by knocking the stumps over 3 times within the space of 10 balls. The threes continued to take wickets at regular intervals with Slats and Walts taking 2 wickets each, and with Owen and taz “just the better jessani” taking 3 poles each to knock over the Rockingham line up for 128. Definitely a well-earned beverage for the threes as they continue their momentum onto next week.

Fourth Grade

Rockingham-Mandurah 301 (Maunder 4/31, Kumar 2/49, Y Singh 2/76) def. Wanneroo 260 (Williams 110, Hall 48, Kumar 45)

4s made the long, dreaded trip down to lark hill. Deck was flat, outfield was fast and Liam continued his fine form by losing the toss yet again, with Rocky sending us out to field. We started well with the ball, creating plenty of chances early but couldn’t get a breakthrough until the drinks when Jared ‘Juice’ Maunder and Anil Kumar were able to dismiss both openers with the score at 42. It was then 31 overs of pure annihilation as the next 2 blokes piled on 179 before Kane “party animal” Pearce got the breakthrough. We came out after tea and dug ourselves out of a hole taking the last 7 wickets for 80 runs thanks to a quiet 4fa from Juice and 2 each from Yad and Anil. Rocky all out for 301 after 72 overs. Having 6 overs to bat at the end of day 1 , Sam and Anil were able to bat out the day finishing at 0/18.

Day 2 started with severe panic as Dougo had lost his kit bag and Kane Pearce decided he’d forget his whites at home. This didn’t stop openers Sam and Anil however as they were able to continue their run of form and put on another 50+ run opening stand, before Anil skied one to mid-off for a well made 45, 3 balls before drinks. After drinks was a bit ugly, as we then lost 3 quick wickets, but Hally joined Sam at the crease and the two were able to steady the ship scoring runs with ease putting on 93 for the 4th wicket. Hally out for a fine 48. From this point on it was the Sam Williams show as the opener was left unfazed as the middle order collapsed around him. He was able to up the ante and give the boys a sniff as he belted Rocky all over the park, bringing up a maiden 100 with a crunching cover drive for 4. A well-deserved 100 after a lot of hard work for Sam left bittersweet as we fell 41 runs short.

U17M

Wanneroo 5/223 (Skouros 101*, Jones 44, Brown 26) def. Rockingham-Mandurah 132 (Skouros 3/18, De Villiers 2/23, Cavanagh 2/28)

Last Saturday we welcomed Rockingham Mandurah to Kingsway. The boys from Rocky thought there may be a bit in the wicket and won the toss and put us into bat.

Tyler Brown (26) and Riley Gillespie (20) got us off to a solid start with a partnership of 47. We then lost 3 for 15 in a short period of time before Matt Skouros and Ben Jones steadied the ship with a partnership of 112 before Ben was dismissed for a well-made 44. Matt Skouros went on and made his first century for the club and remained 101 not out. Congrats Matt, superb effort. We finished on 5 for 223 off our 50 overs and were confident we could turn that into a comfortable win.

On week two we turned up on a magnificent Saturday with a Vinnie special prepared for us and an outfield resembling a bowling green. The boys from Rocky never really got going. An excellent new ball partnership from Skipper Matt Skouros and Jordan Marinovich had us in the box seat at 3 for 13. Rocky were able to build a couple of small partnerships before wickets would fall in clumps. Nathan De Villiers (2 for 23) chipped in with 2 in 2 balls and at that stage they were reeling at 5 for 51. Then spin twins Tarun Jessani (1 for 13) and Hayden Cavanagh (2 for 28) tightened the ship and continued the pressure before skipper Matt came on to finish a great game for him with 3 for 18 to go with his hundred the previous week.

17’s are now sitting in 4th spot with 3 wins from 4 games and the momentum is building. Well done boys.

U15M

Rockingham-Mandurah 9/220 (Prance 3/32, Halai 2/49) def. Wanneroo 5/138 (Pugh 58*, Gostlow 32)

After the long journey south, Rockingham-Mandurah won the toss and promptly decided to bat in what can only be described as perfect conditions to set a decent target.

Those plans were put in doubt early with very good opening spells of 1/14 each from Dylan PRANCE and Liam DECKERT to have the hosts in a nervous position. After some unrewarded toil from Mitch McARTHUR (1/70), The spin trio of Harshal HALAI (2/49 off 10), Josh REDMAN (1/20 off 6) and Blake JONES (0/19 off 4) worked hard with support from DECKERT and PRANCE to restrict the hosts to 9/220 after their allotted 50 overs. PRANCE finishing with the best figures of 3/32 off his 10 overs.

With some optimism that whilst it was a decent score, in the favourable batting conditions, it was a gettable target if they batted well, the young Roos racked up more frequent flyer points and returned for day two.

The chase did not start well with REDMAN shouldering arms as a sniper took out his off bail from somewhere beyond the coastal heath. DECKERT followed soon after for a good catch and at 2/20, Lincoln PUGH (58 not out) and Kane GOSTLOW (32) then went about stabilising the innings.

Unfortunately, the Roos were never in the chase with the required run rate steadily creeping up and nobody being able to get their innings going.

The opportunity for redemption arises next week with a local derby against Joondalup.

Female B Grade

Bye

17F40

Melville 163 (Allen 4/15, Haddrill 4/18) def. Wanneroo 86 (Allen 37)

The Under 17s ventured to Tompkins Park on a windy day for their first match against Melville for the season.

Melville won the toss and batted first, looking to bat out their 40 overs, but were immediately on the back foot at 2/17, with the dynamic duo of Chloe and Aymie combining to remove both openers – Chloe hitting the pegs when Womby collected a skied chance off Aymie. When Ella struck with the score at 3/30, things looked promising, but a strong fourth wicket partnership nudged the score to 114. Talia then collected three wickets in no time (two bowled’s and an LBW – nice!), again wresting control back to the Roos, with Melville stumbling to 6/115.

While the Roos never gave up in the field, the score kept ticking. Once again sundries proved to be a friend to the opposition and this will be an area of focus for the team moving forward. Melville showed good determination to bat out their overs, and nearly did so, but not before Aymie targeted a great line and length to collect three caught and bowled on her way to a very tidy 4/18, with Talia also claiming another to finish with 4/15 – well bowled both!

With the bat, the second wicket partnership between Chloe and Talia threatened to end the game very quickly in the Roos favour, and at 2/50 after not many overs it looked possible. However, spin was our undoing on this day, with the Melville keeper collecting three stumpings. Talia’s innings of 37 off 39 was a highlight, with Chloe the next best scorer with 13. Polly, Spud and Steffi put up some good resistance, but the Roos were dismissed for 86 just after drinks. Lots to work on out of this game and I’m sure we will see the Roos bounce back strongly.

Female Pathway Program (Double header)

Wanneroo 1/76 (Brooker 35*, Wilkinson 25*) def. by South Perth 3/77

The Under 14s played their second carnival for the season, again at Prendiville College in Ocean Reef. Game 1 saw them take on South Perth, in what proved to be a very exciting game. Batting first, the Young Roos notched a score of 1/76 off their 20 overs, with a fantastic partnership taking place between Kitty Wilkinson (25*) and Sarah Brooker (35*). Well batted girls! With the ball, the girls bowled super tight, restricting scoring opportunities. All seven Wanneroo bowlers returned tidy figures, targeting good areas. Samira was the only bowler to claim a wicket (1/14), with two excellent bits of fielding resulting in run outs to Emma and Chelsea – both direct hits. In the end, South Perth reached 3/77 with a little more than six balls to spare.

Wanneroo 2/56 def. Melville 8/53 (Kent 3/12)

Game 2 of the double header was a low scoring affair against Melville, who the Roos were able to restrict to 8/53. Once again, the Wanneroo bowling unit was a tight group, with super economical figures returned by all. Wickets were claimed by Chelsea (1/4), Emma (1/7), Sophie (1/7), Samira (1/2) and Eliza (1/2). Arabella was the standout on the day with 3/12. Fantastic catching in this game too with Addison and Emma both collecting two, while Molly and Kitty also showed safe hands. Wanneroo ran the score down right on the 13 over mark, finishing at 2/56. Addison batted well for her 21, while Emma was the highest scorer with 17.

First Grade

Wanneroo 130 (de Nobrega 32) def. by Subiaco-Floreat 7/216 (Sabburg 2/38, Richards 2/41)

The 1s were back at Kingsway for the 4th round of the season. Deon won the toss (again) and sent Subiaco-Floreat into bat first. Matthew Dzodzos and Bailey Richards started off well restricting the runs and picking up 1 each along the way. Deon then brought himself on and picked up another.

Teenage Debutant Matt Carrol continued his good form, bowling with maturity, skill and bravery against a strong batting line-up. It was a treat for all supporters watching the team get around him when he took his first A-grade wicket. Matt finished with 1-36 off his 10 overs.

The Roo boys bowled really well through the middle overs keeping the runs to a minimum, and some disciplined death bowling by returning openers Dzodzos and Richards kept Subiaco to a very chaseable score of 216.

The top order of de Nobrega, Sabburg and Slattery all started well but once they got out it was a much too often sight of a roo collapse and we were bowled out for 130.

Second Grade

Subiaco-Floreat 7/244 (Smith 2/42, Ardagh 2/45) def. by Wanneroo 9/248 (Fryer 85, B Holly 43, R Holly 28, Charles 26)

The Roo’s 2s won the toss and elected to have a bowl on a seemingly good-looking deck that had us all fooled. With only one wicket within the first 31 overs it took a little bit of brilliance on the boundary by Riley “was that on frog box?” Holly to get the wickets rolling. Good bowling from Adam Smith (2-42) and Micheal “fossil” Ardagh (2-45) at the death managed to keep the score to 244.

The batting started off shaky by losing 2 early ones. Many tried hard to steady the ship with Blake Holly making a hard fought 43 but wickets seemed to fall as things began to look settled. As the total started looking out of reach Donny “3 votes” Fryer (85 off 75) began to up the run rate creating belief. Joined by Hayden Stumpers (24 off 17) they managed to chase down most of the remaining 67 off 40 balls until both Donny and Hayden fell in the 49th leaving 2 off the last over with 1 wicket in hand. Adam “Ashwin” Smith left things to the 2nd last ball to create theatre, in the end hitting a 4 over short mid-on to get the 4th win in a row for the 2s.

Also, can confirm… it was not on frogbox.

Female B Grade T20

Wanneroo 2/76 (Stillitano 32*) def. by South Perth 7/149 (Beckett 3/29, Harvey 2/13) 

Covers on upon arrival is never a great sign of the likelihood of play but the game got underway right on time. Spirits were lifted as the side welcomed back Tene from Indoor Nationals and Shayna from injury.

It was also great to see another senior community player debut for the Roos – Monique Todd. Monique was joined by Ayla Meintjes (also from Warwick-Greenwood) as we covered for some absences.

Winning the toss and bowling, Emilie and Emma started briskly, with Emma picking up an opener cheaply. Some big hitting from Tyler Jones put the Roos on the back foot and accelerated the score to 58 after 6 overs, before Josie claimed her wicket. From that point on, the South Perth run rate held at about 7 an over for the rest of the innings, seeing the visitors reach 7/149 after 20. Josie was the pick of the bowlers with 3/29, while Emma took a tidy 2/13. Emilie and Kristen both collected a wicket too. Well done to the Roos for persisting through the drizzle – great to see six of the seven dismissals were clean bowled.

It was a large total to chase and the skies grew ever more ominous. But the Roos went about their work steadily with the bat. Tene (13) got a start, but it was Shayna and Mathilda who started to take it to the bowlers after being brought together with the score at 2/16.

In a really solid little partnership, this pair turned the strike over and punished the bad ball – Buckets was particularly damaging with 6 fours in her score of 32*, with Shayna looking as composed as ever with 20* off 25 balls.

With the score at 2/76 off 12 overs and plenty of batting in the shed, the heavens really did open, covers went on, and the game got called off.

A real shame as this was shaping up to be a cracking run chase. In the end, the Roos were 5 runs behind on the D/L method, meaning a win to South Perth in the only game of Senior Female cricket that wasn’t abandoned on the day.

Female Youth League T20

BYE

Third Grade

Wanneroo 100 (Bonner 26) def. by Subiaco-Floreat 173 (Slattery 3/19, Mcdonald 3/38)

Captain Jordan Slattery won the toss for the 4th time in a row, and given recent struggles in setting up the score the last few games he chose to send Subiaco-Floreat in to bat first. Following a slow start Alex Fitzmaurice broke through taking a wicket with the first ball of his spell. It was slow going from there, with Subiaco not scoring easily but denying us wickets. At 1/107, we took 2 wickets within a couple overs to swing things back our way before the 30 over drinks break. After drinks we came out and took 5/13 with a big thanks to Jack ‘bowling all-rounder’ McDonald and Jordan ‘prime-time’ Slattery who did most of the damage. Subiaco went on to make 173.

After the innings break, we got off to a flyer with players rep Cam MacDonald and Jacob Bonner kicking things off. But other than that, we began to drop like flies getting bowled out in the 34th over for 100.

Fourth Grade

Subiaco-Floreat 6/172 (Marinovich 2/14, Douglas 2/22) def. by Wanneroo 5/173 (Blythman 58, Zain 34*, Kumar 27*, Williams 25)

A top of the table clash at Alderbury with the winning team taking top spot on the ladder. We lost the toss and were asked to bowl first, with the opening bowlers bowling well without reward. Jordan Marinovich took the first wicket thanks to a sharp catch from Kane “hates doing the write up” Pearce, before he quickly took another wicket with a caught and bowled. With momentum in our favour, the Roos kept things tight for a while before the off-spin of Callum Douglas took a couple of wickets. Subi ending up on 172 after their overs.

Tom Blythman picked up where he left off last week, hitting his second fifty in as many weeks to get the Roos off to a good start. The middle order was solid, with contributions coming from a few batters, including Sam with 25, Yusuf with 34 not out and Anil with 27 not out. Yusuf hit the winning runs with 4 overs to spare, launching into a few almighty fist bumps as he got the job done. The 4s are still undefeated and top of the table thanks to this result.

First Grade

Scarborough 0/114 def. Wanneroo 113 (Sabburg 34, de Nobrega 26)

The ones once again won the toss with Deon choosing to bat. Chris Sabburg got going quickly, scoring freely. Once he got out, the roos collapsed poorly with only three of our batters going double figures, with the roos limping to 113.

Scarborough began their innings and never looked like losing. The roos couldn’t break the opening partnership with Scarborough chasing down the score in the 19th over.

Onto Subi next week.

Second Grade

Wanneroo 8/185 (O’Day 51*, Stumpers 35, Forssman 28) def. Scarborough 150 (Forssman 5/12, Carroll 3/12, Ardagh 2/45)

Smudge made it 3 – 3 as he elected to bat on what looked like a nice batting deck.

The boys were in a bit of trouble early, Darcy tried hard and plodded away for a 28 but we lost 7 wickets before the Subways arrived and we were for 7 for 94. Insert Michael MOOGS O’Day & big Hayden Stumpers who had a match winning partnership combining for 86. Moogs took 12 balls to get off the mark but ended up with an elite strike rate finishing on 51* off 54 rocks. Big Stumpy did a great job at the other end turning the strike over and was run out in the last over on 35 off 58. The boys did a great job to ensure we batted out the overs and we finished on 185. The momentum felt like it had swung our way and the boys were confident we could make it 3 on the trot.

Stumpy & Moogs kicked us off with the ball and unfortunately didn’t go to plan. The openers for Scarborough got off to an absolute flyer. 10 overs had gone in the blink of an eye & Scarborough were 0 for 74.  Finally, we got our first and everyone still had some belief we could get a few wickets and make this interesting. B McGhie quoted “they will be 4 for 100 soon lads”. Smudge had seen enough and turned to the Whiz (Maff Carroll), who took the P155 in his first over taking 2-0 bowling left arm in swingers. Scarborough were now 3-99 and we were right back in the game, but the 18-year-old opener was still at the crease and he had blasted them all over the ground, hitting 4 Maximos & 9 4s. Darcy then came onto bowl his right arm tweakers and third ball into the over he snicked up the opener who made a very good 74 off 48. Brodie carried on thinking he had taken catch of the year but looking at the frog box after the game, it looked to be a regulation catch. Scarborough were now 4-99 and the lad’s energy in the field had lifted significantly. Wickets were falling consistently as Maff & Darcy bowled a perfect 10 overs each.

Maff finished with figures of 3-12 off 10 overs including 4 maidens & Darcy finished with 5 – 12 off 10 overs. Scarborough quickly fell to 9 for 123 and the wheels had fallen off the bus. The last pair for the gulls put on 27 but it wasn’t enough as they were bowled out for 150 & the roos make it 3-3.

Female B Grade T20

Wanneroo 8/88(cc) M Stillitano 25  MJ Gray 2/15 def by. Rockingham-Mandurah 5/89 

The Roos took on Rockingham-Mandurah at Kingsway but were in trouble early on at 1/0. Talia (17) and Emilie (9) steadied the ship, getting the score to 2/25, but that became 5/39 and things were looking decidedly shaky. The Roos needed to find some runs and dig in if they were to post a competitive total.

Kristin (7) and Mathilda (25) delivered this by putting up some good resistance and finding the singles well. Ella also contributed a well-made 13 towards the back of the innings to see the Roos to a total of 8/88, which gave the bowlers something to work with.

But with fewer runs than they would have hoped for, the Roos had it all to do. Josie (1/13) struck early and a series of three runouts kept the Roos in the hunt – great to watch, including a direct hit from Buckets as the batters tried for a cheeky second. Shenae (1/13) also claimed a wicket with a great yorker that found the base of the stumps.

But despite an intense finish, the home side just didn’t have enough runs on the board and Rocky got across the line with three balls to spare. Credit to our players who never gave up the fight but lots of areas for improvement coming out of this match.

Female Youth League T20

Wanneroo 2/188 (Allen 72*, Bartholomew 68) def. Perth Cricket Club 61 (Quinn-Schofield 3/7)

The Under 17 girls took on Perth at Kingsway, in a first-ever clash between these teams in this league, with Perth entering the competition for the first time this year.

Winning the toss and batting, an early wicket put Perth momentarily on top, but then it was a pretty dominant performance from the Roos. Talia and Chloe batted sensibly but aggressively and well, building a mammoth 140 run partnership for the second wicket – statisticians have confirmed that this is the highest ever Youth League partnership for any wicket in any format. Well done ladies! Talia finished on 72* off 61 balls with an impressive 12 boundaries, with Chloe close behind on 68 off 60, with 9 boundaries.

In a great sign for the Club, we’ve now seen four half centuries in the Youth League T20 already this season – only one has been scored before this season. Roos rollicked to 2-188 off their 20.

Aymie and Myla opened the bowling and we saw another great caught and bowled – Myla’s athletic run and dive secured the first wicket. Tegan and Layla were right on the money, tightening the screws and really giving the batters very little to hit. Watching two leggies bowl in tandem is pretty special. Layla finished with a tidy 3/7 and Tegan 1/10. Emmersyn, Steffi and Steph all bowled with good rhythm – a sign that the Roos have good depth in their bowling – Spud’s 1/5 and Steffi’s 1/0 helped to restrict Perth to 61. Awesome to see an improved effort in the field from all of the girls this week – some tidy catches (another great celebration from Emmersyn) and three run outs – including a direct hit from Layla and Tegan/Abbster and Steffi/Abbster combinations that found the batters well short of their ground! Good job team!

Third Grade

Scarborough 8/157 (Jessani 3/23, Walter 2/25) def. Wanneroo 151 (Gardner 47, Slattery 28, Walter 26)

The one that got away. With one win after two the Threes went forth to compete with fifth-placed Scarborough at Abbett. Consistency is key so although coming into the game with our third keeper in three games, skip Slattery kept us on track at the coin toss, keeping us undefeated in that arena.

Batting first it was a near repeat of the week before, with openers looking good early, not much to write home about in the middle and then a useful, ugly scrap at the end. Cam MacDonald and Marc Gardner started us off well before Cam copped one that jumped from a length, resulting in him edging it in slow-motion to slip. From there the engine room couldn’t get going until captain Slattery sauntered to the crease to get us back on track. He joined Gardner to form an innings restoring 50-run partnership. Slattery was out for 28 and Gardner soon after for a well-cultivated 47. These two were replaced by John Walter and Owen Brown who had the job to push us to a defendable total. Walter deposited the ball into the waste receptacle on his way to 26, and in tandem with young Brown the Roos were able to drag themselves to a slightly under-par 152.

Knowing we needed quick wickets and restrictive bowling to have a chance, Scarborough denied us on both accounts, moving to the halfway drinks break only 2 down and their run-rate on the happy side of comfortable. With renewed determination that only cordial can provide, the roos were able to fight their way back into the game mostly thanks to a sensational bowling effort by young Tarun Jessani. Tarun spun a web through the middle overs, taking 3-23 off 9 overs. Along with a smattering of wickets to the other bowlers Scarborough were cut down to needing 30 runs with 2 wickets remaining and a run-rate bordering on the unhappy side of comfortable.

Alas, this was the last joy that we would have on the day. We dropped three catches, bowled too many wides (though some were questionable) and let runs be stolen as Scarborough’s #6 was able to effectively farm the strike and take the Abbett boys to victory in the final over. This one might sting for a while, but we will be better for the lessons.

Fourth Grade

Wanneroo 7/214 (Blythman 73, Hall 43, Williams 34) def. Scarborough 8/211 (Billington 3/41, Quelch 2/28, Kumar 2/34)

The Fours looked to continue their hot streak on the return to the almighty Kingsway Reserve (Home of Cricket) to face an opponent which not going to lie has had the upper hand on us for the last couple of years – the mighty Scarborough Gulls.

With a couple of familiar faces returning to the squad and a new captain Allan Hall standing in due to injury to the current captain we looked to make it 3-0 and the end of the day. As with all fours captain’s tradition the toss was lost, and the Gull’s skip sent the Roos to chase leather for the 45 overs. The Gull’s openers got off to a flyer while providing the Roos multiple close chance which could’ve gone either way, the Gull’s openers looked like putting on a dominant foundation until Anil “DON’T HIT MY TELSA!!” Kumar was brought onto the attack. He was into his work producing two wickets back-to-back, but we won’t talk about that hat trick ball. The Roos bowlers stayed consistent and persevered in the field throughout the innings taking wickets at crucial moments. The pick of the bowlers was the one Cody “G.O.A.T” Billington taking three wickets, with Josh “gibberish” Quelch taking two, Anil “TELSA” Kumar taking two and the return of Callum “The Finisher” Douglas taking one wicket as well restricting the Gulls to 211 at the innings break.

The Roo’s looked up to the challenge on chasing the mammoth score and looking for the Roo’s openers Tom “Mandurah’’ Blythman and Sam “That content guy “Williams to set a foundation for the rest of the order on. Which they did putting on a classy 65 opening stand. With the Roo’s losing a couple of quick wickets in a short span. The Gull’s looked to put the pressure back onto the mighty Roo’s but in came captain Hally. Hally and Tom absorbed the pressure from the Gull’s bowlers but after a time put that pressure back onto the bowlers. Hally and Tom looked comfortable together in the middle hitting the ball all around the park in a stand of 70 runs until Tom was dismissed trying to send the 15-year-old spinner back to Abbett park with a well deserved 73. With the game in the balance Anil partnered with Hally to try and get over the finish line for the team. Not to be with the Roo’s losing Hally after a fine captain’s knock of 43 and soon later losing Anil. But we all know that cricket is a spectator’s sport and in came Callum “Finisher” Douglas to get the Roo’s over the line in the last over of the day for a well-deserved win.

With a lot of positives coming out of the win, we look to continue to improve and look to carry the momentum on to next week as we face a more formidable opponent.

U17M

Wanneroo 9/191 (Skouros 75, Jones 40, Marinovich 26) def. Melville 8/106 (Skouros 3/21, Cavanagh 2/18)

Wanneroo won the toss and elected to bat. What looked to be a bad decision with the first 3 wickets falling for 7 runs, was quickly turned around by skipper Matt Skouros with a timely 75, his 2^nd 50 in the first two games.  Ben Jones (40) and Jordan Marinovich (26) contributed to the score to post 191 at the end of day 1.

Returning on day 2 it was a shared effort with bowling duties, Matt Skouros leading the charge again with 3/21, Hayden Cavanagh 2/18, closed out the day’s play with Melville at 8/106, falling 85 runs short.

U15M

Melville 6/194 (Deckert 2/7) def. Wanneroo 10/124 (Hudson 43*, Deckert 31)

No report this week.

U14M

Bayswater-Morley 8/185 def. by Wanneroo Districts 7/199 (Prance 85, Kilgour 50)

Winning the toss Captain Blake Jones elected to have a bat on what looked like a great flat pitch to set a good score on.

Losing an early wicket didn’t affect the score rate with Jackson Harvey ticking the strike rate over whilst Brock Prance went about inserting his influence on the game.  Robbie Kilgour came in at the 18th over and in partnership with Brock they put 91 runs off 114 balls, to set the game up in the Roos favour. With Robbie ending up on 50, Jamie Moir came in to work with Brock, adding another 47 runs until Brocks great innings came to an end on 85 in the 47th over. With plenty of batsman in the shed the boys swung hard in the last couple of overs, losing a few late wickets but setting an impressive total of 199.

Bayswater started the run chase well getting a couple of edges that ran away over the fast outfield. Their opening batsman were looking strong and needed someone to turn the tide. A special fielding effort from the captain, Blake Jones, saw their opener walk off just short of a run. Another runout by Aiden Rawlins the very next ball had Bayswater on 2/36. With the quick loss of wickets, this now put pressure on their batsmen, not willing to risking the quick singles and allowing the Roos to get on top of Baywater’s early run rate of five an over by the 10.  Leg spinners Ben Furlong and Blake then went to work bowling a tight line which didn’t give the batsmen many options. With pressure building, another runout eventuated, and the Roos were getting a good grip of the game. The bowlers managed to get seven maidens during the middle overs, dropping Bayswater’s run rate to just over two an over by the 20th. Needing quick runs, Bayswater started throwing the bat at everything and opportunities started to present. The boys could have finished them off earlier, but unfortunately, a few catches were spilled. The fast bowlers, Jace Von Bergheim, Aiden Rawlins and Pruth Chauhan, all managed to hit the sticks in the final overs finishing Bayswater 15 runs short.

It was a great start for the boys with some great achievements first up, still room for improvement in the field and learning the club song.

Go Roos

U13M

Bayswater-Morley 115 (McLean 5/21) def. by Wanneroo 1/168 (Young 80*, Harvey 59*)

Sunday the 16th saw the 13’s boys head out to Hillcrest for what would be for most boys their first official district game. They were all pumped up and with Kade bringing the speaker and a playlist supplied by a few of the boys they were looking forward to getting started. Our Captain Fletcher won the toss and even before the coin had stopped moving informed the Baysie skipper that we would be batting.

We managed to get off to a good start and had achieved our first target of being no wicket down and 25 runs after 10 overs. We lost our first wicket at 30 with Noah Ferguson dismissed for 14. With new batter Leo Harvey joining David Young at the crease the boys set about building the innings with the goal to work the run rate to around 3.5 to 4 per over. They achieved the goal with little fuss or risk and by innings end had built an unbroken partnership of 138 building our score to 1-168. Both batsmen were in complete control the whole innings and worked the ball into the gaps and were able to pounce on the loose balls. David Young batted through the innings to finish on 80 not out and Leo Harvey remained on 59 not out. Well done boys, great batting.

The Baysie boys had found it tough and ended up being an over short. So we only had 39 to bowl ourselves but the goal was 10 wickets. We managed to take wickets regularly and not allow the Baysie boys to get any real substantial partnerships while we worked together really well. Captain Fletcher opened the bowling and took 2 wickets in his first spell and in tandem with Jax Holbrook really set the tone with the areas they bowled. Cooper Doepel came and took an early wicket before our spinners bowled through the middle overs taking one a piece. Well bowled Scott and Darsh. Fletcher bought himself back on in effort to finish it early and again in tandem with Jax finished them off. Fletcher definitely got the reward for bowling full and straight and ended with a 5fa. 5 for 21 off 8 overs in an excellent day out for him with the ball.

As a fielding team we really built the pressure. Stopped almost everything, caught almost everything and chased every ball down. The last wicket run out was a highlight for me with 2 boys chasing out to the boundry and I could hear the talk calling for the flick back, the flick happened and a perfect throw to the keeper catching the batsmen just short of the crease (well done Gozzy and Cooper)  was another highlight for a day filled with them.

Some of the boys could have been disappointed during our innings due to not getting a bat as they are not used to this scenario but the support offered to the boys doing the job was great. Rest assured that there will be games where your ability will be needed and sometimes it may be earlier than anyone likes. As it stands we will take the win and move on to our next game and again look forward to getting our processes right and allow ourselves to let the result take care of itself. Well done boys.

14F (Double header)

Game 1: Wanneroo 3/86 (Brooker 37) def. Midland-Guildford 4/85

Game 2: Wanneroo 8/68 def. by Subiaco-Floreat 2/84

It was a big welcome to the Roos family for lots of girls playing in their first official match for WDCC in the WA Cricket Female Talent Carnival. We hosted Perth, Subi and Midland at Prendiville College on Sunday, with all four sides playing two matches.

Coaches had the Roos well prepared after a solid pre-season and a couple of scratch matches along the way. In the first game against Midland, Wanneroo batted first, reaching a good score of 3/86 off their 20 overs. Kitty Wilkinson carried her bat for an unbeaten 20* and Sarah Brooker top scored with 37 off 45, including 4 boundaries – a great partnership of 71 runs for the second wicket – well done girls!

With the ball, the Roos bowled in some good areas, but a few no balls and extras kept Midland in the hunt. Wicket takers included Benita Griessel (1/13), Chelsea Babic (1/6) and Arabella Kent (1/9), with some very tidy bowling figures indeed. In a line ball finish, Samira (1/9) had the last over to bowl and kept things super tight, with Midland falling one run short of forcing a super over, finishing at 4/85 – talk about close!

After a short break, the Roos came up against a refreshed Subi outfit who rattled along well early before finishing with a total of 2/84. Benita (1/8) and Arabella (1/14) both claimed another wicket in this game, but we also saw some very tidy bowling figures from all the other bowlers, including Chelsea, Samira, Eliza O’Connor, Emma Krynauw and Addison Wallis.

In the chase for runs, the Roos fell a little short of the target at 8/68, but there was good value placed on wickets by the top order, all of who made starts. Top scorers for this game were Emma (14) and Summer Henry (11).

A great first official hit out for the Under 14’s, and a chance to apply and learn more about the skills they have been focusing on at training.

First Grade Men

Wanneroo 215 (Varsani 65, Richards 34, Holly 28) def. by Melville 4/249 (Billington 2/34)

The day started very promising with new skipper Deon Billington winning the toss and electing to bowl first. However, after an eventful first over Melville were on track for about 950 and 2^nd bowler Bailey “bee sting” Richards didn’t help the case much either. Donnavinn Fryer and Deon Billington came on and dried up the runs with some economical bowling before Riley “Hollywood” Holly picked up the first wicket with a superb caught and bowled. With some strong batting on show, Melville ended up with 249 off their 50 overs. Skipper Deon was not for the first time the pick with 2-34.

The run chase started miserably when Strawb Sabburg nicked off in the first over. A steady partnership between newcomer Ricardo de Nobrega and Spangenberg/Heisenberg got us back on track before fireworks from the superstar Aryan Varsani had the Roos solidly in the hunt. Two extremely plumb LBW decisions in the same over to remove Fryer and Hollywood had us once again on the back foot and some late fireworks from Bailey Richards was not enough to get the boys over the line. In the end the Roo Premier side fell short by 34 runs.

The boys will be better for the run and eager to see what we can produce against Scarborough this week.

Second Grade Men

Melville 10/106 (O’Day 3/12, Carroll 3/24, Ardagh 2/12, Smith 2/29) def. by Wanneroo 9/230 (De silva 61, Forssman 56, O’Day 28, Bonner 27)

For game 2, the Roos-Twos were down at Tompkins. With what looked like a very nice wicket, Captain Adam ‘Smudge’ Smith won the toss and elected to bat.

The batting was off to a shaky start with the two openers Michael ‘Ards’ Ardagh and Jacob ‘Bonner’ Bonner having two mix ups in the second over. Ards fell for not many and Blake Holly soon followed to have us at 2/24. In his first game in the two’s Sam (Hamstring) de Silva came in and made it look easy partnering with Bonner and Darcy to put on a great knock. We finished off well with the help of Michael ‘Moogs’ O’Day ending on a healthy 9/230.

The bowling started off pretty perfectly. Moogs and Adam (Smudge) Smith got us off to a flyer each taking one wicket early. After a great opening spell, the spin trio of Ards, Darcy and Matthew (Maff) Carroll did what they do best to tie the opposition down in the middle overs. After a few wickets, the Melville Storm gave up hope and decided to block the game out. The boys ended up cruising to their second win of the year by 124 runs.

Female B Grade T20 (Double header)

Game 1: Wanneroo 4/60 S Reichelt 39* def. Midland-Guildford 9/58 (Stewart 2/8)

After a bye in Round 1, our B Grade took on Midland (twice) in a T20 double header at Kingsway. The team welcomed Hannah Francis (Applecross CC) and Debbie Goldberg (Whitfords CC) for their first games as Roos.

Midland started well, reaching 21 without loss before Emilie (1/15) struck. Then it was a steady procession of wickets, with almost all of the Roos bowlers getting amongst it – Emma (1/14), Josie (1/4), Kristin (1/5) – while Ella was the pick of the bowlers with a very tidy 2/8 and a length that was tricky to get away.

There were three run outs in this innings as well, with only one Midland batter reaching double figures in their total of 9/58 after 20 overs.

Wanneroo set about the chase in good style, and the top three of Shenae (39* off 33), Kristin (7) and Sarah (11) nearly saw it home. Two wickets in two balls brought Hannah out to see off a Hattrick (tough ask first game) but otherwise smooth sailing for the home team who finished at 4/60 in just a little more than 11 overs.

Game 2: Wanneroo 1/88 (Reichelt 43, Nicholls 26*) def. Midland-Guildford 5/87 (Giandzi 2/10, Harvey 2/10)

For this match we welcomed another player on debut – Liz Armstrong from Whitfords CC, who joined Hannah and Debbie in the line up.

A double header to start the season isn’t always easy, but it was great to see both Emma (2/10) and Bree (2/10) on fire with the ball in this match. Some great celebrations in this lot too, especially when the ball hit the woodwork!

The other wicket to fall was a well orchestrated run out involving Bree and Ella, who both stayed cool when it counted to find the batter short of her ground.

Shenae picked up where she left off Game one, with an almost run a ball 43. A picture of concentration, she looked disappointed to be out after sharing an excellent opening stand of 73 with Emilie, who batted with good focus to finish on 26* – a great knock after being promoted to the top of the order. A very brisk 10* from Mathilda saw the game finish in the 18th over, with the Roos cruising to 1/88.

An excellent start to the season by the B Grade team – well done!

Female Youth League T20

Wanneroo 7/143 (Williamson 82*) def. by Midland-Guildford 2/148

Bowling first at Kingsway on a gloriously fast outfield, the Roos claimed an early wicket through a great return catch that was snavelled by Aymie (1/22), but after that Midland put on a pretty solid batting display. The Roos weren’t at their best with the ball or in the field, but to their credit, the girls kept up their spirits in spite of the runs flowing. Ella (1/26) claimed the only other wicket to fall, with MGCC reaching an impressive 2/148 off their 20 overs.

Talia was unlucky to be run out at the non strikers end after a deflection from the bowlers hand. Myla (8) played with focus but when her wicket fell at 2/18, the Roos had it all to do. A great partnership between Soph (13) and Tegan, who was really talking it to the bowlers, got the score to 62. After Soph walked on an LBW (it was plumb) the home team needed batters to go with Tegan, who was starting to really unleash. It was going to be an uphill climb, but Chelsea and then Abbie both showed how rotating the strike is so important – the score kept ticking and Wanneroo remained within striking distance. Polly and Steffi ran lots of twos to keep the in form batter on strike and it very nearly came off – that never say die attitude was good to see – as the Roos fell just six runs short.

Tegan finished with a remarkable 82* off just 57 rocks, with 8 fours and 2 pretty big sixes. Well played Tegs and well done on your highest score to date.

Plenty to work on as a team out of this game though as no doubt will be a focus moving forward.

Third Grade Men

Wanneroo 124 (MacDonald 26) def. by Melville 6/12 (MacDonald 3/32, T Jessani 2/20)

Back for the first home game of the season for Jordan Slattery’s young side – the roos were keen to get in the way of the oncoming Storm. After winning his second consecutive toss and electing to bat again, the openers went on a flat Kingsway 2 deck. Opener Cameron MacDonald produced some early fireworks with a show of two very large (and very premeditated) Maximos. The first wicket fell just before drinks and thereafter it was not pretty viewing, as we fell from 0-37 to 6-62, Michael Kelsey showing the only resistance (20). A handy Melville bowling attack (did not even rely on their ex-state bowler) showed a blueprint of how to bell as a unit at that level, keeping things tight and eliciting false shots. The chaos was briefly paused with Jordan Slattery (12), club veteran John Walter (21) and Cody Billington (14) getting some wag out of the tail. Ultimately however the Roos were bowled out for 124.

Wanneroo kicked off their bowling innings with Melville batters kicking the ball, leading to Cody “young goat” Billington taking the first pole. Wickets were pretty hard to come by for the Roos, as the opposition batters cruised home to reach their total, with 4 wickets in hand. The spinners were the pick of the bowlers with Tarun Jessani (on 3rd grade debut) taking 2-20 off 9 and Jack McDonald 3-32. A tough loss for the Roos against a strong opposition but a good effort. Onto next week.

Fourth Grade Men

Melville 122 (Quelch 3/16, Maunder 3/21, Singh 2/17) def. by Wanneroo 123 (Zain 29)

A clear Saturday at Tompkins most North-East of ovals provided a good day for some magnificent fourth grade cricket. The streak of coin toss losses builds for the skipper as the second toss of the season is lost whilst somehow providing a winning outcome with Melville sending us in to bat, it seemed a win for us at the time, or did the home side know something we didn’t?

A slow start with Anil “the salesman” Kumar copping a duck down by the river, there looked to be a bit of luck on offer for Sam “tummy trouble” Williams as he kicked one early on that would’ve dismantled the stumps into many a piece, however he went on to score 11. Yusuf “excessive flapper” Zain and Ajaypal “strategic dropper” Singh attempting a rebuild for the Roo boys on the collective effort to stop the trucks was promising for a short while as they went on to score 29 and 16 respectively. Jordan “loves the river” Marinovich, Liam “bunting” Carroll, and Matt “early morning runs” Skouros contributed some handy runs at the back end of the innings, with 21, 17, and 15 to their names and their MyCricket stats whenever the institution is able to work. The tail of this innings requires no mention, Wanneroo are bowled out in the 41st over for 123, it seems as though the trucks are on their way…

It seems that Melville spent all their funds on diesel for their trucks and forgot about their lawnmower as the outfield could be classed as the 12th fielder, a handy inclusion when defending 123. It was slow going at the top of the bowling innings with Josh “4 step” Quelch making the first breakthrough with a controversial snick down the legside. It takes a little while but Yad “only needs one over” Singh makes the next breakthrough with a wicket in his first over of the day as the batter seemingly misses a straight one. Melville being conscious of the increased need to be more fuel economic with their approach to batting as they score at a cautious rate. The score ticks over to 2/96 and then, something changed. J. Quelch taking two wickets in one over to put the pressure back on Melville and let them know that the Wanneroo 4s will not go down easy. And so it began, the ‘Miracle at Tompkins’ was underway. The ball was thrown to Jared “the finisher” Maunder and Anil “questionable at the death” Kumar to see the game off, and that is what they did. At 6/108 and 12 overs to go, Melville felt they had to press on, and they tried, hitting a ball to the short boundary midwicket region a lack of lawnmower showed costly as the ball pulled up short only to be picked up and launched back in with an almost perfect throw to the bowlers end by J. Maunder, the 7th wicket fell as they were on their way back for a costly third run. The 40th over, a very close affair, A. Kumar with ball in hand figured he would make the game exciting and overstep the crease resulting in a no-ball, but remaining calm, he went on to bowl a dot ball on the free hit. He made up for this however, taking the 9th wicket with a well-executed yorker. And so comes the 41st over, J. Maunder with ball in hand, the equation for Melville and to get their trucks on the road, 1 run to win. For Wanneroo and the premise of minimised roadkill, 1 wicket. By the second ball, the previously acclaimed ‘Miracle at Tompkins’ was completed via chop-on, Melville losing 8/26. Absolute elation from all 11 Wanneroo boys in the North-East corner of Tompkins, heart break and spare jerry cans full of diesel for Melville. A thrilling victory for everyone involved that day and hopefully a sign of many good things to come this season.