Overall was an awesome effort by the group to achieve what we did with plenty of young talent coming through as well as a good opportunity for a lot of the boys playing their last colts season to all play together. The best part about the Colts group this year was the ability for someone different to stand up and take the game on when it was in the balance. The boys showcased this throughout the year. Starting with a 126 defense against Fremantle where the bowlers stood up – in particular Darcy Forssman who bowled a maiden in the first over to set the tone like every game and Matthew Carroll who took 3/13 in his debut game, followed up in game two where we set a mammoth 186 (vs CNCC) off the back of a Riley Holly (85 off 56) masterclass.

Riley Holly ended up the leading run-scorer for the competition finished with 197 runs @49.25. Matthew Carroll was an outstanding addition to the team in his first year of Colts with his left arm off spinners taking 6 wickets @15 and always being the go to guy with the ball. We ended up finishing 2nd in our group with 2 wins from 3 games which got us through to the quarter finals.

We played South Perth where we bowled first and put the clamps on early as well as taking wickets consistently throughout the innings to keep them to 8/107 from their 20 overs. Riley Holly again lead the way with the bat finishing 47* as we chased it down comfortably. After finally making it through to our first semi final in years, it wasn’t to be for the Colts as they fell short in the last over to Bayswater-Morley. A few special mentions to the boys who played their last year of Colts; Caiden Eaton, Riley Holly, Lachlan Poulter, Michael Kelsey, Kealey Farrant and Darcy Forssman. You boys have been unbelievable for this group and have helped set the standard for the younger boys to follow.

Thanks a lot to all the coaches that helped this year and in particular Brendan Danaher, Kyle Millar and Sean King for their efforts with the group. I’m super excited for the upcoming group of colts and there will be plenty of opportunities for more success in the near future.

The First Grade headed into the 2021–22 season with a young and developing playing group with a splash of senior players retiring or moving home in the break from our premiership year in 2021. We also lost our Coach 5 weeks before the season with Wayne Pearson stepping in to take on the extremely difficult role on short notice.

Wanneroo had a tough start to the season in the one-day format of the game where we missed experience players through suspension and injury, although we were missing players it was great exposure for some young talent. After starting 0 and 4 we pulled together as a group to perform much better in the longer format of the game and most importantly gave our young core group more exposure at 1^st grade level. Against the red ball.

A key focus was placed on playing a consistent and competitive form of cricket but understanding that results don’t just happen that hard work will eventually pay off if not this year but in years to come. We play in a 16 team competition and you can’t expect to be at the top all the time especially when you have a big turnover of personal but as long as every individual is improving their own game all these things pay off down the track.

Throughout the year we had Solid contributions from our teenage brigade in Aryan Varsani (scored a 50 on debut vs Perth round 1), Hayden Stumpers (bowled extremely well on Debut to get 2/30) and Connor Spangenberg who played all 15 games for 280 runs @22.  All three gained valuable experience which will benefit them in season 22/23.

Deon Billington had a fantastic season at the age of 21 he scored 324 runs @ 27 and took 22 wickets at 21, I am very proud of the rewards Deon is getting on the field and it is no surprise to me as he is continually working on his game and trying to improve every week, a future leader of this club.

Lachie Poulter, Bailey Richards and Caiden Eaton well done on bowling on some really slow pitches this year that were not suited to your bowling,  I think you will all learn from the games you played and how you guys will work as a unit together going forward. All three of you are still under the age of 22 and are just coming into your prime as long as we bowl in partnerships together, I think all of you will have a lot of success in season 22/23.

Other Special mentions Jimmy Newnham A true clubman, a pleasure to play with well batted this year scoring 364@28 while taking the gloves Michael Oday another team man 200 runs and 15 wickets very solid season on turf I think you are now becoming more used to the surface coming from the hard decks and will only improve in the next few years with us.

Richo and Strawbs the veterans, although the individual performances on the park might not have been what you wanted your biggest asset is passing on your experience the young guys at our club and I think were both tremendous at this. We need you both to continue to pass on information and experience to guide the next core group through to making finals cricket in the near future and still plenty of runs in both of you.

To Wayne, Sean, Brendan thank you for your hard work and many hours helping us out throughout this season and those prior. Our Club is a better place by having you in it, thank you. Thank you to our Selection Committee Dave Spangenberg and our Cricket Committee lead by President David Minear for making everything happen, wouldn’t be possible without you. On a personal note, it has been my absolute honour to be able to play and then to captain a side at this great club for 2 years, I have made mates for life and created great memories.

Looking back at the year that was for the second grade, the club and players can be proud of the achievements of this group, but hopefully return hungrier next year to go a couple of steps further. It was a successful season for the twos – all year long we were competitive and consistently hovered around the top six, and at times, the top three. This consistency of performance led to us ultimately finishing 5th, a position that could have been second or third had we closed out a couple of games in the latter half of the season with more conviction. However, we made finals, but were beaten by a better team in Joondalup in the first round. A great effort from the boys, but hopefully some fuel to the fire to push on beyond this point next season. Something we are very capable of doing.

The season was not just a positive due to our presence in finals. All year long we had outstanding individual and team performances. From a team perspective, highlights included our first half of the season, where we reached Christmas with a record of six wins and two losses. Another great team performance was our outright defeat of Claremont-Nedlands.

We saw astounding individual efforts as well; Michael Ardagh and Rob Fairchild regularly contributed throughout the season and offered great leadership and experience. Aryan Varsani made a wonderful hundred against Rockingham, showing us he’s ready to take 1st grade by storm. Sharad Jessani was remarkable in the second innings of our aforementioned outright win, incredibly taking all ten wickets. Youngsters such as Blake Holly, Kane Pearce and Matt Carroll displayed solid performances, showing us the future is bright in years to come. But we can’t go past Donavinn Fryer – a year in which he led the twos in both runs and wickets, finished in the top five for both aspects in the WACA competition and won yet another Paul Lucas medal. His amazing season was highlighted by a hundred and five wicket haul against Claremont.

Everyone throughout the season contributed at some stage, making us such a difficult team to beat when playing our best cricket. If we can build on this next season, then I think we all know that we are capable of challenging for the flag.

I would like to thank some people for their help and assistance throughout the year. Without these people, our club would not be as successful as it is today. To all volunteers, committee members, coaches, those who score, do the grounds, make the teas and chip in in all other ways possible, thank you. A special thanks to Dave Minear, Wayne, Brendo and Dave Spangenberg for their assistance throughout the year. A big thank you to Sean King for dedicating his time to coach our side. Without his help, we would not have had such a positive season. Another big thank you is to Dave Bebb – we always appreciate you taking the time to score our games Bebby. It is a massive help. Last, but not least, I want to thank all of the Wanneroo playing group, but specifically the boys who played twos. Boys, I hope this year you have enjoyed your cricket. We played aggressively and aimed to win, but always remembered to have fun and have a sense of humour. This combination of ruthlessness and fun is what makes playing with you all so enjoyable.

Thank you to everyone involved at the club, and I look forward to another positive season in 2022/2023.

As the dust settles on what was, in general, a successful (albeit without a flag) campaign for our lads, we take a few moments to reflect on some of the highlights and lowlights of the season that was 2021-22.

Early days looked good as the pre-season kicked in with the promise of some more youthful talent making their way into senior cricket. Backing up a 1st Grade Premiership and a Grand Final appearance by last year’s 3rds, alongside a dominant performance from a star-studded under 15s squad, it was no wonder that we hit the ground running with a little more pep in the step when August rolled around. Newly appointed Head Coach Travis Birt found his feet quickly and with many hours of toil had pieced together an elite pre-season programme; It was unfortunate when half way through that programme Coach Birt was offered a role with the WACA that was just too good to turn down.

There was a period of uncertainty as the club searched hard for the right person to fill the now vacant role (to Trav’s credit he was still at every training session) but thankfully that period was short lived and somehow someone convinced a name known to most at the club, Wayne Pearson, to take up the challenge of stepping in as man in charge with little more than 4 weeks til the season opener.

Season back on track.

Round One kicked off with a somewhat farcical situation when we rocked up to Hillcrest to face (my) archrivals Bayswater Morley.

A bit of rain overnight had left the 1st ground less ready to play on than the top ground, so the Bears decided to force the issue with the WACA and have the grounds reversed for this fixture, with the 1s now set for an on time start at Hillcrest Upper. Somebody forgot to tell the rain gods and as play was about to commence the skies opened up once more and took away any chance of play on the ready to go, yet uncovered, wicket.

With a slight delay the 3s game got away on the main stage, reduced to 38 overs a side, and after some standout performances with the ball by Cap’n John Walter (4/37) and Mighty Maff Carroll (3/33) the rain returned, cutting short our innings and the game with only 9 overs bowled. (Result: DRAW)

Rounds 2 – 6 were somewhat of a roller coaster.

I could only describe the Round 2 match vs Perth as a well measured and clinical victory, chasing down Perth’s total of 8/193 with only the loss of 3 wickets. Jack McDonald made scoring runs look easy as he compiled a brilliant innings of 72*, supported by a very confident looking Sam Williams at the top of the order (21) and soon to be familiar style innings of 47 from Michael “I hate milestones” Kelsey. Round 2 also saw new man Alex Fitzmaurice open his Roo account with a handy 3/31 (few spitting cobras, Fitta?). (Result: WIN)

Round 3 saw our batting capitulate for 157 after holding a strong Joondalup side to 186. KFC Brand Ambassador Jayden Rae with a well compiled 54 and Walts chiming in with 27 off his own bat after leading the bowlers with 3/16. (Result: LOSS)

Round 4 found us holding onto a nail biter down at Stevens Reserve as we did our very best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Well placed at 3/188 to chase down Freo’s total of 214 after some classy top order batting from Kody Mulcahy (56), Blake Holly (43 – and then banished to 2nd grade for the remainder of the season) and Jayden Rae (67) we lost the next 5 wickets for 21 runs and just scraped home 8 wickets down .. but choccies are choccies and we will take them every day of the week! (Result: WIN)

Round 5 and our long-awaited return to Kingsway.  A classy innings of 58 from Kealey “Christiano” Farrant with support from Kelsey (22) Rae (26) and the run machine Tyler “No Relation” Brown (24) before the unthinkable collapse of 5/4, got us to under par 169. We gave a good grunt at defending the total but we blinked first and South Perth pushed over the line in the last over. (Result: LOSS)

Round 6 was where I thought we really began to find our mojo (baby). After some lacklustre batting performances Walts threw down the gauntlet to the batting group as a whole and challenged them  to take ownership of their roles – without even the slightest hesitation the toss was won and they were going to get the opportunity to show us what they had straight away. I’ve seen perfect Snooker breaks of 147 before but I think the opening stand of 147 between Kelso (78) and Yusuf Zain (52) was better! Farrant, Walts and Rae all chipped in again and a total of 261 was posted.

Josh Quelch opened with a sizzling display of bowling wreaking havoc on Midland Guildford’s top order leaving them reeling at 4/28. One lone batsman took up the challenge and began despatching our bowlers at will – creating a whole new problem which we had yet to face this season. He dominated for a session and a half and found himself on the positive side of three figures leading off the field at the tea break with around 50 runs to make and 5 wickets still in hand.

A small revv up in the changerooms with a “One more for the Gipper” style speech, and the boys were ready to take up the fight once again and bring the game home.  Josh Q was like a man possessed and the belief and support in the field was electrifying … Walts also with some great death bowling.. the final wicket was taken and raucous celebrations were had. We walked from the field as 8 run victors to the cheers from the 1st graders whose support in the final 10 overs was magnificent. (Result: WIN)

Round 7 and we finally managed to put together back to back victories for the first time this season as we comfortably disposed of Mt Lawley (Wann 9/260 vs ML 149).

Solid performances by Sam Williams at the top of the order (35) and Tyler Brown in the middle (42) gave foundation and support to Kealey Farrant once more as he sizzled with a fine knock of 72. Fitta even remembered how to use a bat and knocked in a quick-fire cameo of 27 with Josh Q banging a run-a-ball 23 late in the innings. Bowling honours shared between newly minted 3rd grade Captain Chris Quelch (2/18) and Gagandeep “Where is he now” Singh. (Result: WIN)

Round 8 – Dukesgate. Melville won the toss and elected (to our delight) to bat on a Tompkins green seamer. We were on top of the world after demolishing the Melville batting line up for 72 – Fitta leading the way with some superb tail end bowling (4/16) and Josh Quelch yet again destroying the top order (3/20). Tim “If you can’t prove it on FrogBox then it never happened” Harris made a return to 3s after plying his trade in 2s to this point of the season and walked away with 6 catches for the innings including an absolute screamer down leg side (but did it really happen, Tim!?). He then opened the batting and top scored, looking as comfortable as you could against the likes of Porter and TKS on a green seamer with a Dukes ball – which was virtually unplayable at times. Ultimately we fell 8 runs short of the total with only 3 batsmen making double figures – Melville well within the rules with their choice of ball; it was an elite display of bowling and we were just underprepared as I don’t think many of our guys had even faced a Dukes ball before.  (Result: Loss)

Round 9 and a demolition of Willetton on Kingsway 2 by 83 runs. A young and in form Kane Pearce strode to the crease on debut with the score at 1 for 1 and proceeded to play like a seasoned professional. He had amassed 97 runs of his own before the smell of self-cooked BBQ got the better of him finding him a couple of meters short of the crease and 3 runs short of a debut ton. K Farrant once again solidified his place as one of the most in form bats in the club with a well composed 84 including 6 fours and 4 sixes. Matt “No Dodgy Mo” Carroll showed why he is a young prospect on the move, bamboozling the batsmen and returning figures of 3/22. Walts with another standard 3 fa, Chris Q and Tippa with 2 a piece. (Result: WIN)

This brought us to the Xmas break with a record of 5W, 3L and 1D and sitting well inside the top 6.

3s and 4s did not play the first round after Xmas so we begin 2022 at Round 11.

Round 11 and we packed our bags for Lark Hill.  A comfortable 52 run victory. Bad ball bully Jacob Bonner was elite at the top of the order – run out for 94 – apparently he hates 100s as well. Harris, McDonald and Farrant contributed well with the bat.  Walts (3/37) and Maff (3/26) lead the way with the ball with Jordy “The Terminator” Slattery And Nick “Tippa” Santich breaking valuable partnerships in the middle of the innings and ending up with 2 wickets each. (Result: WIN)

Round 12 which turned out to be the final 2 day fixture of the season vs Claremont Nedlands. What a round for the Mighty Roos with outright victories in 2s, 3s and 4s. Kelso once again on song headlining the batting with 86 and yet again finding a way to keep us guessing when he will finally break through for his maiden grade 100. Rae with 31, Tyler a handy 32* and Steve “I’ve Got A Tattoo For That” Wiggers with a dominant quick-fire 42. All bowlers contributed to the first innings routing of C/N with A Fitzmaurice the pick of the bunch with 3/14. Second Innings honours went the way of Captain John with 5/43 (7 Wickets for the match) and Maff “The Better” Carroll. Wann 6/228 vs C/N 66 & 102.   (Result: WIN Outright)

Round 13 we held our nerve to stop Scarborough just 7 runs short of our total – a reinvented Sam Williams with a purposeful 34 in an opening stand of 57 with Jayden Rae(29). Yet another batting collapse (8/21) before Walts (30*) and Josh Q (35) got us to a respectable (and defendable for our bowling attack) 166. Enter Steve “Did Anyone Know This Guy Bowls” Wiggers who bowled a near perfect 9 over spell of 3/19. (Result: WIN)

Round 14 vs Ladder toppers Subi Floreat at Alderbury. Kane Pearce found himself amongst the runs again after a stint in 2s and proceeded to delight all and sundry with an entertaining knock of 59. Tippa showed his goods with 27 and Walts yet again dug deep at the lower end for 37 to get us to a respectable 180. Unfortunately we fell just a fraction short with Subi-Floreat bringing up the winning runs in the last over, 8 wickets down.  We weren’t at our best but we had the belief that we could knock over both Melville and Subi-Floreat in the finals and that we were going to be a red hot contender for the flag! (Result: LOSS)

Round 15 and another tight one-day finish to the regular season with a 9 run win over the always so studious University boys. Tim “I Really Hate Frogbox” Harris scored a well deserved 70 and looked a class above. Jayden “Hurt Myself Falling Off A Roof Drunk” Rae produced 35 at the top of the order and Jack Mc chipped in with another start of 23 backed up by some handy bowling figures of 2/22. Rest of the wickets were spread and the restrictive bowling held Uni to just 7/162 in their allotted overs. (Result: WIN)

We finished the regular season in 4th spot with a healthy 9 Win (1 Outright) 4 Loss and 1 Draw record.

Unfortunately, our best cricket for the season had already been played. We bowled well to restrict Joondalup to 193 in the Elimination Final but the batting collapses that had haunted us all season came back to bite us and we were comprehensively rolled for 64.

On the back of our ladder position we still progressed through to the Semi Final against Melville where once again our batting let us down. Melville pulled the old one two punch and where we had prepared for the onslaught of the Dukes ball again during the week, they produced a brand-new Kookaburra and proceeded to bowl the lights out with it. At 9/29 the only shining light came from John “Genuine All-Rounder” Walter with 25* and a sparkling 28 from Matt Carroll to bring our score to 77. Early wickets from Chris Quelch and Jordan Slattery gave us some hope (Mel 3/28) but their batsmen dug in and were just too good for us on the day with the game called at the score of 3/145. Melville went on to defeat Subi-Floreat in the GF.

Season Overview and Thankyou’s

While our finals campaign left a bit to be desired I think we made some great headway this year at different times. The progression of some of the younger emerging players was very nice to see. The development of some of the guys that are a year or two out of juniors now shows promise that some of these guys may yet go on and reach loftier heights during their playing days – keep at it guys and believe in yourselves!

Congratulations to John Walter for taking the mantle of 3rd grade Captain for this season. It is never an easy task when you are trying to manage a relatively young group of players in an ever-changing lineup from week to week. Hold your head high mate – the results speak for themselves – and you always held yourself accountable by your onfield performances as all good captains do.

It was an absolute blessing to have the experience of Chris Quelch in the side when he was available. What you bring to the younger guys is invaluable and I really hope you can come back and do more of it next year – in whatever capacity you can. Absolute champion.

To all of the players that have passed through the sacred space of a 3rd grade Team list this season – thank you. You have all been a pleasure to be around this and I can’t wait to see where you go to from here. I am sorry if I didn’t get to mention every player above but whether you have impacted the scoresheets as heavily as others on a game to game basis or not, know that you have impacted me in some way this season – and for that I give thanks once again.

Sandy Wheeler and David Bebb – hopefully all players (not just 3s) find a way to acknowledge and thank you both for your ongoing efforts. Big hugs to you both – well maybe not you Bebby, that beard of yours is getting out of control!

To Dave and the Committee in general please keep doing what you are all doing so well. This club just keeps getting better year by year because of your efforts.

To the parents/supporters this year it has been a pleasure to see your faces week after week and stop for chats – particularly if it involves lurking in the shadows somewhere for 10 minutes on a 40 degree day.

Finally to Wayno and Kingy, thankyou on behalf of all the players for your efforts week in week out. I am sorry I have not been able to assist more at training but the fact that we had 3 of the 4 grade teams playing finals this year speaks volumes for what you guys have achieved.  With 15s and 17s playing finals this year as well the future looks bright.

Huge congratulations to the 17s Girls and Women’s B-Grade for showing us all how to put flags on the wall!!

A really enjoyable season this year with plenty of team success and also individual success.

While playing really well at the start of the year we struggled to win close games and starting 2 and 2. After those few early losses the boys really started to hit their straps. Kane Pearce and Jack Maraldo the two main culprits, both making batting look easy. A big win at home against Melville with some very impressive individual performances really showed that we could be a genuine force come finals. The lads went on a sensational 7 game winning streak with the last of them an outright win against Claremont. Jack Maraldo the star in that game making 141 off 122 balls helped along by Sam Williams with an 83. One of the bowlers chipped in with 8 wickets. Although we had a shaky finish to the season losing 2 of our last 3 games, we finished top of the league with a guaranteed spot in the semi. However it was not to be, a pretty disappointing finish to a great season going out in straight sets.

Additional mentions to Allan Hall, Yusuf Zain and Callum Douglas who were consistent throughout (Dougy chipping in with the call this year), to Nicholas Santich who hit 4 50’s from 8 innings and Owen Brown with a mighty 6fa one game that included a hatrick.

Thanks to all the coaches that helped out throughout the season and everyone around the club for making it another enjoyable year. Really proud of the lads and hopefully some more success next year🦘

PREMIER CRICKET AWARDS NIGHT UPDATE

We are pleased to inform you that all possible efforts will be made to appropriately recognise all award winners from the season via our digital platforms. An extensive series of online recognitions will be conducted, including two Live Shows for vote counts of Karen Read & Olly Cooley medals.

All award recognitions will be conducted on our Facebook (WA Premier Cricket) & Instagram (@wa_premiercricket) channels as per below schedule:

• Junior Male Awards: Saturday 19^th March – Monday 21^st March
• Female (Junior & Senior) Awards: Tuesday 22^nd March – Saturday 26^th March
• Karen Read Medal Vote Count (LIVE SHOW) – Monday 28^th March 6PM
• Olly Cooley Medal Vote Count (LIVE SHOW) – Tuesday 29^th March 6PM
• Senior Male Awards: Thursday 31^st March – Sunday 3^rd April
• Whole-Competition Awards: Monday 4^th April – Wednesday 6^th April