After a successful first series, the WACA and City of Wanneroo are running a second series of FREE Womens only cricket skills sessions. Please read the below flyer and register your interest today.

https://forms.gle/FEEbedaQJVuAp7TQ8

Over the last two cricket seasons, a genial figure has spent most of his waking hours in the vicinity of our cricket club in his dedicated pursuit of playing state cricket for WA & helping W.D.C.C win a 3rd Two-Day Flag, in turn helping Wanneroo Districts Cricket Club return to the very top of Grade Cricket.

Kelvin Smith, better known as ‘Special K’ came to Wanneroo Districts Cricket Club in WA before the start of the 2019-20 season from West Torrens Districts Cricket Club in SA after playing in the final Sheffield Shield match of the season 2018-19 for SA.

Kelvin was always the man to see the A Grade through to winning positions in a plethora of games during his time here, including a 117 against Rockingham-Mandurah, which Craig Simmons said was one of the best innings he had seen in Grade Cricket, his maiden hundred, 108 against Mt Lawley was special at home, then you have 151 versus a full-strength Fremantle at Stevens Reserve, this season Special K adapted to the WACA’s pace and bounce and hit a dominating 131 in a narrow loss to Subiaco-Floreat, but I believe the innings that he will be forever remembered by his teammates, WDCC supporters, and watchers of cricket is, Kelvins innings in the Elimination Final against Perth at Fletcher reserve, coming in at 2 for 5 to bat the entire innings and hit 137 off of 211 balls in 316 minutes to single-handedly win the “Miracle at Fletcher”. This then gave us the confidence to then go away to Lark Hill and demolish Rockingham-Mandurah in the Semi-Final, then the opportunity to take down the benchmark, Claremont-Nedlands in the Grand Final and become Premiers for the 2020-21 season.

Kelvin you will be almost impossible to replace, but our Club is so fortunate indeed to have had you here, even if it was just for two seasons of your illustrious career, you gave the guys around you so much confidence with your ability and professionalism on and off the field.

On behalf of the whole Wanneroo Districts Cricket Club family Kelv, I want to thank you for everything you have done and helped us achieve as a club over the past two years, it’s with great sadness we see you leave to head home to Bow Hill, but also with great excitement to see how the next stage of your career progresses mate and I am sure all your family at this club will be hoping you play for SA again this season.

It might have been a short stay Kelv but you couldn’t have achieved much more, playing for the WA 2ndXI and winning an A Grade Flag in only your second year, while taking home every trophy we offered as a club! If Covid-19 hadn’t ruined everything, possibly state cricket too.

I would also love to thank your whole family, Kevin, Yvonne & Jim, and your beautiful partner Stacey Hein who also chased her netball dreams here in Perth playing for the West Coast Warriors in State League Netball here before her knee injury curtailed a Premiership there too. Thank you, guys.

Your grateful Cricket Club acknowledges your contributions and wishes you every success for future endeavours.

Thanks, Special K!

Wanneroo District Cricket Clubs Annual Trophy Night was held on the 11th April. As well as individual player awards and Team of the Year presentations, we recognised the hard work of our valuable supporters as well as honouring two new Life Members. Congratulations to this seasons winners.

Colts

Batting Aggregate Award – Riley Holly (87 runs @ 29)
Batting Average Award – Deon Billington (71 runs @ 35.5)
Bowling Aggregate and Bowling Average – Jordon Slattery (6 wickets @ 8.33)

Riley Holly (58 vs University)
Deon Billington (50 vs University)

T20 Roos

Batting Aggregate & Average Award – Travis Birt (130 runs @ 65)
Bowling Aggregate (NOTE: no average award) – Caiden Eaton (4 wickets @ 15)

Anthony Del Borello (92* QF vs Gosnells)
Travis Birt (74 vs Joondalup & 55* vs University)
Kelvin Smith (59 vs University & 54 QF vs Gosnells)

4^th Grade

Batting Aggregate & Average Award – Yusuf Zain (261 runs @ 29)
Bowling Aggregate – Matthew Carroll (15 Wickets @ 12.13)
Bowling Average – Liam Carroll (10 Wickets @ 16.9*)

*min 8 game qualification

3^rd Grade

Batting Aggregate & Average – Donavinn Fryer (366 runs @ 52.9)
Bowling Aggregate & Average – Donavinn Fryer (21 Wickets @ 16.33)

2^nd Grade

Batting Aggregate & Average Award – Connor Spangenberg (308 runs @ 28)
Bowling Aggregate – Daniel Sadik (33 Wickets @ 16.64)
Bowling Average – Jordon Slattery (13 Wickets @ 12.38)

1^st Grade

Batting Aggregate – Kelvin Smith (710 runs @ 50.71)
Batting Average – James Newnham (463 runs @ 51.44)
Bowling Aggregate – Caiden Eaton (22 Wickets @ 23.55)
Bowling Average – Lachlan Poulter (11 Wickets @ 21.64)

Individual performance trophies – Centuries

Donavinn Fryer (153* vs Bayswater-Morley – 3^rd Grade)
Jordan King (106 vs Mt Lawley – 2^nd Grade)
Anthony Del Borello (111* vs Gosnells – 1^st Grade)
James Newnham (121* vs Joondalup – 1^st Grade)
Travis Birt (102 Runs / 42 balls vs Fremantle – 1^st Grade)
Kelvin Smith (131 vs Subiaco-Floreat & 137* EF vs Perth – 1^st Grade)

Individual performance trophies – 5 wicket hauls

Cody Billington (5/50, 12 overs vs Gosnells – 4^th Grade)
Donavinn Fryer (6/48, 25 overs vs Gosnells – 3^rd Grade)
Michael Ardagh (5/36, 18 overs SF vs Perth – 3^rd Grade)
Mathew Dzodzos (6/36, 19.2 overs vs Willetton – 1^st Grade)
Caiden Eaton (6/17, 8 overs vs Scarborough & 6/26, 16 overs GF vs CNCC – 1^st Grade)

Individual performance trophies – Hatricks

Hayden Stumpers (vs Melville – 2^nd Grade)

Team of the Year

Mathew Dzodzos
Anthony Del Borrello
Donavinn Fryer
Adam Smith
Kelvin Smith
James Newnham
Michael O’day
Michael Ardagh
Robert Richards
Daniel Sadik
Travis Birt
Caiden Eaton

MICHAEL HUSSEY Batting Award

Kelvin Smith (710 Runs @ 50.71)

CALLUM THORP Bowling Award

Daniel Sadik (33 Wickets @ 16.64)

TED HUSSEY Club Champion

Kelvin Smith (710 Runs @ 50.71, 17 wickets @ 22.76)

2020/21 Club Person of the Year

The club person of the year recognises a club member who has strived above and beyond the normal call of duty during the year for the overall benefit of the club and its members. This person has certainly achieved that. A coach, a committee member, a person who knows a thing or two about grass and someone who put a hell of amount of time in getting our indoor facilities completed. Winner: Michael Dargie

2020/21 Certificate of Merit

The clubs certificate of merit is awarded to a person who has given a minimum of five years’ service to the club. This person has certainly given much more than five years of service to the club. A person who sons have played in most of the grades at the club. This person can on most weekends be seen around the club and has an active role on the committee. It is worth noting this person also represents the club at WADCCI Delegates meeting held at the WACA. Winner: Mike Minear

2020/21 Life Members (presented by Sandy Wheeler)

Jeanne Atkinson

2020/21 Life Members (presented by Gary Atkinson)

Graeme Atkinson

Thanks again to all our wonderful sponsors

Darch Physio
JC Plastering
ADL Electrics
Liquorbarons Greenwood
HBE Security
MGC Civil
Icon Sports
Adaptive Finance – Jarrod Gillespie
Aviso Insurance Brokers – Mike Minear
LD Total – Mike Dargie

Over the weekend of 27/28th March our U14 girls participated in the WACA Female Talent Carnival held at Thornlie.
A challenging format saw the girls play 4 T20 games across the two days in fairly warm conditions – nonetheless what an experience! Here are the highlights of each game.

Game 1
Wanneroo 5/55 def Country XI 10/50
An excellent bowling performance to begin the tournament, with Jess claiming an outstanding 4/5 to set up the win, bowling a consistent line and length. Other wicket takers were Tegan 2/9, Tayla 2/11, Erin 1/5 and Chloe 1/0. Catching was a feature with good grabs from Sash, Layla and Erin and a fantastic running catch from Jaz. With the bat we saw a nice little partnership between Chloe and Layla, both scoring 10, and a steady hand from Tegan with 6* as we passed the total without too much trouble.

Game 2
Melville 4/104 def Wanneroo 8/78
We weren’t far away from a team that didn’t lose a match across the weekend – in fact, our bowlers did well to  restrict Melville to their lowest score of the tournament. Wickets were hard to come by but Layla 1/0, Steffi 1/5 and Erin 1/14 found a way. Layla and Tayla also combined for a good run out. Chasing the total we saw good innings from Sash at the top of the order, batting with good poise through to drinks. This was followed by Layla, with a very well compiled 30, who enjoyed good partnerships with Soph (13) and Erin (9).

Game 3
South Perth 4/80 defeated Wanneroo 4/79. This was probably our most disappointing result of the tournament, after a steady batting performance got us to a competitive total. Great work from our top order of Elri, Sash and Grace really built a platform on which we could build an innings. With our middle order chasing quick runs, Soph was unlucky to be run out by a direct hit, but then Layla (25) and Chloe (19) set about accelerating the score, working the ball to all parts in a very tidy partnership, with both girls not out at the end having showed good maturity and discipline. Following up with the ball, we were unfortunately just too short with our length, allowing the South Perth batters to free their arms too often. Tayla 1/5, Sash 1/5 and Tahlia 1/6 led the way with the bowling, all finishing with tidy figures, as South Perth passed the score with a couple of overs remaining.

Game 4
Midland-Guildford 5/108 defeated Wanneroo 10/59
Bowling first in the heat we saw more solid performances with the ball from Tegan 1/6, Soph 1/7 and Erin 1/10 – a couple of LBWs against key batters in this period reflected the great line and length these girls bowled. We saw a great caught behind by Sash, who kept very tidily for the whole game. Tahlia was electric in the field, hitting the stumps directly no less than 5 times, two of these resulting in run outs – awesome effort! Chasing the total we fell somewhat short, but it was pleasing to see another patient and watchful innings from Elri at the top of the order, along with a well crafted 25 from Chloe off as many balls.

Reflection
At the end of the tournament it was pleasing to see that all the girls enjoyed moments of success across the four games. Performing consistently is something that we can work on, as we continue to refine our technique and ability to perform under pressure. Congratulations to Chloe and Layla who both finished in the top 10 run scorers for the tournament, and to Jess who just missed out on a similar result with the ball, after opening and closing most of our innings in style.

Thanks
I would like to thank Grace for her leadership of the team and Soph as her assistant. The girls planned all of the bowling rotations and helped me to balance workload and opportunity for the players. Thanks also to our parent volunteers who scored – Craig, Craig, Julian and Sarah – awesome effort and I appreciated your flexibility. Thanks to the parents who came and supported the girls and to those who helped with set up and pack down as we moved between ovals.

Finally, to my Assistant Coach Mark and my Team Manager Sophie – thank you for all of your efforts across the season with the U14 program. It’s been great working with you to establish this pathway for female cricket in our District.

1st Grade

Rockingham-Mandurah 234 (Richards 4/48, Eaton 3/47, Dzodzos 2/12) def. by Wanneroo 3/238 (O’Day 96, Richards 71, Smith 65*)

After the previous week’s success – ‘Kingsway in a big way’ – the Roos took the long drive to North Bunbury to play Rockingham Mandurah in the all-important Semi-Final. Winning the toss, Rockingham had no hesitation electing to bat first. Once again the Roos got off to a great start with Matthew Peter clinching a couple of early poles, which included cleaning up their season leading batsmen Teague Wylie. Rockingham fought back before a magical legside stumping by Jimmy “Jim Paine” Newnham off the bowling of Rob “all-rounder” Richards. Caiden “The Wall” Eaton then came on and bowled long spells, keeping the pressure on Rockingham leaving them 6 down going into the last session. The Roos then grinded out the remaining wickets meaning they would require 235 runs to enter the Grand Final. The Roos were left with 2 tricky overs to deal with before stumps which Deon “recently-an-opener” Billington and Michael “even-more-recently-an-opener” O’day did with ease.

Rob Richards finished day one with 4-48 off 23, Caiden 3-47 off 21 and Jim Paine Newnham took 3 catches and two stumpings.

Taking the long drive back once again the next day, Deon Billington copped one with his name on it with the very first ball of the day. Enter Rob “I’m not an opener” Richards who pummelled the Rockingham attack while Michael O’day played an anchor role to perfection. When Richards fell for 71 Michael “Dizzy” O’day and Kelvin “Special K” Smith showed their class batting the Roos to within victory. With scores level O’day (96) was caught on the boundary trying to bring up his hundred, a victim of the nervous 90’s according to the WACA write-up. The next ball Kelvin laced one behind point as he did the week before to send the Roos into the Grand Final!

3rd Grade

Perth 181 (Ardagh 5/36, Stumpers 2/30, Fryer 2/38) def. by Wanneroo 200 (Ardagh 59, Fryer 36, Walter 26*)

In scorching heat and very little breeze the mighty roos faced up against Perth aiming to go 2 for 2 as a club this finals campaign. Having won 15 games straight Perth have been a formidable outfit in third grade this season, bringing into the Elimination Final the competitions leading bowling unit, the competitions single leading batsmen and the competitions leading overconfidence.

The day started well with Adam Smith cheerfully electing to bat before the coin had touched the ground. We needed a strong start to deny their attack the early wickets that they’re used to, Michael Ardagh and Tim Harris delivered with a solid opening partnership of 49, defending the good and striking the bad – Ardagh being especially punishing on anything short.

While Micheal “Dustin” Ardagh managed to score a classy and powerful 59, he had been scoring the bulk of the runs for the morning – and when he was removed on a team total of 76 the scoring dried up. On what was becoming a day three Mumbai strip the game became a gritty, attritional affair. Although there was no horrible, classic ‘collapse’, no partnerships were allowed to flourish. Apart from Donavinn and Kelsey putting on 30 in the middle, it looked like no other partnership after the opening stand would reach 15. Thankfully a clutch last-wicket push between John ‘pony-tail’ Walter (26*) and Shared ‘Virat cover-drive’ Jessani (13) got the roos to a defendable total of 200.  Even though it was disappointing to not get as many runs as we’re capable of, the boys were quietly confident in the knowledge that despite winning all season Perth had never chased 200. On top of this, we got to have a crack at their top order for 9 overs. And like the game before this reaped rewards, the boys snaffling three quick wickets – including an oblique angled Marnus-esque catch at batpad from Darcy “PDITS” Forssman to end day one.

Knowing we were in a healthy position as long as we did our jobs, the boys rocked up to Fletcher on day two ready to go – despite some minor chaos as Hayden “Special” Stumpers realised half way to the ground he had forgotten his cricket bag.

Aware that Perth were never going to roll over we looked to play pressure cricket on another sweltering day, on a pitch that closer resembled the MCG circa-2017 strip rather than the day-one dustbowl. With Donavinn “Donny” Fryer busting his guts he finally got a first break through, though that was to be our last for some time as Perth’s Pujara/Boycott combo defied our attack for a session and a half. In that time we also lost the skipper to a hamstring scare. Eventually Michael Ardagh broke the Dravid/Farrant combo with a feather to the keeper. At 5-104 we had hoped that we could breach the tail, but this was not to be as their best batsmen strolled to crease and continued what he had done all season, scoring quickly. Suddenly it was lunch and Perth were 150 without loss of another wicket.

Knowing that without stepping up this would be our last session, we retouched on our mantra of the day that “hard work beats arrogance”, we took to the field tired but with renewed determination. Darcy “Nic Cages Haircut in Con-Air” Forssman cleaned up their Pujara. And the nicest bloke on their team couldn’t stare his way out of a Stumpers half-volley. With the tide changing, their captain had everything to do. But restrictive bowling kept him off strike and Micheal Ardagh snared two in an over at the other end. Needing 30 for the last pair, the captain opened his shoulders. However player of the match Michael Ardagh said ‘lets just get him out’ in response to an attempted field change – and inevitably cleaned him up next ball to take his fifth.

The supporters charged the field, the song was sung, the beer was cold and the day was good. We now start again as we make the final push into the grand final against Joondalup next week.

Under 15s

Wanneroo 8/196 (O Brown 46, Carmignani 40, T Brown 25) def.  Fremantle 143 (O Brown 2/15, Walker 2/22, Gillespie 2/24, Jessani 2/28)

The boys were pleased to have secured a home semi against a finals opponent who on paper looked formidable as they had the leading run scorer and second leading wicket taker in the comp.  On a hot and sunny Saturday morning Captain Carroll won the toss and with no hesitation elected to bat on a pitch that had a bit grass coverage and looked like it may provide some assistance to the bowlers.

A steady early start saw us get to 30 before both openers fell in consecutive balls as both edged to the keeper. Jordan, promoted up the order, was given out also caught behind not long later after the ball came of his pad and the boys really needed to consolidate. Tyler was joined by Ben “ice man” Carmignani to move the score along to 70 before Tyler skied one and left us in a spot of bother at 4/70 with 30 odd overs remaining and the team hopeful of a score around 170-180. Then arrived Owen ‘Big boy Big six” Brown who with Ben proceeded to accelerate the innings and in a five over stint started to take the game away from the opposition. Owen proceeded to smash the bowling around the park and his innings of 46 (38 balls) included 4 massive bombs, one of which looked like it would have landed on Wanneroo road if it wasn’t for clipping the top of the trees.

Ben and Owens partnership of 56 helped provide a platform players coming down the order. Captain Carroll and Matt “Whippet” Skouros contributed with scores in the teens whilst Ben continued to plug away at the other end notching up 40 before being dismissed late in the innings. An entertaining last over from Rhys “I want to match Owens effort” Walker (20* off 11) saw us reach a score of 196 which we more than happy with and confident of defending.

Freo boys looked disconsolate walking off after having being pummelled late started the innings slowly as the Roos Boys picked up two early poles to have the opposition at 2/10 in the first 7 overs. The game from there meandered along as the bowlers toiled hard and Freo looked to consolidate by pushing 1s and 2s with two of the best at the crease. They had given some half chances of the pace bowlers but we couldn’t pick up the wicket. It was at the stage that the next option of spin proved important as we broke a 50 run partnership when Tarun “the better” Jessani broke through. At the 30 over mark scores were identical other than the fact that Freo had an extra wicket in hand and the competition’s leading batsman still at the crease.

Shortly after drinks, the key wicket fell as Matt and Tyler combined to have Freo at 4/75.  The boys were confident but Freo still had some fight left. They started to counter attack and as the ball went in the air and fell between fielders frustration started to grow as Taz and Matt couldn’t get the rewards. With score moving along a little slower than liked, Freo had to take some more risks and eventually the 5th wicket stand was broken by Taz with score on 117 in the  46 over. Needing 80 runs in 13 overs the chatter about another GF grew stronger.

Matt And Taz both finished their spell and the ball got thrown back to Owen who picked up another wicket and at the other end Riley “I will toss ‘em up there” Gillespie picked up two wickets in his third over to leave Freo at 8/140 and only 6 overs remaining.  Rhys then finished the match with two wickets in consecutive balls in the 55th over to wrap up great day.

The boys move to a Grand Final and are aiming to break a 10 year premiership drought for WDCC U15s. Our opponent will be strong Rockingham side but fortunately we have been drawn a home ground advantage for Saturday.

Good Luck boys and hopefully we can go one better than last year!

1st Grade

Perth 224 (Richards 4/25, Dzodzos 3/30, D Sadik 2/70) def. by Wanneroo 9/226 (Smith 137*)

It was a beautiful day at Fletcher Park after some moisture the two preceding days where the skipper won the toss and decided to have a trundle. Mooga Michael O’Day and the Doz man Matt Dzozdos backed up the skips calls to bowl by applying some undeniable pressure early doors to have Perth reeling at 3/9. Contract killer O’Day with the big wicket of Wells for a quack from 17 deliveries and DJ Dozman not to be overshadowed with a mix tape of his own claiming two wickets in two deliveries prior to his interpretation of ‘what not to do for a hat trick delivery’.

Perth steadied through their middle order recovering to 3/138 although there were a couple of dubious decisions that didn’t go our way much to choppers disgust. Enter Vin Diesel (Sadik) straight out of a decent paddock who had really started to dial in after a couple of wayward overs to start – breaking the partnership with a juicy wrongun that had the Perth opener McPlumb.

In typical Richo fashion the long faced dibbler found his lengths and proved that he isn’t as c##p as suggested to finish with 4/25 from his 12 overs. Perth were bowled out for 224 with what seemed to be slightly under-par on a wicket that proved to be quite challenging. Special mention to Jim (Newnham) Paine with an incredible display with the gloves claiming 5 (7) dismissals and proving he can do more than just cover drive. There was a cheeky 6 overs at the end of the day that the Roos slumped to 2/12 overnight but with the batting depth the gents were confident heading into day 2.

Deon ‘D’ Billington and Kelvin ‘nicknames are not worthy’ Smith went about grinding the Perth bowlers into the ground early on day 2 with some solid defence and selective shot making steadying the ship and recovering to 2/57 until D decided to punch one. A little power surge from ADB prior to lunch had the Roos sitting at 3/102 heading into lunch confident and comfortable with where things were at.

Enter Perth bowler Jack Backer with 4 wickets in an over for the fiery seamer shocking everyone and leaving the Roos at 7/102. Needing 123 runs with three wickets in hand the boys had started to plan Mad Monday the day after.

Slowly but surely a much needed partnership built between Mooga and Kel formed and the recovery began. Kelvin was quietly and confidently going about his work as if he was playing on a different wicket, the question was could someone stick around with him to assist.

After Mooga was dismissed and Sadik removed with a fast and furious barrage the Roos were left at 9/168 still requiring 57 for victory all hope had dissipated. Kelvin was continuing to pile on the runs and raised the bat for an incredible century, although many thought it was going to be in vain as the likelihood of running out of partners was high.

Enter number 11 Caiden (Pujara) Eaton providing his version of the wall being utterly sound in defence and assisting Kelvin to get closer and closer… and closer and closer.

With a couple of close calls there was plenty of nail biting, edge sitting and a few hands over eyes while Kelvin strategically made calculated risks and farmed the strike to get the Roos closer and closer to an unlikely victory.

With now only three to win you could hear a pin drop at Fletcher Park as it would only take one ball. But cometh the hour cometh the man – Kelvin (Special K) Smith deservingly and in characteristic fashion smashing one behind point to bringing up the victory for the mighty Roos in what has been touted as one of the best wins, recoveries and batting performances in WDCC history.

Onto the Semi Final for the A Graders with the confidence and self-belief that was built from a win against the odds.

Three cheers for Special K!

3rd Grade

Midland-Guildford 107 (Smith 4/27, Jessani 3/30) def. by Wanneroo 172 (McDonald 49, Ardagh 44)

Adam Smith won the toss (because of course) and elected to bat first at Lilac hill 1. Despite one early wicket the Roos got off to a good start of 1/66 thanks to Michael Ardagh (44) and Jack McDonald (49) before a mini collapse sent the Roos to 4/77. The rest of the batters chipped in with starts with the tail wagging putting on a crucial 43 for the last two wickets to get the score to a defendable 172.  Not batting all the overs was a blessing in disguise with Wanneroo needing to bowl 8 overs to close out the day. The captain Adam Smith made the ball talk in late-day conditions taking 3 wickets off his three overs to leave midland 3/8 at stumps – and Kingy in hysterics from their nightwatchmen approach.

The next day started without much luck for Wanneroo who dried up runs but couldn’t take the important wicket before lunch. First over after lunch saw Donny Fryer get the break through with a direct hit at the bowlers end from backward point. The game still in the balance at 4/62 – it was time for Sharad Jessani to spin a web, taking 3 wickets and causing a collapse for the river mob. At 7/70 Adam Smith was enjoying cricket that much he wanted to stay out there longer, and dropped a soda. Despite some big hitting from the tail, Midland were eventually bowled out for 107 leaving Wanneroo the victors by 65 runs. Great signs by a team hitting their straps coming into the pointy end of the season.

2nd Grade

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

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

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

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

4th Grade

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

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

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

Match Report – Round 5

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

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

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

Match Report – Grand Final

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

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

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