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.

1st Grade  

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

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

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

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

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

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

2^nd Grade

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

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

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

3^rd Grade

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

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

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

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

4th Grade

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

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

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

Seventeens Men

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

Maraldo did ok with the blade. No further comments.

Fifteens Men

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

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

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

1st Grade  

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

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

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

2nd Grade  

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

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

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

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

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

3rd Grade

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

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

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

4th Grade

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

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

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

Seventeens Men

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

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

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

Fifteens Men

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

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

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

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

U/17 Female 40

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

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

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

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

 Fourteens Men

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

Thirteens Men

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

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

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

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

Good luck boys!

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

1st Grade  

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

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

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

2nd Grade  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3rd Grade

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

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

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

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

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

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

4th Grade

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

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

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

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

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

1st Grade  

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

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

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

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

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

2nd Grade  

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

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

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

3rd Grade

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

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

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

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

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

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

4th Grade

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

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

Roos T20

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

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

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

Seventeens Women T20

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

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

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

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

Seventeens Men

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

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

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

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

Fifteens Men

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

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

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

Colts

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

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

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

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

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