Weekend Write Up 11th November – 18th November
First Grade
Subiaco Floreat 4/206 (Eaton 2/38) def. Wanneroo 203 (Slattery 85, Varsani 31)
The 1s made the trip out to Floreat Park and won the toss and elected to bat first. Ric and Morty (Mitch) got off to a brilliant start putting on a stand of 46 for the first wicket. The roos then lost 3 wickets in quick succession leaving the experienced campaigner Jake Fawcett (26) and the in-form Mitchell Slattery to steady the ship. Unfortunately, the theme of the day was losing wickets in clumps as the Roos scraped to 203, thanks to some nicely executed sweep shots from Aryan Varsani (31) and pure chumming from Mitchell Slattery (85).
The following week the Roos were eager to get into the Lions middle order early on and got off to a great start with Caiden ‘Zoidberg’ Eaton striking early with the short ball. That was the only blow in the first session for the Roos, but it didn’t take long after Lunch to strike with Eaton and Billington striking in quick time to bring the Roos back into the contest. The bowlers toiled hard in the middle session, but it wasn’t quite enough as Subiaco chased it down with 6 wickets to spare. Caiden Eaton 2/38 off 13 was the pick of the bowlers.
Second Grade
Wanneroo 8/288 (Kelsey 84, Fryer 67*, Bonner 42, Mcghie 43) def. by Subiaco Floreat 5/290
This week’s write up is brought to you via Blake Holly aka ChatGPT. As he and many other young Roo boys enjoy the southwest region of WA for leavers 2023.
In a heart-stopping clash at Kingsway 1, Subiaco-Floreat emerged triumphant in a tight chase against Wanneroo’s 2nd-grade team.
Batting Brilliance from Wanneroo:
Wanneroo, having won the toss, elected to bat first and posted a challenging total of 288 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. The Roo boys batted well on day 1 posting a competitive score highlighted by an impressive knock from Michael ‘Public Chop King”, who played with authority on the way to a well-crafted 84. D Fryer finishing unbeaten on 67*, provided the late-innings flourish that propelled Wanneroo to a competitive total.
Subiaco-Floreat’s Daring Chase:
Wanneroo’s bowlers toiled hard throughout the day. The Kingsway 1 ground witnessed a seesaw battle as Subiaco-Floreat inched closer to the target. Unfortunately, Subiaco got over the line in the end, but the Roo boys move onto next week where they face Melville looking for a vital win.
Female A Grade
Sunday 12th November
Wanneroo 7-103 (Devchand 51) def. Subiaco Floreat 102 (Bartholomew 3/20, Bartlett 2/7)
Sunday 19th November
Wanneroo 4/112 (Devchand 42) def. South Perth 6/109 (Devchand 2/17)
Female B Grade
Sunday 12th November
Wanneroo 7/107 (Evans 37) def. Subiaco Floreat 3/106 (Giandzi 2/6)
Wanneroo 3/64 (Evans 36) def. by Melville 4/65 (Nicholls 2/7)
Sunday 19th November
Wanneroo 3/113 (Bothma 58) def. by South Perth 4/173 (Beckett 2/19)
Wanneroo def. Subiaco Floreat by forfeit
Third Grade
Subiaco Floreat 126 & 0/7 (Jessani 4/29, Walker 3/27, Billington 3/20) def. by Wanneroo 149 (Williams 33, Zain 32, Pearce 31)
The 3s arrived at Alderbury reserve looking to continue their hot form to start the season. Spirits were high during the warmup, as the boys brought their bats out hoping that today would be the day that captain grumpy actually won a toss and we would bat first. Well, half of that was true. The boys were elated to see Jordan win his first toss of the season, but this quickly turned to devastation, as we chose to bowl first on a pitch that looked like it would offer to both parties. Jordan (hates fun) Slattery and Rhys (Kevin) Walker set the tone early, hooping the ball around the corners, and putting the batsmen in all sorts. With Rhys claiming his first 3s wicket with an edge to JMac (not to be confused with the jockey) at 3rd slip. However, it seemed to be one of those days where the ball was doing too much, as subi nicked and nudged their way to 1-70 just after lunch. After the elation of a ball finally swinging in 3rd grade, regular programming commenced as Tarun (everyone’s favourite cricketer) Jessani was thrown the ball and decided to spin his web, claiming his usual 4 wickets in very quick time to put the enemy on the back foot. Rhys continued his excellent day, claiming another 2, including their main run scorer. At Tea, Subiaco were 7 down and the boys were wondering how many overs we were going to bat that night. The answer was quickly apparent as Cody (Middle Finger) Billington decided he didn’t want to be out in the field anymore as he took 3 in his first 2 overs after tea, all off cutters. Yusuf (Temperament) Zain and Sam (Men) Williams started off our run chase in the best possible way, being 0-40 at stumps on day 1.
A similar deck was produced the following Saturday, and the script of day 1 seemed to be copy and pasted for day 2, as Subiaco started to trouble the roo boys being 4-100 after a Kane (Kevin Petersen) Pearce cameo off 30 off not a lot. Then panic started to set in, as the roo boys lost repeated wickets with Jack (Beugs) McDonald holding strong at the other end until he kicked one with scores level. Rhys (Clutch) Walker held strong in a tense situation hitting a 4 to win the game for the 3s to keep the W train going before unleashing a quick cameo in tandem with Josh Lynn-(Sanity) to be all out 20 runs in front. Thoughts of an outright were there, until Subiaco decided they actually hate playing cricket as they didn’t play a single shot, and then begged to call the game at Tea.
Fourth Grade
Wanneroo 9/338d (Holly 152, Hudson 112, Carroll 33) def. Subiaco Floreat 280 (Holly 4/68, B Hudson 3/73)
The blockbuster, the 2022/23 Semi-Final replay, the top of the table clash in West Australian cricket’s fourth highest competition of cricket, Wanneroo vs Subiaco-Floreat on the esteemed Kingsway 2. The 6th round of the 2023/24 season began on a nice warm day, with the opposition captain losing the toss and being forced to bowl. For some reason, a small cheer was heard from the Subi camp, as perhaps they were wanting to bowl and lured in by the green complexion of the pitch intended for this games use. But as previous records will show, a green tinge on Kingsway 2 doesn’t always mean it’s bowlers paradise (Melville, et al., 2021/22). The warm-ups soon pursued in the respective directions for each side and soon the first ball was to be bowled. A precarious start to Wanneroo’s batting innings that possibly led one set of eleven men and boys from ⅓ of the golden triangle to believe the pitch was indeed playing in favour of them, this would no longer be the case after the falling of the second wicket. The fourth-grade re-debutant Riley “Starting Again” Holly entered the game within the 7th over. The next 60 overs could only have felt like they would never end for the previously delighted fielding side. At the crease, R. Holly was joined by Braiden “Need Cider On Tap” Hudson to further make the beings from Subiaco-Floreat feel like they must go home and cry to their parents as they wipe their tears with freshly printed $20 notes as we sit here in a cost of living crisis. The two combined to score 152 and 112 respectively, with B. Hudson almost being the reason multiple lawsuits were layed upon the game nearly killing the square-leg umpire on Kingsway 1 with a slightly large 6 off the presumably 14 year old leg spinner who took the concept of “getting the ball above the eye-line” too seriously (he ended the day with figures of 0-76 off 9, career ruined… hopefully). R. Holly firmly making a name for himself at the club with this fantastic display of batting, chanceless until the fall of his wicket, hoping this knock can be the start of a progression through grades and onto something great. After B. Hudson was dismissed, a slowing of the run-rate occurred and the innings was declared later on with the wicket of R. Holly as the score of 338 was deemed suitable for Liam “Stays Out Longer Than Kane” Carroll and the team would proceed to bowl 6 overs that night. One could only describe those overs as nervous for the batting side, who could not be consoled by their maternal figures as their didn’t seem to be an away crowd in attendance. The nerves became apparent as fourth grade debutant Jayden “Frosty” Rotham bowled the final over of the night and taking a wicket, fantastically caught at gully by Oliver “Junior Runs Only” Hudson who is definitely a direct relation with B. Hudson.
The second day of the thrilling clash between the best two teams within WA’s fourth most revered cricketing competition came about, and Wanneroo were ready to have this game won and climb to the top of the table. The day started slow, Kingsway 2 unsurprisingly got harder and easier to bat on, as the forecasted weather at the beginning of the week did not play a part in bringing any excess water down. But nevertheless, chances came about eventually. The hero of an opener, who blasted his way to 50 eventually fell victim to none other than Riley “On The Radar” Holly, who is only starting to have an exceptional game, wanting to take wickets just in case his runs weren’t enough to make him feel good about himself already. Another partnership grew, but the other star of the show, Braiden “Wears Shorts Underneath, Not Skins” Hudson joined in on the wicket taking action as well. This was essentially the story for the rest of the day, the easy batting conditions would play a role in growing partnerships, but then they would be outplayed and throw up an opportunity that would inevitably be pounced upon and thus, the wickets kept falling gradually as R. Holly rolled through their batting line-up, taking 4-68 off 27 overs and B. Hudson claiming 3 victims with his enormous shoulders (yes, the same ones that helped him leverage a ball onto Kingsway 1 just the week earlier), leaving 2 wickets for Jayden “Loves A Fine” Rotham and Jared “Apparent Debutant Of The Game” Maunder to secure 1. Subiaco-Floreat tried to show why they deserved to be the state’s best fourth choice of eleven males but just couldn’t get over the line, with the last wicket falling as they had just managed 280 runs. A comprehensive victory for Wanneroo, and the attaining of top spot in the competition.
This leaves us to ponder, will we see them again in the finals series? If so, how will that play out? Will R. Holly get any benefit out of bullying a fourth grade opposition? How does B. Hudson get those shoulders so big? Who is really the common ancestor between B. Hudson and O. Hudson? Who knows if we will ever find out the answers to any of those questions, but it is always nice to think about. Anyway, onwards and upwards for Wanneroo’s 4th Grade side, all eyes move towards the competitions 7th round against Melville, let’s hope the side continue this run of form.