A good round for the Men in red as most grades came up on top against a hapless Rockingham-Mandurah. The Ones secured a quality win on a dustbowl at North-Bunbury, the Twos fell a distracting clap away from an outright and the Threes had no such issue, walking away with those valuable outright points. The Women finished their T20 journey with a win to sit equal 2nd, though on quotient they fell just shy of making the grand final. In the Juniors the 17s fought through sleep deprivation and barbecues to post a high scoring win (also in North-Bunbury) while the 15s unfortunately left themselves too much to do with the ball.
In the Sunday T20s Wanneroo couldn’t defeat the assembled team from not-Perth. However but the Colts could, leaving them at 2 from 2.
1st Grade
WDCC 241-9 def. RMDCC 147
On the first week WDCC won the toss and elected to bat on an interesting looking wicket to say the least. As anticipated it was very challenging to bat on throughout the days play. We lost our openers in quick succession to be in trouble at 2-10, but our skipper T.Birt and K.Smith combined for a hard fought and patient 100 run partnership to get us to 2-103 before T.Birt was unfortunately dismissed for a very patient and well compiled 50.
The Roo boys finished the day on 9-241 with K.Smith making 118 off 221, which is now his second ton for the club. It was one of the better tons you will see considering the condition of the wicket. Well done K!
Onto the second week, RMDCC were always going to be up against it with our array of spinners on a turning wicket. The Roo boys ended up making short work of RMDCC and bowled them out for 147 by tea. As expected, spin did the trick early with K.Miller finishing with figures of 3-27 off 10. R.Richards however was magnificent finishing with 4-17 off 8.1 overs and removed the key late wicket of Craig Simmons with a peach of a delivery, which all but sealed it for the boys.
Lastly on A Grade debut, Lachy Poulter finished with 1-22 off 8 and bowled a luckless spell of the highest quality, showing great maturity and setting up what will hopefully be a long and successful A grade career for the Roos. Well done mate!
2nd Grade
WDCC 82 & 8/245 def. RMDCC 67 & 9/96
OUTRIGHT WIN GOES BEGGING IN FINAL BALL THRILLER
2nd grade were met with the task of taking out their first 2-day win for the season on what looked to be a “we’ll bat first because my horse is running at Ascot and I’m therefore leaving at 3pm” sort of wicket. The day got off to a great start with Callum Douglas arriving 5 minutes before the warm up with a bacon and egg Mcmuffin, hash brown, orange juice and hotcakes.
Play commenced and so did a mighty top order collapse, Wanneroo slumping to 4/5. Moods were sombre as those dismissed reflected on some average shots as well as the need for the DRS in 2nd grade cricket. Some better efforts were overpowered by more wickets and debutant Hayden “Agar” Stumpers walked to the crease at 9/52 with a Trent Bridge effort looking necessary. Stumpers managed to top score with a vital 17 and Wanneroo were all out 82 from 35.2 overs.
Given the Roos’ inability to make it to the halfway mark of day 1, there was still a lot left in the pitch and plenty of hope that the game could still be won. Leigh Millar and Jordan Slattery wasted no time and had Rockingham-Mandurah reeling at 3/7. By the time Captain Sadik aka Michael Van Gerwen left to get behind “Dig Deep” the Roos had total control of the game with the visitors 5/20, not without Sadik taking a contender for catch of the season with a one handed flyer at gully. Soon after, some bloke decided enough was enough and absolutely threw the kitchen sink at it, taking 15 off a Leigh Millar over and outscoring 21 other people in the space of 4 balls. However the spark that Rockingham so desperately needed was soon taken away by one Deon Billington taking one of the better catches you’ll ever see and possibly making it into the top 3 catches for the match.
The Roos stayed on top with some more good bowling and excellent fielding and managed a great first innings win, Rocky all out 67. J Slattery 4 wickets, Millar 3 and debutant stumpers with 2 to close out the win.
Well what a first day hey? 20 wickets gee whiz that’s a few, you won’t see many more in a single day than that?
WRONG! ARE YOU NEW HERE? HEAPS OF BLOODY POLES LEFT IN THAT THING TODAY DONT YOU WORRY SON!
14 overs left in the day and that was more than enough to give Rocky a sniff of a reverse outright. First ball of the innings handed the good-looking and funny Cam Mac a pair for the day and absolutely no reason to bring his kit bag for the next week. Callum Douglas was the next to join the “I don’t need kit” club with another Joel Wilson special, and was kind enough to offer the umpire some free advice. The Roos managed to somewhat stabilise but after a Rob Fairchild castling with a broken stump that he volunteered to carry off, they limped to the end of play at 4/44. 24 wickets in a day had everyone needing to catch their breath, especially with the possibility of an outright result the following week.
Enter week 2 and the temperature has been turned right up. In the midst of a December heatwave Mitch Slattery and Deon Billington resumed at the crease looking to put the Roos in a strong position for a big result. And that they certainly did. The pair put on 86, Billington with 56 and Slattery with 48, and did a great job of making the visitors toil hard in the heat. Sadik then came to the party with a lovely 52 and the innings was closed out by a nifty 30* from John “Prince Charming” Walter. Wanneroo declared with a lead of 230 and 36 overs to attempt to take 10 wickets.
The outright pursuit got off to another brilliant start thanks again to J Slattery and Millar. In no time at all Rockingham were 4/16 and the Roos could taste a big point’s booster. However, an early chance was missed with their quality stodger managing to find the space between Rob Fairchild’s hands. A mistake which can be excused given the stress placed on said hands in a truly inspirational tea preparation.
Tea was served and, regardless of the absence of mayonnaise, the curried egg sandwiches made it to the table to complete another outstanding spread.
But it was not curried egg that the 2s craved. It was outright victory. The hunt for wickets continued and one by one they continued to steadily fall. It was the stodgy opener though who proved to be up to the challenge. A short ball plan was installed however he managed to consistently find the gaps and avoid falling victim. With 3 overs remaining and 3 wickets still required it looked as though the stodge may have the last laugh. But the short ball plan was not to be aborted, and Leigh Millar gave everything he had to keep digging them in. And then it came. The breakthrough. The plan. The execution. THE CATCH! MY GOD THE CATCH! FORGET SADIK AND BILLINGTON THIS WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD! SCREAMING IN AT FULL TILT FROM FINE LEG DIVING FORWARD I MEAN SERIOUSLY IT DOES NOT GET BETTER.
Nah just kidding it wasn’t that good. Pretty good but I reckon. So with 2 overs left and 2 wickets needed, who do you call to bend back the pegs of a tail ender? The Head and Shoulders Pantene Garnier King himself. And bend pegs he did. 8 balls and 1 wicket needed for outright with 10 and 11 at the crease. Somehow the number 11 kept out 3 sharp ones and there was 1 over left for that precious wicket. Leigh Millar, still toiling, had the task.
Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot. Dot.
One ball left. One wicket to win. It’s a big ask but you could feel the hope. The desperation. The desire to take home a big bag of points and be sitting comfortably over the Christmas break. Everyone was ready. This was it. If the chance comes you better believe we’re taking it. Leigh charges in, fielders low and at the ready. And there it was. A big prop forward. The big snick. The ball sailing towards 3rd slip straight into the hands of Dougo!
And straight back out on to the ground not out no outright but a 1st innings win oh well all good doesn’t matter who cares just a game probably won’t matter anyway who needs points probably won’t have any bearing on the season it’s fine not like we wanted a 2nd innings win its honestly not a problem at all had a great day aha woohoo how good is cricket merry Christmas
3rd Grade
WDCC 8/295 def. OUTRIGHT RMDCC 115 & 91
Tim Paine won the toss and elected to bowl in bowler friendly conditions. The dukes ball was doing plenty with Rockingham having no answer. Wickets were shared evenly with Jared ‘Ribena’ Maunder, Darcy ‘Labuschagne’ Forssman and Connor ‘what can’t he do’ Spangenberg all picking up 2 each. Donavinn Fryer managed to rip through the tail in the blink of an eye to finish with 4 wickets for the day and leaving Rockingham bowled out for 115. Allan Hall started the chase off well with a quick 21 and after a little wobble the ship was steadied by Graeme ‘retirement age is 65’ Atkinson, who went large on his way to a quick fire 77 helping the threes secure the win on the first day. The second week started with a 33 from Matthew Dozdzdsozdsoz and a batting masterclass from young Connor Spangenberg who hit 113. In search of an outright declaration was made. In pursuit of wickets in the afternoon Donavinn was all class again picking up 5 wickets to take his tally to 9 for the match. He once again ripping through the tail in no time thanks to some genius field placings. The threes picked up a great outright win to finish the year in style.
Congratulations to Donavinn and Connor!!
4th Grade
WDCC 196 def. by RMDCC 281
Rockingham Mandurah won the toss and elected to bat first, the first wicket came with a run out by “Lachlan mute Henderson”. The run out batter would watch the runs pile on as they went from 1/7 to 143/2. The second session saw a fight back from the elite 4th grade roos, as they picked up 4/34 thanks to “Sharm Samatha Bandara” who would end up with 5 wickets as Rockingham Mandurah would be bowled out for 281 late in the day, not forgetting “Michael Chop King Kelsey’s” run out
The roos would have a slow but good start to the innings, being 1/51 half way through the first session. After lunch Kelso would pass his fifty and have another fifty partnership with “Jaymin hates a fifty Patel”. The runs would to start to flow and would be 4/164 at tea, with Kelso making a gritty 77 (his highest on Lark Hill 2). From there the roos would collapse and lose 6/36 with “Lachie Aggressive Dargie” making 27. With the elite 4s being bowled out for 196.
Under 17 T20 Women
WDCC 7/84 def. Subiaco Floreat 4/82
Our female Roo’s returned to winning ways in Round 10 at home v Subi Floreat (SF). SF won the toss and perhaps sensing that the Roos setting a target in Round 9 didn’t end well were hoping for a repeat performance and it very nearly worked. Our top order struggled again to produce apart from Rachel Prout constructing a mature 27 and Danni Eckley and Grace Tomkinson both sharing 13 apiece; leaving others to consider and reflect on the importance of playing straight. We stuck with it and ground out a modest 84 for the loss of 7 precious wickets.
Our bowling and fielding were severely tested under pressure last week in Round 9, learning from loss is crucial to continual improvement and today our collective bowling units and fielding reacted must better and stronger than last week; therefore positive learning had taken place. Efficiency was key to our success, all of our bowlers acknowledged the importance of bowling at the stumps and most returned with excellent figures. Emma Schonfeldt continues to impress along with our premier quick Josie Beckett who snagged 2 vital wickets. The spin twin mix of Ella Stewart and Emma Wilson provided flight and a hint of turn which kept the SF middle order guessing; we look forward to this variation in the longer format post-Christmas. Breanna Giandzi and Emilie Nicholls bowled fantastically well at the death setting up a tense final over finish. In pressure situations the execution of basic skills are crucial, line, length, focused fielding including anticipation and backing up are vital, last week we fell short however this week we executed these skills and deserved our victory. We end our T20 journey finishing joint second on points with South Perth who boast a better average than us resulting in us unfortunately missing a Grand Final place. The girls benefit from a well-earned break before turning their attention to the longer 40 over format in early Feb 2020. What a fine bunch of maturing young female cricketers who have been a pleasure to work with in this first part of the season.
T20 Round 2 v Country
WDCC Roos 8/115 (KR Smith 43, JW Mason 28) def. by Country XI 7/116 (KR Smith 2/24)
Colts Round 2 v Country
WDCC 3/137 def. Country XI 8/92
On the 15th of December the colts took on the Country XI on a stinking hot day at Sutherland’s park. Winning the toss and choosing to bat the boys got off to a decent start. A nice partnership was formed through the middle with Michael Kelsey the standout with the bat making 54 off 42 balls. A nice platform was laid for some late hitting. Nick Santich batted beautifully and hit a nice six off the last ball of the inning to take the total to 3-137.
We got off to a nice start with the ball restricting them early. Jordan Slattery and Nick Santich were then brought on and took 4/16 and 3/15 respectively. The country XI never looked likely of chasing down the total as they finished 8/92 off their 20 overs.
This leaves the Colts boys in a strong position being 2 from 2 and gives us some momentum for our double header next Saturday.
Seventeens Men
WDCC 7/274 def. RMDCC 3/257
5 am wake up calls are fun…. Even though Nick “loves a snapchat” Santich seemed to disagree with his one million snapchats on his private story claiming they weren’t. The boys were full with as much energy as they could for a 7:20 am warm up in Lark Hill, and the first under Dave “Papa” Spangenberg. Umpire Thulasi Singh calls over the great 17s leader Jack “old” McDonald for the toss with him guessing the right side of the coin and sending the Rockingham-Mandurah boys into bat. Started off well with the ball, with Samuel “I still talk about England” Williams having the openers in absolute shambles and the pressure being too much for one of the openers as Connor “Son of Dave” Spangenberg took the first pole of the day and putting Rocky 1/36. Unfortunately it went pear shaped for the boys with error after error, luck to the batsmen, poor bowling and quality strokes. The score climbed to a mammoth 2/232 after the skip brought himself on to bowl to show all the other spinners how to bowl, getting Corey Wasley out for a well-made 110 and breaking the 196 run partnership. Soon after Connor “Still son of Dave” Spangenberg took the wicket of Mr Helm taking the score to 3/248. The Roos needing to chase a huge total of 257 the following week.
Arising earlier this weekend for an earlier start meant the boys had to be there at 7:00am. But that didn’t seem to bother anyone as we watch Jayden “Juice” Rae rock up with a V-Energy in his hands. Knowing the task ahead the two openers got us under way with a partnership valued at 23 runs after Lachlan “Hard hands” Dargie was given a quite questionable LBW decision after being hit on the thigh pad for 8. Things didn’t seem to get any better for the Roos as Connor “Saving myself for the 3s” Spangenberg was sent packing after missing a straight one first ball of his innings. But then in came Jayden “Hates a ton” Rae. Sam and Jayden looked nice and comfortable out there until Samuel “Brother races in F3” Williams snicks off the ball before tea. Bringing in Jack “Too much Tea” Maraldo. Sadly Jayden “Apple and black current” Rae turned up the Matador 4 Burner and Jack “Jmar” Maraldo was not successful at getting off the treadmill. After this the day turned for the boys in Red, with Jack “Skip” McDonald and Nick “Club Bully” Santich both posting 50s and Jack McDonald getting out only 2 runs short of the target. Jayden was out for a well-made 90 as the roo boys got the job done, ending the day 7/274.
Fifteens Men
WDCC 123 (KT Pearce 51) def. by RMDCC 3/130
For full results visit our new and quite excellent latest results page at https://www.wanneroodcc.com.au/results/