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)