Above: Beaconsfield Tigers U16 Madison Andrews hooks strongly on the way to making 50 retired. By Ian FergusonBEACONSFIELD’S Bgrade captain Geoff Bliss scored a defiant 30 not out which kept the Tigers competitive in their battle with the Cobras at the Donnelly Reserve. Bliss and fellow tailender Rhys Miller shared a crucial lastwicket stand of 43 after plunging to 9/71 and Merinda Park replied with 0/7 before stumps. Steve Tobin (5/38 from 22 overs) and Shannon Mathers (4/36 from 19 overs) both bowled with venom for the Cobras, who were strongly favoured to win.
Kooweerup reached the moderate total of 154 against its Bgrade opponent Cranbourne Meadows. Steve Johnson scored a determined 50 to keep the Demons in the game, while Adam Thornton’s spinners snared 3/24 from 12 overs.
Nyora was in a strong position at Tooradin, where it dismissed the Seagulls for 180 and advanced to 1/31 before stumps. After 22 overs the locals had plummeted to a dismal 5/38, but productive middleorder partnerships partly retrieved the situation. Nathan Findlay topscored with 33 for the Seagulls.
Upper Beaconsfield was reasonably placed for victory against the Clyde B graders, despite dropping six catches when the Cougars scored 189. Clyde captain Ian Knox performed well, scoring 72, while Scott Pitcher (4/62 from 26.2 overs) and Chris Smith (3/54 off 19 overs) were best for the Maroons.
In a slow day’s play at Cardinia, the Bgrade Bulls laboured to 125 against KilcundaBass. Daniel Strahan topscored with 42 for Cardinia, while his young teammate Ryan Dereus reached 36. Paul Cornelius collected 4/34 for the combine, while club stalwart Paul Hammer captured 3/18. KilcundaBass replied with 0/2 in the final three overs of the day.
The Pakenham Bgrade team performed well to blast the Emerald Bombers out for a meagre 105. Geoff Worrell topscored for the visitors with 28, while Gary Plunkett was impressive in capturing 5/26 from 10 overs for Pakenham. Darren Crawford then scored a valuable 29 when Pakenham proceeded to 1/35.
In C grade Gembrook’s Craig Heppell topscored with 42 and Andrew Hilder and John Shipp both added 20s in compiling 180 in the clash with Lyndhurst Vikings. Richard Boswell (3/24) and G. Peacock (3/28) shared the bowling honours for the Vikings.
Beaconsfield enjoyed a run feast in its Cgrade contest with Devon Meadows, blazing its way to 9/266 on the slow St Francis Xavier ground. Rob Young topscored with 72, Mick McMahon crashed a six and nine fours in his undefeated 66 and captain Craig Douglas contributed 41.
PUT declared at 8/282 against Officer. Dean Blake made a welcome return to cricket, scoring 70, while Josh Bardwell and Matthew Crawford performed well, scoring 51 and 40 respectively. Jason Hester was the Bullants’ main bowler, snaring 3/64 from 16 overs. Officer was 0/11 when play ended.
Lang Lang had scored more than 400 runs the week before in C grade, but the Swamp Tigers returned to earth with a thud, being dismissed for a disappointing 123 against Nar Nar GoonMaryknoll on Saturday. A fighting halfcentury from Cameron Chasemore and a handy 32 from Shaun Hassett provided the hosts’ only highlights. The other batsmen had no answer to the bowling of Mitch Abbott, who captured the excellent figures of 5/37. The Goon replied with 1/32 by stumps and was well placed for victory this week.
Close battles were being waged in D grade. Catani scored 127 against PUT, which was 39 short of victory with two wickets in hand when stumps were drawn. Paul Wade and E. Ross scored 44 and 43 respectively, while Adrian Grey captured 3/14 for the Yabbies. Tyson Goldsack topscored with 45 when the Yabbies battled to 8/89.
Nyora held a slight advantage over Lang Lang. The Swamp Tigers were shot out for 112 due largely to efforts of the Hendry family, Paul collecting 4/6 from six overs, while Matthew captured 3/52 from 15 overs. The home side responded with 3/76 before play ceased.
A 67run ninthwicket partnership between Mark Hamilton and Ash Lucas enabled Emerald to reach the respectable total of 9/191 against Pakenham. Hamilton remained undefeated on 45, Lucas contributed 38, while Craig Alenson scored 40. Darryl Williams produced an excellent bowling performance for the Lions, capturing 5/30.
Cranbourne Meadows and Kooweerup were engaged in an intriguing struggle. The Rebels managed the moderate score of 136, K. Fletcher topscoring with 37, while Rick Light (4/33) and John Bright (3/25) both performed well. Chris McConnell then scored 25 when Kooweerup responded with 3/45 before stumps.
Merinda Park batted solidly to score 8/173 against Nar Nar GoonMaryknoll. Darren Smith topscored for the Cobras with 45, while Col Hodson snared 3/29 from 17 accurate overs for the Goon.
Ross Mitchell scored a fine undefeated 70 of Beaconsfield’s commanding 240 against Clyde in D grade, which reached 0/4 by stumps. D. Johnston captured 3/50 from 18 overs for the Cougars.
In E grade Pakenham gained a firstinnings result in its clash with Officer. Tom Bulenok topscored with 41 when the Bullants scored 121, but few teammates coped with the hostile Lions’ attack of Mick Chilcott, who captured 5/34, and Sam Webster, who collected 3/23. Webster later scored 38, and his teammate Paul Hart an undefeated 51 when Pakenham advanced to 4/162 by stumps.
The Kooweerup batsmen indulged themselves against Emerald, reaching the formidable total of 228. Duncan Findlay topscored with 77, while Graeme Caig and Brendan Wilby both scored 40s. Emerald’s Aaron Cameron gained the outstanding figures of 6/92 from 23 overs and the visiting team began its run chase impressively, reaching 0/76 before play ended.
Beaconsfield held a slight advantage in its Egrade fixture against PUT.
The Tigers only managed the modest total of 95 due to excellent spells of bowling from Damien Garth (5/20), and Luke Gunton (3/7). The Yabbies battled hard to reach 3/37 in the final 20 overs of the day. The fatherson combination of John and Nick Fromhold were undefeated when stumps were drawn and their partnership remained crucial.
Tooradin only scored a disappointing 84 against Merinda Park. Losing two run outs in one disastrous over did not help the Seagulls’ cause, while the more settled Cobras advanced to 2/36 in the final 16 overs of the day.
Cardinia appeared to have the upper hand in its Egrade clash with Devon Meadows. The Bulls scored a challenging 180, Cameron Haynes (44), Ricky Campbell (36) and Todd Morey (29), reaching useful scores. Brett Vance performed well for the Panthers, collecting 3/40 and later scoring 20 when Devon Meadows reached a shaky 2/27 at stumps.
A fine solo performance from Drew Clarke highlighted the Fgrade scene on Saturday. Clarke scored a fighting 47 not out to rescue his struggling Yabbie team and later accepted a brilliant running catch and grabbed 2/2 from three overs when PUT took the field against the Cranbourne Meadows team.
John McConchie (Upper Beaconsfield), Jeffrey Gillespie (Merinda Park), Jason Scott, Chris Hauselberger and Stuart Lee (Lyndhurst Vikings) and Clint Fulton (Catani) all reached the compulsory Fgrade retirement score of 50, while Luke Harrop (Nar Nar Goon) and Officer’s Steve Darlow and Jason Nicholson each took three wickets.
PUT’s Chris Smith enjoyed an exceptional match opposed to the Pakenham under16 team.
Smith retired after scoring 50 and captured the superb bowling figures of 4/3 from his eight overs, which included six maidens.
Other under16 players who scored junior halfcenturies were the Beacy Bandit duo of Troy McDermott and Madison Andrews and Kooweerup’s Ryan Wilby.
Nathan Beaver finished with the excellent match figures of 10/25 for the Merinda Park under16 team after his secondinnings 3/13 against Nyora. Seven maidens were included in his superb solo effort, which nearly produced an outright result for the triumphant Cobras.
In under14 ranks Scott Monagle from the Beacy Eagles enjoyed an outstanding game against his Upper Beaconsfield rivals. Monagle gained a run out with a direct hit, captured two wickets with consecutive deliveries and he finished the match in fine style by clinging on to a great catch.
