SUDDENLY, it’s back to cricket season, and the start rosters again sees New Norfolk, Molesworth, Gretna and Bothwell representing the Derwent and Central Highlands in the Southern Cricket Association (SCA) competitions. During the off-season, the teams have been busy setting up their clubs to be as competitive as possible in the new season.
Some clubs have been recruiting well and others have concentrated on developing their junior players, knowing the reflection on the competition ladder spots may well be a couple of years away while they develop the future stars. We will also see a few familiar names pop up in different club reports as word has it there’s been a few players moving between the local clubs.
On the junior scene, New Norfolk and Gretna will continue their junior programs with Molesworth also branching out to juniors this season. All clubs are welcoming new players and will provide all the relevant information, coaching and, for the beginners, some gear to get the young ones playing cricket. Now is the time to reach out to your local club if you wish to have a junior come and try cricket. You’ll find all the clubs on Facebook.
Let’s see how the teams managed the first week nerves with this weeks results:
WEEK 1 RESULTS – OCTOBER 7-8
NEW NORFOLK – 1st Grade 50-over format: New Norfolk 2 for 165 (22 overs) defeated MacKillop 10 for 159 (45 overs). New Norfolk I welcomed MacKillop to Tynwald for their opening match which was in the form of the full 50 over format. The visitors batted first and were on track for a good score, being one wicket down for 100-plus runs when spinner Mathew Dance was brought in to bowl with immediate and devastating results. Dance destroyed the Mackillop batting line-up, taking six wickets for 29 runs. He also opened the batting and his day was not done, batting the full innings to top score for the Redcaps with 74 not out. Dance was well supported by Nathan Rice who came in at number four and blasted a quick-fire 72 including 5 sixes off 38 balls to give the Redcaps an easy win in just 22 overs. Batting: M. Dance 74 from 54, N. Rice 72 from 38. Bowling: M. Dance 6 for 29 from 10 overs, N. Rice 2 for 2 from 2 overs. SEE THE PHOTO GALLERY FROM THIS MATCH HERE.
3rd Grade T20: New Norfolk 7/112 (20 overs) defeated Derwent 10/73 (17.5 overs). New Norfolk II kicked off the season with the first round of the T20 roster and travelled to North Warrane Oval to play Derwent. This team has a few of the veteran Redcap players in its ranks as well as some of the up-and-coming younger players who have aged out of the junior ranks. Batting first, the Redcaps faced all 20 overs and finished on 112 for the loss of seven wickets. Opener Jake King scored 33 with Brady Hayden adding 23. With the ball, the Redcaps turned it up a notch and bowled a good line and length, gaining valuable wickets at the right time and reducing Derwent’s ability to score. Aaron Drew was the pick of the bowlers, gaining three wickets for 19 runs. In the end, Derwent was all out for 73, giving the Redcaps a good win to start the season. Batting: J. King 33, B. Hayden 23. Bowling: A. Drew 3 for 19 from 3 overs, J. Nichols 2 for 3 from just 5 balls.
6th Grade T20: New Norfolk 9 for 71 (20 overs) was defeated by Wellington 1 for 75 (14 overs). The team has welcomed four former or current juniors all aged under 16 to play alongside some experienced returning redcap players. Tyson and Haiden Smith both played their debut senior games in this match. New Norfolk III played its first T20 match at Tynwald on Sunday morning against Wellington. Batting first and with a fairly inexperienced team, the Redcaps managed to see out all their overs for 71 runs with veterans David Mitchelmore top-scoring with 22 and Mick Holloway not out with 11. In his debut game, Tyson Smith picked up the only wicket with a nice catch taken by Mitchelmore and sent down two maiden overs. Batting: D. Mitchelmore 22 from 37, M. Holloway 11 from 27. Bowling: T. Smith 1 for 0 from 2 overs.
MOLESWORTH – 2nd Grade 50 over format: Molesworth 7/199 (50 overs) was defeated by St Anne’s 8/200 (47 overs). Molesworth 1 had its opening game at Cadbury Oval last Saturday against St Anne’s. After chasing players last season, Molesworth is hoping for a more settled season this year which should translate into some good results. It’s pleasing to see Molesworth working on developing some younger players including Nick Ransley who was the second-best scorer with 44 runs, working with his captain Brad Coppleman who put on 82 runs not out. Molesworth batted out the full 50 overs but an experienced St Anne’s chased down the runs in 47 overs. Batting: B. Coppleman 82 from 93, N. Ransley 44 from 51. Bowling: K. Tomkinson 3 for 35 from 10, J. Freeman 2 for 39 from 10.
7th Grade T20: Molesworth 9/104 was defeated by Claremont 5/106 (both batted 20 overs). Molesworth II hit off in the T20 roster on Sunday afternoon at Boyer oval against Claremont. The match went down to the last over with both teams batting their full 20 overs, but unfortunately in the run chase, Molesworth fell two runs short in the last over of the day. Batting: N. Wakefield 15 from 14. Bowling: O. Stuart 2 for 16 from 3, Tye Benson 1 for 16 from 2.
GRETNA – 2nd Grade 50-over format: Gretna 8/204 (50 overs) defeated Sorell 10/152 (41 overs). Gretna 1 team hosted Sorell for their opening game on Saturday. There were many young players selected in the home team along with some experienced Gretna players. Batting first, Gretna saw out the full 50 overs and put on 204 with Mathew Burns passing 50 to finish with 56 and Bradley Wallis running out of balls to get his 50, finishing on 49 not out. With the ball, experienced bowler Craig Cunningham finished with a 5fa, basically putting an end to Sorell’s chances of taking the win. Gretna had Sorell all out with nine overs to spare. Batting: M. Burns 56 from 47, B. Wallis 49 from 95 (not out). Bowling: C. Cunningham 5 for 55 from 10 overs, B. Rainbird 2 for 9 from 4.
4th Grade T20: Gretna 9/70 was defeated by Marquis Tigers 6/159. Both batted their 20 overs. Playing at Ogilvie (Hobart High School) Oval on Saturday morning, the Gretna II team was made up of quite a few younger players with a mix of experienced players. The young team put on a brave performance but the experience of the Tigers was just too great to overcome on this occasion. Bowling first, captain Josh Whitford snagged two poles while youngster Cooper Gleeson got one past a batsman that came down the pitch and the wicket keeper Brian Smith efficiently executed the stumping. Chasing a big score, the Gretna team just couldn’t get the run rate up but to their credit batted out the full 20 overs with Smith top-scoring with 29 not out. Batting: B. Smith 29 from 36 (not out), A. Nunn 16 from 24. Bowling: J. Whitford 2 for 18 from 2, C. Gleeson 1 for 14 from 2.
BOTHWELL – 4th Grade T20: Bothwell 10/85 (18 overs plus 0/14) defeated Wellington (in a super over) 8/85 (20 overs plus 2/8). Bothwell I hosted Wellington on Saturday morning for their T20 game which was the opening game of a double header at Bothwell and what a game to start the season. After both teams fought hard to post a relatively low score of 85 runs each, the game went to a super over with Bothwell holding their nerve through returning player Adam Pearce who smacked 2 sixes and managed two more runs to take the win. In the regulation overs, Pearce also top-scored with 21 making him an easy choice to take the super over. With the ball, Brock Nicols snagged three wickets with Jordan Conley taking two important poles which helped limit Wellington’s ability to score. Batting: A. Pearce 21 from 23 and 14 from 5, J. Duffy 20 from 25. Bowling: B. Nichols 3 for 10 from 4 and 2 for 8 from 1, J. Conley 2 for 23 from 4.
7th Grade T20: Bothwell 2/108 (16 overs) defeated Sandford 7/103 (20 overs). In the second game of the day at Bothwell last Saturday, Bothwell II hosted Sandford in their opening T20 match and kept the winning way, taking just 16 overs to chase down Sandford’s score of 103. Bowling first, the Bucks took wickets at the important times to stem the flow of runs. Simon Eyles took three wickets while Peter Hansch and Andrew Rolls took two each. Batting, only two wickets were lost with Rolls not out for 50. Batting: A. Rolls 50 from 44, S. Harvey 32 from 22. Bowling: S. Eyles 3 for 16 from 4, P. Hansch, A. Rolls both 2 for 13 from 4.
JUSTIN’S TOP-3 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Pick up this Friday’s print edition of New Norfolk and Derwent Valley News to find out who we rate the most highly from Round 1.
JUSTIN BENSON
See more Derwent Valley and Central Highlands news online and read our print edition every second Friday.
