Brunswick Cricket Club Craig Shield - week 1
- Brunswick CC
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
The Craig Shield, a high-quality Under-15 representative tournament with 32 teams, is underway. Here is the report from the first week of round robin games for Brunswick Cricket Club.
Winning the toss, Brunswick elected to bowl on a well-grassed surface. Yash, Ivanhoe’s captain and opening batter, had scored 70 runs off 36 balls against Brunswick’s senior thirds team in November, so Brunswick knew he could be dangerous. Brunswick’s openers bowled well, dismissing Yash's partner, but Yash was scoring well even off good balls. The first bowling change did the trick with Cale pinning Yash’s pad with his first ball in Craig Shield – 2/28 in the ninth over. Yash had made 27 of those runs, so it was a vital wicket. From there, wickets fell relatively frequently, despite a good 30-run partnership for the seventh wicket. Plenty Valley were dismissed for 104 runs in 35 overs after a strong all-round bowling performance – five of the seven bowlers got wickets, with the other two missing out but playing important roles with the ball.
A total of 105 runs looked very gettable, but Brunswick’s batting innings got off to a creaky start – 1/5, 2/6 and then 3/23. Gus, batting at 4, looked great, and partnerships with Prateek and then with Hamish got Brunswick close before Gus lost his stumps to an attempted sweep. Hamish and Jude then got Brunswick home without further ado.
It was a good win to start Brunswick’s campaign.
Result: Brunswick 5/109 defeated Plenty Valley 10/104
Leading numbers
Wickets: Jude 3/14; Ben 2/13; Cale 2/23; Gurmann 1/5; Jed 1/5; Runout: Gurmman/Hamish
Batting: Gus 51; Hamish 27*
It is always a great local rivalry with Coburg, so Brunswick were looking forward to the challenge with both teams coming off round 1 wins. Coburg won the toss and invited Brunswick to bat, which Brunswick were happy to do. Coburg’s bowling started well with Gurmann falling to a fine caught and bowled. However, Abhik and Flynn batted well from there, putting on 83 runs for the second wicket. Going at 4 runs an over at drinks with both batters looking comfortable had set Brunswick up for a big total. But then some hesitation on a run saw Abhik short of his ground. A string of double-digit partnerships, then a clatter of six wickets for nine runs left Brunswick on a total of 199. Coburg would have been happy to restrict Brunswick to under 200 given the situation at drinks.
Coburg’s batting innings got off to a brisk start. But a bowling change brought instant success, with Jed catching the batter's outside edge from his first ball in Craig Shield that was taken by Flynn at first slip. Jed then took two more wickets in his five-over spell, and Brunswick were on top. Two further wickets had Coburg 5/86, but a 62 run partnership meant Brunswick still had some work to do. After that partnership was broken, the end came quite quickly.
Result: Brunswick 9/199 defeated Coburg 10/162
Leading numbers
Wickets: Jude 3/7; Jed 3/18; Abhik 1/14; Cale 1/17; Finn 1/26; Runout: Gus
Batting: Flynn 90; Abhik 48; Hamish 20
Back at Gillon Oval, Ivanhoe won the toss and elected to bat. 38 overs of relentless bowling by Brunswick then followed. Ivanhoe’s biggest partnership was 23 for the second wicket, but even then the scoring rate never exceeded much more than than 2 runs per over at any stage. Along with the bowling, another highlight was the catching with a number of difficult chances taken. Flynn ended up with four catches at first slip, including one of the best ever catches taken in the Craig Shield. Ivanhoe did well to last 38 overs against Brunswick’s bowling before being dismissed for 65.
The batting response got away to a bright start, with Abhik and Gus recording a 50-run opening stand that had Brunswick within touching distance of victory. An ambitious attempted dance down the pitch and loft over cover didn’t quite work, seeing Abhik heading back to the rooms. Gus soon followed him after a ball spun from his bat face onto the stumps. After those two stumbles, Jimmy and Prateek iced the game.
Result: Brunswick 2/66 defeated Ivanhoe 10/65
Leading numbers
Wickets: Jude 2/7; Gurmann 2/8; Ben 2/21; Cale 1/3; Flynn 1/3; Finn 1/11; Jonty 1/12
Batting: Gus 24
The previous three rounds had pitted Brunswick against undefeated teams, and round 4 proved no different, with the only remaining undefeated teams of the North Group looking for bragging rights.
Kew won the toss and invited Brunswick to bat on their slightly soft home deck. Batting was not particularly easy with plenty of movement. Nevertheless, Abhik was looking great until Kew’s off spinner got one to bounce and the nick off Abhik's cut shot was well taken by the keeper. Gus and Flynn then put on 62 runs, steadying the ship. Flynn was part of another couple of double digit partnerships (with Prateek and Jude) before he departed for a fine 90. Although they never fully blossomed, some promising partnerships helped the total accumulate to a healthy 185 before Brunswick were dismissed in the final over.
Kew had the benefit of rolling their pitch before they batted, which helped smooth out the ball divots and footmarks. However, the pitch had little effect on the first wicket, with Prateek swooping from point to gather the ball and hit with one stump to aim at off the last ball of the first over, removing a Kew opener for a diamond duck. The opening bowlers Jimmy and Jonty did an outstanding job of restricting the scoring, and were both rewarded by each hitting the stumps in the final over of their spells. Cale was soon in the action, reducing Kew to 4/25 after 14 overs. Despite being well behind the game at that point, Kew mounted a great response, ticking the scoreboard over and building a few good partnerships. However, the required run rate kept edging up, which led to some adventurous running between wickets and almost inevitable run outs. Combined with a couple of catches (Hamish as keeper and Abhik hunting in the covers), Kew fell just short in their chase. It was a great game between two well-matched teams with plenty of ebbs and flows. A re-match in a semi-final would be a great outcome for both teams.
Result: Brunswick 10/185 defeated Kew 9/176
Leading numbers
Wickets: Cale 1/5; Jimmy 1/6; Jonty 1/9; Abhik 1/22; Jude 1/46; Runouts: Prateek, Gus, Jude; Gurmann/Hamish
Batting: Flynn 59; Jude 28; Gus 23
Next week
Rounds 5-7 will complete the opening stanza of the Craig Shield. Check back to see how the games pan out and whether Brunswick’s campaign will extend into the finals.
Thanks to Jason Sefton for the photos!
