We had a few local rivalries last weekend – the Women versus Preston, two MCA matches versus Youlden-Parkville, and the 1s and 2s versus Coburg. Some big matches there (and mostly wins), but perhaps none bigger than the clash for the Sydney Road Trophy in the 1s.
Let’s get to the latest Brunswick Cricket Club match reports
Womens 2/154 v Preston Druids 5/134
R Rodger 55no & A Kline 46no
P Dohram 1/21, A Kline 1/30, I Edwards 1/22 E White 1/22
It was the Women's team's first week back after an extended break over the holiday season and they started back well with a win over Preston Druids at AH Capp Reserve. Due to the extreme heat forecast for Sunday, the match was brought forward to start at 9 am.
Brunswick batted first and got away to a great start with Rosie Rodger and Indi Rodger opening the batting. Rosie and Allegra Kline were the top scorers for the innings on 55 n.o. and 46 n.o. respectively, each smashing multiple boundaries to help steer Brunswick to a total of 2/154.
Brunswick performed well with the ball and in the field. Poppy Dohrman had the best bowling figures of the day, with 1/21 from 4 overs - and taking the wicket of the Druids' opening batter and biggest hitter. Another 3 wickets were taken - one a piece from the bowling of Allegra Kline, Isabella Edwards and Emily White and a final, fifth wicket a run out from Rosie Rodger. In the end Brunswick restricted the Druids to 5/134, winning by 20 runs.
Firsts 9/171 v Coburg 169
In the Sydney Road Trophy match up, Coburg won the toss & elected to bat first in warm conditions. Doz grabbed the first key wicket of Shellie for 14 with the score on 21. A 52-run partnership followed before our next success however this was followed up in quick succession & 2/73 quickly became 5/91. Small & frustrating partnerships followed of 27, 21 & 15 & we eventually dismissed Coburg late in the day for 169.
Doz 6/52, M Jackman 3/30, Tango 0/35, D Bon 0/16, J Moss 1/30.
With 4 overs to bat till stumps we lost Mitch Horrocks (8) & went to stumps 1/9. A hot day & quick outfield presented on day 2, however a combination of good fielding & bowling, difficult batting deck & periods where we could not get a partnership or convert mini starts into an innings saw us fall to 8/68. SoS (3), Tango (7), Marcus S (12), Stutts (17) B Moss (0), Marcus J (14) D Bon (2).
Lewy was then joined by Dos who put on 89 before Lewy was unlucky to be stumped for 49 off 91 balls with 8 fours. Doz was joined by J Moss (1no) who “ blocked “, played & missed a couple, but most importantly kept his composure as nearly every ball drew an appeal. Doz (47no) at the other end picked his mark with 1’s & 2’s until an opportunity presented to launch one into the stands to take us past Coburg 9 down.
Lewy, Doz & J Moss were brilliant with an appetite for the fight with some excellent stroke play mixed with solid defence – A + E = O. A great win which keeps us well in the hunt for a finals berth.
T20 – Semi Final 111 V Ivanhoe 3/112
L Stutter 27, B Moss 20
Seconds 100 & 3/78 v Coburg 144
First innings T MacKenzie 23 & H Travers 29
R Ratwatte 6/31 & J Martyr 2/9
Second innings P Walters 25, O Price 20no
Thirds 127 v Werribee 159
G Rathakrishnan 53, A Potter 28no
A Potter 3/20 & D Smith 3/42, A Halls 2/44
In a long-awaited return to red ball cricket, the 3s headed out west to take on Werribee in a top-of-the-table clash in excellent conditions at Soldier’s Reserve. Werribee won the toss and chose to bat. Hallsy and Potts shared the new ball, with Potts (author) bowling two overs of unreachable rubbish before finally finding a good line and length. Werribee’s opening bat played aggressively, but didn’t last long, chopping on and departing. Hallsy quickly followed up with a nice outswinger to catch the other opener’s edge, neatly pouched at second slip, leaving them 2/21. Werribee’s no. 3 and 4 settled in for the long haul, grinding without applying much scoring pressure. Captain Eric mixed the bowlers around, with Dec, Tom B, Gibbo, Akshay all bowling nicely without finding the breakthrough. Werribee clawed their way to tea at 2/90 odd. Following the break, Hallsy and Potts resumed for what Eric indicated would be a short “3 or 4 over spell”. 20 overs later, the partnership had yielded 3 wickets for 20 runs, breaking through Werribee’s middle order. With Eric sticking to the pace plan, Dec and Tom followed up, continuing the tight lines. Dec quickly found the edge, spectacularly caught one-handed by Eric diving from first to second slip. Dec continued to bowl well, claiming a further two. Pat Holly chimed in for a beautiful direct hit runout, before Tom B rattled the pegs to finish off the innings at 159.
The batting innings started in very obscure fashion, with Brunswick left 1/2 after the first ball. Randy punched a customary cover drive to get off the mark, completing an easy two before Akshay turned for a third. A mix up ensued, resulting in Akshay run out for a diamond duck. Randy departed soon after, leaving us 2/4. Pat joined Giri in the middle and set about rebuilding, playing well until a low full toss snuck past Pat’s bat and caught him in front. Chaos ensued while the author was getting changed in the rooms, with Farzad and Meady departing in quick succession and leaving Eric scrambling to reach the middle in time. Eric edged to first slip soon after. Giri and Potts set about rebuild no. 2, putting on 40-odd before Giri middled one onto his foot and was triggered, trudging off for a very well-compiled 53. Despite the efforts of the tail, Brunwsick’s innings spluttered to 127 all out, a disappointing result in an important game.
Fourths 76 & 31 v Werribee 75 & 0/37
B Loughnane 2/1, H MacLaren 2/8, P Pandya 2/23
Saturday B 7/208 v Williamstown Colts 6/202
J Anderson 50 S Kumar 33 A Guduri 3/28
Saturday D 233 v Sacred Heart 3 8/234
K Long 79, J Nolte 29 & 3/31, S Faisal 3/51
Brunswick were sent in to bat on a hot day at McDonald Reserve in Coburg against Sacred Heart. After a couple of starts at the top of the order, Brunswick lost 4/33 to be at a shaky 5/99 just after the first drinks break. In form batsman Kiran Long (79) led the recovery effort with the assistance of the lower order, getting the Wicks to a respectable total of 233 before being bowled out with 5 overs remaining.
Making the first breakthrough proved tough as the opening pair put on a 50-run partnership, but some tight and consistent bowling from Jack Nolte (3/31) dismissed the first opener. A change in bowling from the other end saw immediate impact, with Osgar Bryant (2/32) clean bowling the second opener with a hooping in-swinger from his first ball. A nice catch from Matteo Pintore-Deveny off Osgar's bowling and 2 more wickets to Jack saw Sacred Heart at a precarious 5/108. A pair of 50 run partnerships saw Sacred Heart edge towards the total, but both were broken by persevering Shaik Faisal (3/51). A 3rd wicket to Shaik 2 balls later had them 8/218, still requiring 16 runs to win. Despite Brunswick's best efforts, Sacred Heart chased down the runs with just 2.3 overs remaining, defeating Brunswick by 2 wickets.
Despite the loss, there were some great positives to take out of the match. Some solid batting, bowling, and fielding from our very young side was incredibly pleasing to see, and the determination shown by the Wicks was impressive as they fought to the last ball in the unrelenting heat with a fielder down due to injury. With 4 rounds to go, finals are still a possibility, especially if the D's can keep playing like this and a bit more luck comes our way!
Sunday B 2/157 v Youlden Parkville 156
Z Welsh 43no G Rathakrishnan 61no
R Sidhu 3/42, H Maclaren 2/44
Sunday D 5/240 v Youlden Parkville 9/168
A Chaudhary 97, R Rahman 50no M McCarthy 34
S Iqbal 4/29 , M Varley 2/16
This week we were up against Youlden Parkville - a home game, moved from Gillon to McDonald Reserve, Coburg.
It was a very warm day for cricket, with a high forecast of 39, so the captains, with the umpire, discussed the MCA options (T20, 60, 70 or stick with 90 overs) - we subsequently agreed to reduce the match from 90 overs to 70.
Youlden P then proceeded to win the toss and chose to field (which we were good with).
We had a bit of an ordinary start with the bat and soon found ourselves at 3/24. Thankfully, we were able to stop the rot through some solid partnerships involving Aakash Chaudhary 97 (with 7 6’s off 77), Romi Rahman 50 not (41) (both getting their maiden half centuries for the club - great stuff Aakash and Romi), Mick McCarthy 34 (56) and Shaik Faisal 23 not (25), and we were able to amass a very sound total of 240 from our 35 overs.
Our bowlers and fielders then got to work, and Youlden P found themselves only able to make 168 from their 35 overs, with 9 wickets down. Terrific bowling from Saamin Iqbal 4/29 (7) (with his best figures for the Brunswick CC - well done Saamin, you were so close to getting 5 as well), Max Varley 2/16 (7) and Romi Rahman 0/24 (7). Catching honours went to Dean Anderson with 2 superb catches (ed: his horizontal diving catch at mid wicket was the best I have seen in Sunday D by a fair margin) and Mick McCarthy and Saamin Iqbal showed very safe hands as well, each taking 1 and what a fantastic runout by Max Varley (excellent work Max).
Many thanks to Tom Martin, Jack Nolte and Shaik Faisal for doubling up from the Saturday D team - greatly appreciated guys.
Another excellent win team, under very warm conditions - well done all.
Let’s prepare well for the Reds, this coming week, away at Walker East Oval, Parkville.
C’arn the Wicks.