Well done by the local (or not local) idiots who decided to dig up the ground at Con O’Keefe Oval on Friday night, which meant that instead of the local derby between the Albion Park Under 11A Golds against Greens being played at home, it had to be shifted to Keith Irvine Oval. It made for a disrupted start to the game.
With the relocation achieved, the Golds won the toss and elected to field against a very good opponent, and with both teams fielding six players. The Golds overall bowled well, but also too short and not full enough to put any real pressure on the batsmen, who ran well between the wickets and generally batted terrifically. For the Green team, openers Aiden Campion (20) and Will Schofield (18) both hit the ball well, selected the gaps and ran hard between the wickets. Jordy Marshall (8) and Lucas Glover (7) showed good technique, Lucas especially batting with great composure for his age, and both had good initiative between the wickets. Liam Clinch (8) only suffered from trying to hit the ball too hard and too far, while Riley Hayes (26) is nothing if not entertaining when he is at the crease and played some lovely shots.
The star with the ball today was Bodhie Rodda. He has been working hard all season to get his bowling action right and get the ball down the wicket and as straight as possible. Today, it all came together for him, as he bowled three full overs, and only four of those were no balls, and only two of his deliveries bounced more than once. It was a fantastic effort from a young boy whose passion for bowling has never floundered over the course of the season. Success is not always measured in wickets. Today it was measured in line and length, and Bodhie today was the star of that measure. Well done Bodhie!
As was mentioned, the ball had to be straight and full today, and the kids couldn’t quite get it there. Lucas Brown picked up the only wicket of the innings, surprisingly enough with a ball that was full and straight. He also fell foul of having his cap as his marker, which cost him five runs when a straight drive hit it perfectly. His four overs today finished with 1/20. Max Sciberras and Charlotte Rodda bowled some good deliveries today, mixed with some wide no balls to go in their bag of liquorice all-sorts. Max finished with 0/14 from three overs, and Charlotte with 0/22 from three overs. Blake Ison tried hard to get the ball straight but found it drifting down leg side too often to be effective. His three overs cost 0/17. Josh Peters was a little wayward today but still managed to find the edge of the bat on a few occasions and asked questions of the batsmen. His four overs cost him 0/13, and he just failed to take a screamer at square leg as well.
After their twenty overs, the Green Eagles had lost just the one wicket and scored 124 runs, with 87 of those coming off the bat.
The Golds went in to bat with instructions to be positive but keep wickets to a minimum. The Greens bowled very impressively, by keeping it simple and bowling the ball in the right areas. The spin options were excellent, with Liam’s left arm orthodox (0/17) and Lucas’ right arm leg spin (2/21) great to watch, asking questions of the batsmen with flight and length. Will (0/8) and Aiden (2/2) both showed exactly how faster bowlers need to bowl in this age group – full and straight, which not only offered wicket-taking chances but tied up the runs as well. Great stuff. Jordy (1/12) and Riley (0/8) were also both good in their spells at the crease. Along with the excellent wicket-keeping of Riley and Liam, and the up-tempo fielding, the Greens showed why they have been so successful this season.
Through all of this, the Golds stuck to their fight. Josh and Lucas opened the batting, and kept out the good balls, looked to find the singles, and tried to dispatch the loose deliveries. Josh has had a great season with the bat and again showed his improved patience and picking the right ball to hit today, hitting three boundaries in his top score of 23. He was well supported by Lucas, and their understanding in their partnership helped to push the score along. Lucas showed good defence again today in his innings of 4. Blake batted at three and would have scored more runs if he had played straighter rather than trying to whip everything to leg. He still made 11 good runs.
At the halfway mark the Golds were 0/52, which compared well to the Greens at the same stage, who had been 0/56. The fact that the Golds did not lose a wicket until the 12th over was a great effort from the batting unit. Eventually the excellence of he Greens bowling came through, and six wickets were lost in the innings. Max was not one of those, and he again showed his improvement in getting his front foot out to the pitch of the ball, and he played a couple of lovely punches in his innings of two runs. Bodhie again showed he has an excellent pull shot, and also defended a couple of good balls off his middle stump, which was pleasing to see. He made two today in his innings. However, the shot of the day came from Charlotte, who waiting for the right ball, and then pulled in hard and high to the mid-wicket boundary for her first four of the season. Great stuff Charlotte, let’s hope we see a few more of those next week!
At the end of their twenty overs, the Golds had lost six wickets for 71 runs, of which 47 had come off the bat.
With wicket penalties added, the Greens ran out convincing winners of the match by 148 to 75. Congratulations to Mick and his team, they are a very good cricket team who play in the right spirit and with plenty of skill.
I was especially proud of the way the young Gold team fought out today. Apart from the last five overs of their bowling, their fielding was good and mostly enthusiastic. The wind came out of their sails a little in the last few overs. Then the batting showed a purpose, and they stuck it out against some very good bowling from their Green opponents without dropping their heads. They may have lost their last two games, but they have not stopped trying against their excellent opposition, and they should be rightly proud of their efforts.
There is one game left in the season, and the Golds will be playing the first placed Oak Flats Blue side to complete their year. Hopefully they will put in one last effort and give the Oak Flats team a real run for their money next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.