After being inserted by their opponents the Park kids had some good moments and hair pulling moments in compiling a total of 152, being entirely dismissed for the first time this season, albeit with just three deliveries remaining. Noah Regan is relishing the opening role and again made a great start against the medium pacers, but struck trouble against the young leg spinner who drew the false shot, and Noah was caught for 6. After this a partnership flourished between Aiden Campion and Noah Black, with both batsmen looking to be aggressive with the bat, but perhaps not so much with the running between the wickets. Yes it was warm, but after we’ve spent three trainings practicing it, the coach would hope to see a better response. Nonetheless, both played well, Aiden hitting the loose balls hard to the boundary, and Noah punching hard for singles and twos. Both retired not out for a well earned break.
Skipper Kasey Barton came in to face the best of the Kiama pace bowlers, and played the anchor role early to keep the score ticking over. He also retired after another goo stint at the crease. Ethan Thompson came in and timed two balls sweetly, one to the field and the other past mid-wicket. He is really beginning to find the middle of the bat which is satisfying. Unfortunately he then got a good delivery that found his leg stump and he was bowled for 1. Ryan Monaghan has not had much luck with the bat this season, coming in at times where the bowling is hot. He faced two balls from the young leggie where he played two good defensive strokes, but his second unfortunately got some bounce which he parried back to the fielder, and was caught for zero. His time will come this season.
Lucas Brown and Tristan Denmeade batted well together last weekend, but today was… unfortunate. Tristan parried one wide of gully and Lucas called yes and ran hard. Unfortunately the fielder stopped it, and Tristan didn’t respond, which saw both batsmen shaking hands. The unfortunate result was Lucas being run out, when he hadn’t done much wrong. More stuff for training debrief. TJ Nasome then came out and got a good one first ball after a long wait which is not ideal to be bowled for a duck, before Aiden returned to just push a ball back to the leg spinner to be caught and bowled (for an excellent 33 -but a disappointing end) and Kiama Blue was well and truly back in the game at 6/107.
Noah Black returned, and blasted another boundary and other good runs before finally being bowled for 28 runs. It was his highest ever score by quite a large margin, and was an innings of improvement and maturity that typifies the way his game is going ahead in leaps and bounds. It was fantastic to watch and an indication of what is to come. Great stuff Noah.
It was left to Tristan and Kasey to complete the remaining six overs, and they did well in the heat. Tristan continues his steady improvement, looking for runs and showing a nice range of strokes. Pushed along by Kasey they ran hard and maximised the chase for runs in the final overs, before Tristan fell with three balls to go looking for quick runs for 11.
Kasey again played a terrific skipper’s innings. It wasn’t always going to plan for him, but he stuck to his guns, and dispatched the loose balls for runs. He finished on 42 not today, and is showing why he is the number one batsman in this competition in all conditions.
Defending 152 in the hardest heat of the morning was always going to be a challenge, but the Albion Park kids started in the right fashion. Lucas made the initial breakthrough as he almost always does with the first ball of his second over, finding a thin edge that Aiden took with soft gloves to bring about the first wicket. Then calamity struck the Kiama team, twice having batsmen run out going for a second to balls that were through the gully region but unfortunately having Kasey chasing, whose great arm back to Aiden at keeper had both batsmen well short of their ground. Three wickets in the third over was a tough start for Kiama, and they lost a fourth when Josh Schofield bowled a lovely ball that moved from middle to leg to beat the defensive prod of the batsman, and Kiama was struggling at 4/9.
To their credit they knuckled down and looked to get themselves back in the match. The Park kids had bowled well early and had conceded few sundries. Tristan bowled two terrific overs, swinging the ball beautifully in to the right handers, and finished with 0/1 from his two overs. After his batting that was a great effort. TJ continued his great bowling over recent weeks, keeping the ball straight to avoid any wides. His two overs brought figures of 0/4 which was impressive. Ryan Monaghan had one of those days where he angled down the leg side and couldn’t quite get his run up right. We’ve been working on keeping him upright in delivery, but the heat today didn’t help that today. He finished with 0/15. Noah Regan bowled the best over he has ever bowled with his first up maiden today, and followed it up with possibly his worst. Well, we’ve all been there. Still, 0/5 is good figures for two overs. Ethan Thompson has been so good this season so far, but today it didn’t click for him, also a bit wide down leg and the ball and feet didn’t want to play nice. He finished with 0/13 from two overs.
The drinks break couldn’t come soon enough, and afterwards some order was restored. Aiden came out from behind the stumps and Noah Regan donned the gloves. It was great for both. Aiden bowled superbly, the straight bungers on a full length being perfect for the situation. He found a way through the defensive to clean up the stumps for his first wicket, and then found the edge for Noah to take a great catch with the gloves, keeper to keeper. Aiden bowled 3 overs, 2 maidens and finished with 2/5 which was great for him and the team. Behind the stumps Noah was terrific, taking that catch and letting through only 1 bye. He will be getting more work as keeper in the coming weeks.
Still, Kiama made the Eagles boys fight. As Joe Burgess went on his rampage, the bowlers had to bowl well to try and contain him. Lucas had bowled well but learned today that the ball at the stumps is often the best method, and he didn’t quite finish off as we would have liked. He bowled four overs and finished with 1/9 which is fantastic, and he remains our premium bowler, but it shows that even the best sometimes can’t quite be the finisher they would like to be. Ryan Cergovski and bowled wonderfully well, and absolutely deserved better figures than he had. He bowled with a slip today such is his improved accuracy, and he beat the bat a number of times. His three overs cost 0/7 and he continues his great season. Josh Schofield was on fire early, his first two overs excellent in picking up a wicket. His third over was also perfect, exactly where we wanted the ball to be, and yet he went for two sixes. It’s another lesson, that good bowling isn’t always rewarded, but I thought his third over was better than his first two. That’s cricket. Josh will bowl worse and pick up a bagful. Kasey’s figures of 0/3 from 3 show he didn’t do much wrong, but he was off the boil a bit today in the heat after his batting.
And then there was Noah Black. Bowling from a height of about ten metres, he was superb today. He bowled 14 deliveries, with one no ball, twelve dots that were all full and at the stumps or just outside off stump, and a wicket, the last to fall, which took leg stump. His figures of 2.1-1-1-1 were absolutely brilliant, and such a joy to watch. When you see someone working hard to achieve something, and he does, how can you not be happy for him? Add to this his fielding which has been marvellous (his arm from the 4 metre boundary is always into the keepers gloves and hitting them hard), and Noah is taking to cricket like a duck to water. I am very excited about his progress.
Kiama Blue was bowled out for 92 in the 29th over, which looks like a clear cut victory, but again some of their players showed a great deal today. Hamish Campbell was terrific with the ball and has a lovely bowling action, and I thought Vincent Sherrell was also very good. Charlie Edwards is one of my favourite kids after being involved with him in rep cricket last year and his bowling continues to improve. With the bat young Lachlan Booth showed a lot of grit and determination and supported his partners wonderfully well. The star though was Joe Burgess, whose leg spin was superb to pick up 3/15, and then played a swashbuckling and yet thoughtful innings of 44 not out. As my Kiama links are still strong it was heart-warming to see such performances from our opposition today, to see good young kids still coming through the Cavalier ranks.
The young Eagles remain undefeated in season 2020/21 and they played another good strong game today in difficult conditions. Again there are things we need to work on, but the kids can be very happy with the effort they are putting in.
Once again well done to the families from both sides who showed up to support the kids in very difficult conditions. Not easy to watch in, but I am sure the kids appreciated you being there. Thanks to Josh and Mark for scoring today, and Wazza for taking the umpiring reigns for the first half of the match.
We have two matches remaining in the first round and to get us to Xmas, both against Shellharbour. We will be fighting hard to retain our undefeated record and head to the break in a good position to push for finals cricket.
#GoEagles #WeFlyAsOne
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