APJCC Under 13’s: Round 14 vs Lake Illawarra at Morley Park

The forecast held off this weekend and bright sunny weather met the Albion Park Under 13’s as they took on celebrated rivals Lake Illawarra at Morley Park yesterday morning, in a match that produced some excellent performances and some questions that still remain unanswered.

Skipper Kasey Barton won the toss and elected to bat on the dew saturated outfield. With Noah Regan’s season ending injury, Kasey had a new partner in Tristan Denmeade, and both settled in against some accurate bowling from the Lakers. The initial confusion in calling and running between the wickets improved as the pair settled in, and by the time their partnership ended they had a much better understanding of what they were trying to achieve. Both batsmen retired when they had faced their allotted deliveries, and gave themselves a chance to return at the end of the innings.
Logan Goodway and Aiden Campion replaced them at the crease. Logan continues to show good poise at the crease and had made a good looking 4 runs before he was bowled by a terrific full delivery. Noah Black came out, not doubt full of confidence with his recent run scoring, but soon discovered how fickle the game of cricket can be, getting a great ball first up to be bowled for a golden duck. Well, you can’t make runs every week. Ryan Cergovski came out, and managed to keep out the hat-trick delivery by jamming down on the perfect yorker and squeezing out a single. He hung in there for awhile before he too found himself bowled for 3 runs. Ethan Thompson came out, facing one of the premier bowlers of the competition, and played two perfect forward defensive shots to see him off, which was pleasing for the coach because it shows that he listens and is learning. He also stuck in with Aiden for awhile before trying to glide a ball through third man and was bowled for 1. Ryan Monaghan came to the crease with intent, and hit three balls terrifically out of the middle of the bat. He has shown a great defensive ability this season, but today he showed that he also wants to move the scoring along. He was a little unfortunate to be playing a pull shot from outside off that caught the top edge and was well caught coming forward at mid wicket. Despite this there were some good positive aspects to his innings. TJ Nasome came out with a clear mind, but on his second delivery hit it straight to cover where he was caught.
Albion Park had lost 6 wickets for just 29 runs in the middle overs, and Lake Illawarra’s enthusiasm had brought them back into the contest.
Aiden had batted through all of this at the other end, but kept his composure and continued to play in a sensible fashion, curbing his natural aggression to ensure he batted through the carnage. He eventually reached his 35 delivery retirement quota, finishing on 22 not out with one boundary. It was a mature innings from a young man who is willing to bat for the team situation as required.
Both Tristan and Kasey returned to resume their partnership, and did so excellently against the best of the Lakers bowling. Both worked hard to increase their output in running and stroke play, and the intent of both was pleasing to watch. Tristan batted for 68 deliveries in total and did a terrific job in finishing on 21 not out. Kasey has been on an upward trend all season, and just hasn’t had the chance to cash in with a big innings. Today he took his chance, passing fifty for the first time this season, and eventually getting to 69 not out when the innings came to a close. He had his slice of luck, but it wasn’t undeserved in a season where he hasn’t had much luck with the bat. He led the team today and gave his side a total to defend, which concluded at 6/158 from their 30 overs.

Lake Illawarra came out with intent, and the pressure was on the early bowlers. Lucas Brown was on the money from the start as always, giving up nothing and making the batsmen play at every ball. He cam close to getting both openers and was as dangerous as always. Noah Black was giving the second over, and bowled some good deliveries, but as with his batting discovered that cricket is not always an easy game. Anything slightly off line was dealt with. He wasn’t the only one, as Ryan Cergovski bowled a terrific first over, but one off line delivery went for 6. His second over was too much down leg side and he was harshly dealt with again. Both Noah and Ryan have been great with the ball this season, and bowling against Lake’s best batsmen will give them a better appreciation of the importance of good line and length.
Aiden Campion came on to tie up the runs, and did so, while also picking up a wicket when the batsman struck him firmly to square leg where Ryan Cergovski took a good catch. At the other end Park’s greatest nemesis retired, but not after he should have been run out twice by metres. For the coach, given the team has spent the last three training sessions training for this exact scenario, it was what you might call… frustrating.
With the openers out of the picture, the Albion Park bowlers took the opportunity to rein in the runs and place pressure on the remainder of the order. Ethan Thompson seemed to have grown in confidence from his batting, and not only bowled a maiden to start his spell, but then picked up two wickets in his second over, one bowled middle stump with what could be termed a slower ball, and the second drawing the lofted shot that was taken well by Tristan. Ethan finished with 2/2 and a good day overall. TJ Nasome came off his varying length run off, and again bowled some excellent deliveries with a nice inswing. He also drew a drive in the air to mid-wicket where Kasey took the catch. TJ finished with 1/7. Logan Goodway continued his great line and length bowling that he has shown all season, and a couple of edges and glides were all that could be taken off him. He finished with 0/6. Ryan Monaghan produced a seasons best with figures of 0/2, but it was the deliveries he bowled that were most impressive, twelve almost like-for-like in line and length, exactly what we have been working on.
Josh Peters doesn’t always get the rewards he deserves for his bowing, and today again he probably deserved better, but his 2/2 showed how well he bowled. Both wickets were from lofted shots to cover for catches, and he had a close stumping chance turned down as well.
The opening batsman’s return to the crease brought some more excitement with it, with some lovely strokes coming cleanly off the bat. Kasey Barton had been held back to the end, and mixed some good deliveries with some wider deliveries, all at good pace. He bowled the penultimate batsman middle stump with a pearler, and finished with 1/11. His batting partner Tristan also bowled a superb spell today, and apart from Lucas was the only bowler to keep Lake’s best in check. He has a lovely outswinger going, and he was supremely accurate today. He finished off the innings with a ball hitting middle stump, and his figures of 1/6 topped off a great day for him overall. Lake Illawarra was bowled out for 89.

Lake Illawarra stuck to their task today and never gave it away. The 6/29 they took in the middle overs showed great heart in getting back into the match, and all of the batsmen fought hard and didn’t give their wickets away. Young Darcy Edis made his highest ever score with a hard fought innings, and Dean Welland bowed well at the end of the innings. Bohdi Robinson will never come closer to taking a hat-trick without taking one, bowling the perfect three deliveries and missing out on the third wicket by a gnats wing. He was excellent today as well in the field. And there is no cricketer I enjoy watching more than Jaycob Constantinou, even when he is on the other side. His bowling was terrific again today, his batting superb and his fielding sublime. And a terrific kid to boot.

For Albion Park’s kids, it was another win, and one not without its lessons. There were lots of good things to come out of today’s game – Tristan’s fantastic all round performance, from a kid in his first year of cricket, in particular was eye catching. Kasey and Aiden with the bat, and Ethan and Josh with the ball, all had good days. On the other hand, some dropped catches and missed run outs show there are still things to be improved on. Next week’s match against Oak Flats will give a good indication of just where this team stands in the Under 13 competition.
Thanks to Kim and Ty for scoring, and for the great support for both teams that showed up on the day.