Kasey Barton won the toss for probably only the third time this season and duly elected to bat.
The opening exchanges were as tense and hard as you would expect in any final. Tristan Denmeade and Kasey Barton made slow but steady progress, seeing off the opening bowlers before Tristan got a good delivery and was bowled for 4. Noah Black strode in but was kept well under wraps today, and he too was eventually bowled and the score was 2/14.
Today Albion Park had two young batsmen who played the best innings of their career so far, and to do it in a final was even more amazing. The first of those was Logan Goodway, who got his deserved promotion in the order for his continued improvement. Logan came out today and played his role, looking to hit the ball hard, and he was the only batsman for Albion Park who was able to consistently hit the gaps in the field. He was positive from the outset, and played some excellent cross bat shots, and one glorious pull for four. It came as a surprise when the next ball Logan took off for a single but pulled up before he reached the crease at the non-strikers end for fear of the ball hitting him, and instead it hit the stumps for Logan to have his excellent innings cut short at 11.
Through this Kasey had done what he has done all season. He consolidated the scoring, he played safe cricket, he pushed the ball around, and he made sure he reached his retirement quota of 35 deliveries. He has been terrific at this all season, and it will probably see its true benefit in the years to come, and once again today it gave his team a buffer at the end of the innings if it needed it.
Aiden Campion and Josh Schofield may not be quite the same bromance as Aiden and Josh’s brother Will are, but they came together here and joined in a partnership that was necessary to consolidate the innings. It was tight finals cricket, with the bowling giving little away and the batsmen looking for gaps and singles. Josh has been terrific in supporting the elder batsmen this season and he did so here again as well mixing in his singles and twos. He eventually reached his retirement quote of 35 balls, and remained 10 not out to confirm his excellent batting form since the Christmas break. As Aiden reached the end of his innings and having been joined by Josh Peters, he too started to up the ante with 12 runs coming from his final seven deliveries at the crease. Aiden completed his season with the bat on 21 not out having again set up his team for a charge at the end.
Aiden departed, and Ryan Cergovski arrived, with the score 3/76 and just seven overs remaining. Ryan became the second of our batsmen to play the innings of their life in this final, and it was fantastic to behold. Ryan had had throw down from brother Liam for ten minutes before he batted, and you could see him growing in confidence just in that. Once he joined Josh, he was terrific. He was happy to leave wides, but he knew his role was to be positive and to scamper to get his partner on strike. Ryan had only five dots balls in his stay at the crease, perfectly encapsulating the role he had to perform. He got bat on ball, he ran hard, and even got a three to a glide through slips. By the time he had played the perfect forward defence stroke and ran for a single from the final ball of the innings, he had reached his highest ever score and remained on 11 not out. His effort today cannot be overstated.
At the other end, Josh Peters changed the course of the match. It might sound a bit biased for his father to be saying that, but at 3/76 with seven overs to go Albion Park had a lot of work to get themselves into a winning position. And yes, he was dropped twice in the outfield. But with three retired players in the bank, Josh thought not of himself but of the team, and started to throw the bat hard. His running between the wickets made the scoring rate tick over, and his big shots into the leg side began to find the boundary. He was finally dismissed by an excellent catch in the outfield with two deliveries of the innings remaining. He scored 33 runs from 24 deliveries, and his strike rate on the day of 137 was by far the best of any batsman – the next best was Logan with 73. He has worked hard with his batting coaches Mark Brockman and Randall Starr in the off-season, and today in particular that has paid off. The Eagles scored 57 runs from the final seven overs, and finished on 4/133 from their 30 overs.
Runs on the board is a wonderful thing in cricket (not that Australia seems to have learned that lesson) and now it was time to prove that it is fielding and bowling that wins cricket matches. Lucas has been sensational again this season with the ball, and may not have secured a wicket in his spell today but he once again asked questions and gave nothing away. As a captain or coach he is an amazing asset. Josh Peters was asked to open with his almost-brother and also did what he always does, ties batsmen up and forces them to fend him off. Lucas finished with 0/3 and Josh 0/1 to have the pressure on the batsmen immediately. Kasey was on fire today, with the line and length that is almost impossible to combat. He was terribly unfortunate to have the number one bat from Oak Flats dropped behind but he stuck at his job and bowled terrifically to finish with 0/1. Tristan has had a dream season for a kid in his first year of cricket, scoring runs and bowling well without always getting his rewards. He did again today too, and was unlucky to miss a hard return chance from the same batsman dropped off Kasey. But sometimes persistence pays off, and in his second over a ball hit the batsman in the thigh, came down onto his bat and fell onto his stumps to be bowled. Oak Flats biggest threat with the bat had gone, and Tristan then won Celebration of the Season. Tristan finished with 1/8, and is one to keep an eye on in the Under 13 competition next season.
At 1/16 off 8 overs the Eagles had their noses in front, but some wayward bowling saw the extras mount up and the score also as a result. Noah’s first over was good but he was too short and wide in his next and went the journey as a result. He finished with 0/15. Ryan Cergovski was still pumped up from his batting, and his usual impeccable bowling was not quite on song today, also just giving the batters too much room, and he finished with 0/12. Ethan Thompson also suffered from a leg side line that was much too lax, but with his first ball it had paid off, as the half tracker was hit straight down Josh Schofield’s throat at backward square leg for the second wicket. Ethan has been very good in recent weeks , and though the wicket is always a good one, he’d have been a little disappointed with his finish today, with 1/15. It took he ever reliable Aiden to come in and rectify the situation, coming in and drying up the runs while also adding a wicket of his own with a perfect cutter that took the middle stump. His 1/2 finished off a great season with the ball for the Eagles.
At the halfway point Oak Flats was 3/55, but as the Eagles have done most of the season they dropped the boom after the drinks break. Ryan Monaghan and Logan combined for four overs that combined for 3/15 to pretty much seal the result. Ryan has worked immensely hard on his bowling this season and improves every week, and he again showed his ability to get the ball on a spot that is hard to score off. In fact, it was his worst ball since Xmas that brought him what was probably a fortunate wicket, with the ball bouncing twice (the second looking as though it was off the pitch) which was duly scooped straight to Josh Schofield at point for the catch. But take nothing away from his efforts, his pressure with the ball helped to bring about the wicket. He finished with 1/4 from his spell. Logan has been a wicket machine this summer, constantly being the guy who gets a wicket when the team needs it. And he snared another two today, his first coming after being called for two wides on his first two deliveries before then bowling the batsman middle stump behind his legs, and the second when he drew the aired pull shot that went straight to cover where Kasey pouched the catch. Logan finished with 2/11 today, 14 wickets for the season, and his best innings of the year. That is a pretty fair effort in your first club final.
Josh Schofield had had to wait until the very end again to get a bowl. In the semi he missed out completely, and today he only got one over and finished with 0/3. But he did snare the next wicket, when his underarm throw from point hit the stumps direct to take care of the seventh wicket of the innings. And with the crowd rising to its feet in anticipation, it was Logan and Josh who deservedly had the final say of the day, when Logan fielded the ball and threw to Josh at keeper who removed the bails with the batsman short, completing Oak Flats innings for 82, and Albion Park had won by 51 runs.
Unabounded scenes of joy? You’d better believe it. These kids have worked so hard all season, and they got their moment. It is nothing more than they deserve. This team has been brilliant. They have been in trouble in matches and found a way to get out of them. Every one of the 13 players, and that includes the unfortunate TJ Nasome who was the player to miss out playing today, and the also unfortunate Noah Regan who has been out injured since January, has contributed to the season in which they went through undefeated.
An amazing thank you to everyone who turned up today from the Albion Park Cricket Club to support these boys. I have spent a lifetime playing against this club, and having been able to be within the club and the families and support network in recent years, it is an amazing feeling. To all of the parents and families of these 13 boys I thank you for all of your support during the season. Giving me the chance to be a part of these kids cricket journey has been fantastic. I hope they have all had a great year together and will be back next season to do it all again.
And once again my thanks to Helen Peters and the kids for humouring me for another summer. Helen had to give up her birthday plans for this rescheduled game. I hope the result was worth it for her.
Now – is the season ACTUALLY OVER FFS?!?!
#GoEagles
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