A brilliant Casey Meehan century highlights the round as the 1st XI suffered a nail biting loss and the rest of the guys got back on the winners list.

For the 9th consecutive game Tom won the toss and the guys got to bat first once again, and once again we were in the ugly position of 2/23. Luckily Layton McCann was back batting at 4 and put us back on the right track. His partnership with Blake got us back on track before Andrew Ferg came in and played his role. At 4/117 from 35 overs the boys needed to get going and that’s exactly what Andrew did. He along with the tail got us to a reasonable score of 6/179. Ferg finishing 49* whilst earlier Layton top scored with 62.

In reply Lara started well as early wickets continue to be a problem for us. 0/68 soon became 2/69 as Alistair McCann took it upon himself to get the boys back in the contest. Another partnership formed as the boys just couldn’t get the breakthrough. After last weeks heroics, Sam Hall couldn’t quite match his performance instead being dragged out of the attack mid over due to 2 over the waste high no balls. His replacement faired a little better as Layton McCann grabbed the breakthrough that looked to open the game right up. Alistair then picked up his 3rd and Lara then needed 20 from the last 4. A Tom Math runout once again looked to help the guys on their way however the Lara middle order held firm and got the win with 3 balls to spare. If there was ever a loss that didn’t hurt, this might just be it as other results went our way and we’re still holding firm in 3rd spot.

Casey Meehan, a premiership player who played a vital role at 8 in both 1st XI finals last year, this week was sent back to the 2nd XI to find a bit of form. Well he definitely found that, as he opened the batting and took it up to the Lara attack early on. His partners at the other end all played their role whilst Case charged to 100. Once he got to the milestone he didn’t stop either as he was joined by Mitchell Troy. The pair put on a quick fire 60 before case fell for 123. Mitchell continued on to bring up his 50 before falling and leaving the finishing job to Patti Visentin who finished 27* and helped the guys to 8/286.

In reply a few cowboy antics early from the Lara bats didn’t unsettle our guys as the bowlers did their job once again. Will Milsome came on at a dangerous time but when he stood up and took 3 wickets to show he belongs on turf, the game was all but over. Lara looked to go from cowboy behaviour to shutting up shop as they put their shots away. That gave Tom Webster his chance to return his best figures of the year. Tom’s 3 wickets meant that Lara finished off the innings 7/175 handing our guys the victory and keeping us 1 game clear on top.

Just when it looks like the 3rds were out of contention for finals, they pull out a classic 3rds display. Bowling first and having the luxury of having former 1st XI bowler Shaun Kingwell at their disposal, Tim Birch enjoyed playing the 2nd fiddle role, although ask him and he may have another name for it as he became the wicket taker picking up 3/7 in his 9 over spell. Not to be outdone teenagers Charlie Hall and Josh Rhodes also chipped in with 2 wickets each as the guys skittled Lara for just 67. In reply the loss of Col early didn’t affect the the guys as Smidge and Tom Emery held their own and got the boys the big 9 wicket win. The win leaves them still 2 games outside the top 4, however if they can continue to perform like this over the next few weeks and results go their way who knows what may happen.

The 4ths returned to the winners list this week with another all round performance. Batting first it was once again the partnership of Jeff Czajkowski and Liam Biddiscombe that set the tone for the boys. Biddis fell and Fred Lucas came in and picked up the slack pretty easily. When Jeff fell for a well made 48 it was over to Fred and the middle order to complete the job. Fred’s 40 looked great but Daniel Davey’s ball striking looked even better. His quickfire 63 set the guys up for a huge total of 7/221. A total that would prove to be far too many for Lara as our young bowling attack held their own. Demasi x2, Elliott, Biddiscombe, Lucas and Desai all young and all played their role with the ball. Liam Biddiscombe took the honours with a 5fa backing up his 50 in the morning and his century against the same side earlier in the year. Lara didn’t go all out however as they finished 9/142 falling 70 runs short of victory. The win puts the guys back in the top 4 with a game clear from 5th. A few big games to come, however a few more wins and this young side is playing finals.

The normally young 5th XI took to the field with a handful more adults than usual and the results showed. With Covid striking mid week the game wasnt a certainty to go ahead, however by Thursday Night we had 11 guys ready to go. Batting first Louie Carr once again got the boys going, before Aarav Jain and Simon Reeves put on a handy partnership. Fresh off Summer camping holidays, Will Sav joined Reevesy as the pair looked to push us to a good total. When Reevesy fell, the middle order went with him leaving Will to free his arms and chance his luck. Chance his luck he did as he found the boundary on numerous occasions before reaching 53 and having to retire. His efforts gave the guys a competitive total of 7/146. Chanda and Gav Foran then fired up with the ball and gave the guys a real sniff of knocking off the top of the table Thomson. Will Sav, still on a high from his 53, then ripped through the middle order with 4 quick wickets and the guys were a real chance. North requiring 2 wickets, Thomson 10 runs, unfortunately for us, Thomson got the runs but hopefully after such an all round team effort the boys spirits will be high going into the remaining games.

On Sunday our A Grade Girls faced off against the top side East Belmont, batting first our girls put on 33 before the loss of the 1st wicket. Sophie Walker once again the star but she had able support from Brodie Mitchell. East Belmont’s bowlers bowled a tight line and scoring was hard to come by, 0/33 was soon 4/39 and the girls were in some trouble. Nat Murphy came in and partnered with Soph as a competitive score looked likely, when Nat fell that left Helen Jones  to come in and finish the inning. She got a 4 away late to get the score to 6/83. Sophie Walker finishing unbeaten on 22 to push her season tally over 400 and her average over 100. With the ball Jordyn Stewart grabbed 2 wickets early as the girls looked right in the game. Youngsters Steph Murphy and Lucy Emery both picked up wickets to keep the game close but in the end East chased down the total with an over to spare. Our girls still hold onto 3rd spot and with Barrabool sitting 2 and a half games behind in 5th spot, a win next week will all but ensure our girls will be playing finals.

East Belmont might have gotten one over us in the A Grade but the same couldn’t be said for the B Grade Girls who picked up only their 2nd win of the year. Batting first, Melrod was the star with the bat after missing the last few games. Her run a ball 16 got the girls off to the ideal start before Heidi Windt and Char Quags got the girls to a competitive 86. With the ball things took a few overs for our girls to kick into gear but 2 great catches from Daisy Sheehy opened up the contest. A Kirralee Lewis quicker ball trapped the next batter in front of the stumps and at 3/20 our girls were in front. On the back of her 16, Melrod went Bang Bang and was on a hat trick, her hat trick wasn’t to be however East were 5/31 and looking for answers. Wickets were then hard to come by as the game headed into the dying overs of the game. With 2 overs left East required 8 runs to win. Tash Millard was to bowl the 19th over, dot dot single single dot and to finish another dot. Only 2 runs off the over, leaving East requiring 6 runs to win from the final over. Daisy Sheehy had the task. Dot ball, single, wide and a single, dot dot dot and it was then East needing 3 runs from the final ball. The final ball went through to the keeper and set off huge celebrations as the girls had got the job done. For some girls, possibly their best win in their short careers. Melrod claiming the player of the match honours with 3 wickets to go with her 16.

The Club Championship looks to be slipping out of reach this year but Finals are definitely on everyone’s minds with the 1s 2s and A Grade all but garaunteed whilst our 3s and 4s still continue to hunt for that birth. Next week we take on St Joseph’s again, who we beat in all grades only 3 weeks ago. Let’s hope the same results can happen as it’s also Ladies Day for our females of the club.