The Final of the Kookaburra men's One Day Cup this weekend, and the return of red ball cricket last week provided another action-packed round of KFC Queensland Premier Cricket. CAM VELLACOTT and LAURA SCHEIWE bring the latest reviews and previews of the week.
One Day Title On Line As Premier Action Heats Up
Pictured above: Steve McGiffin (Wests) and Matt Willans (UQ) with the John McKnoulty Cup for the winners of the Kookaburra One Day Cup,
The first weekend of red ball cricket in the men’s First Grade competition saw the full gamut of results across fixtures. The Sunshine Coast, Wynnum-Manly and Norths have each already secured first innings wins, Callum Taylor (Gold Coast) and Alecz Day (Uni) both hit centuries, while Cam Boyce (Valley), Nick Fletcher (Sunshine Coast), Jared Adamski (Ipswich), Josh Fraser (Wynnum-Manly), and Sam Neale (Norths) all took five wicket hauls. Suffice it to say, it was an action packed first weekend!
The home side were sent up on the Sunshine Coast, Toombul opting to maximise the bowler friendly conditions. Nick Fletcher (45 off 69), who has joined this season from Fitzroy Doncaster in Victoria, was the Scorchers only batter to pass 20, scraping their score to all out 143. Dan Cranitch (4/48) and Preston White (3/19) led the Toombul bowlers.
Nick Fletcher then continued to lead the Scorchers from the front, starting their innings by ripping apart Addy Grewal’s middle stump first ball. It didn’t get better for the Toombul batting innings, as Fletcher (6/34) and Chad Soper (4/5) settled in for 20.4 overs of medium pace mastery. Fletchers swing and Sopers seam dismantled Toombul, all out 39. Toombul are 0/21 at stumps in their second innings.
Norths skipper Sam Neale also enjoyed a great day out, taking 5/23 to help his side skittle Souths for 80 on Norman Gray Oval. A terrific caught and bowled taken at full stretch capped off Neale’s bowling effort, his fellow allrounder Blake Maher (4/6) also enjoying the conditions. Despite a top order wobble, Norths passed the score four wickets down before Connor Carroll (37 off 44) and Neale (80* off 68) surged their side ahead to be 7/240 at stumps.
In the battle of the hyphens, Wynnum-Manly managed to push past Sandgate-Redcliffe on first innings and start their campaign off strong. Wynnum-Manly medium pacer Josh Fraser (6/47) enjoyed the green tinged wicket at Sandgate, dismantling the Gators middle order.
Wynnum took every chance to quickly have Sandgate 8/107. After some lower order hitting, Sandgate were eventually all out 165. The Gators were still in the hunt despite their low score after Josh Creevey (4/64) took a wicket the second ball of the innings. Depsite a Wynnum wobble which saw them 4/80, skipper Jed Wilson (32 off 43) and Grayson Jones (52 off 67) were able to steady their innings and guide them to a first innings win. Wynnum-Manly are 7/171 at stumps.
The Gold Coast had a strong day against Redlands at Peter Burge Oval. Top three batters Ashton Gumm (54 off 52), Lachlan Crump (63 off 98) and Callum Taylor (131 off 202) pushed their score to a dominant 3/237. Taylor’s excellent innings allowed allrounder Brad Munro (59 off 38) to return to white ball mode, powering their score to 9/422d. Jack Sinfield (3/72) led the bowlers. With seven overs to bowl in the evening, the Dolphins new Irish international Fionn Hand (2/3) impressed to leave Redlands 2/7 at stumps.
Uni batter Alecz Day (104* off 108) returned to top form and played a top shelf innings against a quality Valley side. After Bryce Street (51 off 107) and Max Clayton (70 off 130) steered Uni into a decent position, Valley quickly flipped to game and took 3/0 to have Uni all of a sudden 5/143.
The fifth wicket fell when Alecz Day and Harry Walker had a miscommunication running between wickets. Walker walked off disappointed, Alecz decided to bat out the rest of the day. Day finished Uni’s innings unbeaten on 104, Uni all out 296. Cam Boyce (5/58) was reliable as ever, controlling one end brilliantly with the ball. In reply, Valley are 0/11 at stumps.
Wests were saved by their lower order batters in their match against Ipswich. Ipswich seamer Jared Adamski (5/31) was effective and economical in his 17 overs. He and Sean Lutter (3/32) helped have Wests 7/122. A lower order rearguard from Harry McNeilly (44 off 51), Soham Sane (35 off 76) and Sean Seaward (31 off 95) helped get Wests to a defendable total of 227. With an hour to bowl, Wests manage to strike twice and have Ipswich 2/26 at stumps.
The Taverners Queensland Under-17 competition is nearing its finals phase and The Courier-Mail has provided another indepth look at the action involving some of the competition's most exciting young players, as well as their weekly wrap-up of all the Premier Cricket action.
Elsewhere, LAURA SCHEIWE reports on abandoned games, rain delays, and big hits in the first round of T20's for the Katherine Raymont Shield last weekend. Wet outfields were prevalent as the highest score across the day did not reach 120.
Western Suburbs took on Valleys DCC at home. An under-strength Valley side struggled to get off to a good start posting only 3-106. Economical bowling from nearly the entirity of the Wests attack was helped by a strong start from Toowoomba product, Caitlin Lutvey (1/20 off 4). A solid knock in the middle overs from Valley'batter Grace Abdy (22* off 24) was not enough. A string of scores in the late teens were crucial for Wests as the whole team contributed to chasing the low score on the last ball of the match. This was headlined by newly appointed captain, Olivia Steel (33 off 32). A strong contribution from Valley seamer, Meghan McCartney (4/18 off 4) nearly saw Valley grab their first win of the season.
Another match that centred around a wet outfield and rain reduced overs, Sunshine Coast took on Sandgate-Redcliffe at Norm McMahon Oval. Batting first, Sandgate were able to post 2-112 off their 11 overs. Highlighted by Caitlin Mair (55* off 35) and Tess Cooper (32 off 20), going at 10.18 an over was always going to be a difficult chase for the opposition.
Young leg spinner, Peyton Meredith was once again in the wickets taking 2/22 off 3 overs. The Scorchers just did not posses the experience on the day getting to 3-88 with a strong knock from Kalea Moore (49* off 35), she was unable to get anyone to go with her in the chase. Left-arm leg spinner, Jess Cremin once again in the wicket tally for Sandgate-Redcliffe. The in form junior player has taken 20 wickets this season across the various tournaments she has participated in.
The first fixture for the University of Queensland was a washout against Wynnum-Manly followed by a bye for the Sea Eagles.
The highly anticipated match betweeen Wests and Sandgate went ahead on Katherine Raymont Oval in the afternoon. Wests were sent in to bat first and with the loss of their captain, Ruby Strange it was always going to be a fight for the home team.
Strange was added to the Brisbane Heat's Spring T20 Challenge side who are currently in Sydney. Naiya Varidal held her team together with 41 (40) before being run out by Megan Dixon. Accompanied by Trinity Doyle's 28 after returning from injury to past 7/115. Standout with the ball once again for Sandgate was Jess Cremin (1/15 off 4). Sandgate chased the total comfortably in the 17th over led by captain Tess Cooper (61* off 52) and another junior, Mia Croucamp (28* off 18).
St Lucia 2 made a quick recovery for the afternoon match as the University of Queensland battled Gold Coast in a nail biting match. The Dolphins were sent in to bat coming away with a below par score of 8-96. Taking 2 wickets in the first over of the match to dismiss both openers, Charlotte Atkinson got her side off to a strong start. Again, any score above 10 was crucial as the middle order contributed after the early collapse.
In the second innings, the students made an extremely strong start as Emma Jackson smashed 23 off 17 including 14 off one over before being caught on the boundary. A strong over from Felicity Koch with 2 wickets was a turning point in the game. It looked as though the Dolphins were in with a chance. Another flurry of wickets across the next few overs saw UQ just get home with a shaky chase.
In the last game of the day, Valleys came up against the Sunshine Coast. The Scorchers elected to bowl first and restricted the oposition to just 6-98. A change to the batting order after the first game was no help for Valleys as Australian Indigenous representative, Grace Abdy (28* off 25) again stood out with the bat. Another player having a consitent day was Scorcher, Peyton Meredith (3/25 off 4). This was also supported by economical off spinner, Ruby Orchard (1/5) going at only 1.25 runs per over. Sunshine Coast chased down the total with 19 balls to spare with openor Camryn Barnett (37 off 45) and English recruit Kalea Moore (28 off 28) sailing their team to victory.