Another very busy weekend around the "Eagles Nest" with A Grade playing at home on Saturday afternoon, the two 4th grades playing a local derby at home on Sunday morning and most of the junior teams in action at Gill Park against Charters Towers also on Sunday. Added to that, we hosted Nick Hagenbach's 18th Birthday party on Saturday night at the clubhouse. A huge weekend that was especially taxing on Wilma & Shorty who were in attendance in the bar/canteen for the majority of the whole weekend including Friday night. Another great Herculean effort by these two and the Club really does owe them a huge thank-you.
Now, onto the cricket field and with the A Grade playing Sub Parks at home we saw the return of Scott Connor back playing cricket. Skipper Darren Frakes was away on representative duties for North Queensland and congratulations is extended to Darren for once again claiming selection in the Queensland Country team. Stand-in skipper Matthew Gilmore won the toss & elected to bowl and we started out fairly positively keeping the run-rate in check. Young Isaac Ling made the initial break through and shortly after picked up his second wicket. Isaac has now the distinction of the first player to hit our new "corporate" stumps. For those who haven't seen them, they are glossy black with Wanderers down each stump in white, very smart indeed & thanks to Damien Meek from NQ Glass & Tinting for such a great finishing job. (I will get a photo of them on the website tonight along with this WebNews). Scott Connor then claimed two wickets in the one over, both bowled and Subs were in a bit of trouble 4/72 in the 27th over. 35 runs later, Patrick Hagenbach affected a brilliant run-out of Sub's skipper Jon Reinders for 13. Meanwhile, Sub's Ryan Dowson was causing a few concerns at the other end, Gweedo Castek shortly after snared Paul Taylor's wicket and then Lance Walsh took a good caught & bowled to have Subs 7/139 in the 58th over. 'Keeper Leigh Wiltshire was extremely unlucky in not getting a stumping decision go our way off Lance's bowling with everybody on the field (except the umpire) certain that Dowson was out of his crease. Wade Saddler & Dowson unleashed some hard hitting and our fielding became a bit sloppy in places. Saddler was finally out for 48 off Isaac's bowling. Dowson brought up his century in the last over of the day and Sub's managed to score 8/274.
Reserve grade had to play at Pioneer Park on a sub-standard wicket and we had Subs all out for around 90 runs. Folls will kill me if I fail to mention his spectacular one-handed catch, well done Folls, awesome moment in cricket. Unfortunately though, our lads couldn't better that score and were skittled for about 75. Pioneer Park wicket is a joke with major works being undertaken as part of the Riverway project the field itself has been shortened and amenities are basically non-existant, why this field is allowed to be utilised for senior cricket is beyond most. Only last Sunday, our 3rd Grade who play on Sunday afternoon commencing at 1:00pm arrived there to find covers still on the wicket block at 12:30pm and had to remove them after they had been on all morning in the blazing sun and obviously sweating profusely, little wonder the wicket block looked 'dead' this weekend. I realise Subs are in a dilemna about Pioneer Park but to continue to utilise this sub-stand facility without amenities for players & spectators continues to bemuse most pundits.
Unfortunately, I haven't heard any scores from 3rd Grade who played at University Oval on Sunday.
Barrie Emanuel has once again provided the 4th Grade report from the "big" match at Gill Park on Sunday, thanks once again Bazza.
4th Grade played at home this week and played against the second Wanderers 4th Grade team. The morning started off well with a breakfast that was enjoyed by the players and supporters. On behalf of the players thank you to the club for this special treat.
We won the toss and decided to bat first. We managed a steady start to the day with the bat. However I steady flow of wickets always kept the run rate at an acceptable level for the bowling team. Once again Neil Preston held the middle order together with another excellent innings and that coupled with Rod Lauro's effort gave us a reasonable total of 168 (all out). Rob Hiet bowled an excellent opening spell and was unlucky not to pick up more than one wicket. Andy Hope and Wayne Hudson both bowled well and were the two who picked up the wickets that kept us on the back foot mid way through our innings. Young Chris Caven bowl a very tight spell of 3 over which only conceded 7 runs. This was an excellent effort considering we were heading towards the end of the innings and trying to hit out. Our last two wickets were run outs. Joey Choolburra and Mark Jacobsen are our best exponents of this
dismissal and once again they didn't disappoint us with there "unorthodox" style of running between wickets.
Although we were happy with our total, we couldn't afford to relax our approach as Gus Stout came out to open the batting. He really took it to us and made an excellent total of 53. He batted through to the drinks break and really gave the No.2 side a real sniff as they were 69 for the loss of only one wicket. After the break we were desperate to make a few break throughs as they required just under 6 an over, butmore importantly still had 9 wickets in hand. Rod Lauro came on and bowled brilliantly. He made some crucial break throughs, one of which was Gussy Stout. Rod's effort lifted the team and we started to bowl and field a lot tighter. Tony Nolan also took an absolute "screamer" one handed diving to his right, he pulled in what would be the best catch so far this season. Jamie Campbell, Neil Preston and John Spillane all bowled very tight and we gradually tightened the screws on the run rate.
To the credit of the No.2 side they never gave in and something that we wish we could do more often was bat out their whole 35 overs. They finished on 7 for 123.
A good day for the Wanderers boys in both teams and as always a game played in very good spirit. Well done fellas, as we look forward to our next meeting. Good luck with your next few games before the Christmas break.
Wanderers No.1
Barrie Emanuel
22
John Dundas 18
Tony Nolan 6
Chris Blundell 2
Jamie Campbell 10 7-2-14-0
Anthony Stout 4
Joe Choolburra 6 7-3-29-1
Wanderers No.2
Peter Tambling 2no 7-0-36-0
Andrew McCullach 3no
Reede Utley DNB
To be honest, I'm not sure what occurred in the Under 10's this weekend with their normal fixture on Saturday or their match against Charters Towers on Sunday. The only thing I'm positive about s that young Jack Jeston was awarded the Man-of-the-Match after Sunday's game.
Under 12 Blue (Whites) report by Pat McGovern - the Brown team had a bye.
The perfect morning for cricket started slowly again this week in the match against West’s. Good bowling kept Dane Wright & Kurt Worth in their crease, but stayed to the end of a good opening bowling spell through good running and calling. Run scoring was difficult on a moist track until Stephen Squires, Wayne Darrell & Tim Saunders powered on to finish the 1st innings with a hard fought 2/53. West’s 1st innings started very quickly with half our total after only 5 overs. Our boys dug deep and were satisfied with the opposition at 4/58 at the close of the 1st innings.
Wanderers 2nd innings started with a boundary from Stephen on the 1st ball. West’s strike bowler ripped apart our middle order with 3 wickets in one over. Wayne, Tim, Mitchell Heaver and Jack Henry steadied the ship and we finished with what we believed was a defendable total of 111. West remaining 6 batsmen only needed 54 and those lucky enough to be at last weeks game could sense a feeling of déjà vu, as another close game was unfolding. Desperation in the field, sensible bowling and an economical bowling spell in the last 3 overs by Dane Wright, Sam Douglas and Kurt Worth had West’s 2nd innings finishing 4 run short. Another great win for the team, and for their dedicated followers. Faced with a bye next week, it has left us all wandering; where else could we go on a Saturday morning to get such quality entertainment. Thanks boys.
Best batting; Stephen Squires 22, Wayne Darrell 17not out, Mitchell Heaver 16, Tim Saunders 10 & Jack Henry 9. Wickets to Jack Goodwin 2/28, Adam McGovern 2/18, Mitchell Heaver & Tim Saunders 1/7, Wayne Darrell 1/8 & Sam Douglas 1/12.
Thanks to scorer Marilyn Milner for the Under 14 Gold report below.
Wanderers U14 27/11/04 and 28/11/04
The team experienced the highs and lows of cricket this past weekend. From the agonising loss by 1 run on Saturday they bounced back on Sunday to record an extremely good win.
Saturday v Saints
The wind was blowing a gale out at Endeavour Park and Wanderers were sent into bat. Matthew Ahearn once again proved to be a steady influence at the start, being not out 34 at the end of our 35 overs. Other batters to reach double figures were Adrian Gertz, 18, Pete Mansell, 11, and Matthew Pritchard, 10. At the end of our innings we were 9 – 114. Saints were then sent into bat, and the rest of the afternoon really belonged to Matthew Pritchard. He took 6 – 17 off 6 overs (and this mind you, included 7 sundries). He also took a very good catch. Other members to take a wicket were Adrian Gertz, Brett Hay and Ashley O’Sullivan, with one each. So what were the rest of the team doing? They were out there trying their hardest, but it just wasn’t their day. A couple of dropped catches, difficulty adjusting for the wind, and Saints reached a score of 115.
Sunday v Charters Towers
Nothing like an agonising loss and a night’s sleep to see the team come out ready to show everyone just what they could do. Wanderers won the toss and in we went to bat. Daniel Pearce and Matthew Ahearn (retired 57 not out) got off to a flier and were 0 – 18 after 2 overs. Daniel was tricked by the slower ball in the third over and we were 1 – 27. Todd Milner came into bat under extreme pressure to score 50 runs. Well, he didn’t stick around long enough to make those runs and he is now sporting a shaved head. Sean Barrett took a while to get going and then stayed around long enough that he had to retire on 25. At the end of the tenth over we were 2 – 74. And so we kept hitting them, and hitting them, and hitting them. At the end of the twentieth over we were 2 – 141, at the end of the thirtieth we were 6 – 197, and at the end of our 35 overs we had reached the fantastic score of 9 – 241. Adrian Gertz, 16, Matthew Pritchard, 21, and Brett Hay scoring a great 41 not out, all kept the score moving along.
And so we went into bowl. Todd Milner removed one of the Charters Towers’s openers on the second ball. Along with Matthew Pritchard, they kept the top order batsmen pinned at the crease, having 5 maiden overs in the first 8. Ashley O’Sullivan had the best figures, 4, 0, 3, 19, but it was a day that belonged to everyone. If they weren’t getting wickets they were catching them out. Other wicket takers were Matthew Pritchard, Brett Hay, Adrian Gertz, Matthew Ahearn and Sean Barrett finished up with 2. Great catch to Ricky Bourke. He had a practise down at long off on a ball that ended up going for 6. The next time one came his way, he swallowed it, and removed a player who was intent on making a big score. Not easy for 13 years old as the ball was extremely high and moving around all over the place in the wind. Good catch to Emma Gurr as well. Not deterred by the ball hitting her on the jaw, the juggling that followed saw the ball firmly in her hand. The team was also helped along with Pete Mansell, Luke Torr and Taylor (sorry, I don’t know you last name) all chipping in.
Best player for Wanderers was given to Matthew Ahearn. It was his score that set us up for our big win. Congratulations Matthew!
At the time of publishing this WebNews, I have no information on any other teams not mentioned above. However, I have the following Man-of-the-Match awards from the matches played on Sunday against Charters Towers.
Under 10'sJack Jeston
Under 11'sJosh Gillies
Under 12'sLiam Hope-Shackley
Under 14'sMatthew Ahearn
Junior representative cricket takes centre stage again next weekend with the annual Cairns v Townsville inter-city clash. However some junior teams are still playing local fixtures, I have listed these below.
Under 10's versus Saints Blue at Wulguru State School (AFTERNOON MATCH)
Under 12 Blue (Brown) versus Saints at Wulguru State School (MORNING)
Under 12 Blue (White) have the BYE
Christmas is fast approaching, I just realised when I was looking at the draws, this coming weekend is the final weekend of fixtures this calendar year for the juniors. The junior season does not recommence until the 29th January.
The views & opinions expressed in this newsletter & on the Wanderers website are not necessarily those of Wanderers CC, its Executive or members.
