The Burnside West Presidents Foxes wrapped up the 1st silverware of the Summer, in the form of the Joe’s Garage Grade Championship – backing up from the same result last season.
Going in to the last game of the double round-robin competition they were 1st equal with St Albans and needed to beat the Merivale Papanui side they were drawn against to at least share the championship.
They did so and then the news came in that Saints had lost their match across town – so the Trophy is returning to Avonhead Road for the winter.
Read the match report further down the page.
PREMIERSHIP:
Over at Burwood Park our Premiers resumed their 1st innings equal with the Easts’ total of 257 – but with 7 wickets in hand. With some 17 overs still available to them the Prems were determined to build something of a lead and get into the task of bowling Easts out on a tremendous batting surface.
Did I say “something of a lead”? I’m not sure what Coach Paul O’Brien gave them for breakfast but the lads absolutely smashed it – adding 154 in those 17 overs to allow them to declare at 411/8. JJ Naude (40 from 33 balls) and Matt Hay (40 from 22 balls) did the initial damage before Carl Huyser (58 from 41) and Mitch Hay (29 from 26) maintained the momentum.
Declaring with a 1st innings lead of 154 the lads were further buoyed when Inglis & Farrant grabbed an early wicket each and Easts were reeling at 6/2. When Matt Hay bowled the dangerous Ken McClure they were 28/3 – then 56/4 when Scotty took his 2nd.
Easts slumped further when they were reduced to 86/6 and in danger of losing outright by an innings. While most of the Easts’ batsmen tried to dig in (for example opener Duncan faced 74 balls for his 15) a young man named Tom MacRury decided counter-attack was the best option.
Fresh from his elegant but brutal 55 in the 1st dig the tall left-hander belted 13 fours & 8 sixes in his 124 off 100 balls – adding 112 for the 7th wicket with Connor Arnold (55 not out).
When MacRury was finally dismissed Burnside quickly seized back the initiative with 2 further wickets to have Easts seemingly dead & buried at 213/9. But Arnold wasn’t giving it away – facing 135 balls for his half-century – and he found able support in number 11 Josh Milne (10 not out from 82 balls) as they denied our lads the outright victory.
Jackson Latham took 3 wickets while the Singles and Faz show took 2 each.
Heart-breaking stuff for our lads as Easts ended 267/9 at the close of play – but some remarkable cricket played and our men gathered enough points from the game to maintain a slender lead over Lancaster Park in the 2-day competition.
CHAMPIONSHIP:
Over at St Leonards Square our 2nd’s trailed Sumner by around 30 1st innings runs with wickets in hand from last week and – like the Prems – looked to build a small lead in quick time. They did so, reaching 266 all out with Hugo Howard & Alex Tait each scoring 30’s to build on the earlier work of the top 6.
They went into the field with a 25 run buffer and, despite a strong start from Sumner (who were at one stage 93/2), the introduction of Mr Howard’s left arm orthodox literally “turned” the game in Burnside’s favour. Hugo took 5 of the remaining 8 wickets to fall – ending with figures of 14-4-45-5.
McDuff & Peake each grabbed 2 wickets as well – as Sumner were humbled on their home turf being bowled out for 149 inside 45 overs.
In to bat and Tom Dunlop lead the charge initially with 54 not out off just 51 balls (5 fours and a six). But fellow opener Alex Heenan wasn’t having the young fella up-stage him and he put the foot down – smashing 7 fours & 5 sixes in his violent 71 not out – the Burnside men romping home for the outright by 10 wickets.
Heen’s is having quite a season with the bat – scoring 704 runs across all forms of the game (between Premier & Championship) and averaging 44.3 for 2nds.
Like our Premiers – the Championship side lead the 2-day competition going in to the penultimate round next week.
DIVISION 1:
The 3rd’s resumed at 70/1 in their 2nd innings against Lancaster Park on Burnside 1 – needing another 60 or so to clear the 1st innings deficit.
Jason McKenzie was 20 odd not out and seemed intent on wiping the LP lead promptly as he slammed the 1st ball of the day through wide mid-wicket for 4. He top-scored with 46 in quick time as the 3rd’s got through to 158 all out.
That left Park with 33 runs for the victory which they achieved without losing a wicket.
DIVISION 3 – CANNONS:
El Capitan Peters was on hand to watch his charges battle the Marist Harewood Chargers on Burnside 2, but wasn’t involved in the action – a week long fit of gastro weakening the body but certainly not the mind.
The lads did him proud – humbling the Chargers to 88 all out inside 30 overs. Knowlesy Knowles (3/21) & Viking Gillespie (2/22) both bowled 8 straight, opening up, to inflict significant damage.
But it was Tom “Big Red” Grimshaw who starred thereafter – taking the remaining wickets himself to end with 5/29 off 7.4 overs. In reply the normally reliable openers in Terror Foote & Thorpey were both dismissed fairly cheaply as the Cannons briefly slumped to 13/2.
But Tom Batty (43*) and Chris Bradley (36*) didn’t show any signs of panic as they cruised home in the 19th over for an 8-wicket win.
DIVISION 4 – BOOMERS:
Unfortunately the Cric HQ scorecard is incomplete for the Boomers match on number 3 against the Heathcote Pests – so I can’t provide you with any specifics on the Boomers bowling efforts 1st up.
What I can say is that I saw some tight bowling backed up by committed fielding as Heathcote were held to 171/3 from their 40 overs.
In reply Opener Deon Cremer slammed 13 fours and 3 sixes in his 87 – despite wickets tumbling around him – before Tony Edlin (at 6) and an un-named Spare player (at 7) each struck 25 not out to see our men home with 5 wickets in hand in the 28th over.
DIVISION 5 – STRIKERS:
No card in for the Strikers game against the Riccarton Mahja Cannons at Yaldhurst domain.
PRESIDENTS:
As mentioned earlier the Presidents Foxes took on MP Pickle at Burnside 4 – in the final round of the primary competition (dual round-robin format).
Sitting in 1st equal place through 17 matches they needed to get the W to at least share the title – their hopes of winning it outright resting with the other Merivale Papanui side (Identity Signs) being able to roll St Albans over at Edgar Mac.
The Foxes have only lost 3 games this season but one of those was to MP Pickle when they comfortably effected a 70-run win back in December.
The toss won the Foxes took the field and Kember took an early wicket before Hume & their skipper added 63 for the 2nd wicket. At 73/2 at drinks things were slightly in MP’s favour – so skipper Robertson removed all semblance of pace from the attack by bowling his sleep-inducing right arm out-swing off 4.2 paces.
It worked to a degree as the run rate slowed for a while (0/24 off 8) and Kember switched between seam up & left-arm orthodox (depending on who was facing) at the other end. When he had the dangerous Browne well caught by Dickson they sat at 119/3, and the Foxes sensed a chance to run through them when Wheeler returned to trap Skipper Van Grunsven (Pickle) at 122.
But the remaining batsmen showed enough nous to tick the score over and, despite a spectacular one-handed screamer (above his head) by Chris Kennedy, they posted a potentially challenging 176/6 off their allotted. Twaddell, Kember & Wheeler each claimed 2 wickets.
After a briefly positive start Kennedy & Conway both departed at 25 – and Robertson strode to the wicket to join Allan. Both opening bowlers for MP bowled 8 straight and kept things fairly tight as the batsmen recognised the need to balance caution with positivity. When Allan fell at 69, for a well-compiled 34, drinks were taken in the 19th over and the game hung in the balance.
Jordan Buchanan joined the skipper and the Foxes collectively held their breath – waiting to see what type of innings their maverick talent would attempt. Many times this season Buchanan has played with a reckless brutality that either comes off or doesn’t – regardless of the team need or position.
When dismissed cheaply he’ll shrug his shoulders as he wanders off – stating in a loud but high pitched & whiney voice “that’s how I play” – before disappearing to Mexicali fresh for a vegetarian lunch.
But this day his team needed him – and he wouldn’t be letting them down. He and Robertson played cautiously at 1st before the 4th & 5th bowlers came into action. The skipper brought up his 3rd consecutive half-century and the pair had added 74 for the 4th wicket when he was dismissed. Robertson struck 9 fours & a six in his 64
From there Dickson & Buchanan added 23 to see the Foxes through to 166/5 before Buchanan finished things off fairly quickly with a flurry of boundaries. 8 fours & a six in his match-winning 50 not out.
The Foxes had gathered side-line to share a cold one or 3 when a text came through from Edgar Mac advising that the other MP side had, in fact, tipped up Saints – and the Foxes had won back to back championships. They celebrated in style and now move into the top 4 competition which includes a Grade Day at Hagley & the possibility of a match on Hagley Oval.
Well done Men!
T20 ROUND-UP:
A couple of byes and some poor Cric HQ work means minimal to report from our Men in Cavalier’s action over the weekend – though I can tell you the GhettoHustlers posted 134/8 in their match against the Riccarton Hoggs – but got run down in a thriller with the Hoggs making 135/7 & winning with 2 balls (and 1 wicket) to spare…
JUNIOR SNAPSHOT:
A motivational speech from Coach Rob Lamont (aka ‘Blindy’) wasn’t enough to inspire the BWU 5 side to a win against the Sydenham Booth Kings at Westburn School.
Our young men were 107 /11 at the end of their 20 overs, Cooper Oakley top-scoring with 24, and the Sydenham boys ran that down with 134.4.
Alex Guillemont starred with 2 wickets (both bowled) and a sharp catch.
No W in the column for BWU 3 either over at Burnside Primary. Our guys reached 93/6 from their 30 overs but were run down by a fast-finishing Merivale Pap side who reached 100/2.
Yours in cricket…
Good story here