Round 2 Giraffe Report Vs Eaglehawk October 18th & 25th
1st XI @ Weeroona Oval
Following on from their comprehensive victory in Round 1 Sandhurst faced a side who would also be fighting for a spot in the finals come March 2009. Unfortunately unavailability’s had conspired against Sandhurst with up to 10 senior players unavailable across the 3 senior grades including 3 players Mark Keck, Mark Holland and Brenton Jones all unable to be considered for selection providing opportunities for Dylan Gibson, Craig Burn and 2nd XI skipper Alex Trump to play 1st XI cricket.
Stand in skipper Tim Robertson, lost the toss and handed Eaglehawk first use of some favourable batting conditions. Sandhurst started tightly enough but were unable to snare a break through. Andrew Sheehan and Tim Robertson did a phenomenal job in restricting the Eaglehawk openers, but couldn’t secure that elusive breakthrough despite fine bowling with Eaglehawk crawling to 0/20 from 15 overs.
As the shine begun to come off the new ball and the Eaglehawk openers found their feet, the scoreboard slowly began ticking over, with the batsmen doing well to retain their concentration. Skipper Robertson swung the bowling changes, with Quinton Bentley, Craig Burn, and Garth Tamblyn all continuing the good work of the opening bowlers. Dylan Gibson and Alex Trump were also tried prior to tea without luck, with a couple of close LBW appeals and dropped catches meaning Eaglehawk went to the tea break at 0 for 121 off 44 overs.
A break in play can often be a batsman’s undoing and so it proved again as shortly after the tea break Skipper Tim Robertson claimed opposing skipper Matt LBW for 63. One wicket bought a second as Dylan Gibson was finally rewarded removing opener Andrew Bourne for 62 caught by Garth Tamblyn. After building a strong platform Eaglehawk was in danger of undoing the good work completed by the openers before Linc Mcrae and Matt White were able to steady the ship with a 57 run partnership. So at 2 for 193 with 16 overs remaining things were looking particularly ominous for the Dragons looking down the barrel of a massive run chase. Step forward Dylan Gibson who was in the middle of a marathon spell and claimed the vital wicket of Mcrae for 39. Dylan wasn’t finished there, as in his next over he picked up Andrew Smith LBW for 1 Eaglehawk 4 for 199 after 72 overs.
Sandhurst was revitalised, and sensed an opportunity to restrict Eaglehawk to a score of under 250. Well new boy Andrew Sheehan had other ideas, having completed 17 overs Andy had the respectable figures of 0/45. Things would soon change, he claimed the wicket of Cam King LBW in his 18th over, and then followed it up with Corey Jacobs LBW in his 19th over and with Dylan Gibson maintaining the pressure at the other end Andrew Sheehan claimed Shane Taylor caught by Alex Trump at Deep mid wicket the first ball of his 20th over, Matt White who had made a handy 39 caught by Quinton Bentley at Mid On with the 2nd ball and then to complete the dream, claimed Kalen Geary LBW for a career first hat trick. The destruction wasn’t quite complete as Andy wrapped up the innings with a 4th wicket in five balls when he claimed Richard Tibbet lbw t complete Eaglehawks innings at 226 from 82.5 overs. Andy’s final four overs claimed the startling figures of 6 for 2 and finished with 6 for 47 from 19.5 overs. Dylan Gibson also announced himself as 1st XI spin bowler with 3 for 72 from 24 overs.
Having dragged themselves into the contest thanks to some tight bowling and a late order Eaglehawk collapse Sandhurst faced a huge opportunity to gain a crucial six points over one of the sides they would be battling with to claim a spot in the finals. Missing the batting talents of Keck, Holland, Fletcher and Jones to name but a few placed extra pressure on Sandhurst’s top order to perform. Nick and Simon got us off to a steady start adding 36 before Nick was caught behind. Simon Turnbull then pushed too hard and required the assistance of a runner before he was dismissed just short of a deserved 50 for 47 as Sandhurst was 2 for 63. Wickets in hand was still the key factor but when Westy, Tim Robertson and Dylan Gibson fell prior to the tea break Sandhurst was in strife at 5 for 96 at tea.
Three wickets soon after tea did Sandhurst’s chances of winning no good as Sandhurst slumped to 8 for 116 after 60 overs. Looking to add some respectability to the total Garth Tamblyn was able to combine with the mainstay of the innings Joel Schneider for a 29 run 9th wicket stand and some late innings fireworks from Chooka (25) before he was the final man out with the total on 188 in the 78th over. Joel Schneider deserves special mention for his exploits with the bat, battling on from debilitating mal-nutrition and returning to finish undefeated on 59. None of this would have been possible without the expert medical attention provided by Dean Trew and Nick Scullie. It was clear that the batsmen had let the side down, and for only 2 of the top 6 to reach double figures a side can’t expect to beat teams in the top half of the ladder and the side was left to ponder another missed opportunity.
Andrew Sheehan was a clear choice for man of the match with 6 for 47 and 18 runs with the bat for Man of the Match.
2nd XI vs. Eaglehawk @ Canterbury Park.
Never before in the Giraffe’s time at Sandhurst, had a club been hit by so many unavailability’s, the side that no doubt felt it the hardest unfortunately was the 2nd XI. The side had five changes from the previous round, and with 6 of the players selected combining for a total of just two 2nd XI games, the side would look to it’s experienced players to lead the way. Making their 2nd XI debut for the club was Josh Ennis, Dale “Rabbits” Warren, and juniors Tim McGlone, and Mitch Harper and against a very strong looking Eaglehawk line up looking for it‘s first win of the season the Dragons would be up against it.
Sandhurst lost the toss and was asked to bat as opposing captain and ex-dragon Tim Williams sensed an opportunity to exploit the inexperienced Sandhurst side. Travis Crouch and Clinton Botham opened the innings in good batting conditions and after a steady start, Sandhurst suffered a steady stream of wickets as first Crouchy fell LBW, and then Beefy joined him soon after. When Trav Russell and Elias Bowe fell shortly after Sandhurst was 4 for 53 from 25 overs. Leigh Kinniburgh and Leigh McDonald then took their opportunity to spend some time in the middle and contributed the only meaningful partnership of the innings to guide Sandhurst through to tea at 4 for 85 from 48 overs.
Eaglehawk was very professional in it’s approach, rotating through their numerous bowling options, racing through the overs and crowding inexperienced Dragon batsmen with fielders around the bat to apply further pressure. Leigh and Leigh add 47 for the 5th wicket before Kinners was trapped lbw by Williams sparking a collapse of 3 wickets for the loss of 1 run. For the most part the young Dragons applied themselves pretty well and toughed it out as best they could and eeked out every run that was available. Unfortunately when innings top scorer Leigh Macdonald was dismissed by the spin of Phil Kerr for 44 was nigh a Sandhurst was finally dismissed for 129 in the 67th over.
Having raced through their overs Sandhurst was then forced to bowl for approximately 80 minutes at the end of the day, and despite doing a great job in restricting Eaglehawk’s run scoring opportunities through the efforts of Elias Bowe and Paul Stingel, only Clinton Botham was able to obtain a breakthrough as Eaglehawk finished 1 for 57 from 23 overs. If Sandhurst was any chance on day 2 they needed early wickets but on a good batting deck the experienced Eaglehawk top order progressed the score to 116 before Dale “Rabbits” Warren claimed his maiden 2nd XI wicket.
Sandhurst would use this opportunity to test it’s junior talent and young off spinner Tim Mcglone was thrown the ball early on day 2 and given a lengthy spell in tough circumstances with Eaglehawk chasing quick runs and asked to show what he could do. Tim was rewarded with wickets with successive deliveries in his 5th over as reward for some fine bowling.
Clinton Botham then got thrown the ball to try and stem the ever increasing run rate and pick up some wickets and Beefy’s reputation as the partnership breaker was again proven we claimed Tony McQueen bowled for 85. Unfortunately things had got away from the Dragons bowlers as Eaglehawk had reeled off 120 runs in the final 15 overs before Tim Williams called an end to their innings at 5 for 249 with Clinton Botham (2/38) Tim McGlone (2/105) and Dale Warren (1/17) the wicket takers. Paul Stingel and Elias Bowe were unlucky not to claim wickets despite some fine bowling.
From there it was a pure case of survival for Sandhurst to stave off outright defeat, with 50 overs or 3 hours to bat. The task was made all the more difficult by the absence of Travis Crouch on day 2 effectively leaving Sandhurst with 10 batsmen and it’s most dangerous batsman unable to aid the cause. Eaglehawk had it’s foot on the Dragons throat and never let go, claiming wickets at regular intervals as only Leigh Kinniburgh 29 and Traviss Russell 14 able to reach double figures as Sandhurst was bowled out for 73 in 38 overs and Eaglehawk obtained the outright victory just after 5pm with almost an hour to spare.
The loss should be seen for what it is, an outright defeat, Sandhurst’s first in recent memory. Despite the size of the defeat the young players can use the experience of 2nd XI cricket and the senior players can hopefully understand the importance of placing greater value on their wicket and the need to dig in and play for the team when the situation arises.
Leigh Kinniburgh with 38 and 29 in two innings with the bat was named man of the match.
3rd XI @ Weeroona Oval
The revolving door that is the selection of the Sandhurst 3rd XI side swung wildly again, with Geoff Mclean and Mark Holland welcome additions to a side missing key players Matt Felini and Keith Cloke due to unavailability as well as a raft of players promoted to the 2nd XI side. Eaglehawk won the toss and bowled which suited just fine waiting to unleash the explosive pace of Geoff Mclean with a new cherry on some unsuspecting top order borough batsmen.
Once warmed up big “Jethro” struck the first blow in the 7th over to restrict Eaglehawk to 1 for 9 from 7 overs. Courtney Cornell was offering able support at the end bowling his 10 overs unchanged 0 for 20. After a shaky start, Bryden McFarlane chimed in with a handy wicket to place Eaglehawk 2 for 54 from 20 overs. Bryden chimed in with the second wicket of his spell, spectacularly caught by Dave Lowther.
Sandhurst controlled the innings from then on and when Brad Fawcett chimed in with two wickets in two overs Eaglehawk were 5 for 83 the final drinks break. Dean Trew then unleashed the 3rd XI’s secret weapon - himself. He completed his first 6 overs for 10 runs and was finally rewarded with wickets in his 9th and 10 overs of his spell including a classy caught and bowled opportunity which was completed with casual elegance.
The innings was wrapped by Geoff Mclean (3/18) and Brad Fawcett (3/27) in a well rounded bowling and fielding effort as Eaglehawk were dismissed for 141 in the 45th over. This provided Sandhurst with tricky little stretch leading into stumps on day 1, which Dean Trew and Brad Fawcett handled with a minimum of fuss finishing 0/30 at stumps.
Things progressed well on day 2 as a revitalised Eaglehawk showed more venom in their attack as Tapper and Trewy pushed the score along to 59 before Tap was caught and bowled for 31. Bryden Mcfarlane then provided solid support as Dean Trew picked up the scoring rate surpassing 50 along the way before Bryden was dismissed having contributed a valuable 55 run 2nd wicket stand. This bought Dutchy to the crease, who was merciless on anything lose, seeing us through to victory by 8 wickets with over 20 overs remaining. With a large score there for the taking, Dean Trew made his one and only mistake for the match forgetting that he shouldn’t play the pull shot and it proved his undoing for 69.
Then just as Mark Holland was looking to unleash and boost the run rate, he was tragically torched by Leigh Draper with what can only be described as a suicidal single. The remainder of the innings was used for some valuable batting practice for Sandhurst’s middle and lower order with Jayden Saunders 18 making the most of his opportunity as Sandhurst finished 7 for 209 and winners by 78 runs and have his side sitting on top of the table.
For his all-round performance Dean Trew was named Man of the match with 2 wickets and 69 runs.
After a largely disappointing round 2, Sandhurst need to rebound against White Hills in round 3.
Congratulations to Brock Fletcher and his under 17s who had their first win for the season on the weekend by 50 runs. Just a word of warning boys not to get too far ahead of yourselves as the 2ndinnings batting effort can show you can’t relax until the final ball is bowled.