Sandhurst Cricket Club

It was Sandhurst who had hosting rights for the fifth John Turner Memorial Trophy. Sandhurst was looking to claim the trophy for the first time and lost Quinton Bentley at the selection table, enabling a recall for Joel Schneider as the side looked to remove memories of a hefty defeat in a one day match earlier in the season.

The toss would be crucial and unfortunately Brenton’s early season good fortune again desserted him as Sandhurst were forced into the field in warm weather and perfect batting conditions. Scott Harper and Tim Robertson took the new ball, and kept things nice and tight early, but were unable to gain the all important breakthrough. Scott Harper opened with 6 overs for five runs, whilst Tim Rob went for just 2 runs an over in his opening spell, but changes needed to be made to obtain wickets whilst the ball retained some shine.

Mark Keck and Andy Sheehan had their crack with the pill but were also unable to break the partnership of Clint Prime and Wayne Fidler which had surpassed 50 in the 23^rd over and was approaching 100 closing in on the tea break. Matt Pask and Travis Crouch were used to try and break the partnership and whilst both went wicket less, they were successful in picking up the over rate, allowing Sandhurst to complete 48 overs at tea with Bendigo United 0/109.

It took until the 53^rd over for Sandhurst to generate a wicket and it was fortuitious with a straight drive from Prime deflecting off bowler Pask’s hand onto the stumps at the non-strikers end and sending Fidler on his way for 58. Just 10 runs later Sandhurst had a 2^nd run out on the board with Scott Harper running out the remaining opener Clint Prime. The Bendigo United openers had done their job and with a solid platform laid down, the experienced and imposing middle order could take full advantage of. Heath Behrens and Matt Pinniger then took full toll of a Sandhurst bowling attack that had a lifeless ball, flat deck and wilting bodies with both Scott Harper and Andrew Sheehan acquiring injuries throughout the course of the afternoon and preventing them from bowling additional overs.

It was left to Matt Pask and Tim Robertson to complete the bulk of the overs and after 106 runs was added in a 3^rd wicket partnership which was finally broken when Trav Crouch took a fine catch to dismiss BUCC’s skipper Matt Pinniger for 59. With runs coming quickly and wickets in hand BUCC’s continued with controlled aggression and it wasn’t until the 77^th over (Pasky’s 21^st) that he was rewarded with the key wicket of Behrens caught by Jones for 75.

Sandhurst leaked 56 from the final eight overs, with the wickets of Mcdermott bowled by Kecky and young starlet Harry Donegan bowled by Pask for 2 as they posted 6 for 287 from 85 overs. For the Dragons Matt Pask was the only multiple wicket taker with 2/62 from 23 overs, Tim Robertson also toiled hard for 1/67 off 18 overs.

Sandhurst faced a hefty run chase in order to halt a three game losing streak, and sent Anthony West out with Nick Scullie to open the innings. The pair set out along the same path that BUCC’s openers had taken, seeing off the new ball and building a solid start bringing up a 50 run partnership for the first wicket in the 21^st over. Scullie and West progressed beyond drinks and on towards the tea break with Westy bringing up a half century before being dismissed for 65 which included 9 boundaries in an opening stand of 90. Mark Keck must have worn himself out pacing up and down awaiting his time to bat and have been physically exhausted upon reaching the batting crease with his stay just two balls before he was dismissed to hand Chris Pinniger his 2^nd wicket. Brenton Jones and Nick Scullie were able to negotiate the period leading up to the tea break with Sandhurst 2/112 from 49 overs requiring 176 runs from 36 overs to secure victory.

The tea break proved the undoing of “skipper” Jones as he fell in the first over after the resumption to Nick Crawford for 12. Nick Scullie was providing yet another lesson in valuing your wicket whilst also picking up his own scoring rate at the same time.  After seeing Pasky fall for 8 to the bowling of Podosky, Joel Schneider came to the crease at number 6 with Sandhurst having lost 4 for 43 in 21 overs and requiring a further 155 runs from 29 overs.

Scullie and Schneider teamed superbly together to get Sandhurst back in the contest stopping the run of wickets and ticking the scoreboard over at a fair click. With Nick Scullie eyeing off another century and the pair closing in on a 100 run partnership for the 5^th wicket, the game was again turned when Nick Scullie was dismissed for 96 in the 75^th over with Sandhurst still needing 57 from 10 overs.  Nick’s innings contained 8 boundaries.       

It was going to be a mad scramble to the finish line with the run rate going to generate aggressive strokes and also increase the likelihood of wickets, there was very little time for new batsmen to settle and that’s exactly what Sandhurst faced when shortly after losing Scullie, they lost Schneider for 40 and Holland for 7 with the score on 241, 47 still required from 35 deliveries. Tim Robertson had found himself in these situations quite often lately and took little time in picking up his run a ball strike rate.

Travis Crouch stay at the crease was brief, with his dismissal bringing a hobbled Andy Sheehan into bat, providing him with the freedom to swing, and have Anthony West do the leg work as runner. The equation stood at 29 to win from 16 balls and Sandhurst’s deep batting line up meant it was still a fair chance, 8 from the next 4 balls left 21 to get from 12 balls. BUCC’s stuck with spinner Nick Crawford in the penultimate over to bowl his 34^th over of the innings, a boundary to Sheehan early in the over helped things for the Dragons, but when Tim Robertson holed out trying the same for 17 Sandhurst were 9 down and still needing 15 from 8 balls, with the only good news that Andy Sheehan had regained strike as the batsmen crossed during Tim Rob’s dismissal.

Andrew Sheehan finished the eighty fourth over off in style with a two and then a straight six over long on to bring the equation to 7 runs to win from 6 balls. With Scott Harper on strike, and Miggy Podosky to bowl with 4 wickets already for the game, Sandhurst needed to get Andy Sheehan on strike. Unfortunately for the Dragons after two dot balls, Scott Harper got some contact to ball number 3 but was unable to scramble down to the non-strikers end before the bails were removed and Harper was run out, Sandhurst having finished 6 runs short with Andy Sheehan stranded on 18 not out from 7 balls.

Match Summary: Bendigo United 6 for 287 (Pask 2/62) defeated Sandhurst 281 (Scullie 96, West 65, Schneider 40) by 6 runs.

The Key: There was nothing between the two sides, and arguably the short distance between Scott Harper and the crease when the bails were removed was the difference in the contest. Sandhurst had done well to cover in game injuries to Harper and Sheehan.

Man of the Match: The pressure is off the Giraffe this round, with BUCC’s having made the decision for us, awarding Anthony West at the top of the order with 65 for Man of the Match.

Sandhurst Second XI had their finals hopes snuffed out long ago, with disappointing batting performances a regular occurrence throughout the season. One of those poor efforts was against this rounds opponents, Bendigo United being bowled out for 130 chasing 145 in Round 5. At selection, Joel Schneider went back to first XI and Clinton “Beefy” Botham earned a call up.

Bendigo United won the toss and selected to bat first on a flat batting track. The new ball had been Sandhurst 2^nd XI’s friend all season as Trump, Winfield and Hancock all began brightly with a raft of unconvincing shots from Bendigo United’s openers Tuohey and Di Fede with runs rarely scored in front of square. An attacking field chasing wickets with the new ball and quick outfield meant boundaries were a certainty once the ball beat the infield. Despite some solid new ball bowling, it was a loose delivery which provided the break through with the key wicket of DiFede going to Trump caught wicket-keeper Mcdonald down the leg side.

Tim Mcglone was introduced first change given his previous success against a dangerous looking and vastly experienced David Bicknell and started his spell with great control and was rewarded in his fourth over with the wicket of Tuohey caught and bowled for 34. David Bicknell then made batting look all too easy, the Dragons weren’t doing a lot wrong and certainly weren’t bowling poorly but runs were coming at over 3 an over without much effort cruising ominously to 2/132 off 41 overs at tea.

Sandhurst used the afternoon tea break to regroup, and Elias Bowe gave the fielding side a much needed boost picking up David Bicknell caught behind for 70, and with Bowe and Gibson both bowling tightly the dangerous Ricky Mannix ran out of patience having seen four consecutive maidens go by, before it all became too much with Gibson drawing a big stroke down the ground and being well caught in the deep by Craig Burn Sandhurst had a small opening. Dylan Gibson then deceived Johno Thomas, bowled as Sandhurst had BUCC’s five for 167 after 55 overs.

Sandhurst were not being aided by a flat deck, lifeless ball and umpires unwilling to pay blatant LBW decisions as Bendigo United continued on aggressively against a Sandhurst side growing increasingly agitated and weary in the warm weather. Batting became even easier and Sandhurst was near powerless to stop an avalanche of boundaries as nearly every BUCC’s batsman enjoyed their stay in the middle. Late wickets to Clint Botham and Alex Trump did little to stem the flow of runs as all bowling efforts were overshadowed by Leigh Mcdonald claiming his 5^th catch for the innings a fantastic effort from just 9 dismissals. Bendigo United surpassed 300 and finished their 85 overs at 9/322. Dylan Gibson 3/61 from 17 overs, Alex Trump 2/42 from 15 overs and Elias Bowe 2 for 50 were the multiple wicket takers.

Sandhurst had basically supplied no evidence this season that they were capable of chasing down such a massive total, but trends have to start somewhere and with the John Turner Cup on the line today was as a good a day as any to begin. Dylan Gibson joined Will Horan at the top of the order and with Bendigo United missing strike bowler Hayden Mcdonnell, Sandhurst were able to progress comfortably at three runs an over, beyond 50 before Will Horan tried to force spinner Podosky and chopped on for 27. Simon Turnbull came to the crease looking to have somewhat turned the corner but his stay at the crease on this day was all to brief dismissed for 5.

 Dylan Gibson had found his range, and took control of the innings, controlling a partnership with skipper Alex Trump seeing the side through to the tea break with Dylan having knocked up an unbeaten 70 in a score of 2 for 119 off 50 overs.

Unfortunately the tea break disrupted Dylan’s momentum and the umpires amnesia in respect to the LBW rule all of a sudden disappeared in taking little time to send Dylan on his way for 74. Craig Burn’s run of outs since the Christmas break continued as he was soon on his way, caught in slips off Dave Bicknell for 1. This meant Alex Trump and Justin Hancock were at the crease together and after run outs in consecutive matches, Justin Hancock decided to get bowled before there was another mix up for 13. Trump followed suit one run later for 18, as Sandhurst had lost 4 for 25 since the tea break from 60 overs.

It appeared that Sandhurst’s batting effort was heading down a familiar path, however Tom Wilson who had been promoted to number 8 in the order on the basis of absolutely no form began batting with strong aggressive stroke play, mixed with a rock solid defence. Along with Botham the pair added 39 for the 7^th wicket, and Tom bought up his maiden half century for the Dragons with the sixth boundary of his innings. He combined with Elias Bowe for a 55 run 9^th wicket stand before Tommy was dismissed for 51 from 62 balls in the 84^th over. Elias Bowe and Tim Mcglone ensured the Dragons would not be bowled out finishing 9/245 with Elias Bowe unbeaten on 26 as Sandhurst finished 67 runs short of victory.

Match Summary: Bendigo United 9/322 (Gibson 3/61, Trump 2/42, Bowe 2/50) defeated Sandhurst 9/245 (Gibson 74, Wilson 51) by 67 runs.

The Key: It was one of Sandhurst’s poorer bowling and fielding efforts, failing to bowl a side out for the first time this season, and whilst the batting effort was better, scoring over 300 runs to win a game is a very rare occurrence in BDCA.

Man of the Match: Dylan Gibson’s effort of 74 with the bat to go along with 3/61 with the ball has knocked off Leigh Mcdonald’s 5 catches for man of the match.

Sandhurst third XI had slipped out of the top four after last weeks comprehensive defeat to Golden Square and needed to manufacture a victory to get themselves back in the finals race. Yet, how could they win? They fielded a formidable side against BUCC’s last season, loaded with Mark Holland and Dylan Gibson and were still comprehensively beaten. So Trewy went in with the side that would play in the finals, if indeed it was good enough to get them there. Dave Hunter returned to bolster the bowling, along with Moyle and Lowther, whilst Derek Robertson, Clint Botham and Tim Knapman made way.

Trewy was unsuccessful at the toss and Sandhurst would be asked into the field in this crucial contest. Dave Hunter returned to his customary new ball role along with Matt Felini and claimed the big wicket of Scott Macumber courtesy of a sharp catch in gully to Dean’s brother Glenn and have BUCC’s 1 for 1 after 2 overs. Dave Hunter was unable to control the landing of his feet with his searing pace and conceded half a dozen no-balls in his 10 over spell, finishing with the wicket of Thomas in his final over caught by Keith Cloke. Traviss Russell was introduced first change and obtained immediate success with the wicket of Burston bowled for 7.

Having kept it tight early on, the Dragon change bowlers would need to keep things in check and Courtney Cornell’s medium pace was well suited to the QEO wicket. He frustrated danger man Jake Donegan into a rash shot which led to his dismissal caught behind for 2. In one of his finest spells of bowling for the Dragons Courtney finished with 1/13 from 8 overs bowling in the crucial middle stages from overs 22 to 36.

That said, the experienced middle order BUCC’s batsmen of Cox and Behrens were building a solid 5^th wicket partnership and added 86 before Keith Cloke struck in the 46^th over with Pat Brophy taking a well judged catch in the outfield to dismiss Warwick Behrens for 45. Clokey struck again in his following over to tighten the clamps on Bendigo United. Bendigo United would eventually finish with 7 for 182. Dave Hunter and Cloke both finished with 2/40 and Cornell’s 1/13 from 8 overs the key contributions.

There was a sense of expectation surrounding the players upon arrival at the QEO on the 2^nd morning of the contest, with the next 3 hours going a long way to determining the fate of their season. In a captaining masterstroke from Dean Trew, he shifted the pre-game stretching session into the social rooms, where all the premiership memorabilia from the clubs recent 30 year reunion remained.

Trew squared opened proceedings for the Dragons, and they had to scrimp for every available run, with some accurate bowling limiting the runs to 1s and 2s. Scott Macumber in particular was proving hard to get away with an opening spell of 0 for 6 from 8 overs. The one thing in Sandhurst’s favour was that “brothers Trew” had kept their wickets intact. Then in the 21^st over Glenn Trew fell victim to a sharp caught and bowled for 16 leaving Sandhurst another 136 to win from just under 30 overs. Patrick Brophy’s stay at the crease was all too brief deceived by the spin of Shane Cox for 4 and leaving Sandhurst 2/67 at the drinks interval.

The experience of Draper, Trew and Felini would again be called upon to score the bulk of the runs, so it was a major setback when soon after the drinks break Leigh Draper became Spinner Cox’s second victim stumped for 6. Matt Felini came to the crease with his customary aggression, scoring 8 from the first 5 deliveries he faced. Fingers wouldn’t allow himself to be dictated to and scored freely taking spinner Cox for 18 from his final 2 overs including a “going down town” moment with a six over deep mid wicket. Felini was also able to take advantage of a life granted to him whilst in his 20s that may prove to be decisive in the outcome of the contest.

The mainstay of the innings, Dean Trew was dismissed for 42 with the score on 113 in the 36^th over. The run rate was approaching a run a ball, and given the fragility of the Dragons lower order in the season to date, it was expected that if the Dragons were going to get home, Matt Felini would have to do the bulk of the scoring. Matt Felini bought up his half century from just 40 balls, but the job was not done with 46 runs still required from 9 overs.

Bucc’s were exploring all of their numerous bowling options and it was bowler number 8 Kevin Carr who gained the key wicket of Felini caught at Long off by Macumber for 57 from 43 balls, an innings which included five four’s and one six but left Sandhurst still needing over 40 runs to win. Warwick Behrens the seventh bowler used, began to turn the match in the Redbacks favour, he picked up Cloke and Moyle to reduce Sandhurst to 7 for 155 needing 28 from 4 overs to win.

Enter Traviss Russell, He was scoring from almost every ball with outstanding cricket shots and picked up 9 from the 47^th over, seven from the 48^th over whilst managing to retain strike for the following over on each occasion. The 49^th over of the innings would prove crucial, Opening bowler Rod Doak was introduced and after one sighter, Trav Russell delivered three daggers into the heart of Bendigo United, he produced the finest of glides to a vacant third man area for 4, clipped the following ball backward of square for another boundary and the following ball produced a cracking drive through extra cover and bolted home for a 3^rd to tie the scores with 8 balls remaining.

Courtney Cornell who had protected his wicket saw off the last two balls of the over leaving scores tied with one over remaining and 3 wickets in hand. The contest was surely over, with Trav Russell seeing them so well, on strike and needing only one run to win, Sandhurst at least had the assurance they had 3 points secure but there was one final twist in the tail. Warwick Behrens bowled a superb final over, after having a confident LBW appeal turned down first ball, Wawrick produced a corker of a delivery to dismiss “Sticky” for a match defining 40 from 50 balls.

It was Marty Mcdonnell’s turn to the face the music, and before he had a chance to get settled, he was wrapped on the pads first ball and sent on his way handing Behrens his 5^th wicket for the game and leaving Sandhurst 9 wickets down with 3 balls remaining. Everyone was on the edge of their seats, with a large crowd having gathered prior to the first XI match, Dave Lowther faced up having faced just two deliveries prior for the entire season. After what seemed an eternity Behrens charged in and put the ball bang on target, with Dave Lowther getting bat on ball, and squeezing the ball out wide of gully, with Cornell running regardless, “Dynamite” Dave Lowther put on his superman cape and flew down the other end, not entirely sure where the ball was, or whether he was in any danger of being run out. It wasn’t until he had passed the stumps and well and truly made his ground, with the entire Sandhurst contingent erupting on the sidelines that D-Lo raised his arms in triumph and pumped his fist jubilantly. Courtney Cornell scampered through for a single from the final ball of the over just for good measure as Sandhurst finished 9/184 and 2 run victors to keep their season alive and send them back into the top 4 after 12 runs.

Match Summary: Bendigo United 7/182 (Hunter 2/40, Cloke 2/40, Cornell 1/13) lost to Sandhurst 9/184 (Felini 57, D Trew 42, Russell 40) by 2 runs.

The Key: In a match decided on the 4^th ball of the final over of the match, lets recap the composure of David Lowther to handle the situation facing a bowler who already had 5/25 for the game and facing a hat-trick ball to get the business done with a single to secure victory.

Man of the Match: This was truly tough, with numerous heroes for the Dragons, Matt Felini’s 57 from 43 balls, invaluable, but this judge can’t split two standout performers Traviss Russell for his breakout 40 from 50 balls to draw Sandhurst level and Courtney Cornell for his spell of 1/13 from 8 overs on day 1, and remaining not out at the end with the luxury of not awarding a man of the match last round, Joint man of the match awards are issued to Trav Russell and Courtney Cornell.

John Turner Memorial Cup Result: With Sandhurst still coming to terms with the remarkable win in 3^rd XI, word was filtering through as to just how important the win had become, with Sandhurst securing victories in Under 11s, 13s, and Under 15s, The Third XI victory provided Sandhurst win number 4 for the day and an unassailable 4-1 lead in the trophy. With wins in the first and second XI to Bendigo United the final result would finish 4-3 but it mattered not, surely the most important one not out all season from Dave Lowther had secured Sandhurst the John Turner Memorial trophy for the first time in five years.

Goat of the Round: A newly implemented rule, that states anytime the Dragons win a major trophy like the John Turner Memorial Trophy and with no obvious candidates for Goat of the Round this rounds nomination is passed in.

The Road Ahead: With two rounds remaining, the Dragons face Golden Square in Round 13, the Third XI in particular require at least one more win to secure a spot in the final four.

-          The Giraffe