Round 2 saw the 1st XI record an easy outright victory over an undermanned Ferntree Gully, dismissing them for 61 & 66, winning by an innings & 47 runs.  Matt Young starred in the 1st Innings taking 6/21 from 9.4 overs, Adam Wild also got his season underway taking 3/16.  Rhys Marget led the way with the bat, scoring 64 along with Sampath scoring 43.  In the second innings Matt Young took another 2 wickets (8 for the game) along with Travis Mulder 3/23 and Braet Adams 2/2. Inside 55 overs Knox Gardens dismissed FTG twice in an important outright victory, and should see us at the top of the ladder.

The 2nd XI batted first and opened up well with Daine Vernon 11 & Jeremy Mackinnon 32, putting on a solid 37 run opening stand, and consuming 15 overs in the process.  However, at 5/74 and Monbulk bowling well, Knox Gardens were looking down the barrell.  Skipper Jason Buljubasic 55 and Matt van Lith 49 put on a valuable 87 run partnership and took the score to 10/204, Adam Metherell left stranded as the not out batsman.  In the field Simon Wilkinson looked vicous as 1st ball of the day took an edge through gully, 2nd ball clean bowled the same  batsman.  Matt van Lith also looked dangerous taking 2/18 from 11.  Ian Jongen, fresh from a jab in the gob, claimed 4/24, ably helped by Jeremy Mackinnon's 3 catches for the day.  Adam Metherell got hit for a huge 6, but bounced back with a fine run out.  Knox Gardens claimed victory by 52 runs.

Corne Mostert led the way in the 3rd XI scoring 62 in their first innings, but there was not much support for him apart from a 47 run partnership with Gavin Harding (18) and the 3rds scored 150.  Having Upper FTG at 4/61 overnight the 3's were confident they could capture another 6 wickets for about 90 runs, however it was not to be with UFTG scoring 8d/192.  Ben Morello bowled awesomly taking 3/27 from 12 overs, and Greg Crook got hit around a little but took 2/39 from 7.  Upper FTG thought they had a chance at outright victory with just a 42 run 1st Innings lead.  Ryan Metherell stepped up and played a cameo innings of 61 in front of a growing crowd late in the day, Luke Perryman 35, Zane Thomas 25 and Gavin Harding 21 also used the opportunity to build confidence for next round.

The 4th XI had a tight win after John Mills made 90 in their total of 176.  Millsy hit 15 4's but ran out of partners, his best partnership of 44 with Ash Black (12). John has been dismissed in the 90's 3 times in his last 6 hits for the club. Should Millsy be in your Dream Team?  The 4's had St.Johns 6/16 in the 10th over, with Daniel Williams 5/54 and Drew Withers 3/39 taking 3/2 in 9 balls.  Addy Kotamraju also contributed taking 2/18, and David Hancock claimed 3 catches. The 4's got home by 26 runs in the end dismissing St Johns for 151.

This week the 5ths had a forfeit win over Aura vale, but last week the 5ths took on Knox. Knox batted first and Mark Dalton would've whizzed a few around the ears of Knox, seizing the opportunity with the ball taking 2/23 from his maximum 8 overs.  Mitch Donald 2/22 and Mark Hancock 2/23 also helped to restrict Knox to 134 from 40 overs.  Jarrod Thorp took 3 catches behind the pegs and may have added a new string to his bow.  Knox Gardens took just 33 overs to over take the score with Mark Dalton scoring 47 and Jarrod Thorp scoring 52* leading the run scorers.

So far the club has registered 9 wins and 1 loss, which is a great start to the season, a direct result of great numbers at training in recent weeks, so lets keep up the good work.

It's also time to make sure your up to date with your registration fees, please see Greg Howes Thursday Nights or Saturdays to settle your payment, the club will enforce 'no pay, no play' this season. Also make sure you get your match fees to your captain before the end of each Saturday, make it your resposiblity to pay, not the captains responsibility to chase you!