1^st XI

Our first XI travelled to local rivals Knoxfield in a must win clash for both clubs. With both sides eying a place in the 4, Wayne McInerney – returning from a bout of the mumps, won the toss and elected to bowl. This gutsy decision paid dividends in the forth over with Adam Wild removing their opener when the score was on 10. To the Knights credit they built a solid partnership despite some tight bowling and the game had swung in their favour before Scott McInerney took his first 1^st XI wicket removing the dangerous Schofield in his second over. This sparked a mini collapse and some tight mid innings bowling saw Knoxfield reeling at 6/77. Their tail wagged and young keeper batsman Ro Kodi batted well for 31*. In the end we were unable to bowl them out and Knoxfield were 9/146 after 40.

Best of the bowlers were Adam Wild 4/27, Scott McInerney 3/27. Dylan Wild took 2 catches and Scott’s older brother also claimed a wicket, not sure if it was a no ball though. 

Chasing an awkward total on an extremely slow ground was never going to be a cakewalk and losing Jarrod Butcher to injury only compounded this. This allowed veteran 2’s run making machine Brett Morrison to open with Shan Small. Unfortunately Shan was lost without his little buddy and fell in the third over for 0. Morro and Nav Singh consolidated well despite some tight bowling before Morro fell with the score on 24. Skipper Wayne McInerney came to the crease and immediately looked to score, he and Nav played positive cricket until a mix up saw Nav run out for 15 and the score on 3/48. The McInerney brothers batted well until Wayne was dismissed for 42 and then Scott the next ball with the score on 90 and plenty of overs and batting in the sheds. Jarrod Butcher came out and he and Josh Gregory batted extremely well to guide the Gardens home for a tight win with 2 overs to spare. Butch was dismissed just short of the target for 22 and Josh Gregory batted extremely well for 28*.

Well done lads – in the 4 but the 2 day stuff starts this week.

2^nd XI

Rhys Marget won the toss and took no hesitation in batting. Ben McLean was the first casualty clipping one to first slip on the second ball of the day. Jez Mackinnon strode to the crease and he and the skipper built a very solid partnership that was eventually ended in the 19^th over with Rhys being dismissed for 53 with the score on 94. J-Mac continued the positivity and he and Dovey Hay put on a further 40 runs before Dovey was ruled LBW. Upon reflection Hay said “I felt in Supreme form and I gave it The Lot but in the end I couldn’t convert a good base”. Jez brought up his 50 in grand style with a maximum and soon after was back in the sheds after a very well made 58. Matt Young and Ash Thompson kept the scoreboard ticking over and in the end the home side were 8/209. A handy innings set up by multiple partnerships.

With 209 on the board the skipper had the luxury of being able to try a number of bowlers. In total 8 were used with mixed results. Daniel Adams was tight but wicket less 0/22 (8) Rhys Marget 2/13 (5) Daine Vernon 2/39 (6). Some big hitting saw the chase come relatively close with Knoxfield getting to 8/195. 15 shy of the target. This has now importantly taken the 2’s into the 4 and some really good signs across our top 2 teams. Some opportunities will present themselves for these guys and it gives everyone great confidence when you see some of these performances. Well done lads.

3^rd XI

The 3’s went to Benedict Park to face Knoxfield and one would be forgiven thinkink they had the game sown up after knocking together 249. Captain courageous Jason Buljubasic was again outstanding after hitting his 2nd hundred for his career and season, reports are that he arrived home in one piece Saturday night. Nathan Montague 57* gave great support as did Dan Foden 31.

As many have seen Benedict has fooled teams before and to the home sides credit they chased the total 4 down with 4 overs to spare. Wickets were taken by Matt Lambrick, Dan Foden and Jack Deveson. At 2-7 finals are probably out of contention but the boys are showing good signs and there will be some wins around the corner.

4ths

By Greg Bakker:

 Coming back for the first round of the new year, we had reason to be optimistic against the bottom placed Basin. A few handy inclusions in Simon Taylor, Scott David, 'Crazy' Rob Cottle (for his 100th senior game) and President Bails helping out behind the stumps as a substitute fielder in the absence of our usual keeping options, plus the return of a couple of regulars in Andy Gregor and Jarad Ing, the team certainly had a more experienced look to it.

Winning the toss and batting, we got off to a solid start with 0/36 from 8 overs with Z-train (11) and Chris (20) continuing their good form until a mini collapse saw us lose 3 quick wickets to be 3/40 from 12. Young gun Brent Bredin started the rebuild with first Matty T (a very solid 7 before being caught by a blinder at slip) and then Simon (26) combining for a 73 run partnership. A slog in the last few overs saw us reach what we thought was a defendable 8/185 with Brent finishing on 75no. For a bottom age u15s player to achieve that on the back of 4 u14s rep games during the week was an incredible achievement. Brent is a fine young man and a player to keep an eye on as he progresses through the senior ranks.

So, heading out to field, we were feeling pretty confident and were keen to bring home a win in Crazy's 100th game. Simon kicked it off getting the ball to perform some tricks into the wind that reduced the Basin to 3/11 in the 7th over. From there, however, the Basin batsmen dug their heels in with a senior experienced and talented junior combination playing sensibly with a 107 run partnership that dragged them back into the game. That was followed by a T20 specialist clubbing 61no from the next 71 runs off only 9 overs. Another number 6 taking the game away from us!! Apart from the uncontrolled erratic crap from the skipper and a few opportunities not being taken, the bowling and fielding effort was quite good. The batsmen were just too good on the day with the Basin winning with 5/189 off 35 overs. Bowling honours went to Simon (3/22 from 8) and Z-train (2/30 from 8).

Unfortunately that leaves us on 3 wins from 9 rounds and out of finals contention.   With several 2-day games coming up against teams competing for a finals berth, we'll continue to be competitive and make them earn every run and wicket.

Congratulations to all of our Juniors who have represented themselves and Knox Gardens over the past week. You have all done us proud and it is great to hear the good stories that come out of this every year. The future is looking bright at The Falcons.

Simon Wilkinson.
Cheese on the Hotdog coordinator.