SEASON 2021-22 ROUND TWELVE
FEBRUARY 13, 2022
DIVISION ONE
OLD SCOTCH CC 6/168 (40)
def. MELBOURNE HIGH 123 (34.5)
Bonwick 3/19
The 1s saw their return to the sacred Meares Oval on Sunday and with that the traditions returned. Win toss, bat.
Excitement loomed early as the return of Matt Mitchell at the top of the order saw a spark as the ever reliable opening partnership of Matt and Sam saw us fly to 35 before the first wicket fell. The old cricket adage if 1 brings 2 ran true this week, as all of a sudden we’d lost multiple quick wickets including a very CONTROVERSIAL send off of the captain. This fast start was steadied with a continual flow of wickets, which saw us 5 down with only 60 on the board. However, there was no panic in the sheds as new young gun recruit Hamish Francis and the ever wise Nick “35 yr old” Shearer resurrected the innings with a match winning 95 run partnership and guided us to 168 at the close. Kudos have to be given to Hamish for his classy 48 and to Nick for a gutsy 41, which gave us a glimpse of his 2019 form.
The bowling innings came around and the boys were fired up after a controversial batting innings. With big quicks Hays and Clark with the new ball the boys struck early with wickets in the 2nd and 3rd overs leaving the Unicorns scrambling at 2-8. After some stout batting and resilience from High 3rd wicket partnership the skipper put himself on to take the big breakthrough and he did! From then on, wickets were consistent and we eventually skittled them for 123. Props go to our ever consistent bowling pair of Will ‘Doctor’ Bonwick and Sam ‘Swiper’ Shearer who both snared 3 crucial middle order wickets each. However the highlight of the day occured when the Unicorns awfully chirpy opening quick saw himself standing mid-pitch as the stumps were thrown down by Swiper Sam! Icing on the cake after a convincing victory for the undefeated 1st XI, with eyes well and truly set for March and the side building something strong and exciting.
Report by Will Clark
DIVISION TWO
OLD SCOTCH CC 7/155 (40)
def. by MELBOURNE HIGH 5/168 (40)
Schilling 36, G Bennett 2/16
The 2XI was at home in a top of the table clash with Melbourne High, being so close to finals this was always going to be a fiery contest.
Having lost the toss, OSCC were sent into the field and typically started strongly thanks to the help of Gary Bennett (2/16 off 8). Despite the strong start, it was difficult going for the bowlers in what was a wicket akin to the neighboring freeway and the Melbourne High batsmen began to bat with confidence. Joel Bennett (1/21 off 7) continued the work of his father and kept the pressure on the Melb High attack. A lapse in the final 12 overs of the innings saw the opposition reach 5/168 at the end of their 40 overs.
Charlie Schilling (36) did as he has all year and opened strongly, putting us in a commanding position. Unfortunately, the rest of the top order failed to fire, losing their wickets cheaply. Tom Edney (31) strode to the crease with the score at 3/44 and had a mountain of work to do. Ted batted extremely well, and when he fell the score was 5/104 with victory in sight. Despite late resistance from James Halse (15) and Oliver McLeish (28*) we were unable to chase down the total, falling 13 runs short. The loss pushes us down to third spot to two rounds to go and plenty of work to do in order to obtain a home final come the end of the season.
DIVISION THREE
OLD SCOTCH CC 214 (40)
def. by SANDHAM/MACKIE 8/265 (40)
Howitt 51 & 3/48, Prior 35
Old Scotch 3rd XI took on Sandringham/Mackie at Dendy Park on a hot, blustery day. The ground was very small, therefore hitting downwind was the mode for the game. Losing the toss (in synergy with almost every other match this season), we fielded first with only 10 players as Bill Kelsall had a medical emergency in the morning. We soon learnt that spinners into the wind was proverbial cannon-fodder. The wind was playing havoc with finding a length at both ends and Sandringhm-Mackie ‘got off to a flyer’ with 101 from the first 10 overs without losing a wicket. Chris McKenna (2/39 off 8 overs) bowled brilliantly into the wind to stem the flow of runs while picking up wickets while new recruit Andy Howitt (3/48 off 8 overs) bowled leg-spin with the wind and managed to find a length and produced a couple of unplayable deliveries. John Lloyd’s wife and Ben Llyoyd’s mother, Vicki, donned the whites to give us some much needed reinforcement in the field over the drinks break. Thank you Vicki for your courage to come out and help us on such a hot and difficult day. Sandringham-Mackie finished with a total of 265. A formidable total to chase but not impossible.
The start of our innings didn’t go to plan and we were 2/15 off 4 overs. Adding to his impressive bowling performance, Andy Howitt blasted a rapid 51 to raise the run rate significantly including a massive six off their opening bowler. Dave Polymear (18), Chris McKenna (28), Nic Bennett (15), Paul Lund (27) and Sam Prior (35) all played well and looked promising, however we needed someone to post a large score to challenge Sandringham-Mackie’s total. We ended up getting all out for 214. A good run chase on a difficult day for playing cricket.
Back home to Scotch next week to take on Point Cook. Will be fantastic to see all three sides playing at Scotch simultaneously.