Four wins to kick off 2026

ROUND 09/10

Saturday January 10 — Sunday January 11, 2026

F I R S T X I

OLD SCOTCH 1XI 6/239 (40)

def. PEGS 110 (35.3)

H. Boreham 79, S. Dawborn 52, W. Clark 3/16, N. Sparks 3/19

On Sunday we saw a return to cricket in 2026! Our first game of the new year was out in Essendon against PEGS. The pitch looked very green and much like a wicket that hadn’t been shown much love over the Christmas break. After losing the toss and being sent in to bat, we had to get ourselves off to a strong start. However, on a dicey surface we needed to be watchful and that we were, Dawborn and Boreham controlled the opening spells showing resilience and restraint. Their aggressive mindsets was put on pause as these two navigated a difficult opening 10 overs, however, with a bowling change brought opportunities to score and it didn’t take long for Dawborn to begin taking advantage of these. He plundered PEGS for the next 8 overs before being dismissed by Premier Crickets dominate leg spinner, Ivan Zmak. Dawborn has continued his pre-christmas form with another run-a-ball half century and when dismissed had combined with Boreham for a 95 run stand. We lost another wicket soon after, before Mike Sparks (29) and Hugo Boreham (79) were able to combine for a strong 60 run partnership until they were both dismissed in the same over, leaving us 4-168. Boz’s innings was the perfect epitome of what this team needs, he was able to lay a strong base for his partners to be free flowing and aggressive around him whilst he continued to tick the runs over at a healthy strike rate, 80. Credit to Boz who is one of the hardest workers in the club, constantly putting in extra work on his game and this innings was a great reward for this. We would lose another couple wickets quickly as we looked to up to scoring quickly and end in a flurry. At 6-190 Adams (32*) and Clark (18*) joined at the crease and proceeded to put on a comical display of cricket in the final 22 balls of the innings, in the last 22 deliveries we saw 5 drop catches, 6 boundaries and in the end a 49 run stand in very quick time. With us posting 239 on what we thought to be a tough batting surface, this was extremely pleasing and set ourselves up with a strong total to bowl at.

Clark and Sparks were entrusted with the new ball and not for the first time, were able to bowl in partnership extremely successfully. On a fairly lively surface that offered enough for the bowlers, Clark and Sparks proceeded to bowl 8 straight each and put together an extremely dominate display in the first 16 overs of the innings. After dropping a soda at 1st slip in the opening over off Clark, Stickers was able to hold onto his next chance in the 4th over off Sparks to pick up our first wicket of the day. 3 overs later we would get our next, then another in the 10th and another 2 more in the 11th over and by the end of the 16th over and the completion of Clark and Sparks’ opening spells, PEGS were 6/29. Both Clark and Sparks were rewarded with 3 wickets each and bowled beautifully, maintaining patience and skill they were ripely rewarded. With the BP now firmly in full vision, we needed to bowl PEGS out for under 120, an easy task you would think at 6/29. However, a 35 run stand for the 7th wicket edged PEGS closer to the 120 they needed to avoid the BP. Another quick 2 wickets and we had PEGS 8/71, surely now the BP is secured. Insert Mike Sparks who proceeded to bowl PEGS back into the game, with approximately 10 ramps being played off his 2 overs and 20 runs, PEGS were suddenly 8/110 and only 10 runs off avoiding the BP. What a disaster this could turn out to be. However, Stickers came back to the rescue, after his earlier blunder he did manage to pick up the final 2 wickets in a 3 ball span to end the game. Bowling PEGS out for 110 and getting us our 2nd BP for the season. Sparks and Clark set the tone with the new ball and we were ruthless for the rest of the day.

We now sit 2 games clear on top with an extra game to play aswell, an extremely strong position for our Division 1 side to be in. Wesley next week will be a new challenge for us and we cant wait continue to build on the momentum we have built.

— Will Clark (1XI Captain)

S E C O N D X I

OLD SCOTCH 2XI 3/126 (18.2)

def. OLD XAVERIANS 125 (32.5)

S. Dethridge 43*, T. Fish 41, J. Stavris 5/12, W. Easton 2/36

In the first game back after the break, the 2s were up against old enemy old xaverians. Winning the toss and choosing to bat on a surface that looked suspiciously like it had been prepared by MCG executive manager of turf Matt Page, Xavs decided to have a bat.

Will Easton opened up, and with no Gance in the side, and no dispute about wether he has the best VO2 max this week there was a certain spring in his step, as he bowled some nice line and length early. Nobody however was more confident in their ability to deliver than John Stavris, after a career best knock and tidy bowling the day before, he again bowled some neat sets to open the innings, picking up an important wicket. Easton provided another early breakthrough and a run out also assisted the cause as we had Xavs 3 down early. Callaghan came into the attack and found a wicket, with Fish keeping it tight from the other end. Murphy pinched a bizarre run out, good reward for some tight bowling, as we looked to put the foot on the throat. With Stavris back into the attack, confidence was high and didn’t stav deliver, dismissing the bunny and then following it up with 3 more to hand him 5/12, including some 2s vintage in there with 2 bowled Stavris croced Schilling.

With 125 to chase, Fish was granted access to the powerplay, and managed to take advantage of some poor Xavs bowling and tactics. Schilling departed early, really trying to push the case for another BP, and Fish was joined by Dethridge who played a steady hand at 3. Fish was dismissed for 41 off just 24 balls, exclaiming as he came off the ground that the opening bowlers “have been fished”. Schoolboy Tom Brownell played a nice innings of 13 to further the runs, and debutant Charlie Warner with Dethridge saw the game home, Detho finishing on 43* and the 2s getting their second BP on the trot.

An exciting start to the year with much anticipation leading into the pointy end.

— Andrew Callaghan (2XI Captain)

T H I R D X I

OLD SCOTCH 3XI 8/169 (40)

def. OLD CAMBERWELL 126 (27.1)

M. Griffiths 60, J. Fyfe 28, B. Balot 3/7, F. Strong 3/37

Winning the toss we elected to bat on a very slow and green wicket. Ted and Griff opened the batting, initially struggling with the lack of pace on offer as Camberwell opened with a spinner and the lush outfield. Edney departed for 26 and was quickly joined with Knight being run out for 0. Fyfe who had been moved up the order looked solid and at drinks we were 2-73. Griff and Fyfey kept toiling away building a valuable partnership and a nice platform for our lower order to launch from was formed. Fyfe was stumped dancing down the pitch after scoring 28 trying to increase the run rate. Bennett and Griffiths were dismissed poorly due to bad calls whilst running between the wickets. Griffiths was by far the pick of the batsmen scoring 60 from 107. Strong and Balot were both removed in consecutive deliveries which lead to Matthew Callaghan completing one of the fastest pad-ups ever witnessed. The innings finished with us 8-169.

Old Camberwell got off to an explosive start punishing the short deliveries as well as targeting the straight short boundaries. Smith and Jhajj both worked hard to break through yet had no luck.

Strong and Bennett took over as first change bowlers immediately slowing the run rate with Strong’s accuracy and variation making it impossible to score. Bennett broke through with Fyfe catching a ball flicked off the batsmen’s pads at square leg and took another in the same over. The following over Camberwell had a mix up while running leading to their captain being ran out for 0 and the tides had turned as Camberwell had gone from 0-79 to 3-79.

In the overs leading up to drinks we broke through again with Fred Strong taking a superb caught and bowled that was blasted back at him and the injection of Balot into the attack drew the batsmen out of his crease with Knight clipping of the bails for a stumping right before drinks at 5-110. Balots impact on the game continued as he caught a ball at a catching mid wicket while flinching with the ball lodging between his arm and body. We cleaned up the tail quickly for 126 total with highlights being Balot 3/7 from 4.1 and Strong 3/37 from 8.

A fantastic win post Christmas we now look to continue this run of form against Whitefriars next week.

— Nic Bennett (3XI Captain)

F O U R T H X I

OLD SCOTCH 4XI 4/156 (32)

def. MCC 3XI 10/155 (36.4)

T. Edney 89, J. Stavris 56*, W. Bracegirdle 3/13, T. Lindholm 2/7

Our second Saturday match of the season doubled as something of a Class of 2015 reunion, with summer holidays in full swing and the side featuring six members of the 2015 cohort along with two sets of siblings - making it a family affair in every sense.

After losing the toss, we were sent in to bowl - a decision MCC would soon regret, clearly unaware of the top-tier bowling attack we had assembled for the day. Regular opening bowler Mitch Sennitt (1/7) took the new ball alongside Fred Strong (1/15), and the pair immediately sent shivers through an MCC top order that looked barely old enough to have their L-plates. If that wasn’t uncomfortable enough, first change saw John Stavris (1/10) unleashed on a green deck, with George Strong (1/20) at the other end. Together they had MCC reeling at 4/57 off 18 overs, well and truly on the ropes.

The spin department then took over, with James Fish (1/28) rolling the arm over with some leg-spin and Tom Fish (0/6) locking things down from the other end with his offies. While Josh Richards didn’t collect a wicket behind the stumps, he played a crucial role in ensuring Adrian paid James Fish’s wicket after last week’s 50:50 debate over whether it was the wind or Jimbob that removed the bail.

If eight overs of spin wasn’t enough, we rolled out Sunday’s champion Bailey Balot, who bowled a very tidy 0/11, with team debutant Harry Ritchie finishing strong at the other end with 0/19. The innings was wrapped up in style by Will Bracegirdle (3/13) - who will almost certainly be bowling much earlier next week - and Tom Lindholm (2/7), as MCC were bowled out for 155. This marked our first time bowling a side out this season, and credit must go to all 10 bowlers for a complete team effort.

With the bat, we rolled out a new opening partnership in Tom Edney and Bailey Balot, tasked with taking the sting out of the game and protecting us from the inevitable batting collapse. The plan worked perfectly, with the first wicket not falling until 1/42. A special mention to Baz, who took his time against MCC’s quickest bowlers and a swinging new ball, made even trickier by gale-force winds.

With no batting restrictions in place for our number three (thanks MCC), John Stavris was sent in, and what followed was a demolition. Between Stav and Tom “Ted” Edney, the pair dismantled the MCC bowling attack, smashing 14 fours and four sixes between them. The crowd was left wondering whether we were about to witness John’s maiden half-century and Ted’s maiden century - both very much on the cards. Ted attempted to finish the match in a hurry but was bowled for a brilliant 89, leaving us 2/145, just 11 runs short. Stavris carried on to make a career-best 56 not out, celebrating with a trademark “V” to remind everyone watching exactly how he holds his bat.

After Ted’s dismissal, Josh Richards and then James Fish were sent in to finish things off but both fell before the job was done, triggering a brief panic as the familiar collapse threatened. This saw Tom Fish hurriedly get changed, pad up, and calmly knock off the remaining three runs with ease.

A fantastic team win sees us make it two wins from our last two, and with only a handful of victories separating us from a finals position, the OSCC 4s are building some serious momentum.

— Tom Lindholm (4XI Captain)

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