Clark tons up
- Feb 7
- 8 min read
ROUND 13
Sunday February 08, 2026
FIRST XI
OLD SCOTCH 1XI 8/194 (39)
def. OLD WESLEY 7/190 (40)
W. Clark 101*, T. Kelly 33*, M. Sparks 2/32, S. Shearer 2/35
Round 13 saw the 1st XI take on Old Wesley in a bid to secure a top place finish and lock in a home final. Wesley won the toss and chose to bat and got off to a steady start. Specialist number 9 Nick Sparks broke through with our first wicket, followed by Mike Sparks and Sam Shearer to have Wesley at 3/80 at drinks. Wesley put on 70 runs for the 4th wicket before the wickets began to tumble. The skipper Will Clark came on for his obligatory 2 junk time wickets and Wesley made it to 7/190 after their 40 overs. Overall, it was a steady bowling and fielding performance to hold Wesley to what we thought would be a chasable total.
What occurred next was on nobody’s bingo card. I was the first wicket to fall, in the 2nd over, and Shearer departed 2 balls later. Mike Sparks held on for a few overs before snicking off, closely followed by Boreham and Burchard. Before we knew it, we were 5/10 after a handful of overs. However, with Clark and Adams at the crease, an extremely deep batting lineup, and knowing that Wesley’s bowling attack had to ease up after the openers, there was still hope that we could take it deep. We made it to 35 before our sixth wicket fell with Adams edging one. James Sparks joined the Captain at the crease and together they managed to steady the ship somewhat, with our total at 6/75 at the break. James Sparks fell shortly after the break, and he was replaced by older brother Nick. They put on 40 for the eighth wicket before Nick was caught a metre short of the square leg boundary – 8/123. Tom Kelly came to the crease and the equation was a-run-a-ball for the last 11 overs, with 2 wickets in hand. The runs steadily trickled and the bad ball was put away, and slowly but surely, our total crept closer and closer to 191. Wesley’s reintroduced their opening bowlers to attempt to take the final 2 wickets, but it was too late. Clark’s top edged bouncer went down to the fine leg boundary, giving Scotch a famous win and giving himself the gutsiest ton you’d wish to see.
It was a fantastic display from Clarky. He was the common denominator from 5/10 through to 8/194. He defended when he needed to, attacked when appropriate, and maintained a great tempo throughout the inning. He said at the drinks break that we were right in the game, and this hope and trust in his own abilities and the abilities of the team is what got us over the line. He made the most of his (numerous) lifelines and rightfully gave an almighty fist pump and cheer when the winning runs were hit.
Kudos also go to Nick Sparks and Tom Kelly who both supported Clarky brilliantly in the latter stages of the innings.
We look to maintain this form over the next 2 weeks before we begin our final campaign.
— Sam Dawborn (Opening Batsmen and Back-Up Report Writer)
SECOND XI
OLD SCOTCH 2XI 6/239 (39.4)
def. MCC 8/236 (40)
A. Callaghan 59, T. Fish 57, T. Hucker 4/26, T. Loveridge 2/39
A repeat matchup in round 12 for the 2s against MCC this week, with John Stavris’ wedding the night before providing much enjoyment for those in attendance, however did leave some confused the next morning, Tom Loveridge asking “where are we today boys” just 3 hours before the first ball was due to be delivered. With the venue confirmed to be Beaumaris Secondary College, we lost the toss and were asked to bowl on a greenish but flat surface.
Hucker took the new ball, and put it to immediate effect, taking a wicket with just his 5th ball caught in the cordon. Loveridge from the other end was put under immediate pressure from the MCC opener, who clearly learnt from last week and was eager to get on the front foot in the power play. The batsmen however posed no problems for truck, who had him caught Winneke, snagging 2 early ones. Loveridge continued on a good length and got due reward, dismissing the MCC centurion from last week, a good catch from a parched Hugh Hasker who was still yet to find a water source. At 3/22 we had MCC on the ropes, but the message was clear, to keep the foot on the throat. Truck needed no further invitation, his motivation coming from his chance at winning a bowling award, and found another graze to Winneke, before another edge into the cordon had MCC 5/55 and in real strife, Truck bowling his 8 straight and finishing with a fantastic 4/26. From there the runs started flowing, with the quick outfield and short boundaries causing problems. Ben McMahon got good reward for good bowling in 2 consecutive weeks taking a wicket with another good catch this time from Fish. This brought our favourite opposition batsmen to the crease, and with Sigala’s “sweet lovin” in our ears we looked to apply pressure to the new batsmen. Unfortunately, the game seemed to get away from us despite some tight bowling without reward from Fish and MCC started to get moving. A run out at a crucial time thanks to yet another tidy bit of work from Murphy and persistence paying off for TL (2/39) leading to another had us hoping for a score around 200, but some loose bowling left us with 237 to chase.
The chase started in strange fashion, after 4 over Fish had faced just 2 balls with Dethridge having faced 23. We knew that this would mean either Fish would either really explode or put one straight up the chimney, and in the words of the great man “I put one up someone else’s chimney”. Some incredibly aggressive batting payed off for Fish, good powerplay access and brutal hitting brought up a quick 50, with 6 fours and 4 sixes including a monster doozy straight, no doubt revved up by Schillings speaker work on the boundary line, before a reverse sweep was his downfall, but his innings had put us ahead of the game. Sennitt and Dethridge looked to control the chase, but both struggled at times to find the middle of the bat. Dethridge was caught spooning one for 31, and a change of willow for Sennitt was the excuse for a hitting one straight down the throat of mid-wicket for 16, bringing Murphy and Callaghan to the crease to continue the chase. Both looked to advance the scoring, and at 3/176 with 12 overs left we were in a good spot. The untimely wicket of Murph for 23 and some good bowling to the new batsmen made it a touch harder, and the wicket of Callaghan for 59 had some concerns, especially when Schilling was dismissed just an over later, but Hasker and Lovers (7* and 32* respectively) saw us home, winning by 4 wickets with just 2 balls to spare.
A really gusty win puts us a game clear on top and guarantees us a home final, as we look to continue our push for a big finals campaign.
— Andrew Callaghan (2XI Captain)
THIRD XI
OLD SCOTCH 3XI 1/80 (14)
def. OLD HAILEYBURY 79 (26.1)
M. Griffiths 35*, T. Edney 32, F. Strong 5/29, J. Fyfe 3/28
Losing the toss Haileybury elected to bat. With Parsons running late Bennett opened for an over with Ollie Sparks. Parsons and Sparks bowled very tidily yet failed to produce any wickets. Strong was brought into the attack and had immediate impact caught by a half asleep hocking at square leg. James Fyfe and Fred combined for a runout to get the 2nd and Fred broke through the over later removing the other opener with some tidy glove work down leg from Max Bodon putting us in a commanding spot at 3-22. Haileybury responded with some aggression however Fred again forced an errant decision as he claimed his 3rd for the day. Fyfe bowled beautifully targeting the stumps which earnt him 3 wickets bowled for the day. Strong managed his first 5 wicket haul with thanks from a spectacular catch from Justin Baumgarten who soared horizontally through the air at short cover taking the ball in his left hand in one of best reaction catches I have ever seen. Hock claimed the final wicket and Haileybury were all out for 79.
Griffiths and Edney opened the batting with the intent of claiming the bonus point. Both looked solid in the crease bar some risky aerial shots from Edney. Edney departed for 32 of 27, Griffiths was 35* from 53 and Warner was 4* from 4 when the total was chased
We play Haileybury again at home next weekend as we secure our place in finals now hunting a home final. Kudos again to Fred for the 5 wicket haul
— Nic Bennett (3XI Captain)
FOURTH XI
OLD SCOTCH 4XI 136 (38.3)
def. by MACCABI AJAX 7/153 (40)
N. Bruce 32, S. Marinakis 21, J. Ross 2/18, W Bracegirdle 2/23
After winning four in a row, the boys were up and about heading into this one - unfortunately, we started a few short and were sent in to bowl first by Maccabi Ajax.
Despite that, the bowling innings got off to a solid start. Tom Lindholm (1/21) and George Strong (1/24) kept things tight in the opening spell, before being backed up superbly by Jack Ross (2/18) and Deep Jhajj (0/15). At that point we had the home side 4/73 in the 25th over, with the bowlers hitting great areas and the fielding right up to scratch.
The highlight in the field was easily Sam Prior’s catch at deep mid-on - a full-stretch, one-handed screamer on the run that would’ve made Glenn McGrath in Adelaide proud. We lost a bit of control through the middle overs, but once again it was the partnership breaker Will Bracegirdle (2/23) who turned things back our way, removing two key batsmen - including one who was cruising on 48 and starting to look dangerous. Maccabi Ajax closed their innings on 153, which felt about par for the wicket and the size of the ground.
Chasing 154, Nick Bruce (32) and Will Hucker (16) gave us exactly the start we needed, putting on 40 for the first wicket. Eddie Shearer (18) then came in and kept the runs ticking, and for once we reached drinks in a strong position at 1/70 - a rare sight for this side.
Then, in true 4s fashion, the wheels fell off. A mini-collapse left us 4/78, suddenly searching for momentum again. Sammy Marinakis (21 off 32) fought hard to drag us back into the contest alongside Josh Richards (9), but with the required rate climbing past 11 an over, it was always going to be tough. We were eventually bowled out for 136 with nine balls remaining, falling just short.
Unfortunately, this result takes finals out of our hands, and we’ll now need a few results to go our way. We take on the team in 4th place next week, and the boys are keen to keep the season alive and finish strong.
— Tom Lindholm (4XI Captain)
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