Newsletter 2 - Waurn Ponds Cricket Club - DUSA

MATCH REPORTS
1 st XI – Round 1 v Highton
AFTER considerable rain and a rather protective curator put in his two bob's worth, play looked
unlikely in our first game of the season. Thankfully, the protective one's views that we would
wreck his pitch square were completely disregarded and we sent the Heat in to bat on a green
top.
New skip Coxy ambled in for his first spell as an Eagle and after he was whipped into a drain for
four off the second ball of the afternoon by his opposite number Young, things didn't look great.
However, an over-excited Young tried to repeat the dose off the very next ball, albeit a much
better one, and was on his way for four.
Holz and Walton played and missed and generally annoyed us as the Heat scored at about four
an over before Cox struck again, taking a very special caught and bowled to have the home side
2-32. A wayward Roy then found his range to have Walton heading back to the sheds a short
time later.
Hallam and Gretgrix then indulged in some rather agricultural batting to push the score to 60.
Doggy provided some inspiring work of his own, sending a beamer four feet over the batsman's
head in his first over and attempting a run out after falling over in his delivery stride.
He quickly found his rhythm and combined with Porty to rip through the Highton batting line-up,
as the Heat crumbled from 3-60 to 6-64 in a matter of minutes.
The carnage continued as Porty exposed a clear lack of bounce to snare a match best 4-16,
while Doggy bowled well to finish with 3-23 as we rolled the pre-match favourites for 93.
Roy, promoted to the top of the order, played like a man with something important on as he
thrashed the Heat attack to all parts of the ground before tea. A six over cover-point and
numerous boundaries kept the board ticking over before he departed for 45, with the score on
51.
Skeney looked the goods with the blade and it appeared set for an easy win, until a mid-innings
flurry of wickets led to some nervous moments. The prez joined Skeney at 6-74 as Highton
finally found some yap and the pair set to work on blunting some very good bowling. An assured
looking Skene patiently waited for his ball, while Daffy seemed to have Breeny in knots.
Mercifully, Young removed Daff from the attack and brought himself on.
Dibbly dobblers were much more appealing to Breen, who avoided becoming the fifth Eagle not
to trouble the scorers. From there, the runs flowed and a 35-run stand between Skeney (32) and
Breeny (19 not out) delivered the first points of the season.
Four ducks means there's a bit to work on but overall it was great to get a win on the board in
round one.