Intermediate Boys Cricket State Top 4

SCHOOL SPORT VICTORA – FINALS

Cricket – Intermediate Boys

Loddon Mallee Regional Final

The CMC Intermediate Boys Cricket team contested the final of the Loddon Mallee Region at Club Court, Strathfieldsaye on Thursday 2 November, on a beautiful spring morning. CMC were up against a strong St Joseph’s College, Echuca team, who had several representative players amongst their squad.

St Joe’s batted first, and CMC were able to make early in-roads, with a wicket to Seb Rossi in the first over. The St Joe’s middle order played some excellent shots and managed to get some contributions from several batters, but no one was able to get a big score, thanks to some tight bowling from the CMC boys.
Opening bowlers Seb Rossi and Darby Whatley, who have been very consistent throughout the tournament, claimed two wickets each. Leg spinners Angus O’Brien and Eamon Austin, continued to play an important role through the middle of the innings. St Joe’s finished with 6/132 after 20 overs, on a fast outfield and flat track.

CMC’s innings got off to a shaky start with the early dismissal of Xavier Grant. The key partnership of Gus Hay (48) and Hugh Behrens (40), set the game up perfectly for the team to finish the job. It allowed captain Taj Taylor to come in and hit some important boundaries late in the innings to get the team over the line with 2 balls to spare and 7 wickets in hand. A great win against a quality team which qualified the team for the State Quarter Final in the afternoon.
State Quarter Final

In the afternoon’s Quarter Final, CMC took on Hume Anglican Grammar, a team who had proved to be a worthy contender in last year’s matchup.
CMC batted first and after the fall of an early wicket, were able to get the innings on track with some mature batting. The top order did their job and set the innings up for some big hitting at the back end. Contributions came from Gus Hay with 36, a quick fire 30 from Taj Taylor, 21 from Hugh Behrens and 20 not out for Lachie Wilson, ensuring CMC reached 7/144 at the end of their 20 overs.

Hume Anglican Grammar went into bat, and after a steady start they found it challenging against a disciplined CMC attack. Hume were eventually bowled out for 109, in a game that CMC controlled from the beginning. Multiple wickets were taken by Hugh Behrens. Angus O’Brien and Oscar Cail. The highlight of the day was Oscar Farrelly who managed to take five catches, a very rare feat for a fielder in one innings.

With a victory by 35 runs, CMC had qualified for the State Semi Finals to be played on Friday 10 November in Melbourne.

TEAM: Lachlan Wilson, Darby Whatley, Taj Taylor, Gus Hay, Hugh Behrens, Oscar Cail, Xavier Grant, Jay Thakar, Mr Mitch Winter-Irving (Coach), Oscar Farrelly, Eamon Austin, Angus O’Brien, Sebastian Rossi, Miller Armstrong, Jackson Harris

State Semi Final

On Friday 10 November, the CMC Intermediate Boys Cricket team had an early start when they travelled to Mont Albert in Melbourne to contest the State Semi Final against Rowville Secondary College.

On a warm spring morning, Rowville won the toss and elected to bat on an outfield that looked fast and promised to bring high scoring.

The Rowville batters set the tone early with some magnificent stroke play and some errant bowling from CMC. Unfortunately, the bowlers didn’t quite hit their mark and a big partnership of over 100 for the second wicket laid the foundations for a large total for Rowville. Some late-order hitting allowed Rowville to post an imposing total of 4/195 off 20 overs.

The CMC innings got off to a slow start, which made the chase increasingly difficult as the required run rate constantly rose. Gus Hay(47) and Hugh Behrens (51) fought on bravely, but the task became too much, as Rowville applied the clamps. A flurry of boundaries from Taj Taylor gave CMC a glimmer of hope, but it wasn’t to be. CMC finished their innings on 3/154 off 20 overs.

The team should be incredibly proud of their efforts to make it to the Final 4. Their attitude and effort throughout the tournament have been first-class.