Around the Grounds (vol6) 14-17 Nov

Under 10 Mixed

(Fri-Dan) Keilor 4/76 def by Strathmore 1/87

(Fri-G) Keilor 130 def Strathmore (2) 128

(Fri-BJ) Keilor def by Strathmore (3)

Under 12 Boys

(Fri Blue) Keilor 97 def by Westmeadows 140

(Fri Red) Keilor 5/41 def by Strathmore 5/114

Under 13 Girls

(Sat) Keilor 7/148 def Footscray ANA 5/128

Under 14 Boys

(Fri) Keilor 5/257 def Youlden Parkville 223

(Sat) Keilor 9/249 def St Albans 204

Under 16 Girls

Rd5. (Wed) Keilor 3/174 def Point Cook 4/89

Under 16 Boys

(Fri) 9/148 def by Aberfeldie 7/213

(Sat) Keilor 9/201 def East Coburg 6/158

Under 10 - Friday (Dans)Coach: Dan CalvertKeilor 4/76 def by Strathmore 1/87This week we faced Strathmore at home and Dihan was our Captain. He won the toss and elected to bowl. Ned started off as keeper and was very enthusiastic behind the stumps.

The encouragement of each other was really good in the field as we got off to a good start. Ben started off with a nice over and Rowdy Rizwan followed suit. Minuka, Marcus and Odin kept the pressure on and we seemed to be keeping the score to a minimum. Our only issue was we were not taking any wickets. Ben took the keepers gloves and Ned came on and took a wicket immediately with a super catch by Dihan in the covers. We held Strathmore to 87 off the bat which we thought was a reachable target.

We went into bat with a plan that would help put us in a winning position. Dihan and Minuka were sent in to get some runs on the board early. This worked with Minuka finding the boundaryand Dihan showing his skills with some wristy pull shots. Rowdy Riz came in next with Yappers Ned G and both held up their end against a very strong bowling line up. It was then up to Ben, Marcus and Odin to find some runs and get us over the line. The runs came with Ben finding the boundary and with Marcus joining him in the middle the run rate escalated with some fantastic running between the wickets. Odin came in at the end and showed his strength with some powerful drives.

Unfortunately with the scramble for runs we ended up losing a few wickets which meant we fell short of victory this week. It was however a great effort - We had instructions and plans for the game and all the boys stuck to their tasks and Dan and I were very proud with their performance. Strathmore were a pretty strong team and we were right in this game until the end so we just need to keep improving and a win will be around the corner.

Highlights

Ben C - Great Game all round - Fielding, batting and bowling. 18 runs.

Ned G - 1 for 3 !

Dihan - Great catch and great bowling in the end

Under 10 - Friday (Grant)Coach/Report: Grant McConvilleKeilor 130 def Strathmore 128

Lead by our littlest captain Jonah who won the toss and sent the opposition in to bat, our boys showed great endeavour again in the field to tighten things up and stay focused on the game for the entire innings.

Jonah led the way clean bowling the opening batter in the first over, then Ethan combined with Ned for a nice caught behind mid way through. Strathmore put on an imposing 112 to chase down, but there was something in the air that night and our boys had victory on their minds.

Luke and Charlie came out with all guns blazing, each hitting multiple boundaries capped off with a big 6 to Charlie from hislast ball. Next in was Sam who was a rock at one end for Ned who came out and made his intention clear that it was 4s or bust tonight – and it paid off.

Jonah and Ethan kept the score board ticking over together and each also found the boundary when the going was tough. Jonathan and Harrison held their nerves to close out the innings against some very good bowlers – keeping the wickets to the bare minimum and enough to snare a tight 2 run victory. It was noted we played like the vets tonight as it was 4s or nothing – but that was enough!

Special mentions

Ned – 20

Charlie – 15 & only batter to score a single ☺

Harrison – a greatly improved performance bowling in his second game.

Under 10 - Friday (Grant)Coach/Report: Grant McConvilleKeilor 130 def Strathmore 128

Under 10 - Friday (BJ)Coach/Report: BJKeilor def by Strathmore

A home game & Tyler played his first game of the season as captain, he opened the bowling well against a mosquito fleet from Strathmore

A well balanced side with equal talent we bowled really well not giving too much away, taking the occasional wicket thru-out the night, Strathmore finished their innings on 80 runs…with the loss of 4 wickets.

Some really good & improved bowling from Lucas & Angelina was great to see….

Enter the Wilson boys to the crease, these 2 brothers batting together was the highlight of the nigh, Tyler getting his first runs in his playing career with Keilor off the bat, Riley continuing to hit his boundaries, a great start to the run chase..

Gracie & Angelina continued the chase and Gracie letting loose with consecutive boundaries, improved running between the wickets was also great, Ashleigh joined them at the crease as our last batter, also making her mark on the game…

Prab, was solid as they come with the defence, keeping out the fast & rolling balls, an all-round great effort by this emerging team, we will only get better as the season progresses, with some wins not too far away….

Special mentions – Tyler Wilson © playing the game he loves and showing us all how much fun cricket can be…

Player ProfileTyler Wilson

Team – U10 BJAge - 8School - JacksonFavourite Cricketer – Aaron FinchFavourite Movie – Monsters Inc.Favourite Food – Pineapple PizzaWhat do you love about playing cricket? Batting

Under 12 Boys – Friday BlueCoach/Report: Greg CarbisKeilor Blue 97 def by Westmeadows 140

After winning the toss and bowling we got of to a great start getting a wicket with our first ball, but then we struggled to get our lines and lengths right, we gave away far too many wides (31) which we haven't done all season, and also bowled a lot down leg side. Westmeadows had some very good bats and to the boys credit tried very hard and we fielded really well taking some good catches and getting 3 run outs. We just need to work on consistency with our bowling, which i know we can because the boys have done it previously.

Chasing 140 was going to be a challenge but we gave it a crack with some good partnerships. The boys hit the ball but couldn't find the boundary as easy as Westy did. We only lost 5 wickets with a few retiring to give everyone a hit. The pick was Billy T making 25 not out which was a great effort considering it is his first year of cricket.

Overall it was a good effort, we let ourselves down bowling too many extras and lose deliveries, but the pleasing thing from me was tho boys really stuck at it in the field and didn't stop trying, also i see some real improvement in some of the younger members of the side. Joel and Ben both done well wicket keeping also.

Special mentions:

Max taking 2 for 11

Billy T making 25 n.o

Billy D 2 catches and 2 run outs

We play Strathmore at Boeing Res this week

Under 12 Boys – Friday Red Coach: Bailey HuntKeilor 5/41 def by Strathmore 5/114

Under 13 Girls – Saturday Coach/Report: Lou AcevskiKeilor 7/148 def Footscray ANA 5/128What a match.........

What a match indeed......

We had no business winning this match. Yet through sheer determination and true grit the girls willed their way to a most glorious victory.

I feel like a movie director who has shown a snippet of the ending of a movie and now will give you all the background to how we got to this point.......

Let’s now take it back to the beginning.......We were scheduled to play Footscray ANA who were not suppose to give us any real trouble. They had lost to most of the teams we had beaten......

That’s not how sport plays out sometimes.......

The toss was taken and we got what we wanted even though we lost it. Footscray won it and elected to bat......positive for us....

I have Lereece the new ball and she immediately put the contest in our favour with a brilliant ball the cleaned up the stumps. One down seven to go and I thought surely we would be in before 9:00am........or at least that was the plan.......

What’s that saying.......the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.........

And sure as hell they did. After that initial wicket we had to wait until the 20th over before getting our second. And in that time Footscray had managed to get almost 100 runs on the board. The illusion we had before the game had well and truly disappeared. We did manage to take a few more wickets by the end but had allowed Footscray to score 5/128......a very formidable score...

The girls started quickly with a customary boundary from Olivia. So far so good....or at least that’s what I thought. Then it started to happen. One wicket fell.....no problem we have seven others......another wicket fell.......gulp........then another and another. After 6 overs we had lost 4 wickets for 47 runs. Even though the scoring rate was good. We couldn’t continue to lose wickets like this otherwise the game would be over.....

I thought we had steadied for a while when Mia Gordon become our first retirement for the day.......but my ease was short lived as we lost 2 further wickets and looked gone at 6/65. We still needed 64 runs and had plenty of overs to get them......but only 2 more wickets in hand........not a good equation.......

What was seeming like a Jane Austin novel before the day began was turning into a Freddie Krueger horror flick........death by a thousand cuts. It was only a matter of time. The scoring had dried up and Footscray new they had us......We so we All thought......EXCEPT THE THREE GIRLS WHO WERE STILL ALIVE.........

Under 13 Girls – Saturday Coach/Report: Lou AcevskiKeilor 7/148 def Footscray ANA 5/128They took it upon themselves to just stay in. Stay in and bat out the overs and see what could happen. We still had Mia in the shed who could come back in, just as long as we didn’t lose wickets and someone was able to retire also.........damn we lost another wicket which left us with no more chances. Next one down and we are done.........Sarah, Amelia and Mia was all that stood infront of a Footscray victory.

Every over now was just like another rung on a rickety bridge. Not knowing whether the next step could be the last. Over after over Sarah and Amelia just made sure that they played every ball on their merits. Slowly sneaking a run here and a run there......

Then it happened, Sarah had managed to get herself to a point she could retire and bring Mia back in. Mia now went back in with Amelia and continued the dogged defense. Occasionally hitting a boundary from the loose balls presented. Could they actually pull this game out of the fire. We had no business being in a position to win. That’s what I thought. But that’s not what the girls had in mind. Especially Mia, who started to take control of the contest. The Footscray boys were beginning to panic.

The earlier confidence was being replaced with panic in the field. Misfielding and poor bowling was littering their efforts. All of a sudden I had an urge to go over and check the score........holy $&@@ we are 14 runs from victory......I didn’t want to let the girls know.....just as we didn’t want Mia to know she had scored 50. She was on 58 and we needed her to just keep doing what she was doing.....scoring runs and ably aided by Amelia at the other end. 12 runs, 10 runs, 8 runs, 4 runs, 2 runs and then it happened. We were tied, 40mins ago we were no chance and now we couldn’t be beaten. Just one more run and the turnaround would be complete.

Yeeeeeeeeesssssssss........they had done it. What a victory to be present for......Watching three young girls taking on a team of boys and knowing that their last Out would end the game. But not on their watch.....

What a brilliant performance from ALL three. Without their combined resolve we could Nat have won.

Mia went on to make an unbeaten 70 in a brilliant performance. But not less valuable war the effort of Sarah Curwood who stoically remained undefeated as well as Amelia who has been unwell these past couple of weeks. An absolutely magnificent performances. One of my all time favorites in all my time watching cricket........

Never say never until the final ball is bowled.....

A very proud Coach would be understating it.....

Mia 70no.

Sarah 8no. and 2/22

Amelia 7no.

Under 13 Girls – Saturday Coach/Report: Lou AcevskiKeilor 7/148 def Footscray ANA 5/128

Under 14 Boys - FridayCoach/Report: Luke DelbridgeKeilor 5/257 def Youlden Parkville 223

Our first two day game of the year was against a strong opposition in Youlden Parkville. In week one we won the toss and elected to bat first, off to a decent start before our first wicket loss on 26 we continued to bat well and didn’t lose wickets in clumps, all of those who batted put on little and big partnerships which was terrific. Throughout our innings we went at a steady run rate, however coming into the last 6 or seven overs we needed to accelerate and we did by putting on 50 runs thanks to some excellent late striking from Noah and Nico. Finishing on 257 I was very happy with the batting performance and confident we could defend the total.

Come the second week we knew that we had to bowl the right lines and lengths to negate there 3 top quality batsmen. Youlden having three of there best batsmen’s retire put them in good stead with wickets to come later in the innings. However after a tough period once they retired one by one we got on a roll and none of there other batsmen reached double figures. In the end we required 3 wickets to win and they needed about four and a half runs per over, the game was well and truly in the balance. The boys rallied together in a high pressure last ten overs taking two wickets in three overs thanks to some amazing catching in the deep from Liam at deep mid wicket. It all came down to the last few overs, Josh was thrown the ball and had to be tight to there last retiree. Being brave and tossing the ball up the batsmen knowing they needed a few boundaries tried to hit out, resulting in a miss hit and a great catch by Mitch Jamieson out in the deep being the match winner.

Under some serious pressure the boys shone through to claim what was a great win and a real boost for the season ahead.

Special mentions :

Lachlan Cullen - 50* no

Josh Pace - 51* no

Under 14 Boys - Saturday Coach/Report: BJKeilor 9/249 def St Albans 204 (2 days)

Day 2 of the split innings vs St Albans, seeking for quick wickets and an early finish, we were smashed early with some lusty hitting from the last of St Albans top order & nothing really going to plan, we eventually bowled St Albans out.

Leaving us 107 runs for victory off 28 overs, & with most of our top order out in the sheds, Mitchell Pixton & Lachy set about chasing down the runs….some serious batting & concentration was required with some average bowling ahead, the boys did a fantastic job, a huge congratulations to Mitch Pixton making his first 50 in under 14, with a cracking cover drive to the boundary - unbeaten on 52no, soon followed by his batting partner Lachlan…..well done lads, both retiring unbeaten on 50+ runs….

The win was in our sights and Jacob in his first game back was in a hurry to get the job done securing the win with a lovely pull shot for four to seal our first win of the official season….

All remaining players spent time in the middle with some 12 overs still remaining, James Daly protecting his wicket, Noah aggressive with anything short, Toby & Zac spending time in the middle was great.

A good win in the end made tougher by some short pitch bowling, great 4 overs from Zac, 8 overs from Henry & Noah was a highlight,

We move on to next week with a lot of improvement ahead, bowling full & straight, continue running between the wickets hard & fast, and keeping the pressure on at all times…

Special Mentions AJ Perillo behind the stumps, stumping’s & run outs is getting better every week

Henry with the new ball was great…

Lachy & Mitch Pixton – 50 runs

Under 14 Boys - Saturday Coach/Report: BJKeilor 9/249 def St Albans 204 (2 days)

Under 16 Girls – Wednesday (round 4) Coach/Report: Lou AcevskiKeilor 3/174 def Point Cook 4/89

It was just another wonderful performance from the girls. We only played with 8 players for the match. And to their credit we only lost 3 wickets through our batting. It was an extremely well balanced performance from everyone. Everyone did something exceptional for the day.

Ruby being the standout with a magnificent 50no. Even though at the ground it was only counted as 49. After I recounted the total 4 times, it was undoubtedly the second 50 scored for the girls this year. Hopefully this is getting contagious and we see more scores over 50 this year. The girls have been undefeated this far in the Girl competition and have produced some wonderful performance from everyone.

Let’s keep the momentum growing and look to taking more wickets and scoring more runs...........Great Effort to them all......

Now let’s take on Sanctuary Lakes next.......

• Ruby 50no

• Katherine 24no

• Nethuli 22no

• Alyssa 20no and 2/7

Under 16 Girls – Wednesday (round 4) Coach/Report: Lou AcevskiKeilor 3/174 def Point Cook 4/89

Under 16 Boys - FridayCoach: Albert Panaia / Report: Craig Mather9/148 defeated by Aberfeldie 7/213

Well it was like Deja vu heading to AJ Davis reserve to play Aberfeldie again after our 1 run victory in the previous game. This time they were the stronger team over the 2 days. They won the toss and chose to bat. We had a couple of early break throughs and they were 2/23 but then our bowling fell away as we became too predictable and one dimensional with our deliveries. They were using the pace of the ball and seemed to hit boundaries at will. We seemed to be chasing leather all around the ground. The next wicket didn’t fall until they made 74 and then they took control as Xavier Webb played a great innings for them scoring a century. He was ably supported by Josh Winchester who after getting his eye in scored 45 from 41 balls. This included some massive sixes. We just couldn’t seem to stop the onslaught and we were a man down with Noah Panaia feeling sick and watching from the side lines. We could’ve done with his legspin to help tie them down and maybe grab a vital wicket. Jakob Marazita bowled particularly well picking up 4 wickets as he took the pace off the ball. They ended up posting a decent score of 213 of 40 overs.Bowling – Jakob Marazita 4/19Javen Lai – 2/25

Under 16 Boys - FridayCoach: Albert Panaia / Report: Craig Mather9/148 defeated by Aberfeldie 7/213

The following week it was our turn to bat and we changed the order around again to give Nethum a chance at opening with Farzan. This was going to test Nethum out as he normally comes in at number 4 but after his great job opening for Spirit it was worth a try. Unfortunately he was out caught for 1 with the score on 11. Ben Mather then joined Farzan to try to right the ship and although the scoring was a tad slow at times due to losing the early wicket they managed to get all the way to drinks and we were 1/90 off 20 overs. We had wickets in the shed and so the boys could start to try and find more runs but the bouncy wicket and predominantly tight bowling didn’t allow for this to happen.

Farzan went out shortly after for 37. Noah then strode to the crease ready for action but was quickly felled by a hit to the box and felt crook as a result. Cam Thorley then came in and was looking good but unfortunately was also out to a catch when on 6. We were in all sorts of trouble when Ben Mather who had made 46 was caught behind followed by Noah who recovered from his blow to be caught at mid off for 3. We were 5/130 with only 4 wickets left as we only had 10 players. The boys battled hard to the end but Abers were too good. We know we have a lot of upside because we can certainly improve on that performance with both the bat and ball. That loss will be a bit of a kick in the pants for us but we know our bowling wasn’t good enough and we will improve our batting as we become better at picking up more singles than the opposition as well as putting the bad ball away.

Batting – Ben Mather - 46

Farzan Chowna - 37

Under 16 Boys - SaturdayCoach/Report: Jeff ReevesKeilor 9/201 def East Coburg 6/158

A good bowling and fielding effort by the team on Saturday. We lost the toss and EastCoburg decided to bat first. An early run out by Cameron and Mason helped. Our bowlingwas also very good, wickets being shared by Mason, Heath, Cameron and Jacob. Pandabowling 4 overs for 13 runs was also a highlight. Keeping them to 158 off 50 overs was areally good effort.We batted very well this week, with Cameron Thorley being the star with 83 runs. It wasreally pleasing that we batted the entire 50 overs and made over 200 runs.A great win and now we have run two games in a row, bring on this week.Special Mentions:Cameron Thorley 83Panda 4 overs and 6no