In Cricket Shepparton’s lower divisions, a tie has occurred, bowling magic has been witnessed and it doesn’t matter whether you’re an Australian international, or a B-grade trooper, there’s no grade too low for mind games.
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This week’s Saturday Sundries takes a look at some of the quirky moments from the latest round of lower grade action in Cricket Shepparton and highlights a few outstanding performances, particularly with the Kookaburra.
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E-grade stands for Equal
We’re only one game into the E-grade Whitlock Shield season, and a pair of fifth-XI teams have already delivered a nail-biter – albeit with a hollow feeling at the end.
In the Whitlock Shield clash between Kyabram and Mooroopna, the Cats were bowled out with two-and-a-half overs to spare on 187.
You bet they wish they could’ve had a whack at those remaining deliveries.
The Redbacks played an opposite brand of batting when out in the middle, losing just two wickets up until the last over, with a triple-figure partnership well and truly established as the final six balls commenced.
However, they’d taken their time in the chase, but were simply a boundary away from victory.
Enter Mooroopna’s Ronald Turvey.
At the death, the Cats’ bowler kept it tight.
Dot. Dot. Dot.
But after bashing four sixes in an innings close to a 200 strike rate, Kyabram’s Dylan Lopez wasn’t going to be held back for much longer.
Lopez got willow to leather and scampered for two with Lacy Parsons, requiring two runs from the final two balls for victory.
But the next ball, it all went downhill.
Trying to take on a quick single, Parsons was run out, and with one ball left, and the new bat Kyabram skipper Tyler Turvey on strike, the Cats suddenly held the ascendancy.
Turvey to Turvey, the Redbacks bat won the battle on the final ball, but it didn’t win the war of the game.
A single was run, and it was a tie – 10-187 to 3-187, a points-splitting affair to kick off the E-grade season.
News photographer Sandra Michalitsis captured more E-grade action at Princess Park, as Pine Lodge claimed a five-wicket win over Shepparton Youth Club United.
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Pine Lodge's Brett Davis and Glenn Wyatt punch gloves. Photo by Sandra MichalitsisImage 2 of 8
SYCU's Mel Saunders slings the white rock to the stumps. Photo by Sandra MichalitsisImage 3 of 8
Pine Lodge's Brett Davis goes the aerial route. Photo by Sandra MichalitsisImage 4 of 8
SYCU's Molly McFarlane returns ball to sender. Photo by Sandra MichalitsisImage 5 of 8
Pine Lodge's Max Wyatt keeps the bowlers at bay. Photo by Sandra MichalitsisImage 6 of 8
Pine Lodge's Glenn Wyatt targets the tree tops. Photo by Sandra MichalitsisImage 7 of 8
SYCU's Roshan Madhabla hurls down a yorker. Photo by Sandra MichalitsisImage 8 of 8
SYCU's Nick Jackson gets the best view of a run out. Photo by Sandra MichalitsisA hat-trick hero and hat-trick ball mind games
Brodie Shepherd could call it quits on his D-grade season at Nagambie today.
It might not get better than his first game of the summer.
Shepherd produced individual bowling brilliance to orchestrate a game-changing hat-trick for the Lakers in the SJ Perry Shield, sending the bails to New South Wales three times in a row.
He first bowled over Pine Lodge’s opener Steven Van Harling, who made an impressive 56, before knocking over Xavier Van Taarling and Calvin Nugent for golden ducks to mark a ripping hat-trick.
Shepherd also pierced the gap of Lodger Finnian McLeod for a 16-ball duck, the hat-trick assisting in creating career-best figures of 4-21 for the Lakers pacer.
Meanwhile in the Clyde Young Shield, a hat-trick opportunity was on offer for Pine Lodge’s Fahad Mirza.
Mirza claimed consecutive wickets at the end of the 15th over against Euroa, but the Magpies were left in suspense to face the hat-trick ball.
Instead of coming on to bowl at the start of the 17th over, Mirza was held off for a further two, his hat-trick delivery bowled instead in the 19th over.
But after all the tension and anticipation, Euroa’s Lachlan Hill survived the mind games and the Mirza ball, and would remain unbeaten to steer the Magpies to victory.
A-grade bowling in B-grade
It was a weekend for the bowlers, particularly in B-grade, as three cricketers raised the rock after five-wicket hauls, while one claimed a scintillating six-for.
Kyabram’s Riley Nicholson took a ridiculous 5-6 in the Redbacks’ eight-wicket B-grade win over Waaia to push for A-grade selection, while Northerners’ Sam Dawes was the pick of the lower grade bowlers in the Clyde Young Shield with 6-13 figures.
Pubudu Senevirathna claimed 5-15 for Old Students in B-grade, and Numurkah’s Marcus Rogers picked up 5-23 in the Blues eight-wicket win over Undera in D-grade’s SJ Perry Shield.