Class shines through
SOME old faces shone, but it was South Barwon recruit Pat Richards who turned heads the most in the GCA’s return this week with a sparkling first-up innings. He earns a gig as the Addy names the best XI from each grade.
FIRST XI TOMMY HENDERSON (Torquay) – 83
TO be 0-136 in your first outing is a dream start and Torquay was off and running as Tommy Henderson belted 83 in a strong opening stand with brother Billy, setting up a thumping Tigers win.
TOM MEREDITH (wk) (Newtown & Chilwell) – 66 not out, three catches, two stumpings
IN a nailbiter against Highton, Meredith kept his cool as wickets tumbled around him to ensure Newtown & Chilwell got home. He was typically clean with the gloves too, snaring three catches, two stumpings and assisting a run out for a hand in six of the Two Blues’ seven wickets.
TOM BURKE (St AlbansBreakwater) – 99
AN outstanding innings from the new Supersaints skipper, who fell agonisingly short of a century when run out. Coach Zac Smith – part of the mix-up that ran Burke out – said Burke “could play as high as he likes” should he want to leave GCA3.
DAN WEIGL (Lara) – 91 not out
Another sparkling start for the Lara skipper. Only two other players (Sam Hall and Layton McCann) passed 20 in the low-scoring battle with North Geelong, but Weigl made the difference in a win over the reigning premier.
PAT RICHARDS (South Barwon) – 98 not out
WHAT a start at his new club. Richards has been a runmaker of note in several stops around the region and now you can add South Barwon to the list. In a low- scoring game, Richards’ 98 was the match-winning knock.
MICHAEL MCNEEL (Grovedale) – 95
A REGULAR for the Tigers since 2009-10, McNeel punched out the highest score of his First XI career. With his side under the pump and needing 200 to topple Bell Post Hill, McNeel belted 95 off 89 balls to break the back of the chase.
JACK DRIVER (Geelong City) – 101 not out
SCORING the first ton in GCA First XI cricket this summer, Driver was the backbone of a winning total of 7-203. With his team
3-41 early, Driver wanted to bat as deep as he could.
He did just that, hitting eight fours and two sixes in the knock.
ALEX BUCKWELL (Geelong West) – 33 and 5-38
THE Rams skipper couldn’t have done much more in a close loss to Leopold. Buckwell’s 33 in the first innings helped build a competitive total of 6-222. Then he bowled his full 10 overs and claimed 5-38 – including the key wickets of Joey Vallelonga and Corey Ogle – but the Lions just pipped Buckwell’s men.
GURPREET SINGH (Torquay) – 38 not out, 3-9 TORQUAY had high hopes for its new recruit and Singh delivered from day one. He belted 38 from 21 balls before claiming 3-9 to help clean up Alexander Thomson.
MITCH GRACE (Corio) – 39 and 7-35
GRACE was simply on fire against Lethbridge. After the Kookaburras got off to a strong start and were 1-67, Grace took six wickets in a row to burn through the batting line-up. He followed up with the bat, making 39 not out to ensure a big win.
CHESNEY MILNE (Meredith) – 4-38
IT was a perfect GCA3 debut for Meredith, and Milne led the way with the ball. His four wickets were crucial, taking the scalps of dangermen Gavan Hicks, Sam Stoneley and Adam Bliss to burst through Thomson’s middle order.
BWCC A-GRADE
Alana Kot (Ocean Grove) – 41; Sophie Walker (North Geelong Black) – 32 not out and 1-7; Mandy Adams (wk) (Ocean Grove) – 43; Chrissy Walker (East Belmont
Deb) – 38; Chloe Sewell
(St Joseph’s) – 40 and 0-20; Caitlin Pickering (Barrabool); Caitie Dearnaley (Geelong West Finnemore) – 19; Jordyn Stewart (North Geelong Black) – 12 not out and 3-4; Michelle Gerdtz (East Belmont Deb) 3-10; Tanya Taylor (Ocean Grove) – 3-6; Catherine Gandolfo (East Belmont Deb) – 2-16.
SECOND XI
Grant Dew (Thomson) 78 and 0-24; Sam Mitchell (Newtown & Chilwell) – 78 not out and 1-9; Gary Kelson (Grovedale) – 73 not out; Matthew Cherry (wk) (Geelong City) – 72 not out; Harry Dunn (Torquay) – 25 and 5-29; Mitchell Humm (Murgheboluc) – 5 and 4-14; William Turnley (St Peters) 60 and 2-7; Sam Munro (Lethbridge) – 4-11; Fletch Grimsey-Cook (Geelong City) – 4-32; Shane Franklin (Newtown & Chilwell) – 4-25; Noah Edwards (Grovedale) – 4-16.
THIRD XI
Glenn Hauenstein (South Barwon) – 88 and 3-30; Shane Kelton (Highton) 105; Michael Cullen (Leopold) – 101 not out; Jake Alsop (Grovedale) – 73 not out;
Max Della Monica (Geelong City) – 84; David Jelbart
(St Joseph’s) – 78; Dale
Hose (wk) (Alexander Thomson) – 60; Baxter Stephenson (Geelong City) – 3-37; Nathan Tucker (Murgheboluc) – 4 and 4-37; Joshua Rhodes (North Geelong) 5 and 4-21; Ben Casey (Lara) – 6 not out and 3-13.