Downs take positive steps towards first win

CRICKET: The Darling Downs and South West Cricket Association continues to move closer to success in the Lord Taverner’s Competition.

In their most recent encounter, the boys went down fighting against an undefeated Toombul side.

Bowling first, they were able to bowl their opponents out for 195 runs off the back of a superb effort from Alex Willmett (4-38) and Paul Draheim (214).

In response, the DDSWCA found itself on the ropes at 672, before fighting back with a 75 run partnership between Ben Toohey (57) and Matt Smith (26*).

A pair of 11s from Draheim and Willmett helped the cause, but ultimately not enough as they went down by just 16 runs.

Tomorrow they will again find themselves on the road, facing off against South Zone leaders Redlands.

Coach Paul Toohey said despite going winless in their first two, the team had been able to find themselves deep into games.

“They boys are feeling really positive. An advantage of the first couple of weeks is they’ve been really competitive,” Toohey said.

“They’ve had opportunities to win but just haven’t taken them at the right time.

“Against Toombul they fielded excellent, it was the best it’s been. They took some good catches and stumpings and crawled our way in the game.

“Bowling is the strength and the spinners have been really difficult to get away.”

Toohey said one of the keys to claiming victory would be building partnerships with the bat.

“The run rate not been the issue, more so losing clumps of wickets together,” he said.

“Instructions are to bat and not worry about the score.

“At the beginning of each innings we’re not quite getting on top. It would be great to get two wickets early with the ball and not lose two in the first 10 or 12 overs to transfer pressure onto them.

“We need to be able to build partnerships in the top six.

“Redlands is a big game. They’ve won both their games and are one of the best sides in the competition.

“They’ve got some really accomplished batsmen and bowlers, so it will be another good test for us.”

DDSWCA will be without Matt Smith and Ben Toohey tomorrow in their final game on the road before their first home match on October 7.