WESTS’ A- GRADE STOCKS SOAR
WESTS have rocketed to the top of the Townsville A- grade cricket ladder with a sixwicket win over defending champions Sub Parks at Mick Downey Oval on Saturday.
Both teams were without a few of their representative stars but Wests were relentless with the ball as Dan Kearney ( 6- 16) spearheaded the attack to dismiss Sub Parks for just 68.
Sub Parks made a solid start through Sean Danaher ( 22) and Trent Walsh ( 8), but Danaher was the only batsman to hit double figures and they lost their last four wickets without scoring.
In reply, Brad Dunn ( 1- 9) struck early to remove Clint Thompson ( 1), but captain Shaun Curnow ( 13), Patrick Hagenbach ( 22), and Lachlan Ford ( 19no) stayed composed to guide Wests to victory.
Sub Parks have now slipped to back- to- back losses while Wests are on a fourgame winning streak, which Kearney felt was a good sign as they approach the festive break.
“That’s the third week in a row now that we’ve bowled the team out for less than 100 and chased it down, so it’s looking to be a pretty good formula for us,” he said.
“I thought Patty Hagenbach and Shaun Curnow batted really well. We’ve had troubles chasing small totals but they just had some good patience, and had some calm heads that got us through. It just gives us a lot of confidence. We’ve had different contributors across all three of the games that we’ve had in our little streak.
“A lot of blokes are getting the opportunity to put their hands up and when it comes down to crunch time, I think that experience will be pretty valuable.”
Meanwhile, a fighting half- century from opening batsman Ryan Eaton wasn’t enough for Wanderers to overcome Norths at Fred Jacobsen Oval.
Norths were all out for 170 after batting first, with captain Matt McGuire ( 41) and Sean Howe ( 41) leading the way against the sharp bowling of Jarrod Edmond- son ( 4- 22) and Daniel Bestmann ( 4- 39). In reply, Eaton ( 62) was in excellent touch at the top of the order, but Wanderers struggled to build batting partnerships.
• For the result of the Australia v India T20 match played overnight visit townsvillebulletin. com. au