Heuir flicks switch to deliver victory
HERBIE Heuir is quickly staking his claim as the best all-rounder in Townsville cricket, and the Brothers linchpin was at it again on Saturday guiding the side to a comprehensive win over Norths.
After losing two early wickets, Heuir came to the crease at John Mcculloch Oval and quickly steadied the ship before pushing on to notch a season-high 88 as the home side posted an impressive 8-259 off their 45 overs.
But it was the manner in which Heiur dispatched the Norths attack, punishing anything near his pads into the legside, that had his teammates hollering from the sheds.
HE had them turning in circles by the end of the innings and Wests spinner Jack Raffles would not be denied as he capped off a six-wicket haul to deliver an emphatic victory over Wanderers.
After opening the innings with the cherry, it was his second spell when the left-arm tweaker did the most damage closing out the match with four wickets in four overs.
Raffles finished with figures of 6-26 as Wanderers were bowled out for 75 in the 26th over chasing Wests’ target of
“He is an unbelievable talent,” Brothers skipper Reece Danaher said.
“The way he walks across his stumps at times you just think he is going to get bowled but he doesn’t, he flicks them away with ease.
“He is in incredible form with the bat and ball this year so let’s hope it continues.
“From the opening ball he looked comfortable. He has matured a lot (over the years) and he just spends that little bit of time getting himself in now.
“Then he can just flick that switch and it is pretty special when he does.”
Heuir than showed his ability with the cherry in hand, helping strangle the Norths batsmen as they fell 80runs shy of the target at the end of their allotted overs. Despite a strong start from opener Gareth Sim (72*) and captain Matt Mcguire (47), Norths failed to kick the chase into the third and fourth gear through the middle overs.
As the pressure built the wickets began to tumble and when Sim retired hurt with a hamstring strain the visitors were in trouble.
The side had already been dealt a blow before the first ball of the day when emerging talent Bingen Balanzategui broke his hand fielding a ball in the warm-up, and it left them without much-needed firepower in the late overs.
“It was a good start, we built really well but we just couldn’t get going. They bowled pretty good areas and were hard to get away,” Mcguire said.
“We felt like we had set a platform, we still thought at second drinks we were half a chance if we could get a big over or two away but unfortunately we couldn’t get that done.”
While he called on more discipline with the ball, Mcguire said it was an improved performance from his side.
With key bowlers still to return from injury the signs are good for the back end of the A Grade season.
“We are still building into the season. We scored more runs than we have in any other game, so that is a positive,” he said.
“We are still a couple of injured bowlers short, with a few returning players hopefully we can build on that and only get better.”
Curnow that ensured Wests posted a competitive total in the first innings.
Curnow anchored the innings hitting 72 off 112, setting up the victory with a matchdefining 90-run stand alongside Pat Hagenbach (44).
When Curnow was finally dismissed in the 42nd over the damage had already been done with the score at 5-169.
“We were pretty confident with what we had posted, Curnow set a really good platform for us,” Wests seamer Dan Kearney said.