East tops West in WDCA charity match
Sam Batson’s East All Stars have come out on top after defeating the West All Stars by just one wicket during Sunday’s Mindfull Aus Bushfire charity match held at Western Park.
In front of a crowd of fans, the day began with a visit from Melbourne Stars star Glenn Maxwell, who took the time to speak to many fans, signing autographs and taking photos before reporting to the middle with the captains to toss the coin.
Maxwell, who was in a sling after a recent elbow injury, said that being able to be involved in a small way was a privilege and also reminded him of his local playing days.
“I played a few rep games out this way actually against East Gippsland, especially on a Sunday. It’s a great privilege to come down, we’ve had pretty devastating fires across here so today is a great cause and to toss the coin and help out is only a small thing I can do, but hopefully it makes a difference to a few people,”
Maxwell also gave some advice to those looking to excel in the T20 format.
“I think you’ve just got to be chilled out and relaxed and have a bit of fun, hopefully today the batsmen can open up a bit and hit some boundaries to add to the total raised,” he said.
West captain Fraser Duncan won the toss and elected to bat, sending his side in in windy and overcast conditions. It wasn’t long before the East grabbed a wicket, with Jordan Wyatt’s cut shot ballooning to Tyler McDonald at point.
This brought hard hitting Damon Healy to the crease, who didn’t disappoint. He, along with Nick Fairbank added a quick 62 to the score, before Healy was out caught by Perera for a scintillating 39 off just 21 deliveries.
The East continued to take wickets at regular intervals, however contributions across the board from Natsai M’Shangwe (36) Daniel Pandolfo (26) and Fairbank (39) kept the score ticking over. At 3/123, the West then lost three quick wickets, which included captain Duncan first ball as he tried a switch hit which fond Leigh Diston’s safe hands.
A few quick runs from Sean Masterson (9) and Mick Taylor (4) in the dying overs saw the West post a very defendable 7/181 after their 20 overs. Asantha Singappuli was the pick of the bowlers for the East, taking 4/22 of his four overs to stem the flow of runs.
After the innings break, Singappuli and Division 2 big hitter Tyler Constantine strode out to the crease to begin the chase, with both very watchful early. That didn’t last long however, as Constantine opened up the arms to launch a big six over the rope, while Singappuli placed the ball perfectly, with back to back fours helping the East off to a perfect start.
The West fought back however, removing Singappuli, Constatine, Pollock and WDCA leading run scorer Gamini Kumara to see them sitting precariously at 4/79.
Enter Lahiru Jayakody.
The Yarragon star took just two balls to get himself comfortable, before dispatching his next three to the fence as he and Leigh Diston looked to rebuild and push the innings along.
Jayakody was finally removed by James Williams for 56 off just 26 balls, smacking nine fours and two sixes to propel the East into the box seat.
Captain Batson smashed a six before also finding himself walking back to the pavilion as Diston continued on his merry way, until he was felled by a crafty Mick Taylor mankad which saw Diston short of his crease at the bowler’s end giving the West a glimmer of hope.
After Taylor also removed Nuwan Perera the East started to tighten up, needing just 14 runs to win with two wickets left in the shed.
It wasn’t to be for the West though, with Melbourne Cricket Club’s Wilson McGillivray combining with his brother Eddie to give the East All Stars a one wicket victory in a terrific display by some of the best in the WDCA.
Event organiser Matt Runnalls from Mindfull Aus, a not for profit foundation that works with many groups to give people the skillset to build emotional resilience, said that the day was one that had been in the works for a while, and to see it happening in front of him was fantastic.
“My idea was to go to the league and put it to them to have a mental health T20 match, but as the bushfires came through, I thought that might have been more important at the moment, so doing it for the bushfires made sense and to see it happening now, it’s really great” he said.
He also added that starting a conversation around mental health in a sporting club was incredibly important.
“Hopefully we can slowly start to engage in that conversation, it’s not like men don’t want to talk about their emotions, it’s more making a space for them to feel comfortable to talk in, like a cricket club or a football club, so it’s starting there,” he said.
East captain Sam Batson said it was a brilliant day to be involved in and being able to play with a few rivals was a great opportunity.
“Yeah a really good experience to play, it was great to see Lahiru Jayakody bat in particular as I hadn’t played with or against him since round 1, overall though it was a fantastic experience with everyone,” he said.
Going forward, Matt hopes to be able to continue to run the charity match each year, focusing on mental health in the Gippsland area.
“Definitely I want to keep this happening with a focus on mental health the next time around, we’ve raised a great amount for the bushfires today as well, so I want to thank everyone who made this day happen too,” he said.
Throughout the day, the tally continued to rise, with Matt predicting the final total to be around $10,000, a fantastic achievement.