By David Nagel
It was not a good day to be a bowler or captain in CCCA Premier Division on Saturday with a staggering 1769 runs being made across all four games of cricket.
Merinda Park’s English import Ashley Slater led the way with a brilliant 121 against Devon Meadows, while Tooradin superstar Cal O’Hare continues to take his stellar career to new heights with a magnificent 113 not out against Kooweerup.
O’Hare’s teammate Josh Lownds was the only player to take four wickets on the weekend; as batters smashed 148 boundaries and 35 massive sixes.
Cardinia skipper Mark Cooper even squeezed in a five for good measure!
O’Hare was the dominant figure at Tooradin (2/198) as the Seagulls further strengthened their claims for back-to-back titles with an impressive win over Kooweerup (8/197).
The Seagulls were on top from the outset after Tyler Evans (2/24) made two initial breakthroughs.
He clipped the stumps of Chris Bright (8) with the third ball of his second over, and then had Luke McMaster (11) tickle one through to Ben Parrott with the fifth ball of his fourth.
In just 23 balls…Evans had the Seagulls right on top.
Ayden Mills (40) and Shiran Rathnayake (43) then put on a polished 84-run stand for the third wicket, with boundaries hard to hit as Tooradin skipper Mick Sweeney controlled a well-set field.
Mills and Rathnayake ran well between the wickets, but hit only four boundaries between them as the Seagulls ramped up the squeeze.
The Demons were 2/92 after 20, with Josh Lownds (4/22) and Bailey Lownds (1/37) soon removing both set batters.
Steve Dillon (49 off 46) warmed up for his engagement party on Saturday night with a bright innings for the Demons, but Sweeney would have been happy with taking 6/105 off the Demons final 20.
O’Hare (113 not out) and opening partner Josh Lownds (48) then went to work with a brilliant 100-run stand.
O’Hare’s second century of the season took his season tally to 446 runs – now just 30 runs behind Bright – with his innings including 11 boundaries and five well-struck sixes.
Since digital records were kept at the start of the 2008/09 season, the 36-year-old has now scored 6909 runs; second only to Pakenham’s Chris Smith (8226) in that duration of time.
Both players did play prior to 2008…but details of those runs are sketchy.
O’Hare is coming off a career-best season (717 runs), but with three two-dayers and possibly two finals he could easily gather the 272 runs required to set a new personal benchmark.
O’Hare and Sweeney (21 not out) – as they did in last season’s grand final – then finished off the job with an unbeaten partnership…this time equalling 79.
The Gulls stay at home this week to take on Cardinia, while the Demons head to Pakenham for another top-four clash.
Cardinia (4/224) played its home ground at Gunton Oval to perfection on Saturday as the Bulls rolled Pakenham (183) to jump from fourth to second on the ladder.
A stiff breeze blew from the far end at Gunton Oval towards ‘Budgey’s joint’ – on Dalmore Road – making defending that side of the ground difficult.
Alex Nooy (81) targeted it well, hitting two sixes for the Bulls, with the home side making a measured start to its innings.
Skipper Cooper (10) was the first to fall, but not before being the beneficiary of four overthrows (5 runs) as the Lions looked to pounce on a run-out chance.
The Bulls were 1/34 after 10 and moved to 1/88 at the drinks break with Nooy and Bradey Welsh (23) at the crease.
But the real fireworks began when Matt Welsh (68 not out) replaced Nooy with one ball left in the 28th over.
Welsh took four overs to get his eye in; before exploding into action!
The hard-hitting right-hander hit four boundaries and four sixes – two particularly massive – as the Bulls scored 1/92 from their last 10.
Even more impressively, they scored 85 from their last eight!
Welsh was particularly savage on Tom Tyrrell (1/52) …taking 35 off his last three; while Marcus Martini (2/46) went for 20 off his seventh and final over.
The Lions were powerless to stop the onslaught, with overs of 9, 7, 11, 9, 20, 8, 12 and 9 finishing off the Bulls’ innings.
The feeling at half-time was that this one was done and dusted.
The Lions had one hope, a second miracle-innings of the season from Dom Paynter (81); who did threaten to do so.
Paynter just had little support up top, before receiving a helping hand from the in-form Nick Sadler (26) a little later.
The Lions just had too much to do; with early wickets to Yohan Arumadura (2/20) and fine spells from Josh Grogan (3/32) and Cooper (2/40) leading the home side to victory.
Cooper felt a twinge in his right groin during his brief batting innings, but did bowl his full complement of overs after the dinner break.
It was a high-scoring contest at Glover Reserve where Devon Meadows (6/272) kept it finals hopes alive against Merinda Park (8/247).
Sent in to bat by Mat Campbell, the Panthers were soon in command with openers Lucas Ligt (86) and Zac Shepherd (20) pouncing on anything loose or overpitched.
Ligt looked back to his brilliant best, driving with authority as Tyson Bertrand and Daniel McCalman slipped into a fullish length.
Nathan Kleinig (74) and Chris Cleef (33) then took over from Ligt, keeping the runs ticking along at almost seven per over.
Brad Hodge (3/58) and Campbell (2/65) took multiple wickets for the Cobras; who produced a fantastic batting display in response.
Ash Slater (121) led the way, carving his first century for Merinda Park; which included 11 fours and five powerful sixes.
Slater is in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa, hailing from Pudsey Congs Cricket Club; just 20 minutes from Leeds.
He has a close connection with now Cobras’ teammate Adam Fisher, who played several years in England.
The 30-year-old, working as a concreter in Melbourne, previously had two half-centuries this season, with Saturday’s magnificent knock taking his tally to 337 runs at an average of 33.7.
“It’s different, I play on turf back home so playing on turf wouldn’t have been much of a transition, but coming over and playing on synthetic takes a bit of getting used to,” Slater said.
“The bounce from the spinners has been interesting; I’m not used to the ball bouncing up to your chest sometimes…that takes some adjustment.
“It’s seems like a batting-heavy league, there’s tons of people that can score plenty of runs in a hurry.
“It’s about reducing the total and trying to chase it down.”
Slater, who has made 13 previous visits to triple figures, was a talented youngster that gave the game away for a period of time.
He is thoroughly enjoying being back padded up and testing his skills against the best bowlers on offer.
“I stopped playing for seven or eight years through my twenties, so it’s been a pretty weird career,” he said with a chuckle.
“I pretty much made all my runs between the ages of 14 and 19 and then started playing again when I was 27 or 28.
“I came back for a couple of seasons and hit a couple of tons, and started feeling it again.
“This was more of a tactical innings; it wasn’t slogging, and I think I played some good shots, some shots that needed to be hit.
“The ground was quick; it was about picking the gaps and hitting the ball in the middle.”
Slater, who was lucky to avoid being run-out for a diamond duck on Saturday, is enjoying his time in the CCCA’s top flight.
“The standard of cricket is really good; I’ve been impressed with a lot of the batters and there are a few bowlers that are a bit nippy,” he said.
“It’s what I expected from Melbourne, there are 1500 crickets clubs and it’s nice to play at a high standard.
“The cricket is good; unfortunately the season is not going as well as we thought it would be, but we’ve got a big game tonight (Kookaburra Cup semi-final against Tooradin) so hopefully we can turn things around.
“The most frustrating thing is that we have been competitive and been putting ourselves in situations to win games, but a couple of things happen and it quickly slips away.
“I don’t feel worried about it just yet; I think we have the time to make things right.”
A total of 52 fours and 14 sixes were hit at Glover on Saturday, making the efforts of Devon Meadows bowlers Jakeb McVicar (3/44) and Riley Worsteling (3/51) all the more meritorious.
Devon Meadows head to Upper Beaconsfield this week, while Slater and the Cobras will be eyeing off their first win of the season when hosting Clyde.
The Cougars (7/239) proved too strong for Upper Beaconsfield (9/209) in another run-making feast at Clyde.
The impressive Praveen Perera (95) was again on fire for the Cougars, with solid support from Trevor Bauer (44), Michael Vandort (24), Ben Buller (23) and Dev Brijesh (20) pushing the required rate to an even six runs per over.
Perera has been one of the best performers in the CCCA in recent times, making 249 runs from his last four hits at the impressive average of 83.
Upper Beaconsfield star Scott Pitcher (2/34) provided a highlight for the Maroons, with his first wicket of Vandort taking his career-tally to an incredible 600 wickets.
The leg-spinner also removed Buller a short-time later to lead a mid-innings fightback.
The Maroons were serviceable in reply with the bat, with Daniel Brennan (38), Will Haines (37), Corey Joyce (31), Josh Westra (29) and Aidan Whitfield (27) all threatening to go big after tea.
Ankush Rana (3/45) and Teddy Fonseka (2/39) took multiple wickets for the Cougars, who now reside in a lofty perch of fourth place on the ladder.
