PAKENHAM OVER 60s
Pakenham and District was given a cricket lesson by East Doncaster in round eight of Veterans Cricket Victoria Over 60s competition at Toomuc Reserve on Sunday.
With Gerard Healey unavailable, Greg Johnstone took over the role as Pakenham captain.
He lost the toss with East Doncaster electing to bat first with both teams only having 10 players on the field.
East Doncaster started briskly, scoring 59 runs off the first eight overs before Alan Reitman caught Kelvie 36 (21) off the bowling of Les Jones.
Bill Grabham 30 (30) and Mark Phillips 30 (25) had both retired by the 20th over with the score at 1/135.
East Doncaster then lost its second wicket, James Darragh 6 (11), caught by Greg Johnstone off the bowling of Peter Ross.
Graeme Turnbull 41 (31), Greg Feutrill 21 (30) and Craig Martyn 26 (30) all retired before Clive Welti 38 (27) was bowled by Phil Brook.
After 40 overs Simon White 28 (16) and Gary Yarnton 9 (8) were both not out and East Doncaster had amassed 3/275.
Pakenham’s bowlers toiled well, but with only 10 fielders there were many gaps in the field and the East Doncaster batters exploited this well.
Pakenham Bowling: Phil Brook 5-1/42, Les Jones 7-1/51, Peter Ross 4-1/18, Greg Johnstone 7-0/40, Carl Muscat 3-0/22, Gaya Suriarachi 3-0/19, Michael Barrow 3-0/30, Dallas Wyatt 8-0/50.
Pakenham’s inning did not start well, with both openers out by the fourth over with the score on nine; Warren Dummett 1 (3) and Carl Muscat 4 (9) were both bowled by Simon White.
Excellent, tight bowling restricted the runs, Greg Johnstone 6 (30) and Phil Brook 5 (30) had both retired before Peter Ross 4 (15) was caught by Mark Phillips off the bowling Greg Feutrill.
The Pakenham score was 3 for 50 at the drinks break (20 overs).
Needing 11.25 runs an over off the last 20 overs, appeared to be a very difficult task, but the score had reached 61 by the 22nd over when Les Jones 5 (12) was caught off the bowling of Bill Grabham.
What followed was sensation bowling by Graeme Turnbull and Greg Feutrill.
Pakenham lost the remaining six wickets in three overs for two runs.
Dallas Wyatt 22 (31) was caught and Alan Reitman 0 (2) was bowled by Graeme Turnbull.
In the 24th over Gaya Suriarachi 0 (2) and John Moore 0 (1) were bowled by Greg Feutrill.
In the 25th over Turnbull bowled Michael Barrow 2 (8) and Greg Johnstone.
Pakenham and District Over 60’s cricket team may now have etched their name into the record books, as the team that lost by the largest margin…212 runs.
Man of the match for Pakenham was Dallas Wyatt 22, the only player to score in double figures.
The next game for Pakenham is on Sunday January 12 at Pakenham against Warrandyte.
The Pakenham and District Veterans Cricketer wish everyone a merry Christmas and happy and healthy 2025.
Footnote: John Moore from the Pakenham and District Veterans recently received notification from ‘Cricket on Ice’ tournament organisers in St Moritz, Switzerland, that he has been selected as a tournament official in 2025.
-John Moore-
