Here are the Brunswick Cricket Club match reports from last weekend. There are lots of highlights here, including a brutal century for Chris Thewlis in the 1s. Enjoy!
Women’s T20 1/127 v Oak Park St Francis de Sales 5/138
After an early-season re-grading, our women’s team got shifted from the Geoff Law Shield to Division 3, a level that’s a bit more in sync with our current Keilor Park/Brunswick dream team’s capabilities. We might have lost, but wow—did we come close!
With Oak Park batting first they posted a solid 5/138. Stacey Simon, Caitlin Simon, and Julia Rudolph all took a wicket each (go Keilor Park!), plus one more from our very own Emily White who made team of the week!
When it was our turn to bat, Stacey Simon was on fire, racking up 33 runs before her wickets were ripped out of the ground with one hell of a ball (it took us so long to get those wickets into the ground too!), leaving the rest of our players with runs on the board but also, um, still at the crease. Both Caitlin Simon and Kyle Garth added to our slowly building runs. It was a nail-biter till the end, but we fell just 11 runs short.
Highlight of the day? Rhiannon Jones’s spectacular one-handed catch—no one’s sure who was more shocked; the team, the crowd, or Rhiannon herself! (Oh, and she also got her first even senior 4!)
Firsts 5/257 v Croydon 113
Returning to Gillon for the first time this season after a loss last week saw us facing a challenge in Croydon also sitting with a 2/1 record. With four enforced changes to last week’s side, we welcomed two debutants in Pottsy & Shloak.
The uncertainty & excitement of a newly laid deck & improved outfield was welcomed by all, with a nicely building supporter group of past players.
Losing the toss we were sent into bat, SoS (3) went early on what was to be a challenging wicket (well for some anyway). The safest place to be for the next couple of hours was inside the playing surface as outside the ground you ran the risk of getting hit by one of COB’s (Chris Thewlis) bombs. Off 101 balls, COB obliterated an attack belting 139 in an innings not seen at Gillon in a number of years. COB was ably supported in a partnership of 146 with Nico (24) promoted to 3 in a reshuffled batting order. When COB fell @ 3/193, he left having placed us in complete control of the game. Able to put the foot down, quick cameos from Hilly (32), Mossy (20), Mitch (13no) & Shloak (5no) followed. With COBs’s scintillating & often brutal innings leading the charge, we were able to post an extremely challenging target of 257.
Lou opened with Potts on debut & after a fast start Potts got his first scalp in his first over, followed by a second in his second over. 2/19 quickly became 3/25, 4/25, 5/40 & 6/49, with Lou in concert with Potts bowling impeccable lines & lengths, challenging the defences of the Croydon bats. There were a couple of partnerships in a rear-guard action, however Croydon were all out for 113 resulting in a commanding 144 run win. A great result on our return to Gillon.
Lou 3/21 and Potts 3/29 were well supported by Ameya who continues to do an outstanding job 0/12, Faruk 2/30 & Shloak 2/21. Nico, firstly with the bat promoted to 3 & then behind the stumps with 5 catches had a superb day & showcased the young talent we have at the club.
A big challenge next Saturday & Sunday as we travel out to Noble Park to take on one of this season’s favourites.
A big thanks to Decca for filling in for Mossy & also taking 2 catches on the boundary. Also to all the supporters who came along – it’s great to have your support & I am sure you all enjoyed COB’s demolition, whilst also seeing some of our young talent in Nico go about his work.
Seconds 180 v Croydon 152
The boys from the twos made their way down the M3 Motorway East to take on the lads from Croydon. Both sides were chasing their first win of the year, in what was sure to be a cracking contest of skill. The team surprisingly turned up on time for the contest and Paul “Dougie” Walters took his belated first toss as newly minted skipper of the twos and chose to get himself in the game quickly by batting first.
Doug (4) took a nice swipe down the ground at the opener to open the scoring for himself and the team before a sharp catch by the keeper standing up to the stumps (every opening bowler’s dream) left us 1/8 early. John (44) and Evan (50) steadied the ship and put on a masterclass 97 run partnership for the second wicket. Both took advantage of Croydon’s young bowling line-up comprising of three under 18’s players, with Evan especially targeting the short square boundary and John took advantage of the poor catching. Both fell in quick succession followed by Giri (1) & the Better Bon for 5, with Brunswick losing 4 for 11 and 5/116 all up. Celebrated life member Stephen Mead fresh from a call-up from the 3s and everyone’s favourite bartender Zaine Welsh (37) set about resurrecting the innings, putting on 47 for the sixth wicket before Meady holed out for 21 trying to smash the skipper into orbit. The tale unfortunately did not wag as well as last week and Brunswick lost 5 for 17 with Tommy Baker choosing to run himself out instead of facing the indignity of having to bat with Gibo two weeks in a row, wrapping the innings up for 181 or 180 depending on which scorer you asked. Probably 20-30 short of what we were hoping for when Evan and John were batting soundly early days but still more than enough for our much-vaunted bowling line-up to defend.
The ever-reliable Hallsy opened alongside the man who has finally escaped the clutches of B-Man (and in the humble opinion of the author the best-looking man at the club) Dr Tom Burn. Tommy delivered a beauty to dismiss Croydon’s captain, their only real hope of chasing down the runs. The ball rose mightily off a back-of-a-length, possibly brushing the gloves—or more likely his shoulder, as a nasty bruise revealed during the post-game drinks. The batsmen trudged off angrily, but as the great cricketing philosophers say, “that’s cricket”. From there the other opener chose to try to bore us to death by slowly crawling his way to a respectable total, scoring at around 25 strike rate for most of the innings. The wickets fell around him as Hallsy bowled nine straight to finish with 2/16. The better Bon (2/14) got into the action and took a couple of quick wickets that left Croydon 5/56 and a long way from victory, supported ably by Josh Mac who kept it tight at the other end (0/30). Croydon set about rebuilding their innings and the opener, perhaps spurred on by the Brunswick boys clapping his 50 balls faced for 12 runs started to accelerate and put the heat back on the bowling unit. Zaine (2/29) managed to finally dismiss the opener smacking over his leg stump and keeping the other two upright with bail attached and Gibo (2/24) followed by dismissing the last two recognised batsmen, the second with some flash glove work from Baker. The game slowly meandered to an end as the young Croydon batters tried to block out the game. Tommy Burn (2/30) deservedly finished the innings, with Croydon falling 28 short, all out for 152.
The boys enjoyed a couple of victory beers to celebrate with an affable bunch of the Croydon mob before they set out on the arduous journey back to Gillon for the long-awaited Table Tennis tournament.
The boys will try to keep the momentum going next week when they take on Noble Park in a delightful Saturday/Sunday game at Gillon (thank Christ).
Thirds 6/159 v Melton 155
Fourths 4/86 v Melton 81
Brunswick Cricket Club’s 4th XI travelled to Melton and delivered an impressive 6-wicket victory, showcasing both clinical bowling and confident batting in a commanding display.
After losing the toss, Brunswick were asked to bowl—a decision that played right into their strengths. Opening bowlers Jack and Romi came out firing, building pressure from ball one with disciplined and relentless lines. Moin’s first-change spell took things to another level, with his laser-focused accuracy conceding just 6 runs in 4 overs, including 2 maidens. This exceptional control set the stage for Jack to shine, as he struck at key moments, finishing with stellar figures of 4/26.
Post-drinks, Ray took over and kept the momentum firmly on Brunswick’s side. His spell was nothing short of brilliant, as he dismantled Melton’s lower order, ending with a superb 3/19. Parth supported with accuracy and patience, contributing 3/8 in his 7 overs, including 4 maidens, as Melton struggled to gain any foothold. Brunswick’s bowling unit wrapped up Melton’s innings at just 81—a total that spoke volumes about the team’s tight, focused effort.
In reply, Brunswick’s chase was briefly interrupted with an early wicket, as Anmol fell to a close LBW call. However, this minor setback did little to rattle the team. Tom and Jimmy showed composure and skill, crafting a steady partnership that placed Brunswick within reach of the target. Though they couldn’t stay until the end, they set up the finish beautifully. Bman and Jordie then stepped in to seal the deal, chasing down the total in just 10.5 overs and securing the win with 6 wickets in hand.
Saturday C 108 V Youlden Parkville 159
The Cs travelled to leafy McAlister Oval in a return match against Youlden Parkville after the previous week's scorebook debacle. The captain won the toss and inserted the opposition on a soft surface. Hector and Gunny took the new ball, and while there were few runs off the bat, we didn't bowl enough balls on the stumps to get the early wickets we were looking for. Obi (3/20) and Shaik (2/19) bowled terrific spells through the middle overs to get us back into the game. We continued to take regular wickets, with Bryce, Hector and Waqas all picking up poles, but some lusty hitting from YP's #8 lifted them to 160.
In reply, some ill-judged shots from the top order had us in early bother at 4/39. A minor partnership between the captain and the returning Eddy Mason steadied the ship, and when Eddy took 19 off one over from the opposition spinner, we looked a chance at 5/84. But Eddy fell from the spinner's final ball for 38, and the lower order were unable to mount a rescue mission. We finished on a disappointing 108.
We know we are better than that performance, and will be working to put an improved performance on the field next week.
Saturday D178 v Williamstown Colts 2/186
Brunswick were sent in to bat by Williamstown Colts at McDonald Reserve. Tom Martin (77) got us off to a strong start with contributions from Akshin Koka (16), Archie Liddell (23), and Frank Gallagher (22) in his senior debut. Unfortunately a collapse of 7 wickets for just 11 runs saw Brunswick bowled out for 178 with 5.4 overs remaining.
Williamstown’s batters came out swinging, chasing the runs down in just 22 overs, all runs coming from boundaries except for 26 runs made up of 1s, 2s, and extras. While it was a comprehensive defeat, some highlights of our bowling innings were both Akshin and Darcy Hoole claiming their first senior wickets for Brunswick, and some excellent fielding from Frank at point to turn some certain fours into dot balls.
Sunday B 9/140 V Sunrise 80
Sunday D 216 V Reds 191