Round 7 v Carlisle River
By Liam McCullagh
ALL DONE: Darcy Dwyer shaking hands with Carlisle River’s Ross Panther.
The West Warrion Panthers head into Christmas on top of the Division Two ladder, with spirits sky-high after another win against Carlisle River.
Carlisle River is in Division Two for their first season after winning, and dominating, Division Three. The club only re-entered the competition a few years back and has some super-impressive young cricketers. They have been a welcome addition to CDCA cricket and have more than held their own as they’ve moved up the ranks.
Arriving late (as per usual), it was already decided that West Warrion would field first, which I was thrilled with. It was a hot day, and the pitch was the slowest it had been in a long time, with a short boundary to the Colac town-side paddocks opposite the clubrooms.
Our opening bowler Ethan was out with a calf injury, so left-arm swing bowler Xavier Prime took the new ball, and I started from the other end.
Opening the batting for Carlisle were Toby Lucas and captain Justin Smart. “Smarty” makes runs for fun in lower-grade cricket and could easily play higher. He bats much slower than most, playing a traditional left-handed opening role. He leaves well outside off stump and is exceptional square of the wicket, especially off the back foot.
He’s one of those batsmen who is hard to bowl to. I’ve tried angling it across him, swinging it in, and bowling full, but nothing ever seems to work. It was the same this time.
Primey struck Lucas on the pads early with a toe-crushing inswinger, bringing local council worker Matt Craddock to the crease. Matt drives straight in the air, so I always push mid-on and mid-off back. He and Smarty have made a heap of runs this season, with Smarty sitting third in the competition’s run tally and “Cradda” sixth. This was going to be the key partnership for them.
Primey and I bowled consistently. It was tough going for both batters and bowlers. The pitch didn’t offer much movement, but good bowling and smart fields were set. I beat the outside edge of Cradda a couple of times, but he survived and batted well.
It was tricky bowling to the left and right-handed combination, especially with different plans. I wanted to be full to Cradda and back of a length to Smarty.
I ended my first spell after six overs, with two left for the end of the innings. Darcy Dwyer came on and went wicketless only due to poor luck, while Liistro bowled well with his right-arm darts. We dropped two catches – I can’t even remember who the batters were. Kenny McDonald’s was an absolute sitter. To be fair, he was still recovering from his work Christmas party the day before. Deakin Carmichael had one he misjudged, but other than that we didn’t field or bowl too badly.
The second wicket fell in the 29th over with the score at 2-103. It was a direct-hit run-out from Damo Wetemans, leaving Cradda short of his ground on 38. As the saying goes, “one brings two”, because Smarty was dismissed the next over for 54 from 98 balls, hitting one to Charlie Morrissy at short cover, who took a classy catch moving low to his left.
CHEERSQUAD: Spectators (and players) enjoying the view from Warrion’s sidelines.
Ross Panther (what a name, by the way) and Tom Riches came out to bat. Ross is the former president of the Otway Districts Football and Netball Club and an absolute champion fella. He can hit a long ball too, as we saw first-hand in the final 10 overs. He made a quick-fire 43 from 31 balls before eventually finding Charlie Morrissy on the boundary.
Tom Riches played a couple of cracking shots down the ground, and I came back on to bowl my final two overs. The first went for six with batters swinging for the hills, but the next, and my last, was quite eventful.
Craig Kerr picked up Ross Panther in between for his second wicket of the day, two big ones in Smart and Panther.
With the first ball, I bowled the left-handed Emmett Pritchard with an inswinger that went through the gate and hit off stump. It brought the lovable larrikin Reegan Brown to the crease. The first ball hit his pads for a dot. The next he hit to Deakin Carmichael, who threw the stumps down from square leg to the bowler’s end. Riches was on strike and hit a single to bring Nathan Welsh on strike. With his first ball, Welsh hit it to Charlie Morrissy at a deepish cover. Charlie swooped, picked up cleanly and, with one stump to aim at, ran Welsh out. Two direct hits in the over, plus a wicket with one ball to go.
Tom Riches was on strike, with the short boundary on the leg side. I had protection out there, so I thought I’d try a slower ball. It ended up being a full bunga, and he hit it into the cow paddock.
Carlisle River finished 7-181, and we came in for another excellent afternoon tea.
FEED: Nothing like a good arvo tea when you’re hungover Kenny.
Captain Paul Liistro thought he’d try something different at the top of the order to give some blokes an extra hit, so he went with best mates Max Hutchinson and Charlie Morrissy. Max was always an opening bat through the Geelong pathways, and in Charlie’s last Division One game he made 60-odd not out opening the batting, so it wasn’t totally unknown to them.
Morrissy was the first to depart, however, snicking off to right-arm pacer Emmett Pritchard. James “Buckets” McNabb came in at three. Not known to score quickly, his job was to bat in partnerships and play an anchoring role, and that he did.
Max was absolutely on fire. He drove beautifully through cover, and anything on his pads went for four. He’s one of those guys who, much like his dad, is a gloriously pure cricketer to watch when in full flight. It’s hard to describe, he just looks like a cricketer. A mix of stylish brute force with total elegance and control.
Max blasted 73 from 76 balls, with 14 fours. Dave Bennett came in for his second game of the season with the score at 2-107 and batted solidly as well. Dave loves a pull shot and feasts on anything short. He hit four fours on his way to 27 from 25 balls. Buckets was still in, holding down an end and batting super solidly.
RUNS: Max Hutchinson.
Left-armer Toby Lucas bowled superbly for Carlisle, as he usually does, finishing with 0-14 from six overs. Smarty picked up Max with figures of 1-16 from six.
Our usual opening batter Damo Wetemans came in at five with only 30 runs to get and went berserk. He smashed 21* from 12 balls, with three fours and a six, to get us home with 6.4 overs to spare. Buckets finished not out on 39* from 85 balls, with just the one four.
SHEDS: The rooms cleared out after a good win.
It was another strong win and puts West Warrion in a commanding position heading into finals. Early wins are crucial and have set up the back half of the season nicely. There have been plenty of runs, wickets, and everything in between.
Thank you for reading. I appreciate all the messages of support.
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
CARN THE AUSSIES!!
TEAM: The band post-match
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