It was a weekend dominated by the bowlers in the Criterion Cup Cricket as the batsmen struggled to come to terms with the humid conditions and sticky wickets in all four games played.
In the match involving Boorowa and the Coyotes, the locals almost pulled off an unlikely victory going down by four wickets after only making 86.
Boorowa won the toss and elected to set a target on a pitch where the ball really didn’t come on to the bat from a green and tacky pitch.
Boorowa struggled through its entire innings and took 28 over’s to reach its eventual score of 86.
Only three players managed to reach double figures with Justin Corkery top scoring with an unbeaten 21, Brian Dwyer making 18 and Phil Coggins 11. Whilst the total looked a meagre one to defend, Boorowa always thought they were a chance and after just two balls they had the Coyotes in trouble at 1/0.
Further trouble was to follow for the home side and after collapsing to 4/15 it was Boorowa who were in control.
The Coyotes continues to struggle in the middle stages of the innings and by drinks had lost a further two wickets to be 6/41 after 20 over’s.
Unfortunately for Boorowa, the heavens then opened delaying the game for some twenty minutes.
After the recommencement, the rain had favoured the Coyotes with the ball becoming the proverbial cake of soap and very hard to bowl with. A couple of drop chances by the Boorowa side didn’t help matters and eventually the Coyotes scrambled across the line reaching 6/87 in the 33rd over. Best of the Boorowa bowlers was Russell George with 3/20 whilst Sean Dwyer bowled his best spell of the season to take 2/21. Despite the low score it wasn’t a bad effort by the lads who were missing four of its regular stars.
Ben Walsh was a late inclusion playing his first game of the summer and did an excellent job in the field.
All sides struggled with the bat on the weekend with all for teams batting first being dismissed for under 100. This weekend the locals will be taking a break as the Young sevens competition is being played.
The following Friday night will see the locals play their biggest game since the 2010 grand final when the attempt to win the First grade 20/20 crown against the Empire Royals.
This game will be played under lights at Alfred Oval commencing at 8.20 pm. A full preview of this game will be in next week’s paper.
In the meantime, what better way to enjoy Australia Day then having a couple of quiet ones at The Courthouse watching Australia continue to grind India into the dust of Adelaide oval.
See you next week.
-Third Man
Email a friend