Round 2 saw the 1st XI take St Barnies down at Myrtle Oval. After losing the toss for the consecutive week, the 1s were sent in on a seaming deck. It was tough early doors for the Marcellin batsman but got through to lunch with the score around 4/80 with Whitey and Blacky still at the crease. The lunch break seemed to give the pitch a bit of time to dry and and it was all Marcellin for the remainder of the day. 40+ runs for White, Black and Burty and also a lovely 57 from Minto ensured that the Marcellin bowlers had something to bowl to. The innings coming to a close with the score of 8/269, a very competitive total.
James Kazalac Keeping the Scoreboard Ticking Over
The boys rocked up on Day 2 with a lot of work to do to go 2-0 up. The pitch seemed much harder and flatter than the previous week so it was up to us to bowl good lines and length. Thats exactly what we did. T Don and Mira opened up the innings and bowled with great control but unfortunately St Barnies were able to get a good start and get to 0/45 after 12 overs. Joc and Blacky took over and with Jocs speciality of coming around the wicket to the left handers paid dividends and bowled beautifully to claim the first 2 wickets, including the scalp of big Ex West Indian cricket Darryl Brown for 33. Enter Nick Burt. With his gentle out swingers, Nick performed one of the best spells of bowling we have seen for quite some time. His first 7 overs produced 0 runs...and 4 wickets! We got to tea well on top with the score at 6/66. Whitey and Burt continued after tea with St Barnies putting all the shots away and just batting time. It must be noted that in the tandem spell of White and Burt, they were able to claim the figures of 5/25 off 20 overs. Great partnership bowling. Mira came back on just after tea and truly impressed with speed, control, energy and was extremely unlucky not to get 2 or 3 wickets. Burt came back on to close the innings and finished with 6/12 off 16.
Minto 57
White 48
Black 47
Burt 42 runs and 6 wickets
Joc 3 wickets
Mira 1 wicket
Special mention to Damien Howsam. "Howsie" a former Marcellin 1st XI premiership player, tragically lost his sister the night before to cancer. Everyone at Marcellin send their condolences to the Howsam family and are thinking about them through these tough times.