The firsts turned out for game one at Marcellin against the league new boys, Burwood. A lot of
familiar faces, but with a new man at the helm and a new English recruit, we were excited to get
underway at home. We lost the toss and were thrown the ball, with Tristo and Jack ‘cuddles’ Grundy starting us off. It took cuddles only 3 balls to get our first chance, with the newly crowned skipper spilling an absolute dolly. Tristan snuck one past the other opener to start us off and cuddles removed first drop, before the new vice-captain put down another sitter, showing the boys just how we would like to continue catching all innings. After we ran out the other opener, the Burwood boys put on a patient, well-composed partnership, but our tight bowling kept them from getting too much momentum, even though we couldn’t dream of holding a catch. Foss and old face Tommy Donnellan toiled well from the short end whilst Michael came on to bowl from the top end, for his first game back in the 1s for a couple of seasons. Michael started with the same ball as he finished with, lasting only 11 balls before being removed by the umpires for two “dangerous” full tosses. We finished the innings nicely with the ball to keep them to 5/165 off the 40, which is always going to be tough to defend at Marcellin, unless you have Marshy and Briggsy in your attack, which they didn’t.
After a sensationally organised lunch, full of tasty treats and well-mixed cordial, the skipper and passionate young Lachlan entered the crease. From ball 1, both boys looked a million bucks, Lachie rock-solid and the skipper knocking the ball all over the place. After a leading edge from Lachlan, and a walk to and from the crease for Kaz, the new recruit entered the arena and never looked like going out. Meanwhile, up the other end, head honcho Carlos was blazing the rock to all ends of the park, with nearly every shot in the book. A near-chanceless ton followed, in a mere 73 balls and Carl had led his troops to their first victory of the season, making what could have been a tough first chase of the year look rather elementary.
Highlights of the day being Cuddles setting off on a high-five catching run for the ages after getting his first wicket for the club. Some were comparing it to Shane Warne’s 700th wicket. A good first up win for the boys, with a bit of fielding practice needed during the week as we take on Donvale this week away.
Match Report Written by Joel Donnellan