PNBHS NEWS

Cricket Development Tour 2018

 
Picture of Ella Mitchell
Cricket Development Tour 2018
by Ella Mitchell - Tuesday, 2 October 2018, 11:06 AM
 

Cricket Development Tour 2018

An extremely early start and farewell haka at Palmy airport was followed by a (thankfully) uneventful flight from Auckland to Perth for 18 excited lads and PNBHS staff.

Our first day in Perth started with a tour of the famous WACA cricket ground and museum and a walk across to the impressive new Optus stadium. The afternoon was taken up with some shopping in the city and an early night in preparation for our first game on Friday.

Game 1 Vvs WACA U15 State team at Murdoch University Oval – 28/09/18

Captain Bryn Wilson won the toss and decided to bat first on a belter of a pitch surrounded by a carpet-like outfield. It was a rusty start by the batsmen, as 3 wickets fell in the first 10 overs, leaving PNBHS on 32 for 3. This brought Campbell Martin to the crease to join Craig Lawrence, who was having his traditional fast start. The two of them steadied the ship with a 73 run partnership before an unfortunate run out ended Campbell’s innings on 33. Bryn then partnered Craig in a 122 run partnership, accelerating the scoring, before they both fell in successive overs. Regan Fleming (21) showed some good late shot-making and he and Levi Woolston (14 not out) ran well between the wickets to put pressure on the field. The team scored a satisfying 271 for 9 with Bryn Wilson making an impressive 68 and Craig Lawrence top-scoring with 86.

The effort in the field started inauspiciously, with the debuting opening bowlers suffering from a case of the nerves. Nevertheless, the captain kept his faith in them and they soon settled into their line and length and the first wicket fell in the 4th over with the opposition on 40. The change bowlers continued the good work, drying up the runs and making it difficult to maintain a positive run rate. Once spin was introduced, in the form of Charlie Lourie and Regan Fleming, the WACA side ran out of options and scoreboard pressure soon told, with wickets falling at regular intervals. Boys’ High eventually limited them to 220 for 7, winning the match by 51 runs. Levi Woolston took 2 for 51 and Ollie Ferguson 2 for 44. 

Overall the game was a good blowout against some classy opposition and some of the younger, less experienced, players on tour were able to show their wares.

Game 2 vs Rockingham Mandurah U18 – Lark Hill Sports’ Complex – Rockingham - 30/09/18

The Rockingham Mandurah club has a catchment area with a population of approximately 300 thousand and their team includes the current Australia U17 Captain.

Bryn Wilson won his second toss of the tour and chose to bat in a match played on artificial as the previous day’s rain had penetrated under the covers on the prepared grass pitch. The game was also shortened to 40 overs. After the loss of an early wicket, the top order got their heads down and rebuilt the innings with Craig Lawrence and Campbell Martin putting on 30 runs. Campbell was later joined by Henry Deans in a 4th wicket partnership of 59. There followed a number of Ill-considered shots as Boys’ High slumped to 110 for 8, before a rear guard effort from Hugo Wakeling and Angus Lyver took the score to 140 all out from 37.2 overs. Hugo made 20, Henry, 22 and Campbell, 46.

The team knew that they would have to put in a huge effort in order to defend a sub-par total. The bowling effort started well, with the bowlers containing the opposition batsmen, supported by some good ground fielding. The first wicket fell for 21 in the 9th over with Angus Lyver snaffling his first wicket of the tour to a good slips catch from Jack Wenham. This was soon followed 2 balls later by the prized wicket of the aforementioned Australian Representative player for 0. This started the rot and after a quiet spell from the spinners (Hugo Wakeling and Regan Fleming), Bryn and Angus returned to take 5 more wickets between them. Mitch Leach and Thomas Kirk finished off the innings and a stunning superman-style, diving, left-handed catch from Bryn accounted for the 9th wicket before the Rockingham Mandurah innings finished on 125 for 9, leading to a 15 run win to PNBHS. Bryn Wilson took 3 for 13 from 7 overs and Angus Lyver 4 for 28 from 8. Mitch and Thomas each snagged 1.

CRICKET DEVELOPMENT TOUR 2018 STRATUS PAGE:

Please click here to view the Stratus page.

PHOTOS:

Photo 1 - WACA Scoreboard displaying the Western Australia team of the century. 

Photo 2 - Singing Happy 16th Birthday to Thomas Kirk on the WACA ground

Photo 3 - WACA tour guide addressing the squad

Photo 4 - Auckland Airport Departure Lounge

Photo 5 - Plaque on the wall at the WACA Museum. 

Photo 6 - Touring the WACA

Photo 7 - Group Photo at the WACA

Photo 8 - Captain Bryn Wilson presents a tekoteko carving to WACA coach, former CD and Blackcaps ODI player, Brendon Diamanti.

Photo 9 - Group photo after the Rockingham Mandurah game.