Country Cricket Carnival Report:
Monday match reports
Monday, January 4th brought with it the opening day of the McDonalds Country Cricket NSW Carnival, in which the two Central Coast representative teams got off to a great start.
The Central Coast Colts (Under 18’s) and Bradman Cup (Under 16’s) sides both pulled off convincing wins against carnival hosts, Central North Zone.
Heavy rain early in the day saw both matches delayed with the number of overs in the Colts game being reduced from the original 50.
Nonetheless, this didn’t stop the Central Coast teams from putting away their opponents and setting themselves up for further success in the carnival.
In the Colts game, Central Coast took to the field first and were able to dismiss Central North for 72 in 28 overs.
Mitch Giltinan of Terrigal Matcham did the early damage with 2 for 18, before Karan Katli of Warnervale took two quick wickets with his spinners, leaving Central North reeling at 6 for 38.
A steady 31 run partnership was put together by the hosts but was eventually disrupted by a flash of late wickets.
Warnervale spinner, Hunter Jackson-Sullivan did much of the damage, finishing with the impressive figures of 4 for 6 off 2.4 overs.
With just 73 runs needed for victory, the Colts got off to a shaky start after Terrigal Matcham Austin Haba’s went for a duck.
This was quickly rectified with a solid 29 from Warnervale’s Ben Sammut and 14 from Lisarow Ourimbah’s Tex Parry.
The team confidently overtook Central North’s score in the 19th over and in doing so picked up a valuable bonus point.
In the Bradman Cup contest, Central Coast won the toss and opted to bowl first and made the most of the excellent bowling conditions to dismiss Central North for 95 in the 48th over.
Medium pacer Fynn Newell from Northern Power excelled in these conditions, picking up the first three wickets before finishing with 4 for 17 off 10 overs.
Brisbane Water’s Lachie Shedden stepped up to take 3 for 16 off 7 overs, however it was the performance of the spinners which strangled the Central North innings.
Kincumber Avoca’s Bailey Lidgard tied up the batsmen with his left arm spin finishing with figures of 0 of 10 off 10 overs, while skipper Tyler Searle of Lisarow Ourimbah took 1 for 18 off 9 overs and The Entrance’s Levi Bailey taking 1 for 19 also off 10 overs.
Entering the field to bat, Central Coast were on the back foot immediately with Northern Power’s Joe Merlino dismissed without scoring.
However, the ship was steadied by a 35 run partnership between Shedden (17) and Searle (18).
Central North eventually broke them apart, taking both wickets within two overs of each other, followed closely by Terrigal Matcham’s Jordan McDonald (4).
This left Central Coast sitting precariously, placed at 4 for 51 before a 31 run partnership between Lidgard (23) and Wyong’s Seth Slominski (17, not out) took the side to safety.
When Lidgard was dismissed, victory was in sight and Safin Robertson of Kincumber Avoca joined Slominski to reach the target in the 30th over.
It was a good all-round performance from both teams in the carnival’s opening match.
With two more games to go for both teams over the next two days, the Central Coast lads will fancy their chances.
Today (Tuesday, January 5th) will involve both teams playing against Newcastle Cricket Zone which, for the Colts, is a tense replay of last year’s final.
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Tuesday match reports
Double loss on Day 2 for Rep Cricketers
Day two of the McDonalds Country Cricket NSW Carnival has brought disappointment to the Central Coast representative sides, with two losses to rivals, Newcastle Cricket.
For the Colts side (Under 18’s), the heavy overnight rain resulted in a venue switch for the match as well as a switch to a T20 fixture.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, Central Coast suffered the early loss of Warnervale opener Ben Sammut, before making steady progress toward 1/53.
Terrigal Matcham’s Austin Haba was dismissed for 19, followed immediately by Tex Parry of Lisarow Ourimbah, putting the batting side under early stress.
Narara Wyoming’s Tom Owen gave the team some consistency and, along with Wyong’s Lachlan Rainger, had the Central Coast well poised at 3/80 to make a competitive total.
Unfortunately, this came to an end with Owen (30) and Rainger (14) being dismissed off consecutive balls which led to the Central Coast limping to 9/93 over their 20 overs.
Defending a modest score, the Central Coast did strike early with a wicket off the back of Rainger’s bowling, sending Newcastle captain, JW Hartigan, back to the sheds after only 6 balls faced.
However, this momentum was short lived, with Newcastle easily reaching the required score in the 14th over for the loss of only one more wicket, taken by Jack Swainston of Terrigal Matcham.
The Central Coast Bradman Cup side (Under 16’s) went into their fixture hoping for a “three-peat” of the title, but this was undone by a very professional Newcastle side who recorded a 98 run win.
Winning the toss and sending Newcastle into bat, the Central Coast performed well early on and had Newcastle at 4/47, with Lisarow Ourimbah’s speedster Daniel Thompson taking two of the early wickets.
From here, Newcastle found themselves in a comfortable stride, reaching a very good total of 173 when they were dismissed.
Lisarow Ourimbah’s Tom Noble was the most successful bowler, taking four wickets, with Thompson taking 2/40 and Kincumber Avoca’s Bailey Lidgard 1/17, both off 10 overs.
In reply, the Central Coast never really got out of first gear and were dismissed for just 75 runs in the 34th over.
Lachie Shedden of Brisbane Water and Jordan McDonald of Terrigal Matcham were the highest scorers with 15 runs each.
Both the Colts and Bradman Cup side will have a chance for redemption in Game Day 3 of the carnival, both playing against North Coastal Zone.
Wednesday report
Country Cricket NSW Match Day 3
The Central Coast Colts ended their McDonalds Country Cricket NSW Carnival in Tamworth with a hard-fought win over North Coastal on Wednesday (Jan 6).
Winning the toss for the third time, the Colts invited North Coastal into bat and Terrigal Matcham’s Nick Toohey got the team off to a great start with two early wickets.
North Coastal managed to find some momentum making it to 4/134 before being undone by the Coast’s spin bowling duo of captain Harrison Townsend of Wyong and Karan Katli of Warnervale.
The pair combined to take 5/60 from their 20 overs to see North Coastal dismissed for 168.
For the third consecutive day the Central Coast lost an early wicket with Warnervale’s Ben Sammut going for only 5 runs.
However, Narara Wyoming’s Tom Owen and Terrigal Matcham’s Austin Haba consolidated the innings with a 58 run partnership before Owen was dismissed for 23.
Tex Parry of Lisarow Ourimbah joined Haba and took the score to 89, but a flurry of wickets by North Coastal had them teetering precariously at 6/100.
This became 7/124 when Rainger fell for 11 and then 8/142 when skipper Townsend was caught for 30.
With the team still needing 27 runs, Nick Toohey and Warnervale’s Hunter Jackson-Sullivan joined forces and slowly edged there way to the total over the course of 53 balls.
The victory was just reward for the side who recorded two wins with the only loss being to Newcastle in the reduced over match.
Final table: Newcastle 19, Central Coast 13, North Coastal 6, Central North 0
It was a disappointing finish for the U16 Bradman Cup side with a narrow ten run loss to North Coastal.
Taking to the field first, a quick start by Lisarow Ourimbah’s Daniel Thompson (2/34) and Terrigal Matcham’s Campbell Crossfield (3/32) helped move through the North Coastal top order and had them struggling at 7/55.
However, the Central Coast were unable to finish the job, with some excellent rear guard batting from North Coastal seeing them reach a very competitive 172.
Tom Noble of Lisarow Ourimbah picked up the final two wickets on his way to 3/25 with Northern Power’s Finn Newell and Brisbane Water’s Lachie Shedden also taking a wicket.
In reply, the U16 top order raced to 1/56 and we’re still looking in control at 3/93.
But a lack of mid-order saw them dismantled in the 49th over for 162.
Jett Mason starred for North Coastal taking 5/29 off his 10 overs.
The Bradman Cup side finished the carnival with one win from their three games with North Coastal becoming the winners.
Final table: North Coastal 19, Newcastle 13, Central Coast 7, Central Northern 0.
Haakon Barry