O’DOWD DECLARES SEASON 2013-14 ARTICLE NO 6 8th.NOVEMBER 2013 St.Josephs was again led by star all-rounder, Daniel Fanning opening the innings with a gutsy 80 last saturday against Leopold following his 73 the previous round, the opening partnerships in the previous two rounds reaping 132 & 138 in tandem with Ravi Ravee (Ravee’s 53 & 59) and the catalyst’s for The Saints two victories in the last two rounds in the Clubs 50th.year. The opening stands brought back memories of the flamboyant years of current Club President Ken Gannon and David Breheny who both attacked the innings with ferocity in the 1970’s & 1980’s However Jake O’Donoghue blitzed Leopold with his “offies” with a career best and stunning 5/10 off just 6.3 overs, his major scalps being Leopold star guns Ben O’Brien & David Kirk, O’Donoghues previous best over 7 seasons being 3/11. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX North Geelong continued its dominance being undefeated and heading the ladder with a comfortable win over East-Belmont, 5/236 to 222. The Magpies are yet to lose all wickets in a match, Geelong Cricket Club recruit, Jake Thorne in superb form with 241 runs at a brilliant average of 80.3 plus 6 wickets including 3/40 against East last Saturday. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Other GCA “bits & pieces” – Andrew Korth left his Geelong West Club this season for more fertile lands at Grovedale and top scored last Saturday for his newly adopted club with a match winning 49 in Grovedale Club Legend Garry Kelson’s 200th match, the brilliant bat run out for 3. Highton, at one stage sitting comfortable at 1/131 was crunched for 163, Jordon Stone’s 4/25 adding to just his 3 previous career wickets in this his second season but Ex-Ballarat bat Daniel Wright took control of the match with an unbeaten 86 to guide Lara to victory with 1/165. The Murgheboluc fairly-tale contined with its third win last weekend in four matches, its scalp this time in Geelong City , 2/101 to 98. Its three victims to date in St.Josephs, Geelong West and Geelong City with a combined 1922 games since 1928-29 defining the odds of the newest GCA 1st.X1 Club. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The transition between the Geelong Cricket Association (one of the oldest cricket associations in Australia) to the” frenzy” of Premier Cricket is daunting with GCC players experiencing matches in Melbourne on Saturdays and Sundays starting on the bus trip at 8am and arriving back home 12 hours later let alone the training 3 or 4 days a week. It’s a tough road but required to make the “next step” to higher levels. The “tough road” is being experienced by Eamonn Vines at present. Having transferred from GCA Club South Barwon this season he has had a battle with scores in Premier Cricket of 7, 27, 23 & 0 last week after being recalled the previous round with 31 from the seconds. He is a quality bat and the relationship between GCA & GCC to encourage future stars at times could be premature as Eamonn had a fantastic season last season in GCA 1st.X1 for South Barwon with 630 runs at 48.7 but his previous two seasons at South Barwon yielded 386 runs at 21.4. He will bounce back. But it’s a team game and Geelong’s superb score of 7/291 was not only strengthened by English County side Lancashire’s import Khalid Sawas’ run out 70 but also Michael Condy’s 59, being his highest score well eclipsing his previous best in premier Cricket Records of 27. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX On saturday the Caulfield Dynasty continues with yet another “Caulfield” adding his name to both the GCA record books and at East-Belmont CC. Mathew will play his 100th. GCA 1st.X1 match against St.Josephs at Russell Zamaptti Oval. A strong bowler off “just a few paces” his 174 wickets have been collected at a trim 16.5 a piece, a twice premiership player for East since his GCA 1st.X1 debut in 1998-99 against Leopold. Consistent rather than “magnificent” his rapidly accumulated wickets have been achieved with a best of 6/18 having passed 5 wickets in an innings on just 6 occasions but again a consistent 3 wickets in an innings on an above average 27 times. The “Caulfield” name is synonymous at East-Belmont on equal status as the “McMahon” name. Mathew’s father Peter and his uncle’s in Brian , Dennis & John all played 1st.X1 cricket at East, Peter the most celebrated with 248 matches with 443 wickets and “taming the West-Indies” on this day in 1979 at the Western Oval with a brutal 68 for Geelong & Districts against the then world’s best bowlers in Andy Roberts, Collis Croft & Malcolm Marshall, young Peter never before having passed 30 in an innings in his life. Proud eldest brother John also holds a record in GCA 1st.X1 records with 55 on debut in 1967-68 for East-Belmont against North Shore-Norlane.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 23:19:35 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015