.png)
Wanderers Cricket - Round 7 Wrap
- leichhardtcricket
- Dec 2, 2025
- 23 min read
November 29th / 30th, 2025.
What a fantastic weekend of junior cricket! Results are one thing, but reading this week's match reports and all of the individual highlights, acts of sportsmanship and little stories from our games of cricket, it's clear that there's always more to it than the result! We only have a couple of weekends to play before our summer break, so enjoy your cricket whilst you can!
We're looking forward to our clubhouse event on Friday and we hope to see plenty of familiar faces at Blackmore as we celebrate the season so far. The BBQ will be fired up and serving from around 5pm with cold drinks also on offer. For those who need to stock up on any uniform or training kit, you can place your order online via the link below and pick up on the night - or you can purchase directly at the clubhouse if you prefer. With the second Ashes test commencing on Thursday, we'll have Day 2 live on the big screens in the clubhouse. With a day-night match, play should continue until late (~10pm!).
Around The Grounds: Highlights & Match Reports
Performance of the Round
Gus Cassim (U17 Black and U17 White) - Gus, doing his bit for the club, played in two U17 matches on Sunday, both morning and afternoon. He managed to score a half-century in both games to earn two spots on the batting honour roll! Throw in a couple of wickets to round out an awesome weekend - nice work Gus! Stats: for U17 White - 87* (off 56), 11x fours, 2x sixes; 2 for 20 (off 4); for U17 Black - 53 (off 33), 8x fours, 1x six; plus 1x catch. Double Honour Roll
Highlights
Alice Thornton (U11 Girls Red) - 2 for 16 (off 4) - first wickets, on debut!
Elsie Bowen (U11 Girls Black) - first career wicket!
Louis Garber (U10 White) - 2x catches, 1x run-out Honour Roll
Thomas Platen (U10 White) - 1x catch, 2x run-outs Honour Roll
Frederick Werner-Gibbings (U10 White) - 2x run-outs, 1x stumping Honour Roll
Huxley Emerson (U10 White) - 3 for 12 (off 2)
Joe Gallagher (U11 Gold) - 3 for 20 (off 3)
Archie Foye (U11 Red) - 3 for 15 (off 3)
Jack Malone (U12 White) - 2x catches, 1x run-out; 1 for 23 (off 3) Honour Roll
Jacob Watson (U12 Red) - 2x catches, 2x run-outs; 1 for 18 (off 5) Honour Roll
Daniel Faine (U12 Red) - first club wicket! (1 for 8, off 2)
Archer Hudson (U13 White) - 66* (off 54), 7x fours, 2x sixes; 2 for 4 (off 1.4) Honour Roll
Oliver Stoddart (U13 White) - 30* (off 44), 4x fours; 1 for 5 (off 2)
Eamon Russell (U13 White) - 3x catches; 1 for 1 (off 3) Honour Roll
Jacob Skowno (U13 Black) - 36 (off 23), 7x fours; 2x catches
Gus Blackley (U17 Black) - 5 for 24 (off 5); 44 (off 27), 7x fours, 1x six; 1x catch Honour Roll
Nik Warmerdam (D-Grade) - 51, 4x fours, 1x six Honour Roll
Alessandro Vari (B-Grade) - 3 for 49 (off 4.2); 1x catch
Bede Russell (D-Grade) - 87*, 7x fours, 1x six; 2x wickets; 2x catches Honour Roll
Lior Kalisse (D-Grade) - 5 for 29 (off 5.4) Honour Roll
Match Reports
S3 Girls - LWCC (94) def. by Easts CC Narwhals (5-139)
The Pirates won the toss and elected to bowl. Carmen and Ellen opened against a very quick attack, Carmen seeing through her 20 balls for 3* and Ellen out to a cracking delivery. Charlotte 6 (5) and Lila 9 (14) had entertaining but short innings’, and Harper faced 11 balls with style before Ava 10 (12) and Cate 15 (19) steadied the ship, along with Suki seeing our allocated 20 balls for 2*. We were happy to get to the last over before we were all out.
We knew the Pirates would also be a tough batting side and we were right! Charlotte 0-20 (2) and Connie 0-19 (2) opened the bowling, before Sofia 1-17 (2) knocked middle stump over, with Cate doing the same few overs later 1-18 (2). Bella was solid behind the stumps but the Pirates were simply too good on the day.
The game was again played with great spirit and excellent support from the team and parents alike. Well done girls for a good game of cricket.
U11 Girls Red - LWCC (117) def. by Easts CC Dolphins (138)
The U11 Reds hosted the league leading Easts at Blackmore. Easts elected to bat and got off to a great start, scoring well through the onside. Some excellent bowling and fielding kept the score reasonable, with Alice taking a wicket on debut, Adelaide snaffling a caught behind and runs outs for Imi and Susie. Crucially, Easts took 7 wickets which proved to be the difference.
The total was always going to be imposing, but all the girls batted well against a well drilled fielding unit. On-loan Karthika belted 24 while Adelaide hit her first 3 balls for 4 to end on 19, leaving the Reds 20 shy of the required total but justifiably proud of a strong showing.
U11 Girls Black - LWCC (101) def. by Ashfield CC Magpies (74)
Round 7 saw the U11 Girls Black team looking to go back to back wins after bagging their first victory in the previous match. And wow, the girls did not disappoint! Sent in to bat by Ashfield, the girls were on fire taking 8 wickets! With the teams most accurate bowling of the season, they shared wickets across the park. Elsie picked up her first bowled wicket of her career (bowling with a fractured finger to boot). Ella, Bonnie and Annabel also shook the bails with their accuracy. Annabel was never out of the action, she got two more (both caught behind) with her blistering pace and some fine catching from our keepers Lucia and Ella. Rounding out the wickets was a run out from Lucia and a skillful reflex caught and bowled by Evelina.
Fielding was also impressive. A highlight being Audrey nearly pulling off the catch of the decade fielding at square leg, saving a certain four in the process and keeping Ashfield to a single only with a fine throw back to the keeper.
Next came the batting. The spectators at Ashfield Park had no idea of what they were about to witness. With 20 balls each to face this week, our batters were able to get their eye in and build a nice total. The Ashfield team were a strong bowling outfit with plenty of tall players, but there were plenty of balls to hit as well. Evelina, Audrey batted solidly at the start, followed by Annabel and Bonnie, who showed fine skills with running intent and clean strikes. At this point we'd only lost a handful of wickets. Victory was in sight and then came the steam train! Ella and Lucia anchored the innings beautifully. They ran, then ran some more taking singles, byes, two's and smashed powerful fours. Their partnership bagged close than 40 runs.
In the end, the girls won by 30!
Plenty to be proud of, and cannot wait for Round 8!
U17 White - LWCC (5-165) def. Randwick JCC Storm (7-161)
So far this season the White have struggled to put together a complete game with both bat and ball. To be honest we have struggled to get a complete team onto the field in any of our games this season as a combination of illness and injury has meant we often find ourselves with nine players and more holes in the field than the finest of Swiss cheeses. And just like a solar eclipse is the result of heavenly alignment this Sunday we managed to get a full team on the field courtesy of the Black who had completed their game at Kensington Park just before we were due to start ours. Sometimes the cards just have to fall your way- even if the toss continues to be a challenge as we lost and took to the field.
With a full squad and an air of optimism our captain Theo marshalled our troops and along with Beau opened the bowling. A few loose deliveries saw a strong start by RJCC and moving along to 30 runs without loss and runs coming at 5-6 an over. But then things started to happen. Beau took the first wicket and scoring started to tighten. Hugo then struck with a fine ball and the faintest of edges to remove the other opener. Runs dried up and scoring dropped to 3-4 an over as Dara and Frazer combined to slow things down. Then after the drinks break with RJCC keen to up the scoring Nick struck with a full straight ball to get an LBW and Eddie combined with Frazer who took a fine catch on the boundary to remove RJCC’s highest scorer. Runs continued to be hard to find with Bryn standing tall behind the stumps saving byes and keeping pressure on. Gus C then struck with two wickets in his final overs. The first was a great catch by Beau to take a very firmly struck ball at short extra-cover and the second a well judged effort by Frazer at mid-wicket. Then on the last ball of the RJCC innings Theo claimed the last wicket with an LBW to close RJCC innings at 7-161 so our target would be circa 5 runs an over.
Now it was over to the batters. Eddie and Dara opened the batting against some tight fast bowling. Dara looked in good form with a well struck boundary only to get bowled leg stump soon after. 1-5 and it could have been easy to for the boys to let it slip away. But Frazer coming in at number three combined with Eddie to build out past 50 runs after 12 overs. Both batters were set and looking good when Eddie gets trapped in front LBW to a fine piece of fast bowling (2-53). This brought Gus C to the crease fresh off a fifty for the black and keen to help the white. Gus played his way in but quickly accelerated to see the White go to the innings break 86 runs on the board outing us more or less on track for the target. Immediately after the break RJCC struck though with Frazer clean bowled by a piece of fine spin bowling and Quinlan coming to the crease (3-86). Quin immediately looked busy but couldn’t quite get set and was caught at gully chasing a wide one (4-109). Meanwhile Gus was accumulating runs and looking dangerous bringing up his fifty. Beau provided good support striking a boundary and running hard only fall to some more fine spin bowling (5-135). This brought Declan to the crease and determined to give Gus the support he needed to close out the innings. Soaking up 20 deliveries and scoring seven valuable runs Declan was the brick wall to Gus’ hammer at the other end. Declan scored two to tie the scores and then Gus hit the winning runs to see the White win by 5 wickets.
Cricket isn’t always about the winning it is the joy of playing with your mates and being part of a team. This season has been very tough for the White and this was a fine way to end our Spring campaign. Thank you to Gus and Frazer for their contributions.
U17 Black - LWCC (169) def. by Randwick JCC Phoenix (6-173)
The U17 Black finished just on the wrong side of a closely fought contest between two evenly matched teams, but still had a lot to be satisfied with. When Gus B was dismissed in the 40s, we thought it would be his first week of absence from the honours roll, but his five wicket haul meant that he will feature as a bowler this week. Gus C went one better, his fine 53 for the Blacks in the morning was followed by an unbeaten 87 for the Whites in the afternoon; a magnificent double contribution to the Wanderers cause. Keshav and Will both batted patiently and sensibly for their best scores of the season.
Unfortunately, however, the key moments went against the Wanderers, and the total proved to be a few runs fewer than we needed. A century second wicket partnership gave the game to Phoenix so it is them, not us, who now sit at the top of the table.
U15 White - LWCC (6-166) def. by Concord Briars Gold (2-167)
Match report courtesy of captain Jack F: What a day of cricket! After choosing to bat first our openers got off to a flying start, scoring 50 runs before Anton 19 (21) got unluckily bowled and Jack F got caught 29 (36). Our middle order struggled, before Darcy and Yoris both scored much needed 25’s to revive our innings. Our lower order had a swing with Bowie 10* (6) and Jack H 4 (6) to settle our largest score of 166!
Our bowling started well, with a caught behind wicket from Darcy and later another caught behind from Yoris. Unfortunately they just got away from us, but it’s not something to be ashamed of. I saw great intent and I loved our pressure and the way we carried ourselves even when all hope was lost. As wicket keeper I enjoyed some mind games with the rep batters, and I was very impressed with Charlie’s and Jack H’s bowling, even if we didn't get to put in 7 slips.
U15 Black - LWCC (1-66) def. Ryde Hunters Hill Pirates Jolly Rogers (65)
The old sparring partner sparked much discussion with the LWCC players all week. They were busy exchanging fielding positions, bowling and batting orders, strategies on how to overcome. It was relentless right up until 30 mins before until we realised, both teams were short a few players again. Admittedly the Rogers were a bit underpowered but they called in some pretty decent players who still were able to throw together a solid team.
LWCC lost the toss (captain Barnabas claimed that was his intention), so we were bowling first on a warm and extremely windy afternoon. Adequately prepped and warmed up our team started strong. Only the 3rd ball Xavier (3 overs, 2-10) claimed the first wicket with a thick edge - sharp catch by Naveen in Gully, followed up by another wicked in the 3rd over - Austin took an excellent catch at point. Both openers dismissed without disturbing the scorers (pair of ducks never looks good on a scorecard...). Linus provided excellent pressure bowling from the other end (3 overs, 0-9).
The bowling continued down this path - Austin (3 overs 1-9) sent an edge from a persistent outside off line to Harrison Burke (WK) as did Ronav (2 overs 1-3), fantastic caught and bowled to Nevaan (3 overs, 1-9), George (2-5 off 1.2) took two wickets, both catches - sent to Austin and our sub. Ted (2 overs, 0-2). Barnabas (2 overs, 1-14) created a simple catch for Xavier. Solid contributions from all the bowlers given we only needed 20 overs to bowl them all out - 8-65. Disappointing total - but this was because our bowlers were straight and full with minimal extras. The wicketless bowlers contributed similarly and kept the pressure on. Excellent positivity in the field, minimal runs given away, the pressure continually applied to the opposition - the run rate was typically kept at a miserly 3 an over. Solid keeping from Harrison, and some excellent displays of focused fielding from Ted and Ryan. I love how this group is growing, they are very self directed, they respect each other and love playing as a team.
Batting was quick and ruthless. Nevaan 24* (30) opened with Barnabas 22* (43), set the pace, we retired Barnabas for Austin to take over, 7 (5), the only wicket in our innings. Xavier didn’t have much to do, 1* (2) with Nevaan hitting the winning run. Total 1-66 off only 14 overs.
Big thanks for Ted Fitzpatrick for filling in for us this week. Special mention to George for taking 2 wickets in only 8 balls, and the rest of the team who didn’t get to bat at all. It was a clinical victory, one the team thoroughly enjoyed. Congratulations boys!
U13 Derby - LWCC White (4-165) def. LWCC Gold (47)
White
It was a club derby at a windy Greenlees Park.
At the coin toss each team could only name seven players - enough to proceed with a game.
The Whites batted first, with Eamon, Archer and Oliver at the top of the innings each seeing off some very tidy bowling and to face their 30 balls. Noah batted well lower down the order to also retire after facing 30. It was a special effort by an unwell James L who helped the team get a position where our returning batters could play with freedom and up the scoring rate. Getting to 165 off 30 overs was a great team effort. Archer top scored 66* off 54 balls. Oliver (30* off 40 balls) also scored well.
Noah and James L took the new ball and each were tidy. Noah took two wickets in two balls in his first over. Kurtis hit the deck hard in his spell. Eamon, Archer and Oliver were also in form, taking the remaining wickets. Archer’s second wicket was Eamon’s third catch of the game. That catch, and the always reliable wicket keeping by James A, typified the excellent fielding that was on display by each of the team members.
U13 Black - LWCC (6-122) def. by Easts CC Sunrisers (119)
A tight win by 2 wickets made for an exciting finish this week for the U13 Black.
Losing the toss and bowling, the opposition built steadily into their innings, protecting wickets, before hitting out at the end to make a respectable 119. 2 wickets each to both Zach and Lachie as well as a superb catch by our super-sub Jacob wrapped up their innings with 1 over to go.
Zach showed some fight opening the batting for 18 and Bradley got to retire for the first time this season with 10*. But it was super-sub Jacob who shone with the bat with an amazing 36 off 23 balls, ably supported by James 18* off 13 (including a 6 to finish the game) to secure the win.
Well done team on another great performance.
U12 Black - LWCC (39) def. by Ryde Hunters Hill Pirates Galleons (2-316)
Conditions were extremely windy with hats blowing off, bails refusing to stay on and even the stumps sent toppling over a few times. The Pirates won the toss, chose to bat and got off to a flying start and barely relented throughout their innings, consistently scoring over 10 per over.
Louis (1-32) took an excellent return catch off his own bowling for what he thought was the first wicket only to find it was a no ball. Unperturbed by the disappointment, he got a legitimate wicket later in same over with help from Noah's safe hands at mid-off. Captain Angus (1-46) opened the bowling today and got a wicket in his second spell with a sharp caught and bowled for our only other wicket. On a day when any ball landing short was punished with a boundary, an economy rate of under 10 was a good spell, with Rufus (0-37) and Felix (0-21) both bowling a good line and length.
Facing a huge run chase of 317 to win, the team talked about making sure they batted through the overs today, but the Pirates bowling was too strong. Dilhan looked great opening the batting, but was out trying to up the tempo. After some quick wickets, Felix steadied the ship in the middle order with some lovely boundaries in his top score of 14 until he was bowled by what he described as "the best ball I've ever faced."
Special mention to Charlie who bravely faced the fastest seven balls he's ever seen and to Toby who 'walked' after nicking one to the keeper but was given not out by the umpire, who no doubt couldn't hear a thing in the wind. When asked after the game what happened, he said "the keeper knew I hit it, the bowler knew I hit it and I knew I hit it, so I'm out." Pretty simple really.
U12 Red - LWCC (6-107) def. by Concord Briars Green (8-147)
Won the toss and elected to bowl. Great to see the support of injured Dylan C coming to the game and cheering on his mates. It was a good team effort, taking all 8 Briars wickets is rare. Jacob W, our new recruit, got the team going with a direct hit runout. Jacob had a stella debut with 2 run-outs, 2 catches and a wicket. Coming back from injury Daniel F claimed his first wicket in club. It was a great moment to celebrate. Kiran C pick of the bowlers with 2 wickets including caught behind to gloveman Emmett H. Wickets to Oscar R & John O and I felt we had a great chance to chase it down.
Coming out to bat, our openers were dismissed cheaply, and this very much put us on the back foot. A great partnership between Emmett H and debutant Jacob W, 24 and 22* respectively, was wonderful to watch great understanding in running between wickets. A fine knock from Kiran C not out and Daniel F not out. We could not get the job done this week, but its great see the improvement in all the players with regards to fielding and running singles and twos.
The spirit and sportsmanship between the Briars coaches/umpires and Leichhardt, significantly took the sting out of the loss.
U12 Gold - LWCC (8-46) def. by Ryde Hunters Hill Pirates (8-212)
The day started with a strong breeze, and a daunting looking league table. No wins on the board for Leichhardt, but still - there's always hope.
A won toss, and we put in the Pirates.
A running mix-up first ball, and a diamond duck as Xavier throws down the stumps.
Could this be the day when hope turns into reality?
Unfortunately, this start maybe over-excited our players. We bowl a bit too loose, and give away too many extras. However, a steady stream of wickets, including great caught and bowleds from Dilhan and Hugo, a great bowled from Finley, and some great run outs from Xavier and Hugo meant there was always some hope as the innings progressed.
Unfortunately, the Pirates were a cricketing hydra - you remove one rep player, and another walks to the crease... Eventually we get them all out, but the score was 212 at this point. Disappointingly 76 of these were extras.
Our batting started steadily, with 5 overs without a wicket. However, just when Harry and Jack were settled, they found the middle of the bat, but straight to a fielder. Henry batted well to get not out, but the rep bowlers kept their line and length, and any missed balls flew into the stumps.
Eventually we were all out for 46. It's the hope that kills you sometimes...
But hope springs eternal, and we'll be there next Saturday, ready for action and ready to find that elusive win.
U11 Gold - LWCC (132) def. by Concord Briars Green (185)
Harvey B was voted to be our Captain for this match, after his stunning efforts the week before getting himself onto the LWCC Honour Roll. Harvey won the toss and sent the 'Golds' into bat.
Rory P and Joe G opened the batting, with Rory getting us off on the right foot with a big hit to the boundary for four runs... unfortunately followed that up with a miss hit back to the bowler to give the Briars their first wicket of the match. Joe G kept the action happening with another boundary to get our scorecard moving, however he was left guessing from a deceptive full toss that crashed into his stumps, gifting the Briars another wicket. Both batters recovered from these mishaps to sneak out some much-needed extras, off some lazy fielding by the Briars team.
Dorian A and captain Harvey B stepped up to the crease next, and both boys defended stoutly - with Dorian smashing three fours from his twenty balls faced. Although Harvey got bowled off an absolute peach of a delivery – his energy and running between the wickets helped keep the Gold’s scoresheet ticking along, finishing his innings with a commanding boundary.
Ben T and Reef R came out to play and what a solid pairing they proved to be - looking for runs on every delivery and getting our innings over the 100 runs mark for the loss of just 3 wickets, frustrating the Briars attack with their staunch performance. Excellent steadfast batting boys!
Our turn to bowl and pile on the pressure on the Briars. With fielding drills being high on our team’s 'to do list', it was an ‘electric’ Reef R that got us our first wicket (a Briars Rep player) with a scintillating run out, off the bowling of Ben T.
Joe G delivered an absolute peach of a delivery to clean bowl a dazed and confused Briar’s batter. He went on to clean bowl two more Briars batters, to finish his stats with ‘three for’- this accurate, tight bowling by Joe G and his resilient batting performance earned him the ‘player of the match’ awarded by our captain Harvey B - well done Joe! I suspect that visit to Perth to watch the Aussies in the first Ashes game, has sparked something in you, you therefore have my full permission to watch all four remaining tests - no matter what your mum says!
Rory P chimed in with some sharpish pace to pick up two more much needed wickets, with Ben T and Reef R both bowling with enthusiasm, but as the wind picked up and a bit of fatigue set in, the boys had a hard time bowling with the venom needed to stem those cheeky boundaries.
We went down in the final wash up - but kudos to Reef R and Harvey B, who demonstrated unbelieve athleticism and determination in the outfield. Harvey B also kept wicket for ten overs this game, showing that he has a good pair of hands, not letting anything get past him. All in all, a great performance - the Briars just showed a touch more resilience and managed to get away some lucky boundaries, even though we got them six times, to us losing the three wickets. Quick thank you to both Claire G and Jane P for taking on the scoring role for this match - much appreciated. Finally, it was a game that the boys should not only take a lot from, but be proud of the sportsmanship and competitiveness they showed. True Wanderers, through and through!
U11 Red - LWCC (188) def. Concord Briars Maroon (122)
LWCC achieved their highest total of the season so far (188) with a combination of bat and ball magic….
Finn, captain for the day, won the all-important toss and elected to field first with cloud cover hovering above Callan Park. The penalty run count (44) was a big factor in Reds high score this week, with wickets coming from all areas. Archie B started the proceedings from his position in long stop with the second ball of the match. With a fast deliver from Sam flying past the wicket keeper, the Briars took the opportunity for a quick single only to be run-out from a direct hit from Archie B. Spencer picked up a superb wicket with a caught & bowled combination. Archie F took out top honours on the bowling this week with 3 wickets as well a catch in the field. Jeremy produced another run-out this week with a direct hit to go with his 2 wickets. Rohan 1 wicket and 1 catch, Archie B (1), Sam (1) were the other wicket takers. 11 outs/44 penalty runs gave the team a great foundation to go into bat.
Finn (C) and Archie F (9) opened the batting for the Reds, with Finn scoring 4 boundaries in his total of 20, making dad Michael sweat as the $10’s started to rack up! Archie F also got in on the boundary action with a beautiful hook shot! Sam topped scored this week with 26, including 4 boundaries. Jeremy (5), Rohan (10), Patrick (3), Spencer (10) and Archie B (16), brought up an impressive total for the team of 188!
Unlike Ben Stokes and the English cricket team, manager Chris Biggs got the preparations just right with a session in the nets paying off…
U10 Red - LWCC (143) def. by Ryde Hunters Hill Pirates Treasures (177)
It was a challenging outing for the U10 Red this weekend. Skipper Lucy won the toss and chose to bowl, but we quickly discovered we were up against a very determined batting line-up. They defended the good balls well, and the choppy outfield made our fielding even tougher. Krish, Jack E, Luca, and Henry all charged in and worked hard to hit the right areas, but the wickets just wouldn’t come early.
Jude continued his impressive improvement with a terrific maiden over, and just before the drinks break Jack T lit up the field with a brilliant run out from the boundary - exactly the spark we needed.
After drinks, some uncharacteristic extras and too many overthrows meant we lost control of the run rate, although quick thinking from Spencer and Will produced two more run outs. In the final overs, Lucy (our best bowling figures of the day with 1-11) and Will both pitched the ball up and were rewarded with 'bowleds', giving us a lift heading into the innings break - but with a big total still to chase.
Our batting response started brightly. Spencer, Will (top scorer with 16), and Lucy all found the boundary and had us tracking nicely with the required rate while Jude stayed strong and kept his wickets intact for the fourth week in a row. Luca, Jack E, and Krish tried to keep the runs flowing through the middle overs, but the pressure of the chase proved tricky and unfortunately, we lost a few too many wickets. Jack T fought all the way to the end, and for a moment it looked like he might just pull off a miracle chase. But the target proved just a bit too much, even for his batting talent.
The highlight of the day belonged to Henry. He has been working incredibly hard on his batting this season, and today was his best performance yet. He went agonisingly close to his first boundary with a beautiful cover drive that was only stopped by a diving save on the rope. On the very next delivery, he doubled down and hammered a pull shot to the fence. His determination, improvement, and shot-making earned him a well-deserved Player-of-the-Mach award.
Despite falling short, it was still a solid effort chasing a big total. This talented group won’t stay down for long, they always bounce back!
U9 Red - LWCC (155) def. Concord Briars Black (44)
The Leichhardt Wanderers U9 Red had an impressive away win today against Concord Briars U9 Black.
Asked to bowl first, LWCC U9 Red did well to restrict the opposition to 44 runs and take 5 wickets as well. Mateo took 2 for 2 off his two overs, Hudson conceding only 8 of his two, Bodhi taking and impressive 2 for 4 of his two and Ollie (1-4) and Drew (0-7) continuing to bowl at pace against the opposition.
Frankie contributed again with 12 runs from his two overs. Then it was our turn to bat, and it was fireworks from the get-go. Player of the match, Hudson, backed up an impressive fielding display by scoring 28 runs including a number of pulls and hooks scoring 5 boundaries. Mateo scored 26 runs including a six for the second game in a row. Drew scored 11 with the bat, and Frankie played well for his 19 as well. Ollie scored an impressive 27 runs with some excellent left-handed hitting to the boundary (6 boundaries) and Bodhi another 21 runs to continue his good form with the bat.
Overall, this was an incredible team effort and a win of 155 to 44, even more impressive given the powerplay was not in use today. Well done to the entire team as they take some great form into round 8 of the season.
U9 White - LWCC (71) def. by Iron Cove Siberian Tigers (100)
What an awesome facility the Rozelle Parklands is, and Wanderers turned up excited and ready to play on this amazing ground after making the long road trip from Leichhardt (and securing a parking spot). Tigers won the toss and elected to bat first on a dewy oval.
Wow, what a start to the innings it was. The first handful of overs were a display of ‘bowling brilliance’ from Wanderers. Eoghan took the new ball and set the tone with a maiden to start the innings. Benji followed that with a super-accurate over, before Conor then clean bowled a Tigers batter middle stump. It was an amazing start. Archie was fast and furious, and well done to Tilly, who produced some of her best bowling of the season.
The 6th over of the game will forever be remembered as ‘the Beetson over’, with Asher clean bowling a Tigers batter with a ripper of a ball. Three balls later, Benji swooped on a ball in the gully, and threw a direct hit to effect the best runout of the year. Incredible! At the halfway point of the Tigers innings, it felt like Wanderers were on well top.
Full credit to the Tigers batters who fought their way back into the game, finding the going easier in the second half of their innings. Wanderers produced a bit of wonky fielding at times and the wickets had dried up. There was some good bowling too, and well done to Rauiri and Freddy who both bowled some top deliveries. Again it was Conor who broke through for Wanderers, taking another wicket in his second over. In the end Tigers had clawed their way up to 75 runs. The game was evenly poised…. Could the kids from Blackmore get the job done?
The opening pairing of Rauiri and Asher are full of Wanderers spirit and didn’t flinch when asked to open the innings… It was a tough challenge as Tigers early bowling was absolutely top class. Asher broke a series of dot balls with a powerful pull shot for four to get the chase underway. There was some great loud calls and some terrific running between the wickets by these two ‘young guns’.
Archie and Benji then came to the crease. Again, the bowling was really tough, and scoring was hard, but the pairing did well to bat without losing a wicket. Archie blasted one down the ground for four on the last ball of the pairing to keep Wanderers in the chase. Wanderers then brought in the ‘sister - bro’ combo of Tilly and Freddy. They batted bravely against some tough bowling, with Tilly hitting a few powerful shots of the tee.
Wanderers last pairing or Eoghan and Conor batted unbelievably well and added 30 runs to the total. Eoghan is now officially a ‘first ball specialist’ and he did what he seems to do every week, by hitting his first ball for a brilliant four. He has added a cover drive to his tool-box of shots, and it is awesome to see him now scoring on both sides of the wicket. Conor was equally sensational, and his leg glance for four (which nearly hit the coach) was a touch of class.
In the end, the total was just a bit too tough for Wanderers, and despite our amazing efforts with the ball, we were just slightly off the pace in the field and with the bat.
Our opponents are improving every week, especially the quality of the bowling we are facing, and it is incredible seeing every wanderers player stepping up and improving. This was a brilliant game to watch, and was played in a great spirit. Well done to Tigers, and hats off to a superb performance by Wanderers.
We are Leichhardt Wanderers Through and Through!
