Match Reports - Round 3

Round 3 - 21st/22nd November 2009

Longley Cricket Club recorded one win from three matches this weekend, with C grade having the bye first round.

Results

Home games

A

Longley 204 (48) (F Lenhardt 48, M Taylor 44, L Bartulovic 33*, C Schreuder 20, A Cherry 2-19, G Kerr 2-54) dw Slab Road (washout)

C

Huonville 4-71 (17) (R Cantrill 2-28, T McIvor 24*) dw Longley (washout)

Away games

B1

North Huon 177 (49.3) (S Fletcher 45, S Stevenson 38, Z Duggan 28, J Watson 21, D Smith 3-16, A Fenton 3-44, A Kibbey 2-23) d Longley (A Fenton 42, S Harris 29, T Geeves 4-33, S Flakemore 2-9, S Fidler 2-23)

B2

North Huon 265 (50) (S Coad 57*, N Bartels 35, B Bell 35, L Andrews 31, G Cordwell 24, J Bartels 23, B Womersley 3-66, S Buchanan 2-36) d Longley 170 (29.5) (B Coppleman 50, A Fitzgerald 46, B Bell 5-46, L Andrews 4-33)

Match Reports

Longley Cricket Club played four matches this weekend.

In A grade Longley hosted last year’s premiers, Slab Road, and unfortunately the weather came out on top in a match that was shaping up as more of a contest than the Roadies were expecting. With the game being abandoned at the halfway mark due to constant drizzle falling and the ground being deemed unsafe to continue play, the Bunyips completed their innings and had the Roadies’ bowlers frustrated with some disciplined and patient batting. An improved batting performance on previous weeks, and posting a respectable score of 204, being bowled out at the end of the 48th over, the Bunyips held their own against the benchmark side. Batting at the top of the order English imports Franco Lenhardt (48) and Matthew Taylor (44), with good support from opener Charles Schreuder (20), got the innings off to a solid start putting on 96 runs for the first two wickets. Luke Bartulovic, playing his first A grade game for the club, continued his good form from B grade in previous weeks, compiling 33 not out batting in the middle order. Lesser scores came from the remainder of the middle and lower order but by sticking around and supporting each other in forming partnerships, the Bunyips posted their highest total of the season so far. A good Slab Road bowling attack was made to work hard for their wickets, and with no single bowler dominating the Longley batsmen, our A grade players can take confidence from the shortened match that they can match it with the best of the A grade competition. In what was at times a more heated match than what the cool day provided, the frustration showed by a few of the players indicates that the return match later in the season is likely to be an interesting affair and have a few points to settle, and this report may indeed not be the final word on last week’s match.

In both B grade games Longley played the North Huon Warriors at their two home grounds. In B1 at Ranelagh, the Warriors batted first and were bowled out for 177 in the final over. After a strong start to their innings, scoring at over four an over inside the first ten, the Warriors were pegged back by very good bowling from the Bunyips’ attack. Andrew Kibbey (2-23) bowled tight line and length, creating a number of chances, and unlucky not to pick up a few more wickets with some dropped catches again costing the Bunyips. Jesse Arnold (1-19) bowled ten hostile overs, keeping most of the Warriors batsmen on the back foot and also unlucky not to pick up more than the single wicket. Veterans Andrew Fenton (3-44) and Damien Smith (3-16) showed all of their bowling experience in the final overs, keeping pressure on the run rate and picking up the last six wickets in five overs and preventing the home side from using wickets in hand late in their innings to post a bigger target than what was achieved. In reply the Longley batsmen could not back up the good effort in the field, and struggled early against the Warriors opening bowlers. With the score at 4-40 the Bunyips were in trouble before the responsible batting of Andrew Fenton (42), and the attacking innings of Sam Harris (29) put together a good partnership and had the Warriors again under some pressure defending the moderate target. Andrew Kibbey also batted well for a patient 19. With the fall of those key wickets, the remaining batsmen could not put together another partnership sufficient to reach the target and fell short by 34 runs, bowled out for 144 in the 39th over.

In B2 at Glen Huon, The Warriors batted first and posted a very good score of 265. The Bunyips’ bowling attack could not make early inroads and with most of the Warriors’ batsmen reaching double figures and batting through their 50 overs, the score was always going to be a challenging target for the Bunyips. Andrew Fitzgerald (1-25) bowled economically from his 10 overs. Brian Womersley (3-66) again caused batsmen to make errors with his wily leg spin, creating a number of close stumping chances with two successful dismissals completed by keeper Matthew Riseley, but was targeted by the Warriors looking to accelerate the scoring rate after their good start. In reply, the Bunyips started very well with a 100 run opening stand in the first 15 overs between Andrew Fitzgerald (46) and Ben Coppleman (50), scoring his first half century for the Bunyips. Unfortunately the Bunyips middle and lower order could not back up the openers’ efforts, with the Warriors’ 2nd and 3rd change bowlers Leigh Andrews and Brad Bell cleaning up with 9 wickets between them, and the Bunyips being bowled out for 170 in the 29th over.

Both B grade matches between the Warriors and the Bunyips were played in a great spirit and with friendly rivalry. Returning to the clubrooms at Ranelagh the four teams shared an after match beer and some sharing of war stories, which capped off two good games between the clubs. The Bunyips congratulate the Warriors on the successful merger of the two founding clubs, forming a strong club with a good culture and showing great sportsmanship on the field. We are looking forward to future competition with our neighbouring club and wish them success this season.

In C grade, Longley hosted Huonville and 17 overs were managed before the weather gods again intervened. Huonville had made 4-71 before play was called off for the day. Ryan Cantrill (2-28) was the only bowler to take wickets, the other two wickets to fall to run outs.

Certainly some improvement from the Bunyips this past weekend, but again finishing the round without a win. Our A grade team play a double header next weekend, visiting Huonville on Saturday and hosting Snug on Sunday. Both B grade sides are playing the Southern Tigers two B grade sides and C grade will have the bye. Sunday’s A grade game at home will be an ideal opportunity for players from our other grades and all of our supporters to build up a supportive crowd at home and see our top team in action. Our goal this coming weekend is to post our first A grade win for the season, and ideally two wins from the two matches to put us back in the mix on the A grade ladder.

View the week 3 scoresheet.