AIC First XI cricket Players of the Week from Round 2
Check out our pick of the 18 players of the week following an extraordinary round 2 of action in the AIC First XI cricket.
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It was a weekend like no other in AIC when Iona College pair Zayne Thomas and Harley Malpass amassed a record breaking performance in round 2.
Thomas scored 252 not out (169 balls) and Malpass 116 not out (89) balls in a run feast against St Edmund’s College.
They were automatic inclusions as Players of the Week. But who joined them?
In a round which saw St Patrick’s Year 10 student Steve Hogan score another century and St Peters Lutheran College join Marist College Ashgrove in making it two wins in a row, there were no shortage of contenders.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
ST PATRICK’S COLLEGE v VILLANOVA COLLEGE
Mitchell Hartshorn (Paddies)
Hartshorn helped his team to victory with a superb knock of 47.
He and Hogan had a tone-setting 109 run partnership before contributing nicely with two super important wickets.
One was opener Kieran Micheletti, the other Villa’s captain, Thomas Reick.
Steve Hogan (Paddies)
Sometimes it’s hard to believe Hogan is in Year 10 when you look at the scoreboard and see how easily he is racking up the runs.
We saw it all season long in the Lord’s Taverners competition and boy has he brought the same energy to this year’s AIC competition.
The young gun raised the bat for yet another hundred and if that wasn’t enough he caught and bowled Villa’s Tristan Bailey, who was 37 runs into a great innings.
Finn Thallon (Villa)
It’s becoming apparent that Thallon has a knack for thumping the ball to the fence. In back-to-back games he has scored half centuries and in both those innings he has hit multiple sixes.
He plays that No. 6 role perfectly, as he can save an innings or finish one off in style.
Connor Moloney (Villa)
Moloney has also been excellent to begin the season, adding a twofer and a speedy 26 with the bat on Saturday.
An all-round athlete who can play Aussie rules, cricket, rugby and rugby league at a very high level, Moloney would have a strong case as one of Villa’s finest sportsmen.
James Weedon (Paddies) also had a great game when opening the batting and scoring 34 off 43, with 24 of his 34 coming from boundaries
RELATED LINKS
AIC FIRST XI PLAYERS OF THE WEEK FROM ROUND
QUEENSLAND 17s THRASH NSW METRO TO WIN GRAND FINAL
READ THE AIC ROUND 1 REPORT HERE
AIC FIRST XI CRICKET PLAYERS TO WATCH
ST PETERS LUTHERAN COLLEGE v ST LAURENCE’S
Sree Bachu (St Peters)
Bachu made a difference with both bat and ball. He picked up two wickets while bowling at under two an over, before opening in style with an unbeaten 51 off 33. During his time at the crease he hit six fours and one six.
You’d think he had somewhere to be given the rush he was in to chase down Laurie’s 84.
Ashish Neredumilli (St Peters)
Neredimulli is a deceivingly quick right-arm pace bowler who can really swing the ball.
He had the Laurie’s top order in all sorts so much so that he dismissed three of them consecutively before taking his fourth in a brilliant second spell.
Indeed he set the tone from the get-go.
Evan Chamberlin (Laurie’s)
Chamberlin challenged the Saints batsmen but in the end 84 was not enough to defend.
He managed to pick up two quick wickets and face 62 balls as he kept the scoreboard chipping away after a middle order collapse.
MARIST COLLEGE ASHGROVE v PADUA COLLEGE
Louis Morris (Ashgrove)
Morris has had some sort of start to the season. On the weekend he had the Padua batters wrapped around his finger, claiming a fifer.
The off spinners figures so far:
Game 1: 4/12 off 10.
Game 2: 5/7 off 10.
Tom Wex (Ashgrove)
Wex was unlucky not to get his half century after playing such a composed game to reach 49.
He was quick between the wickets and patient, playing within himself and only going after the right balls.
He and opening partner Frank Piper will be crucial against Iona.
Will Nickelson (Ashgrove)
Wicketkeeper batsmen Will Nickelson made up for lost time after falling cheaply in round 1 with a classy 62.
When he was at the crease with Ben Ferguson even Padua supporters were in awe of how crisply the pair was timing it.
Behind the stumps he was hard to fault as always.
Ben Ferguson (Ashgrove)
Ferguson had a captains knock of 61 off just 67, looking a class above his whole innings as he picked the gaps.
Unfortunately he was run out, but otherwise who knows how much damage he would have done in those final 10 overs.
Ashgrove will need him on Saturday when they take on Iona.
Will Tozer (Padua)
Tozer did all he could for Padua in a tough loss against Ashgrove.
The talented all-rounder took two wickets before top scoring with 59 in the chase. During his time at the crease, Tozer tonked two big ones which catapulted into the John Eales grandstand.
IONA COLLEGE v ST EDMUND’S
Zayne Thomas (Iona College) and Harley Malpass (Iona College)
The boys shared in an unbroken partnership of 317 as Thomas powered to 252 not out (169 balls) and Malpass to 116 not out (89 balls). Thomas was at his stylish best, producing beautiful cricket shots while the tall Malpass was in tremendous form. Both Thomas’ individual score and the partnership were likely AIC all-time records.
Footnote: Iona’s Year 10 batsman Toby Collins scored 254 not out and shared a partnership of 403 with Joshua Ritchie (128 not out) in a dramatic 35 over performance.
Liam Johns (Iona College)
Lets not forget about this Year 10 student who started the rollercoaster ride on Saturday with a whippy 64 from just 45 balls. He helped Iona race to 90 in just 15 overs, and then onto an opening partnership of 126 before Malpass joined Thomas. Johns also dismissed gritty Eddies’ opener Chris Costello who batted for almost an hour and a half.
Adam Richter and Xander Thierry (Iona College)
Lost in the helter-skelter of runs being scored was the bowling contribution of Adam Richter (4-26) and Xander Thierry (4-21). Both Iona boys claimed four wickets each, with the caught Thierry, bowled Richter combination also ousting St Edmund’s best batsman, Ryder Rundell (47, 89 balls).
ROUND 3
Villanova v St Laurence’s College
St Edmund’s College v Padua
Iona v Marist
St Patrick’s v St Peters Lutheran College
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