Saints awesome foursome recognised in round one AIC First XI Team of the Week
Saints bowling heroes march into the AIC First XI cricket Team of the Week, joining a Paddies’ birthday boy, a Villa batting ace and an old pro from Iona. FULL SQUAD
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It is not too often someone takes 7-23 and plays in a losing side. But St Patrick’s College off-spinner Will Mortimer endured the highs and lows of such an occurrence when his remarkable performance was gate crashed by St Peters’ startling victory.
Mortimer, who claimed seven successive poles on his sweet 16th last Saturday, was the first player chosen in the AIC First XI round one team of the week after a rare debut performance.
Who else made the side?
ROUND 1 REPORT: BIRTHDAY’S SEVEN WICKETS IN A LOSING SIDE
AIC FIRST XI CRICKET PLAYERS TO WATCH
The opening round saw Iona’s premiership defence get off to a flying start, improving St Peters pick up where they left off last year with a win from behind, and both Padua and Villanova have good wins.
TEAM OF THE WEEK
1. Christian Frederiksen (Villanova)
Frederiksen (78) batted deep into the Villa innings to lessen the impact of St Laurence’s late bowling recovery which saw Villanova lose 8-48. A Souths Juniors player in the U16 Brisbane Metro Cup, the patient Frederiksen saw his side safely to 3-192. It was a beautifully paced, old fashioned innings by an opener, playing the ball along the ground, rotating the strike and defying eight opposition bowlers. New coach Nathan Reardon would have loved what he saw.
2. Liam Johns (Iona)
Johns, a young veteran of Iona First XI cricket, produced the most enterprising innings of the game, surging to 53 from just 70 balls to get his side off to a flyer.
He shared in a 74-run opening stand with Jackson Williams (25) and on three occasions launched deliveries for six.
He has been doing that for years on the Iona grounds, which have short boundaries square of the wicket.
3. Isaac Krause (St Peters)
Krause makes the side because of his performance in fielding, bowling and batting.
One of the competition’s premier batsmen, he was removed for 18 but also took two out field catches and snared two wickets (2-25, 10 overs).
He was in the thick of the action late in the St Patrick’s innings when the result was on a knife-edge.
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AIC FIRST XVIII FOOTY BEST PLAYERS FROM ROUND 1
4. Finn Thallon (Villanova)
Thallon, The Villa captain now in his fourth season of firsts, was again the full package.
He scored 20, claimed 2-3 with the new ball and marshalled his troops expertly in the field.
Thallon scooped out the cream of the batting crop when he claimed two of the first three wickets to fall. With the bat, you had a sense he was going to explode but Vaseo tracked him LBW.
5. Charlie Conway (St Peters)
Conway (30, 77 balls) was the glue which held the St Peters innings together long enough to reach 109 - which turned out to be a winning score in a remarkable match. Wickets fell all around him, although the enterprising Beau Guppy (30, 36 balls) joined him in the biggest partnership of the game. Conway also took 1-12 with the ball.
6. Joey Laner (Ashgrove)
A fine player last season, Laner led by example with bat and ball in round one. He lifted the tempo of his team’s innings with a gallant 31 from just 28 balls after earlier taking 2-44.
7. Will Mortimer (St Patrick’s College)
An off spin bowler, Mortimer had a debut most could only dream about. His 7-23 from 9.4 overs spun out the St Peters’ batsmen, delivering him an amazing birthday present. His haul included St Peters top scorers, Charlie Conway and Beau Guppy. It was an amazing comeback performance by Mortimer who missed last season due to a stress fracture in his back.
8. Jack Lansdown (St Peters)
Not light years behind Will Mortimer in terms of bowling performances was Lansdown. His 10-3-12-3 was compelling viewing and was largely responsible for getting his side back in the match and directing the blow torch onto St Patrick’s. A graduate from last year’s 10As, the debut boy dismissed three of the top five batsmen in a momentum-altering performance.
9. Isaac Nixon (Padua)
A returning First XI player, Padua captain Nixon was rewarded for bowling straight when he claimed 4-26. Three of his four wickets were bowled or LBW, and his dismissal of St Edmund’s best player, Patrick Albion, was a big moment in the match.
10. Oscar Tesch (Villanova)
A local boy from the Holland Park junior catchment, Year 12 student Tesch bowled beautifully to snare 3-26 from 10 overs of off spinners. His victims include two of St Laurence’s best batsmen, Kaelan Reynolds and Hamish Dammers, and the way he built pressure contributed to Laurie’s erosion.
11. Finn Haller (Iona)
The Year 10 left arm swing bowler catapulted his side onto the front foot straight away with a first over wicket, and then a second shortly afterwards. His eight overs for 2-17 placed Ashgrove into a world of trouble and set the tone for the Iona fielding performance. Finn’s brother Jesse Haller (1-23, 10 overs) also bowled well.
12th man: Quinn Walton (Padua)
Walton kept things tight, building pressure and ensuring St Edmund’s remained on the backfoot. An Albany Creek Hawks junior where he once was a keeper, Walton bowled an amazing five maidens on his way to claiming 2-14.
SPECIAL MENTIONS
Joshua Pope (Ashgrove): Year 10 student Joshua Pope had a splendid debut, with his leg spin yielding 2-23 from eight overs. He bowled Ashgrove back into the game with the dismissals of opener Jackson Williams, who was set, and No. 3 Joshua Ritchie. He was also brave as a tail ender, facing 35 balls (nine runs).
Alexander Harrison (Iona): Harrison scored 29 and fielded brilliantly to generate two run outs.
Oliver Goring (St Peters): On debut, Goring’s contribution came late, but it was a matchwinning spell which scooped up the St Patrick’s lower order. He took 3-21 from seven overs.
Jacob Bingham (St Laurence’s): The towering Bingham (3-36) did a good job considering Villa’s top four batsmen had propelled their side forward at an enterprising rate of knots. His right arm fast outswingers held things together nicely under pressure.
Beau Guppy (St Peters): In the context of the game, his freewheeling 30 in a low scoring game was worth more like 80.
Max Knight (Villanova): Knight pushed his team’s innings off the block with a thrilling 45 from 49 balls. He was the aggressive partner in the opening stand with Frederiksen and helped fire his side out to 73 before losing his wicket.
Lars Sagorski (St Peters): If he misses out with the bat, he seems to contribute with the ball. That is exactly what the Saints’ captain did at the weekend, with his 10 over effort building pressure.
He took 1-20.
Jack Watson (Ashgrove): Watson snared four outfield catches, including a screamer on the boundary where he deflected the ball back into the field of play before regaining control.
Benjamin Mead (Ashgrove): Mead had the distinction of batting through the innings, which is always a badge of honour for an opening batsman. He scored 36 not out.
Matthew Bromley (St Laurence’s): It was now an easy day at the office for St Laurence’s but in the circumstances Bromley’s 1-34 from nine overs was an very good return.
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