Under-16 female Country Cricket Championships: Newcastle claims the title
Some big-name players stepped up to the plate as one side capped off a remarkable clean sweep of the rep summer with a perfect tournament.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Newcastle has capped off a brilliant week of cricket for the zone and in the process made it a clean sweep of female rep titles for the summer after taking out the under-16 country championships in Bathurst.
In what was a perfect carnival, the team won all five of its games to finish four points clear on top of the ladder.
It comes after Newcastle won both the men’s and women’s Regional Bash T20 finals at the SCG on Tuesday, and follows the victory of the combined Newcastle-Central Coast side in the under-19 women’s country championships earlier in the summer.
Taking on the country NSW’s best young guns in Bathurst, arguably the most important victory came against Western on finals day. With the two teams entering the day equal on points at the top, the round five clash acted as somewhat of a title decider.
After setting 111 for victory, Newcastle looked in trouble for much of Western’s chase before some excellent fielding and tight bowling restricted Western to 6-99 to record an 11-run win.
The Hunter side then finished the job with a comfortable six-wicket win over Greater Illawarra in round six to seal the title.
Much of Newcastle’s success was built with the bat, with the team recording four of the top-five highest team totals over the course of the tournament, including the top two.
Cosette Thomas finished as the competition’s highest runscorer with 104, highlighted by an excellent 59 from 46 balls against North Coastal in round four.
She was one of a string of Newcastle big guns to step up throughout the tournament.
Fellow NSW Country representative Molly Dare finished with the 10th-most runs after a string of crucial contributions, while captain Felicity Wharton came up with a critical player-of-the-match performance when the team needed it most.
With the team struggling at 2-12 against Western in the top-of-the-table clash, Wharton showed all her skills and cricket IQ with an outstanding 53 to help drag Newcastle to a competition total. She then took two crucial wickets to see the side home.
Elsewhere, Christine Fernance was one of the more remarkable performers, scoring 84 runs in just two digs, made all the more impressive by the fact that she wasn’t dismissed. Meanwhile Evie Gaggin and Evie West were excellent with the ball, both taking four wickets each for the tournament.
DAY TWO WRAP
Nailbiters were the order of the day as the under-16 country cricket championships continued in Bathurst.
Two games went down to the wire to kick off the day’s action as teams prepare themselves for a charge at the title.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
CLINICAL NEWCASTLE GO TOP
Newcastle kept its place at the top with another two clinical victories on day two. This leaves the side in first place with three wins from three to kick off the tournament.
Facing Riverina to kick off the day, Newcastle picked up where it left off on day one with a comprehensive 42-run victory.
Batting first, the Hunter side finished its 20 overs on 7-111 before bowling Riverina out for just 69.
Although no single player was able to breakthrough for a standout innings, five Newcastle players made starts as the team put together a competitive total.
Molly Dare top scored with 19 from 17 balls, while Evie O’Brien (18), Bronte Morgan (15), Emma McRae (15) and Felicity Wharton (10) all made helpful contributions.
The team then did the business again with the ball in what was another clinical performance.
Opening bowlers Christine Fernance and Jane Cruckshank set the tone by dismissing Riverina’s openers inside the first three overs before Evie West came on to rip through the batting line-up with 3-14 from four overs.
She was well supported by Cosette Thomas and Bronte Morgan, who both claimed two wickets each.
Fernance and Thomas then showed their skills with the bat in the 27-run win over North Coastal in round four.
After deciding to bat first the team was struggling at 3-20 when the pair came together at the crease.
From here they turned the match on its head with a brilliant 104-run partnership, with Thomas blasting 59 from just 46 balls and Fernance finishing unbeaten on 45.
It was a wonderful display of hitting by the pair, who hit eight boundaries between them, with personally slogging 12 from one over as the team finished on 4-126.
Newcastle then put on a quite remarkable performance in the field to restrict its opponents to 7-99 from its 20 overs.
While North Coastal had started its chase well and worked itself to 1-66, a wild five-minute burst turned the game on its head as Newcastle took advantage of indecision and risky running between the wickets to remarkably pull off four run-outs in just 11 balls. Watch the action here.
North Coastal never recovered from the burst and finished 26 runs short.
WESTERN KEEPS PACE AT THE TOP
Western remains the only other unbeaten team in the tournament after another strong day in Bathurst.
The home side extended its record to three wins from three after a tight, final-over victory over North Coastal and a convincing win against Greater Illawarra.
It was a day where the bowlers shone as Western restricted its opponents to totals of 64 and 85 respectively.
Seven different players took wickets across the day, with Holly Reed’s 2-7 from three overs against North Coastal a standout.
Evie Peart continued her strong tournament with the ball with another two wickets, while Charlotte Shoemark,
Poppi Stephen, Adelina Grant and Simran Dhatt all bowled well and made it difficult for the batters to score.
While the bowlers stood up, it was a trickier day with the bat as the side snuck home in the final-over of its clash with North Coastal.
Chasing the modest total of 65 for victory, Western struggled to build partnerships as Emma Rippon and Keeley MacFarlane both top scored with just 13.
And while the team hit the winning runs with four balls remaining, there were some nervous moments through the chase as the team recorded a three-wicket win.
It was much more convincing in the afternoon game, however, with Western cruising home with eight wickets to spare.
Phoebe Johnston continued her great tournament with an unbeaten 36 to be the third-highest runscorer after round four, while Reed (18 not out) and Dhatt (17) also contributed nicely.
The results leave Western second behind Newcastle on net run rate, with Friday morning’s clash with the Hunter side looming as a potentially title-deciding fixture.
FINAL-OVER THRILLERS SET THE TONE
Western’s last-over victory against North Coastal wasn’t the only nailbiting game of the day, with Central North and Greater Illawarra’s round three clash also going down to the wire.
Coming into the game looking for its first win of the tournament, Central North put in its best performance with the bat in what has been a difficult competition so far.
Held together by opener Mia Gentles, who top scored with an enterprising 19 from 21 balls, and supported by contributions from Ellie Merchant (11) and Airlie McAlary (10), Central North fought its way to 9-80 from its 20 overs.
Nicola Hudson was a standout with the ball for Greater Illawarra, taking 2-9 from three overs.
In reply, the south coast side got off to a disastrous start as three of its top four were dismissed for ducks as the team slumped to 3-3 after just 10 balls.
With the team in serious trouble, Hudson and Georgia Lovegrove came together at the crease to rescue the chase.
Hudson played her shots with a quickfire 20 from 23 balls. And while her dismissal led to another collapse, Lovegrove batted with the tail to drag her team close to the target before eventually being run out for 15 from 28 balls.
The game was in the balance, and when Sally Ryan was run out for one, the equation became incredibly tight: Greater Illawarra needed 10 runs to win with just one wicket in hand.
However Emily Sharman and Sharlysse Biela held their nerve, with Sharman hitting the winning runs with a boundary to past deep backward square with five balls remaining to seal a thrilling victory.
CENTRAL COAST MAKES A CHARGE
The Central Coast will enter the final day of the championships as the only team outside leaders Newcastle and Western with a shot at the title after defeating Central North by six wickets in its round four clash.
The win lifted the side into third place, with a record of two wins and one loss. Depending on results, the Central Coast could finish top with another two wins on Friday.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl, Central Coast’s bowlers made serious inroads into the Central North top order, with Olivia Mitchell snaring the wicket of Ellie Merchant in the very first over.
They kept the momentum going, with Eliza Holland taking a wicket and captain Zara Hepplewhite claiming two in consecutive balls to leave Central North reeling.
At one stage Central North had slumped to 5-18 and a very short innings looked on the cards.
However batters Airlie McAlary and Charlotte McEwan showed plenty of fight as they put on a stubborn 63-run stand to bat out the overs and take Central North to 5-81.
McAlary finished with 27 not out and McEwan was unbeaten on 12.
Hepplewhite was the pick of the bowlers with outstanding figures of 2-6 from four overs.
In response, Central Coast got off to a disastrous start as both openers were dismissed inside the first 10 balls and the team slumped to 2-2.
This brought Hepplewhite and Mitchell to the crease, who went about rescuing the chase.
Mitchell in particular was playing her shots and scored a quickfire 15 before being bowled by Hollie Woodbury.
With the run rate no major issue, Hepplewhite (28 not out) and Lilly Hayhurst (22 not out) occupied the crease and steadily chewed into the total, passing the target with 10 deliveries to spare.
DAY ONE WRAP
A couple of teams have made the early running while some of regional NSW’s most promising young cricketers have grabbed the attention after day one of the under-16 country championships in Bathurst.
With games at Alan Morse Park and the Bathurst Sportsground, seven teams representing regions across the state kicked off their campaigns in the tournament.
Catch up with a wrap of the action below.
NEWCASTLE, WESTERN MAKE EARLY RUNNING
They might have only played one game each but Newcastle and Western have emerged as early frontrunners after chalking up impressive victories on the opening day of competition.
Kicking things off in the early game, Newcastle showed why it is one of the favourites for the competition with a crushing 62-run win over Central North.
With her team batting first, opener Evie O’Brien put on a top order masterclass as she carried the bat with an excellent knock of 41 not out from 50 balls.
She was well supported by Molly Dare (24) and Cosette Thomas (17) as Newcastle finished its 20 overs with a strong total of 3-122.
Holly Woodbury was the pick of the bowlers for Central North, claiming figures of 1-11 from three overs.
In response, Central North was never in the hunt as it was restricted to 8-62 from its 20 overs.
Accurate bowling, sharp fielding and the steady fall of wickets made it very hard to build momentum with the bat, with no batter managing to crack double figures.
In what was an excellent team bowling performance from Newcastle, Evie Gaggin claimed 2-12 as five others took one each, with Bronte Morgan’s 1-4 from three overs particularly impressive.
It was an eerily similar story in so many ways for Western as the team chalked up a 67-run against the same opponent, Central North, in the round two afternoon fixture.
Batting first, Western openers Simran Dhatt and Charlotte Shoemark got off to a steady but solid start as they put on 44 for the first wicket.
Dhatt scored 21 from 40 balls as she helped see off the new ball, and while the team lost a few wickets in quick succession, Phoebe Johnston helped get the momentum going again with an excellent unbeaten 30 from 28 balls.
Western was given a big helping hand though as Central North bowled 40 extras – made up of 17 wides, five no balls, two leg byes and 16 byes – to allow the team to finish up on 7-117 from its 20 overs.
Once again, Central North struggled with the bat and never looked like getting close to the total.
Three players made ducks, three were dismissed for just one run and Ellie Davidson top scored with 10 as the team was bowled out for 50 with one ball remaining.
Western’s Evie Peart came up with one of the moments of the match as she came close to a hat-trick.
With Central North at 3-30, Peart clean bowled Sophie Gadsby with a beautiful delivery. She then repeated the act in the very next ball by going straight through Charlotte McEwan for a golden duck.
Charging in on a hat-trick, Peart’s delivery went just past the outside edge as she narrowly missed out on the feat.
TOUGH START FOR CENTRAL NORTH
Central North has made a difficult start to the competition with two heavy losses on day on.
After a 60-run defeat to Newcastle in round one the side went down by 67 runs to Western in round two to cap off a tough opening day.
While comprehensively beaten in both games, batting appears to be the main issue for Central North, who managed just 62 and 50 respectively, with only one player managing to get into double figures.
The team will also look to improve its accuracy with the ball and in the field, with Central North giving away 21 sundries against Newcastle and then a whopping 40 against Western.
Despite the tough start there were nevertheless some bright spots.
Aside from the extras, the team bowled in well patches against Western, restricting just two players to scores of note as it managed to slow the run rate.
Alison Dempster, Ellie Davidson and Hollie Woodbury were all impressive with the ball and will look to build on their positive performances on day two.
COMPETITION EVENLY POISED AS SPOILS SHARED
Elsewhere, the tournament is evenly poised as four teams – Central Coast, Greater Illawarra, North Coastal and Riverina – all recorded one win and one loss on the opening day.
To demonstrate the haphazard nature of the results, Greater Illawarra defeated Riverina before going down to the Central Coast, who themselves bounced back from a round one loss to North Coastal. The North Coast side was then comprehensively defeated by Riverina, who hit back after a tough opening defeat to Greater Illawarra.
Interestingly, bowling first seemed to be effective for these sides as those chasing targets all came out victorious.
In what were at times tight contests, some standout performers really proved to be the difference.
For Riverina, Khyla Gardiner was a standout, scoring 40* and 17 in her two digs with the bat to be the highest runscorer in the competition after the opening two rounds.
She was well supported by Megan Collihole, who scored a crucial 37 in the win over North Coastal, while Eve Snowdon was impressive with the ball, picking 3-5 from four overs in the same game.
For Greater Illawarra, Katie Martin was the star in the round one win over Riverina with a matchwinning dig of 46 not out from 50 balls – the highest individual score on day one.
Georgia Lovegrove looked in good touch with her 39 against the Central Coast, while Nicola Hudson has been strong with both the bat and ball, scoring 17 in round two as well as picking up three wickets across the day.
In a young Central Coast team, Olivia Mitchell has been the standout with some excellent all-round performances.
She finished day one with the equal most wickets in the tournament after taking four scalps. This included an incredible 3-14 that saw her take three wickets in an over and narrowly miss out on a hat-trick. She backed up that player-of-the-match performance with an unbeaten 34 with the bat to help her side chalk up its first win.
Elsewhere, 13-year-old Maisie Miller showed why she is considered to be one of the brightest prospects on the Coast with an excellent 26 with the bat against North Coastal in round one, while captain Zara Hepplewhite was in good rhythm with the ball, taking three wickets across the day.
And finally, North Coastal had plenty of contributors as it kicked off its campaign.
In terms of batting, Zaylia Page put in one of the knocks of day one with a brilliant run-a-ball 25 as the team romped home to a seven-wicket win over the Central Coast, while Murphy Hutchings contributed an impressive 18 in the loss to Riverina.
With the ball, NSW Country representative Lane Jordan showed her class with some tight bowling, taking 2-10 and then 0-8 in a solid display of pace bowling.
Zoe Tarlinton took two wickets in the round one win while young spinner Mia Gilbert, who recently represented NSW in the under-12s national schools tournament, showed that she is a star of the future with 2-13 against the Central Coast.
Join the conversation
‘We could see 50 knots’: Sydney to Hobart sailors on high alert
Sailors are bracing for up to 50 knot gusts the first night at sea in the Sydney to Hobart with warnings of boat and sail damage, storms and plummeting temperatures. Latest weather and news
Read more
Beanies, bear suits, boiled-in-the bag food for Sydney to Hobart
T-shirts and shorts have been crew uniforms on Sydney to Hobart racers in the past but they are being replaced by beanies, bear suits and boil-in-the-bag food for the 79th race.
Read more