Cricket Southern Bayside: St Brigid’s St Louis pair blaze 266-run partnership

It was a six-hitting frenzy as a young gun and a proven champion blazed a mammoth partnership for St Brigid’s St Louis in Cricket Southern Bayside.

Trae Love-Linay and Jeremy Heys after their mighty stand for St Brigids-St Louis. Picture: Facebook

Seventeen-year-old Trae Love-Linay said it was “unreal’’ batting with St Brigid’s St Louis champ Jeremy Heys as the scoreboard ticked over at a rapid-rate on Saturday.

Heys would surely say the same thing about Love-Linay, a fine young player who scored his maiden century during a record-breaking run spree at Bonbeach.

The pair put on 266 unconquered for the second wicket — a club record partnership for the Saints’ First XI — as St Brigids racked up 1-305 off 40 overs against Parkdale United in Cricket Southern Bayside Division 1.

Love-Linay made 138no off 138 balls, with 5 sixes and 15 fours and Heys smoked 127no off 85 balls, with 10 sixes and 7 fours.

Nearby houses were under attack as they bombed 15 sixes between them and Saints scorer “Lurker’’ Barker was flat out keeping up.

Love-Linay was in awe of left-hander Heys, who brought up his hundred with a slog sweep that thundered onto the Bonbeach clubroom roof.

“He’s an unreal cricketer. He hits the ball so hard,’’ Love-Linay said of Heys.

“He hit 10 sixes I think. It made it pretty easy for me, I could just do my own thing. Just watching him at the other end was unreal.’’

Love-Linay, son of club favourite Rod, has played at St Brigids St Louis since he was a little tacker, always displaying an excellent technique as he rose through the grades.

He is captain of Kingston Hawthorn’s Dowling Shield side and is earmarked to progress to Premier Cricket one day.

His previous highest score was 70 and he expressed surprise that he was able to peel off his first century on Saturday.

“It caught me off guard a bit, it just came a lot quicker than what I thought,’’ Love-Linay said.

“But it was unreal, good fun.’’

St Brigids St Louis treasurer Blair Hutchinson watched the display of batting pyrotechnics and said it was non-stop entertainment.

“Our curator ‘Disco’ prepared a belter,’’ Hutchinson said.

“It was really good, the young and he old. Jezza’s made a lot of runs for the club…they hit a lot of sixes into a few houses on Bondi Rd. Trae was straight driving the bowler over his head and hit a few into the golf course on Patto River.’’

The pair came together at 1-39 after opener Mark “Junior’’ Jamieson was dismissed for 26 off 18 balls (with 2 sixes).

While it was a torrent of runs for St Brigids St Louis, Parkdale United struggled when it came their turn with the bat, shot out for 60 in 16.4 overs.

The Harris brothers, Tristan (3-4) and Liam (2-3), did the damage along with James Barker (3-17).

St Brigids St Louis