DDCA: Buckley Ridges pays tribute to former president Ray Simpson
Buckley Ridges remembered Ray Simpson and Springvale South honoured Peter Lawler in Saturday’s round of Turf 1 matches.
South East
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Ray Simpson was a big man and a big figure at Buckley Ridges.
He had two stints as president, was a juniors coach and co-ordinator and committeeman, and played for the club.
On Saturday Buckley Ridges recognised his exceptional contribution with a lunch at the Greg Dickson Pavilion during the Turf 1 match against Narre South.
Ray’s wife, Sue, and club notables Robbie Boorer, Shayne Sheedy, Jason Cramer and Brendan Watson spoke about his involvement at Buckley.
Ray Simpson died in a road accident at Sea Lake in July. He was 66.
A minute of silence was observed before the game in remembrance of not only Ray, but fellow Buckley Ridges life members John King and Terry White. Both died recently after long illnesses.
On the ground the Bucks enjoyed a strong win, dismissing the visitors for 166 and running down the target four wickets down in the 37th over.
Opener Josh Holden, who crossed from Berwick in the off-season, hit 59 off 88 balls and put on 62 with captain Ben Wright, who was LBW for 32.
Jayson Hobbs (44) and Michael Davies (18no) kept the runs coming.
Narre South had made a steady start through Brad Parker (30) and Kyle Hardy (63) but once the Bucks broke the opening partnership they turned one wicket into three, Harsha De Silva and star Kaushalya Weeraratne both getting blobs.
Hardy batted for a chunk of the innings, facing 102 balls and putting away 2 sixes and 3 fours.
Davies was exceptional with 4-36 off 11 overs and Suren Ekanayake popped up with two wickets as he helped cover for the unavailable Wes Nicholas.
With Kusan Niranjana starring, St Mary’s took its first win of the season, thrashing the promoted Narre Warren at Sweeney Reserve.
Niranjana did it with bat and ball, hitting 70 from the opening slot and grabbing 5-42 off his 11 overs.
The Saints cracked 9-192 and dismissed Narre for 143 in the 45th over.
Ashan Anthony (58 off 68 balls, with 2 sixes and 5 fours) made it successive half-centuries and Cam Roberts captured 3-18 off seven overs in what was a terrific performance from the proud Dandenong club.
Young leggie Sujan Hulangamuwa was a bright spot for Narre with his 2-24 off seven overs.
Springvale South lifted the inaugural Peter Lawler Memorial Shield, thumping reigning premier Hallam Kalora Park at Harold Rd.
Left-arm quickie Blade Baxter swept through the Hawks like a summer storm, capturing 5-24 off 12 overs as the visitors collapsed from 0-53 to be all out for 96.
Openers Leigh Booth (34) and Ben Hillard (18) had sent them off to a promising start but both fell to former Premier Cricket and Sub-District all-rounder Baxter.
Springy South lost Jayde Herrick (4) early in the chase but coasted home through Ryan Quirk (58no) and Mitch Forsyth (34no).
The shield remembers the former Springvale South president and long-serving player who died of cancer almost 12 months ago.
Peter Lawler also enjoyed good friendships with past and present Hallam Kalora Park players and officials.
His son Jack presented the shield to Springy South captain Paul Hill.
The final game was as one-sided as a lawyer’s closing arguments, with Berwick clattering 0-102 in 15.4 overs to race past North Dandenong’s 101.
Bears quickie Andrew Perrin claimed 4-19 off nine overs and Matt Chasemore slipped in with 3-5 for seven.
North was 7-38 but got to 100 through Hasan Ali (27no) and Muharjithan Thedchanamoorthy (23).
Lachlan Brown (53no) and Jordan Cleland (49no) took Berwick through without the loss of a wicket.
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