Bodycoat stars as Caulfield makes it four wins on the spin

The seasoned left-arm paceman grabbed four cheap wickets as the Fielders continued their fine form since Christmas.

Alexander Bodycoat took four wickets for Caulfield. Pic: Caulfield CC

There have been no big hundreds or bags of wickets or screaming headlines.

There have been bits-and-pieces contributions from a lot of players.

And, quietly and efficiently, Caulfield has set itself up for another Sub-District finals series.

The Fielders last missed one in 2002-03 (they could console themselves with premierships in the seconds, thirds and fourths).

They hit back the following season to win the flag under Shaun Richardson.

More recently they’ve had champions Graeme Rummans and Jacob Thorne set records and standards and carry them forward.

In this season of one-day matches it’s been more of an even effort, someone making a 20 or 30 or taking two or three wickets.

Thorne has done his share with bat and ball, making 250 runs and taking 17 wickets. Young Josh Agar leads the run list with 268 at 33.5.

After a tough start to the season, Rummans, now at No 4 in the order, has picked up three not-outs in his past four innings. He’s coming good. Caulfield knew he would.

The Fielders have won all four matches since the Christmas break, seeing off Endeavour Hills, Mt Waverley, Balwyn and, last Saturday, Moorabbin. They sit fourth on the ladder with seven wins, one loss and one draw, only three points behind ladder leader Malvern in a tight top four.

“We do prefer two-day cricket, definitely, but I’m happy with how we’re tracking,’’ Thorne said.

Caulfield youngster Tom Childs.

“The contributions across the board have been really good. We spoke about that, just the fact that it’s not going to be the type of season where guys get really big runs. You can have a good season by making a 15 on a week in, week out basis. We’ve done that really well. Everyone has chipped in at some stage.’’

Caulfield defeated Moorabbin in the manner it defeated Endeavour Hills and Mt Waverley, holding it to a low total and running down the target comfortably.

It restricted the Binners to 9-118, veteran left-armer Alexander Bodycoat capturing 4-12 off eight exemplary overs and Lachie Graf and Dale Denny both slipping in with two wickets.

Caulfield replied with 3-119, with Rummans zipping to 36 not out off 26 balls and Jono Aikins hitting 24 not out off 50.

The Fielders fielded 16-year-old Tom Childs, who started the season in the Third XI. He later took a hat-trick in the seconds.

“He’s a really promising cricketer … right-arm pace,’’ Thorne said.

“He’s got some nice height and he’s starting to fill out a little bit. In two or three years he’s going to let them go pretty well. He’s got a beautiful run-up and action and presents the seam.’’

Caulfield has pacemen Andy King (abductor muscle) and Jayden Banks (shoulder) to return from injury.

Noble Park (8-155) gained an important victory when it overhauled Balwyn’s 6-154.

The win put the Parkers at 4-5, six points away from sixth-placed Box Hill. But president Craig Ortland said they needed to keep winning.

It won’t be easy given they host Caulfield this Saturday but Ortland believes Noble is capable of an upset in what he said boiled down to a mini-final for his club.

“We’ll be playing at home with nothing to lose,’’ he said.

“We bowl well, it’s one-day cricket, anyone can win. It’s always good to pit yourself against the best in the league. We’ve got enough good players. If they come off, we’ll win the game. We’ve got Isi (Perera), Janaka (Gunaratne) and ‘Mikey’ (Amal Athulathmudali). If we play to the best of our ability we can beat anyone.’’

Athulathmudali is second on the south-east section run list with 334 at 47.6.

James Wild on the attack for Ormond. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Fifth-placed Ormond gained its sixth win when it defeated Endeavour Hills at Pargeter Reserve, hitting 7-199 and flattening the Hills for 116.

Former captain James Wild was promoted to open and made 63, and new captain Ben Speake hit 43.

Endeavour Hills bowler Hemantha Jayasundera. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Blaize Bainbridge took 3-42 for the home team, which had Over 50s player Rohan Pike top score with 43. Monders opening bowler Brendan Barry continued his fine season with 3-18 off eight overs, giving him 17 wickets for the season

Malvern (2-97) bounced back from its first loss, besting Elsternwick (4-93) in a match reduced to 32 overs.

There were more runs for top Roosters Tom Rickarby (45) and Luke Walker (32no).