Bowling brilliance, fielding magic inspire Caulfield, Darcy Cotter inspires Strathmore
Darcy Cotter ran through Moorabbin to put Strathmore within reach of an outright victory, while Caulfield produced a bowling and fielding masterclass.
Darcy Cotter had a day out on Saturday.
1.W.../W...../W..3.W/2.W.41/...4W./W....2/...2.. or 7-19 from seven overs. It makes for good reading.
Strathmore teammate Will Ingleton’s 3-4 from 2.4 overs wasn’t half bad either.
The pair combined to decimate Moorabbin at Moorleigh Community Village Reserve, skittling the hosts for just 35 in 14.4 overs.
The Mores then took the bat and marched to 6-162 by stumps, a lead of 127 runs, and have an outright victory within sights.
The Binners’ decision to bat first after winning the toss backfired but Strathmore captain Chris Williams said the pitch was far from a minefield.
“The wicket looked great,” Williams said.
“You know what it’s like when it sits under covers for a bit and if I had have won the toss I would have bowled.
“We were happy to be sent out to field but we knew there wasn’t that much of an advantage – it wasn’t as if we thought we’d run through them like we did.
“We didn’t think it was game-changing but we got one early and the boys energy lifted and we went on from there.”
After giving up 309 runs to Port Melbourne the week before, suffering a 140-run loss, the bowling attack had a bit of soul-searching to do.
They certainly found their mojo.
Cotter, who has a Premier Cricket First XI five-wicket haul for Essendon under his belt, returned his best figures for the club.
“We were disappointed after the loss to Port Melbourne and wanted to sort out how we went about our cricket, we wanted to find more aggression and that starts with the bowling,” Williams said.
“Will Lee set us up and then Darcy at the other end capitalised with the wickets. Then Will Ingleton following up was awesome.
“Last year was a bit of a lean on by Darcy’s standards … so he’s doing awesome and hopefully we can see a few more performances like that in the rest of the summer.”
Cotter then secured first innings points in just 3.5 overs – a 10-wicket win.
However, Strathmore has maximum points within reach.
Anchored by Williams, unbeaten on 89, the Mores sit 6-162 at stumps and are eyeing an outright win.
“We haven’t discussed it for a couple of years because we’ve been on the receiving end to be fair,” Williams said.
“If we want to be able to win games and win them comfortably then we need to put pressure on for as long and as hard as we can.
“Whatever happens this weekend, it is what it is, but we want to get as big a result as we can.”
Harry Donelan top-scored for Moorabbin, his 14 the only double-figure score, before taking 3-49. Charles Drayton (3-45) also took three wickets.
BOWLING BRILLIANCE, FIELDING MAGIC
Another Jacob Thorne bowling masterclass and two direct-hit run outs by James Crosthwaite gave Caulfield the ascendancy over Ormond on the opening day of VSDCA north-south Round 7 on Saturday.
Ormond started promisingly, reaching 1-58 before Thorne seized the momentum with the first of six wickets for the afternoon.
Moments later, Crosthwaite’s laser-like throw demolished the stumps to dismiss debutant Peter O’Malley for a duck.
The Monders lost 5-25 as left-arm spinner Daniel Moriarty joined the party. Ormond slumped to 6-83 as Caulfield’s bowlers dominated.
Opener Rory Freeman mounted a defiant resistance, grinding out 64 off 188 balls, but his determined knock ended in spectacular fashion.
Crosthwaite, with lightning-quick reflexes from close in, pinged back a throw to catch Freeman short of his ground — his second direct-hit dismissal.
Gregory Willows (23), Will Robertshaw (18) and Nick Oaten (16) offered brief resistance, but the day belonged to Thorne, who finished with 6-54 off 24.1 overs.
Moriarty took 1-32 off 23 overs.
Caulfield captain and wicketkeeper James Small praised the Thorne-Moriarty partnership that strangled Ormond’s batting.
“Dan was bowling very well and probably had about 30 plays and misses,” Small said.
“It was just gripping in the wicket and turning probably too much for a lot of the batters.
“Thorny showed his class. He had Dan at the other end tying it up for him and they bowled very well in partnership. He just continues to do it each and every week. He got seven for the other week and then gets another six... he keeps getting better.”
Small emphasised the match’s importance after last week’s loss to Brunswick left Caulfield at 3-3.
“It’d be good to win this game and kind of set ourselves up for the next four or five games,” he said.
In reply, Caulfield faced 10 overs before stumps, reaching 0-17 with Vinnie Page (8no) and Joshua Agar (8no) digging in safely.
COTTER’S 7-19 DEMOLISHES MOORABBIN FOR 35
A hostile spell by Strathmore paceman Darcy Cotter sent Moorabbin crashing all out for 35. Cotter took 7-19 off seven overs, while Will Ingleton grabbed 3-4, as the Saints’ innings expired in the 15th over. In reply, Strathmore coasted to 6-162, with skipper Chris Williams unbeaten on 89 at stumps. Isaac Dukic made 21. Harry Donelan (3-49) and Charles Drayton (3-45) shared the wickets for Moorabbin.
Kamesh Nirmal Lokuge made 87 (7 fours) in Oakleigh’s 9-188 against Plenty Valley.
WICKS IN BOX SEAT
Asked to bat first in difficult conditions, Brunswick would have been happy with 142 all out against Port Melbourne at Port Melbourne. However, what would have made the Wicks really happy was three big wickets before stumps on day one. Tasked with facing the last six overs of the day, Port was left reeling at 3-8 when play was called off for the day. Kian Roberts struck in the second over of the innings, removing Nick Benson for a duck. He also bowled Nick Sharpin to have 2-2. The other wicket saw Dan Goodey dismiss Ben Lucas for three. Earlier, Greg Holmes top-scored with 30, while skipper Ben Rowles (27) and Jackson Cooper (22) made starts. Late runs from Goodey (23) gave the visitors a defendable total. Mack Burdett finished with 4-47 for Port.
ONE-DAYERS
With play abandoned on Saturday, the following matches have been converted into one-dayers. Coburg v Brighton at Coburg City Oval, Kew v St Bernard’s at Victoria Park, Preston v Elsternwick at Preston City Oval and Malvern v Ivanhoe at Malvern Cricket Ground.
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