Young Territorian cricketer Sam Elder makes hundred after midseason switch from Waratah to Tracy Village

The Darwin & District Cricket Competition has seen plenty of hundreds made this season, and we have the full list. SEE WHO HAS TONED UP AND WHERE:

AN EMERGING Darwin cricketer will begin a finals campaign with the perfect preparation after finishing his regular season on a major high.

All-rounder Sam Elder, who represented the Territory at the Under 19 national championships and crossed to Tracy Village from Waratah during the season, stroked 121 against Darwin at Kahlin Oval in the final round of Darwin & District Cricket Competition’s B Grade.

The 19-year-old combined with Village opener Reghard Els (133) for a 245-run opening partnership, setting up a final score of 373.

It was a high-scoring match with Eagle Jake Vincent making 107 in his side’s 343.

Elder changed from Waratah to Tracy Village in May. Picture: Glenn Campbell.

After playing four games with Waratah this season, across Premier and B grades, including a final match against Tracy Village on May 14, he switched clubs.

The Hoogie Brothers' Greatest Hits

TWO brothers from Perth have given Darwin cricket a serious shake over a seven-day period, producing three unbeaten hundreds totalling 486 runs in just three innings.

Tjaart “TJ” Hoogenboezem, 28, playing his second season with the Tigers, scored an unbeaten 102 against Southern Districts Red in C Grade 1 on August 6 at Berry Springs Oval, his first-ever hundred.

Meanwhile, his 18-year-old brother Douwtjie, or “DJ”, was smashing 277 off just 199 balls in B Grade against PINT on the same day as the Tigers posted 3/359 off a ball shy of 60 overs.

Douwtjie, playing his first season at Nightcliff Oval after the club needed an extra batter over the final rounds, is a first grader for Fremantle in WA.

However, Tjaart then backed it up with an unbeaten 107 against University Kings at Wulagi Oval the following Saturday.

Tjaart Hoogenboezem after making his second hundred in a row, 107 not out against University Kings. Picture: Nightcliff Cricket Club.

“It was a good day out,” Douwtjie told the NT News of his double ton.

“It was my biggest score by a fair way.

“I just went out and tried batting all day, that’s pretty much what I came to Darwin to do.

“That was actually his first hundred.”

DJ, of South African descent, is now shooting for a rookie contract with WA and play some Second XI cricket.

Tjaart (left) and brother Douwtjie Hoogenboezem made three hundreds between them in a week of Darwin cricket. Picture: Nightcliff Cricket Club

PINT’s Callan Podsiadly blasts 204 not out off 133 balls

PINT centurion Callan Podsiadly has several of his teammates to thank for their tardiness.

The 31-year-old blasted 204 not out of 133 balls against Waratah White earlier this month at Wanguri Oval – his first ever hundred – after coming in at number three in the batting order because a few top order bats turned up late.

It comes as Waratah batter Ash Chandrasinghe is shooting for six consecutive Premier Grade hundreds this weekend, which would equal Don Bradman’s record for first grade tons on the bounce.

Last round also saw a massive 277 not out from 199 balls from Nightcliff’s Douwtjie Hoogenboezem against PINT last round, while his brother Tjaart made back-to-back hundreds over the past two weekends in C Grade 1: 107 against University Kings and 102 versus Southern Districts.

Meanwhile, Podsiadly, an opening bowler who normally comes out at number seven or eight, struck 22 fours and seven sixes in his epic C Grade 2 knock.

He would make nearly two thirds of PINT’s 5/308 — not bad for a bloke who had come into the match with a batting average of just 14.

“I don’t normally bat three, I’m more of a lower end batsman,” Podsiadly told the NT News, who benefited from a quick outfield and Waratah being down a fielder.

“I hadn’t scored too many, I don’t normally get the opportunity to bat for a long period of time.

“I middled a couple which was good.

“I just go out there to play my shots, just because I went out a little bit earlier I wasn’t going to try and bat like a top order bat.

“If it’s in my spot, I try to hit it.

“I was happy to get some runs for the team.”

PINT has been pumping out the centuries in C Grade 2, with teammate Daniel Murphy already hitting three so far this year.

Podsiadly, who normally counts his runs, admits he lost count before reaching three figures for the first time.

“I didn’t have me at a hundred when everyone started cheering, so I must have missed something,” he said, admitting his legs were a bit sorer than normal on Sunday morning.

“I think I lost count around the 160 mark also, I was getting a bit tired.”

However, his teammate Stephen Vincent wasn’t as hardy, retiring on 58 because he was ready to pass out, Podsiadly said.

Ash Chandrasinghe shoots for five successive tons

ALL EYES are on Gardens Oval as Waratah opener Ash Chandrasinghe looks to break a modern day Premier Grade record.

Approaching tea on day one of the round 13 Waratah v Tracy Village clash, the 20-year-old is sitting on an unbeaten 62 in his pursuit of five consecutive hundreds in the Darwin & District Cricket Competition’s top flight.

Recent records provided to the NT News show Chandrasinghe equalled the record of four consecutive hundreds – last held by Redback and former Village batter Jake Weatherald in 2015 – with an unbeaten 166 against Darwin in round 12.

Weatherald would make six hundreds in nine knocks that year.

PINT’s Greg Clarence also made four in a row, and five from six innings, in 2013.

Fellow PINT bat Simon Lavers hit tons in three consecutive matches in 2010, while Brett Gardiner did the same for Waratah in 2009.

Chandrasinghe told the NT News he had been checking in with personal coach Owen Mottau, who was able to access his batting exploits via FrogBox and suggest a few technical improvements.

“He was pleased with my performance as he always says to me consistency is the hallmark of a good batsman,” Chandrasinghe said.

“I haven’t really changed anything.

“I think I can’t get complacent because at the end of the day it is a new game and I’m back on zero.

“That is the sort of mindset I normally go into each game regardless of how well or poor I might’ve done previously.”

He said he also received some personal messages from Victorian Shield players Matt Short and Peter Handscomb following his fourth hundred.

“It was awesome for them to reach out,” he said.

Cricket Victoria also gave Chandrasinghe an online shoutout with a special message on its socials.

Chandrasinghe told the NT News he was feeling confident about his game with the Tahs now sitting second on the Premier Grade ladder after five consecutive wins.

“We are having a lot of fun as a team and we seem to be in a good spot,” Chandrasinghe said, who was not aware of any other player making five successive hundreds in Darwin cricket history.

PINT batter makes three hundreds in C Grade

After nearly 20 years in the cricketing wilderness, “everything’s just clicked” for three-time PINT centurion Daniel Murphy this year.

Returning to the game after a 17-year break in 2020, the Bunnings employee contributed just 77 runs at an average of seven in his first season down at DXC Arena, across B and C grades.

However, two years later, Murphy has atoned for that fruitless season, and made up for lost time, with three hundreds in six C Grade 2 innings this season.

“I can’t put my finger on it, everything’s just clicked,” Murphy told the NT News.

He joins the likes of Premier Grade cricketers, Darwin opener Dylan Brasher and Waratah’s Ash Chandrasinghe, to make three centuries this season.

Before moving to Darwin, Murphy had last donned the whites at Under 16 level with Beaudesert in regional Queensland in 2005.

Getting his Saturdays free, and able to train due to early knock-offs, Murphy saw the “perfect time” to get back into the game.

The only thing Murphy has done differently this season was to conduct his own “personal pre-season”, hitting up to 100 balls on the bowling machine a day.

Daniel Murphy has made three hundreds for PINT in season 2022. Picture: PINT Cricket Club.

He kicked off his golden run with an unbeaten 194 off just 123 balls (17 boundaries and 15 sixes) against Southern Districts Black at Dinah Oval on May 7, as his team compiled a more than competitive 6/369.

“That was one of those days where I hit the ball and everything came out of the middle,” he said.

“It was actually my first-ever century and it was almost a double.

“I was chuffed but also pissed off at the same time (laughs).”

Unfortunately, Murphy couldn’t get enough of the strike for the final over.

“By the time I got on strike it was the last ball of the innings,” he said.

Then, in early June, he blasted 120 with 15 fours against Darwin Colts at Wanguri Oval on June 4, followed by another century against Southern Districts Black, a 120-ball 116 on June 25 at Howard Park.

In seven games, Murphy has amassed 573 runs at 114.6, with also scores of 68 and 49.