Mac Wright strikes for Lightning to stun Glenorchy
In another rain-affected CTPL round, it was the batters who came out on top with three centuries during a damp day in the field.
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HURRICANE Mac Wright blew Glenorchy out of the park in their CTPL round seven clash at KGV on Saturday with a punishing innings that set Lindisfarne on track for its first win of the season.
Wright thumped eight fours and three sixes on his way to 143, the highest score of a rain-interrupted round.
Glenorchy young gun Brandon Kopper stopped Wright short of his 150 when the teenage paceman had him caught shortly before stumps with the Lightning on 5-254.
Import all-rounder Harry Manenti repaid the faith by compiling a textbook century for New Town on the opening day of its match against Clarence at Kangaroo Bay.
Manenti’s 107 was one of three centuries in the weather-effected round.
Less than 24 hours after resigning as Australian Test captain over a sexting incident in 2017, University star Tim Paine’s scheduled comeback to cricket was foiled by a heavy track at South Hobart-Sandy Bay’s home ground Queenborough.
The Clarence-New Town match also had its moments with the weather, but Manenti made the most of his time in the middle to compile a ton off 185 balls and 284 rain-interrupted minutes.
It is young talent time at Greater Northern this summer and teenage opener Cooper Anthes led the charge for the home team with a patient knock of 83 on the opening day of its clash with Kingborough in Launceston.
The Raiders elected to bat but did not get off the chain after Knights paceman Cam Walter claimed 4-70 off 18.3 overs.
Tom Martyn, Alex Vincent and Clive Rose all took two wickets to contain Greater Northern to 229.
Anthes, an attacking right-hander, played the steady hand for his 83 with only four boundaries.
Teammate Alex Wynwood (50 off 62, seven fours and a six) clubbed a valuable half century and 18-year-old left-hand allrounder Sam O’Mahony made 27 off 53, but seven of their teammates failed to even make double digits.
Raiders captain Ollie Wood said the club’s future was based on the talent coming through in this year’s squad.
“We’re getting together a group that has played three or four years of cricket together and we are starting to see some improvements and good results because of that,” Wood said.
“You’ve only got to look at Cooper Anthes and Sam O’Mahony, who are young up-and-comers and are really starting to play good cricket.
“They are the ones performing really well, and having a leader like Evan Gulbis playing really well has been huge for our group. His impact has been pretty awesome.”
At stumps, Kingborough was 2-48 with Nivethan Radhakrishnan 22 not out and Jake Steele 3 not out.
Raiders poised to deliver long reign at home
THE Northern Raiders are flying high on top of the CTPL ladder and they will become even more dangerous to their southern rivals when they start playing games at UTAS Stadium – first cab off the ranks third-placed Kingborough there on Saturday.
Raiders captain Ollie Wood said his side was itching to get onto UTAS for the first time this season and continue to build the club’s culture and powerbase.
The Tim Coyle-coached Launceston team is the competition front-runners with two wins and two draws in a rain-interrupted start to the season.
“Over the past couple of years we haven’t played there as much as we would have liked,” Wood said.
“We will be starting to play more games there, which is really important for our program. UTAS is an incredible facility so if you play in a team where you can play there every couple of weeks, it’s pretty appetising.
“We love playing there. We’ve got a Raiders Bar there now. There’s talk about our own changerooms, so there a lot of good things going on for us at UTAS Stadium and a lot of good work being done behind the scenes, which is really starting to make us a proper team and a proper club.”
Kingborough (1 win, 3 draws) is an important match-up for the Launceston lads and will gauge where they really sit.
“There is so much growth in our red-ball cricket. We have been quite a strong white-ball team over the past year, in particular, but our red-ball game has been an area where we need to improve,” Wood said.
“For us, it’s a massive game. They’ve got some quality players in their side – Anthony Adlam from NSW has been really good for them so far, Tom Martyn has been a class player for a long time, and Clive Rose is a class player.
“After a good result last week it’s really important for us to back it up and make sure we get ourselves into the contest.”
University may be on the bottom of the ladder, but it will give South Hobart-Sandy Bay a fright in their match at Queenborough, while Glenorchy can consolidate its place in second on the ladder with a win over Lindisfarne at KGV, and Clarence (eighth) hosts New Town (seventh) at Kangaroo Bay.
Magpies make Knights look rusty in the wet
GLENORCHY might be the CTPL’s new wet-weather specialist after the Magpies washed away Kingborough’s hopes of staying on top of the ladder thanks to a moist master class by pacemen “Magpie maulers” Tush Garg and Brandon Kopper.
Kingborough won the toss and elected to bat in green and gloomy conditions that suited the ball more than the blade.
The home side was soon left to rue that decision.
The Knights were all out for 61 off 21.1 overs and Glenorchy has already banked first innings points with its reply of 1-64 when water that was tipped off the covers after a late-afternoon rain delay made the field too wet to continue on the opening day of the two-day contest.
After a tenuous start, the Knights soon fell on their sword. They lost opener Anthony Adlam (13 runs off 17 balls) at 1-19 and then the flood gates opened.
Glenorchy terminated Kingborough’s other opener Nivethan Radhakrishnan (11 off 34), followed by Jake Steele (0 off 3) and Dylan Hay (5 off 19) with the score stuck on 31 – and it was all downhill from there.
It did not help Kingborough that experienced all-rounder Clive Rose had to leave the ground to have a Covid-19 vaccination, but he came back in time to bat last, hitting one scoring shot – a much-needed six.
Glenorchy bowler Nick Davis set the pace early, snaring two of the first three wickets, only to be eclipsed by fellow-opening paceman Garg and first-change paceman Kopper, the 19-year-old son of former Glenorchy and South Hobart player Nathan Kopper.
At Glenorchy after his stint in the Strike League in Darwin, Garg used his full deliveries and aggression to claim 4-20 off 11 overs, only to be trumped by Kopper’s incredible cutters and in-swing that earned him 4-16 off 3.1.
Glenorchy coach Brett Geeves was impressed by the tenacity of his rapidly improving team.
“There was plenty of seam for our bowlers once they found the right length,” Geeves said.
“Tush is an aspirational young man and he has been enormous for us. He’s studying a law degree and as a cricketer he’s aggressive, he presents a good seam with pretty good pace.
“From a leadership perspective, we’ve got a pretty young team so having a smart young man like Tush has been really important for us.”
Garg was also promoted to opening batter after last week’s century-maker Josh Hartill opted to return to Victoria.
“Cricket Tasmania offered Josh a spot in their academy squad but he went home, so that gives Tush an opportunity to showcase what he has, and he is a pretty good batter, technically quite correct,” Geeves said.
In Launceston, a late collapse may cost South Hobart-Sandy Bay its chance of a win on the road against Greater Northern at the NTCA ground.
The Raiders posted a modest 185 runs thanks mostly to a defiant Evan Gulbis, who hit 71, while Sharks paceman Cameron Valente inflicted the most damage with 4-45 off 16.
In reply, SHSB was 6-118, having lost its last three wickets to opening bowler Jon Chapman for two runs.
At Anzac Park, Lindisfarne and Clarence have the weekend off after abandoning their match and splitting the points.
No play was possible at University Oval, and a morning pitch inspection will decide if Uni and North Hobart will see any day two action on Sunday.
Kingborough aiming to continue strong start to CTPL season
KINGBOROUGH will look to consolidate a confident start to the season when the CTPL ladder leader takes on Glenorchy at the Twin Ovals on Saturday with the help of a teenage young gun James Scott.
Knights captain Tom Martyn said fickle conditions for the opening five rounds had been frustrating.
It sees Kingborough on top of the table with one win and three draws, followed by Greater Northern, North Hobart, South Hobart-Sandy Bay and Glenorchy as the only other winners.
Glenorchy (one win, one draw) poses a significant threat to the Knights.
“Ever since I’ve been playing Glenorchy has always been very competitive and you always get a hard contest,” Martyn said.
“We are expecting a hard two days of cricket. They have had a really good start to the season, probably similar to us, so we know they are going to tough from ball one.”
Kingborough is pleased to be sitting on top of the ladder.
“Given the weather and the interrupted start, there’s a good vibe around the club at the moment,” Martyn said.
“Anytime you are undefeated is a good feeling and the guys have got a lot of confidence out of our start to the season.
“We’ve been able to take a few little wins out of the pockets of play we’ve had in those draws.
“We’ve had some really fine batting performances, more than anything in those draws, where we’ve had some guys step up to improve from last season.”
Martyn has been impressed by batting “imports” Anthony Adlam and Nivethan Radhakrishnan, and local product, Josh Henley.
“Josh is yet to be dismissed this season. He has really come a long way from being a fringe first-grade player to being an automatic selection,” he said.
Jack Ross was “rotated” out of the side for 16-year-old Scott, in for his second game.
“James in the son of Tim Scott, who used to play for Kingborough. He’s a young leg spinner, who loves to spin the ball, attack and take wickets,” Martyn said.
“We are looking to expose him and hopefully give him a good learning opportunity.”
In other games, Greater Northern takes on South Hobart-Sandy Bay in Launceston, University is at home to North Hobart, while Lindisfarne and Clarence face off in the Eastern Shore derby at Anzac Park.
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