Geelong and Ferntree Gully make impressive starts at Country Week

Country week got underway with Geelong and Ferntree Gully securing opening day wins. Check out the best performers of the first day here.

Geelong won last year's Division 1 country week event. Picture: North Geelong Cricket Club.

It was the perfect start for last year’s grand finalists in Division 1 as Melbourne Country Week got underway.

There were some cracking performances from some teams and players while for others it was all about building into the tournament on the first day.

Here is a wrap of day one.

DAY ONE

Geelong and Ferntree Gully are well on track to meet again in the Division 1 decider after impressive starts to the Country Week on Monday.

Ferntree Gully, taking on last year’s Division 2 winners Bairnsdale, showed their class with a seven wicket win over the newest Division 1 side.

Bowling first last year’s grand finalists dismissed Bairnsdale for 123 with Jake Toohey and Darcy Whitten taking three wickets each.

In reply, Ferntree Gully made light work of getting the runs, scoring them with more than 20 overs to spare.

Geelong were made to fight harder for their win against Bendigo.

Bendigo, batting first, made 257 with captain Grant Waldron (61) and James Barri (54) combining to put together a competitive score.

Despite late wickets falling, Geelong got home with more than two overs to spare, winning by two wickets.

Philip Visser scored 60 runs on the opening day of Country Week for Geelong. Picture: NGCC Facebook

William Ford (67) and Philip Visser (60) made valuable contributions in the middle.

The other two Division 1 games were thrillers.

Sale Maffra sneaked home against Warrnambool by two runs after a late comeback from the opposition.

Sale Maffra made 218 with Jake Wynd making 71 and Max Welsh (28), Anthony Scott (34) and Ben Jones (28) making valuable contributions in the lower order.

Warrnambool’s Bailey Jenkinson took 4-26.

In reply, Warrnambool collapsed with the top seven losing their wickets for 72 runs combined.

But Todd Lamont (46), Kalhan Sineth (43) and James Elford (39) fought back to give Warrnambool a chance.

Warrnambool needed seven runs with two wickets in hand with two overs left.

But Sale Maffra held on, taking the two wickets, to win by two runs.

The other result saw Casey Cardinia beat Leongatha by three wickets.

Jason Williams, with scores level on the final ball, hit a boundary to win the game as Casey Cardinia chased down Leongatha’s total of 264.

Casey Cardinia’s victory came from three of their opening four batters with Lucas Ligt (63), Chris Bright (73) and Shiran Rathnayake (67) all making half centuries.

Ballarat's Matt Aikman took the best figures on day one of Country Week. Picture: Ballarat Redan Cricket Club.

In Division 2, two wins were secured through impressive bowling performances.

Ballarat’s Matt Aikman had the best figures of the day, 6-25, as his side defeated Gisborne by six wickets.

Gisborne’s 174 wasn’t enough as the home side won with almost 18 overs to spare.

Akshay Ballal made 50 for Ballarat in the run chase.

Sunraysia’s Jasper Presswell also took six wickets as his side defeated Wangaratta by four wickets.

Sunraysia bowled out Wangaratta for 218 before chasing the runs with eight overs to go.

Wangaratta’s Cooper Thomason (91) was the leading scorer of the day in all games but his effort wasn’t enough.

In other results, Maryborough beat Hamilton by three wickets, South West won by 67 runs over Bellarine with Mornington Peninsula showing their class over Kingston Hawks with a nine-wicket win.

Aiden McKenna (87) and Sam Fowler (77) dominated with the bat to help Mornington Peninsula chase Kingston Hawks total of 185 with 23 overs to spare.

BEST PERFORMERS

BAT

Cooper Thomason - Wangaratta - 91

Aiden McKenna - Mornington Peninsula - 87

Sam Fowler - Mornington Peninsula - 77*

Chris Bright - Casey Cardinia - 73

Jake Wynd - Sale Maffra - 71

William Ford - Geelong - 67

Shiran Rathnayake - Casey Cardinia - 67

Thomas Cameron - Leongatha - 65

Johno Benallack - South West - 64

Lucas Ligt - Casey Cardinia - 63

Garth Waldron - Bendigo - 61

Chris Burkett - Gisborne - 60

Philip Visser - Geelong - 60

James Morrison - Sunraysia - 58

James Barri - Bendigo - 54

Jack Curtis - Leongatha - 52*

Mitch Arnold - Hamilton - 50

Akshay Ballal - Ballarat - 50

Luke Stanbrook - Sunraysia - 48

Todd Lamont - Warrnambool - 46

Harry Ganley - Ballarat - 44*

Kalhen Sineth - Warrnambool - 43

Cameron McPhan - Bairnsdale - 42

Matthew Barake - Gisborne - 41*

Musa Ilyas - Sunraysia - 35*

Jackson Waters - Ferntree Gully - 34*

Lachlan Oddie - Maryborough - 28*

BALL

Matthew Aikman - Ballarat - 6-25 from 10 overs

Jasper Presswell - Sunraysia - 6-45 from 7.1 overs

Charlie Lucas - South West - 5-25 from 10 overs

Bailey Jenkinson - Warrnambool - 4-26 from 9.4 overs

Max Jackson - Maryborough - 4-26 from 10 overs

James Fisher - Bellarine - 4-31 from 9.1 overs

James O’Neil - South West - 4-43 from 10 overs

Sam Coutts - Geelong - 4-45 from seven overs

Jake Toohey - Ferntree Gully - 3-22 from eight overs

Hayden Cummings - Mornington Peninsula - 3-28 from 10 overs

Darcy Whitten - Ferntree Gully - 3-28 from 8.1 overs

Madura Madusanka - Leongatha - 3-39 from 10 overs

Shane Murdoch - Bellarine - 3-40 from seven overs

Tyler Evans - Casey Cardinia - 3-50 from 10 overs

Paddy McNamara - Wangaratta - 3-50 from 10 overs

PREVIEW

The best cricketers of regional Victoria will come together next week to battle to win Melbourne Country Week.

The annual competition returns with Geelong looking to win again after beating 2023 champions Ferntree Gully in the final last year.

Bairnsdale will compete in Division 1 after winning Division 2 with Ballarat claiming Division 3 in 2024.

Bairnsdale makes the move to Division 1 this year after winning Division 2 last year. Picture: Bairnsdale Cricket Association.

Every squad has almost been released ahead of the event on Monday.

See them all below.

Division 1

Warrnambool

Cam Williams, Jack Burnham, Chris Bant, Farooq Qureshi, Jacob Hetherington, Bailey Jenkinson, Todd Lamont, Kal Sineth, Jimmy Elford, Daniel Hawkins, Matt Petherick, Rommel Shahzad, Sanjaya Chathuranga, Mark Murphy, Geoff Williams, Jason Mungean (Coach)

Geelong

Nick Butters (South Barwon), Sam Coutts (Grovedale), Sam Ellis (South Barwon), William Ford (St Peters), Noah Guida (Newtown & Chilwell), Sam Hall (North Geelong)

Harry Hauenstein (South Barwon), Dale Kerr (North Geelong), Alistair McCann (North Geelong), Ronnie Mckenna (Newtown & Chilwell), Rob Smith (Grovedale), James Stokes (St Peters), Lachie Sperling (Newtown & Chilwell). Bailey Sykes (North Geelong), Philip Visser (North Geelong), Gregory Willows (Highton), Brad Hauenstein (South Barwon , coach), Sean O’Neill (East Belmont, assistant coach).

Bendigo

Grant Waldron (Strathdale-Maristians, captain), Liam Smith (Golden Square, vice-captain), Josh Ansell (White Hills), James Marri (Strathdale-Maristians), Taylor Beard (sandhurst), Liam Bowe (Sandhurst), Daniel Clohesy (Strathdale-Maristians), Brent Hamblin (Kangaroo Flat), Kyle Humphrys (Bendigo), Rylea Jones (Sandhurst), Jake Marshall (White Hills), Jack Neylon (Strathdale-Maristians), Kyle Welsh (White Hills), Matt Wilkinson (Strathdale-Maristians)

Casey Cardinia

Callum O’Hare (Tooradin, captain), Yoshan Arumadura (Cardinia), Trishane De Silva (Cardinia), Trevor Bauer (Clyde), Ankush Rana (Clyde), Ben Marsh (Devon Meadows), Lucas Ligt (Devon Meadows), Chris Bright (Koo Wee Rup), Shiran Rathnayake (Koo Wee Rup), Tobias Van Den Heever (Merinda Park), Jason Williams (Pakenham), Raja Sadig (Pakenham Upper), Kasun Balasuriya (Carlisle Park), Ben Parrott (Tooradin), Tyler Evans (Tooradin). Emergencies: Kasun Balasuriya (Carlisle Park), Tom Hussey (Tooradin)

Leongatha

Ron Abeysinghe, Ethan Lamers, Aydan Williams, Joel Brann (vc), Mitchell Clark, Jake Cochrane, Mustafa Nader, Jack Ginnane (c), Jack Butcher, Lachie Wright, George McCausland, Alex Geyer, Dylan Clark, Jack Curtis, Madura Madusanka, Tom Cameron.

Bairnsdale

Ryan Halford, Brodie Anderson, Jayanga Peiris, Jack Timms, Cameron McPhan, Connor Mitchell, Nathan Schoultz, Reagan Kyle-Manager, Samuel Stewart, Isaac Love, Josh Sackfield, Ricky Tatnell, Seth Smith, Scott Dare, Scott Davidson (driver), Pat Halford (scorer).

Ferntree Gully

Nathan Walsh (c), Jake Toohey, Jackson Waters, Patrick Mastertoun, Daniel Cormack, Jack Hammond, James Dekel, Danny O’Shea, Josh Priestley, Zachary Allen, Josh Lindner, Jarrod Butcher, Jake Balfour, Ben Grimshaw, Trent Atkinson, Chandima Abeykoon.

Sale Maffra

Not released yet.

Division 2

Kingston Hawthorn

Herbie Fischbacher, Hamish McKenzie, Luke Ajani, Redwan Garcia, Noah McCullough, Lucas Kennedy, Nic Tindall, Adi Chowdry, Brad Stow, Shaurya Shukla, Avneet Ghuman, Jack Weintraub, Ishtpreet Kairon, Jamie Moraitis, Cory Cater, Roman Walker, Aidan Sheffield

Mornington Peninsula

Kierran Voelkl (captain, Dromana), Aiden McKenna (vc, Long Island), Hayden Cummings (Mornington), Sam Field (Flinders), Sam Fowler (Dromana), Lachlan Hose (Tyabb), Billy Humphrey (Pines), Dilasri Lokubandara (Boneo), Cameron Moon (Mornington), Ash Nagel (Rosebud), Harley Peace-Stirling (Pines), Matt Prosser (Langwarrin), Andrew Smith (Langwarrin), Samson Storey (Boneo). Emergencies: Jack Gorbert (Baden Powell), Sam Holland-Burch (Long Island), James Spencer (Heatherhill), Jean Luc-Talbot (Mt Eliza)

South West Cricket

Johno Benallack (captain), Lachie Boyle, Matt Boyle, Harry Carter, Louis Darcy, Jamie Dwell, Lachie Green, Hamish Huffadine, matty Kemp, Charlie Lucas, Eddie Lucas, Max Moor, James O’Neil, Henry Stevens, Paul Vogels.

Bellarine

Billy Gravett (Wallington), Dane Wise Graham (Wallington), Matthew Sampson Barnes (Wallington), Simon Umbers (Anglesea), Zac Jones (Ocean Grove), Will Liddle (Surf Coast), Hayden Illingworth (Queenscliff), Archer Jacques (Barrabool), James Fisher (Barrabool), Shane Murdoch (Winchelsea), Daniel Maclean (Armstrong Creek, captain),

Ben Norgrove (Armstrong Creek), Lachlan Mulgrew (Armstrong Creek), Ben Robertson (Armstrong Creek), Matt Kennedy (Armstrong Creek), Clay Mulgrew (Armstrong Creek).

Ballarat

Matt Aikman (Ballarat Redan), Fraser Hunt (Brown Hill), Akila Lakshan (Brown Hill), Viraj Pushpakumara (Brown Hill), Sajith Dissanayaka (Darley), Josh Brown (East Ballarat), Harry Ganley (East Ballarat), Rory Low (East Ballarat), Josh Pegg (Golden Point), Akshay Ballal (Mount Clear), Tom Le Lievre (Mount Clear), Harry Pierson (Napoleons Sebastopol), Cole Roscholler (Wendouree), Heath Pyke (Wendouree, captain)

Hamilton

Hamish Withers (c), Ben Holmes (vc), Paul Procter (vc), Jack Austin, Ben Hanrahan, Jordy Anthony, Shanaka Silva, Tom Roberts, Jak Hotchkiss, Caleb Millard, Jacob Edwards, Carey Megaw, Mitch Arnold.

Maryborough

Sam Bartlett, Lachlan Oddie, Joel Pymer, Jayden Scotland, Tom Alexander, Dan Romeo, Zac Graham, Alex Cook, Kamaljot Romana, Regan Goundry, Max Jackson, Dean Nalder, Liam Hurse, Tom Hannett, Joe Lovell, Jude Mcguire.

Wangaratta

Jack Ryan (Beechworth), Matt Ryan (Beechworth), Matt Lister (City Colts), Josh Nanson (City Colts), Tyler Nanson (City Colts), Dylan Bursill (Ovens Valley), Gregor Fraser (Ovens Valley), Cooper Thomason (Ovens Valley), Ryan Collier (Rovers United), Paddy McNamara (Rovers United, captain), Charith Perera (Rovers United), Matt Whitten (Rovers United), Cooper Matheson (Wangaratta), Jimmy Thewlis (Wangaratta).

Sunraysia

Adam Thomson, Thanura Rajapaske, Joshua Andrews, Liam Naylor, Jayden Hunt, Jason Morrison, Luke Stanbrook, Shaun Mathews, Riley Jobson, Jasper Presswell, Musa Ilyas, Anthony Morrish.

Gisborne and District

Matthew Barake, Alex Browne, Chris Burkett, Damien Edwards, Nathan Fower, Louis Moor, Aaron Paterson, Gareth Sharp, Harrison Sheehan, Taylor Stevenson, Marcus Stewart, Xav Tadd, JArryd Vernon, Riley Vernon, Ben Way, Josh Wills.

Originally published as Geelong and Ferntree Gully make impressive starts at Country Week