Almanac (Club) Cricket: Round 2 – West Warrion v Tomahawk Creek

Round 2:  West Warrion v Tomahawk Creek.

 

By Liam McCullagh

 

Pulling Stumps: Club president Dean Hutchinson, Kenny McDonald and Charlie Morrissy.

 

There is truly no better place to play cricket on a sunny spring day than the Warrion Cricket Ground.

I may be biased, given it’s my home ground, but the place really is the home of cricket in South West Victoria. It has frequently hosted premier cricket matches when city clubs would play the ‘Country Cup’; the Australian Cricket Society has played matches there, and the Colac and District Cricket Association Grand Final was held there for many years.

It has seen legends like Brad Hodge, David Hussey and local star Aaron Finch grace the surface.

 

For me, it’s Field of Dreams-esque — it has that typical country charm: trees circling, paddocks surrounding, and dated clubrooms that are warm and welcoming.
A lot of the perfection Warrion exudes wouldn’t have been possible without one man – Eric Hay.

 

Eric was the groundskeeper, often spending more time working on producing the perfect wicket than at his own dairy farm in Ondit. Truth be told, he was the most influential figure the club has had in its long, proud history.
On September 5, Eric passed away suddenly and peacefully while on a family holiday in Hervey Bay, surrounded by his loved ones.

 

Without Eric, I may not even be writing for the Almanac, nor would I have received the Australian Cricket Society Scholarship in 2024, because I wrote about him and the Warrion Cricket Ground as my entry in 2023.
I recently sent that article to his son, Darren (the club’s Division Three captain), and it was read at his funeral.

 

An excerpt —

 

“A white Holden Rodeo with a metal tray pulls into its reserved parking space where no other spectator dares park. Out hobbles an old, weather-beaten man.
I walk past him to start my pitch inspection.
‘G’day, Shithead,’ he says.
I respond, ‘G’day Eric, how ya going?’
That’s his form of endearment”.

 

It hasn’t got a pavilion; the tractor is 40-odd years old and the mower breaks down at least twice a year.
Cypress trees circle the oval, it’s surrounded by cow paddocks and is known to host the occasional brown snake.
The ball gets lost when the batsman hits straight past the bowler onto the road, and multiple shirts have been torn climbing through barbed-wire fences to ensure play continues.

 

It’s country cricket — and country cricket wouldn’t be what it is without figures like Eric Hay.”

 

It was fitting that for each of the club’s senior men’s teams, the first fixtured match began with the Australian flag at half-mast, black armbands, and a minute’s silence.
Division Three held theirs last week against Tomahawk Creek, and while Division Two was away, it was our turn to pay respects this week — also against Tomahawk Creek.

 

Respect: The two Division Three sides gather for a minute silence during last weekends fixture.

 

Overcast in the morning, the pitch had a greenish tinge but was rock hard underneath. With the sun expected to rear its head in the afternoon, we thought it would be a great batting wicket later in the day. There were no complaints when we lost the toss and were sent out to bowl first.

 

Inspect: Morning pitch inspections with Umpire Mark Robb, Dean Hutchinson, Max Hutchinson and Charlie Morrissy.

 

Openers Ethan Coverdale and Paul Liistro were very good again, with Liistro striking in his first over — the second of the match — removing Shaun Oborne, who was caught at cover by Charlie Morrissy.
Morrissy, a full-forward for Irrewarra-Beeac, ran back with the flight to take the catch, with several teammates remarking it was the first time he’d ever done so in his career. Morrissy returned this season after a year off; in his last match, he made 60-odd not out in Division One. He can seriously play and is a lovely fielder with an absolute cannon of a left arm.

 

The next wicket came from a calamitous run out in the fourth over. Left-hander Kaidyn Mahoney — who is also a chef at the Union pub — defended, with the ball catching his inside edge and going to square leg. His batting partner called him through, and after hesitation, he took off. Damon Wetermans picked up the ball and threw it to Liistro, who took the bails off.

 

A chance came in over seven when Xavier Prime was bowling to a former Warrion teammate in Darryn Murrell. It was a snick that went between Kenny McDonald and me at first and second slip. Primey later trapped Murrell lbw for 12.
Ethan Coverdale came back on and picked up two quick wickets before the 20-over drinks break, leaving Tomahawk Creek at 5/66. I came on to bowl after the break with Darcy Dwyer.

 

The pick of the Tomahawk Creek batsmen was Russell Farquharson. He batted really solidly and, as usual, was hard to dismiss. One of his three fours was a pull shot that went over to the equipment shed, where Max Hutchinson swears he saw a brown snake slither.

 

We tried to starve Farquharson of the strike — pushing the field back for one when he was facing, and tightening the ring when he was at the non-striker’s end. It worked, as Darcy bowled him for 30. Darcy then picked up Tim Crabbe, thanks to another catch from James ‘Buckets’ McNabb in gully. The ball made a vacuum noise when it hit his hands — there was no way he was dropping it.
I got one in the 33rd over — a shorter ball that John Medley went to pull, but it didn’t quite get up and hit off-stump.
Darcy picked up another in the next over to claim the figures of the match with 4/21 from 6.4 overs. Tomahawk Creek fought hard but were all out for 121.

 

The near highlight of the day was the afternoon spread — one of our finest. Homemade scones, party pies, chicken nuggets, ham-salad sandwiches, Boston buns — it had the works!
I even roped in my mum to make her homemade quiche, which is delicious.

 

Yum: Our first afternoon tea spread of the season.

 

By then, the sun was truly out. It was our turn to bat, and we got our first look at a new opening pair. With Deakin Carmichael unavailable and dairy farmer Shane Kent crossing from Alvie after playing Round One, Wetermans continued his solid start to the season, posting 44 from 59, while Kent scored 41 from 69 in his first match.

 

Given the commanding position we were in, Primey (fresh off 91 from 53 balls) pushed himself down the order and let others have a bat. Hutchinson came in at first drop and Morrissy at four, unfortunately making a second-ball duck.
Kenny McDonald came in to help close out the innings, with West Warrion chasing down the total three wickets down.

 

Immediately after the match the team went to roll the covers out in anticipation of later rain. A Highlight was Liistro’s son Ollie who nearly ended up rolling himself!

 

 

Help: The boys rolling to covers out post match.

 

Another solid win, with Division Three also getting a good result. After two rounds, both Division Two and Three sides sit on top of the ladder. A test awaits, with Division Two facing last year’s grand finalists, Colac, next weekend.

 

But for the time being, the lads are soaking up a stellar start to the season after playing at one of the most beautiful grounds in the state.

 

 

Soaking Up The Sun: Max Hutchinson, Charlie Morrissy and Charlie’s mum Helen post match.

 

Thank you, Eric, for all your hard work. Rest in peace.

 

Listen here to the Line and Length podcast for a spoken version of the weekend’s events.

 

 

Tomahawk Creek 121

Russell Farquharson 30 (55).

Fill-in 24 (23).

Darcy Dwyer 4-21 (6.4).

Ethan Coversale 2-34 (7).

 

West Warrion 3-122

Damon Wetermans 44 (59).

Shane Kent 41 (69).

Darren Murrell 2-14 (5).

Tim Crabbe 1-27 (6).

 

 

Read more from Liam McCullagh HERE.

 

 

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