Almanac (Local) Cricket – Round 14: West Warrion v Irrewarra

 

Round 14 v Irrewarra

By Liam McCullagh

 

 

A top-of-the-table clash in the final home-and-away fixture, a match-up against my boss, and a sunny green wicket at Warrion set the scene for a must-win fixture.

 

Irrewarra won our first encounter of the season, with us without four of our top six batsmen.

 

The side Irrewarra had in for this round’s match was strong, and there had been plenty of chirp during the week from my boss — Ace Radio Colac GM Nick Hay — ahead of the weekend’s match.

 

Nick is a life member of the Colac and District Cricket Association. A former tearaway fast bowler, Nick is a multiple premiership player in A Grade for Irrewarra and currently heads the junior sub-committee, which I also sit on.

 

Given his age, Nick now bowls off-spin. It’s still accurate and smart, but even he admits he misses the anger fast bowling allowed him to exert.

 

A quote from the weekend: “Off-spin is not much fun; you get hit for four and have to just cop it. When you bowl quick and get hit for four, the next one is a bouncer at his head.”

 

I want to preface this by saying he is a great boss. He plucked me from the Colac Herald and threw me into a radio job when I had little to no experience speaking on air. I am very appreciative of him, which made actually playing cricket against him a special occasion. I’m not sure how many more there will be, if any.

 

Jeff Percy opened the bowling this time around. Last time we played him he was bowling off-spin. Perc is a champion fast bowler, with multiple premierships for Irrewarra in top-grade cricket, and he must have been licking his lips when he saw the surface produced.

 

One of our openers, Craig Kerr, was dismissed for 1 from 25 balls, trapped LBW leaving one that jagged a mile.

 

It was tough going early for our batsmen, with Max Hutch the next dismissed, hitting a cut shot to point off the bowling of Nick’s eldest son, Sid.

 

I went out to do my stint at square leg while Shane Kent and Xav Prime consolidated with the score at 2–30. Perc was pulling out all the tricks — off-cutters, slower balls — all while still being accurate.

 

He took 1–14 from his eight overs. Kenty played a couple of swashbuckling shots over point, one off the front foot. He went out on 35, snicking off to Kyne Watts. Wattsy bowls off about three steps, but it’s still sharp.

 

Nick came on to bowl his spin, getting Primey out for 16 from 39 — highlighting how tidy the bowling from Irrewarra was.

 

Wattsy hurries a lot of batsmen up and he also picked up the wicket of Damo Wetemans early as well. The score was 5–80 when Charlie Morrissy joined Paul Liistro at the crease. The two batted really well together, rotating the strike.

 

Nick had been spruiking all day that he was going to get Liistro out LBW.

 

Before his first ball to Liistro: “LBW this bloke — walking LBW.”

 

His first ball to Liistro was dispatched to the boundary for four straight down the ground. It was an entertaining battle watching those two go at it. Liistro played some cracking shots, hitting five fours en route to 34 from 39 balls before being bowled by Manny Robb.

 

Manny then trapped Bealey LBW for 4, and I was out in the middle batting. Before I took guard, I tapped down some tufts of grass that had stood up from where the ball had hit them. Nick yelled out, “You’re not a full-time journo; you should be a full-time gardener.”

 

Mozz was hitting the ball really nicely, strong through the leg side. I played a lovely leg glance over square leg for four. We scrambled our way to 160. Mozz and I put on 30 at the end of the innings, which could be crucial runs come the end of the match.

 

 

Another fine arvo tea spread.

 

Considering how green the wicket was, I thought we were just over par for a good score. I thought if we bowled well, 120 was defendable, but 140–150 was par.

 

Irrewarra also has a very strong batting line-up, spearheaded by Ian ‘Squizzy’ Taylor. He might be on the older side, but he is still a gun. He played premier cricket back in the day for Melbourne Uni, and he goes hard from ball one.

 

Ethan Coverdale’s first three balls were dots. The next three were all fours. The first was a cut shot smoked through point.

 

Covers and I were able to peg them back, with the next four overs going for just four runs.

 

Ethan found his radar bowling to Sid Hay, and I reckon he would have played and missed about five times off my bowling. Sid, only 15, has all the makings of a future gun. You can see once he gets a bit stronger, he is going to be a solid all-rounder. He’ll start piercing the gaps, and he is already six-foot-plus and able to extract extra bounce from the wicket.

 

I had one with Squizzy where I thought I’d snicked him off with a little feather, feeling for the ball outside off stump. The umpire gave not out, and Squizzy even said after the game he didn’t hit it. I was adamant though that there was a nick, as were many of my teammates. My final over went for 12, ballooning my figures out to 0–22 from six overs.

 

The first wicket fell in the 13th over, Sid taking off for a quick single. Hutch picked up the ball and, with one stump to aim at, threw them down. As Sid was dismissed, he ran off the ground — he was late for a basketball tournament in town for the Colac Kookas.

 

Searching for a wicket just before drinks, with Irrewarra cruising at 1–69, Mozz was thrown the ball to bowl his left-arm spin. The first ball was a half-tracker that nearly bounced twice. The next two were waist-high full tosses. The fifth ball was another half-tracker, and Squizzy top-edged it to Covers at backward square leg. The big breakthrough — Squizzy gone for 40 from 52 balls.

 

Irrewarra went into drinks at 2–80. Another 80 to get, but plenty of wickets in hand.

 

Covers came back on and struck in the first over after drinks, bowling Kane Quickenstead with a ball that kept low. As Kane walked past me off the ground, he said, “I told myself I was going to pull on this wicket.”

 

The next over saw Primey trap Dave ‘Whippet’ Jackson LBW for 3.

 

Kyne Watts was then bowled for 2 by Covers. The screws were well and truly tightened. Covers picked up another, bowling Jeff Percy. The first ball of Primey’s next over was a full toss on leg stump that Lance Melbourne hit straight to Liistro at midwicket. The score cut to 7–91 in the space of five overs. Irrewarra lost 5–11 after drinks.

 

Luke Kenny and Manny Robb combined for a little bit before Luke Kenny hit one straight to Mozz to be dismissed for 10. The score now 8–103.

 

Two junior players for Irrewarra were batting together, with 17-year-old Noah Dunne hitting a couple of nice shots and Manny Robb playing a beautiful off drive for four. The score slowly crept up to 8–128 with four overs left.

 

Dunne was dismissed by James McNabb for 16, bringing out the big show, Nick Hay, to bat. Nick went out in the final over, skying one, and Max Hutch steadied underneath it with the gloves.

 

 

Darcy Dwyer and Damo Wetemans searching for floor space.

 

The win secured West Warrion top spot, also securing a double chance with a match against the second-placed Colac next week.

 

Irrewarra dropped to third and will play Simpson. A full team effort with the ball again got the job done.

 

We went back to the Western Reserve social rooms to celebrate the success of both our Division 2 and Division 3 teams. This year was the first year both teams had made finals since the Warrion and Colac West cricket clubs merged in 2022. It’s my first finals campaign since Under 17s in 2020–21.

 

Bring it on.

 

The unstoppable force of our 3s skipper Darren ‘Hurdle’ Hay and Liistro playing table tennis.

 

More from Liam McCullagh can be read Here.

 

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