With five of their six teams in the race for finals action, it’s go time for the Mt Evelyn Cricket Club in what could be an auspicious finish to the 2024/25 season.
The clash between the Community Bank – Mt Evelyn 1st XI and the Seville Burras seemed to be in fast forward from the opening ball. Mt Evelyn captain Troy Hancock won the toss and had no hesitations batting in excellent conditions. Opener Jesse Fraser got the Mounters off to a flyer with a quick fire 33 off 30 balls, which was littered with three fours and three sixes, whilst partner Adam Smith continued his solid form at the top of the order. Unfortunately for the home team, the assault was all too brief, and the pair fell in quick succession opening the door for the Burras to regain some footing in the contest.
Whilst the runs continued to flow, so too did the wickets and with the score on 5/115 approaching the tea interval, the innings could’ve gone either way with the home team in danger of being bundled out for a score short of 200. Jake Blackwell was the steadying hand before tea scoring an impressive half century, but he inexplicably threw his wicket away upon the resumption of play after the tea break leaving some work to do for the lower order. Hancock was joined by his predecessor, Daniel Fraser, and the pair proceeded to keep their team from falling apart in the only way they know how…fast forward. Hancock blasted his way to 64 off 49 balls featuring six fours and three sixes, whilst Fraser would bat through with the tail, scoring 67 valuable runs with four fours and five sixes. Eventually, Seville would bowl the Mounters out for 259, and with the rapid pace of play, they would be given a healthy 15 overs for the remainder of the day to knock off a decent chunk of the runs.
Sensing a big moment in their season, the Mounters struck swiftly as speedster Caleb Hrabe captured a wicket with the first ball of the innings, and with two more to his name through an excellent opening spell, he would have the Burras scrambling at 3/36 when stumps were pulled. The late wickets leave the contest in an intriguing position. Runs will always flow at Gary Martin Oval, so the visitors will know they are only couple of healthy partnerships away from making a significant dent in the chase, whilst if the Mounters can capture quick wickets, it will leave a fair bit of work to do for the lower order of Seville’s batting line up.
The Professionals Outer East 2nd XI have been humming on the back an allround game where they are experiencing success, and more importantly consistency, with both bat and ball. In a closely run race in the David Beatty Shield, each week presents a new challenger, and the Seville Burra’s season has followed a similar trajectory as they look to feature in finals action also. Seville won the toss and sent the visitors in to bat and would ensue would be an excellent contest between bat and ball, and two teams in solid form. The Mounters would bat out their allotted overs, but by no means was it a dominant display with the bat. Several times throughout the day, it looked as though the visitors would throw away a score of significance as there were plenty of starts early in the innings, and tidy partnerships, but never really threatened to bust the game open. With the score teetering at 5/104, it looked as though they may have missed their chance.
Nothing beats experience when the pressure is on, and some wise heads ensured that the Mt Evelyn innings would plough on. Brad Jones added some scoring spark to the innings with a brilliant 63 to ignite the run home for the Mounters, whilst captain Shane Laird and veteran Ian Hawkey would keep the innings moving forward, guiding the team to a final total of 241. This contest is also well poised for an exciting finish as the chase is a challenging one, but by no means an extreme one, and both teams will be well satisfied with their efforts on day one. The Mounters will be looking for another allround bowling performance to clinch another moral boosting win heading into finals.
The Rhead Group 3rd XI have had a tough time of it since the break leaving their season on the brink as they are left needing to win their last two games, by healthy margins, to sneak back into the top four. Under the split innings format, captain Graeme Foster won the toss, and looked to heap pressure on the Warrandyte bats, electing to bowl first. Warrandyte would cautiously approach the start of their innings as the Mt Evelyn bowlers would turn up the pressure. To the Bloods credit, they would hold firm, and despite a quick pair of wickets with the score just beyond 50, they would navigate their way through the first half of their innings with little difficulty reaching 2/139.
This placed the pressure well and truly back on the home side with the win imperative for their season to continue beyond February. When inform opener Kaydn Newport fell with the score on 36, anything could’ve been on the cards for the struggling bats. Mainstay Dickie Hearn would role up his sleeves, and would be well supported by the returning Alex Brisbane-Flynn, and the pair would combine for the most impressive, and most important, partnership of the season. The pair would not only show some fortitude in defence, but they showed plenty of scoring intent. Most importantly they would keep their wickets intact for the remainder of the day. With the right balance of defence and attack, their unbeaten partnership of 128 saw the score balloon to 1/164 when stumps were drawn. Hearn would be rewarded for a consistent season as he will resume at 75 not out, whilst Brisbane-Flynn looked as if he had spent no time away from the game as he looked assured scoring an unbeaten 46. If the pair can continue on and help the side towards a total approaching 250, or even 300, the Mounters could find themselves on the road to a season saving, moral boosting, victory.
The Hop Hen Brewing 4th XI have had to earn everything they’ve got this season and have managed to give themselves an opportunity to play finals as they embark in a tough run home. This week’s opponents, Ainslie Park, have been atop the tree for the majority of the season, and offered the Mounters a contest in which they could prove themselves finals worthy, and ready.
Ainslie Park would win the toss, and put the Mounters in on the batter friendly ‘Postage Stamp’, in a bid to manage their chase what ever that may present. As is the way, the runs flowed freely off the Mt Evelyn bats which was punctuated with a string of useful contributions. Connor Hartman (58 not out) and Flynn Orchard (51 not out) would be the standouts in a solid effort with the bat leading to a score of 8/252. Unfortunately for the Mounters, the Ainslie Park bats flexed their muscles and made short work of what looked like a challenging chase. At no time did they look under pressure, and walked away with a six wicket victory, with plenty of overs in hand. Although they remain in the box seat to feature in finals action, the Mounters will be made to earn it.
The Mt Evelyn 5th XI suffered their second defeat of the season last round, both to Kilsyth, and entered their Round 14 clash against the third placed Templeton with a point to prove. So it was no surprise that upon winning the toss, captain Jason Dunstone, took the opportunity to put a score on the board to assert their dominance. Templeton would have none of it, and at times the Mounters would looked as if they would break the innings open, but they would be reeled in by untimely wickets. Dunstone (27), Leighton Joyce (30) and Craig Kenins (25) would all make useful contributions at the top of the order, but none could kick on exposing the middle to late order of the batting lineup. Templeton would run through the Mounters’ middle order as they would capture 8 wickets for just 24 runs to reign in the innings. Young guns Ezra Joyce and Harry Dunstone ensured there would be no blushes of not batting out the overs as they would see the visitors to 144.
After missing a golden opportunity with the bat, the Mounters wouldn’t let it slip with the ball as they dominated their defence from the opening over. Regular wickets would fall, and with half the Taipans batting line up back on the shed with the score teetering at 5/37, the Mounters showed why they have occupied the top end of the ladder for most of the season. Templeton would show their fight in the back end of the innings to ensure the Mounters would have to earn their victory, but the early damage was too much to overcome as they were eventually bowled out for 117, 27 runs short of their target. Harry Dunstone would complete a handy day with both bat and ball as he captured 2/20, whilst Mark Kuhne has been a handy addition to the team as he took 2/13. The Mounters will now use the remaining three rounds to fine tune their game in the lead up to finals.
The Flowtec 6th XI found themselves on the end of another honourable loss, this time to the hand of Mooroolbark. Although only posting two victories for the season, at no stage have the team been disgraced, and once again this was the case in this Round 14 clash. Mt Evelyn elected to bat first, and the ever reliable and experienced opening pair of Gary Scott and Andrew Frid got the batting effort off to a customary solid start. The only blot in the book early was the unfortunate exit of Scott, succumbing to injury after he scored 26. Frid would bat on and secure yet another unbeaten half century to again highlight his importance to the young team. The Mt Evelyn middle order would struggle to add any significant contributions to the scoreboard, but they would valiantly fight on. Finn Blanksby would add some much needed beef to the back end of the innings as his quick fire unbeaten 28 boosted the final score to 7/157.
Taking wickets has been a significant challenge for the Mounters this season, so when they reduced the visitors to 4/36, there was a glimmer of hope that a third victory for the season was a real possibility. A game saving partnership of 85 between Evan Mack and Shane Donovan had the Barkers within reach of victory, and despite another flurry of wickets, the visitors would claim a two wicket victory. Blanksby would complete a great all round game capturing 2/9 giving his team an early chance which they almost took.
