It was a mixed bag of results for the men and women in maroon this weekend with two out of six senior teams saluting with wins. The 2nd XI steadied their ship to secure an important win, whilst the inaugural 6th XI combined to post a win in their first game. For the other teams, they came across much tougher opposition.
The Community Bank – Mt Evelyn First XI had the task on their hands as Montrose had posted an imposing target of 297, but were of the full understanding that if they could bat their allotted overs on the fast Gary Martin Oval, then they would be in this contest up to their eyeballs. Openers Campbell Mole and Jesse Fraser started accordingly taking a measured approach to the challenge. Unfortunately when set, the pair couldn’t capitalise and give the innings the momentum it needed early on. Mole and Daniel Giblin would depart without making a dent in the scoreboard, whilst Fraser’s stout innings would end at 23. Wolves youngster Charley Smith the chief destroyer with two early wickets.
Things would go from bad to worse for the Mounters as Bailey O’Neill would ensure there was no repeat of the Elimination Final massacre from last season as he quickly had Jake Blackwell and Troy Hancock heading back to the pavilion and score looked forlorn at a measly 5/72. Luke Jones, fresh off a half century in the Second XI, and exciting prospect Jett Hartman would come together and try to resurrect the team and regather after the early debacle. The pair would graft their way through a tough period whilst ensuring the scoreboard continued to tick over at a pace that would keep the innings up to the speed required to chase the meaty total.
With the partnership at 86, things would’ve looked a bit tighter than the visitors might of liked. Jones would post consecutive half centuries, but unfortunately for him, and the Mounters, he was unable to kick on as he was bowled out by Jake Motteram for 52. The wicket would prove to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Hartman (43) would fight on, primarily with the support of a stoic innings by Will Macklin, but it was too little too late as the home side was dismissed for 204, 92 runs short of their opponents score, and 15 overs short of their task of batting 80 overs.
The Mounters will need to regroup quickly as they face an inform Seville Burras on foreign soil. This contest shapes as a crucial one, even this early in the season. Mt Evelyn have been unconvincing over the early parts of the season, whilst the Burras are flying as they look to atone for a disappointing 2023/24 season.
The Professionals Outer East Second XI found themselves in a precarious position heading into the second days’ play at Yarra Glen. The Mounters did well to restrict the home side to 155, but left the door ajar for the River Pigs, losing five early wickets to have the score delicately poised at 5/69 at stumps on day one.
Captain Shane Laird implored his batters to be patient and smart, no need to force the run rate. The game would be won or lost in how they approached the first hour. The middle order bats executed their captains plans perfectly. New recruit Mike Mawson was the mainstay at the wicket on day two and with two well paced forty plus partnerships with Jamie Bliss, then Chris Morrow, the game was put to bed with little fuss.
The Second XI have now strung consecutive victories together and look strong after a tumultuous 2023/24 season where the team struggled to find consistency and eventually missed the finals. Their Round 4 clash, also against Seville, proves to be a pivotal match for the Mounters, even this early in the season. A win would really set themselves up with early form and confidence.
The Rhead Group Third XI travelled to Coldstream and were essentially one wicket from taking victory. Captain Graeme Foster won the toss and duly asked the Crocs to post a total. The Mounters had the best of the early exchanges as the new ball pairing of Austin Leonard (3/9) and Luke Shepherd (1/27) quickly had the Crocs struggling at 4/40. Enter Dan Whelan who would turn the innings, and effectively the game, on its head. With excellent execution and some fortune of missed opportunities from the fielding team, he would see out the innings, with the help of the rest of the batting line up to push the score to an imposing 7/188 on the spacious surrounds of the Halle Supple Reserve. In the only misfortune for Whelan, and the Crocs, the innings would close with his innings one run short of a deserved century.
The Mounters would make a fair fist of the chase. Openers Adam Smith and Luke Shepherd would ensure that the innings would begin on the front foot, whilst middle order bats Luke Paterson and Alex Whiting would keep the scoreboard ticking over through the middle overs. Kadyn Newport and Sam Vanhoogstraten would then add some impetus at the close of the innings. Unfortunately, for the visitors, regular wickets would be their downfall. With each of these spurts, the set batsmen would lose their wickets at crucial intervals leaving the next pair to regain momentum. With no batsman, or partnership approaching a half century, the innings looked destined to fall short of the intended target.
Eventually the innings was wrapped up at the end of the 34th over with the score at 173, 15 runs short of the Crocs total. Although disappointed with the final result, the team would by buoyed by some of the performances and will be looking to atone for the loss when they take on Warrandyte next week.
The Hop Hen Brewing Fourth XI travelled to Vermont and found their hosts too tough to overcome. The Eagles batted first and put together an innings that would prove too great for the visitors. A good run rate, and wickets in tact all along would see Vermont post a solid total of 5/195. The Mt Evelyn bowlers battled manfully and kept their opponents honest with Flynn Orchard being the pick of the crew with figures of 2/34.
Right from the beginning of their innings, the Mounters found the going tough against a skilful attack. The Eagles didn’t give an inch and had the batsmen pinned from the first ball. Other than captain Chris Doyle at the end, no batsmen could have a stint at the wicket long enough to really trouble the scorers and the visitors were ingloriously skittled for 54. A bitter pill to swallow after a promising start to the season, the Mounters would do well to put this one behind them quickly.
The Fifth XI had the classic for the weekend with a last ball thriller as they hosted Kilsyth. Kilsyth won the toss and gleefully accepted the opportunity to gather some runs on the Mt Evelyn number 2 Oval, more affectionately known as ‘The Postage Stamp’. Ryan Kaal (49) and Pat Moilanen (52 not out) had the visitors on the front foot early as some blistering stroke play had the Redbacks humming early. Wickets to up-and-comer Ben Dunstone, and father/son duo, Alastair and Harry Churchill kept things in check through the middle overs before a burst from Rabin Mehra (50 not out) would see the innings squared away at 8/233.
After the early wickets of Alastair Churchill and Jonah Langenbacher, Craig Kenins and Leighton Joyce would give the impetus to the innings that would springboard this game on to a classic finish. The pair would get themselves to half centuries, and a partnership of over 100, that would have the team keeping pace with their opponents. Jason Dunstone’s contribution of 32 made sure the work of Kenins and Joyce would not go to waste. With the score on 150 upon his departure, the game was evenly poised. Wickets fell as batsmen tried valiantly to keep the scoreboard ticking over at the required rate. Under 12 gun Ezra Joyce played years above his age, and playing experience, and almost wrote himself into Mt Evelyn Cricket Club folklore with his mature approach. Unfortunately, the overs would run out on the chase with the score four runs short of the Redbacks total at 9/229.
The Fifth XI have made a promising start to the season, and despite the close loss, will eagerly await the return to cricket after the long weekend to take on Hoddles Creek.
In a first in the club’s history, the Mt Evelyn Cricket Club is fielding a Sixth XI, and the team duly saluted in their first hit out against Healesville. The Bloods opened up with the bat, and had the better of the early going despite some tight bowling. Chase Missen (2/23) entered the attack and a quick couple of wickets started to turn the innings. Regular wickets, and a tightening of the run rate, saw the Mounters wrestle ascendancy over the innings as they restricted the visitors to 8/156. All the bowlers did their job when asked with the highlights being maiden senior wickets to Finn Blanksby and Mitch Jenes.
Healesville backed their young guns Aeden Senti and Raff Morcombe to lead their attack, and after an early arm wrestle, three quick wickets had the innings teetering at 3/40. Mark Kuhne would join Dickie Hearn at the wickets, and the pair’s experience would see the home side take ascendency once the threat of Senti and Morcombe had been seen off. The partnership would complement each other as Kuhne’s destructive force was balanced by Hearn’s patience and running between wickets as both would reach their half centuries within sight of the finish line. This left sister/brother duo of Ash (14 not out) and Chase Missen (17 not out) to see the team to the winning total with overs to spare.
The juniors enjoyed the opportunity get back on the park after a soggy weekend last week consigning most of the cricketers to watching the rain fall without a ball being bowled. The teams would experience a successful weekend of competition with four wins from five games in the competitive grades. Great reward for the effort and hard work they have been putting into their training.
There was plenty to celebrate from our youngest cricketers. Stars with the ball included; Austin Leonard (5/19 – U16/2), Jacdan Mikaelian (3/9 – U14 and 3/14 – U12/2) and Amos Flavel (3/6 – U12/2) whilst the top run scorers included Ash Missen (23 not out – U16/4), Ezra Joyce (23 not out – U14) and Owen White (17 not out – U12/7).
