Round 10 v Altona Roosters

After 4 weeks of no cricket, the team was itching to get out there and play and they performed as so.
It had been so long since our last game, we were actually up against the last team we played back in Round 5 , the Altona Roosters.
We were missing Ava and Luca but in their place we had Rhys’s younger brother Owen up from the Cubs and we bought across Jack Costigan from Melton Lions u13s, the team Rose and Roy have been playing in on a Friday night. They both were made to feel very welcomed into the side and they enjoyed themselves immensely.
Must say for the whole day, I have never seen our side so up for the game, so supportive of each other and just so tight as a team
AJ was made captain and won the toss decided that with the rooster’s only having 8 players and he was going to open the batting, we would bat first.
So he and Riaan went out to open the innings, starting off very watchful for the first few overs, they settled into the grove and started scoring freely, until a mix up in the running occurred and we lost our first wicket with Riaan being caught short for 7 runs. AJ then retired so it meant we had the brothers batting together in Rhys and Owen. They put on a nice little partnership until Owen got a good ball to have us at 2/42 and then Harrison got the same to have us 3/44.
For the next 8 overs there wasn’t a lot of balls they could hit, so it was good to see Fox and Kyal make the most of their time and both retire and Rose then coming in and being very watchful in her innings and being there for 11 balls but running well, supporting her partners and taking all the extras she could.
Our new Jack came in and looked as comfortable as I expected him to be, he laced 2 glorious boundaries in his 15 runs before he retired and was supported well by our Jack as he also retired. Unfortunately Roy didn’t get going with the bat this week, but he used that as ammunition for his bowling (His first over here and go see the seniors report for the 4th XI) so it was left to AJ and Rhys for some end of innings hitting to have us finish on 5/120 with AJ 24not out and Rhys 28not out. we all thought this was very defendable.
It was our turn to field and I must say their enthusiasm was at a high, they were so keen to be out there and it showed.
They were all up and about in the field and their bowling was so aggressive.
Rhys opened up and was unlucky to get one but it was Roy in the 2nd over who was breathing fire, with his 2nd and 3rd balls big hooping swingers that took out the batters middle stumps at pace that had them 2/5 after 2 overs and had them hanging on in survival mode as one of the best bats in the comp slowly got his game going , picking off runs and putting any less than average balls to the boundary till he retired. That only meant we could then put pressure on the other batters, which worked as when Rose bowled a maiden they werre falling far behind the required run rate, it meant that they were now taking some risks and lead to a great run out by AJ followed by Owen then picking up his first wicket with a caught and bowled effort to have them in major trouble at 4/34 which quickly became 5/34 as Riaan bowled a beautiful wicket maiden. Jack C was unlucky not to grab a wicket in his first over but when Rhys got a wicket in his 2nd over, they were now 6/40 in the 12th over with only 1 wicket in hand and 80 runs in deficit. This was the most wickets we had taken before the half way mark – ever.
With their best bat coming back in, there was a little bit of worry when he started finding the gaps, but when we threw the ball to Fox, he cleaned up the other batter and that was end of game in the after 17.1 overs, Altona Roosters all out for 63 and only 15 runs from wides all no balls – a terrific effort as we had been guilty in the last few games of bowling way to many extras.
Wicket takers were Rhys 1-6, Roy 2-8, Riaan 1-3, Fox 1-3 and Owen 1-3
As said, this was the most focused I have ever seen them, the most enthusiasm for the contest, the closeness of the team mates in support of each other and playing as a team was amazing.
It was a thoroughly well deserved win as they gave it their all.
They now sit in 4th position with a 3-3 win loss and get to take on the top side first game back in the new year which will be a good test to see how much we have improved.
I am so proud of how they have progressed and I will keep saying it, it’s not about the wins or losses, it’s is about the individual development and the team moving forward , which is what we are seeing.
Have a great break
Have fun
Take care of yourselves and those around you

Go Spotty!
Coach Crispy