Light Pass Cricket Club

The weekend provided some excellent results for the boys in the baggy green with the A1’s A2’s and A3’s all in commanding positions after the first day of play in their two day matches, the only downside was a big defeat for the A4’s and the fact that I didn’t take out the big prize in Sundays 100 club final draw.

A1 reserve’s – The A1’s played the first week of their match against Eudunda/Robertstown at Eudunda on Saturday. The lads had had good results against the ERCCer’s in their one-day clashes this season but the two-day format can change proceedings very quickly. Craig Todd won the toss and elected to bat with a revised batting order for the longer match. The lads got of to a steady start but some early wickets caused concern on the sidelines. A couple of batsmen made starts but the partnerships were modest until Steve Hill and Wade Gripton combined with the score at 4/87. The pair batted with patience and resolve, putting on 127 runs for the 5th wicket taking the score to 214 before Steve was bowled for 80 runs. If Grippo thought he had to take the lead at that point he was soon convinced otherwise as his new partner Dimi Camilleri took the Maxi to the ERCCer bowlers spanking 53 runs out of a 68 run partnership that lasted a mere seven overs. Dimi’s innings unsurprisingly included a couple of big hits but even at Eudunda it’s a rare day that a ball clears the clubrooms whilst still on the up! Through out all of this Grippo had managed to build a fantastic innings that was undoubtedly the backbone of the days play but with only a few overs left he lost his wicket just shy of the magical 100 looking to push the total along, bowled for 94. Sam Schmidt played an entertaining cameo knocking up 27 not out before the end of play and the team finished the day in a strong position at 8/343.

A2’s – With every match a must win from here on in the Wanderer’s were keen for a good start against Kapunda on the weekend. Kapunda won the toss and went out to bat on a surprisingly juicy Stockwell deck and it was immediately apparent that they had misjudged the situation as Syd Miller removed the opening bat with the very first ball of the day. Syd was on fire, he decimated Kapunda’s top order at one stage he had figured of 4 for 3 from 7 overs and the Kapunda batsmen seemed unable to even lay an edge on his bowling. At the other end Andrew Nash was solid but a couple of grassed chances robbed him of well deserve wickets. Jimmy Miller obviously wanted to get in on the action and he also bowled well taking 3 wickets, late slogging dented his figures and his final figures of 3/46 from 11 is no indication of just how well he bowled. Mick Braunack bowled well but like Nashy some poor catching prevented him from claiming better figures, that said 1/9 from 6 overs is nothing to sneeze at. Skipper Simon Davies took matters into his own hands when the Kapunda tail refused to lay down and die taking the final wicket with the second ball of his first over and Kapunda was dismissed for 83 runs. The Light Pass batsmen had their turn to impress with 28 over to be bowled and a low total to chase down. Nathan Koch and Marty Gallasch were disciplined early getting the side off to a solid start facing some aggressive bowling from the Kapunda openers. Kochy was the first to go but Andy Davidson joined Marty at the crease and together they took the score to within 10 runs of a first day win before Marty played around a straight one bowled for a solid 46. Andy continued with Tim Gladigau and that pairing got the side past Kapunda’s total and then some before the end of play and to the score of 2/107, Andy is on 21 overnight and Tim is on 24.

A3’s – The 3’s travelled to Williamstown on the weekend to take on Sandy Creek in a match that will impact on whether Ellbourn's outfit can obtain a valuable top two position coming up to finals. Brad won the toss and elected to bat, a decision that looked shaky when a couple of wickets put the lads under pressure. Thankfully Brad Hunter continued his recent good form and together with Chris Allen put on a 93 run partnership that put the boys in the baggy green well and truly back in the contest. Both batsmen did well over the 20 plus over partnership scoring at a good run rate until Bradley was caught by some bloke called Mid On (according to the book) for 41. Chris continued with several partners taking the total to 6/159 when he was caught for the top score of 58. The rest of the batsmen chipped in and the final score was a competitive 10/196. With overs left to bowl the boys in the baggy green trundled down 14 overs snaring 2/32 by the end of play, Mark John claiming both wickets but on a smallish ground the lads will still have to fight hard to bring home the points.

A4’s – The A4’s played Truro at Truro on the weekend in a match that most of the Baggy greens will happily banish from their memories but will no doubt get better and better for the telling with our northern neighbours. Truro batted first and got off to a solid start despite some good bowling by Pup Gerhardy. The Baggy Greens took their first wicket quire early by the run rate was also high and the experienced Truro line up just kept scoring runs. Pup finished with 1/37 from 8 overs but I think the rest of the bowlers would appreciate it if I didn’t publish their figures. Truro smacked their way the big total of 5/307 in their 40 overs but mercifully Chook Deren did not bat. With a ridiculously big total to chase the lads showed some stomach and at least tried to pull off a miracle which is more than can be said for some of the sides in the competitions higher grades this year when faced with a big total. But in the end the lads fell well short rolled out for 52. Mick Gerhardy made 14 and Sam marks chipped in with 13.