Country and Metro day one report

On day one of the annual Victorian Under-17 & 19 Metro v Country Series, we witnessed three Twenty20s up here on the border at Cobram/Barooga.

The under-19 game kicked off at 1:45, or well it was supposed to, however, no one let Vic Metro captain Jonty Rushton know, as he lead his side out at 1:55.

Because, and I quote, “The umps told us we had time.”

Well whatever they did in that supposed time they had, it worked.

After six overs, the Vic Country were 5-25.

Rob Quiney look-a-like Shea Gribben kicked things off with two early wickets, sending McCann and Balshaw packing, making the long bus ride up a lot more annoying.

The WWE like grip on Country’s batting order didn’t let up as Essendon CC and Northern Falcon Nishal Perera claimed 3-9 in his three overs.

Tom La Brooy provided some highlights putting one over the pickets, before strolling past a Gehan Seneviratne leg-spinner and being stumped.

Country finally got something going when at 7-32, Gordon “Niagara” Waterfall and Luke Ford combined for a 59-run partnership, when Bobby Q version 2 (Shea Gribben) came back and castled Niagara with one ball remaining.

Skipper Jake Wood strutted out to the wicket and finished the innings with a huge swing…. and a miss.

Metro starting their innings as the polar opposite of their Country counterparts.

After five overs, some steady bowling from Waterfall, Diston and McMaster kept Brolic and Allen at bay with the score at 0-19.

However, coming to the rescue yet again was Ford, taking the wicket of Allen which was followed by a Diston direct hit to bring Metro back to 2-30, bringing Rushton and Ashan Wijayakumara came together.

Jake Wood’s creative captaincy saw frequent bowling changes that kept the batsmen and scorers guessing.

His counterpart, however, began to take the game away from Country with some clean hitting and good running to have Metro 2-66 before a Niagara Falls double strike reduced them to 4-66.

With five overs left, Captain Wood was left scratching at his Frankston moulded cricket brain as to how to win the unwinnable.

And what he did next didn’t work as Metro coasted to victory by six wickets to give themselves the precious two points in this heated series.

Both captains felt their teams were nowhere near their best, with Country’s captain Wood saying that “there were lots of little areas to improve, but its only 20 overs, so hopefully we’re fresher and better for longer in the one-dayer.”

His peer Rushton was pleased with the calm batting of Wijayakumara, and Bobby Q Version 2’s bowling in ” all in all a good day “.

Country Batting: Waterfall 22 Ford 31*
Bowling: Waterfall 2-10 (3) Wood 1-5 (2)
Metro Batting: Wijayakumara 27* Rushton 24
Bowling: Perera 3-9(3) Gribben 3-8(3)

Over the dusty path separating these beautiful ovals, Vic Country were batting first in the under-17 T20.

Country looked like they would be replicating their older pals, losing a wicket first ball when Blake Parsons bowled Tidyman.

However, knocks from Luke “GI” Inglis (20) and Matthew “Derek” Underwood (32) helped Country finish on 7-123.

The Metro bowlers were all steady with the giraffe boy Lachlan Downes the pick of the bowlers, supported well by Parsons, Koch and Hudson.

Metro’s batting couldn’t keep Metro’s clean sweep due to some very tight bowling from Country’s Cameron Brown 0-5 (2), Angus Boyd 2-6 (3) and Brodie Symons 2-12(3).

Cameos from the “Wiggle” Chris Diggle and Damon Egan weren’t enough to get Metro anywhere near Country and they finished their innings on 5-107.

Country Batting: Inglis 20 , Underwood 32
Bowling: Boyd 2-6 (3) ,Symons 2-12(3), Brown 0-5 (2)
Metro Batting: Diggle 35 , Egan 21
Bowling: Downes 2-16(3) , Koch 1-15 (3) , Butler 1-15(3)

And in a Barooga or should I say Cobram trip first, ACT played against the Victorian Invitational XI.

Made up of the unlucky few 19s from both Metro and Country, this side is taking on a strong ACT team across the border in Cobram.

Today’s skipper was Jackson Koop, with more hair on his body then the rest of lads making the trip, went on to lose the toss and the boys piled off the bus and onto the field.

ACT made the most of the good wicket, with a steady start of 2-59 after nine overs, with only the smooth St Kilda mover Josh Bartlett, and Daniel Van Der Merwe taking the wickets.

The run rate held throughout the innings with some good bowling from the Invitational XI.

Some outstanding fielding from Nick Taranto with a blinding catch at mid-wicket, followed up by a brilliant run out, helped hold ACT to 7-131, with Turner, Bartlett and Van Der Merwe the wicket takers.

The Invitational XI also knew how to take advantage of a good wicket, which they hadn’t set sights on since March this year.

After 11 overs they were in a healthy position of 1/79 with Stepien and Burns settling in together.

They kept this form and got the points over the ACT side, finishing their 20 at 4-145, with Ben Threlfall finishing on 53 not out.

Coach Tim McCaskill was however more impressed with his new addition to the coaching staff.

A young local boy of ten years old was so correct in his judgement of Tim’s side, the big fella decided to give the young fella a go after the game, and by all reports he was more than comfortable.

Invitational XI Batting: Therlfell 53*, Stepien 37, Burns 37
Bowling: Turner 2/9(2), Bartlett 2/12 (3) Van Der Merwe 1/14 (3)

McCaskill reportedly made a mistake, however, when he told the S&C coach and luggage van driver to go pick up luggage from the Cobram ground, but forgot to mention he also needed to pick up four players.

Luckily the boys were recovered quickly and unharmed and are raring to go heading into the one-day games on day two.