Grand Final Match Report Below…………..
Sunday morning had arrived much to our delight. It was GRAND FINAL DAY!! Most of the North Nowra U11 Modified Cricket team members had slept in their full cricket gear kit overnight in preparation for this big exciting day.
We arrived at the field and set up like any other game. We won the toss and our proud courageous “Captain Jack” elected to field first.
The opposition, Nowra, needed more than pads and gloves for protection. They needed full body riot shields to withstand the might of our opening bowlers. Troy Sweet, Jack Sweet and Toby Huard bowled the first 3 overs. It was tough going for the batters as they lost a number of wickets and took a number of hits to their bodies. They suffered and struggled through our ferocious opening bowling attack. Tully Dennis’ match improvements continued with a fantastic bowling display. Unlucky in his second bowling spell to not celebrate a hat-trick, with a dropped catch on the third consecutive wicket opportunity. Cameron Murray was awesome in the field, attacking the ball with vigor and keeping the batters in a mindset where they were afraid to take the extra run. Cameron backed up his fielding with some good reliable bowling too.
Harry Evans was another great improver during the finals. Harry put on a super bowling and fielding performance taking two wickets. Good to see Harry saving his best performance for the big stage of a grand final. Champion effort Harry! Micah Edwards continued his best form of the year, bowling as he did last week. Micah took two wickets in his first over then followed with a maiden. Wish we could bottle those euphoric celebrations when Micah bowls those stumps down! Alexander Jelavic seized the big occasion as well sending down some good deliveries and backing up with some top class fielding. Good work Alex – one of our most reliable campaigners throughout the year.
Jack Walsh bowled his overs of off-spin, completely bamboozling the batters and ensured more overs ticked by with little runs being scored. Liam Gomez was always close to the action having plenty of fielding work, gathering the ball and quickly returning it with quick sharp throws over the stumps. Liam saved a lot of valuable runs in the field and also chipped in with a good bowling effort.
Jacob Zerafa and Jack Sweet took the responsibility of sharing the wicket keeping duties. With the ball being wet early on, it was a very challenging role. Both Jacob and Jack Sweet were superstars behind the stumps. Both these players took this tough responsibility in their stride. With such reliable guys behind the stumps, our fielders could fire the ball in from the outfield, or attempt run-outs without the howling and tears from over-throws. These two champion wicket keepers also had an opportunity to bowl, and both took a wicket each. Great work to both Jacob Zerafa and Jack Sweet.
We were pleased with our effort in the field, taking 19 wickets. This reduced the opposition’s score by 38 runs and put us in a good position with their net total adjusted from 109 runs to 71 due to the loss of wickets.
Our batting was a measured and reliable response to their run total. Harry Evans and Cameron Murray were first to bat. Opening batters are usually exposed to the oppositions better bowlers, but these two players did the job, toughing through the initial storm and achieving 3/15 partnership. Tully Dennis and Jacob Zerafa showed their cricket caliber pushing the score up to 3/37 after 8 overs without losing any further wickets. Micah Edwards and Liam Gomez strode out confidently and did the job required for their team. Micah finishing his innings with a square drive which careered over the boundary and into a jubilant North Nowra crowd of cheering mums, dads, nannas, pas, sisters and brothers. Best shot of the year from Micah. Liam kept the runs ticking over as well. Our score was now 6/47 after the 12th over. At this point, we could see the goal of 71 runs in the distance, but would take a few more overs before we could fully relax.
Jack Walsh and Alexander Jelavic then came out after the drinks break and played brilliantly together. Jack Walsh was hitting the ball cleanly but the long grass was preventing many shots making the boundary. With a good reliable running ally in Alex, they made the most of the stroke play and their partnership brought the teams score up to 6/75. Our score had exceeded the opposition, but with 6 wickets down, we still needed a couple more runs. We had some good batting talent to follow – we were buoyed with confidence. (and getting excited).
Jack Sweet and Toby Huard came to the crease and together put on 30 runs, cruising past the required run target. We had done it! Whoop, Whoop!! We were over the line!! The premiership was ours! Jack Sweet continued to reliably bat the ball into gaps and take easy 1s and 2s, while Toby went for the boundary. This partnership brought the score to a match winning 7-107.
Troy Sweet then partnered up with Jack Walsh, having his second dig. Another fine partnership as we’d seen all year. Plenty of quick scoring. There was a dose of random craziness with wickets given away towards the end. However, it didn’t matter as the score at the 25th over was 10/144, meaning a net score of 124, well in excess of the 71 required.
The glory of the moment sank in when all the players streamed onto the field cheering and congratulating each other (and themselves) on a significant achievement. We are the best team in the Shoalhaven District, un-defeated all year and premiership winners! No more awards could be had! A great team, great result and well deserved.
This team, North Nowra U11 Blues has been a pleasure to coach. They are certainly a very keen bunch of 9yr old boys (in an U11 competition) who always played fair and in good spirit. I hope we can maintain the core group of players from this team together so in years to come, they can continue their junior cricketing careers building on this year’s success. The players should be very proud of their achievements and remember this cricket season right through their adulthood. Hopefully it can be a source of inspiration during their lives.
I would also like to thank the parents. I appreciate your efforts in getting the players to practice and to the games each week. Showing a positive interest in your boy’s development is parenting at its best. I thank you for giving your child the opportunity to be part of this winning U11 North Nowra Cambewarra Cricket .