Sport 

First XI Cricket

As the 2021/2022 cricket season ends the College First XI team finished with a last hurrah on Sunday, playing host to Ballarat Grammar’s First XI at the College Oval. 

College Captain Oliver Wortley won the toss and decided to bat on what looked like a belter of a pitch. The decision was soon vindicated, with the College opening pair of Jack Austin and Eli Hunter combining for a solid 36 run partnership. Neither batter seemed overly troubled at the crease until Eli was run out for a well-played 23. 

The College batters built a strong foundation in the first 20 overs, going to drinks on 1-79. Jack Wortley and Jack Austin then picked up the pace brilliantly, doubling the score in the next 10 overs. When Jack Wortley lost his wicket for 45 runs, College was sitting on 2-168, with 8 overs still to bat. 

Jack Austin was running hard between the wickets throughout his entire innings, putting big pressure on the Ballarat fielders. Eventually, this led to him pushing one too hard and he was heartbreakingly run out for 98 runs. 

A desire for quick runs led to some quick wickets, with College closing their innings with a score of 8-213. 

After a lovely BBQ lunch provided by the College parents, our bowling attack was on form early on, with Eli Hunter and Charlie Keiller both getting in on the action by removing the Ballarat Grammar’s openers for 2 and 0. Tobe Adamson helped to remove Ballarat’s opener with a superb overhead catch, diving backwards and juggling the ball to eventually hang on to it. 

The scoreboard pressure kept mounting on Ballarat, and the College bowlers made good use of line and length to compound this pressure. Harry Austin and George Austin combined well in the middle overs to produce 2 and 1 wickets, respectively before Jock Barrie cleaned up most of the lower order for a haul of 4 wickets. Madeleine Green could not stay out of the action in the field, taking two good catches and combining with Jack Austin to run out the last batter with the score on 105. 

A sincere thanks to everyone involved to make this a successful day of cricket. Thank you to the parents who chipped in whenever there was a need, and to the players for representing College in a manner befitting a First XI team. 

Special thanks also to Ballarat Grammar for making the journey to Hamilton.

Hamilton District Cricket Association Awards Ceremony

The following College cricket players received awards at the Hamilton District Cricket Association Awards Ceremony for their contributions this season.

A Grade

Representative Player of the Year and Team of the Year: Henry Bensch

B Grade

Wicket Keeping Award: Jack Austin

Kookaburra MVP: Jack Austin

D Grade

Bowling Average: Tom Heazlewood

Erratum

An error occurred in last week’s cricket report. Jack Austin played in the victorious A Grade final team, but his brother’s name, Harry Austin, was mistakenly used. Apologies to all involved.  

MR LEIGH ALEXANDER

Director of Sport