FLANELLED FOOLS: 07 FEBRUARY 2017

Cricket Round-Up By GREG PRINGLE*

Top two teams win comfortably

Country and Cudal recorded comfortable victories in round 11 of the Molong Oilsplus Cricket Competition.

Last year’s Grand Finalists appear on track to meet again in the big one come mid-March, with Telegraph and Magpies struggling to compete against these two sides.

At the Molong Rec, Magpies won the toss and decided to bat first in very hot conditions on a very green wicket.

Openers Jeremy Middleton (20) and Jim Gavin both (18) got their eye in and were playing well against the Country attack before both batsmen appeared to abort concentration in the hot conditions, losing their wickets a few balls apart.

First drop Greg Thomas went for a duck and suddenly Magpies lost three wickets for six runs, going from 0/52 to 3/58.

Adam Osborn (15) and Jacob Evans (20) steadied the ship somewhat but wickets came and went and a slow run rate left Magpies stranded on 8/ 133 at the completion of their 40 overs.

Jock Haynes, pumped after receiving a phone call from Gladys Berejiklian as he was going out to field advising him the council mergers were off the agenda, played a blinder and was unplayable bowling from the highway end.

Jock took the  remarkable figures of 3/16 off six overs to dominate the hapless Magpies batsmen.

Jock and the new Premier are apparently having lunch together this week at the Molong Bakery to sign off on the merger backflip.

Joe Clayton, with leftover dried-lobster bits stuck to his mouth, bowled his normal consistent line and length, taking 3/21 off 10 overs.

Country, unusually, dropped some straightforward catches, with Andrew Heath dropping a lollypop.

Andrew was immediately heavily sledged by his unsupportive teammates and looked a neglected beaten soul for the remainder of the day.

Magpies bowlers came out firing to defend their small total and it paid off.

Tight bowling and good fielding had Country reeling at 4/ 10, and when Dan Toynton (24) departed with the score at 5/ 51, it was anybody’s game.

Then the rot settled in for Magpies.

Jim Gavin, fielding at second slip and dreaming about dinner at the Freemasons, dropped James Brazier on 0.

Magpies paid a high price for that fumble as Brazier went on to top score for Country with a brilliant 58 not out.

His brother Nigel (39 not out) also batted beautifully and the brothers took the game by the scruff of the neck, passing Magpies total with 12 overs to spare and recording another easy victory over.

However all is not well in the Country camp.

During the innings, ruthless Country captain Nigel Brazier was heard to say to James mid-pitch: “I don’t want Heathy batting under any circumstances.”

Time will tell whether this unrest will derail their season down the track.

At Hunter Caldwell the game was over no sooner than it had started, with Telegraph dismissed for 81.

Ed Twiss (28) was the only batsman to trouble the scorers.

Luke Wood (4/9) was the chief destroyer of Telegraph batsmen.

Cudal wasted no time passing the Telegraph total in the ninth over, with Lee Cornish (28) and Luke Wood (27) toying with the attack.

The less said about this game the better.

*Greg Pringle is Secretary/Treasurer of Molong District Cricket. He plays for Molong Magpies but swears he is as hard, if not harder, on his own guys as the opposition.