Sport
25 January, 2024
St Marys and BrimKSH face off on return to pitch
St Marys and BrimKSH face off at Anzac Park on Saturday in round 10 of the Wimmera Mallee Cricket Association.
St Marys enter the clash with one win for the season and are currently sitting sixth on the ladder whilst BrimKSH are at the other end, sitting second with six wins.
In the batting, BrimKSH have a solid lineup led by Isaac McPherson. McPherson has scored 228 runs this season at an average of 114. Jeremy Preston is also having a good season having scored 178 runs at 59.33. Then there is Chris McPherson 154 and Leigh Dovaston 107. If one doesn't score, chances are the other will.
The bowling is equally as good proving they are a well-rounded team. Isaac McPherson, Charlie Dean, Chris McPherson and Lachlan McGinniss all have 10 wickets for the season with Jeremy Preston one behind on nine.
St Marys having moved to A-Grade are still developing and the season is about growing as a team. Nicholas Germano is their leading wicket-taker with 10 at an average of 13.8 with Nick Toscano second on 7 at 20.71.
Chad Hartnett is a bright spark for the bowling unit having taken five wickets at 26.2 and Brodie Dennes, their leading wicket-taker last season is starting to adapt to the higher grade. If all four bowl to their best they can challenge for the win.
Batting, however, has been the issue this season. Nicholas Germano is leading the way with 201 runs at 28.71, followed by Paul Rowe 160 and Colby Schmidt 104.
St Marys will be at full strength and captain Colby Schmidt said improvement and batting continues to be a focus.
"We resumed training Tuesday last week and everyone seemed to pick it up quickly which is good," he said.
"If you look at the results, we are not that far away so if we can score an extra 50 runs a week it will put us in a good position to win games.
"We are a young side, we are improving and hopefully that continues towards the end of the season and we can pick up a few wins. That's all we can ask for."
Ladder leaders Donald Jeffcott face Marnoo at the Marnoo Recreation Reserve. Marnoo is currently sitting third on the ladder with three wins and will be looking to challenge themselves against the premiership favourites.
To do so, they need to bat better with Nic Baird and Jimmy Duxson the only batsmen to reach single figures this season. Baird has 297 runs at 74.25 and Duxson 100 at 16.67.
Their bowling has been solid with David Lang taking five wickets at 12.22. Benjamin Newtwon 8 and Jack Mccallister 7 are also having good seasons.
Donald Jeffcott is strong everywhere. There is not a weakness in their lineup. Noah Berry is having a terrific season leading the league with 499 runs at 99.8 which includes two big centuries. Daniel Atkins 247, Lachlan Jones 231 are having solid seasons with all three in the top four in the league leading the batting.
The bowling is sensational with Eddie Landwehr and Cooper Anderson leading the league with 14 wickets a-piece. Landwehr is averaging 8.29 and Anderson 10.93. Close behind them is Brady Griffiths on 12 at 7.5.
Wycheproof/Narraport will look to get their first win of the season when they host Birchip at Wycheproof Recreation Reserve.
They will need big innings from Hunter Connolly and Thomas Trewin whom are their only players to score triple figures this season. Connolly is leading the way with 142 at 23.67 with Trewin on 120 at 30.
Trewin is having a sensational season having picked up 10 wickets at an average of 9.3. With their next best being Bryce Gaylor on five, they need to fire as Birchip's batting has struggled this season.
Ty Colbert leads Birchip with 88 runs at 22. If they can get on top with the ball they can put Birchip under a lot of pressure.
Jonty Randall has 11 wickets at 9 with Lachy Randall on seven at 19 for Birchip so the bowling is the key for both teams.
St Arnaud have the bye.
In B Grade, Donald Jeffcott travel to Charlton in the top of the table clash. Jack Tellefson leads the way for Donald Jeffcott with 183 runs at 30.5. Jacob Donnellon and Joseph Praveen are leading the way in the bowling with 15 and 14 wickets at an average of 12.67 and 9.86 respectively.
Charlton's batting is equally as strong with Billy Sexton leading the league with 364 runs at an average of 60.67. Patrick Soulsby is second with 191 runs.
Soulsby and Hugh Sait are their leading wicket-takers with nine a-piece.
Third placed Birchip host fourth placed Southern Mallee Giants at Birchip Recreation Reserve.
Hudson McCredden is leading their run scoring with 169 at 42.25 with Cameron Bennett also scoring triple figures, sitting on 147. James Paley is leading the way with the ball on 11 wickets at an average of 7.09 with Lachy Randall next best on nine with an impressive average of 5.22.
For the Giants, Luke Mitchell leads the way with 143 runs at 35.75 with Leighton Hateley on 128. Luke Mitchell is averaging 10.22 with the ball having taken nine wickets for the season.
The bottom-of-the-table clash sees BrimKSH and St Marys face off at Brim Recreation Reserve.
Nathan Priest is leading the way for St Marys with the bat and ball. He has scored 133 runs at 66.5 and taken six wickets at 18.33. Matthew Rhook and Jed Hartnett both have five wickets for the season.
Barry Schilling tops the run scoring for BrimKSH with 139 runs at 23.17 with Sandon Schultz close behind on 132. Schultz is also the leading wicket taker with 6 at 26.5 with Ethan Schilling on five.