Cricket
23 January, 2026
Tough losses to start 2026 for Eagles, Saints
From double tons to seven-wicket wins, Round 9 delivered plenty of talking points across A and B Grade in the Horsham Cricket Association.
It was a rough day in Nhill for St Mary’s as Nathan Alexander scored a historic double century as West Wimmera comprehensively defeated St Mary’s in round nine of the Horsham Cricket Association A grade competition on Saturday, January 17.
At Davis Park, the Warriors elected to bat first, with skipper Nathan Alexander setting the tone early.
With a half-century already scored when his brother Brad joined him at the crease at 2/105 in the 17th over, the pair built a remarkable 290-run partnership, leading the Warriors to 3/395 after 40 overs.
Nathan was dismissed on the final ball of the innings, finishing with 230 from 126 balls, including 17 fours and 14 sixes.
Brad remained unbeaten on 107 from 75 balls, marking an outstanding achievement for the brothers.
In response, St Mary’s scored 151, with Brodie Dennes top-scoring with 28, and Kael Zanker and Jacob Thomas each contributing 22.
Joshua Lees led the Warriors' bowling performance with 4/15, while Tim Braendler had 2/23.
At Murtoa Recreation Reserve, Lubeck Murtoa prevailed in a low-scoring affair against Brim KSH.
The Mudlarks elected to bat, and crucial top and middle order knocks from Joshua Hedt (25), Shannon Reddie (12) and skipper Cameron Newell (21 not out) helped the side to 91 against a strong bowling performance from Brim KSH.
Mark McPherson (3/21) and Lachlan McGinniss (3/23) each took three wickets for the Eagles.
In response, Chris McPherson (15) looked to get the Eagles on the front foot, but some impressive bowling from Shannon Reddie and Oliver Garth Lindsay saw the visitors collapse to 9/46.
Fletcher Bright (18) and Sean Wright (6 not out) provided some last-wicket resistance before a Xavier Shevlin wicket saw the Eagles dismissed for 68.
Reddie finished with 4/10, while Garth Lindsay had 4/35 as the Mudlarks won by 23 runs.
In B grade, Brim KSH hosted Swifts-Great Western at Brim Recreation Reserve.
The visitors won the toss and elected to bowl against the Eagles.
In an extraordinary economic effort, which included 18 maidens from the Combine side, the Eagles were restricted to 8/47 from their 40 overs.
Sam Tickner top-scored with 13 runs, while Joseph Martin (3/16), Alexander Bonner (2/2) and Emmanuel Kuriayan Joseph (2/11) each had multiple wickets.
Despite being in trouble at 3/7 early in their chase, Tom Fitzgerald (26 not out) and Craig Marrow (19 not out) helped see SGW to 3/49 to claim a seven-wicket win.
For the Eagles, Dale Stephan (2/7) and Connor McGinniss (1/18) claimed the early wickets.
At Anzac Park, St Mary’s elected to bat against Donald Jeffcott, where they were bowled out for 77.
Travis Harris top-scored for Saint Mary’s with 18, while Cooper Preston (14) and Matt Hartnett (12) also reached double figures.
David Letts did most of the damage with the ball for Donald Jeffcott as he finished with 4/5, while Niluka Nanayakkara had 3/8 and Luca Rice had 2/19.
In response, Luca Rice (32), Chase Campbell (21) and Josh Gilmour (21 not out) guided the side to 3/80 to claim a seven-wicket win.
Jed Hartnett impressed with 1/2 in his solitary over.
