Well the Hawks’ A grade team went into the weekend with the prospect of winning two straight 20/20 matches and making the final of this mini- comp within the home away one day comp. Game one on Saturday saw us facing Cowtown. Batting first we never really broke free from the pressure applied by both Sri Lankan stars Buddi and Kavi.. 3/38 at the 10 over mark was not ideal.. then tight bowling from young talents Oscar Herbst and Fraser Oates saw the Hawks capitulate for only 96 off the 20 overs, Rumesh Silva the only batting highlight with 28. The reigning premiers started well in the power play and were 1/30 at the 4 over Mark when Buddi fell. Young Englishman Ryan O’Sullivan batted well and controlled things until enter Kavi DeSilva who proceeded to smash 39 off 14 balls and write off a 4WD ... game over!
Sunday and a different situation in that we had nothing to gain and nothing to lose. We travelled to Barnard park in 40degree heat with a much-changed team which is understandable on a Sunday. Aeodhan Bailey, a 14-year-old who is showing some great tenaciousness and has been improving his game since moving to the Hawks; debuted for the A grade team. YOBS batted first and knocked up a sizeable total of 170 with runs to most of the top order. Our bowling lacked a little accuracy and full tosses paid full price .. short balls at short odds to disappear over the fence! We stuck to our guns however, and two brilliant runouts, a direct hit from Aeodhan Bailey and another piece of sharp work from Bubba Thompson in the covers was a super highlight! The biggest highlight of the game though, was Kurt “Bubba” Thompson. 1.5 overs, 5 for 11 was incredible bowling and with 2 bowled and 1 LBW, it was great stump to stump bowling.
And then the Hawks went in to bat with newcomer Marty Head opening the batting with club champion Chris McClean. These boys put on a great opening partnership of 43 before Macca fell. Marty and Rumesh then put on another 50 in a brave display but with 10 runs per over on a slow outfield the Hawks finished 8/143... a good effort from our lads and some great experience for some younger players... especially young Martin Head who batted beautifully for his 47.
B grade
Hosting Vasse CC in a T20 match a week after being thumped in the 45 over format, the Hawks were keen to get revenge. Bowling first, Vasse made 8 for 143 off their allotted 20 overs. The pick of the Hawks bowlers was Michael Earl with 2 for 13 from 4; while Matt Jarvis, (2/22 from 3) and Michael Sorenson, (2/13 from 2) were the other stand outs.
Chasing 144 to win, Hawks got off to a grat start with 4 runs coming from the blade of the skipper Maurice Shinnick first ball. When he was dismissed though for 10, and Garath Stewart for 9, Hawks were 2 for 50 and getting behind the run rate. Jude Shinnick, (21) and Ash Marinoni, (16) came and went to leave the home team at 4 for 76 and needing 10 an over. Earl joined West McGrath at the crease before McGrath was dismissed for23 runs leaving Earl at Sorenson to get the remaining 53 runs off 5 overs.
Some controlled aggression and good running between wickets saw the Hawks get remarkably close until the last over when they needed 13 to win. A hip high full toss was hit for four leaving 9 runs from 5 balls required. With 3 required off 2 balls, Vasse bowled a no ball which was caught but in the confusion Sorenson did not run and was run out leaving 2 to win from 2 balls and a free hit for Earl to face. Earl hit the corresponding ball for four through covers, he brought up his 50 and more importantly the Hawks exacted revenge over Vasse in a thriller of a game.
C grade
With Hawks and Nannup knocked out of the T20 early we invited them to a scratch match at Nippers. Nannup brought 7 players and we had 11 on the day. So instead of 2 teams of 9 we went for 9 teams of 2.
Each pair batted 6 overs and each player bowled 3 overs. Indoor cricket style scoring; -5 for each batting wicket, +5 for each bowling wicket, +1 for each batting run, -1 for each bowling run. bonus points for catches and run outs. This gave everyone the opportunity to have a decent hit, and bat and bowl against varied opponents. Winners on the day were the Bailey Boys - Aeodhan and Darcy made 53 off the bat with no wickets, went for 1/30 off 5 overs bowling and took 2 catches and 4 runouts between them. Steve and Fabs, and Ben and James - (both Nannup pairings) and Danny and Mark all scored 50 off the bat but were expensive with the ball - thus pulling down their net scores. Overall 26 wickets fell for 422 runs in 54 overs for the day. Special thanks to Elle Weston for calling out for some of the interested juniors and for managing the hybrid scoring system with no notice or training!
Great performances
Congratulations to Aeodhan and Darcy Bailey who committed themselves extremely well at junior country week last week and backed it up in taking out the Double Wicket comp. Aeodhan also then debuted for the A grade team on the Sunday and in the same game Kurt Thompson took the remarkable figures of 1.5 overs, 5 for 11! Kade Dittmar is currently in Perth at Guildford Grammar in the State 15’s trials and the Hawks and Margaret River cricketing community wish him all the very best up there. Congratulations to Michael Earl who has drawn level with club legend Larry Brennan on 297 wickets to become the equal highest Hawks B grade wicket taker in the clubs history.
Upcoming matches
Hawks B grade will host Cowaramup in a T20 match on Saturday while the C grade will face Cowaramup in a 40 over match in Cowie the afternoon. New players are welcome to come to the Nest. Training is on Thursday nights from 430pm. All gear supplied and this week will see the dinners prepared by Sri Lankan Rumesh Silva. To become a #futurehawks call James on 0408899994.
