Sport
17 January, 2024
Great week for South West 17s
WITH three wins and two losses under their belts, South West Cricket’s under 17 side finished a creditable fourth in this month’s Country Week competition.
Day one, played on Monday January 8, saw South West (SW) take on Warrnambool Blue in Camperdown.
SW batted first and were all out for 71 after 33.3 overs.
Parker Walsh (32) and Edmund Walsh (18) were the best of the batters.
Despite a good effort from the bowlers and an early breakthrough which kept runs to a minimum, Warrnambool Blue was able to pass the score in the 25th over, reaching 4/149.
Best of the bowlers were Cooper Herry with 1/7 off three overs, Finn Tolland with 1/12 off six and Parker Walsh with 1/32 off 10 overs.
Many thanks to Camperdown Cricket Club for hosting the day.
Day two saw SW face Hamilton in Port Fairy.
Again SW batted first and put on a great score of 193 after 48.5 overs.
Best of the batters were Ryan Mottram with 49, Edmund Walsh 33, Parker Walsh 26, Henry Carroll 15 and Cooper Herry 12.
With some tight bowling from the spinners and good fielding, SW was able to restrict Hamilton to 9/133 off 50 overs.
Best of the bowlers were Edmund Walsh (4/16 off six), Tommy Illingworth (2/26 off 10), Finn Tolland 1/14 off five and Cooper Herry (0/28 off 10).
The boys fielded well, effecting two run outs, while Campbell Walsh had another great day behind the stumps taking two stumpings.
On day three, the team had two T20s.
Game one was against Warrnambool Gold at Mack Oval.
Once again, the south west boys batted first and notched up an extremely competitive score in difficult conditions, finishing 4/115 off the 20 overs.
A great opening partnership between captain Ryan Mottram (25) and vice-captain Jonty Robertson (40), and another solid partnership of 34 between brothers Campbell Walsh (23) and Parker Walsh (14 not out) got SW a defendable total.
Finn Tolland (1/15) and leg spinner Tommy Illingworth (1/20) were both effective.
There was some great fielding with two run outs and then two quick wickets to Wilba Cheeseman (2/23) had the side right in the game.
Unfortunately, Warrnambool Gold got past the SW score with five balls to spare, 6/120.
In game two against Portland, the side bowled first and had Portland at 4/48.
Cooper Herry (2/12) and Parker Walsh (1/13) were effective and Portland finished at 4/99.
Chasing for the first time that week was not easy for SW and they fell to 4/32 before a strong partnership between cousins Campbell Walsh (45) and Edmund Walsh (36 not out).
Finishing on 5/109 off 20 overs the side claimed its second victory of the week.
Day four saw SW take on Wimmera Mallee at Davidson Oval.
Batting first again SW got off to a shaky start, losing two early wickets to be 2/16 before Ryan Mottram (33) and Edmund Walsh (14) steadied the ship.
Another good partnership followed between Ryan and Cooper Herry (46) which was backed up by another partnership between Cooper and Wilba Cheeseman (16).
An outstanding partnership of 62 between Cooper and Henry Carroll (30 not out) followed with Gavin Reynolds (8 not out from four balls) hitting out in the last over.
SW managed a good score of 6/174 on a tricky wicket.
As he had done all week, Finn Tolland struck early in Wimmera Mallee’s innings to put them on the back foot.
It wasn’t long before Cooper Herry (5/14) and Parker Walsh (2/12) had Wimmera Mallee in trouble with Bradey Fratantaro (1/1) finishing the resistance to have them all out for 58.
With Campbell Walsh away on Dowling Shield duties with Melbourne University, Jonty Robertson took the gloves and did a wonderful job taking two catches and one stumping.
Unfortunately, with three wins and two losses it was not enough for South West to make the final, finishing in fourth.
On day five the team travelled to Port Fairy for a T20 grading game against Portland.
Captain Ryan Mottram had a wonderful week with the coin toss and SW batted first again.
Two early wickets left the score at 2/11 before Jonty Robertson (19) and Parker Walsh(21) steadied the ship.
Parker and Tommy Illingworth (24) shared a 30-run partnership which was followed by a 35-run partnership between Tommy and Gavin Reynolds (18 not out) which had SW at 6/104.
Chasing quick runs at the end of the innings did not pan out and SW made 9/110.
Cooper Beard (1/7) had an early breakthrough and Portland had a partnership of 35 until Cooper Herry (1/11) broke through, and from then on it was all SW with Parker Walsh (3/9) and Henry Carroll (3/3) the main destroyers.
All up, it was a great week of cricket for the boys and hopefully they can take some learnings back to their clubs.
Thank you to coach Matthew Love, team manager Leigh Walsh, scorer/bus driver Tim Carroll and organiser Tania Podger and to the team sponsor Ridley’s and all families and supporters to went along during the week.