Grovedale made an early statement with a 185-run win against Newtown & Chilwell in round one of Geelong Cricket Association on Saturday October 7.
After being sent in at Burdoo Reserve, Grovedale was 3/33, but Michael McNeel and Brayden Engelen-Baker immediately set about resurrecting the innings with a 77-run partnership.
McNeel hit a superb 62 from 65 deliveries while Engelen-Baker made a patient, but important, 44 from 79.
The Two Blues got back into the game at 6/170, but a punishing 88 not out off just 92 balls from Jack Wrigglesworth and 45 not out from 41 by Travis McDonald pushed the total up to a formidable 6/270 after 50 overs.
“They (McNeel and Engelen-Baker) really took the sting out of the game there in that fourth-wicket partnership,” Grovedale captain Jordan Moran said.
“And Wriggles is a class cricketer and again showed his all-round attributes being able to pace his innings but then accelerate when needed.”
McDonald is this season’s 2nds captain, but his cameo innings has given selectors a headache.
“We’ll have a chat through the week, but the philosophy this year was our twos captain to be a mainstay in the twos,” Moran said.
“The last couple of years, there’s been two or three guys do it and that’s probably led to some instability for some of our younger guys. So we’ve tried to structure a few things this year across the grades that provide structure for our very young squad.
“So we just want to provide consistency and discipline and the same message to them. We’ll see what the week brings, but it’s highly likely Trav will be back into the twos.”
Newtown & Chilwell’s run chase never really got going.
Paddy McKenna smacked a quick 30 from 19 balls, but paceman Sam Coutts took 3/15 in an unfamiliar role to take the game away.
“He’s our quickest bowler, but he played a different role yesterday,” Moran said.
“I made him bowl into the wind with the batters hitting to the short boundary. We didn’t want a slow bowler bowling at that end to get targeted. Normally he’ll bowl downwind and can be quite slippery on his day.
“That’s one of our mottos. We’ve got an A grade mindset where you leave your ego at the door.”
Spinner Bailey Sykes chipped in with two wickets in just his second season of turf cricket.
“He’s got that initiative to come up to me and ask what type of pace he should be bowling on that wicket,” Moran said.
“We’ve been working quite hard on bowling at different speeds on different wickets and his instructions were (to bowl) fairly quick into the wicket to get the purchase out of it and he did that exceptionally.”
SOUTH BARWON defeated St Joseph’s by three wickets in a tight contest.
Jonathan Casey top scored for Joeys with 46, but it was skipper Nick Butters (5/29) and Nick Platt (4/33) who turned the game in South Barwon’s favour.
The Swans were set 170 for victory and got them with three wickets and three overs to spare with Bryson Nicholls making an unbeaten 45.
HIGHTON defeated Lara in a thriller.
Casey Young spearheaded Lara’s score of 9/203 and the game looked all but over when Highton slumped to 8/136 in reply.
But a 57-run ninth-wicket stand breathed life back into the contest and at 9/193, it was anyone’s game.
Highton snatched victory from the final ball with Hayden Murrell remaining unconquered on 46 while Danny Hughes was superb for Lara with 4/21.
THE East Belmont vs North Geelong was abandoned due to rain.
