Castlemaine District Cricket Association’s A Grade sides kicked off the 2025-2026 season with a round of one-day matches on Saturday.
The Women’s competition begins this Friday October 17, and A Reserve, B Grade and C Grade (Under 16) commences this Saturday October 18.
Results were as follows:
A GRADE
Castlemaine United hosted Guildford at the Camp Reserve in the grand final rematch.
Guildford won the toss and elected to bat first. The side was in trouble early losing openers Charles Bunting and Angus Mychajlyszyn to single figures before Nathan Webster 26 and Hadley Bassett 34 got the runs ticking over. A fill-in player also chipped in 28 runs to help the side to a total of 10-147. The pick of the bowlers for Castlemaine United were David George 4-23, Declan Brasher 2-22 and Lucas Bester 2-22.
Castlemaine then made their way to the crease to chase down the 147-run target set.
Opener Darin Rush was quickly sent on his way after being lbw for 6.
However, the next three batsman Darcy Carroll 27, captain Levi Chaffey 52 not out and Declan Brasher 50 combined to surpass the target and win the match 10-147 denying Guildford once again. Best of the bowlers for Guildford were Adrian Parsons 1-32 and Angus Mychajlyszyn 1-36.
North Castlemaine hosted Barkers Creek at Wesley Hill.
Barkers Creek won the toss and elected to bat first.
Openers Mark Noonan 31 and Nash Robinson 41 started strongly before teammate Bodhi Robinson was dismissed for a duck. Captain Darby Semmens steadied the ship 79 not out, with Williams Marks 18 and Thomas Walters among the other top contributors taking the side to a total of 10-216. The best of the bowlers for North were Darren Hinck 4-24 and Mitchell Hancock 3-25.
North Castlemaine struggled early losing their openers cheaply before stalwarts John Howorth 13 and Jamie Allan 16 added some runs to the scoreboard. This was followed by a couple of ducks and another single figure effort before Brenton Jones stood up with 40 and Mitchell Hancock registered 13. North were eventually all out for 117 seeing Barkers Creek claim the points. The best of the bowlers for the Barkers Creek were Chris McKnight 3-24, Darby Semmens 2-9, and Mark Noonan 2-15.
Muckleford hosted Maiden Gully Marist. Maiden Gully won the toss and elected to bat first.
Adil Ali 32, Robert Brown 29 and Brett Haw 28 led the way for the visitors with the side making 10-137. Best of the bowlers for Muckleford were Nash Turner 2-29, James Cole 2-19 and Declan Slingo 2-19.
Muckleford’s Declan Slingo 29, John Watson 28, Brett Cole 18 not out and Samuel McGee 17 helped the home side to a one-run win with a total of 7-138. The pick of the bowlers for Maiden Gully were Adil Ali 3-19 and Mitchell Lawrence 2-27.
In the final match of the round, Newstead welcomed Harcourt.
Harcourt won the toss and elected to bat first. Lachlan Mika was on fire notching up 56 runs before he was bowled. Tom Kelson made 34 to help the side to a total of 10-149. Pick of the bowlers for Newstead were Tommy Palmer 3-26, Nick Ebery 2-19 and Ben Walter 2-28.
However, Newstead’s batsman had their eye in with Ben Walter making 28, George Tillbrook 55 not out and Rhys Smith 31 not out only dropping two wickets to win 2-150. Best with the ball for Harcourt were Ben Gibbs 1-23 and Jack Archer 1-18.
