Crowds across the region were treated to some top cricket action as Castlemaine District Cricket Association grand finals were battled out across all grades last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Highlights of the round were Hepburn A Reserve batsman Brayden Yanner’s 83 not out and Harcourt C Grade bowler Fraser McAinch’s 3-17.
Results were:
A Grade
In the A Grade showdown, Barkers Creek and Castlemaine United played a ‘Best of Three’ finals series with Barkers Creek winning the matches on Saturday and Sunday to claim a fifth consecutive premiership.
On day one at the Camp Reserve on Saturday Castlemaine United won the toss and elected to bat first.
After a shaky start losing opener Aidan Goddard for 6, the side settled in and good innings from Darin Rush 20, Mark McKimmie 26 and Camblar Kays helped them to a final total of 101.
The wickets were shared by Barkers Creek bowlers Lewis Stabler 2-17, Jonty Entwisle 2-20, Sean Smith 2-24, B Henderson 2-28.
Barkers Creek only dropped one wicket on its way to sealing the day-one victory with Marcus Mckern 42, Sean Smith 42 not out leading the way. Nicholas Kearton claiming the wicket for United for 1-10.
On Sunday Barkers Creek won the toss and elected to bat first. Openers Marcus Mckern 32 and Sean Smith 38 again led the way with Lewis Stabler 54 not out also adding some late runs to help them to a solid total of 7-171.
The pick of the bowlers for United were James Chaffey 3-33 and Nicholas Kearton 2-33.
Castlemaine United stumbled early in its chase for the 171 target losing the first three openers for single figures, Levi Chaffey 24 and Clinton Aldridge 48 helped steer them back on course but in the end the Castlemaine side fell 40 runs short giving Barkers Creek its fifth premiership win in a row.
A Reserve
In the A Reserve final at Wesley Hill the Muckleford side won the toss and elected to bat first against Hepburn.
The side was in trouble early losing its first three batsman for single figures but good innings from Dakota Slingo 25 and Ryan White 41 not out helped Muckleford to 8-150. The wickets were shared around with Will Shiell, Nash Robinson and Vinet Kumar claiming two each.
Hepburn wasted no time racking up the runs before opener Bodhi Robinson (62) was caught by Dakota Slingo off a ball from Asher Butcher with the side at 143. However, fellow opener Brayden Yanner dug in and with the assistance of teammate Nash Robinson kept the runs ticking over to make 83 not out and seal victory for Hepburn with a total of 1-154.
B Grade
Taradale welcomed Muckleford Gold to the Max Robinson Recreation Reserve on Saturday. Taradale won the toss and elected to bat first in front of the home crowd.
The side smashed out the runs with Steven Curnow 41, Andrew Young 19, Steve Learmonth 41, Matt Maerz 70 and Daniel Maerz 33 helping Taradale to a formidable 6-235.
The pick of the bowlers for Muckleford Gold was Neville Cooper with 2-49.
Muckleford Gold started promisingly in reply with Neville Cooper 13, Fionn Kennedy 15 and David Leathem 26 getting early runs on the board. However the middle order struggled and despite Theo Mellick-Cooper’s 22 and Matt McEachran 11 and Harry Harvey 13 chipping in the side fell short of the target with 7-124(cc).
The best of the bowlers for the successful Taradale side was Steve Learmonth 2-23.
Women’s
On Friday evening Newstead Women’s side played host to Hepburn.
The Newstead side were thrilled to make the final in their inaugural season and the club and the town turned out in force for a great family evening to celebrate.
Hepburn won the toss and elected to bat first.
Lucinda Lowe started brightly making 10 runs but unfortunately the rest of the side struggled to reach double figures and were dismissed for 80 despite their best efforts.
Clare McNabb 3-6 and Tara McBean 2-7 did the damage for Newstead.
Dawn McNabb 16 not out excelled with the bat along with Gen Butler 13 not out to help the Steaders to 7-99 and their first premiership.
The pick of the bowlers for Hepburn was Lucinda Lowe with 2-8.
C Grade
In the C Grade two day final Castlemaine United Gold and Harcourt faced off at Campbells Creek Recreation Reserve.
Gold won the toss and elected to bat first making 7-158. Top scorers were Jack Nuttall with a superb 50 not out.
The pick of the bowlers for Harcourt was Fraser McAinch with 3-17.
The Harcourt side tried valiantly to chase down the target set by Gold with great performances from Jack Archer 28 and Mason Chamberlain 9. However, the Gold bowlers were in top form with Louis Parsons 2-10, Charlie Cordy 2-11, Max Matheson 2-12, Charlie Warren 2-15 sharing the wickets to dismiss Harcourt for 79 and claim the premiership win.
