Junior cricket

Under 16 – Round 3 v Koonwarra, at Cowes on Saturday

The Under 16's team resumed their season against Koonwarra at home, after a bye last week.
Koonwarra won the toss and elected to bat in the dewy conditions.
Opening bowlers Zac Walker and Tim Niven found the slippery conditions challenging, until Zac Walker found the edge of the bat and James Lewis snaffled an excellent reflex catch to dismiss the opener and get things underway.
Koonwarra’s fellow opening batsmen, Matthew Garland, showed great maturity, controlling the innings, and moving the score along to 67 before he was dismissed for a well compiled 24.
Max Arceo, Heath Womersley, William Peppard and captain Kohen Beaumont all made valuable contributions with the ball.
Despite not taking wickets, they kept scoring to a minimum.
On completion of the innings, Koonwarra had compiled a competitive score of 5 for 93 from their 20 overs.
Opening batsmen Kohen Beaumont and Henry Peppard began the innings under immense pressure. Harry Hoekstra from Koonwarra (who later went on to take wickets in Koonwarra's B Grade win over the Island) proved a challenging adversary.
Bowling with good pace and control, he was rewarded with Kohen Beaumont’s wicket.
As the innings continued, the Island lost wickets with regularity, which stifled the scoring.
Well done Koonwarra.
They produced solid, mature bowlers one after another, proving too much for the Island.
James Lewis produced a noteworthy cameo, top scoring with 19 not out.
It was interesting to witness the balance of the Koonwarra team, in which three girls all played valuable roles in a well-organised team.
Perhaps this integration may be a guide for the future of sport in the region.
With lessons to be learned and work to do at practice, this week, Phillip Island is looking forward to next week's match against Leongatha at Cowes.
The season has started well, and all players and supporters are enjoying being able to get back to community sport.

Under 14 - Round 3 v Koonwarra, at Koonwarra on Saturday.
By George McCausland

The Sharks started the game well by winning the toss and electing to bat.
Jake Hughes and Connor McMillan opened the batting. Jake looked set for a big total after smashing the opening bowlers all over the ground but then a good ball bowled him for 13 runs.
Connor was joined by his brother Thomas and put on a show playing well-timed shots and soon both retired on 36 and 24, respectively.
George McCausland and Justin Tran both came out to the crease.
Justin received a peach that bowled him, and Sam Bennett came out onto the ground.
George skied one and was caught.
Drew Fusinato unfortunately got runout and Sam got caught behind, but Xavier Godena and Harry Arceo saw out the innings.
The sharks made 150.
George McCausland bowled the opener and Harry Arceo bowled tightly.
Sam Bennett was on a hattrick after bowling both batsmen for low scores.
The great bowling display didn’t end there with debutant Zack Hughes completing the team hattrick in his first U14s ball!
However, the wickets dried up as two of their middle order retired after scoring 25.
Tyler Duell and Drew Fusinato came on and the runs stopped flowing.
Xavier Godena struck after taking a catch off his own bowling and Justin Tran bowled a wicket maiden!
Connor McMillan cleaned up the tail by dismissing yet another batsman.
Another great result for the Sharks!

Under 12 – Round 2 v Wonthaggi at McMahon Reserve, Wonthaggi, on Friday

The PIDCC Under 12s we led out with some inspirational words by this week’s Captain Hazza.
The Sharks were in the field, bowling first.
With 17 players on hand, a bowling and fielding rotation was put in place, so everyone got a chance to have a bowl and field.
Great bowling by the opening pair Jai and first gamer Duke who got a couple of wickets between them.
The good bowling continued with Bud, Ryan, AB, and Archie C giving the batsmen no room to play shots.
Exceptional fielding by Jacko, Archer and first gamer, Ethan, who got a runout in his first over.
There was some incredible keeping from Zack and then Hazza, who are quickly becoming a great duo to have behind the wickets.
It was then Phillip Island’s turn to bat.
After having a training session on the main ground Monday night to practice running between wickets, it was evident early on the Sharks took a lot out of that training session with opening Batsmen Ollie and Flynn taking quick singles when they could.
It didn’t stop there, with Sai, Archie W, Cub, and Bryce showing what they had learnt from Steve “Macca” McIntyre at training about walking in with the bowler and taking those quick singles.
A big thank you to everyone who helped out this week.
The team will be back at home, at Cowes, next Friday.
Go Sharks!

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