Lake Illawarra batted first and walked out to face a pumped-up Albion Park team, who were much less nervous than many of those watching from the sidelines. Lucas Brown took the new ball, something he wants and has generally thrived on in the past two seasons. He has become the (young) man who has created the initial breakthrough in the batting order, and often more than one. He is coming close to mastering the art of the full straight ball with just enough swing away from the right hander that makes him a tough proposition. He was coming off a four-wicket haul in a school game on Thursday, and on his shoulders rod the hopes of an early breakthrough. In the end he disappointed all those watching, because he was unable to get a wicket until the second delivery of the match, when the perfect delivery found the leading edge for the ball to pop safely into the hands of Kynan Barton at mid-wicket, and the score was 1/0 – and the roar and rush to come together by the Albion Park team must have been frightening for the incoming Lake batsmen such was the ferocity of excitement. The new batsman was one of the best in the district, and his imposing first boundary looked to restore the order lost by that early wicket. Liam Cergovski bowled a solid first over that kept the pressure on, and then Lucas started his second over. The batsman had by now recognised his threat and had decided on a defensive posture, but this is what brought about the next downfall, as the nervous prod forward only resulted in a simple return catch back to Lucas, and he had his second wicket and that of the biggest batting threat in the Lake team. Once again the boys rushed together and celebrated, but there was still a long way to go. Both Lucas and Liam finished their initial spells. Liam (0/8) again shows how much he is improving each week and gave the batsmen nothing to hit, keeping the pressure on for the superstar at the other end. Lucas (2/8) again was the golden arm. He’s not as fast as some others (yet; and believe me that will come) but he bowls the perfect line and length and scares batsmen by his accuracy, all the while with the biggest grin on his face no matter what happens. His two overs opened this game up for the Eagles from the outset and he should be immensely proud of his efforts.
Josh Peters and Jack Couley replaced this pair, and along with stunting the already halting run rate the pressure they created continued on with these benefits. Jack had the ball swinging from the hand and caused some problems, while Josh forced the issue as the batsmen were drawn into playing shots they didn’t want to play. He was taken down the ground in the air by the attacking left hander, a ball that fell agonisingly short of a desperate chase by Lucas Thompson, but it proved turning point. His leg spinner that drifted, dropped and bounced completely fooled the batsman, drawing the edge that was brilliantly snared by wicket-keeper Owen Pickering, and the third wicket was down. The following ball Josh tossed up another perfectly pitched delivery, drawing the slog across the line from the right handed batsman who was completely beaten by the flight, and he only managed to drag it onto his stumps to be bowled. The next ball was to another left-hander (why do leg-spinners always seem to have to bowl hat-trick balls at left handers?) and Josh produced the same delivery as had drawn his first wicket, only to miss the edge by a gnats wing. Despite this, he had taken out the middle order and further decimated the Lake batting. The pair finished their two over spell. Jack (0/4) was good as he always is, unable to break through as he had the previous week but again kept the pressure on the batsmen with a couple of deliveries passing perilously close to the stumps. I am biased in regards to Josh’s cricket prowess, but if there is a better spinner under the age of 14 on the South Coast I have yet to see them. And Josh (2/4) is only 11 years old.
Tom Denyer and Kynan Barton came on, and now found the batsmen in stonewalling mode. With 22 overs to go in the innings and their top order smashed to pieces they needed to spend time in recovery. Tom (0/9) at the moment is only being held back by his own doubts, but it seems that once he gets one good delivery away he finds his groove. He was probably a bit pumped up from the way the team was going and channelled this in to trying to bowl too fast. His second over though was terrific, zeroing in on the stumps and giving the batsmen plenty to think about. Kynan(1/5) again bowled a beautifully tight spell, changing his pace and length accordingly and not letting the batsmen settle or be able to predict what was coming next. And, as he always does, he found his way through again in beating the batsman with flight and pace and taking out of the off stump, creating the fifth wicket of the innings. It was lovely deception, and the perfect way to end his short spell.
‘Wacky’ Campion (0/1) is the perfect foil for these situations, always bowling straight and on a good length, forcing the batsmen to play every ball, sometimes their peril. It the classic “you miss, I hit” strategy and he does it superbly. Though he didn’t get a wicket today, he certainly enabled his bowling partner to do his job. Kasey Barton bowled his best spell of the season today, and what a day to do it. He was a major part of each of the final three wickets to fall. With his first ball he created a chance, a leading edge out to cover that lobbed just out of reach of brother Kynan. The groans were quickly turned to calls for the ball to go to the keeper, as the batsman had just taken off for a run without a response from his partner. Kynan’s throw to Owen found the batsman metres short, and the sixth wicket was back on the sideline. Kasey deserved a wicket and picked one up not long after when a thunderbolt cannoned off the batsman’s pads into his stumps. With the drinks break suspended because only one wicket remained to be taken, Kasey (2/2) bowled the perfect outswinger at pace that clipped the edge of the bat, and Owen at keeper had to go down to the ground and to his right to take a spectacular and brilliant keeper’s catch to end the innings. It is hard to explain just how good that catch was and topped off a terrific performance by the leader behind the stumps. In just 16 overs, Lake Illawarra had been dismissed for 42 runs, and the Albion Park kids were ecstatic and with good reason.
Special mention must be made here of the contribution in the field by Kane Rex, Rob Denny and Lucas Thompson in particular. All three boys were the unlucky ones who were unable to be a batsman or a bowler, given that the team has 14 players this season and in Under 13’s you can only bat nine players and bowler 11 players. They are still a big part of getting the team to this position, and their efforts in the field were terrific. Rob was enthusiastic and encouraging from point and square leg, Kane was all over everything at mid-on being quick to the ball and keeping the talk up, while Lucas made some great chases to cut down runs at mid-off, and almost got himself into a position to make a grab at a catch from Josh’s bowling. They all beamed all morning, and their contributions were as much a part of this team performance as those already mentioned.
With the Lake looking to push hard for an advantage, the Eagles were led by opening batsmen Will Schofield and Blake Ison. Their opening partnership against Oak Flats had been a leading reason for that victory, and here again they were charged with this task. Will has been technically the best bat in the team, but today perhaps nerves had hit him along with a desire to cut down the runs needed as soon as possible. It’s also possible that, having played in rep teams with many of his opponents, he just wanted to dominate. All this led to a slightly looser innings tan we are used to seeing from him, but it was effective. His partner was just fired up. When Blake is switched on he is unstoppable, plays strokes with abandon, but most importantly his calling and running between the wickets can change a game. And it did here. Blake backed up superbly, called loud and ran hard, and on at least three occasions stealing extra runs from his calling and running alone. It was fearless and exhilarating stuff in the early overs, as Lake threw their best at them to try and dislodge them quickly. Blake’s downfall came from the ball of the day from the Lake left armer who swung the ball from well outside off stump to take Blake’s middle and off pegs. Though he only had three runs to his name, and the score as ‘only’ 14, those extra runs he had engineered were like gold, and his contribution enormous.
Kasey Barton has had a good week with the bat in school cricket and was ready to do the same here. A solid start had him looking good, and when a cut down past point got him off the mark it looked even better. There was no one on the sidelines that thought there was two in it… unfortunately this is what was attempted, and despite his frantic dive at the end the terrific throw found Kasey short of his ground and he was run out for 1. Five runs later Will died by the sword he had been brandishing, being caught for 10 which had been an excellent innings under the difficult circumstances. At 3/20 Lake believed they were back in the match, and a nervous balanced remained.
Enter Owen Pickering, who played one of the best leader’s innings you could wish to see, and his sergeant-at-arms Wacky Campion. With so much time left to bat, they sensibly went about seeing off the spells of Lake’s best three bowlers who could only bowl two overs each initially. This they did with great skill. Owen was solid, looking for singles where possible but ensuring the danger bowlers were seen off. From here he played superbly, keeping out the good balls but cracking hard at every short wide delivery. Granted he didn’t time many of them, but he got enough bat on them to get the singles and twos that came. At the other end Wacky did his job, running hard when needed but also contributing his own runs to the tally. As the bowling lost its direction, each no ball and wide was ticked off the score by the big crowd in attendance and finally, at the end of the 11th over, the Park had reached 3/43 and were declared winners. The sight of coach Anthony Pickering charging onto the field, far outrunning his young chargers, is one of the best things I’ve seen in cricket. The unrestrained joy from them all over the next few minutes makes all of the hard work this season from everyone involved more than worth it.
What’s the secret? Once again in cricket, it is not about individuals, it is about the team. Every single person put their hand up today and they made their own contribution to the cause. They field as a team, charging in together, encouraging their teammates and picking them up when they are down. They bowl in partnerships, not always taking wickets but bottling up the batting so that someone will eventually cash in. Every week two or three put their hands up to score runs, and it is never the same kids. It is a true team performance that has got these kids to a final, and if they happen to get up next Saturday it will be as a team that they will do it.
I made mention at the start of the 1983/84 Under 14A’s team that beat the undefeated minor premiers. It should be noted that in the final (after a game that stretched three weekends because of a washout on what should have been the second day), the Albion Park team managed to win the competition from fourth place, defeating the second placed Kiama team in the process. That may seem wonderful, though as I was the captain of the Kiama team I have much different memories and emotions of the result. It again does show that such a scenario is more than possible if a team plays to the best of its abilities and their opponents take their eye off the ball for even a moment.
Next weekend, our Eagles boys will have their chance at their own moment of premiership glory. If they play like they did yesterday, they will be a massive chance.
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