Albion Park Under 13's: Final vs Shellharbour Blue at Myimbar East

In a summer where the biggest news seems to be that the state is in drought and creeks are drying up and golf course dams are at all time lows, it seems quite ironic that on the final day of the junior cricket season the premiers in the SCDCA Under 13 competition has been decided by the rain rather than the contest on the field. And yet this is what occurred on Saturday when the match between the second placed Shellharbour Blue team and the fourth placed Albion Park team was washed out without the toss being made or a ball being bowled, an event that led to the higher placed Shellharbour team being declared as Premiers for 2018/19. There was no argument from the participants – Shellharbour had won both matches between the teams during the regular season and were favourites for the game as it was. But Albion Park has only played its strongest team once during the season, and that had been in the demolition of the Lake Illawarra team the previous weekend, and with the vast improvement that they had made since their last meeting in January, there was plenty of confidence leading into the weekend that they could spring another surprise. Instead, they could be happy with thought they they had given everything they had on the cricket field during the season, and that reaching the final in the first place was indeed a terrific achievement.

It has been one of the best of my 41 seasons of cricket that I have been involved in on the South Coast, even if it was just from the spectators position. Watching these 14 young kids each week, and seeing the massive improvement each of them made between October and March, has been as gratifying as any season before this. Anthony Pickering as coach has been amazing, enthusiastic at every training and at every game, positive and encouraging in every sense of the word, always with the kids best interests at heart. He has been tough when he has to be, and because it has only been on the rarest of occasions, each time he did struck a chord with the kids and they responded immediately. His heartfelt words after 15 overs of the game against Shellharbour in January, when the lethargy of the kids had shown and cost them too many runs, had an immediate impact, and their recovery in the second fifteen overs was amazing. If they had been just as good in the first fifteen overs, they may well have won that match. That’s what makes a good coach, the ability to know when words need to be said, and when to just let the kids have their head. This wasn’t the only example of this during the season, but it was the most significant. Thanks for everything you did this season Anthony, you can be justifiably proud of what your team achieved this year because of your efforts.
It is also important to acknowledge the support of the parents and families this season. These kids all perform better when they have their family there to watch, because they WANT to perform for you and to do well in front of you and FOR you. The massive support you gave to this team every Saturday is a big reason they did so well. There is nothing better than doing something good, and hearing the cheers for you from the sideline, whether you are 12 years old or 49 years old. Nothing matters more to kids than playing in front of their family and their teammates families. The support this season was extraordinary, and you all can lay claim to a piece of the responsibility for this team doing so well this season.

Everyone will have different memories of their favourite parts of the season. Mine may not equate to the same as others, but sometimes it is the moments rather than the best performances that stick best in the mind. Rob Denny’s first three deliveries of the season, all perfect left-arm outswinging deliveries to the left hand opening batsman, with the third plucking the off stump out of the ground. Lucas Thompson’s catch standing at mid on under a high ball off Josh that took six months to come down, followed by the biggest smile ever and his teammates crushing him in celebration. Kane Rex’s crushing cover drive at Gainsborough in a ‘stand and deliver’ pose, possibly the best stroke he has played in his short career so far. Watching Liam Cergovski take the keeping gloves at training for the first time, and then not letting a single ball past him, and suddenly realising we had found a wicket-keeper in the making. Blake Ison’s fearless and blistering batting when opening against Oak Flats chasing 117 to win, and perfectly setting up the team with his innings to ensure a famous victory. Will Schofield’s perfectly amazingly brilliant catch at Gainsborough as the ball continued to drift away from his grasp until the final instant he managed to wrap his hand around the ball. Tom Denyer chasing the ball from mid-wicket to deep long on against Shellharbour, turning and throwing down the stumps direct at the bowlers end to have the batsman short by two metres. Wacky Campion’s terrific stumping off Josh at Con O’Keefe after he said at drinks ‘I’m a good keeper! I’ll get a stumping off Josh!’ Jack Couley’s match-changing innings against Kiama in a game the team had to win to reach the finals. Lucas freaking Brown and his 4/1 from two overs against Kiama when he was on two hat-tricks and might have gotten all the wickets if he’d been allowed to bowl more than two overs. Every single Kasey Barton back foot punch along the ground through cover, just the best looking stroke from a 12 year old it has ever been my pleasure to see. Kynan Barton’s dual run outs in consecutive deliveries against Kiama Gold at Con O’Keefe, one from a great piece of fielding at slip and the other chasing the ball down at point. Owen Pickering’s match-winning batting in the semi-final when he showed the poise and responsibility of the senior player in the team to calmly see off the best bowlers before hitting the winning runs from the change bowlers. And Josh Peters… bowling Jarryd White for a golden duck in that same game… I may have dropped my guard and screamed in triumph at that…

These are but a handful of the great moments from the season. Each and every one of these boys can be proud of their seasons. And every single one of them has a great future in this game, and we need to encourage them to keep playing and improve. They are literally the future of the Albion Park Cricket Club, and we all need to make sure they continue to love the game as much as they do now, and keep playing on for years to come.

Bring on 2019/20.

Albion Park Under 13's: Semi-Final vs Lake Illawarra at Morley Park

In the 1983/84 Under 14A competition, the fourth placed Albion Park team took on the undefeated minor premiers Shellharbour in the semi-final. Against all odds and with nothing to lose, Albion Park won that game convincingly, and went on to play in the final the following weekend, again with nothing to lose. I bring this up only to illustrate that such a scenario can happen, so that when you read the following you will know it is not an impossible tale, and much like the tagline for the original 1978 movie version of Superman that read “You will believe a man can fly”, here you will believe that the underdog can defeat the overwhelming favourites – which is what faced the fourth placed Albion Park Eagles Under 13’s in their semi final against the undefeated minor premiers Lake Illawarra at Morley Park on Saturday morning.

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.

Albion Park Under 13's: Round 15 vs Kiama Gold at Gainsborough Chase

Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen a team begin to emerge that has started putting the pieces of the puzzle together, where each piece of that puzzle has found its place and has slotted together with the others. That puzzle now looks to be complete after a victory over a competitive Kiama Gold team that combined the efforts of each individual in the Albion Park Eagles Under 13 team into a whole that is now, in my opinion, a realistic threat of winning the Under 13’s competition.

The Albion Park team batted first, and it was immediately obvious that the bowling of the Kiama Gold team has progressed light years since these teams’ first clash back in November. Tom Denyer opened the batting and his tough run continued, having hit a nice two but then leaning back too far to leg to cut and being bowled off stump by Callum Hodgson. His disappointment shows that he knows he is working hard but is having a rough trot. Save the runs for the finals Tom. Wacky Campion joined Josh Peters at the crease and these two put together a nice second wicket partnership against an excellent bowling attack who bowled full and straight and at good pace. Josh played the defensive role perfectly, happy to push forward and keep out the good balls while sneaking the odd single, as Wacky waited for the shorter ball and used his pull shot to its full advantage. Wacky had reached 15 with two boundaries when, of his own admission, he decided to try and hit the ball of the returning Callum Hodgson over mid-on, but only managed to hit it straight off the toe into that fieldsman’s hands. Liam Cergovski joined Josh at the crease and the two of them batted well until Josh reached his retirement target of 35 deliveries. He played the perfect opening batsman’s innings against good bowling today, seeing off the overs so that his middle order could see the bottom order of the bowling attack. It was telling in the final outcome.

Will Schofield came in and immediately looked at ease and as always played some classical looking strokes. The only mistake came when he hit a ball to deep square leg and called for a risky second. Unfortunately, the fieldsman had the best arm in the team, and his throw straight into the keeper's gloves found Will’s dive just short of his ground, and he was dismissed for 5. Kasey Barton also looked comfortable, with one of his trademark backfoot punches through the covers an absolute delight. In the second over after drinks though he got a nick behind to a ball from Jett Parker to be dismissed for 3. At 4/54 in the 17th over, the game was wide open and at an exciting period.

As ever though, Jack Couley was the spark and the saviour. Though again professing his nerves before going in, he shows none of them at the crease, and plays with a fresh devil-may-care attitude, looking to be positive and vibrant from the first ball. Though a couple of his missed attempted pulls must have come perilously close to the stumps, he found enough short wide balls to dispatch through the leg side into the gaps. He was terrifically supported by Liam, who played his finest innings of the season with his team in a tight spot. He claims the leg side is his strength but it was his punches to the off and excellent running between the wickets in this partnership especially that was the highlight of his innings. He is slowly coming out of his shell with the bat and his contribution today in several partnerships was enormous. Unfortunately, with one ball remaining before reaching the retirement criteria he was bowled, having made an invaluable 13 runs. He is improving at an increasing rate each week, and his attitude is just superb. Also, not to forget his wicket-keeping which is just divine. Great work Liam.

Jack continued on his way as he was joined by Kane Rex, who also played his finest innings of the season. Kane has been working hard every week and soaks up the things he is told at training, and today as soon as he found bat hitting ball for the first time, he didn’t look back. One particular cover drive where he wound up and smashed it along the ground into the gap for two was the best shot I’ve seen him play. It is great to see a kid reap the benefits of hard work and wanting to succeed. Jack retired after his 35 deliveries had totalled for him 37 runs, an innings that gave his team a fighting chance of a total they could defend. Without his contribution it could have been a completely different match. Great stuff Jack. Rob Denny came out and was again unlucky, looking to be positive from the outset with not long to go, and was dismissed by a good catch. Josh returned to the crease, and he and Kane batted sensibly to finish off the Albion Park innings at 6/119 from their thirty overs. Kane finished on 6 not out while Josh “The Rock” was on 11 not out.

What followed this was one of the most remarkable periods of cricket I have seen, and nothing I can say here will be able to explain the magnificent spectacle that took place. Opening the bowling for the Eagles was Lucas Brown and Kynan Barton, the two non-batters for the day. Both had sat and watched as their teammates dragged themselves up to a competitive total against the excellent bowling of the Kiama Blue team, and now it was their turn to be let loose. Lucas was immediately on song, with four perfect full deliveries that swung ominously from leg to off. Each was seen off by the batsman, with the fourth delivery squeezed away for a single. Then the carnage began. The next delivery was exactly like its four predecessors, but this one beat the defence of the new batsman and cartwheeled middle and leg stump. It was a beauty, one that was only bettered by the very next ball to the tall left hander, who looked as though he liked to hit the ball hard. Lucas came around the wicket and bowled the perfect inswinger, swinging in from a fifth stump line outside the off stump to clean up middle. It was a peach, the absolute perfect first delivery to a left-handed batsman. Score – 2 wickets for 1. Kynan bowled the following over and was also excellent, full and forcing the batsmen to play, and narrowly missed his own wicket when the ball must have surely shaved the off stump.

Lucas started his second over on a hat-trick, a ball that was the perfect one, right up in the blockhole, and somehow kept out by the batsman. Oh well, easy come easy go. Another dot ball followed, before yet another perfect outswinger again did for the batsman, this time cartwheeling off stump by hitting the very top of the stump. Amazing stuff. Score – 3 wickets for 3 runs. The next ball was the worst of Lucas’s spell, pulling it down short and swinging away wide of leg stump. New batsman Jett Parker swung hard and smashed it in the air wide of cover, where Will Schofield was fielding. Running at full pace he tried to track it down but it kept fading away from him and out of reach. A final desperate lunge by Will found the ball smack into his outstretched hands, and he clung onto the amazing catch, easily the best catch of the season. The boys were ecstatic, charging in to congratulate fielder and bowler. Score – 4 wickets for 3 runs, and Lucas was on his second hat-trick of the innings. Again, he bowled the perfect delivery, and again somehow the batsman kept it out. Another dot ball completed the initial spell for Lucas – two overs, one maiden, 4 wickets for 1 run. It was the best bowling spell of the season and a fitting reward for a young man who never ceases to amaze. He is the most humble of kids who continues to smile no matter what happens, and having watched him grow as a cricketer for the past three seasons has been one of my best moments involved in junior cricket. He is a gem. Watch out for him, because he is going to do amazing things in cricket. Heaven help opposing teams when he starts to grow.

Not to be outdone, Kynan did his own batting incision in the next over, firstly clean bowling the opening batsman who had watched from the non-strikers end for the first couple of overs, before then doing the same to the new batsman who had hit him for a boundary the previous delivery. Kynan bowled perfectly for the situation, he bowled flatter and quicker than usual for his off spinners, but made sure the batsmen had to play every ball and that if they missed it – which two did – he would bowl them. It was the perfect support bowling for his opening partner. After four overs Lucas and Kynan had destroyed the Kiama Gold batting, having them at 6 wickets down for just 13 runs.

Rob Denny and Kane Rex came on and also bowled well. Rob didn’t have any luck with the bat and it followed with his bowling, which was as excellent as it always is. One short ball was pulled or six, but he conceded only one more run off his other 11 deliveries to finish with 0/7. Kane had a great day today, and followed his batting with two tight overs that combined both excellent line and length. Only one ball was offline, and he finished off the innings with the final ball of his second over when he beat the batsman to bowl him middle stump. He had the kind of day that keeps bringing you back the next week. He finished with 1/3 from his two overs, and amazingly the innings was over from just eight overs, with Kiama Gold being dismissed for 23.

This is the kind of performance that has you considering just how good this team has become. At the start of the season they played the three top teams in the competition, being given a touch up in two of them and pushing the likely minor premiers to the finish line in the other. Since then this team has lost only one game, to the second placed Shellharbour Blue team. They have improved since then exponentially, and almost every player has been putting in career-best performances. That says a lot about how they are coming together as teammates and as a team, how they are playing for each other and the belief that they all have – in themselves, in their teammates, and in their team. I said at the start that they are a chance of winning the whole kit and kaboodle, and I truly believe that. The past three weeks has shown they have become the best all-round fielding and bowling team around, and two or three batsmen stand up every week to ensure a winning total. Perhaps it is unfair to put pressure on these kids by saying these things, but if they continue to show the self-belief that has been evident over the back half of this season, and they continue to rally around and take in the things their coach Anthony Pickering is sharing with them, then there is no telling what this team can do. Stay tuned...

Albion Park Under 13's: Round 14 vs Kiama Blue at Gainsborough Chase

In what shaped as a virtual semi-final, the Albion Park Under 13 Eagles took on the Kiama Blue team at Gainsborough Chase this morning in a match that would determine who would hold on to fourth place on the ladder after the game with just another two matches remaining. The winner of today’s match would have one foot in that semi-final door.

Kiama won the toss and elected to field, giving the Eagles the chance to put on a score that would be difficult to chase down. The pleasing thing was that the boys took their chance and did exactly that. Kasey Barton and Jack Couley opened the batting and put on an excellent partnership of 39. Jack hasn’t had the bat in his hand for a few weeks and was slightly nervous before the start, but he was soon into his work, and dominated the scoring in the early overs. He punched several strokes straight through mid-off and mid-on and ran a number of twos to keep the scoreboard ticking over. He was soon dispatching shorter deliveries through square leg and playing well. It was almost a surprise when he skied a ball and was dismissed by a great catch for 25 runs. Well played Jack. Kasey was now joined by brother Kynan and put together a 50+ run partnership of their own. Kasey played a number of beautiful off drives and a couple of magnificent punches off the back foot through cover as well, all along the ground. There is no batsman in this age group who plays those strokes better than Kasey, it is where he excels, and his running between the wickets was also exemplary. He eventually retired with another score over thirty to his name and had helped get his team the perfect start. At the other end Kynan showed no interest in defence and was playing shots from the outset. He had some fortune, being dropped on three occasions, but it hindered him little as he cavalierly charged the bowling or rocked onto the back to pull heartily. He retired with 48 to his name, having lifted his head trying to get to his fifty off his final delivery.

After such a start the pressure was off the rest of the batting order which allowed them the freedom to play without concern for the scoreboard. Liam Cergovski again showed a good defensive technique in his time at the crease, before he got a leading edge to be caught for 3. Owen Pickering continued on from his good work last week, blasting four boundaries with strong wrists and forearms before being undone by the young leg spinner to be caught and bowled for 31. Blake Ison also looked good again, happy to get his eye in first before beginning to use a tennis smash technique to get the high balls through the leg side. He had made 15 before a ball hit by Owen straight to point saw a call of yes that found Blake well short of his ground by the throw. Lucas Thompson was the unluckiest batsman of the day, getting a full toss over the waist first ball that was called a no ball, but thinking his partner had called him through he started running, only to find the ball had stopped just next to the stumps, and the wicket keeper picked it up and ran him out before he realised what had happened. Some days are just not your day. Rob Denny hit a lovely four through deep backward square and played a good supporting role to Owen but was eventually caught by another good catch for 10 runs. Lucas Brown helped to win the game last weekend with the bat but found the other side of the coin today when he was caught for a duck off just four balls. Cricket can be a cruel mistress.
Both Kasey and Kynan returned for the last couple of overs, and after a coupe of attempts to run each other out Kynan found the two singles he needed to raise his fifty. Well played Kynan, who finished on 52 not out, while Kasey was also excellent in remaining not out on 43. After their thirty overs Albion Park finished on 7/205.

With a big total to defend the message was to repeat the blueprint from last week – walking in with the bowler, backing up throws and catch everything. The Kiama batsmen saw off Albion Park’s openers, and it was Lucas Brown who made the first breakthrough with the perfect delivery full and straight and just clipping the top of off stump. A great delivery. Wickets didn’t fall but the fielding overall was good and restricted the scoring. Blake Ison finally drew a shot out of the facing batsman with a shorter ball which was hit to mid on where Josh Peters took the catch for the second wicket. Just before drinks there was a mix up between the batsman, and Josh ran from mid-on to mid-wicket, picked up the ball and threw it right over the to of the bails at the bowlers end for Owen to break the stumps and compete the run out. At drinks Kiama was 3/58.
Straight after the drinks break Kynan beautifully deceived the facing batsman and bowled him neck and crop to have the bottom of the order coming to the crease. Kiama fought hard and made their way to 4/88 before the final boom fell, and quickly. Tom Denyer had beaten the edge on a few occasions on the morning, and finally found the smallest nick that was beautifully snared by Owen as keeper, having to reach forward with his gloves to get the ball before it died in front of him. A great keeper’s catch, well done Owen. An over later Josh beat the batsman in flight who skied the ball to mid-on where Lucas Thompson took a terrific catch under enormous pressure. It was great to see the smile on his face afterwards, well done Lucas. Josh then drew the same stroke out of the next two batsmen, unfortunately the skied balls fell to ground avoiding all the fieldsmen charging at the ball. Next over and edge through to third man was chased hard by Kasey from point, who then turned and threw hard and hit the stumps at the strikers end direct, finding the batsman short of his ground trying to steal a second. Great fielding from Kasey. Next ball the last batsman pulled a ball from Lucas Brown straight to Jack at mid-wicket who made a difficult catch look easy and competing the Kiama innings all out for 91 runs.

Tom and Josh were the non-batsmen today but did well with the ball, Tom taking 1/14 from four overs and Josh 1/10 from three overs. Lucas Brown was again superb, and when he bowls straight and full he is always successful finishing with 2/6 from 2.2 overs. Rob bowled well without luck today but showed he is still a danger with 0/6 from two overs. Lucas Thompson is improving every week, and he bowled better again today in his 0/10 from two overs. Before too long he is going to be a handful with the ball. Blake came off a short run today and did perfectly to finish with 1/9 from two overs. Hopefully this means he won’t come off 74 steps at training this week as a result. Owen Pickering bowled his best spell of the season to finish with 0/4 from two overs including a maiden, while Kynan darted his way to figures of 1/3 from two overs. Jack was his usual accurate self and bowled well considering the length of time between overs, taking 0/4 from two overs. Kasey probably tried to bowl too fast today, no doubt still enthused from his batting exploits, but still finished with great figures of 0/2 from two overs, while Liam backed up another excellent spell as wicket keeper by taking 0/8 off two overs with the ball.

While the fielding and bowling wasn’t quite as good as in last week’s victory over Oak Flats, and the batting gave too many catching chances to the opposition to be completely happy about, the boys did enough to win this game comfortably, and has now secured fourth spot on the ladder. If they are able to win both of their final matches against lower placed teams, they will be playing in the finals in March. There is still work to do to ensure that, but already I can imagine that the other final teams are very nervous about having to face this terrific young Albion Park Eagles team come finals time.

Albion Park Under 13's: Round 13 vs Oak Flats at Shane Lee Field

When it comes to the great game that is cricket, whether as a player, a coach or a supporter, you long for the day when your team puts it all together at the same time and proves the saying that this is not a sport that is won by individuals but a sport that is won by the team as a whole. On Saturday at Shane Lee Field, the Albion Park Under 13’s did exactly that in taking down the third placed Oak Flats team, and in the process opened up the door to a semi-final spot in a few weeks time.

Oak Flats won the toss and elected to bat, and no doubt were looking to put on a total beyond what he Eagles kids could chase. This week’s push though was on the fielders to hunt as a pack, to all be moving in together in the field, to chase hard and throw quickly and accurately, and to back up the stumps at both ends. With the bowling, it was to be as full and straight as possible and to give the batsmen as few scoring opportunities as possible. These were the qualities that coach Anthony Pickering has been training the kids for, and today they executed this almost perfectly. It was noticeable immediately that the fielding was much improved on the previous match and that the kids were alive and keen.
Despite a fast outfield boundaries were kept to a bare minimum which frustrated the batting team. In his second over Kane Rex had the batsman playing the ball around to leg, where a diving Tom Denyer took the catch out in front of him to complete the dismissal. It is fair to say that given Tom’s amazing prowess in the field he was one of the few who could have completed this dismissal. Terrific stuff. Tom himself got the next wicket, when a straight full ball was driven straight back to him and he made a difficult caught and bowled look ridiculously easy. This was followed by a solid partnership, but just before the drinks break Josh Peters beat the batsman with flight and bowled him neck and crop. The very next ball he beat the new batsman who drove the ball straight back to him, but Josh spilled the chance. He might bowl better than his father but unfortunately he still catches like him. Despite this Oak Flats was at 3/60 at the halfway mark, and it felt as though the Eagles had tightened the screws.
After the drinks break Liam Cergovski came out from behind the stumps, where he had put on the best display of keeping of the season for the Eagles Under 13’s, and then broke the game open with the ball, bowling a perfect outswinger that took the middle stump. Into the lower order, and although tiring a little with the ball and in the field the Eagles kept pushing. Aiden Campion was rewarded for another great spell of bowling when he picked up a wicket, enticing the batsman to drive in the air to mid-off when Blake Ison took a good catch. In the next over Blake then took his own wicket when he found a way past the batsman’s defences to take out his off stump. At 6/116 with three overs remaining the Eagles kids had a big chance to bowl out their opponents.

It was at this point that the Oak Flats team deemed to invoke a law that had not been used by any team so far in the competition. With the time having elapsed as to when the innings should have finished it was deemed that the innings was over, and that Albion Park would now bat and face the same number of overs (27) to chase those runs. On the surface it appeared a strange decision.

Given the season that Oak Flats has been enjoying, the bowling on the day was excellent, and to keep them to that total was a victory in itself. Kane Rex tired a little in his final over, but his spell overall was perfect. He made the batsmen play every ball and his length was his best of the season. His practice is paying off and he should be especially happy with his figures of 1/20 from four overs. Owen Pickering showed good pace on the day in his two over spell of 0/9, and also did a terrific job behind the stumps as wicket keeper in the second session. That only nine byes were let through in the innings is a credit to both Owen and Liam for their work. Tom Denyer didn’t quite have his mojo with the ball today, and looked to be trying to bowl too fast to compensate for his short length. Maybe some deep breathing exercises would help. He still managed some good deliveries in his three overs which produced figures of 1/16. Lucas Thompson did indeed bowl his best spell of the season, and even when a wide ball came out he didn’t let it deter him and he marched back to the top of his mark determined to be better the next delivery. His three overs brought him figures of 0/19, but it was the improvement in his bowling that was most satisfying.
Josh Peters found the ball didn’t spin much on the astro wicket, but he still had the batsmen playing and missing consistently anyway. He finished with 1/5 from his three overs. ‘Wacky’ Campion again bowled his consistent line and length, with only a couple of shorter deliveries costing him boundaries. His three overs were bowled for 1/14. Lucas Brown was quite superb, coming off the long run and on no fewer than five deliveries shaved the leg stump as the ball ducked in through the air, completely beating the opposing batsmen. He was incredibly unfortunate not to pick up a couple of wickets, and his figures of 0/3 from two overs, including a maiden, show just how well he bowled. Blake Ison bowled similarly well, with a great line and length just outside the off stump, and with a bit of fortune could have added another couple of wickets to his figures of 1/5 from three overs. Will Schofield was left late today, but was no less competent that his predecessors finishing with 0/6 from his two overs, while Liam Cergovski had a great day with the ball, and though his first over was better than his first, his figures of 1/10 from two overs was well deserved.

For the Eagles to win they had to all bat well and bat well together. There was no better illustration of this than the opening partnership between Blake and Will who batted superbly. They kept out the good balls, were patient in their strokeplay, but when there was a bad ball they put it away brilliantly. Will, to my eyes, is the best looking batsman in the team, and when Blake in ‘on’ he is just as good. Will punched the ball into gaps beautifully, and Blake found the loose balls and put them away for two’s and fours. It was a solid and excellent opening partnership, which was only broken when Will played one shot across the line and was bowled. His nine runs was worth much more in the context of the match, and he had not only gotten the team off to the start it needed but showed the incoming batsmen that the bowling was playable. Blake followed soon after to a tired shot that also bowled him. His 20 runs was perfectly played, and today was one of those days where Blake was in the right mindframe and his cricket was superb as a result. Well done Blake.
Lucas Brown came out and punched three singles in quick succession like he had been batting for hours, before he copped a delivery that… shortened him up a little. As Billy Birmingham is wont to say… “it can be quite painful, that”… and Lucas retired hurt to recompose himself.
Wacky and Owen took over the scoring and both continued on the same course as their teammates, keeping out the balls on the stumps and running hard between the wickets as they played the ball into the gaps. A couple of lofty blows rom Wacky gave the scoring rate another boost before he went one too many times and was bowled for 14. This brought Tom to the crease – a very nervous Tom who was worried that he hadn’t made a score for awhile and felt the pressure of winning the game for his team.

At the drinks break the Eagles had reached 3/72, leaving only 45 required for victory with 13 overs to get them. What came next was the kind of chase that would have made any senior team proud. Owen and Tom, the team’s two oldest and most experienced players, upped the ante and every loose ball was dispatched, bring the run rate required lower with each passing over. Owen cracked two boundaries and Tom added two of his own and the game was quickening up to its conclusion. Owen finally fell by the sword, holing out to mid on for a well played 17. From here the Eagles needed 24 runs with seven over remaining.
They didn’t need them. Lucas returned to the crease and played the perfect supporting role, with drive punches, cut shots and pull shots, while running hard between the wickets. If he had any nerves about the chase he showed none of them. Like Blake, today was a day when Lucas was in the zone and he barely put a foot wrong. He was only bettered in this instance by Tom, who controlled the chase like a veteran. Despite his doubts about his batting form he was brilliant, keeping the good ball out and looking to force the balls hard that were outside the line. Between the two of them they brought the total down quickly, at which point Tom first hit a four and then finished the game with a pull over fine leg for six to get the Eagles home with four wickets in hand and four overs to spare. Lucas finished on 10 not out, while Tom should be ecstatic with his terrific innings of 23 not out.

This was a massive win for the Under 13 Eagles team, and is a credit to the work being put in by coach Anthony Pickering and his belief in these kids - one that was made even more important when it was later discovered that the Kiama Blue team had been beaten by the Kiama Gold team, meaning Albion Park has moved into the top four for the first time this season. With three games left to go before the finals, if the Eagles can win all three, against Kiama Blue, Kiama Gold and Shellharbour White, then they will be playing in the semi-finals. Hopefully that is incentive enough for all the boys to get to training on Wednesday and train the house down

Albion Park Under 13's: Round 11 vs Shellharbour Blue at Myimbar East

The return of junior cricket to the fields of the south coast saw the Albion Park Eagles Under 13 team travelling to Myimbar East to take on the might of the Shellharbour Blue team. With home team batting first, it gave the Eagles boys a chance to test themselves against one of the better batting line ups in the competition. The team’s four representative players, Kynan and Kasey Barton, Will Schofield and Aiden Campion, who all played in the South Coast Under 13 team at Orange with distinction, were going to be keys to finding the chinks in the Shellharbour players armour.

Unfortunately, it was a bedraggled sluggish and almost disinterested team that took the field, and they were dealt with accordingly early on. The bowling was serviceable rather than on track, the fielding was only average and there was next to no enthusiasm between the team at all. This can come as a hangover to being away from the game for six weeks but it was noticeable to all who were watching. A couple of spilled chances and misfields gave the Shellharbour team little trouble in starting to knock up a big score. Will Schofield made the first breakthrough, forcing the opening batsman to pull the ball into the air to square leg where Tom Denyer took the catch. The only other wicket to fall in the first 15 overs went to Liam Cergovski with his first delivery which the left hander hit high and wide to deep square leg where Tom Denyer took his second excellent catch. With the drinks break having arrived and Shellharbour already over the century and only two wickets down, a serious talk from coach Anthony Pickering let the team know that this was not the way this team plays its cricket and they needed to pull their socks up, and quickly.

The effort in the second fifteen overs was much more indicative of what this team can do, and proved Anthony’s point that they are better team than they had shown. While wickets didn’t come early, the team stifled the run scoring ability of their best two batsmen and made it much harder for them to get away. The bowling improved and the fielding most certainly was better. Three batsmen retired but they were all required to come back in at the end of the innings as the Eagles bowlers reaped the rewards of better pressure with the ball. Kasey Barton got a well deserved wicket when he bowled McDonald with a perfect fast straight delivery. Josh Peters then gained a wicket with his final delivery, when a miscued shot was hit straight to Kasey at square leg for the catch. Tom then topped off a wonderful fielding and bowling display from himself by bowling the last batsman with a ripping inswinger. Will chimed in with his second wicket, coming from a good caught and bowled from a full toss, which had followed three consecutive long hops. Variety is what will get you wickets. The final wicket came from yet another terrific piece of fielding from Tom, who chased a ball down to deep mid on, turned and threw down the stumps with a direct hit with the batsmen well short of his ground. The last five wickets had fallen for 31 runs, and in the end Albion Park had bowled out their opponents for 182.

Kasey Barton bowled his best spell of the season, concentrating more on line and length than trying to bowl like Brett Lee and fully deserved his figures of 1/9 from four overs. Rob Denny also bowled well today to finish with 0/19 from four overs. Blake Ison was a bit unfortunate in his two overs and just couldn’t quite find the stump line, finishing with 0/23. Kane Rex bowled better than his figures of 0/31 off three overs suggests, which contained some good straight full balls which he has been working hard on. On the other hand, Will Schofield mixed some excellent deliveries with some liquorice allsorts to finish with 2/10 from his three overs. Kynan Barton looks like he’s been watching the darts in the holidays, firing in his off breaks for his two overs for the figures of 0/12, and was also excellent with the gloves in the second half of the innings. Lucas Thompson benefitted from a good spell at training during the week and will improve even more as he gets more overs under his belt every week. He finished with 0/15 from his two overs. Liam Cergovski too is showing great improvement at training and will also benefit with more time with the ball, and today 1/17 from his two overs. Tom Denyer had late tail going with the ball today into the wind and like Kasey looked to have better control by not trying to bowl too fast. His three overs brought 1/15, and along with two catches, a run out and great run saving in the field he led the team by example today. Josh Peters was good again, a bit short in his first over, good in his second and a little wide in his third but finished with 1/10 from three overs. Aiden Campion kept for the first half of the innings, and though he bowled well for 0/9 from two overs perhaps lacked his usual perfect length and penetration from not having his run up quite right today.

The total always looked beyond the Eagles kids but there is always a chance if you can stick to your guns. This didn’t look too likely in the initial stages as the Eagles bats found the bowling was of a pretty high standard. Tom played and missed at one before French cutting the next delivery, and then being bowled opening up the off side on his third ball. After his great effort in the field he was disappointed to end his innings so early. Liam batted well during his time at the crease, leaving the ball well and playing a couple of nice shots, before he received a ripping Yorker that took out his middle stump for 3. He was followed next ball by the unfortunate Lucas, who got the ball of the day which was a yorker that dipped late and also found middle stump waiting for it. Wacky came out and saw off the hat-trick delivery (albeit a skied shot towards mid-wicket) and played a nice hook shot for four not long after. However, it was obvious he was being targeted with the short ball, and it worked when he skied one straight to mid-wicket to be dismissed for 5. At 4/35 things weren’t looking good.

At the other end Josh battled away against the excellent bowling attack and held firm, and he retired unbeaten soon after. This brought Will to the crease to partner Kynan and these two put together an excellent partnership, with Will playing solidly in the V as Kynan took every opportunity of a loose delivery to hit two’s and fours. They were still together at drinks, after which both launched an attacking raid that, just for a few moments, harboured the thoughts of a famous victory. Will retired after his quota of deliveries was reached, and the score was 97. Kane came in after waiting a long time with the pads on and was unfortunate to get a great delivery first up which just clipped his off bail. Blake came to the crease to support Kynan. Unfortunately, Kynan finally died by the sword he had been living by and was caught looking for another boundary with just three deliveries to go until he could retire. Kynan’s innings of 36 was a terrific knock, exactly what the team needed at the time to lift their outside chances of victory, and he played all of the bowling with aplomb. Blake fell next ball to an almost instant replay of Kynan’s shot. Josh played out the hat-trick ball but was out the following over to end the innings. Josh made 13 runs having seen off the opening bowlers, and his practice over the holiday break was seen to be justified. Will remained 18 not out at the end, completing yet another excellent all-round game. He continues to improve every game which is great to see.

The Eagles had been dismissed for 103, tasting defeat by 79 runs. And yet, if only the team had bowled and fielded in the first fifteen overs like they did in the second fifteen, it could possibly have been a different story. The great thing about cricket is that they will be able to use that knowledge to change things around and hopefully come back bigger and stringer in their next match.

Albion Park JCC Under 13’s: Match 8 vs Gerringong at Con O’Keefe Oval

Another superlative day met the young Eagles players as they congregated at lovely Con O’Keefe Oval to take on the Gerringong team in their round eight clash of the 2018/19 season. Gerringong won the toss and offered the Albion park team first chance at the crease, which they took with open arms.

A couple of early wickets fell though it didn’t seem to influence the batting momentum. Tom Denyer has shown in recent weeks a touch of impatience at the crease and a tendency to try and hit the ball too hard which has restricted his scoring. Last week he was bowled in such a manner, and today again he unfortunately missed out in the same manner being bowled for 4. Josh Peters just can’t quite seem to get the start he needs to get his innings going, and today again found a good full ball undo him as he was bowled for 2. Perhaps not trying to turn a yorker to leg would be a good start.

Elsewhere however the batsmen thrived. Kynan Barton opened and played a mix of extravagant strokes and textbook strokes. He tested out the fieldsmen on occasions but was positive and showed plenty of intent. Will Schofield once again played well, though a couple of shots where he was looking at the sky instead of the ball gave some cause for concern. When working the ball around he still looks to be the best batsman technically in the team (that’s just my opinion… 😊 ). He retired after his 35 deliveries had brought him 26 runs. Kasey Barton carried on from his terrific innings from two weeks ago, taking on the bowlers and running hard. His square cuts along the ground are a joy to watch, and with no lack of power. His batting with Will was great to watch as they built up the lead. Owen Pickering would have known he wasn’t going to get two bites of the cherry this week and went on his quest to score the team’s first half century from the first delivery. He had some slices of fortune mixed with six boundaries and could conceivably have reached his goal if he had only tried to work the leg side deliveries away rather than try to bash them. He eventually retired after his 35 deliveries had brought another entertaining 37 runs.

Kane Rex got the biggest cheer of the day when he scored his first run of the season with a nice push through mid-off. From here his confidence grew steadily, and as well as supporting Owen in his innings he managed to play some excellent shots of his own, including an all-run three off his bat from a ball that only went to mid-on. If only he remembered to slide his bat he would have no doubt retired not out, but instead was run out for 6 when his bat was still in the air but past the crease line. Lesson learned hopefully. Lucas Brown and Jack Couley were both victims of chasing quick runs in the dying overs. Jack looked to play in his usual flamboyant fashion, and managed 1 run before losing his stumps in trying to up the run rate, while Lucas looked solid again before being called back for a risky second run which saw him either just short of his ground or unfortunate to be given run out when the umpire was still behind the stumps rather than side on – depending on your allegiances. Kynan and Kasey returned to see out the overs, with Kynan remaining 47 not out and Kasey 43 not out, as the Eagles finished their 30 overs at 5/210.

The message from coach Anthony Pickering was to finish the game early, and the boys did their best from the outset, with a run out from a throw by Kynan to wicket-keeper Owen found the batsman short. This was followed by two wickets in two balls from the metronome Aiden Campion, who having been one of the non-batters took out his frustrations on the Gerringong batsmen with perfect deliveries that both bowled the batsmen on length and pace. He missed the hat-trick but finished a superb two over spell with figures of 2/1. Blake Ison has improved every week, and his run up today was as smooth as silk, which gained him a yard of pace and caused the batsmen some difficulty. His two overs were excellent, and he finished with figures of 0/2. Lucas followed, and again showed good pace and a much better length of bowling. He was unfortunate to beat the bat a number of times and suffer from a dropped catch, and his figures could have been much better than 0/2 from his two overs. Kane took the confidence he had gained from his batting, and in the process picked up his second wicket for the season when a skied catch to mid off was well taken by Lucas to be the fourth wicket to fall. Kane’s excellent day was completed by figures of 1/14 from his two overs.

Kasey again showed off his wonderful bowling action and excellent pace and length in his spell, but again perhaps just missed his direction. You can see his frustration in not being able to pick up wickets, as again today he did everything well, but the batsmen couldn’t get bat on anything EXCEPT the balls that would have hit the stumps. His day will come. Today he finished with 0/2 from two overs. Will bowls much like his sparring partner ‘Wacky’, and he was reared again today for straight full bowling when the batsman spooned a return catch back to him for yet another catch and yet another wicket. The only run he conceded today was a wide, and his figures from two overs was an impressive 1/1. These two were followed by the team’s spin twins who bowled well in tandem. Josh continued to cause a conundrum for the batsmen, tying them up and frustrating their attempts to score. Kynan was able to use this to his advantage and entice the batsmen to open their shoulders. He picked up two wickets, both bowled with quicker deliveries having tossed up some higher slower deliveries to tempt them beforehand. It was good, sensible bowling. Kynan took 2/8 from his two overs, while Josh finished with 0/2. The match was finished off by Jack, who came on late and beat the last batsman with pace to take out his middle and off stumps to finish with 1/2 from his only over and deprive both Tom and Owen from being able to journey to the bowling crease. Gerringong was bowled out for 40 from 17 overs.

It was another good team performance today with everyone contributing. The boys are getting on well together and have bonded excellently this season. The only downside of the fielding effort today was the number of catches that went down, especially as none of them were terribly difficult, as well as some misfields, not backing up and not walking in with the bowler. On this day they didn’t affect the result, but against the bigger teams they will mean the difference between victory and defeat. Switching on at training and concentrating on drills rather than just purely mucking around will help to improve this side of things. Which is probably a bit harsh on Tom because he never drops anything at training.

There are two games remaining until the Xmas break, and hopefully we will see continued improvement in this team as they move into the second half of the season.

Albion Park Under 13's: Round 7 vs Shellharbour White at Con O'Keefe Oval

The Albion Park JCC Under 13 team has started to hit its straps after a tough start to the season against some strong and older teams, and notched their third win of the season on Saturday with an emphatic victory over the Shellharbour White team at Con O’Keefe Oval.

Batting first in tough conditions for cricket, the Albion Park kids all did a great job in advancing the score at a good rate. Lucas Brown was unfortunate to face a delivery that looked for all money to be directed at his head but then died to fall below waist height. The damage had been done as Lucas had flinched away from the ball that then harmlessly fell onto his stumps to be bowled for 1. Very unfortunate. Liam Cergovski replaced him at the crease and showed the value from his practice over the past two weeks, forcing the issue with the bat to go with his already sound defence. He had made two runs before he was beaten by an excellent delivery that clipped the top of off stump. Meanwhile, Will Schofield continued on his merry way with the bat, hitting four boundaries and looking like a huge score was in the offing, before he fell for the two card trick and hit the ball straight down deep square leg’s throat where the catch was taken. Will was dismissed for 17 and he will be ruing his missed opportunity.

The Albion Park middle order took control of the match, but not without some good fortune as a number of chances were spilled by their opponents. Aiden Campion played a terrific innings, especially effective in punching the ball into the gaps and taking the easy singles on offer, while still dispatching the loose ball to the boundary. He retired after his 35 deliveries had brought four boundaries and 36 runs. Owen Pickering went harder and higher, initially retiring after his 35 deliveries had expired, and returning at the end of the innings and chasing a half century. Such a feat would have earned him a promised pizza from his older sister who was in attendance, and his final few deliveries were full of enticing and exhilarating strokeplay. Sadly for Owen he finished just short on 48 not out – but surely Hails will have relented and forked out for that pizza anyway…

Tom Denyer started off very composed and like Will looked as though a big score was coming, but he soon became impatient for bigger hits to add to his five boundaries, and in trying to take a ball from off stump to the leg side boundary instead lost said off stump to be bowled for 28. Both he and Will would have been disappointed not to have gone on with the job. Jack Couley on the other hand was once again immensely entertaining, showing off his wide variety of strokes, both orthodox and unorthodox. He better than anyone took advantage of the lack of fielders straight behind the bowler, and most of his seven boundaries came in that direction. He retired after his 35 deliveries had brought him 40 not out.

Josh Peters looked to get on the front foot early, and though he aimed a forward defensive stroke at the return of the opening bowler, he played around the delivery to be bowled for one, while Blake Ison held up his end nicely, once again working the ball around the field to finish on 16 not out when the innings mercifully came to an end. Albion Park’s final total after their 30 overs was an imposing 5/240, which compensated the crowd somewhat for the 130 minutes it took to bowl those overs.

Sometimes you can tell just how an innings is going to proceed from the first delivery. In this case Blake opened up, bowled a rank half tracker that was pulled with impunity – straight to Will at mid-wicket, who took a terrific catch. 1/0 off one ball. Good start. As it turned out, the Shellharbour team was not going to fold so easily, and started to build the innings well. Blake bowled well in his two overs to finish with 1/9, while opening partner Jack seemed a little over excited from his batting effort and was perhaps a bit wayward, finishing with 0/10 from his two overs. Josh kept the batsmen guessing again with his legspin, and indeed brought out the Peters Family wicket delivery, bowling a long hop that was again hit straight to Will at mid-wicket for his second catch. Both father and grandfather used this delivery often to their advantage. Josh finished with ¼ from his two overs. Tom bowled a really good spell this week, much straighter and fuller than in recent games and without trying to bowl too fast. He enticed a return catch from the number four batsmen which he gleefully accepted, and finished with 1/3 from his two overs.

Aiden once again bowled his excellent line and length making the batsmen play every delivery. He bowled a beauty to clean bowl the new batsman which was a reward for his great spell. He conceded two boundaries in his final over which hurt his overall figures, which he finished with 1/12 from three overs. Liam bowled a spell that contained both gems and allsorts. He conceded some no balls, but also bowled an unplayable delivery that bowled the unsuspecting batsman cold, and finished with 1/9 from his two overs.
Like Aiden, Will bowled a solid spell of bowling based around good line and length and making the batsmen play every delivery. He was unfortunate not to pick up a wicket and finished with 0/6 from his two overs. Lucas was once again excellent and appears to have shaken off his early season rust. Though his first over went for nine runs it was through good shots and not poor bowling. He fixed this in his second over, drawing a top edge first ball that was tracked down by keeper Aiden to take a great catch. Lucas followed this up with a beauty that beat the batsman for pace in demolishing his stumps, and he finished with 2/10 from his two overs. The innings was completed with Owen’s first and last delivery, which was flicked to short fine leg when Tom took the catch, leaving Shellharbour White being bowled out for 76, and a victory of 164 runs. Well done to all the boys who all contributed to the win.

Today’s photo tells half the story. Behind the photographer three batsmen are all being thrown balls by their parents on the outfield. Here however is an Albion Park legend deciding on his own way of giving his son a pre-innings hit.

Albion Park JCC Under 13’s: Match 6 vs Kiama Gold at Con O'Keefe Oval

A good all round effort this morning by the Albion Park Eagles Under 13 team saw them notch their second victory for the season with a solid showing over the Kiama Gold team at Con O'Keefe Oval.

Sent in to bat under cloudy skies and dewy outfield, the Albion Park boys did exceptionally well against a tidy bowling attack to rack up 5/171 off their 30 overs.
Kane Rex opened up the batting and played some promising shots, one in particular against a short ball, before he was beaten by an excellent length delivery and bowled. Here followed a great partnership between Kasey Barton and Blake Ison. It was particularly pleasing to see Kasey get going, hitting the ball sweetly through the off side and along the ground, as well as two wonderful leg glances.He was all class today, and eventually retired not out for 37, a great knock. Blake knocked the ball around in his unflappable way, though was dropped once by the bowler. He managed 9 runs before being caught. Josh Peters came in and had the tough ask of facing his cousin Jett for an over, and the battle within a battle was a great sideline of the game. Josh managed 3 before being bowled trying to hit a short ball into the pool. Another lesson learned.
Tom Denyer continued his good season with the bat, scoring 21 before retiring not out, and looked better today in not trying to hit the ball so hard. Liam Cergovski stuck around with his partners and made a good fist of his innings, scoring 5 runs before being bowled by an excellent delivery. Owen Pickering also followed up his good recent form with another innings that took advantage of some of the looser bowling, finally falling off his final delivery for 33 runs. His wristy drives are a highlight for me every week. Rob Denny and Aiden Campion closed out the innings, Rob finishing on 4 not out and 'Wacky' on 5 not out.

With an huge total to defend, the Eagles then went out and put their best foot forward with the ball and in the field. With the risk of rain coming to ruin a potential victory it was imperative that they took every chance that was offered them. The Kiama batters did well in holding onto their wickets, but the drying up of runs on offer meant they were behind the eight ball.
Will Schofield and Kynan Barton bowled the opening four overs and conceded not one run off the bat between them, Will bowling two maidens for 0/0 and Kynan bowling the opener to finish wih 1/0. Both were excellent with full, straight bowling. Rob Denny bwled two good overs following this, and picked up a wicket with another of his perfect deliveries, the left arm over just fading back in to the right hander and taking the stumps. he finished with 1/0 from two overs. Aiden Campion was his usual metronomic self, bowling one maiden in finishing with 0/4 from his two overs. Liam Cergovski showed great improvement after some coaching tips from Anthony Pickering at training on Wednesday, and bowled two excellent overs in finishing with 0/6, while Tom denyer was again consistent and economical in bowling his two overs for 0/2.
After 12 overs only two Kiama wickets had fallen, but then all hell broke loose and carnage erupted. Josh Peters bowled good lines and beat the bat, and finally keeper Adien Campion found the batsman out of his ground and completed a great stumping.The next ball Josh found the edge that was well fielded by Kynan at slip, and as the batsmen tried to sneak a single he threw down the wickets direct for a run out. This was followed by another great piece of fielding from Kynan in the next over which produced another run out. In Josh's next over a pull shot was beautifully fielded by Will Schofield whose throw was pefect to 'Wacky' who took the bails off for a third run out. Blake Ison bowled the next over, and bowled a beauty to beat the bat and hit the stumps for his own wicket.Five wickets had fallen in four overs through good bowling and superb fielding. Josh finished with figures of 1/1 from his two overs, and Blake 1/8 from his two overs.
Kane Rex was only able to squeeze one over in, before Kasey Barton picked up the final wicket of the innings with his first ball, and left Kiama Gold all out for 46.

A great performance in the field would have been satisfying for coach Anthony Pickering who has been drilling the kids in their fielding in recent weeks, and it is pleasing to see results come from that work. The team will be looking to continue their improvement in next week's clash against Shellharbour White.

Albion Park JCC Under 13’s: Match 3 vs Lake Illawarra at Morley Park

Another terrific performance from this young team was not quite enough to bring home the victory for the Albion Park Under 13’s team in their match against Lake Illawarra.

The Lake team batted first, and with importance of dropped catches from last week still in their minds the young Eagles had to ensure that they held every opportunity. Unfortunately it was not to be, and although they weren’t all easy they gave each of the better batsmen the opportunity to continue when they should have been back on the sidelines. Along with some misfields it gave the Lake team more runs than they should have, and is something to be worked on over the coming weeks if this team wants to improve and compete with the better teams.
As it stood, Lake Illawarra got away to a final total of 4/140 from their 30 overs. Two early wickets had the Park boys in a good position. Kane Rex opened up and bowled an excellent, keeping the ball full and straight and making the batsmen play every ball. He bowled a maiden to start with, and though he went fro a boundary with the first ball of his second over he then drew a top edge which was taken well by wicket-keeper Owen Pickering for the first wicket. Kane finished with 1/11 from 3 overs. Kasey Barton was firing the ball in at the batsmen, and drew their respect in looking to see him off. Neither batsmen looked comfortable. He finished with 0/14 from his 3 overs. Tom Denyer again bowled well and at good pace as well, and he forced a false shot from the other opening batsmen to be well caught by Jack Couley to have Lake at 2/30. Tom finished with figures of 1/14 from 3 overs. Rob Denny bowled well again without hitting the heights of the first round, his little shuffle in his run up perhaps hindering him. The batsmen still found him difficult to get away ad were beaten well on a couple of occasions. Rob took 0/10 from his three overs, a good economical return.
The tough Lake middle order did their best work here, with some help from a couple of chances going down. Once they had retired the Park kids were able to tighten the screws so that the score didn’t blow out to something extravagant.
I know I’m biased about Josh’s cricket, so if I just say he bowled the greatest spell of leg spin bowling ever by a ten year old that should suffice. He troubled all the batsmen and picked up a wicket which was well caught by Tom Denyer at mid wicket, and finished with 1/11 from 4 overs. Lucas Brown tried hard again, and just needs to be hypnotised into believing he is bowling in the nets, where he is unplayable. He finished with 0/23 from 4 overs. Jack Couley bowled two good overs for just three runs before taking the keeping gloves for the second half of the innings where he did a good job once again. Liam Cergovski was not well and in fact had to come off for the remainder of the game due to illness having bowled one over. Owen Pickering ripped in for three overs following his excellent keeping session, and was unfortunate to go for a couple of boundaries, but bowled a killer bouncer in Brett Lee fashion to the amusement of all but the batsman. He finished with 0/22 from his three overs. Kynan Barton bowled the second excellent spell of spin bowling for the day, keeping the batsmen tied down and eventually drawing the false shot which was taken by Owen at mid on. Kynan finished with excellent figures of 1/13 from four overs.

After some stirring words from coach Anthony Pickering, the Eagles bats headed out to try and chase down the formidable total. The Lake bowling was immediately excellent, everything that could be asked of young kids. They bowled full and straight, and asked questions of all of the batsmen. It paid dividends early, as first Kynan Barton received and excellent delivery to be bowled for 2, and then Jack Couley was also upended for 4. Rob Denny was also unfortunate to be caught out for a duck. It was a tough start with the Eagles at 3/16.
A great partnership then took place between Owen Pickering and Kasey Barton. Owen was just terrific. He hit the ball hard and generally along the ground, with the strong wrists and forearms bred from his hockey background. But he also showed poise and a good defence when needed, and chose his run-making deliveries wisely. He entertained the spectators and kept his team in the match. Alongside him Kasey played his usual determined innings, happy to work the ball through both sides of the wickets into the gaps and running hard between the wickets. He is a good model for these kids in he keeps the ball on the ground and doesn’t have to slog to make his runs. Both batsmen retired not out having faced their 35 balls and had made good roads into the recovery.
After the drinks break two quick wickets put that in jeopardy. The Peters/Brown running between the wickets chaos from last season continued, this time Josh leaving Lucas stone dead in calling him through for a run and then both almost standing beside each other in the middle of the wicket when the stumps were thrown down, this time Lucas being the unlucky one to be called out for just 2. Kane Rex then showed good purpose in getting bat to ball in defence, before unfortunately popping a catch up in close to be dismissed for a duck. This left the score at 5/72 and final batsman Tom Denyer joined Josh at the crease. From here another good partnership brought the Eagles crowd alive and left the Lake crowd in stunned silence. While Josh nicked and nudged the ball around, Tom looked to destroy from the outset. The pressure on the fielders meant there were some misfields that the batsmen took advantage of. Tom’s only problem came from swinging too hard sometimes and missing some opportunities for runs, while Josh occasionally forgot to call when he was running.
Still, it was an exciting finish. When Josh retired for 15 not out and the star Owen returned to the crease, the Eagles needed 19 from two overs and was a real chance. Owen sacrificed his wicket in the team cause running for a suicidal second and was dismissed for 35, a fantastic innings. Kasey returned for the final throes, but against Lake’s best bowlers could quite cut down the deficit. Kasey remined 12 not out and Tom and excellent 21 not out, and Park finished their 30 overs at 6/131, nine runs short.

The boys should be proud of their effort, and both sides got a great round of applause for a terrific game of cricket. With improvement in catching and fielding, the result could certainly have been different. With a big clash against Oak Flats next weekend, the boys will need to be at their best to help keep their improvement moving towards results on the field

Albion Park JCC Under 13’s: Match 2 vs Shellharbour Blue at Des King Oval

While the result on paper may look like a pummelling – and to be fair it was – there were a lot of positives to take out of today’s game for the Albion Park Under 13 team, and an eye-opening look at where the differences may lie between the up and coming teams and the teams somewhere near the top. This Shellharbour team fell two runs short of making the final of the Under 12’s competition last season, and with all but one of those players in this team it was going to be a tough ask for the young Eagles to match it with them.

The Park batted first and lost three wickets in a clump. Josh Peters batted well for 20 deliveries, playing forward and taking on the best that their opening bowlers had to offer. He made 4 runs before a well-pitched delivery snuck under his defence to bowl him. Kasey Barton wanted to attack from the outset and top edged his second delivery to the keeper, while Kane Rex was unfortunate to pop up a ball to short cover early in his innings. At 3/9 the Shellharbour team appeared confident that victory was around the corner.
What followed was an exhibition of batting and partnerships from the young Eagles team. Blaike Ison and Will Schofield were the first two to combine. Both ran well and looked for singles, as well as dispatching any loose balls that came their way. Will was exceptional. He has a great technique and plays the ball early and is always in position to play the right shot. His leg glancing and strokes off his pads were a joy to watch. He retired after facing his 35 deliveries and was followed soon after by Blaike who had opened the innings and not been phased by the early wickets, or the fact he was dropped once and also caught off a no ball. He looked to play straight and though he was given very little loose to attack he still played the ball well around the field and picked up runs at ease. His was a good first innings for the season.
Next came Kynan Barton and Aiden Campion who also acquitted themselves superbly. Kynan was beaten by a couple of terrific deliveries and then decided to take things into his own hands by hitting over the top. He eventually retired for 18 runs. Aiden was excellent at picking the right ball to hit, keeping out the straight deliveries and whipping away those that strayed onto his pads. When he retired he had top scored with 20 and again his defensive technique was terrific.
With overs running out the last batsmen did the team thing and looked for quick runs. Lucas Brown played a great first innings for the season, not only making 7 runs himself but running hard for his partners and ensuring all byes were taken. His pull/sweep for four and then cover drive out of the middle for two were both exquisite. Tom Denyer threw his wicket away in the team cause in being caught in the last over, but his 12 runs again showed a cross between great timing and hard swinging of the bat. Both Will and Blaike returned to finish the innings, with Blaike on 14 and Will on 15 at the end of the innings.

From their 30 overs the Eagles had scored 5/137 with 47 of those extras.

There was a feeling of quiet confidence in the Eagles camp as the Shellharbour innings began, which was all but swiped away in the first couple of overs as the two opening batsmen played cracking innings. Young Lucas Kay in particular couldn’t seem to miss the middle of the bat, with a number of huge hits to and over the boundary. The Eagles opening bowlers copped the first serve of the onslaught, and perhaps suffered from just being a bit short. Lucas Thompson can at least take heart that he won’t bowl to a better opening pair this summer, and he will learn from this experience. He finished with 0/30 from his two overs. Opening partner Tom Denyer perhaps tried too hard and also dropped too short but did bowl some good deliveries in his 0/17. Kasey Barton and Lucas Brown came on to find two batsmen on absolute fire, and though both tried to do the right thing by getting the ball full and straight neither could get it quite right, with Kasey overcorrecting with full tosses and Lucas just short the ideal length, and as such both were dealt by some lovely strokes both straight and over the leg side. Kasey finished with 0/32 and Lucas 0/30.
Through all of this, four chances went up, but all four went down, one however by Lucas Brown is one only he could have gotten hands on. He saved four rather than a dropped catch. We’ll never know what may have happened if one or both batsmen had been dismissed, but one suspects it would have been a much closer match.
When young Kay had retired for 79 (yep – 79 off 35 balls), a good spell from Aiden brought about the first wicket, when he brought about a top edge that was taken by Tom at square leg. He finished with 1/7 from his two overs which was a good reward for his efforts on the day. Kynan Barton bowled some good spin alongside him and was a bit unfortunate when a couple of unruly hoicks managed to fall safely into gaps rather than to fieldsmen. He finished with 0/18 off his two overs.
The game was almost over when Josh came on, bowled a lovely first ball, then a wide second ball, and then produced the Peters Full Bunger which was top edged to Will at fine leg for the team’s second wicket. It’s great to see that ball still taking wickets in cricket. The winning runs came two balls later, with Josh finishing with 1/2.

Shellharbour Blue finished on 2/138 off just 12.3 overs with 19 extras.

Though it looks like a belting, the positives possibly outweigh the result. The excellent batting from Blaike, Will, Kynan and Aiden in particular, and the fact that the kids didn’t drop their heads in the field and fought it out until the end. Next time they meet, it they can pry out those openers, who knows what may happen.
More than anything, lets hope the weather improves and we can get to training this week, and be ready for next week’s big match against Lake Illawarra at Morley Park.