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Testing concentration - catching and throwing two balls at once

While many of the players might be taking part in winter sports, a dozen coaches were being put through their paces as they undertake the Level One Coaching Course being held at the Graeme Blanchard Centre this weekend and next.

It was good to see a mixed group of faces (some older, some younger) at the course which was arranged by Shane Gilkison with the Canterbury Cricket Coach Nigel Marsh running the course. The participants all seemed to be enjoying the learning they received at the course, and a chance to be able to take new ideas back to their own teams while improving their own understanding of the game. It could be noted that a couple of those involved might have had their own fitness levels tested, and probably the only disappointing aspect was the non-show of three people. As it takes quite a bit of organisation to put these sessions in place, it is disappointing for SC Cricket staff when they feel they have been let down.

Below are some random photos of the “prisoners” during a physical session which was looking at drills to improve various skills.

Glen Drake

Glen Drake’s tour of Sri Lanka with the Willows cricket team has started well with the team scoring 3 wins from 3 matches so far.

Glen has enjoyed his chances too. He top-scoring in the first match with 43 and took a wicket.

Game 2 he only got to bat in the last two overs and registered a duck, but in game 3 he was back to his best top-scoring with 67 and taking 1-12 from his four overs.

Apparently the heat is not too bad, especially from inside the 5 Star Hotels they have been staying in.

A good turnout the this season’s Friday evening prizegiving for South Canterbury cricket was pleasing for the organisers.

The guest speaker was Lee Germon, CEO of Canterbury Cricket and a former Black Caps captain.

Three special presentations were also made to John Threlkeld, Graeme Lowrie and Richard Davidson for their services to cricket in this region.

For the full story and all the photos, visit the Trophy Cabinet page.

Man of the match Glenn Matthews hits a six off Alan Reid on his way to 64

Celtic overcame a spirited Waimate by 111 runs to claim the senior one-day cricket trophy at Aorangi Oval on Saturday.

The win ensured Craig Davies’ team would secure a clean sweep of senior trophies this season after convincingly taking the two-day and Twenty20 titles earlier in the season.

The final margin of victory appeared comfortable, but Waimate were in a solid position in pursuit of 290 when they were 106 without loss midway through the run chase.

However, they lost 10 for 72 to be bundled out for 178 in the 38th over.

Waimate captain Jason Sew Hoy asked Celtic to bat on a sunny day, but on a damp playing field.

The defending champions were missing spinner Sam Carlaw and batsman Mark Tutton, but the two top run scorers in senior cricket this season, Davies and Jeremy Liddy, got them off to a fast start as they put on 129 for the opening wicket, and took little risk in going at better than a run a ball.

Jason Sew Hoy’s usually reliable quick bowlers struggled for line and length.

His decision to turn to the left-arm spin of Glen Drake and slow medium-pace of Connor Farrell, put the brakes on the scoring, and eventually removed the Celtic duo.

Liddy fished outside off-stump and was caught behind off Farrell for 47.

Davies, who during his innings surpassed 1000 runs in all forms of cricket this season, saw his stumps rattled by Drake for 64, just 25 runs later.

It was not until Glenn Matthews muscled his way to 64 from 49 balls, late in the innings, that Celtic had an imposing total.

Matthews was punishing on anything wayward in line.

His six boundaries and one six helped Celtic strike 94 off the final 60 balls of the innings.

They finished on 289 for five.

Drake finished with one for 33 from nine overs, while Farrell went for 24 runs from his last two overs to end with two for 55 from nine.

Waimate’s run chase was built on a solid foundation from the top order.

Opener Hayden Matthews was forced to retire hurt on four after a delivery hit him in the box, but Nathan Sew Hoy and Gary Muff went at five runs an over to see Waimate’s total reach three-figures without the loss of a wicket.

The required run-rate was increasing, but not at an alarming rate.

Nathan Sew Hoy passed 50, but a poor call from Muff when he looked to turn one into two, saw his more senior team-mate with no chance of beating the throw.

The big-hitting Sew Hoy was removed for 66 and the momentum of the run chase was lost.

From then, the Celtic medium-pacers took control.

No other Waimate batsman was allowed to play themselves in on a pitch where runs were possible.

When Muff became one of Dan Laming’s three victims, for 24, and Jason Sew Hoy could manage only 17, Waimate were quickly running out of genuine batsmen.

Dan Laming finished with three for 16 from nine overs while his brother, James, managed three for 38, as Waimate’s challenge fizzled out 111 runs short.

Davies said the victory was the perfect outcome to a long season.

“We knew if we could stick at it and bog [the Waimate batsmen] down for an over or two, then they would do something a bit rash, even though the runout was a bit lucky for us.”

Jason Sew Hoy said he was pleased with the bowling effort, even though his team had 30 wides.

“We struggled early, but then bowled to our field quite well and managed to pull our way back into it. Once we lost three quick wickets, that was it … you had to get in before you tried to play your shots.”

Scoreboard

Below are some random photos from the final.

With the two finalists already confirmed before the final round of matches on Saturday, several teams were playing for pride.

A nine-man Temuka side ended Star’s miserable season with a 28-run victory over the home team at Mountainview High School, while Celtic beat Roncalli by five wickets at the Celtic Sports Grounds.

Waimate appeared to be cruising to their target of 138 in a match reduced to 40 overs due to a damp pitch caused by sprinklers operating for several hours the day before.

Waimate were 77 without loss in the 20th over before losing eight wickets for 57 runs as Timaru charged back into the game on a pitch where there was little bounce and no real pace.

Opener Nathan Sew Hoy scored a match-high 42 for Waimate, but when he departed, the spin of stand-in Timaru captain Zane Sanders (three for 25) and medium pace of Brendan Ridden (three for 10) used the lack of bounce in the wicket to trap the unsuspecting Waimate batsmen who could not adjust.

Alan Reid made a handy middle-order contribution of 15, but appeared to suffer a hip injury while running between the wickets which will be a concern for captain Jason Sew Hoy ahead of the final.

Gerald Piddock was the pick of the Timaru batsmen.

The opener assessed the pitch the best and played off the front-foot wherever possible before he perished yet again this season while in the 30s, this time making 39, while Abhisheck Baadkar made a quickfire 24 at No10 to give his team a respectable target for Waimate to chase down, which they did with 41 balls to spare.

A horrid season for Star came to and end when they were dismissed for 90, chasing Temuka’s 118.

Temuka paceman Nathan McNicol proved too hot to handle for Star as he took seven for 26, which cancelled out Star’s Craig Hinton who took four for 20.

Even with the help of 39 extras from an erratic Temuka, Star still fell well short.

Star captain Phil McGregor, who top-scored with 21, said player recruitment and a “batting boot-camp” were the top priorities for his team over the off-season.

He said it was also likely that Saturday was the last club match for former South Canterbury captain Todd Elliotte.

Temuka player Hayden Broker said his team had some promising players, but like many clubs, they were on the lookout for another couple of batsmen for next season.

Celtic overcame a plucky Roncalli College thanks largely to five for 16 from spinner Sam Carlaw.

Roncalli posted 129 all out on the back of former Celtic player Ryan de Joux smashing 37 along with Tom Pavletich 20 and Henry Race 19.

It was no match for Celtic’s experienced top order, with Jeremy Liddy 38 not out anchoring the innings.

Along with starts from Craig Davies (35) and Mark Tutton 24, Celtic chased down the target with nine overs remaining.

Roncalli’s Ben Watson ended an impressive season with three for 29 in a losing cause.

The final will be held at Aorangi Oval.

Scoresheet

The boys enjoyed the opportunity to play on Aorangi Oval, and after Metro won the toss, South Canterbury were asked to field first.

South Canterbury kept a tight rein on Metro through the first 20 overs, before Metro broke away to amass a good score of 182-3 from their 40 overs. For South Canterbury the successful bowlers were Callum Crawford with 2-11 from his 5 overs and Hamish Booth took 1 for 9 from his three overs.

Chasing such a large total was always going to be difficult, but some of the boys got to spend some time in the middle, always a better place to practice than in the nets.

Eamon Bolton top-scored for South Canterbury with 18 and Hamish Stowell was next best scoring 11.

In the end South Canterbury were all out for 89 after 34 overs, but this will show the boys some of the things to think about and work on over the winter to help improve their cricketing skills.

South Canterbury won the toss and put North Otago in, the bowlers again performed well bowling North Otago out for just 101. Matt Cochrane-Bennett 3-9 off 8 overs and Gabriel Evans 2-18 off 10 overs were the best bowlers and well supported by an excellent fielding display with South Canterbury holding all their catches and taking 2 run outs.

In reply South Canterbury got off to a good start with openers Angus Duffield and Tim Hepburn adding 23 for the first wicket before rain set in and washed the game out.

South Canty now take on Chch Metro this Sunday (Mar 25th) at the Celtic Sports Ground.

In a surprise, Roncalli beat Timaru to extinguish their chances of making the final, as they chased down 225 to win at Ashbury Park.

It was another day of several woeful batting performances.

Celtic cruised to a win over Star after making 196 for eight when put in to bat.

Prolific run-scorer Craig Davies was out early for one, giving Star some hope.

While no-one made a big score, Jeremy Liddy’s 35 and Mark Tutton’s 31 – along with 29 from James Laming and 22 from Sam Carlaw – saw Celtic post a respectable total.

Star capitulated to be all out for 132 after 35 overs, with Paul Arkinstall the stand out with 66 while Julian Blanchard made 20 at the top of the order.

James Blackstock, Carlaw and Tutton each grabbed three wickets as Star struggled for partnerships.

Waimate hammered Temuka by 110 runs at Knottingley Park to join Celtic in the final as the Magpies also surrendered meekly, all out for 62 batting second. For Waimate, opener Nathan Sew Hoy and No6 Alan Reid both made 38, while Jason Sew Hoy chimed in with 24 to ensure a reasonable target. For Temuka, it was just a procession back to the changing rooms, apart from a 39-run partnership for the fourth wicket, with Adrian Cunningham making 17 and Hayden Broker 24.

The remaining eight batsmen shared 14 runs between them.

For Waimate, Glen Drake impressed, taking three for five off five overs while James Sew Hoy’s three looked expensive at three for 15, as they embarrassed Temuka.

Roncalli’s win was not without some nerves as the veteran lower batsmen Jimmy Watson and Gavin Hamel had to pad up.

However, in the end, they were not needed.

Barry Ward showed his class, and the 50-year-old fell only four short of matching his age, but it was enough to give Roncalli the advantage after the openers gave them a good start.

Ben Simpson was the first to depart after making 27 while Liam Beck showed plenty of composure during his 57-run innings.

Robbie Mulvena had only two scoring shots in a short cameo, a four and six, but it was enough to edge his side closer to victory, which they achieved with 3.1 overs to spare.

Zane Sanders was the best of the Timaru bowlers, taking four for 36.

The only Timaru batsman to stand out was Dhananjaya Murari, with a well-composed 87.

However, they were caught short on batsmen and had to call on four of Timaru Boys’ High School’s younger players to make up the numbers.

For Simpson, it was an excellent allrounder performance, also taking three for 24 with the ball.

Dan Dorgan and Ben Watson got two apiece, with Dorgan only giving away an economical 25 runs in an impressive spell.

Scoreboards

TGHS captain Amy Beeby took 2-11

Timaru Girls High School made it three titles in a row when they comfortably took out the senior women’s cricket final against Ashburton College.

A big six from Hannah Struthers wrapped up the victory for the hosts at Ashbury Park and ensured they went through the season unbeaten.

Ashburton batted first and made only 86 off their 30 overs, thanks largely to Georgia Clarke, who scored 30 not out, with no one else making double figures.

All the TGHS bowlers were in the action with Caitlyn Taylor-Lynch grabbing three wickets for 29 off her six overs.

Struthers also impressed with the ball as well, getting two wickets for a miserly nine runs from her six overs.

Captain Amy Beeby was almost as impressive with her economy rate with two for 11 off her six, while Libby Stuck and Kristina O’Connor chipped in with one each.

Ashburton’s score was never going to be enough and TGHS openers O’Connor and Stuck got them away to the perfect start, scoring 20 and 28 respectively.

Stuck went into her shell a little bit as the target approached and was caught out just six shy of the target.

It was, however, apprpriate that TGHS’s two best of the season were at the crease when the winning runs were scored, with Beeby 8 not out and Struthers finishing 10 not out after her big hit in the 26th over.

For Ashburton, Annie McDonald and Sasha Hurley took a wicket apiece.

TGHS will play Craighead or Geraldine in their regional secondary schools final in a fortnight.