By Colin MacGillivray
TEAMS across the Gisborne and District Cricket Association are eagerly anticipating the return of two-day matches starting this weekend after a delayed start to the season.
Wet conditions saw the cancellation of the association’s first four rounds, with games not played until earlier this month.
In the top-flight McIntyre Cup competition, Romsey got off to a brilliant start with an away win against Woodend followed by a home victory against Rupertswood at the weekend.
Corey Day was the star of the show, ripping through the Rupertswood top order to take the first five wickets of the day and following it up with 30 runs as Romsey chased down the visitors’ 117 total inside 29 overs and with five wickets to spare.
Redbacks captain Ben Way said Day had taken his opportunity ‘with both hands’ after being called up to the McIntyre Cup side.
“It was Corey’s first wicket in McIntyre Cup cricket, and he ended up taking five,” Way said.
“It was a bit dewy in the morning and it took a bit of time to clear, so we went away from our seam bowlers and went to our spinners quite early on. It built a lot of pressure and then all of a sudden wickets started to tumble.
“Corey took the first five wickets and then ran out of overs, otherwise we would have kept bowling him.”
After Day’s 5-17 from nine overs, Jake Way cleaned up the tail end with 4-26.
A measured run chase saw Adam Frost, 20, Day, 30 and Way, 29 not out, consistently chipping away at the total required.
Way said he was pleased with the performance of each of his bowlers and looked forward to the return of two-day cricket against Wallan starting on Saturday.
“These will be the first two-day matches in a number of years, so everyone is pretty keen,” he said.
“We love our two-day cricket and we’ve got a lot of players who would rather play two-day cricket than one-day cricket.
“Both our batters and bowlers are looking forward to getting more opportunities than you get in one-dayers to bat for a long period of time and bowl some longer spells.
“We played Wallan in the first final last year. They’ve obviously got a pretty solid team and we’ll have to play well to win.”
Wallan enters this weekend after a 40-run loss to Woodend on Saturday, with Campbell Fowler’s team-best 4-47 bowling figures and Kieran Atkin’s 80 runs at the top of the order not enough to guide the Magpies to victory.
In the second-tier Johnstone Shield competition, Kilmore played a thriller against Bacchus Marsh, losing by one wicket at home on Saturday.
The Blues batted first after winning the toss and made a promising start through openers Kevin Craddock, 32, and Ashley Lovick, 11, before a succession of quick wickets left the team 5-68.
Ben Dawson’s middle-order 31 steadied the side, but partners kept falling around him as Kilmore was bowled out for 117.
Skipper Josh Buttler nearly helped his side to a remarkable victory with 5-22 with ball in hand. Bacchus Marsh was down to its final wicket but knocked in its 118th run with two overs to spare.
Buttler said Kilmore had plenty of upside as it looked towards its upcoming two-day match against Romsey.
“The weather has been a bit of an ordeal to begin the season, but it’s been good to finally start,” he said.
“We’re 1-1 so it’s not all doom and gloom. I don’t think we played anywhere near our best this weekend but we still got close and managed to make it a tight game.
“I’d like our chances next time around. I think we’ve got a lot of improvement to come, and hopefully that shows in the next few weeks and the back end of the season.”
Seymour District Cricket Association’s A and B grade games were washed out but C grade matches were played on Saturday.
