Gisborne District Cricket Association, GDCA, junior cricketers had a successful week competing in the Central Highlands Junior Country Week with three sides winning their respective competitions.
Play from January 2 to 5 consisted of one-day matches, with teams playing three rounds before a grand final on the last day.
GDCA had two sides in each of the under 13s and under 15s competitions.
The under 15 Green side won the JDH McKenzie Cup, going through the week undefeated.
The side dominated its matches and took the grand final win 2/106 (18.4) over Ballarat’s 10/102 (40.5).
Zac Bell had a great performance in the grand final making 78 runs, while Ethan Raynor and Darcy McNicholas scored 41 runs apiece in round three’s victory over Grenville.
Riley Evans also had some impressive bowling in round three going 3/3.
The under 15 White side also won its division with the first game of the week abandoned, before defeating Grampians by 49 runs in round two and going into the final to defeat Grenville with a tight seven-run victory.
Tom Mousley had a huge game against Grampians making 87 runs while Max Lehner’s bowling shone with 3/4.
The under 13 White side also went through the week undefeated and coach Mick Allen said the young side exceeded expectations.
“Being a bottom-age team, they were a year younger than everyone in that tournament so they did really well,” he said.
“We had a really good bunch of kids, and everyone went really well, almost exceeding expectations a little bit.
“I knew I had a good, talented group but to do what they did was great. I’m not sure if they thought we could do that but they did so we had an excellent week.
“It was good to get the game in and the kids were just fantastic. All of them really contributed in one way or another.”
Allen said the side had great performances all round.
“We only lost 12 wickets for the tournament so while that showed the strength of the batting side, it also made it harder to rotate a little bit and for everyone to get a decent hit,” he said.
“Young Harrison Wood from Broadford retired a couple of times – he looks like he’s going to be a little star.
“Rhett Burnside retired – I don’t think he went out for the tournament – and there were a few other performances from Mason Allen, Adam Reginato and Hugo Leong who also didn’t go out. Our batting group was fantastic.
“In saying that, the bowling group took 35 wickets for the tournament so the bowling group certainly did their job as well.”
The under 13 Green lost to Ballarat in the grand final 10/105 to 9/130.
The side had a round one victory over Castlemaine before losing to Ballarat in round two and scoring a huge victory over Maryborough 9/306 to 10/36.
Benjamin Tranter made 104 not out in a standout batting performance while bowlers Bailey Freeth and Austin May took 2/2.
“They only lost two games for the tournament – both to Ballarat – and they were both really close games,” Allen said.
“They were in the contest but just got rolled sort of at the end.”
The GDCA also fielded an under 17 boys team in the Kirton Shield from January 15 to 21, coming runner-up after losing to Ballarat 10/196 to 8/238.
The side started the tournament strong, beating eventual winners Ballarat 9/241 to 8/188, before losing to Maryborough on Tuesday.
Joshua Nolan made a half century for the GDCA while Charlie Hynes’ was the standout bowler with 3/12.
Against Maryborough, Kavindu Ratnayake had an incredible bowling innings with 4/17 as Nolan backed up his previous batting efforts making 38.
The side defeated Castlemaine on Thursday to finish second and set up a final clash against Ballarat.
Hamish Mullavey-Clark also had a strong competition taking eight wickets for the week, while being an asset to the batting lineup including a 44-run effort in the opening match against Ballarat.
