Around the grounds
A couple of tough losses to senior teams, with the only silver lining being a wakeup and a call for more desire and focus heading into finals time. Firsts lost to Caboolture after a poor batting display and will be looking to beat Nambour next week and enter the finals with momentum. Second Grade fell out of the top four after a rough loss to Glasshouse, falling well short with the bat and needing to win next week to play finals cricket. Thirds continued the unwanted streak losing to Caloundra after a disappointing batting and fielding performance. Sixth grade was the lone bright spot winning outright against Landsborough in unusual fashion. The Noosa District Under 17’s rolled to a dominant win over Caloundra, with Joe Murray smashing a 100 and Bailey Hozier a 70.
First Grade Revised One Dayer vs Caboolture
At home against Caboolture in a revised red ball one day game, Tewantin went out to bat and got off to the worst possible start losing a wicket first ball of the match (yours truly). Unfortunately, things didn’t improve from there with wickets falling with regularity in a combination of bad luck and poor judgement. Some signs of life were shown from young guns Joe Murray and Riley Woolmer before both being run out. Riley in the strangest dismissal seen for some time, out walking down to chat to his batting partner. Ben Woolmer also showed signs but there was far too little, too late all out 132. Not good enough against one of the stronger oppositions in the comp. Some fight was shown with the ball but ultimately Caboolture chased the score comfortably. It is never enjoyable losing, especially against a team like Caboolture but the group will knuckle down and look to the finals with a renewed focus.
Second Grade Week 2 vs Glasshouse
Glasshouse resumed at 9/197 but added nothing as Corey Flood took the final wicket with the second ball of the day. Chasing 198, the team had a solid chance, but a couple of early wickets gave Glasshouse the momentum. Ben Blackwell looked disciplined but was caught behind, spelling more trouble.
A couple of batter in partnership, tried to counterattack, applying some pressure back on the bowlers. However, the opposition spinners found turn and bounce, taking wickets and restricting scoring opportunities. The lower order further struggled against a disciplined attack, ultimately bowled out for 98.
With the game effectively over, Glasshouse batted again with complete freedom. They piled on runs quickly, finishing at 1/112 off just 19 overs. Despite the disappointing loss, there are important lessons to take forward as the game next week, against Caboolture, is now a must-win to secure a finals spot.
Third Grade Week 2 vs. Caloundra
Resuming at 7/87, the lower order added 23 runs before being all out for 110. The Thunder bowlers started well, keeping Caloundra’s openers at about two runs per over. Early pressure saw them at 2/20 after ten overs.
Disciplined partnership bowling continued, keeping the game tight. At 3/65 after 30 overs, Thirds still had a chance. However, one of Caloundra’s batters took charge, hitting cleanly and accelerating the scoring. Unfortunately, some costly drops, twice on fairly straightforward chances while on 50, hurt dearly. He went on to add another 120 runs before Rowdy took a well-judged catch on the boundary to finally dismiss him.
Dante Cox was excellent in the field, taking a couple of sharp catches. Aiden Mayo and Jayke Carlisle both picked up three wickets each, while Mike Thomson and the father son Holland duo bowled well but without much luck. Despite the best efforts and good energy in the field from the whole team, Caloundra ultimately outclassed and secured the win.
Sixth Grade Week 2 vs. Landsborough
Resuming with a 90-run lead, Dale Brown and Captain Nick Withers aimed to score quickly. Dale smashed 20 runs off the second over to reach his 50 but was dismissed soon after. Wayne Moore and Withers added a few more, to allow a declaration at 9/165, leading by 136.
The Tewantin bowlers started well. Wayne Moore struck in the first over, Bailey Hozier bowled tidily, and Nick Withers got his first wicket of the season. Cooper Withers continued the pressure, while dismissing the oppositions main scorer, and Dale Brown bowled another with a searing yorker. Justin Latimer, after getting new spikes, knocked middle stump out, then claimed a disputed caught behind. Landsborough, unhappy with some overzealous appealing and the potentially dubious dismissal, ended their innings at 6/69, giving Tewantin a deserved but slightly blemished outright win.
Noosa District U17 Week 2 vs. Caloundra
Chasing 167, ND U17 focused on batting 55 overs. A shaky start at 1/1 was steadied by Joe Murray (106) and Rory Ramsden (33), adding 139 runs. A rain delay followed quick wickets, then Bailey Hozier (73) and Aedan Mayo (25) built a 90-run stand. ND passed the target and pushed on, finishing 8/283. Noosa District finished top of the table and will face the same opponents in the semi-final on 2 March.
