Crusaders Cricket Australia

SCHOOLS PROGRAMS - 2010/11

St Patrick's College, Ballarat, won the Crusaders-Colin French Memorial Trophy in just their second year of involvement in the Crusaders Schools Program.

Their win over a well-credentialed Crusaders team was so emphatic that the outstanding efforts of Caulfield Grammar and Scotch College had to be classified in a marginally lower category.

St Patrick's take a lot of pride in the organisation of the Crusaders match and, St Patrick's captain Joab Mead holds the cup with Swan, as in the first year, the local media were well MeiV Hughes and Crusaders captain Michael Sheedy represented and no doubt got their money's worth with some pithy interviews starring TV favourites Peter Bedford and Mervyn Hughes.

The match was played late in the season, which may have accounted for a slow outfield and an ordinary wicket, but unlike their seniors, the boys showed that its demons (whatever they were) could be successfully overcome.

MATCH DETAILS

v. CAREY GRAMMAR-15 October
Crusaders won by 70 runs
Umpires: R Bailhache & J Mellett
Crusaders 4 for 249 T Buzzard 42ret, M Roughan 33ret, V Parikh 36ret, S de Bolfo 46ret,
S Coates 22, W Woodgate 33no, A Sloan 2 for 41
Carey 5 for 179 L Thomas 57, J Murphy 27, T Solomon 37, W Constable 42no, M Hughes
2 for 21

Crusaders batted sensibly and put away the many loose balls in the first twenty-one overs. They scored 150 before losing a wicket. The run rate then slowed and the final total was not considered very big, with the Crusaders rather short of bowlers.

Carey lost an early wicket but the second wicket pair Lachie Thomas and Jake Murphy put on 72 in good time. The drinks break plus the advent of bowlers Merv Hughes and Chris Read slowed the run rate and the Crusaders enjoyed a comfortable win. (By Mick Boyes)

v. CAULFIELD GRAMMAR-27 October
Caulfield Grammar won by six wickets
Umpires: M Newington & S Pascoe
Crusaders 7 for 199 C Read 86, J Cole 47ret, J Paynter 2 for 30, A Burge 2 for 61
Caulfield 4 for 200 A Burge 38, T Quinn 34, A Holmes 63, J Paynter 28, S Hood 32no,
I Cockbain 3 for 36

Crusaders lost two wickets in no time with Matthew Roughan caught at slip and lan Cockbain victim of a run out mix-up. Chris Read played himself in and then pierced the field with some well timed strokes which brought him fourteen boundaries. James Cole batted well, then a cameo by veteran captain Peter Bedford who played his trademark cover drive, next ball a classic hook off his nose and next over a towering six. With only eight players on deck, Crusaders borrowed school batsman, Daniel Meddings, who helped himself to four fours off his school mates. School captain Jack Paynter was the best of the bowlers.

Fill-in opener Tom Quinn got Caulfield away to a flying start with 34 of the first 37 runs in seven overs before being well caught at mid-on by Roughan. The rest of the school's batsmen showed sound technique and temperament; they had no trouble in coping with an undermanned Crusaders attack and won easily with six overs to spare. A feature of Lachlan Holmes's innings was his footwork against the spinners. Gloucestershire batsman Cockbain was Crusaders' best bowler with his occasional off breaks. (By David Strudwick)

v. CAMBERWELL GRAMMAR-10 November
Crusaders won by 91 runs
Umpires: 0 Holt & M Lawson
Crusaders 7 for 215 V Parikh 72, M Nyary 36no, J Tregear 2 for 21 , H Crothers 2 for 22
Camberwell9 for 124 M Powell 42, J Tregear 22no, I Cockbain 2 for 10, T Peter-Budge 3 for 30
The early Crusaders' batsmen struggled on a slow wicket against lively medium pace bowling, supported by thirteen year old Sam Powell's impressive spell of slow left-arm spin. The drinks break heralded a more aggressive approach with Vinay Parikh starring against his old school. In an innings of contrast, Michael Nyary scored thirteen straight singles, then smashed 23 off the last over, including three gigantic sixes.

The Camberwell openers, Harry Crothers and Brandon Chan, survived the attack of Merv Hughes and Nyary but managed only 10 off the first ten overs. Captain Matt Powell showed the way but had little support, the best resistance coming from tail enders Jarome Whitchurch and Jack Tregear. (By David Strudwick)

v. IVANHOE GRAMMAR-17 November
Crusaders won by 97 runs
Umpires: D Holt & J Mellett
Crusaders 7 for 234 C Read 55ret, J Williams 48, R Keogh 41 ret, J Knowles 26, S Coates 23, D Kelly 3 for 17, J Powick 2 for 25, S Wilcox 2 for 41
Ivanhoe 137 T Crouch 38, M Hughes 2 for 3, R Keogh 2 for 10, C Read 2 for 1

Ivanhoe opening bowler Daniel Kelly put the early Crusaders' batsmen under pressure by pitching the ball up and achieving good outswing. He captured three wickets for 12 from his first five overs. Chris Read had to anchor the innings and, with good support from Jarrod Williams, took control of the attack. Jason Knowles scored freely until he was caught on the boundary and then Rob Keogh played a gem of an innings displaying a wide range of fluent strokes. Some big hitting by Sam Coates and Danny O'Shea gave the total a very healthy look. For Ivanhoe, Daniel Kelly was most impressive.

Merv Hughes made immediate inroads into the Ivanhoe innings; wickets fell regularly and only Trent Crouch made any batting impression. The last four wickets fell for just 11. (By David Strudwick)

v. MARIBYRNONG ACADEMY-24 November
Crusaders won by seven runs
Umpires: T Dey & L Troy
Crusaders 4 for 163 R Keogh 71ret, C Walker 29ret, T McSweeney 28ret, R Allada 2 for 28
Maribyrnong 156 D Pisani 38ret, P Wright 35, D O'Shea 4 for 44, K Cupic 3 for 27.
A hot north-westerly made for some harsh playing conditions and a few late withdrawals.
Pertinently though, Messrs M Hughes, P Bedford and J Higgs demonstrated their commitment for the umpteenth time, a great example to aspiring youth. Rob Keogh held the faltering Crusaders batting together for 102 minutes, retiring only when some sort of recovery had been achieved and batting conditions eased. The Academy attack, notably Alex Ross and Kimba Tipene-Riki, had proved too much for the early Crusaders' batsmen; Keogh's experience on green wickets proved invaluable.

Some friendly seam bowling enabled openers Alex Pisani and Nicholas Sardi to give the Academy innings a flying start, but Danny O'Shea's left-arm orthodox, into the prevailing gale, changed things round. Sardi had shown his intent by blasting a drive through Jim Higgs at mid-on, then went aerial with a six into the road. O'Shea had seen enough and lured the rampant opener too far down the pitch; keeper James Cole did the rest. A splendid arm ball took out Dean Russ's middle stump, but Pisani and Peter Wright continued to bat well as Jim Higgs (with the wind) served up five immaculate overs of leg spin. Academy coach Lindsay Walker was very happy with the day, and Peter Bedford (Crusaders captain) deserved credit for making it so.

v. BRIGHTON GRAMMAR-19 January
Crusaders won by 21 runs
Umpires: J Mellett & A Fisher
Crusaders 9 for 209 A Delmont 48, R Keogh 48ret, A Reynoldson 30, P Funston 2 for 26,
M Tregear 2 for 37, D Verney 2 for 20
Brighton 6 for 188 W Hibbins 41, M Pascoe 24, J Drummond 35, S Blandford 38no,
R Hopwood 21 no, R Keogh 2 for 8

Recent heavy rains made for a slow outfield and a wicket that gave some help to the school's accurate medium pacers. The class of Andy Delmont and Rob Keogh prevailed, with both timing their shots to perfection. Andy Reynoldson also gave the innings some invaluable momentum.

School openers Will Hibbins and Jordan Pascoe got away to a bright start - 61 off eleven overswhen Hibbins was bowled by Keogh. Thereafter the batsmen, especially captain Josh Drummond and Sam Blandford, played well against an all-spin attack for which veteran Jim Higgs bowled twelve consecutive overs. Ultimately the fielding skills and experience of the Crusaders won the day. (By David Strudwick)

The matches against St Bede's College, Assumption College & Trinity Grammar were all abandoned without a ball being bowled.

v SCOTCH COLLEGE-2 February
Crusaders won by four runs
Umpires: E Kelly & S Pascoe
Crusaders 4 for 242 B Forsyth 32, A Delmont 47ret, T Smyth 28ret, R Keogh 35ret, A Reynoldson 29ret, M Grace 26no
Scotch 238 H Phillip 26, M Mitchell 71, A Eldridge 21, S Murray 55, T Kerr 20, A Delmont 3 for 40, A Reynoldson 2 for 31, T Smyth 2 for 46

In an amazing replica of last year's cliffhanger finish when Scotch won off the last ball, this time the Crusaders prevailed with a wicket off the third-last ball and Scotch just four runs short. Crusaders openers Andy Delmont and Brett Forsyth needed all their skills to contend with a lively opening attack headed by the impressive Seb Armstrong. They put on 86 before Forsyth was caught and bowled. Wickets were hard to come by on the perfect wicket; three only falling to the Scotch bowlers and Matt Grace winding the innings up with a massive six off the last ball.

A Crusaders bowling attack of one medium pacer and numerous slows presented few problems, with Scotch reaching 2 for 131 off 21 overs and Matt Mitchell in full flow. Suddenly four wickets fell to careless shots, but Sam Murray led a recovery and the school entered the last over needing seven to win and two wickets in hand. They managed only three. Armstrong was run out attempting a second run and two balls later Murray was caught by Chris Read. (By David Strudwick)

v. St PATRICK'S COLLEGE, BALLARAT -16 February
St Patrick's won by six wickets
Umpires: E Kelly & A Taylor
Crusaders 92 R Keogh 22, D Thomson 2 for 21, D Willsmore 3 for 10, J Mead 3 for 12
St Patrick's 4 for 99 M Short 20, M Begbie 26, M Peart 20no

The pitch for this game was hard to define from the lush outfield. Crusaders fielded a handy team but not one batsman was able to put the head down and combat the conditions. For their part, the school players took their chances, holding nine catches and dismissing the Crusaders in 32 overs, possibly the most abject batting effort in the Club's thirty year history.

St Patrick's lost four wickets in hitting off the runs; they took 42 overs to do it but their batsmen showed a commitment notably missing with their opponents. Mathew Begbie played the best and longest innings of the day (76 balls)-some comparison to the Crusaders' best, Peter Bedford (35 balls).