We start on a sad note with confusion over the juniors and seniors draws resulting in an underprepared pitch at Tanunda Oval, leading to the Under 16s having to bowl from one end all day and the A’s being called off by the umpires due to a number of divots in the just where you don’t want them. Apologies to Eudunda / Robertstown for making the trek to Tanunda – we owe you a carton lads and will make it up this week with a cracker of a pitch for the rescheduled one day game.
The B’s drove to Gawler to take on the Gawler Tigers varietal at the Dog Track and had an excellent day with the willow posting 237. Pommy Tommy Oliver showed he’d touched down in Australia, top scoring with 71, Uncle Toby Mifflin also raised his bat with 57 and Wayne Akkerman fell just short of joining in the raising of the bat ceremony with 46.

Barossa Valley Hire player of the day is Pommy Tommy – welcome aboard mate!

The C’s hosted Gilbert Valley at Faith East, with skipper Jamie Roehr winning the toss and having a hit. The mainstay of the innings was Matt Fechner with an excellent 53, but he was well overshadowed by a man who looked like Chopper Reid but batted like Bradman on his best day, Sam Cox. After years of waking up on a Saturday wondering if today would be the day, with tears in the eyes and emotion like you will never see again at a game of cricket, it happened… yes, Sam Cox, despite a number of nervous moments on the nervous 28s, followed by nail biting moments in the 29s it happened, Sam Cox made a 30, eclipsing his “bowlers century” on 35 not out. Brothers Craig and Bailey Smith shared 24 between them to be next best with the bat.

An all-round team bowling performance followed with young Nick Mills showing his potential again, leading the way with an excellent display of fast bowling finishing with 3 for 7 off his 8 overs, with the other Nick, Norman style taking 2 wickets at the other end. Sam, Darryl ‘Stork’ Hean, Clint ‘Mini-Me’ Hean, Jamie Roehr and Stuart Swan shared the remaining wickets.

Valley Power Equipment player of the match is shared between Matt and Nick Mills for setting up the win with bat and ball.

Steve Bradbury style, Sam Cox takes out the Mia Pizza Senior Player of the week for living his childhood dream. A great example to the next generation, aim for the stars kids.

Another week of gardening projects, injury, ACDC and garage sales left the D’s a few short of a decent number again, so unfortunately Morgan was gifted the points. When we get everyone on the park the A5s will be a force .. we just need to make it happen!

The Under 16s bowled well from the one end of Tanunda Oval and held on to defeat Sandy Creek by 4 runs with Hugh taking the final wicket on his way to 3 for the day, well supported by Kyle and Jordan with 2 wickets each. Brodie and Miller both took a wicket in the hard fought victory, with special mentions to Mitchell, Lachlan for their efforts in the field and to Jake for a ripper slips catch.

The Under 14 Black’s drove to Chateau Tanunda looking to defend the 137 posted last week, and did it well, winning by 10 runs. Jordan took 2 wickets with Jackson, Zach, Angus, and Tyson all chipping in with a wicket each with a couple of run outs in a great team fielding performance.

The Under 14s Whites headed back up the hill to Angaston with the goal of bowling out the hosts for under 83, but it wasn’t to be with Angaston ending the day on 3 for 161. Blake, Angus and Mitch all took took a wicket.

The Under 12 whites also decided that Angaston was the place to be on Saturday morning, taking to the “hard to defend a score on here” Good Shepherd Lutheran School oval to tackle Angaston White. Skipper Malik lost the toss and Tanunda were asked to have a hit. A good solid batting performance followed with James and Ben both hitting a couple of fours (including a pull shot through the slips by Ben), with Kalan, Sam R, Sam N and Kobi also hitting the ball to the boundary.

The team bowled well, although the wides column got a tad of a hammering. Ben and Mitch both took a wicket, there were a couple of great direct hits throws from tough angles a highlight of the fielding.

The Under 12 blacks took on Kapunda at Faith East in their first home gear of the year (the A4s know the feeling). Malakai and Harry decided winning the toss was overrated, resulting in Tanunda having a bowl. The wides column was excellent and a couple of tough chances going down and a few run outs being missed. Best with the ball were Syd, Liam with a wicket each, with Nick, Jack and Josh keeping things very tight.

Batting was excellent with Ben, Nick and Liam the stars, with the players focus on quick singles resulting in a few run outs – but there is only one way to learn after all!

The Under 10 whites travelled to Lyndoch Primary School this week. Axel was given the duties as captain and won the toss and elected to bat first. The team’s batting was very solid all the way down the order. Giles was the only one to smash a 4 and it’s great to see the running between wickets is improving.

A strong bowling performance followed with the least amount of wides for the year so far, and eight boys took wickets this week. Well done to the wicket-takers Nash, Noah, Patrick, Hudson, Tom, Giles, Jason (welcome back!) and Axel who was on a hat-trick.