Cricket Shepparton captain Tyler Larkin attempts to cut through the field.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Cricket Shepparton and the Bendigo District Cricket Association took centre stage at Deakin Reserve on Sunday in a battle to determine the region’s finest XI with the bat and ball.
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Like the last edition though - which the BDCA won by two wickets - it was Shepparton’s neighbouring rival with all the answers in the return of senior representative cricket.
Batting first, Cricket Shepparton captain Tyler Larkin’s glittering Haisman Shield form translated into representative runs, crafting a composed 63 after both openers were dismissed cheaply by Bendigo paceman Sam Moran.
Larkin and Ben Woods combined to steady the innings before Woods was caught short of his ground, his run out introducing Mitch Winter-Irving to the crease.
Larkin pummelled a delivery over the Nixon St fence for six in a statement of his intentions, but BDCA spinner Liam Smith (3-39) had the last laugh with a misjudged sweep shot from Winter-Irving seeing his stumps disturbed.
Tatura’s Blake Armstrong was next to the crease and put on a valuable 52-run partnership with his Central Park-St Brendan’s counterpart, but when Larkin, Armstrong (20), and Zac Groombridge (three) all departed in quick succession, Cricket Shepparton found itself in a hole at 7-115.
Another half-century partnership, this time between Mitch Cleeland (45) and Jesse Trower (23), and a useful cameo of 17 from Will Trower saw Shepparton climb out of it, finishing the 50 overs on 9-204.
On a flat Deakin pitch, however, it was never going to be enough given the class of their Bendigo opponents.
Matt Wilkinson and Brodie Reaper set up the chase with a 66-run opening partnership, with not much on offer for the Shepparton pacemen.
Larkin introduced his spinners to the attack and Shepparton’s fortunes swung in the 13th over, Karramomus spinner Zac Groombridge dismissing Wilkinson for 27 for the first wicket.
Three overs later, Reaper was run out chasing an ambitious second, and some tight bowling by 16-year-old Numurkah spinner Kyren Dawson saw Angus Chisholm hole out to mid-off cheaply, opening the door for a Shepparton revival.
Ben Woods welcomes Tyler Larkin to the crease.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
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Mitchell Winter-Irving plays a cut shot
Photo by
Megan Fisher
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Tom Barnes goes the aerial route.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
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Tyler Larkin drives.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
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Bendigo wicketkeeper Xavier Ryan celebrates as Shepparton’s Ben Woods is run out.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
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Bendigo’s James Ryan chases after the ball.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
That was promptly slammed shut by James Ryan and Grant Waldron’s 103-run partnership, with Ryan’s 75 unbeaten and Waldron’s 48 guiding the BDCA to a five-wicket victory with 10 deliveries to spare.
Groombridge was the pick of the bowlers with 1-27 from his 10 overs, ably supported by Dawson 1-51 in his first senior representative appearance and Waaia quick Will Trower (1-44) as the best of the pace battery.
“It wasn't a bad performance from us,” Larkin said.
“We were probably in a bit of all sorts there at 7-120; a couple of good partnerships there from Mitch Cleeland and Jessie Trower got us up to a competitive total.
“The wicket was pretty flat, to be honest, so we toiled hard all day and we didn't drop our energy.
“Zac Groombridge and Kyren Dawson bowled really well for us there in that middle period, which kept us in the game.
“They were just a bit too classy for us in the end.”
It marks the second representative clash between the two leagues in the modern era after a lengthy layoff, with a return fixture scheduled in January on Bendigo’s home turf.
With a strong cohort of under-23 talent picked for Sunday’s game, Larkin said Cricket Shepparton is hoping to lay the groundwork to consolidate the league’s next generation.
“I spoke to them after the game and just said we're trying really hard to get representative cricket back up and going,” he said.
“Who knows, by the time that we actually might have it as a permanent fixture, these guys will probably be the players that the association will look at to fly the flag for us.
“Hopefully, they can keep making themselves available, keep doing well on a Saturday, and be the ones that carry it forward.
“I think he's only 16 years old, so to come up against a couple of Bendigo’s top-level players and to hold his own shows he's got to be a good future ahead.”
Elsewhere, Goulburn Murray Cricket and the Murray Valley Cricket Association did battle in the weekend’s other representative clash.
The result was far more decisive in the one-day clash at Moama Recreation Reserve.
Rochester’s Sean Williams walloped 129 off 125 deliveries, and 61 to Echuca South’s Asantha Singappuli fired the GMC to an imposing 7-304.
Berrigan’s Jacob Bartlett and Cobram’s Jeremy Baden each snared two wickets, but it was with the bat that the work needed to be done.
GMC showed no mercy, dispatching the MVCA for 87 in 26 overs, Moama’s Anthony McMahon (4-11) and Singappuli (2-19) damaging with the ball.
THE GAME
Cricket Shepparton 9-204 (Tyler Larkin 63, Mitch Cleeland 45, Sam Moran 3-33) def. by Bendigo District Cricket Association 5-205 (James Ryan 75 not out, Grant Waldron 48, Zac Groombridge 1-27)
STAR PLAYER
James Ryan (BDCA): The Bendigo left-hander has accrued more than 7500 career runs and it’s not hard to see why - a lofted on-drive for six was the highlight of his 75 not out as he took the game away from Shepparton.
