JOHN MCCALLUM, CONVENOR OF CRICKET
Waverley’s cricketers look forward to an upcoming Summer break knowing they have worked hard in each of their teams, and enjoyed a great term of competition. The majority of boys had their final matches last Saturday with many impressive results, while our four 2-day teams play their last games this Friday and Saturday against Trinity. We especially wish the 10As the best in their goal to send off coach Mr New with a victory. Waverley Cricket have been so fortunate to have benefitted from the knowledge, passion and sense of fair-play that Mr New has demonstrated in 13 great years at Waverley College. We wish Mr New the very best as he and his family move to Perth, and hope he enjoys Kolbe Catholic College.
There were a number of great innings by boys from each of the age groups, with some improvements in the shot selection and running between wickets continuing. Leo Shanahan was out highest run-scorer for the round with a classy 76 not out – carrying his bat undefeated throughout the entire 2nds innings of 160. Sadly, the boys were short of their target and unable to stay in to claim a draw. With their bowling, Luca Paolella, Zac Wotherspoon and Ollie Rinder were impressive with 2 wickets each. The 1st XI also fell short of their target of 262, despite a great captain’s innings of 69 to Alex Ferrara. Speedsters Brock Preston with 3 wickets and Harry Whitaker with 4 wickets did a fantastic job, but our batsmen must step up assertively when at the crease to start dominating the opposition.
The 10B side had another great performance to beat Trinity by a huge margin of 152 runs! Noah Mitchell blasted a cool 52 not out, and Cooper O’Donnell 33 not out to take a huge score of 5/212! The 10As were unable to put the big score on the board, with Murray Shearer and Conor Boyd-Boland each top-scoring with 25 runs. Similarly in the 9As, more partnerships are needed, but Ryland Short scored a strong 30 in the 1st innings and Jack Rigg a fluent 41 in their 2nd innings.
Congratulations to the 8C team, who have been working hard on their game awareness in a goal of scoring 20 more runs with the bat, and saving 20 runs in the field – paying off with a great win by 24 runs! Peter Fragias scored a superb 35, supported by Rafael Di Georgio with 24 not out in a total of 115. The 8A and B boys were unable to defend their totals, with Trinity chasing these down.
Captain of Cricket’s Report, From Second Slip
RYAN SMITH
I recently had the honour of attending the Macquarie Leadership Day for Cricket at Riverview. This program has been running for 20 years teaching youth cricketers the best way on being a leader and enhancing their skills. We were blessed with a wealth of test cricket experience that where going to mentor us for the day, including Andy Bichel and Simon Katich.
We started off with a net session on wickets prepared to looked more like an English pitch, which was swinging left, right and seaming; this was a great chance to also get individual feedback with the coaches and get little tips. One example is using the crease in both bowling and batting, and different types of deliveries to bowl from wide or close to the stumps. It was also a great opportunity to ask some valuable questions about preparation and game sense to the coaches.
As said in cricket that 50% of the time you are fielding, we had the chance to work on our outfield fielding and close catching, at the same time working on hitting the bass of the stumps. I learnt the most important rule of playing cricket – ‘having fun’ and enjoying the game because we don’t just stand out in the middle of a field for hours; we do it because we’re passionate about it.
In the final session, we learnt about how to give an engaging speech to an audience, and how to get the attention of an audience early. This was very helpful and has given me so much more confidence in public speaking.
1st XI Mentoring Junior Teams
Over the past couple of weeks, 1st XI players have visited junior teams from Year 5 to 7 and shared with the younger boys what it means to play cricket for Waverley College, and what an honour it is to wear the baggy blue. It is so pleasing to see that Waverley Cricket is in such good hands with the skills of the boys very impressive! Myself and Harry Whitaker enjoyed meeting up with the Year 5 traditional team, coached by Mr Meadley, and it was great to see these boys loving their cricket. The types of shots and delivery’s that they were bowling where standing the two of us up, and I wish all the younger boys the very best for their next part of their season.
1st XI Report – Day 1 v St Aloysius
MR G ELLIOT AND MR R BRYANT, COACHES
Round 4 saw Waverley College play against Cranbrook at Hordern Oval in the first of two Friday/Saturday fixtures. We once again sent into field on what appeared to be a pitch that resembled Parramatta Road. The boys bowled tight lines and stayed patient in the field. At stumps Cranbrook were 3/206 off 80 overs. Coming back the next morning, the Waverley boys had plenty of work to do.
The boys rallied and within 17 overs dismissed Cranbrook for 263. Harry Whitaker was rewarded with 4 wickets from 17 overs and Brock Preston grew in confidence as he got into his rhythm taking 3 solid wickets. Lachlan Forrest also bowled extremely well for not much reward.
With 90 overs still to play in the day, to chase of 263 would take patience and a number of partnerships to get the Waves home. Unfortunately, we were unable once again to show intent with the bat and build any partnerships of substance. Congratulations to Alex Ferrara who notched up his first half-century for the season with a hard toiled 69 runs. The boys are working extremely hard on their game and the tide will turn due to their continued efforts. One poor session has cost us a number of games and consistency is the key for the remainder of the season.
Waverley Cricket School Holiday Clinics
All Waverley Cricketers are also invited to attend one of 2 Cricket Clinics in the School holidays – both held at the Senior School between 9am-3pm, and will feature excellent programs focussing fun and all Cricket skills under the tuition of specialist cricket coaches. These programs cater for all students aged 9-16.
Cricket Clinic 1: Thursday December 6 and Friday December 7 – run by Pro Performance Cricket, with info at admin@properformance.com , and registrations at https://www.trybooking.com/ZIIZ
Cricket Clinic 2: Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd January 2019 – run by Steve Waugh Cricket Academy, with registration and info at stevewaughcricket.com.au/registration
