A brilliant first-up unbeaten knock of 82 by Kaelen Bradtke enabled Corowa to compile a defendable total against East Albury. But the Roos went down. Pictured here is KB guiding the ball beautifully behind point to the fence. Photo by Simon Ginns.
After four consecutive washouts, cricket was finally underway for the 2022/23 season with Corowa's A grade side having their game moved from Ball Park to Alexandra Park Albury due to the flooding situation.
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The season’s eventual first game presented much excitement with our overseas player Mitchell Wagstaff champing at the bit to play, along with the returning Arthur Godsal and senior debutant Jack Eales.
East Albury's curator did a fantastic job in getting the playing arena fit for play. Corowa won the toss and elected to bat on a flat surface with a touch of moisture as to be expected. Openers Patrick Lavis and Mitch Wagstaff took time to settle in and looked solid before Lavis played too far back, out hit wicket for 7 having stood on his stump. Wagstaff followed soon after managing to drag a sweep shot back around onto his stumps.
Kaelen Bradtke was in control batting at number 3 however partners were hard to find with Jarred Lane 2, Matt Wilson 1, and Jeremy Carr 4 all falling quickly. Arthur looked in good touch before misjudging a short ball for 10, Luke Backhouse was bowled for 2 and Jay Lavis failed to trouble the scorers.
It was left to Bradtke who was playing an exceptional knock and got support from Jack Eales whose 5 runs were part of an important partnership and Nick Grant 13 not-out playing vital support roles as KB upped the ante and took East Albury's bowlers around and over the park finishing unbeaten on 82 in the last over with the score 157.
It was an exceptional knock under pressure, giving Corowa a total to bowl at. With conditions drying, the pitch proved tough for the bowlers with the first session wicketless and East's openers settling in and ticking the score along.
Wagstaff was able to grab the breakthrough snaring Peterson LBW for 31, before Jay Lavis was introduced to the attack and bowled a brilliant spell claiming 2 crucial wickets, the well-set Tom for 38 and Keenes for 20 sparking some life into the contest.
Lavis partnered with debutant Jack Eales who bowled an excellent spell of leg spin at a tough period showing he has the skills as well as the mental strength bouncing back from a couple of early boundaries. However the middle order proved too tough to crack open with overseas Perera guiding his team home with 28 not-out, passing Corowa's score 5 wickets down in the 48th over.
Credit to Kaelen for his brilliant knock however more contribution from the top order will be required against Lavington this week.
B Grade
B Grade has started with a win over East Albury in their clash at Balldale. With heaps of grounds unavailable, B Grade’s first game for the season was on the hard wicket at Balldale and captain Aaron Phibbs had no hesitation in batting first on a slow outfield.
Nathan Rhodes, back after a year off, opened with Lachlan Raggett and these two added 46 to get Corowa off to a good start before Raggett went for 16. Rhodes made 22 as Corowa fell to 3 for 65. Good batting by Bailey Minogue (24) and Justin Lewis (58) along with Ethan Lane (10) enabled Corowa to get the score to 7 for 171. Veteran Doug Lavis (26*) and Aaron Phibbs (16) pushed the score along to 216 before Corowa was bowled out in the 43rd over.
In reply East Albury got off to a fast start racing to 53 in the 10th before the introduction of Nathan Rhodes changed the match. Rhodes bowled superbly taking 3 for 13 off 9 overs to take the match away from East Albury. Youngsters Riley Allan with 2 for 15 and Ethan Lane with 3 for 5 continued to pile the pressure on as East Albury was dismissed for 109 in the 35th over.
Under 16s
The Under 16s went down by 13 runs in their 20/20 clash with Howlong at Balldale. Bowling first, Howlong got away from Corowa reaching 1 for 73 but good bowling from Jay Lavis 4 for 6 off 4 overs and Brodie Eyers 2 for 14, Corowa bowled Howlong out in the 20th over for 85.
In reply Corowa struggled on the slow outfield being restricted to 8 for 72 off their 20 overs. Ethan Lane batted well with 23, while Jay Lavis (17) and Brodie Eyers (16) got amongst the runs.
Under 14s
The under 14s had the bye first up, but were able to have a good hit on Sunday in a practice game against Rutherglen.
Under 12s
All the under 12’s games were called off due to a lack of dry grounds. Corowa also held a practice match on Friday night at the high school.
The Club would like to acknowledge sponsors for this season, A & A Auto, Davidson White Accountants, John Rhodes Bricklaying, Waldrons Fresh on River, Kilara Group, Rivalea, Pharmasave Corowa, O’Connors, Balldale Hotel, Federation Steel, Collins Transport & Corowa Distilling.
Rutherglen Cricket Club kindly shared their facilities with Corowa last week, with access to the Corowa cricket ground cut off by flood water.
