It was a weekend for records to be made and broken in the Goulburn District Cricket Association, although not in a good sense for the Crookwell Golf Club cricket side.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The team played Hibo Gold at Seiffert Oval, and despite some promising performances, the result was another drubbing at the hands of the incumbent champions, thanks in large to a scarcely believable haul of 8-32 from Gold captain Brad Smith.
Crookwell won the toss and batted first on Saturday, but that was as far as the good luck went for the visiting side as Smith made early inroads to have them reeling at 6-13.
Sam Spackman (13) was the only member of the top seven to reach double figures, and it was thanks to his partnership with Stuart Parsons (23) that Crookwell was able to pass 50.
In the end, the visitors were all out for 63 on a tricky Seiffert Oval wicket, and though Gold were confident going into the run chase, Crookwell refused to let them have it all their own way.
The relatively simple pursuit of 64 began nervously for Gold, when Ben Staples fell with the score at 10.
From there, Crookwell saw a multitude of catching opportunities – some simple, some remarkably difficult – come and go, and when the second wicket fell with Gold on 47, they might easily have been four or five down had the visitors had stickier hands.
As it was, Gold lost one last wicket – that of James Armstrong (17) – to be three down for 64 at the end of the match.
The result does not impact the standings on the ladder, as Crookwell has maintained its spot at the bottom and Gold has continued its push to overtake the Workers Stags who currently sit in first.
Meanwhile, across the park, Hibo Green and the Workers Stags went head-to-head in a match which was nearly as one-sided as the one at Seiffert.
The Stags batted first and posted 7-319, on the back of scores from Kel Sansom (92), James Will (62 not out), and Andrew Tivey (42).
It was not an entirely poor bowling performance from Green who, although erratic, were also not helped by a relatively placid pitch which offered precious little assistance to a young bowling attack.
In response, the Stags attack led by hauls of three wickets from Tom McGregor (3-28) and two from Daniel Hunt (2-14) shut down Green’s batting lineup for 120: a colossal win of 199 runs for the competition leaders.
This Saturday, Crookwell will play the Stags at Prell Oval, while Hibo Gold will take on Hibo Green at Seiffert Oval. All matches will begin at 12.30pm.