THE TWELFTH MAN
HDCA – A Grade
CASTERTON DISTRICT has finished its 2024-25 Hamilton and District Cricket Association A Grade season in style with a seven-wicket thrashing of Grampians at island Park Turf on Saturday to be the highest ranked local team for the season.
Both Pigeon Ponds and Tahara finished lower on the ladder than the Maroons and all three local teams will need to spend the winter recruiting to ensure they climb the ladder in 2025-26.
Casterton District d Grampians
With the game reduced to a one-day game due to irrigation issue on day one, Casterton District were forced to bowl first after losing the toss and the visitors arrived with one man short of a full team.
Donald Collins posted another solid foundation for his side with he and Ty Gilmore adding 55 for the first wicket as Collins passed 700 runs for the summer with a knock of 35 while Gilmore scored 24.
Zach Burgess (36) top scored for the Pumas but from a position of strength at 1-80, Grampians post their last nine wickets for only 45 runs as the Maroons roared back into the game through a brilliant spell of bowling as he took 6-22 to rout the pumas for only 125 in what may well prove to be his last game for the club.
On such a good batting surface it was never going to be enough runs and Ben Holmes (46) hit himself out of the form slump he has been in for the past month as he and Carey MeGam (34) added 86 for the first wicket in only 12.2 overs as the ball sped to all parts of the ground.
The old adage of “one brings two” proved to be right for the Pumas as Angus Heazlewood had Megaw caught by Collins and then in the same over, he sent Kane Forbes (duck) on his way too and the Maroons were 2-86.
Holmes looked set to register 50 but Heazlewood had him well caught by Collins just four runs shy of the milestone with 104 on the board, but Rick Killey (24-not-out) saw the home side through to the target without further loss inside 24 overs as Heazlewood finished with 3-29.
The victory lifted the Maroons to seventh on the ladder while Grampians dropped to ninth.
Pigeon Ponds def by Tyrendarra
A failure to bat out its allocated overs on day one has cost Pigeon Ponds to opportunity to defeat minor premiers Tyrendarra at Pigeon Ponds Recreation Reserve as the visitors remained undefeated for the summer.
Day one saw the home side dismissed for 233 as Simon Close (53) and Hamish McCrae (62) continued their good batting form, but the Pigeons were dismissed in only 61.4 overs which handed the Darras an extra 10 overs to hunt down the target.
Lachlan Kirk resumed his innings on day two and he rattled off his maiden A grade century as he guided the visitors to a final score of 5-235.
Kirk is not a batsman who blasts the bowlers but rather happy to nurdle the ball around and his innings of 116 came from 241 balls with 19 boundaries as the innings was built on the foundation he provided with Cameron Mather (73) helping Kirk add 122 for the second wicket.
The five-wicket victory gave the visitors an undefeated minor premiership as they defended the William Hewitt Trophy for leading the premiership ladder after the home and away season and now assume Dundas Cup favouritism.
Tahara had the bye for the final round and the Blue Caps finished 10th in their return to the top grade after more than a decade of lower grade cricket.
