Back on track

“We needed to win,” he told The Free Press. “We’re probably going to have to win our four last games – we definitely can do it if we apply ourselves.”

Corowa’s improved batting pleased the captain and he liked the other aspects of the game.

“We pride ourselves on our bowling and fielding,” Lane said.

Was the Lord Ian Botham a factor in Saturday’s good win? “Not really,” Lane said. “We just needed to win.

“But getting Botham is huge. It’s not just Ian Botham, it’s Lord Ian Botham. It’s a credit to ‘Stumpy’ - Paul (Lavis, president) getting him down here. With all sports clubs you’re trying to have events like this and you like to do it well.”

Losing the toss, Corowa was asked to bat first with openers Ryan Beveridge and Matt Grantham looking to back up last week’s partnership. This wasn’t to be with Grantham caught behind off East Albury captain Davies without troubling the scorers, Matt Wilson soon followed, bowled for one again off Davies, with Corowa in early trouble at 2 for 6.

Beveridge was joined by Jarred Lane and the pair set about building a partnership in tough scoring conditions moving the score to 40 before Ryan’s patience was worn down and he was caught for a hard working 25 which allowed the team to settle into their innings. Arthur Godsal joined Lane and played a positive innings of 15 which started to tick the scoreboard along before being stumped off White. Jeremy Carr (12) in a 40 run partnership and Jarryd Hatton made 7, before Kodee Lowe came to the crease and played a great finishing knock of 19 off 18 balls with Jarred Lane falling for a patient 59 and Kaelen Bradtke joining Lowe to push the score to 8 for 166 off 50 overs another improved batting display.

With runs on the board, early wickets were next on the agenda and Nick Grant delivered, picking up opener Diffey for 1 before Jarryd Hatton followed up bowling Singh for 0 during a sharp spell recapturing some good rhythm. East Albury steadied before Arthur Godsal was introduced into the attack and ripped through the East Albury middle order grabbing three quick wickets to have East Albury reeling at 5 for 25.

Luke Backhouse then joined in continuing his bowling form, bowling a wonderful spell of 3 for 15 off ten overs reducing East Albury to 8 for 76 and driving the run rate up. Nick Grant returned and with the help of a fantastic athletic catch from Arthur, Corowa was one wicket away. A run out from Jarred Lane closed out the innings for 94 - a much needed win on a very positive day for the club keeping finals hopes alive.

B Grade made it two wins in a row with a 44 runs victory over East Albury after a late ground change to Lavington.

After winning the toss Corowa elected to bat first, Patrick Lavis with 24 looked in good touch but when he went Corowa was in trouble at 4 for 40. And it got worse for the side when Will Seymour went for 15 to leave the side 5 for 68. Doug Lavis (31) and Darcy Melksham (21) batted well to get Corowa to 7 for 132 and then the late arriving Dan Athanitis with 63 not out off 60 balls with support from Mak Lavis (10*) enabled Corowa to finish their 45 overs at 7 for 190.

In reply East Albury made a good start reaching 52 without loss before a superb spell by Patrick Lavis changed the match, taking 4 for 12 off 9 overs to reduce East Albury to 4 for 62. When Aaron Phibbs (2) and Doug Lavis (1) chimed in with wickets East Albury had fallen to 7 for 124. Dan Athanitis clean up the tail taking 3 for 19 as the side bowled out East Albury for 146.

Yet another insufficient batting display cost Corowa C-Grade (Division 1) on Saturday with their season now almost over.

Like last week, several batsmen got starts but none could convert one into a big score with the side scraping to 119 from the 40 overs.

Billy Raggett and John Conroy both made promising starts but lost their wickets on 16 leaving a lot of work for the youngsters down the order.

Riley Allan and Ethan Lane put on a good partnership, hitting 27 and 20 respectively, and they were the main contributors in the innings. Both are improving with every match.

In response, St Patrick’s Green reached the target in the 37th over for the loss of only four wickets.

Danny Osborne bowled with his usual venom and kept St Pats honest. Jacob Fuge made a good debut for the side, controlling the new ball well and taking 1/7 from his three.

Highlights in the field included a sharp catch behind the stumps from Lachie Raggett and some great run-saving efforts from Blayre Smith and Ethan Hanrahan.

C Grade Div 2 had a big win led by a Matt Shipard maiden century over Barnawartha/Chiltern in the return of cricket to Balldale oval.

Batting first Corowa lost an early wicket to be 1 for 7. After that it was the Matt Shipard and Pat Mitchell show as they added an unbeaten 183 partnership, as the side finished at 1 for 190 off their 40 overs. Shipard was superb in making his first century as he finished on 114 not out which included 11 boundaries and one six. Mitchell provided great support finishing on 62 not out on his return to his old home ground.

In reply Corowa ran through the Miners line-up dismissing them for 50 in 26 overs. Simon Osmond was great taking 3 for 13 off his 8 overs, with Brydon Robins 2/17, Riley Carter 1/3, Marc Playford 1 /2, Ned Harvey 1 /2 and Tom Moloney 1/1 all chiming in.

Special thanks to the Balldale Community on getting the wicket and ground in great shape for the game.

The two Corowa sides resumed their clash in the Under 14s. Corowa Blue continued batting from last week being 7 for 69.

It didn’t take long before Blue was all out for 70, with Joe Lavis taking two wickets to finish with 2 for 3 and Eli Lavis took one. Blue had 1st Innings points winning by 18 runs. Corowa White had another bat and after 26.4 overs White were all out for 54 with Toby Hanrahan top scoring with 8 and Archie Bedford showing great defence making 6.

Jayden Forge took 2 for 8, Tyler Abley 1 for 6, Leroy Chester 1 for 8, Jacob Kreemer 2 for 6, Ashton Wynne 1 for 8, Archer Coppolino 2 for 7.

Corowa Blue had 5 overs to make 36 runs. Trying hard to get the runs, Tex Longmire 4, Benji Hanrahan a duck, Jayden Forge 1 and Archer Coppolino a duck also lost some quick wickets. With Joe Lavis taking 3 for 2 off 2 overs as Blue finished at 4 for 7 with Leroy Chester 0 not out, Tyler Abley not out for 1.

Having chosen to bat, the Under 12 White team took to the Corowa High School oval enthusiastically on Friday afternoon. Eli Lavis hacked away at the opening bowlers, smashing 45 runs from his 25 balls, which included two sixes. He was ably supported by Cooper Patten (14*) and Toby Hanrahan (11), allowing the boys to amass an excellent score of 2/117 from their 20 overs.

The bowlers were ruthless in reply, restricting the opposition to just 35 runs. Wickets to Cooper Patten, Nathias Price, Jagger Doody and Eli Lavis, and two from the last two balls to Jake Witherden, helped them ease to a big win.

Well done, boys!

Under 12’s Corowa Blue went down by 28 runs in their clash with St Patricks at Balldale. Bowling first the Blue bowlers tried hard with their line but one batsman got hold of them as St Patricks made 3 for 100 off 20 overs. Wicket takers were Harry Norman (1/5), Blake Collins (1/8) and Will Forrest (1/9).

In reply, some quick wickets went making the score 6 for 36 with only Hudson Kuschert with 15 getting in the runs. The lower order of Harry Norman (12*), Blake Collins (11*) and Will Forrest (10*) all batted well as Blue finished their 20 overs at 6 for 72.

The Club would like to acknowledge our sponsors for this season, A & A Auto, Davidson White Accountants, John Rhodes Bricklaying, Waldrons Fresh on River, Dunn’s Twin City Cranes, Kilara Group, Nutrimax, David Lane Builder, Rivalea, Back on Track Physiotherapy, Beechworth Honey, Milthorpe Transport, Saunders Spraying, Corowa Travel Link & Corowa RSL Club.