2nd Grade stays within the top 6
Second Grade maintained their position in the top 6 with an awesome win over the highly thought of and experienced Mosman outfit last weekend. It really was a great team effort, with the wickets shared amongst all the bowlers, and everyone fielding at an extremely high standard.
Although there was no initial breakthrough in the opening few overs, wickets soon started to fall at constant rate, thanks mainly to fine opening spell from Adair Durie (3-62) and Gareth Wright (2-47). Both bowled very aggressively, whilst still being able to build pressure on the batsmen.
James Kennedy (1-14) continued his rise as a dominant 2nd bowler with an extremely hostile spell of bowling. Bowling with real pace, the “preying mantis” used his height very well to trouble the batsmen, including former 1st class cricketer Marty Haywood, and was unlucky not to end up with more wickets.
Chris ‘Cheads’ Archer (3-37) again continued his fantastic season, taking 2 quick wickets during his first spell to really put the Whales on the back foot, and then sealing the win with a well disguised arm ball during his second spell. Chris also did well to come back from the battering he took from former Stag Warwick Adlam, who hit him for 3 consecutive sixes over the grandstand; hence the new nick-name, creatively thought of by wicketkeeper Harry Evans.
Durie slides one past the batsmen against the backdrop of a 8-1 field
In order to avoid the captain’s wrath, I must make special mention of the teams brilliant effort in the field. It really was outstanding, the best all season by far, with all catches taken and all quick singles being terminated by the fieldsman in the ring, with the highlight being JK’s great run out. The enthusiasm was maintained right through to the last wicket, and the overall standard augurs well for the rest of the season.
The Gordon top order saw out the day, with openers Harry Evans and Blair ‘Witch’ Lindsay both scoring 30 odd. It’s good to see Harry recovered well from his night out at the cross with Tony Wilson (wonder what Rog thinks of that??) The other batsmen batted well to see out the day and receive some good time in the middle and match practice.
Overall a great team performance, and one that will need to be maintained this weekend against Blacktown at Joe Macleer.
Jack Ritchie | 
