By Ian Callen
Yarra Valley Hub (Greg Mitchell Shield)
Healesville 4th XI xxx Seville 6th XI (Queens Park, Healesville)
Round 11 finally saw the very much anticipated game of the year for the Healesville Cricket Club take place in which Seville 6th XI came to Queens Park to take on our 4 th XI in what was Life Member and club legend Robert ‘Tojo’ Nolan’s 500th game.
Healesville won the toss and elected to bat.
In front of a quickly growing crowd, Dave Plunkett and Sam Dennett got Healesville off to a good start before Dave was trapped in front for 22 with the score on 34.
Matt Cooper then came to the crease and took over where Dave left off and continued to dominate the Seville bowlers ably supported by Dennett and then James Shultz.
When Cooper retired after an extremely well made 51 this brought the man of the moment Rob ‘Tojo’ Nolan to the crease and to ovation I have never heard before, and probably never will again, at club cricket.
Unfortunately, Tojo holed shortly after for only 2 and received another ovation possibly bigger than the one he got going out.
Healesville went on finish the innings on 6/165 after their 36 overs thanks to James Shultz’s 25 and Vinnie Plunkett’s 31 on top of Coopers 51.
With a decent target on the board Seville were possibly going to struggle to chase
down the 165 set by Healesville but they did battle it out to the end finally being bowled out in the last over of the day for 118. Pick of the Healesville bowlers was by far James Shultz who finished with 4/18 off 6.5 overs. But highlight of the day has to go to when Captain Jack Plunkett tossed the ball to Tojo to bowl the second over of the Seville innings and after getting dispatched to the boundary twice got the better of the Seville opener to clean bowl him the last ball of the over.
I have had the privilege over the years to witness many fantastic games of cricket played at many grades from top to bottom, including some high-tension finals, but never have I been present at a club game with such a magnificent crowd and atmosphere but more importantly played in such great spirit as was witnessed today.
A massive thank you to the Seville Cricket Club that not only gave up a home game but also agreed to play on a Sunday to make this incredibly special day possible and one we will remember as a club forever.
500 games over 51 years of cricket is an outstanding achievement in itself but his contribution to
our club off the field is immeasurable. All we can do is say well done and thank you my friend.
Other Senior results
Steve Pascoe Shield
Healesville 1 st XI def by Montrose 2 nd XI (Queens Park, Healesville)
Healesville won the toss and elected to bat. Healesville got off a good steady start with openers Josh Handasyde and Liam Daly looking solid till Daly fell with the score on 28. Handasyde and Brandon D’Amore then went on to post a 67 run partnership to give Healesville a good platform for a decent total.
When D’Amore fell for 24 with the score on 95 in the 29 th over, while in a good position, it
looked like Healesville might struggle to post a defendable score on reasonably fast Queens Park surface. Ash Hamer then came to the crease and set about taking it to the Montrose bowling attack and, together with support from Handasyde (48) went on to score an unbeaten 64 off only 41 balls and help Healesville post a defendable total of 6/182 off their 40 overs. Montrose came into bat and looked well in control of the game to find themselves 2/85 at the drinks break. Cam Nyko got the breakthrough Healesville needed in the first over after the break but then Montrose put together a partnership of 69 to put themselves back in the box seat. When D’Amore got the wickets of both set Montrose batters in McCallum (bowled) and Podesta (run out) in the 36 th over, the balance of the game looked like it might be tilting back to Healesville’s but Montrose held on and went on to win the game with 4 balls to spare in a tight finish.
B Grade Don Smith Shield
Croydon Ranges 3rd XI def Healesville 2nd XI (Silcock Reserve, Croydon)
Healesville won the toss and elected to bat. Ben Mackey and Tom Handasyde got off to reasonable start before Mackey fell with score on 28. Healesville then struggled for a spell to find themselves 4/47 at the drinks break. The fall of the 4 th wicket brough Luke Chandler to the crease who, along with great support at the other end by Ben Wallace (30), proceeded to completely tear apart the Croydon Range bowlers blazing his way to 74 and taking Healesville to a respectable 8/171 off their 35 overs. Jay Tacey got Healesville off a great start with a wicket in the first over thank to a catch from Kris Anderson. The pair then combined again the other way around with Tacey taking a catch of Anderson’s bowling to dismiss the other opener and have Croydon Ranges 2/33 in the 8th over.
The next pair for Croydon Ranges then went on to post another 103 before the next wicket. Croydon Ranges going on to pass Healesville’s total 7 wickets down in the 34 th over. Pick of Healesville bowlers Micheal Jackson 2/23 off 7, Jack Drummond 2/28 off 7 and Kris Anderson 2/43 off 6.
M1 Grade Ian Dench Shield
Healesville 3rd XI def by Seville 5th XI (Don Road No.2, Healesville)
Seville won the toss and put Healesville in to bat. Healesville’s batters struggled to get going against a strong Seville side. With young gun Darcy English (20) performing well again with the bat and another young gun Riley Cameron making 26no, Healesville managed to get to 6/97 off their 36 overs. Defending this total was always going to be a monumental task and this proved to be the case with Seville going on win the game 4/100 in the 26 th over.
Moss Fawdry the pick of the bowlers finishing with an impressive 3/4 off 5 overs and Darcy English chipping in also with yet another solid bowling performance finishing with 1/16 off 6 overs.
