By Chris Handasyde
Under 10 Healesville v Seville – by Owen Morcombe
After an enjoyable Xmas break had by all the U10s took on Seville 1 at Don Road. Seville won the toss and elected to bat, It was noticeable that the kids had worked on their bowling skills over the break with a combined total of 8 wickets, single wicket takers were Rory Jackson, Reggie Morcombe, Felix McMahon, Alby Gotch, Harry Muller and Milo Jackson. And once again with a superb bowling display, Eli Keath took 3/4 and just missed out on a hat trick. Everyone batted well with double figures for Eli Keath 16, Alby Gotch 13 and Reggie Morcombe with 10.
Under 12-9 Healesville 2/195 defeated Montrose 4/56– by Adam Keath
A small team of 7 depleted by holiday plans travelled to Montrose on Friday night. Batting first and obviously inspired by watching BBL over the break the boys played some attacking cricket finishing on 2-195 of Healesville’s 23 overs. Louis Keath with 43n.o. (including 5 sixes), Finn Coleman 29, Ryder Hudson 25 and Gus Morcombe 22 were the main contributors with the bat. The smaller team meant they all had a few more overs than normal and they all bowled well. Not giving the Montrose team many opportunities to score, keeping them to 4-56. Cruz Augello took two wickets in successive balls and the other two wickets were taken by Manny Winrow and Gus Morcombe. A game played in great spirits by both teams.
Under 12-4 Healesville 1/128 defeated by Hoddles Creek 4/130
The 12-4’s started off the year batting first and got off to a flyer against Hoddles Creek with Taylor Caldicott smashing a couple of boundaries off the first over to set the scene for hopefully a good total. With excellent contributions from Summer Caldicott, Raff Morcombe, Endo Gotch, Monty Forbes, and Tully Ellis, the team scored 128 after 23 overs. With Healesville’s turn to bowl, unfortunately, the Hoddles Creek opening pair started very well and put themselves in a winning position. However, with wickets from Summer, Henry Harding, Endo, and Raff they put themselves back in the game with a winning chance. With an over to go Hoddles Creek needed 6 runs to win and the game was in the balance. In the sides previous meeting, Healesville won on the last ball of the innings and unfortunately this time the roles were reversed with a quick single at the end of the over giving Hoddles Creek an exciting win.
Under 14 Healesville 4/152 defeated Hoddles Creek 4/89 – by Liam English
Good batting performance from Darcy English making 30 and Eli Prentice making 25 to set a defendable total. Great bowling from Charlie Jarratt getting 1 wicket for 13 runs and Bram Tesseyman getting 1 wicket for 8 runs.
Under 16 Healesville 6/124 defeated Koonung Heights 63
Playing at Queens Park, Healesville batted first and built a respectable total of 6/124 with Blake Rallis 22*, Riley Cameron 24*, Lucas Parker 14*, Tyler Braden 13* and Denzel Parson 10* all batting well and retiring after their 25 balls. The opposition was never in the run chase thanks to great bowling from Leonard Robinson 4/8 off 4 overs and Ethan Nikcevich 3/1 from 8 balls.
Seniors 1st XI – Healesville 204 defeated by Warranwood 8/273 – by Josh Handasyde
This week the Bloods returned to Queens Park for the second week of its two-day match against Warranwood with the Bloods requiring 274 for victory off the 80 overs. The Bloods started in the worst possible fashion with Handasyde getting caught at 3rd slip for 4 runs before Max Wallace was caught behind for 3 leaving the Bloods at 2/11. Ash Hamer joined Brenton Damrow at the crease and was able to rebuild to get to the drinks break without further damage with the Bloods being 2/49 at the 20-over mark. Damrow was then dismissed for a well-made 29 which then meant Ash Hamer and skipper Kris Andersen were at the crease and the pair went at building a partnership as the Bloods passed 100 with Andersen and Hamer putting the bad balls away. Then Andersen was bowled by leg spinner Fowlers for 37 leaving the Bloods 4/126 with Luke Chandler joining the not-out Hamer at the crease. Chandler landed some heavy blows before being caught at cover for 22 and when Hamer was bowled around his legs for 52 the Bloods chances decreased dramatically. The wickets continued to tumble with the Bloods eventually getting bowled out for 204 with Dan Hughes for Warranwood the pick of the bowlers with figures of 6/42 off 20 overs with 7 maidens. The Bloods are due to face Croydon Ranges away next week in what is a must-win match.
Seniors 2nd XI – Healesville 5/125 defeated Mount Evelyn 109 – by Ethan Nikcevich
On a sunny day at the hidden-away ground at Mount Evelyn Reserve, Mount Evelyn won the toss and elected to bowl. A fast start was put to an end by Scott Fawdry after he got one to cut back in and take Finch’s off stump, Darcy English took a blinder one-handed catch off his own bowling to have the home side 3/28 and in shambles. Riley Cameron took 2 brilliant catches on the boundary to dismiss dangerous batsmen Chris Doyle for 7. Brodie Grace finished with 3 wickets, Darcy, Scott and Riley with 2 each.
Riley Cameron (21) and Ben Wallace (32*) got Healesville off to a strong start as they looked to chase down the small total of 109 on a small ground before Riley was dismissed, a quick flurry of wickets before Scott Fawdry combined with Ben Wallace to steady the innings before Zach Fawdry blasted a fast 35* including 20 off one over, Ben Wallace retired to give young Denzel Parsons (4*) a chance to finish the game as Healesville won their fifth game with a convincing win over Mount Evelyn.
Seniors 3rd XI – Healesville 7/143 defeated Ainslie Park 107
Healesville won the toss and batted first. Solid contributions from Dave Plunkett 29, Vinnie Plunkett 30*, Blake Rallis 19 and Jimmy Schutz 18 allowed Healesville to build a defendable total of 143 from 36 overs. Ainslie Park was off to a strong start, not losing their first wicket until the score was 41. That’s when the Blake Rallis show began. With his dad, Peter “rowdy” Rallis wicket keeping and taking 2 of his catches, young Blake took 6/15 from 7 overs that included a hattrick and a missed hattrick. Great effort Blake Rallis. Bailey Rutley played a supporting role and took 2/21 as Healesville bowled out Ainslie Park for 107.
Seniors 4th XI – Healesville 7/205 defeated South Croydon 5/174– by Adam Keath
The Healesville fourths hosted the South Croydon fifths at Wesburn on Saturday. Winning the toss and batting first Healesville posted 7/205. With four sets of father/sons in the team, it was the Bradens who set the scene, Grant with a quick 53 (retired) and Tyler a composed, patient 20 giving Healesville a great start. Some hitting with Owen Morcombe 53 (retired) and Peter Coster 39 was complemented by a nice steady strike-sharing 14 n.o. by Cooper Bell at the other end. When it came time to bowl, Healesville struggled to take wickets but managed to restrict them to 5/174 coming home with the win. The best bowling performances were from Raff Morcombe 1/12 off 5, Peter Coster 1/15 off 3, Cooper Bell 1/23 off 3, Tom Robinson taking his first wicket for the year with 1/21 off 2 and Tyler Braden 1/30 off 4.
