Senior Lakers brave weather

Off the back of a dominant win and the inclusion of Skipper Archibald, the team went out together full of confidence for the first half.

Opening up with Fraser and Webb the Magpies got out to a quick start but were soon reeled back in through some clever bowling from Jyda House.

After another steady partnership from the visiting side it was Van Kreeck to be the one to remove Matheson for 57 with his first ball to drag back some of the momentum and finish with tidy figures of 1/19.

For perhaps the biggest surprise of the day it was Kyle Archibald allegedly claiming his first A Grade wicket with the help of the ever reliable Zac Fraser out in the deep.

With the bowling side of things wrapped up it was up to the top order to chase down the target of 142 and began in fine style with Webb and Smart making early inroads into the target.

Even after Webb was dismissed for 12, Smart attempted to keep the foot down by taking apart select members of the Wangaratta attack who didn’t take kindly to the treatment they were receiving from the aggressive opener.

Z.Fraser went down for just two attempting to wrap things up before his shift at the golf club and Smart soon followed for a well-made 36.

This left B.McCabe and Welsh ten overs to chase down the remaining 80-odd runs.

It took a couple of overs for the pair to find a rhythm but eventually it was Welsh, egged on by the supporters on the deck, who took the game on blasting multiple sixes on his way to an unbeaten 43.

And after playing the supporting role for Welsh it was McCabe’s turn to pick the Magpies attack apart and find the boundary five times himself including the match winning runs in the last over to guide the team home to one of the better wins since the last time they met Wangaratta.

A Grade claim a second win in their four match T20 fixture and travel over to Benalla next week to meet the Bushrangers for the first time this season.

Lakers A Res T-20 fall short

Ovens Valley United 5/124 def Yarrawonga Mulwala 8/123.

A Res boys made the trip to Myrtleford this week. On a windy day and a damp ground skipper Huddo won the toss a choose to bat.

Openers Huddo and Dishot made a good start finding boundaries and scoring quickly until Huddo was triggered out LBW for 25.

Next in was Keals playing some nice shots and finding a boundary.

Dishot playing superb shots and keeping up the high run rate making a 50 off 45 balls, he raised the bat only to be dismissed shortly after.

A run of ducks from Thorpe, Leeburn and Taylor saw the Lakers lose 6 for 30. All up they were 8/123.

Lakers turn to bowl and Myrtleford made a good start until Dishot made the breakthrough with a nice LBW hitting the batter on the full.

From there the runs started to come for the home side. The Lakers tried everything to stay in the game but in the end Myrtleford were just too good on the day, winning by five wickets and five balls to spare.

Next week A Res Lakers are at home against Delatite.

B Grade claim close victory

Yarrawonga Mulwala 6/86 def Ovens Valley United 10/82.

In a top-of-the-table clash, B Grade faced Ovens Valley at Mulwala, with both sides entering the match on three wins apiece.

With legendary curator Jug O’Brien away rocking out to Lenny Kravitz in Mildura, wicket-preparation duties fell to Josh Bozzola.

The pressure clearly got to him — Boz not only turned up late, but also managed to arrive without his whites.

Ovens Valley were sent in after the toss, and captain Hawk immediately handed the new ball to the ever-reliable quicks, Hilly and Rob “Ski Hire” Borowski.

Ovens started positively, reaching 27 before Hill broke through thanks to a sharp catch from young Alex Richardson.

Just moments later, Hill struck again, this time with Declan Reeves clinging onto a tough chance.

At 2/29, and an hour into play, Boz finally arrived — in full uniform — and made an immediate impact.

Luke Buerckner rolled back the years, taking a screamer at first slip off Boz’s bowling. ‘Ski Hire’ then joined the fun, removing Ovens’ most dangerous batter and captain, Josh Harriss, to have them stumbling at 4/45.

Next came Ash Thiseen, who delivered an outstanding spell of spin bowling, taking 3/13 off seven overs.

He even added some party tricks in the field, claiming two catches — both without using his hands.

To finish off the innings, captain Hawk turned to his brigade of Under-16 bowlers, and they delivered in style.

All three claimed their maiden B Grade wicket for the club: Lucas Pickering with 1/5 off 4, Alex Richardson with 1/2 off 1, and Declan Reeves with 1/6 off 1.

Under-14 sub-fielders Eamon Pickering and Billy Vagg also earned praise, stepping in for Boz — who succumbed to a calf strain — and covering for the rotation of “experienced” players who can no longer survive 36 straight overs in the field.

Ovens were bowled out for 82 in 28 overs.

With the bat, Blocka and ‘Ski Hire’ returned to their usual opening spots after Hill and Vagg were demoted for last week’s dismal effort.

A 13-run opening stand was had before the Lakers middle order decided to make it a close game.

2/19 turned into 3/19 turned into 4/19 and the momentum had swung Ovens way.

A watchful 30-run partnership lifted the score to 5/49 before Hill was trapped LBW. Always the entertainers, B grade again kept things interesting when 5/49 became 6/49 which brought young gun Lucas Pickering to the crease.

In tricky batting conditions Lucas played a blinder as part of a 37-run unbroken partnership to get the Lakers over the line.

C Grade Lakers shock ladder leaders Greta

Greta 10/28 def by Yarrawonga Mulwala 8/155.

A mixed-bag Lakers outfit sent shockwaves through the league on Saturday, toppling table-topping Greta in a performance equal parts grit, brilliance and pure village cricket.

Greta won the toss and, clearly confident, sent the Lakers in.

Young meat-eater Knight opened up and did exactly what he was told: survive.

His four off 40 balls was described by teammates as “heroic”

At the other end, ‘T-Bone’ Taylor produced a blistering 1 off 8 before learning the important lesson that you cannot play back on a pitch where the ball refuses to bounce.

Enter glove-man C. Jamieson, who played a very classy 42 — which, on any normal-sized ground, was closer to an 80.

Young Parker tried to lift the run rate but lifted himself straight out of the crease instead, stumped for three.

Then came three-first-names Kade Jamie Michael, who also contributed three and then went back to his real passion: confusing scorers.

Young Pickles Phibbs lit up the day with a highly entertaining 39, giving the Lakers something that resembled momentum.

Jeff Thomson’s doppelgänger Finn Mitchell cracked a quick four, while Dennis “Veteran” Phibbs contributed one — showing absolutely no interest in the concept of “building an innings.”

‘Old Man’ Parker waddled out late and slapped a rapid 16* off 12, with J. Browning adding a rock-solid, immovable 2*.

The Lakers posted a competitive 8/155 from 36 overs — but still felt like Greta might chase it in a hurry.

Arvo tea was enjoyed… and then the carnage began.

Bowling carnage: Browning brings the house down

Three-first-names KJM and Gus ‘build him a statue’ Browning were handed the new Kookaburra and told to “just keep it tight.”

What followed will be spoken about in pubs, sheds and C-grade change rooms for decades to come.

Three-first-names bowled heat: 0-7 off 5, building enormous pressure.

Gus then strolled in and produced figures so ridiculous they’ll probably get their own Wikipedia page: 6/3 off 6 (with two runs generously not confirmed as leg-byes).

Jeff Thomson clone F. Mitchell backed it up with 0-8 off 4, and ‘Meat-Eater’ Knight delivered 0-2 off 2, sending Greta into absolute meltdown at 6/26 at drinks.

After the break, Young Parker chimed in beautifully, taking a wicket first ball back and finishing with a perfect 1/0 off 1.

Then ‘T-Bone’ Taylor — clearly wanting to finish quickly so he could go chase yellas — ripped through the tail with three wickets in an over, narrowly missing a hat-trick and ending with 3/1 off 2.

Greta all out for 28.

The final heist

Ned Kelly may have robbed the Greta banks back in the day… but Veteran Gus Browning robbed Greta Cricket Club blind in just three overs.

A once-in-a-lifetime bowling performance from a very young Lakers attack (excluding Gus) delivered a crushing upset no one saw coming.

Well done lads — huge win.

Next week, Lakers take on Gapstead at home

Ghost Writer.

Hoppers outclassed

Barooga 3/153 def Tungamah 10/152.

Rory won the toss and elected to bat first. Phil and Lucas were again tasked with opening the batting, but both Phil (2) and Lucas (12) were dismissed early on which saw Jayden Arnold and Ash Saunders put together a vital 53 run partnership which brought much needed stability and gave some needed confidence to the rest of the batters to come.

With Ash (32) and Jayden (15) out in successive overs, Chris Johnstone and Ben Beaton had started to put together another handy partnership which was showing great promise.

At this point it was the 20 over mark which was time for the drinks break.

Both batters were very positive at the team huddle and were very confident in their ability to continue on bring another vital partnership to the teams score, Tungamah were going along well with the score sitting at 4/83.

First ball after drinks saw Ben playing a defensive block but luck wasn’t going to be on his side and all Ben could do was watch the ball roll backwards onto the stumps which knocked the bails off seeing him bowled out for 13.

Travis Hayes arrived at the crease, his confidence bolstered by the hours he had spent that morning meticulously studying the finer points of cricket and visualizing himself making expert plays. A mental preparation that left him feeling more assured and focused than ever before.

Chris and Travis combined for 15 runs, Travis (3) was out caught trying to play a leg glance to keep the strike rotating but mistimed his shot and was caught at square-leg.

In came the always reliable Archie Doyle who has showed great technique and focus over the last couple of weeks, really showing maturity beyond his years and yet again showed excellent technique and determination.

Together Archie and Chris quickly added 10 runs to the score, but this was as much as they could manage as Chris was out stumped attempting to take a short stride down the wicket hoping to flick it onto the legside out of the reach of the fielder at mid-wicket.

In marches Rory Saunders to the crease filled with the swagger of a man who had just made a ton in Perth, but on this day it wasn’t to be the Nugget batting master class many were hoping to see.

It’s a tough gig being a captain but Rory has taken on this responsibility with a positive attitude and really done a great job guiding the team in the absence of Captain/Coach Tom Irvine over the past month.

He should be very proud of himself as much of the current success the team is having is due to unseen work he has been doing to keep and get a team together each week.

Now with only two wickets left in hand and the score at 8/109 of 29 overs, there wasn’t much expectation of either of the next two wickets adding much to the score as one batter was coming into this clash with a average of 1.6 and the other having never battered in a game before.

Batting with a season average that was barely covering the cost of his pads, Kieran Green had a lot to prove as he came to the crease.

Archie and Kieran put together a unexpected 31 run 9th wicket partnership pushing the team score to 140.

The first ball of the 33rd over saw Archie (2) make his fist mistake of his innings costing him his wicket out bowled.

Tungamah now down to their last wicket saw Noah Morrissey walk out to the crease, this being only his second club game having debuted as 12th man in round three vs Berrigan.

He was in the 11 getting his first ever opportunity to bat in a game and what made this moment more memorable for Noah was he would be out there in the middle with his father.

Together the father son duo contributed 12 runs to the score. Tungamah’s innings was ended when Kieran was bowled out for 32 and Noah the not out batsman 2*.

Tungamah 10/152.

Rory threw the new ball to Ash Saunders and once again Ash showed great skill and precision with the ball. He didn’t have the impact he was hoping for but did help by restricting the Barooga batters from scoring at critical times in his spell.

Barooga came out with the intent to chase down the 153 required runs as quickly as they could.

Tungamah’s bowlers gave it their all and not once did their bowlers let it drop. Consistently chasing and giving their all working on playing their game and not being intimidated by the Barooga batters even when they were playing some real aggressive and attacking shots.

The day ended with Barooga CC coming out on top 3/153 of 24.3 overs.

Man of the Match -

Ash Saunders - 32 runs - 6 overs - 1/22 which included one maiden and a wicket maiden.

Kirsty selected for Cricket Victoria Manhari Country Cup Carnival

The North East Knights Cricket Region have announced their 13 player squads to compete at the Cricket Victoria Manhari Country Cup Carnival during December 2025 with several Lakers Under 15 girls representative Kirsty Plevnik selected.

Both the Under 16 boys and Under 15 girls squads first games are against Gippsland Pride on this Sunday, December 7.

The squads then compete at the four-day carnivals, with the boys carnival hosted by the Hamilton CA and the girls carnival hosted by Cricket Albury Wodonga.

The draws can be found on Play HQ by searching Cricket Victoria Country Cup.

If you have any queries, please contact Rohan Larkin on 0458216622.