Ipswich v Wynnum Manly
Men’s First Grade Round 8 - Two Day
29 October & 5 November 2022 at Laidley Community Centre (Bichel Oval)
Day One:
The scheduled Air Tatoo at Amberley (which ironically did not proceed due to surrounding ground conditions) had forced the relocation of the First Grade fixture from Ron Baxter Oval to Bichel Oval at Laidley. The adjacent Laidley Community Centre was a hive of activity with local markets in the car park, the Oval was beautifully prepared and it was a glorious spring day. The Ipswich team boasted five Laidley juniors and “all the cracks had gathered to the fray”!
The day started well for Wynnum when Corey Hunter won another toss and elected to bat. Brad Radford and Jordan Kingdon had soon found a groove and runs started to flow. The partnership was 40 in just 40 minutes when the pair attempted one quick single too many. Laidley junior Noah Emmerson fielded at mid-wicket, under-armed and hit the stumps with Kingdon well short. The run flow was interrupted as new batsman, Ali Nasar settled, but a couple of boundaries by Nasar in the 15th took Wynnum to drinks at 1/51.
It was clear that the drinks did its trick as Radford was unable to settle after the break. A lofted drive off Josh Creevey in the 18th over settled comfortably in the hands of Harry Austin at mid-on and a promising innings ended on 38. It was 3/63 a few overs later when Nasar edged Creevey to Jake Cross. Corey Hunter dominated the next 25 minutes leading up to lunch, finding the boundary three times and clearing it once in a 34 run partnership with Grayson Jones; Wynnum 3/97 at lunch.
Harry Wood resumed after lunch bowling four consecutive maidens and claiming the wicket of Jones, who edged to Anthony Wilson at slip. Jed Wilson came to the crease and played the perfect anchor role to Hunter who was finding the boundary regularly and looked in control. Hunter’s 50 from 64 balls came in the 38th over and the partnership grew to 41 by drinks with Hunter on 80 and Wilson 2. Despite a little friendly “banter” from a vocal crowd about his rate of scoring, Wilson seemed determined to occupy the crease!
After drinks, runs flowed more freely The 150 and 50 partnership came up in the 47th over. Both batsmen were now finding boundaries and 50 runs were added in 10 overs. Hunter had 12 fours and 2 sixes to his credit when he attempted to club a short ball from Dylan McAteer over the square leg boundary. Unfortunately, Adam Smith was there to take a comfortable catch and Hunter was out for 99! McAteer struck again a few overs later trapping Reuben Burger in front and Wynnum limped to Tea at 6/211.
Dylan McAteer picked up his third wicket when Jackson Plumb was adjudged LBW four overs after the Tea break. With the support of Josh Fraser, Wilson continued to 50 from 107 balls (he had been 5 from 46!), then celebrated with a six over fine leg; losing the ball in the process. With Daniel Wilson bowling two minute overs from the northern end, the over rate was sensational. The Wynnum 250 came up in the 71st over and the Wilson-Fraser partnership had grown to 49 before a bizarre 14 ball period saw the innings come to an abrupt end. In the 77th over, Wilson on 90, underestimated the prowess of Dylan McAteer in the field and was caught short attempting a second. McAteer trapped Jackson Monley in front four balls later, then completed a triple when he threw from short third to the bowler’s end where Daniel Wilson magicly scooped the ball between his legs to hit the stumps and catch Fraser short. Wynnum all out for 275.
The Ipswich innings commenced at 4.08 with a minimum of 12 overs required. Ipswich bowlers managed 15 overs in the allotted time and openers Bryn Llewellyn and Levi Thomson-Matthews negotiated the period without loss, despite a late chance off the bowling of Grayson Jones. Ipswich 0/37.
Day Two:
Not quite the near perfect conditions of week one, but still a nice day for cricket with a few clouds and breeze to keep things cool.
Ipswich resumed at 0/37 from 15 overs. Openers, Bryn Llewellyn and Levi Thomson-Matthews, brought up a 50 opening stand just 23 minutes into the day’s play and advanced the score to 72 in the next 23 minutes, before Brad Radford was introduced and took a screamer of a C&B - diving to his right - to dismiss Thomson-Matthews with his second ball. Harry Wood signalled what was to come, clubbing a six to get off the mark just before drinks and from that point the Llewellyn-Wood partnership dominated the day’s play. The pair guided Ipswich to 1/159 at lunch with Llewellyn unbeaten on 82 and Wood 31.
The 100 partnership from 144 balls; Wood’s 50 from 85 balls; Llewllyn’s century from 175 balls and the 150 partnership from 193 balls were all registered before the drinks break with Ipswich on 1/244. Just two overs after the drinks break, there was finally some joy for Wynnum when the hard-working Radford bowled Wood for 88. Three overs later Llewellyn’s 4+ hour stay at the crease came to an end on 144 when he pulled Sahal Khatree to the mid-wicket boundary where Ali Nasar took a well-judged catch. Chasing quick runs, wickets began to fall. Khatree snuck one through Jake Cross three overs later and after a blistering 41 from 21, Anthony Wilson fell victim to a beautifully judged running catch on the boundary by Jed Wilson off the bowling of Josh Fraser who had toiled manfully throughout the day. A Burger stumping off Cameron Steinhardt on the stroke of Tea had Wynnum 6/340.
With another bonus point on offer at the 350 mark, Ipswich batted on for 10 runs and promptly declared 75 runs ahead at 3:12pm. Wynnum had a minimum 26 overs to face in the day. Brad Radford and Jordan Kingdon started promisingly before Kingdon was run out by a Dylan McAteer direct hit (his 3rd run out of the match) at the end of the 7th over. Radford missed a straight one from Adam Smith and was bowled a couple of overs later and Ali Nasar played around one from McAteer and met the same fate an over after drinks. Wynnum was 3/52 with a minimum 12 overs remaining in the day. Ipswich bowled 16 more overs, but were unable to dislodge Hunter or Jones who steered Wynnum to 3/109 at stumps. Hunter brought up a 50 to go with his first innings’ 99 and the partnership remained unbeaten on 57 from 96.
Well done to all. A tough day’s play on a pretty flat track. Kudos to the Laidley faithful for their hospitality and support across the two days.
