Redlands v Wynnum Manly
Men’s First Grade Round 7 - Two Day
15 & 22 October 2022 at Peter Burge Oval
Day One:
It was a glorious Queensland day at Peter Burge Oval and it was no surprise that Corey Hunter said “We’ll bat” less than a microsecond after the coin fell his way.
At the top of the order, Jordan Kingdon and Bradley Radford were up against James Bazley and Jon Stimpson. Runs were hard to come by early, but a few quick singles and a couple of boundaries to Radford saw the score climb to 33 in the 11th. It was Redlands’ English import George Garrett who broke through with the wicket of Radford; Sam Heazlett moving well to his right to take the catch at third slip. Kingdon’s edge to Liam Smith at second slip right on the Drinks break, gave Garrett his second of the morning; Wynnum 2/36. Ali Nasar and Corey Hunter battled hard over the next 13 overs leading up to the lunch break. It must’ve been the lure of a “Tigers Toastie” that led to the decision to attempt a run (on a mis-field) four minutes before lunch. Carter Pearson’s throw hit the stumps. Nasar Run Out. 3/85 at lunch.
Hunter and Grayson Jones began the rebuild after lunch rotating the strike nicely and were seemingly comfortable at the wicket, when, out of the blue, Jones lofted Stimpson to mid-off and was caught by Bailey Stewart, then Hunter shouldered arms to Stewart and was bowled an over later; 5/118. Jed Wilson and Reuben Burger dug in, steering Wynnum to drinks at 132 and facing five consecutive maidens from Garrett and spinner, Jasper Sumner. Their patience paid off as 47 runs and a 50 partnership came in the next ten overs leading into the tea break.
After Tea, Redlands tactics turned to the short ball with Bazley the chief enforcer. Burger employed the “duck and weave” while Wilson took on the short ball pulling to good effect. The 6th wicket partnership had grown to 88 when the error finally came from Wilson, pulling straight to Pearson at mid-wicket just one short of a half-century. Burger brought up a third consecutive 50 two overs later, but was out shortly after when an attempted slog-sweep off Sumner found the top edge and was pouched by Bailey Stewart at mid-on. Liam Guthrie joined Jackson Plumb at the wicket. With Redlands eight overs down on the over rate, skipper Drennan turned to spinners Sumner and Pearson to make up time. While Plumb held down an end, Guthrie attacked the bowling scoring at a run-a-ball. The partnership reached 50 in the 85th over and the 300 came up in 89th over, the first over of the new ball taken by Garrett. An over later, Bailey Stewart snuck one through to remove Guthrie for 47. Jackson Plumb and Josh Fraser added a further 22 valuable runs in the remaining six overs to take Wynnum to 8/327 at the close. An excellent recovery from 5/118!
Day Two:
Play got underway on time at 10.00am on day 2; a minor miracle given the dreadful weather forecast. With the likelihood of rain interruptions almost guaranteed, Wynnum chose to declare their innings closed at 8/327 and have a crack at the Redlands batting. Redlands called in Cameron French and Brayden Laffan to replace James Bazley (Second XI duties) and Sam Heazlett (groin injury suffered in week 1). Wynnum drafted Jackson Monley to replace Liam Guthrie (second XI).
Josh Fraser and Jackson Plumb were miserly, allowing just 19 runs from the first 9 overs before the rain forced players from the field at 10.36. Play resumed at 11:00 and just four balls in, Jackson Monley took the edge of Liam Smith’s bat and Grayson Jones held onto one at first slip. Twenty minutes later, the game took on a whole new complexion when Fraser took out Laffan’s middle stump and then had Leigh Drennan caught by Reuben Burger in the same over; Redlands 3/35. Fraser picked up a third when Jason Grosvenor missed one and was bowled 15 minutes before lunch. Redlands limped to lunch at 4/70.
After lunch, Michael Nicol and Cameron French settled into their batting bringing up a 50 partnership from 101 balls in the 35th over. The milestone was not kind as Cameron Steinhardt snuck one through Cameron French two balls into the 36th, then had Nicol (who had batted patiently for 47 from 103 balls) stumped by Burger right on the Drinks break in the 38th; Redlands 6/107. Josh Fraser was re-introduced after drinks and picked up his fourth when he trapped Bailey Stewart in front to make it 7/115…could it be? Remarkably, the rain had held off despite a horrific BOM radar. Just three wickets to an unlikely first innings victory. Carter Pearson and George Garrett somehow held out the Wynnum bowling (despite many “oos” and “ahs”) for the next 15 overs. The Tea break was taken, but the umpires deemed conditions unsuitable to return to the field after tea. Play was abandoned at around 4.00pm.
Well done to all. 56 overs of cricket on the day was a pretty good effort given the conditions.
