Youth, experience & talent on show at Country Week

BUSSELTON-MARGARET RIVER’S three men’s cricket teams have achieved excellent results in a highly successful Senior Country Week tournament which finished in Perth last Friday.

The highlight of the week was the No. 2 side, under Chris Reagan’s leadership, remaining undefeated in D-Section and winning their grand final against West Pilbara, earning them promotion to C-Section next year.

The No. 1 side under Fraser Oates also competed strongly to win two matches to remain in A-Section, while the No. 3 side, competing in E-Section with Alistair McIlroy as captain, emulated the D-Section side by also reaching their grand final before going down to Eastern Goldfields.

The A-Section grand final at the WACA saw Geraldton crowned tournament champions with a 50-run win over Albany.

“It was a really fun week – we had a great blend of experience, youth and talent,” said Chris Reagan. “We had one job to do and that was to get BMRCA up to C-Grade.

“It was very enjoyable getting to know everyone a little better and enjoying each other’s successes.

“Everyone contributed in some way each day.

“A huge thanks to the Weston family, Pete and Emma Bresser, Neil Langenhoven and all others involved in supporting our three teams,” he said.

Individual highlights of the No. 1 side in A-Section in the latter part of the week included Ajith Rajapaksha’s innings of 68 against Eastern Goldfields at Rosalie Park and Fraser Oates’ double of 82 runs and 3-16 in Busselton-Margaret River’s big win against South Midlands.

Country Week veteran offspinner Ben Payne followed his haul of 3-18 against South Midlands with a career-best performance with the bat on Friday, when he opened the innings in a T20 game against Upper Great Southern at Coker Park and smashed 72 not out off 47 balls with 7 fours and 5 sixes.

It was not quite enough as BMRCA scored 4-158 off 20 overs before Upper Great Southern responded with 6-160 in 17 overs to win with three overs to spare.

The undefeated performance by the No. 2 team in D-Section started with nine-wicket wins against both Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Fortescue, before a 47-win over Bunbury on Wednesday.

Busselton-Margaret River scored 9-192 off 50 overs (Chris Reagan hitting 60) and then dismissed Bunbury for 145, with Ross Kettlewell, Danny Weston and Elijah Truscott each taking two wickets.

On Thursday Busselton-Margaret River dismissed Great Southern for 82 (Elijah Truscott taking 3-14 and Max Byrne 2-1) and then reached the required target in less than 28 overs for the loss of four wickets, with Darcy Hume hitting 36.

In Friday’s D-Section grand final against West Pilbara at Brittania Reserve, Busselton-Margaret River totalled an excellent 247 in 48.2 overs, the highlight being an opening stand of 121 between Alex Cooke (dismissed for 97) and Brendan Millar (37).

Busselton-Margaret River then dismissed West Pilbara for 95 inside 23 overs, with Ryley Barrow bagging 5-54 and Elijah Truscott taking 2-9, to take out the D-Section championship.

The No. 3 side defeated Wyalkatchem on Wednesday with Jude Bowler-Wright scoring 47 and Karl Clively taking 3-30 for the victors, and then also defeated Upper Great Southern on Thursday with Spencer Drummond scoring 33 and Ky South enjoying a fine double of 29 runs and outstanding figures of 3-13 off 10 overs, enabling Busselton-Margaret River to have a shot at the E-Section final on Friday.

Ultimately however, Eastern Goldfields were too strong in the grand final, scoring 7-253 off 50 overs, to which Busselton-Margaret River responded with 167 all out (Jude Bowler-Wright 36 and Jacob Cook 35 being the top scorers).

In other Country Week associated news, Nannup’s Emma Bresser has been competing in the Senior Women’s Country Week with the Bunbury Red team.

On Monday, Bresser scored a fine innings of 57 off 63 balls on turf for Bunbury Red in their T20 final against Peel Blue at College Park.

This Saturday sees the resumption of the Yates Shield competition in the Busselton-Margaret River Cricket Association, with Yallingup-Oddbods hosting Dunsborough at Barnard Park, Vasse at home to Margaret River Hawks at Bovell Park, and Cowaramup at home to St Marys.