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THE Casterton and District Cricket Association played its part in another successful weekend of Western Waves T20 cricket in Hamilton at the weekend.
It was most encouraging to see the vast majority of the association’s top performing cricketers make themselves available to represent their association with enthusiasm and pride. After an exciting first round victory overHamiltonon Friday night, Casterton had to be satisfied with second place in its matches against the South West andWest Wimmeracricket associations.
Both the division one and three finals were between the larger Warrnambool and South West District Cricket Associations, with Warrnambool victorious in both games. Both Warrnambool and South were undefeated with three wins in division two, while Casterton was one of three associations to finish with one victory.
Ricky Killey was also honoured as joint recipient of the most valuable player award in division two.
The Casterton association also had the largest contingent of umpires (five) officiating at the carnival, a great tribute to a small association’s willingness and ability to contribute to the promotion of cricket in the region.
Casterton v Hamilton
The traditional Friday night fixture between Casterton and Hamilton was again the opening game of the T20 weekend at the Clem Young Turf Oval in Pedrina Park. Good line and length bowling from the Casterton opening pair of Murray Staude and Stefan Thistelton restricted the opportunities for the Hamilton batsmen and wickets tumbled at regular intervals.
Fortunately, back-up bowlers Lionel Balzan, Daniel Brody, Matt Koutroubas and Chris Oliver continued this trend throughout the rest of theHamiltoninnings andHamiltonfinished its innings at 9-116.
Best with the ball for Casterton were Stefan Thistelton (2-14), Chris Oliver (2-19) and Lionel Balzan (2-29). Daniel Brody also took three fine catches.
During the Casterton innings, theHamiltonopening pair had great difficulty with its direction. After two overs, Casterton was 1-28, of which seven were wides. Lionel Balzan (29) and Troy O’Connell (8) dominated the early scoring, but their departure signalled a fight back forHamilton.
Seven Casterton wickets fell for 45 runs, due to a combination of good bowling and careless batting. In the 17th over, Casterton was in big trouble at 9-105, still 11 runs behind. However, there was no need to worry as Ricky Killey (46 not out) led from the front with a massive six over square leg to steer Casterton to a meritorious 9-126 and victory.
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