Mount Gambier Trip Weekend of the 19/20th December

To cover the bye weekend of Grade Cricket, an A Grade squad of 12 players, Scorer and Manager went to Mount Gambier to play a combined Mount Gambier District Cricket Association (MTDCA) on the Saturday in a 50 over One Day game.
A free coaching clinic was provided to all under 12 children on the Sunday organised by our SACA Grade Cricket Officer Bill Burnett, and featuring all the players in a station orientated clinic.
See some of the photos of the day here

The game was played in good spirit but hard and fair and simulated a good grade game which was appreciated by our players as an excellent game to replace the bye.
The scores do not reflect the closeness of the game as MGDCA battled it out to the end.
GDCC scored 6/210, with Tom Plant (69), Alex Carey (35) and Tim Bishop (48) getting us off to a good start, but tight bowling and good fielding by MGDCA restricting a possible 250+ score.
In reply MGDCA were bowled out for 141, after being 4/101 after 32 overs.
With only 110 runs required off 18 overs the Seahorses had a fight on their hands. A crucial caught and bowled by Tom Plant broke a potential match winning partnership, and wickets fell at regular intervals to give the Seahorses the win by 69 runs.
Best of the bowlers were Pat Glover (3/26), Sam Fielding (2/32) and Tom Plant (2/14), whilst MGDCA’s Mike McGurk and captain George Kidman took the game right up to us.

So in the end the Seahorses won the inaugural (annual) Waterside Cup and Tom Plant and Michael McGurk were awarded the presidential medals for best player of their respective teams.

For some photos of the match go here

Congratulations to Bryon Cleaver (MGDCA President) and Bill Burnett for their contribution in organising the game, the local groundsman for presenting an excellent pitch, and the local umpires association for their support.
I’m sure the 200 odd spectators enjoyed the entertainment put on by both sides for which will now be an annual event on the GDCC bye weekend from SACA Grade Cricket programming.
The free coaching clinic on the Sunday was attended by a smaller than expected number of 20-30 children, but had the added bonus of a lot of one on one coaching from the GDCC players.
Feedback from the parents indicated that the efforts by the players were well appreciated, especially after a hard day’s night on Saturday supporting the local hostelries following the match and dinner.

Finally a big thank you to our sponsor Gliderol Garage Doors for providing their corporate bus and driver Bernie McDonald free of charge for the trip. Bernie’s support and friendliness certainly enhanced the trip and smoothed out the logistics of it all.

Alan Scholz - Cricket Operations Manager.