Carps settle into season

With the cricket season now entering its third week, the Narrandera Carpheads are starting to hit their stride as the players settle in.

The A grade side were up against Leeton and District in a return to the 40 over one day format. The Carps won the toss and elected to bowl first. Leeton set the pace well, with their batsmen hitting beautifully.

Rhett Macgregor had a decent innings, scoring 44 runs. At the end of the 40 overs, Leeton were sitting pretty at 147 runs.The Carps were ready to give chase in the second innings, but Leeton had other ideas.

James Sullivan and Haydn Emerson were both bowled out with less than ten runs, while Dillion Penhall was out for a duck. Kurt Jensen had a decent innings, finishing up on 39 not out.

Eventually the Carps were bowled out at 124 for 31.4 overs. The B grade Carpheads were up against the LSC Colts, who won the toss and elected to bat first.

The Colts were at an unfair disadvantage from the start, as they were down three players.

“We had a very young side, and with the match situation we were able to give a few guys a go,” said B grade captain Dave Kroek.

“Young Sam Williamson, who was playing his first game of senior cricket, came on and bowled really well. He took a wicket with his second ball and finished with 2-9 off his two overs.”

“He looks a very promising bowler for such a young guy; he’s got a big future ahead,” he said.

“Mitch McPherson was playing his first game back for us after having a year playing up on the central coast. He opened the bowling and with the breeze gusting behind him bowled very fast and with some good swing.”

“Wyatt Gilbert played his first game for the year and bowled pretty well, the signs were there that he will be very handy again this year once he gets back into his rhythm,” Kroek said.

The Carps managed to bowl all the Colts out for 34.

“Chasing 34 runs was something we didn’t want to take lightly, but at the same time it meant we could give a few guys a bat at the top of the order,” Kroek explained.

“Jarrod O’Brien and Jake Grant opened up for us but with the score on four Jake missed one and was bowled for one. Brody Whiteman came in at three but he wasn’t as effective as he was last week, bowled third ball for a duck.”

“Jarrod was looking really good but stepped across his stumps and missed one playing across the line, trapped LBW for six.”

This left the Carps at 3-8, and, according to Kroek, a few worries were starting to creep in.

“Connor Vearing and Kane Williams came together and with a mix of patience, solid defence and lovely stroke play they saw off the good balls and dispatched the bad ones, putting on an unbeaten 29 run partnership to ensure we got the win.”

The Carps won by seven wickets. Connor Vearing had the top score of 10 runs, while Kane Williams had eight not out. It was a good team performance,” Kroek said.

“Everyone either got a bat or bowl besides me and Jason Williams, but we were both happy to watch the young guys get the job done, which they all did very well.”

“With six of our players aged between 16 and 21 it is good to see a bit of interest in cricket from that age group, as we have generally struggled to retain players during these years.”

“Next week we play Yanco Stags at Narrandera High oval and it should be a really good match. We’ve developed a good rivalry with them over the last few years, they’re a good bunch of blokes and it is always a good contest,” he said.