An update from our Club President – John Margiotta
Welcome back everyone after our break for the rain!
We were able to have an uninterrupted round of matches this weekend. It proved to be very successful for the club with wins to all senior teams and several of our junior teams. A huge thank you to all for soldiering on through the oppressive heat and humidity, it truly was brutal!
I would like to make a special mention of all involved with helping to organise and run our 100 Club fundraiser on Saturday night, a tremendous amount of time went into the event this season as we moved away from traditional venues to a self-managed venue. Congratulations to our winners, it was great to see some of our hardest working volunteers win some of the prize money.
As we are now getting towards the end of our season, now is the time our players should be at the top of their game and looking to finish strong. I would like to wish everyone the best of luck heading into finals and remember, there is no substitute for hard work.
This week, we celebrate Women in Cricket Round, and Rovers Cricket Club would like to take a moment to recognise and appreciate the incredible women who make our club thrive.
To the young girls stepping onto the field, showing skill, passion, and determination – you are the future of our game!
To the Mums, Grandmothers, and Guardians who drive to training and games, cheer from the sidelines, and offer endless support – we see you, and we thank you!
To the scorers, canteen helpers, volunteers, committee members and team mangers who dedicate their time behind the scenes – your hard work and commitment are very much appreciated.
Cricket is stronger because of the incredible women involved at every level. This week, we celebrate you all!
The mighty Redbacks used the bye to sharpen our skills against a parents team. Whilst the parents team was very vocal in their boasting and predictions – both during the week and on game day – they just weren’t quite up to it.
In lush conditions (many thanks Dave for completing a pre-match mow 🙏) Morgun and Dexter burst out of the blocks with some great running that left the parents floundering. That would prove the theme of the day – whilst the parents had the muscles, we had the brains and our rapid running between the wickets would ultimately prove the difference in the tight contest.
Both Morgun and Ryan enjoyed giving their mothers send offs after snaring their wicket, whilst Shenuka may cop some banter at home this week after he was skittled by a great delivery from his delirious dad.
A sausage and a soft drink rounded the morning off nicely.
Rovers won the toss and quickly put the visitors in the field on a very hot and humid afternoon.
On a very slow, lush field runs were always going to be hard to come by, but the boys dug in and fought hard with five players retiring not out helping our home team to a total of 136. Stand out performances from tommy, 26* (31), including two sixes in the penultimate over and cooper 15* (30).
The Rovers bowling attack were consistently asking questions of the Cassowary Coast top order, but the second half of the match belonged to Jake, snaring three wickets in seven balls effectively taking the game away from our visitors. Rovers eventually winning the match by 60 runs.
It was fantastic to be back on the field in the sunshine (despite the heat) playing cricket again.
I need to make a massive shout out to the Holloway family for supplying afternoon tea, umpiring 60 overs (Gary) and stepping in to score at the last minute (Jen). Absolute champion effort, and it is very much appreciated!
Award recipients were Cooper 15* (30) and 1/0 (1), Tommy 26* (31) and 0/3 (2), Jake 3/13 (3) and Zac 4* (20) and 1/6 (2).
Rovers Green lost the bat flip and were sent into the field on a very hot afternoon. The boys were up and about, looking sharp and took regular wickets to limit Atherton to 8/125. Alex I. had a day out in the field taking two catches and knocking the stumps down twice for two runouts. Sam was the pick of the bowlers taking 3/7 off 4 overs.
After spending a couple of hours in the field, the team struggled for energy and couldn’t keep up the concentration that they showed in the field. Wickets fell steadily to be out for 54. Sam capped off a good day personally with a top score of 17 while Andrew and Ronin showed determination as they both retired after their allotted 20 deliveries. Sam, Andrew and Ronin were our award recipients.
Our first game on turf for the season saw us travel to Port Douglas, where we won the toss and chose to bat first. Unfortunately, we struggled with the bat, with Elijah being the only player to make it through to his 30-ball retirement. In a tough innings, our top scorer by far was “Mr. Extra,” as we managed to scrape together 63 runs, finishing 8 down in the 20th over.
Defending a low total, Port Douglas got off to a flying start, reaching 2/42 in pursuit of 64. Fortunately for us, their early retirements meant some key batters didn’t get a second chance at the crease.
What followed was an outstanding effort in the field—every catch stuck, and there was only one misfield the entire game. Our bowlers stepped up under pressure, with Ned leading the charge, taking 3/8. A special mention goes to our legendary fill-in, Isaak, who bowled brilliantly, finishing with 1/4 off 2 overs and taking a spectacular diving catch.
In a thrilling finish, we claimed the final wicket with just five runs to spare, securing a nail-biting victory. While our bowling and fielding were exceptional, there’s plenty of batting work to be done at training on Wednesday.
Great effort, Rovers Gold!
This weeks award winners were Elijah, Ned and Isaak.
At last the storm clouds parted to allow us the thrill of taking on second- on-the-ladder Cassowary Coast at GP1.Cassowary won the toss and to our delight put us in to bat.
We started well with an outstanding opening partnership of 126 from Cody and Ian, with them both finishing on 58. Taj and Brodie then took over, both giving solid unbeaten performances Taj ( 22/27) and Brodie (15/22). This left our opponents with a target of 172 off 29 overs.
Hayden had a couple of awesome spells and finished with 2 for 19 off 5 overs. All other bowlers did well with Cody, Liam and Evan each contributing a wicket. A tense, competitive finish saw us holding them back to 9 runs short at the end of the innings giving us something to celebrate after weeks of rain.
Fingers crossed, we have an another clear day next Saturday to take on Norths at GP2.
Put in to bat, we struggled from the get-go with only Lucas and Mungus showing any value for their wicket, digging in for a 9th wicket partnership, to survive 15 overs and add some respectability to a small total. Bikrem and Mungus picked up 2 wickets each and some sensationally tight bowling by Lucas 2 overs 1/1 and Sean 2 overs 1/4 was not enough as Athertons opening bat, Tyler scored a blistering 116 not out off 85 balls. The boys fielded and caught well. Mungus and Lucas picked up player of the match awards for their resilience with the bat and bowling prowess.
The last game of the weekend was a thriller and delivered a win for the mighty 2s. Captain Sauce won the toss – always important on a hot day after the 100 club function and had no hesitation in batting. Our opponents bowled admirably in the oppressive conditions and it took great knocks from Presty (57) and young gun Archie (42) to build our score up to a competitive 155.
Ian grabbed a wicket in the first over thanks to a great accidental running catch from Presty. Ian would go on to grab 2 wickets – as would the skipper, Taidgh and Sykes-E. Ethan bowled nicely on debut.
As 6pm came and went the match went down to the wire. Some lusty hitting from the Spicey Bites brought them ever closer to our total in the energy-sapping conditions. But with our opponents just one good hit away from victory, Joel “I never get LBW decisions in Cairns so I don’t even bother appealing now” Sykes cannoned his Karam ball into the no. 11s pads and the finger went up to the elation of the Rovers faithful. A great win.
We lost the toss and were sent into Bowl on very hot day. Ethan getting the first two wickets had us off to a good start and Brodie and Max also taking a wicket each and Tadhg direct hit for a run out was pretty spectacular but Mareeba got to a good total after 35 overs on 5 for 168.
With our turn to bat and the dark skies coming across we knew we had to reach our target Tayls and Jace getting us off to a great start, with Archie and Ethan keeping the runs going with Ethan making 50 off 46, we then had to come off the pitch with the thunder and lightning but once that passed we got back to our task at hand going down to the wire with Taj and Brodie brining us home with 1 ball to spare. We got home with the win on 169 not finishing the game till 6.30pm it was a massive day but the whole team contributed to a great win with our first game back after 3 weeks off with the weather. Thanks to the tier 3 boys for helping out and Marty for umpiring. Man of the match going to Ethan for great bowling and Bating.
President – John Margiotta
Vice President – Darren Halpin
Treasurer – Noelle Halpin
Secretary – Mark Malone
Junior Representative – Sim North and Simon North
Players Representative – Andrew Lamborn and Aaron lock
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Enquiries about playing for Rovers, being a part of the Rovers club, old players looking to catch up, or new players looking to join Rovers for the first time are always welcome.
Copyright © 2025 | Developed by Adllins Media
Enquiries about playing for Rovers, being a part of the Rovers club, old players looking to catch up, or new players looking to join Rovers for the first time are always welcome.
Copyright © 2025 | Developed by Adllins Media
