Weekly Update - 3rd March

Save the Date – End of Season Presentation!

When: Friday, 4th April 2025
Where: Red Beret Hotel from 6pm
Who: All players, families, sponsors & volunteers welcome!
Join us as we celebrate another fantastic season at Rovers Cricket Club!
A night to recognise achievements, thank our supporters, and wrap up the season together.

JUNIOR RESULTS – ROUND 15

Tier 1 Rovers Gold (98) V Rovers Green (159)

Green won the toss and put the gold lads in to bat with Cooper L 10 runs and Teddy 18 getting the boys off to a great start. From there green tightened up their bowling and restricted Gold to a respectable 98 runs. Ben 2/7, captain Liam 4/10, Josh 2/7,and Luca 3/7 all bowled well.

After a shaky start Greens senior lads stepped up with Oliver 22,Liam20 and Charlie 20 all making their mark with the bat. For Gold Kai 2/14, Cooper H 2/8 and Bradley 1/5 did their best to make the run chase as difficult as possible.
Thanks to all parents who helped out and Riley from tier 2 who umpired and special thanks to coach Steve for a great coffee in the morning.

Tier 1 Rovers Red (116) V Barron Yellow (132)

Captain Ryan won the toss and decided to bowl.  The Barron boys batted well and did not take many risks. We found wickets hard to come by and uncharacteristically we bowled a lot of wides today. Our wicket takers were Aadit 2-7 and Bronte 1-7.

We started our innings well with Aadit (18) Jacob (26) and Ryan (23 – 2 sixes) giving us some early momentum.  But credit to our opponents – they proceeded to bowl, catch and field extremely well and ultimately their big bag of wickets proved the difference.

Of course winning or losing is not the be all and end all, but it was a timely reminder that the team that does the basics right usually comes out on top.

One game left to go for the mighty Redbacks.

Tier 2 Rovers Red V Norths

Saturday afternoon had the Rovers Redmen head out to St. Andrews for a 4th v 5th clash in the last regular game of the season.

In difficult conditions, the home team was sent out to field. Our leading wicket takers of the season were given the new ball and did not disappoint – Jake snaring a wicket with the last ball of his first over and Riley taking the next wicket with the first ball of the second over leaving norths 2 for not much.

Wil came on at first change and bowled a two over spell that left me baffled as to how he didn’t take several wickets. Inside edges,  batsmen backing away and general awkwardness from the boys in yellow is really the only way to describe how the batsmen survived the 12 ball onslaught.

A change of pace brought a flurry of wickets with zac producing one of his best bowling performances of the season (2/12).

After having the opposition 7/63, the innings (and in the end the match) got away from us with norths going on to score 102 – Cooper coming on to stop the rot in the second last over and taking the last wicket – a sharp catch from keeper Eli.

Our run chase constantly faulted with the fall of wickets and, ultimately, a lack of retirements saw us bowled out for 65 in the 24th over. Trav a shining light returning to form with an unbeaten 17 from 24 balls.

Award winners were Tommy, Mitch and Riley.

Tier 2 Rovers Green V Mulgrave Red

Rovers Green hosted Mulgrave Red on Saturday afternoon at Endeavour Park.  Losing the bat flip (again!), Rovers were sent into the field against a strong Mulgrave batting lineup.  Rovers struck early through dynamic opening bowlers Joash and Kye, and when Toby took two wickets in two balls (unlucky not to get a third the next over), Rovers had them 4/56, nearing the halfway mark. 

The boys kept the pressure up, but in the hot conditions, the runs began to flow for Mulgrave with them finishing 7/152.  In reply, Rovers Green had some solid contributions in Caleb (18), Will (18 n.o.), Toby 13 and Kai (11 n.o.) but it wasn’t enough finishing all out for 93.  Awards went to Alex M for some tight bowling and continual positive attitude, Will for his batting and keeping and Kai for his all-round contribution with bat and ball.

Tier 2 Rovers Gold (4-131) V Mulgrave Blue (6-164)

Facing the top-of-the-table Mulgrave Blue, Rovers Gold put in a strong effort despite tough conditions, with humidity near 100%. Losing the toss, we were sent into the field and fought hard to contain a strong batting lineup.

The boys held their nerve with some impressive bowling and fielding. Elijah led the attack, taking 3/36 while also pulling off two stunning one-handed catches. Ashton was equally effective, finishing with 2/19. Neil also had a solid day in the field, taking two important catches.
Mulgrave’s top three retired batters returned at the end, giving their total a late boost to 6/164.

Despite the challenge, five of our batters reached their retirement milestones, showing great patience and skill at the crease. Hugh was the standout with a well-made 38 off 33 balls, while Elijah (14*), Ashton (13*), Rocco (11*) and Darcy (14*) were the other batters who made it through to their retirement.
In the end, Mulgrave proved too strong, but it was a great team effort with plenty of positives to take into our final game.

Players of the Day Elijah, Hugh and Ashton

Let’s finish the season on a high!

Tier 3 Halpin Partners Rovers (4-169)  V Mulgrave (150)

We lost the toss, but Mulgrave chose to put us in to bat. Solid batting contributions from Captain Ian 35 off 42, Taj 35 of 58 and an outstanding PB from Brodie 42 of 76 (not out) helped us set a challenging target of 170 for Mulgrave.

Our bowlers kept constant pressure on Mulgrave with Ian, Taj and Evan (another PB) each taking two wickets. Our bowlers were supported by some classy clean keeping from Ben (one stumping, one run out and one catch) and some great catching all around with Rocco Farquharson (on debut) taking a great catch and setting up a wonderful run out.
In a fairly tight finish, we managed to bowl out Mulgrave for 150, leaving them 20 short of their target.

A great team effort for a win that secured second spot on the ladder and a home semi-final against third placed Cassowary Coast next Saturday.

There’s plenty more great cricket left in this team. Good luck for next week fellas!

Tier 3 Super Global Rovers (6-139) V Mulgrave Edmonton (9/136)

It’s been a tough season for the boys and beating the 2nd placed Cass Coast was always going to be a tough ask. We lost the toss and were sent in to bowl. A win for the boys today would push Halpin Rovers into 2nd spot and a home final. With free pizza on the line, the boys were into it. Blake 0/17 off 7 overs and Lachy 1/10 off 7 overs once again tied the opposition batters down, bowling economically in the opening spell of the game. Excellent bowling by Mungus 2/15, Thomas 2/16 and Lucas 2/21 help restrict Cass to 9/136.

Thomas also took an unbelievable backhanded jumping catch in the play of the day. Blake and Mungus opened the batting with a 39 run opening stand to give the team the platform needed for a good total. Blake scored a very patient 47 runs and Hugh a blistering 31* off 30 balls were the best bats. Travis 14, Mungus 10 and Lucas 9* were also amongst the runs. Big thanks to Tier 2 lads Travis, Huey, Finn, and Ashton for filling in at the last minute. Shout out to the two Pete’s for umpiring and Justin for coaching the lads this season.

SENIOR RESULTS

1st Grade – Twomey Schriber Rovers (8-158) V Norths (112)

In a high-stakes clash at Griffiths Park, the Cairns Rovers Cricket Club secured their spot in the finals with a decisive 46-run victory over Norths. Winning the toss under scorching conditions, Rovers opted to bat first.

Despite some elegant stroke play, Rovers’ top order struggled, with none of the top seven batsmen surpassing 20 runs. The innings was stabilized by a crucial 49-run partnership between Kael and Tommy King, guiding Rovers to a total of 158.

Defending a modest target, Rovers’ bowlers delivered a stellar performance. Tom King showcased exceptional swing bowling, with Brenton Edwards maintaining pressure with disciplined bowling, reducing Norths to 4/28. However, a resilient stand saw Norths recover to 4/93, with new recruit Coby Edmondstone threatening to shift the momentum.

The game’s turning point came with a brilliant run-out executed by 12th man Chris Davies, dismissing Edmondstone. This pivotal moment triggered a collapse, with two additional run-outs and wickets from Edwards, Ellis, and Lock, culminating in Norths being bowled out for 112.

2nd Grade – Red Beret Hotel Rovers (135) V Barron River (8-136)

In a gripping contest that would go down to the last over, the mighty 2s just came up short against Barron River – who will be our semi-final opponents next week.

After losing the toss on a moist pitch, we were sent in to bat and Dayne (23) and Cody did well to see off the new ball.  The pitch started to play some tricks on us and we lost regular wickets as we stuttered to 135 in the 38th over.

Though we only had a modest total, we thought we were in the game and we started with a flurry to leave our hosts at 5-42.  To their credit, Barron’s middle order rallied and just pipped us at the post despite the best efforts of our skipper Sauce (3-26) and Langers (2-14) whilst Kael’s wicket keeping was smooth all day in tough conditions.

A tough loss but we will be bigger and better next week as we head into the finals.

3rd Grade – FGF Development Rovers (137) V Pinnacle Landscape Barron (8/138)

We won the toss and elected to bat we started off holding our own with Simon and Pete coming along nicely with the runs until one of there young bowlers came on and went thru our order quiet quickly thinking we were in trouble in came Coop, Anthony, Ranjit and Blake to help steady the ship to get us to 109 off our 35 overs.

Then with our turn to bowl we started off slow with them reaching 3/60 with lachie taking the first 2 wickets and Ranjit the next for us we were getting concerned next minute in come young gun Blake who took the hat trick of the season(we were all so excited we forgot to take a picture) with all of a sudden we were with a real chance of being back in the game, then we had another two quick wickets from Taj and Blake and then Archie and Anthony with a run out we only had 1 wicket to get unfortunately we just didn’t get there and they won the game.

This brings our 3rd grade team to the end of the reason with having to win the game to make finals. All the team played well with our never die attitude and fort right till the very end. We want to thank everyone that helped us along the way, tier 3 players who helped out every week, players and parent umpires, the committee for all your behind the scenes work and of course our coach and captain Pete for all your hard work over the season. We wish everyone the best in there finals campaign and hope everyone has a relaxing off season we will be back bigger and ready to go next season. Go Rovers!

3rd Grade – Bhutanese Rovers (1/158 V Mulgrave Copperlode Brewing (157)

Congratulations Sanjay Rai 101 not out.