Condobolin High School (CHS) Open Boys Cricket Report
On Thursday, 6 November, the Open Boys Cricket Team hosted Parkes High in the Western Region Semi Final of the Alan Davidson Shield. All the boys were keen and ready; however, the Parkes High bus had other ideas. After a trip to the mechanic, Parkes finally made it to Condo, and the game got underway—albeit a bit (a lot) late.
CHS won the toss and chose to bat, a formula that has been successful over the last two years. Zac and Josh opened the batting against the best pace attack we had faced since the Western Final last year. The top order was rattled, with both the Grimmonds, Callan Venables, and Miller Taylor all falling cheaply. Five overs in, and at 4/11, CHS was in trouble, and Parkes had their tails up. Eli Heffernan and Baden Riley dug in for the next fifteen overs, defending their wickets stoutly and beginning to take advantage of the occasional loose ball. The pair were still together at drinks, having moved the score along to a respectable 4/67.
After a short break and some refreshments, the boys returned determined to bat out the overs and post a total that our bowling unit could defend. Unfortunately, the curse of the drinks break struck again shortly after, with Baden falling to a ball he should have left, departing for 23 with the team at 5/77. Ryley Smith strode to the crease and, despite some apprehension, pieced together a solid 24. With some near misses early and a solid defence, Ryley played some magnificent shots, in particular the six he hit over mid-wicket. Eli fell in the 29th over after some smart bowling saw him out of his ground, stumped for 51. This continues his solid form for CHS with three fifties in as many games. Ryley departed two overs later, and things started to look a little shaky.
With seven overs to go, it looked doubtful that CHS would bat out the overs, but Jacob Doyle had other ideas. With support from Lucas Newell, Charlie Patton, and Jaren Blewitt (with a broken bone in his hand, no less), Jacob managed to finish unbeaten on 29, with some excellent running towards the end building pressure and causing the Parkes fielding to falter. For the first time this season, CHS batted out the overs and finished with a commendable 179, adding a solid 112 runs in the last 20 overs.
The boys were buoyed by the fightback with the bat and were looking forward to defending their total. Miller and Jacob opened the bowling, intent on building dot-ball pressure. The innings began with plenty of enthusiasm and, as always, the loudest fielding team in the Western Region. Wickets fell early, with Miller combining with Zac to take the dangerous Boyd for 6. This further encouraged the team as Jacob and Miller managed to combine in the first eight overs to have Parkes reeling at 5/42. Miller’s second wicket was a well-judged catch by Charlie, and Jacob managed to rattle the stumps of the other opener before Miller took a catch in the cordon and Eli took a slick catch at shot cover.
With the bulk of the damage done and only one recognised batter left, confidence started to grow among the players and the crowd. Parkes managed to steady the ship and add a few needed runs before Baden claimed the massive wicket of Zac, judged to be adjacent to his wickets for 39. Callan Venables (one wicket) and Eli (two wickets) cleaned up the tail before some slick fielding by Ryley and Zac saw the No. 11 for PHS run out for a diamond duck. Parkes were all out for 92. In the end, the Open Boys Cricket Team prevailed by 87 runs — a stellar effort after being in deep trouble early in the match.
The boys are now waiting to hear who they will play in the final out of Mudgee and Dubbo. Thank you again to Pic for umpiring, Susan for scoring, all the parents who came down to watch, and to Parkes High for travelling out and their sportsmanship throughout the day.
The CHS Open Boys Cricket Team Report sourced from the Condobolin High School Facebook Page.