THE Hamilton and District Cricket Association (HDCA) Hurricanes gave a tremendous effort in the Western Waves Festival of Cricket final but fell short against Warrnambool at Monivae College on Sunday.

Just to reach the final, the young team had to defeat Wimmera Mallee convincingly and they achieved that to reach their goal of a place in the final, but now that they were there, they had to devise a game plan that would take down the undefeated Warrnambool, while missing some key personnel for the clash.

Warrnambool went into the match with scores of 270 and 337 under its belt and the Hurricanes knew that they would have to find a way of combating such a strong batting side.

The selectors chose to stack the side with spin bowling, especially after left-arm quick bowler, Angus Harms, was ruled out through injury.

Brendan Weatherson, Russell Elton and Ollie Wortley have all been in strong form in the HDCA and they would have to shoulder much of the responsibility of not only taking the wickets, but also keep in the run rate in check.

Hurricanes skipper, Brendan Huf, won the toss and elected to bat first on what appeared to be a dry hard surface, as he and Wortley strode to the middle to battle the Warrnambool opening attack.

They were looking to post a solid opening stand that the rest of the team could build upon and Huf was in sparkling form with a pair of crisp boundaries to get his innings started.

He would last only 18 balls though when Craig Britten snuck past the edge of his bat to trap the skipper LBW and Hamilton was 1-12.

Tobi Cook strode to the centre in the fifth over knowing that he had enjoyed success at the venue in the past for the Hurricanes.

The tall number three batsman has been a player the selectors have put a lot of faith in, as he has been a fixture of the team for over five years and he is repaying that faith with some wonderful knocks at this level.

This day would be no different as he, and the ever patient Wortley, came together to form a great second-wicket partnership of 82 in a tick over an hour with Cook pulling out all his array of shots.

He played delightful sweep shots to the spin bowlers and even used the reverse sweep to great effect in a knock that lasted only 65 balls but, in that time, he had scored 63 valuable runs including nine boundaries.

If one was to be any way critical of his innings, it would be that he left as many runs again out on the ground.

This would be the third time he could have gone on to reach three figures while playing for the Hurricanes and the team needs their best batsman in the middle making runs and not sitting in the pavilion thinking what might have been.

Still, he is one of the youngsters who is taking the team forward into the future and he has come a long way from when first selected at this level.

With a score of 2-94 on the board halfway through the 22nd over, Cook had given the rest of the Hurricanes batting line-up a solid base on which to build an innings upon.

Wortley would last only another four overs when his patient knock came to a halt with 32 next to his name.

He had provided the foundation innings for the team, but whether the middle and lower order could go on remained to be seen.

Zach Burgess (five) and Hamish Cook (17) followed Wortley as victims of Zander Mungean, as the Hurricanes lost their way, losing 3-27.

Zebb Nield and Jack Wortley were together in the middle for the Hurricanes and after the quick loss of wickets, they needed to consolidate just when the innings needed to kick on.

The pair played the right knocks for the situation because if they had gone after the bowling, they would have been forced into making mistakes and lost their wickets.

They added 43 for the sixth wicket before Nield (37) was bowled by Britten, who had been swung back into the attack after his new ball effort earlier.

Jack finished with an unbeaten 20, which when you consider he will bat at number three in the association’s Under-17 team again next season, it is a huge performance for the 15-year-old.

The Hurricanes batted out their allotted overs to post 8-194, which was by far the most runs Warrnambool had conceded during the competition and it was a total that the Hurricanes could defend if they stuck to their game plan.

When play resumed after the luncheon break, Warrnambool came out blazing as expected and the run flowed quickly, as Nathan Murphy took a liking to the bowling on offer.

Shannon Beks (12) was the first to go with 42 on the board after nine overs when Lachie Watt found the edge of his bat for Zach Burgess to claim his first catch of the day behind the stumps.

Brendan Huf grabbed the vital wicket of Cam Williams (zero) as he castled the current Australian Country representative, while Hamish Cook (3-23) chimed in to snare Nick Butter (12), Nathan Murphy (50) and Mungean (eight), to leave the innings on a knife edge at 5-93 at the first drinks break after only 17 overs.

Murphy had threatened to take the match away from the Hurricanes, smashing 50 runs from 40 balls, but it was the 41st ball that proved to be his downfall, as Jack Wortley held onto a good outfield catch.

The Hurricanes had to be buoyant in their huddle at the drinks break, but they also knew that each of the first 10 batsmen in the line-up all batted in the top four for the club teams and that they still had to fight for every success.

It was former Glenthompson local, Bailey Jenkinson, who joined with Chris Bant in forming the partnership that would break the hearts of the Hurricanes, adding 75 for the sixth wicket to take the match in hand.

Unfortunately, the Hurricanes spinners didn’t have the effect the selectors had hoped for, as the Warrnambool batsmen showed just how well they use their feet to this form of attack and any help from the surface was nullified.

Jenkinson finished on 52-not-out and claimed Man of the Match honours, as Warrnambool finished with 6-196 to carry off the inaugural Western Waves Shield, but no doubt all teams will be back next season to vie for the title in this new representative format.

In the Over-40s final, Horsham proved too strong for South West at Melville Oval, winning fairly comfortably in the end.

Horsham batted first and posted 6-167 thanks to Justin Combe making 73, while South West took to the crease in the second innings hoping to chase down the target, but was restricted to 141.

Country lads hand Townies a thrashing

AFTER much hype in the lead up to the local derby in the Festival of Cricket Over-40s competition, the Country lads gave their Town cousins a thrashing at Dahl Turf on Sunday to grab bragging rights for the next 12 months.

The match was originally due to be played on January 16, but the dreaded COVID and the weather intervened to delay what had been hyped up among the locals.

Neither team could reach the final of the competition after early loses to Horsham each and the local match was for pride only.

Tired bodies were dragged to Dahl Turf after a long Saturday in the heat and the teams decided to reduce the match to only 30 overs per team, down from the 40 they should have played in a decision that was met with no arguments.

The Townies won the toss and elected to bat first, as Craig Dimond and Darren Groves took strike against Ray Sutton and Nick Ciccone.

Neither of these batsmen are known for their watchful style and the runs flowed quickly, as 19 came from the first three overs.

Groves (10) was the first to go when he failed to keep a return catch to Ciccone on the ground and the bowler gleefully held the ball aloft in triumph.

Dimond was joined by Leigh Alexander but they could only add a further 15 runs, before Dimond (11) was well caught by Colin Myers after Darren Jacobson deceived him with a good ball.

Alexander (21) looked to be in good touch with willow in hand, but the introduction of Mark Lazzari brought about his demise when he was clean bowled with 54 on the board and 14 overs gone.

A partnership was needed if the Townies were going to post a defendable total and Tony Dumesny and Robbie Ellis came together and started to reach the boundary more often.

They added 51 for the fourth wicket before Dumesny (34), (who has been the find of the Hurricanes’ Over-40s summer), was trapped LBW by Myers.

The Country bowlers ensured that their Town opponents didn’t get away in the last six overs of the innings, as the score only progressed to 8-141 when that final ball of the 30th over was delivered.

Ellis had knocked up 48-not-out to top score for the Town lads, an innings which included six boundaries and he was unlucky to miss out on his half-century.

The break between innings was a little longer than normal, as those tired bodies enjoyed the reprieve offered by the shade at Dahl Turf and when the Country innings began, Greg Millard and Andrew McFarlane opened the innings.

They would score at a run-a-ball pace for the first five overs, but the introduction of Dumesny into the attack had immediate effect, as he had McFarlane caught by Simon Van kalken for 19.

Millard would be the mainstay for the Country innings, as the opener reached the only half-century of the match, posting 64-not-out to guide the Country team to a huge victory.

The Town bowlers toiled all day but could only take three wickets before the target was reached well inside the allotted overs and the jibes to and from between the players continued on in the bar after the match.