Sam Shearer and Tim Hosking turbo-powered a marvelous 64 run victory over Old Geelong in a re-match of last years Grand Final on great day on the Main Oval at Scotch.
Skipper Matty Grose had no hesitation in batting upon winning the toss in glorious conditions. Cam Melville and Matt Mitchell got the A-Team off to a steady start, before the loss of Melville for 15. Mitchell made a stylish 22 when he too perished, with teen sensation Will Clark following soon after. This brought the in form duo of Sam Shearer and Tim Hosking together, and they proceeded to carve the Old Geelong attack all around the famous old oval.
Shearer made an imperious 82 and looked set for a well deserved century when he fell. Hosking and Seb Armstrong continued to blaze away, with Armstrong eventually dismissed for 28, while Hosking finished on an aggressive 67 not out. The Schotchies had amassed an impressive 5 for 235 from their allotted 40 overs.
Taking the new rock, Will "Comeback Kid" Hayes made the early break through, to silence the knockers that he only picks up junk time wickets. Old Geelong steadied and showed a lot of fight, but the Old Scotch bowling unit carefully strangled the Old Geelong batting line up to restrict them to 7 for 171, and go some way to avenging last seasons Grand Final defeat. The A-Team go into the Christmas break looking very strong and primed for yet another tilt at the MCC Division 1 premiership.
The Celebrities ventured over to HG Smith Oval in Royal Park where they took on MCC Blue. Losing the toss, the Scotchies bowled well, but MCC got off to a solid start on a ground renown for it's slow outfield and a pitch that always breaks up and keeps low. At 2 for 83, MCC looked extremely comfortable, but then Dave Disco Armstrong started hitting the cracks, engineering a terrific collapse of 5 for 6, to leave MCC 7 for 91.
MCC Blue regrouped and with some late hitting posted a competitive total of 9/147. The Scotchies proceeded cautiously with the evergreen Mark Griffiths holding the innings together. At 2 for 85, the Celebrities suffered an almost identical batting collapse to MCC Blue, with 5 wickets falling for 15. At 7 for 100, things were looking pretty grim. For a while, Summerfield and Nicholas looked like they would guide the Celebrities home, as the score reached 126, with 21 still needed. Summerfield perished to a ball that hit a crack and skidded through and clipped off stump. Shortly after Stavris suffered the same fate, and finally Nicholas was last man out as he was bowled attempting to drive a length ball that ran along the ground as well.
A deflating loss by 19 runs when only 40 minutes earlier the Celebrities were cruising to victory at 2 for 85. Dave Armstrong was the star with the ball with 4/20, and with the bat Mark "Money Shot" Griffiths compiled a ell crafted 50 on a difficult pitch, and Ben Summerfield contributed a hard hitting 17 to almost bring home a remarkable victory.
We head into the Christmas with the club in a strong position, with both teams in contention. We wish you a safe and prosperous holiday season from all of us at Old Scotch Cricket Club - we appreciate your support!.