From last ball victories to club record-breaking partnerships, the opening month and a half of the Men’s 1st XI season has had it all.
Four rounds have taken place so far in that period, with three teams undefeated and four teams winless.
Round 1 saw only two matches completed at AH Butler Oval and Greenvale Reserve as Melbourne’s weather caused havoc and wiped out the other seven.
Casey South Melbourne and Geelong came away with wins that weekend, the Swans defeating Frankston Peninsula by 15 runs and the Cats securing a 145-run win over Greenvale.
The following two Saturday’s saw all 18 sides take to the park with red Kookaburra in hand.
Only two draws took place that round between Casey South Melbourne and Ringwood along with Camberwell Magpies and Footscray.
Richmond and Geelong were the biggest winners of the round, with Cats batter Lachie Field scoring another hundred in the Cats 220-run victory against the Lions.
Tigers opener Dan Scholz was just as impressive with the bat, acquiring 137 runs and staying not out to help his side chase down Northcote’s total of 192 with nine wickets in hand.
Melbourne, Kingston Hawthorn, Dandenong and St Kilda all won their opening games, defeating Essendon, Greenvale, Frankston Peninsula and Melbourne Uni.
The closest game that round took place at Princes Park where Carlton held on for a five-run win over Prahran.
Michael Archer came up clutch with the ball for the Blues, picking up 4-68 off 29 overs. Alex Turner’s game-high knock of 56 wasn’t enough to get the True Blues over the line.
Carlton then continued their winning ways the following round with a five-wicket victory over Fitzroy Doncaster away from home.
Similarly, Richmond and St Kilda secured comfortable road victories against Melbourne University and Ringwood.
St Kilda’s win saw them celebrate Tom Russ’ 200th club game in style while also spoiling David King’s 300th 1st XI game in the process.
Casey South Melbourne and Northcote bounced back from their Round 2 losses with wins over Prahran and Dandenong.
Northcote’s win at Shepley Oval came despite Shobit Singh’s knock of 160 runs, which included 15 boundaries and half a dozen sixes.
The Swans pulled a rabbit out of their hat in their 10-run win over the True Blues who were 2-200 by the end of the 43rd over.
Kingston Hawthorn and Melbourne, along with Footscray and Essendon, had to settle for draws.
The feel-good story from that round came out of Greenvale Reserve where the Kangaroos won their first game in just under 20 months against Frankston Peninsula.
Greenvale captain Justin Galeotti led the way with the bat, remaining not out on 161 runs. Teammate Angus Webb also had a red ink innings, scoring 105 runs to help his side over the line by eight wickets.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t build on the momentum gained in Round 4, going down convincingly to Dandenong at Shepley Oval.
That game saw star batters Shobit Singh and Brett Forsyth record a club high 273-run third wicket partnership, chasing down Greenvale’s total by the 52nd over.
During their record-breaking partnership, Forsyth scored his 25th First XI century whilst Singh became just the 10th player in Premier Cricket history to record back-to-back scores of 150 or more.
Carlton boosted their net run rate and remained undefeated with a 94-run victory over Geelong at Princes Park.
Fellow pacesetters Richmond and St Kilda put together impressive wins over Casey South Melbourne and Frankston Peninsula at Central Reserve and the Harry Trott Oval.
Whilst the Tigers chased down Casey South Melbourne’s total of 248 with five wickets in hand, St Kilda comfortably accounted for the Heat’s total of 367 runs inside 75 overs.
Northcote, Melbourne University and Footscray also chased down totals at home against Ringwood, Essendon and Kingston Hawthorn.
Camberwell Magpies and Melbourne were the only two sides to split the points in their draw at Camberwell Sports Ground.
No game to date was as tense as the one between Fitzroy Doncaster and Prahran though, with the latter winning on the very last ball of their matchup at Schramms Reserve.
Matt Wilcox was the hero for the True Blues, with his fourth and final wicket securing a famous victory for his side.
The win was an emotional one for Prahran batter Damon Egan whose father passed away ahead of the second day.
We now enter the next set of white-ball games in the men’s season, with the next leg of two-day games beginning on January 18th.
Heading into the final month of 1st XI cricket for the year, Shobit Singh leads all comers with the bat having accumulated 390 runs so far this season.
Camberwell’s Liam Fitzpatrick and Tom Scott, along with Brett Forsyth and Geelong’s Lachie Field, round out the top five leading run scorers, which are only separated by 30 runs. Whilst Kingston Hawthorn skipper Josh Manning tops the averages with 237.00 following back-to-back centuries in Rounds 2 & 3.
Only two wickets separate top from ninth in the leading wicket takers column, with Prahran recruit Brodie Symons and Geelong’s Callum Stow sitting atop on 11 poles each.
Northcote star Joe Medew-Ewan, Dandenong’s Noah Hurley and David King are amongst the players to sit inside the top nine wicket takers.