Murray Valley Cricket Association (MVCA) suffered a poor start to its Country Northern Rivers – Junior Country Week campaign, with just one of its six sides emerging victorious on Monday’s first day of competition.
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The association’s only success came in the form of a crushing 92-run win by its under-15 side against Seymour District Cricket Association.
Batting first on a tricky wicket at the Cobram Showgrounds, opener Nate Grieves led the way for Murray Valley with an excellent 37 to build his side a relatively strong foundation.
He received great support through the middle order from the likes of Darby Salter (17) and Hunter Hardwige (17), as they looked poised to post a total of 150-plus.
However, the Seymour bowlers worked their way back into the contest nicely over the final 15 overs, with a late flurry of wickets halting on sort of momentum and restricting them to just 8/135 from their 45 overs.
Needing a clinical bowling performance to have any chance of defending this total, what happened next was simply mind-blowing.
Led by openers Jordan Sykes (2-6) and Sonny Rowe (2-5), everything Murray Valley touched turned to gold in the field, as Seymour simply had no answer.
Every bowler that came on was exquisite with their lines and length, with five taking two wickets a piece in a team performance all coaches must dream of.
Seymour would develop no momentum at all through its disastrous innings, eventually being bowled out for just 43 in just under 25 overs.
In the under-17, MVCA was simply no match for Goulburn Murray, falling by 58 runs at the Berrigan Sportground.
Charlie Hillier (3-27) and Jake Poole (3-23) were the standouts for Murray Valley in the first innings, taking six of the side’s seven wickets to help restrict Goulburn Murray to a chaseable total of 163.
Unfortunately for MVCA however the problems came with bat in hand as they could not stop the steady stream of wickets.
Hillier would repeat his heroics with bat in hand to top score with 21 off 35 balls, but it would not be enough as many of his teammates failed to fire as they were bowled out for just 105.
The under-16’s were also found wanting, falling to Goulburn Murray by five wickets at Kyabram’s Northern Oval.
Winning the toss and batting first, Nathan Gossayn (31) and Travis Lawton (26) battled manfully to try and build a competitive total, before a late innings collapse saw them falter to just 7/114 from their 45 overs.
Needing an inspired bowling performance to be any chance of claiming victory, Murray Valley started brightly as an excellent opening spell by James Hooper (2-17) had Goulburn Murray reeling at 3-19.
With an upset slowly beginning to brew, MVCA could not maintain the pressure, allowing the Goulburn Murray middle order to regain control of proceedings as they cruised to the victory target in just 27.4 overs for the loss of just five wickets.
In other results, the under-14 side fell to Goulburn Murray by 48 runs, with a masterfully constructed 41 by Mikael Bennett-Artavilla the highlight of the day.
While in the under-13, the Gold side fell to Cricket Shepparton in a heart-stopper by 10 runs, while Green was simply no match for Bendigo District Cricket Association, falling by nine wickets.
The MVCA will continue its country week campaign throughout this week, with grand finals set to be played on Thursday.
The players representing the MVCA can be seen below.
MVCA Junior Country Week Representatives
Under-13 Gold
Liam Sutton — Tocumwal
Eamon Hyde — Cobram
Jules Cook — Katunga
Lenny Power - Cobram
Murphy Stephans - Barooga
Sam Bennett - Tocumwal
Zander Quinn - Nathalia
Gus Frostick - Nathalia
Hugh Stone - Nathalia
Rocco Anastasio - Cobram
Ethan Bovalino - Barooga
Crue Lucas - Katamatite
Under-13 Green
Jarrod Bethell - Katunga
Sam Slatterie - Cobram
Bodey Webb - Cobram
Declan Cameron - Katamatite
Giordie Lukies - Katamatite
Archie Erikson - Katamatite
Riley Thompson - Katamatite
Charile Bull - Deniliquin
Charlie McCallum - Deniliquin
Tynan Rothe - Deniliquin
Harry Bull - Deniliquin
Tom White - Tocumwal
Under-14
Logan White - Tocumwal
Nate Summerville - Nathalia
Andrew Smith - Deniliquin
Jack Oprey - Cobram
Codi Bowen - Barooga
Rueben Haley - Tocumwal
Oscar Marshall - Deniliquin
James McPherson - Katamatite
Jack Iddles - Cobram
Jaxon Webb - Cobram
Sam Crossley - Deniliquin
Mikael Bennett-Artavilla - Cobram
Under-15
Keplar Lukies - Katamatite
Charlie Paton - Deniliquin
Nate Grieves - Tocumwal
Hunter Hardwidge - Tocumwal
Oliver Mynard - Katamatite
Jordan Sykes - Finley
Codi Harris - Barooga
Cooper Adkins - Barooga
Billy Liddell - Nathalia
Nathan Brown - Barooga
Darby Salter - Katunga
Sonny Rowe - Cobram
Under-16
Layne Haley - Tocumwal
Kane Rattray-Robert - Barooga
Kai Lundberg - Nathalia
Ewan Congues - Nathalia
Brady Walpole - Nathalia
Thomas Corso - Cobram
Nathan Gossayn - Barooga
Harry Paterson - Katamatite
Travis Lawton - Finley
Cruze Nash - Finley
James Hooper - Barooga
Lenny Dettoli - Finley
Under-17
Jake Poole - Barooga
Charile Hillier - Deniliquin
Archie Mason - Finley
Mathew Whelan - Berrigan
Noah Iddles - Cobram
Noah Sneddon - Cobram
Lachlan Adams - Cobram
Callum Hulley - Cobram
Darcy Pyle - Berrigan
Liam Rafferty - Finley
Dean McDonald - Deniliquin
MMG sports reporter