Rookies gets off to a great start.

Brighton CC has 2 teams playing in the Rookies leagues this year and both teams are full of enthusiastic players whose hard work at training is starting to pay off.  Many of the players have previously participated in T20 Blast and that experience is evident in the way that those players bat, bowl and field.

Each team played a Bentleigh ANA team in the opening round and followed by back to back games against South Melbourne Districts.

Rookies 1 have been very unlucky not to register a win yet losing their first game by 2 runs and their third game by 1 run.  The team can be proud of their improvement over the first 3 rounds and a win is surely just around the corner.  Freddie, Sam, Hugh, Zach & Charlie have all taken their first wicket in junior cricket and Hugo is the first in the team to bowl a maiden.  There have been some excellent performances with the bat, notably Nick R who has clocked up 24 runs without loss.  Sam is the leading scorer though and has hit 4 fours, other players to find the boundary are Freddie, Charlie, Nick & Oliver.

The boy’s efforts at fielding have improved each week and both Sam & Zach have held catches at important times, Josh has been an enthusiastic fielder keeping his teammates on their toes.  Hugo, Oliver, Charlie & Hugh have all done well behind the stumps.

Rookies 2 had a comfortable win in their first round and then 2 hard fought games against South Melbourne losing in Round 2 and winning in Round 3.  The boy’s ability to take wickets was the difference between the teams in the first game.  8 of the boys have taken wickets so they’ve shared the workload.  Cooper and Thomas B both had the impressive figures of 2/3 in the opening game backed up by James’ 2/11.  Cooper is our leading wicket taker so far, with Mitch, Clyde, James & Thomas B all bowling maidens.  Jonathan was very unlucky in Round 3 when his cleanly taken caught and bowled appeal was (harshly) judged to be a no ball.  Nick M has to be congratulated on his accuracy when bowling, missing the top of off stump by a whisker several times on a bouncy pitch.

Thomas A is the leading run scorer with 49 runs and he remains undefeated.  Josh missed the first round but has contributed increasingly well with the bat and ball in Rounds 2 & 3.  Clyde has been a consistent all-rounder, he’s undefeated with the bat, has a wicket and a maiden to his name and kept wicket very tidily.  In very hard fought game in Round 3 and the boys benefitted from excellent captaincy by Dante who’s put in consistent all round performances this season.  Their general good fielding was summed up by Mitch pulling off 2 amazing run outs which helped the team over the line.

Emma Hepples
Rookies Coordinator
Brighton Cricket Club
0405 209556