Thirroul and Northern Districts Junior Cricket Club are Under 16A Premiers after a sensational run chase at Warilla this morning. Collapsing to 7-110 at one stage, it was all Oak Flats until Jacob Hand (96*) and Tom Green (41*) came together to forge the rearguard and match winning partnership.
Earlier it had been all smooth sailing as both Hand and Jackson Stewart (33) dominated the early exchanges, each finding the boundary while Stewart cleared it with a fierce pull. It would take something extraordinary to break their determination and in amazing circumstances this is exactly what happened.
Remarkably King Memorial was double booked; Little Athletics participants and parents started pouring into the venue in great numbers and were quick to disrupt play, demanding the match be moved so they can get on with their morning's activities. The Umpires, who should have done better to control the situation, pulled all players off the ground to deal with the dilemma.
The match eventually continued however the intervention costly as three quick wickets fell immediately after the break. A string of LBW shouts refused to fall on deaf ears as the southern end umpire continued to oblige nearly every appeal; forgetting a day previously his arm couldn't be lifted. Also suddenly gone was the hawk eye judgment on bowlers' back feet landing on the narrow pitch, visibly silent whilst yesterday calling Butcher bowlers frequently on back foot indiscretion.
Meanwhile further disruptions were occurring off the field as Little Athletics staff started hassling cricket parents to move their cars from the field to allow the Athletics parents parking spaces. With the ground taken by the premier Junior Cricket match in the region it's a wonder how things were allowed to get out of hand.
Back in the middle Lachlan Dunn (34) decided watchful defense was getting his mates in trouble so took the bowling to task; clearing the infield all over in an enjoyable cameo that threatened to take the game away. His wicket was big but Hand's this time was bigger and he eventually found his ally in Green.
The two shared an unbroken one hundred run stand that was punctuated by dynamic running between the wickets; often turning a misfield into two rather than one. And with every 10 runs inching closer to an improbable win, Green went from strength to strength as he started to open up with some extravagant stroke-play.
But it was Jacob Hand's day; there at the start of play and there at the end when he aptly dismissed a full toss to the boundary to wrap up the Premiership for the Butchers. A visibly elated mob then stormed the pitch to celebrate the highest honours in Junior Cricket.
Congratulations to coach Curtis Wilson for leading his side to Premiership in his first Season with the Butchers; and all the parents and family who made the trip down to watch the boys play a terrific cricket match.
View the team photo here.
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