Page 58 - WPHCC 2023-2024 Cricket Season Yearbook

Team Reports
U8 Red
A first season together and what a progression it has been. To have viewed the difference between the first game and the last.... Well, it was chalk and cheese! It was pleasing to see the way the boys worked so well as a team – calling and backing each other up in the field, running between the wickets, celebrating each other’s success and giving encouragement after a mistake. A pleasure to coach and manage!
So many highlights to distil from the season but some noteworthy awards that were issued to the team:
The ‘Ravi Jadeja’ award for most energetic fielding – Nairit Datta. Nairit led the way with cutting a 2 down to a single, diving to save any run and always backing up throws.
The ‘Dale Steyn’ award for clutch bowling – Victor Schulenburg. Victor’s bowling progression was substantial and culminated in bowling the final over of a game late in the season which won us the game.
The ‘Glenn Maxwell’ award for shot of the season – Levi Roodenburg. I almost needed a helmet at square leg umpire when Levi fired a bullet that almost cleared the rope for a 6! A batting talent.
The ‘Cameron Green’ award for emerging all-rounder – Roman Lee. A real handful for opponents with bat, ball and in the field. Makes an impact in every game.
The ‘Jonty Rhodes’ award for catch of the year and hustle between the wickets – Xander Kruger. All of the weekly catching focus paid off when Xander took a game changing screamer! A real leader for the team in his running between the wickets.
The ‘Brett Lee’ award for thunderbolts – William Schmidhofer. A constant threat with ball in hand regularly crashing stumps with his bowling and firing direct hit out runouts in the field.
The ‘Nathan Lyon’ award for constantly working on his bowling craft – Eddie Shelverton. Just like Nathan Lyon, Eddie has worked very hard to build his consistency and over the course of the season the improvement was noticeable to all.
The ‘Yashasvi Jaiswal’ burst onto the scene award – Aryan Patel. After missing the start of the season, Aryan made a slow start but exploded in the back half of the season with bat and ball.
A big thanks to Jacklyn Kruger for her fantastic role as manager and ensuring the season ran smoothly to assistant coach Oliver (Will’s brother) for his help with training every week and to all of the parents for their continued support, chauffeuring and treats after the games. Well done boys, a season to be proud of!
Stephen Schmidhofer
Blue
WPHCCC U8 Blue had a great season. The team have become a close group of friends on and off the field, having a fun time together. They played their cricket in the right spirit always respectful to the opposing side and to the officials involved in each game.