Page 18 - West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club Yearbook 2014-15

A2 Grade
WPHC 275 defeated outright Berowra 144 and105 @ Berowra Oval 28th & 29th March 2015
Day 1
A huge weekend for the A2 boys. After a comprehensive outright win over the minor premiers in the semi- final we were very confident going into the Final against the defending premiers. Winning the toss, our Captain Julian Raffel put Berowra into bat signaling our aggressive intent and it proved correct with our
strike bowler Tim Scoular taking a wicket in the first over. In tandem with Rowan Keating we strangled the opposition to only 2-24 from the first 11 overs due to extreme pace from both bowlers. On came Luke Herzog who particularly enjoys playing Berowra and he took two wickets in his first over to leave the opposition reeling at 4-25, and then later staggering at 6-45.
Despite some resistance from the lower order, wickets fell regularly and with strong contributions from
Cam Cleary (1-8), Rowan Keating (1-39) and Luke Herzog (3-25). Tim Scoular led the attack and was again
a colossus with the ball taking 5-57 from 17.1 overs, with the boys dismissing Berowra for only 144 from
40 overs. Everything clicked today with our bowling attack proving why we are regarded as the best in the competition. Led by three incredibly spectacular catches from wicketkeeper Nick Bennett who was flawless (and catches to Cleary and J Raffel) our ground fielding was near perfect, and with Scoular deservedly leading us off the field we were very confident going into bat.
Our batting order was well established and everyone knew the job they had to do, so despite an early hiccup Phil Wurth and Alex Connell got us to a solid foundation of 50 for the second wicket. Nick Bennett (20)
then came on and shared in a critical 47 run partnership with Phil in a terrific display of batting by Nick. At this stage Phil was 67no with 11 boundaries as opener and was proving insurmountable. Then in came Josh Mathias, an elite young player who excelled on the big stage, brutalizing the self hyped Berowra attack during his innings of 38 (with 6 fours and 1 six and 0 singles).
Josh was sensational and his 64 run partnership with Phil got us the first innings lead and continued to build on the aggressive platform we had set with our batting. The next achievement was a personal one, and it was with tremendous cheer and camaraderie that the boys celebrated Phil Wurth’s maiden A2 century, made all the more special being in a Grand Final. Phil was eventually dismissed on the last ball of the day, but his innings of 109 (with 15 fours and 1 six) during an occupation of 48 overs was an incredible display of leadership, maturity, courage and was an inspiration for the rest of the team. We finished the day on 6-200 and the boys went back to the Club to reflect on the day’s successes and there was a quiet sense of excitement for what lay ahead on the second day.
Day 2
Determination was the theme heading into the second day and who better than our leaders Jimmy McBrien and Julian Raffel to set the tone. With Jimmy already established on 15no from the previous day he continued the aggression with a terrific innings of 31 (5 fours), sharing in partnerships that added 75 runs to the total, a great effort from our Vice Captain. Thereafter we simply wanted to soak up some overs and add runs, and Cam Cleary enjoyed some time in the middle in a partnership that added 21 runs for the ninth wicket, and Luke Herzog also had a flash and hit a couple of boundaries in a partnership that added 19 for the last wicket. We were eventually dismissed for 275 with our Captain Julian Raffel not out on 31 (4 fours) after a gutsy display that also shared in partnerships that added 75 runs to our total, a great effort from out Skipper. This was our highest total for the season and again was a near perfect display of aggressive intent and determination.
Having to overcome a 131 run deficit, Berowra had a quick hit-out before the lunch break. Coming back out we decided to turn the tables on them and also attack, symbolic of everything we did during the entire season. Plans were set and the boys went out to their fielding positions full of confidence.
Starting with spin immediately threw the opposition into disarray, and Rowan Keating in an incredible effort created a fantastic run out on the first ball after lunch that set the tone for the rest of the innings. With Tim Starr missing Day One he was set for a massive contribution and took a wicket in his first over.
With Berowra losing two wickets in six balls, the momentum was completely with our A2 boys. With Starr spinning at one end and Tim Scoular bowling supreme pace at the other, it was only a matter of time before
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