On Sunday November 13 our three representative teams, from the Clarence River Junior Cricket Association U12’s, U14’s & U16’s travelled to Macksville to play ‘Valleys Cricket’ (Nambucca / Bellingen) in the last round of the North Coast Cricket Council (NCCC) representative season.

With each of the sides needing to win the games to advance to the grand finals, it was all on the line.

The U12 team had their 2nd close loss of the season losing by two wickets and missed out on a finals berth.

The U14 team demolished the home team by 139 runs to make it into the final after finishing the home and away season in 2nd place.

The U16 team pulled off a remarkable win of 25 runs, after defending a small total. Unfortunately winning 2 out of 3 games the team who placed equal 1st on the ladder just missed out on the grand final game due to overall percent points.

In the U12 game itself the Valleys won the toss and elected to bowl. This decision quickly backfired with the opening batting pair of Charlie Rouse and Harrison Tilse making a great start of 51 before Charlie Rouse was bowled for 32.

This brought Lewis Ulrick to the crease and together with Harrison they moved the score along to 95 before Harrison was bowled for 36 runs.

Unfortunately following the wicket of Harrison, the Valleys bowlers regained their composure and set about their task, taking the next eight wickets for just 29 runs, with the team all out for 124 off the last over (39.2 overs). Apart from Charlie and Harrison the best of the other batters was Lewis Ulrick who made 10 runs.

Best for the Valleys bowlers were Tate Bailey and Quinn Ledger who both took two wickets each.

Defending a small target and needing just over three runs an over to win, it was all about the CRJCA bowlers who needed to bowl line and length.

To start with they did, having Valleys 2 – 13 and then 4 -36, however a couple of strong partnership of 52 & 19 swung the game in Valleys favour and they were able to chase down the score in the 33 over with the loss of eight wickets. The best of the batters were Dominic Cooper 41 runs and Tate Bailey 27 runs.

In relation to the CRJCA bowlers, both Caleb Shaw and Harrison Tilse picked up two wickets with Charlie Rouse, Harry Shaw & Jacob Hadley taking a wicket a piece.

Hopefully next season, having this experience, the young team can come together again and show they are a force in the U12 cricketing world.

In the U14 game, it was a very one-sided affair in favour of the CRJCA team, who won the toss and elected to bat.

However, it didn’t start as planned with the CRJCA losing their 1st wicket with no runs on the board. But slowly they gained momentum and with some strong middle order partnerships they were able to take the score to 9 – 205 after their allotted 50 overs.

Best of the batters was Gus Lobsey 41 runs, Liam Stanton 32 runs, Thomas Beohm 29 runs and Hamish Pearce 22 runs not out.

With the Valleys bowlers, Lior Daley was the standout, taking 4 – 42 off 10 overs.

In reply, the Valleys batters never really got going, but they did face some very strong bowling from CRJCA. In the end the Valleys were all out for 66 off 26 overs, with both Riley Symonds & Aiden Bailey top scoring with 15 runs each.

To back up his 41 runs, Gus Lobsey was just outstanding with the ball taking 4 wickets, for 4 runs off 5 overs.

Thomas Beohm chipped in with 2 wickets, whilst Max Lobsey, Jack Cheney & William Palmer a wicket each.

So, following the home and away season the CRJCA U14 Team finished 2nd on the ladder with 2 wins and a loss. They are now set to play the Coffs Harbour District Cricket U14 team in the grand final on February 26 next year at Richardson Park, Sawtell.

Our U16 team who had a very hot and cold season narrowly missed out on a grand final, by a mere percentage point.

Some say they had their backs against the wall travelling to Macksville to take on Valleys, who were leading the competition and making the task harder was the fact that their manager, Christian Buggy, was ruled out with injury before a ball could be bowled.

Step in Matthew Lobsey, who with his upbeat and motivational speak, lead the team from the sidelines to an inspirational 25 runs win.

In what is becoming a common theme, CRJCA won the toss and elected to bat.

Regrettably things didn’t go the way they had planned with no one batter able to make a significant contribution to the score.

So, after 43 overs the CRJCA were all out for 111 runs. Theodore Lobsey (23 runs) and Eli Jones (22 runs) were the top run scorers.

The Valleys bowlers didn’t really assist themselves with 36 extras, however Quinn Cooper did a fantastic job with the ball, taking 5 wickets for just 11 runs off 10 overs and should have won them the game.

Defending a low total, can put the 2nd batting team in a “false sense of security” and the fielding team, “what have we got to lose” mentality which can be dangerous for both teams.

However, on this occasion the CRJCA team bowled and fielded like team possessed. With 4 catches and 2 runouts they were able to take the 10 wickets for just 86 runs off 33 overs. The best of the batters for Valleys were Darcy Brown (13 runs) and Connor Corbett (12 runs).

With the bowlers Kade Simpson took 2 wickets, with Patrick Brophy, Theodore Lobsey, Thomas Austin, Caitlin Amos and Kristopha Duroux each taking a wicket each.

But the last word must be left to Matthew Lobsey who said of the team, “Outstanding win by the 16s today! A bit short with the runs but defended brilliantly. Two excellent runouts, impressive catches, and all-around enthusiasm in the field, great result.”

Adam Brown