Williamstown CYMS fell just short of victory in another Victorian Turf Cricket Association Steve McNamara Shield round marred by rain.
While day one was perfect weather for cricket, Saturday was a different story.
Heavy rain throughout the week and then on Saturday morning meant many games didn’t go ahead.
Others did, but not many had a full day of play.
For the CYs, they needed just two more wickets to get the points against Gellibrand.
CYs captain-coach Nick Duxson said in the end, there weren’t quite enough overs for either side to get a win.
“It was a weird one in the end,” he said. “Gellibrand’s ground drained well and the wicket was great.
“We were going to get on at some point. It was 77 overs to begin with and ended up being 66.”
The CYs made 235 on day one of the match with contributions throughout the order.
Duxson said they had some opportunities but Gellibrand fought hard to make sure it played out the game.
“We got a couple of wickets early and then Jacob Macdonald got going. They had a partnership going and then the rain came and they looked to play it out.
“We got a couple of wickets after tea and it was game on with 25 overs remaining. They shut up shop and that looked like it.
“With two overs left, Alex [Risk], who normally bowls off spin, bowled medium pace and got a wicket so it was game on again.”
The CYs put everyone around the bat to make something happen, but Gellibrand was able to finish 8-165.
Macdonald top scored with 51.
Duxson said a draw was probably a fair result in the end.
Miles Bradshaw took 6-69 for the CYs off his 27 overs.
Duxson said Bradshaw bowled up wind for most of the day including bowling 20 overs in a row.
The CYs sit second on the ladder after five rounds.
Duxson said they were happy with the season so far but would like a bit more consistency, especially with the bat.
“It’s been really good and we’ve had a heap of one-day cricket,” he said. “In the two-day cricket we lost to Sunbury by two runs and couldn’t get the result.
“On the weekend we were 30-40 short of where we would have liked to have been.
“We were 4-30 We did well to make 235 and who knows what would have happened.
“It would be good to get a bit of consistency with the bat we do bat all the way down. We need one or two players to go big in two-day cricket, it’s the key to success.”
The CYs this weekend face Tullamarine in a Saturday-Sunday match.
Duxson said the key for them will be having both their batters and bowlers performing in the same match.
