Ferntree Gully and District Cricket Association under 16 Victorian Metropolitan Cricket Union 2006 premiers.By Murray Wilson
FERNTREE Gully and District Cricket Association’s Under 16 representative team has claimed the Keith McKay Cup after a hard fought victory against the Ringwood and District Cricket Association in Heidelberg recently.
FTGDCA finished the carnival’s preliminary rounds in third position with the RDCA on top. The teams had met twice before with the honours shared.
FTGDCA lost the toss and Ringwood elected to bat but were soon in trouble at 4/46. The bowling by FTGDCA was accurate and caused the batsmen to take risks that did not pay off.
The attack saw Wilson (Knoxfield), Dunn (Rowville) and Wooley (Rowville) take two wickets each. The RDCA team was dismissed in the 41st over for 116.
After the early luncheon break, Ringwood were soon on top with 2 quick wickets to see FTGDCA with 2/4 and struggling to penetrate the field.
FTGDCA’s captain Mark Harrison (Bayswater) hit a powerful 34 before going out caught in the deep.
Nick Dunn (Rowville) blasted Ringwood’s attack with 40 earning him the Keith McKay Medal for best player of the final.
At 5/110 the FTGDCA team looked set for a good win but then Ringwood struck in quick succession taking 3/5 to have the spectators on the edge of their seats.
For 4 overs the score did not move as the players toughed it out. Eventually Smyth (EPCC) pushed the ball passed a fieldsman for a tight single and under the pressure the fielding team let through an overthrow, which gave FTG the win with 15 overs to spare.
After the game the RDCA coach congratulated the FTG bowlers on dismissing their team so cheaply with the best bowling seen for the carnival. George Smyth the FTGDCA coach thanked the players and parents for their efforts.
