The first A-grade round of the Murray Valley Cricket Association kicked off at the weekend as several teams did battle across the district.
The blue sky was out over the Cobram Showgrounds as the mercury held steady around the 22℃ mark on the afternoon of Saturday, October 12.
The Cobram Tigers proved too strong for a resistant Bloods, coming away 59 runs ahead of Tocumwal by the end of the final inning at the Cobram Showgrounds.
Cobram Tigers A-grade co-coach Will Power said it was good for the side to get off on the right foot.
“We took the opportunity to blood a few young blokes in the first game,” he said.
“Jeremy Baden in particular bowled really well for his first A-grade game. It was good to see him come in and hit a spot for us.
“Young Bodey Webb... certainly skidded them through. For his first A-grade game, he picked up a couple of wickets and performed really well and certainly didn’t look out of place.”
It was a day of debuts for several players across both sides, with Bodey Webb joined by Eamon Hyde, Jeremy Baden and Daniel Ellis marking their first A-grade match for Cobram.
“None of the four young blokes looked out of place in that standard of cricket,” Power said.
He said the side was looking forward to bringing on board about half a dozen players now that the footy season is ended.
“We’re hoping to get a few of our football players back, after giving them a week off.”
Sharp bowling from Bloods recruit Zia Ur Raheen and young gun Liam Sutton kept the Tigers on their toes, but in the end wasn’t enough to stop the home side bagging 9/178 to Tocumwal’s 10/119.
Alongside Zia Ur Rahman, Cooper Harris, Tom White, Liam Sutton, Sam Bennett, and Cooper Mangion also made their debuts for the Bloods’ A-grade side.
In the other matches across the district, the Deniliquin Rhinos (3/279) outsmarted Barooga (10/126 runs), while at the Berrigan Sportsground Nathalia (1/80) had too much firepower for the Saints, which finished on 10/79.
Meanwhile, the Katamatite Tigers (7/313) took a convincing win over Finley A-grade (10/60) with a margin of 253 runs at the Katamatite Recreation Reserve.
It was a strong showing from 17-year-old off-spinner Kepler Lukies who made a maiden century of 107 for the Katamatite Tigers.
It looks to be a big day of cricket this coming weekend as Cobram takes on Barooga at Barooga Recreation Reserve on Saturday, October 19, from 12.30pm.
The Deniliquin Rhinos will face Katamatite at home this weekend, while Nathalia takes on Finley at the Nathalia Showgrounds and the Bloods visit Berrigan Sportsground for a date with the Saints.