A handful of Cricket Shepparton’s representative teams have secured Northern Rivers Junior Country Week glory after multiple grand final wins on Friday.
Of the seven Cricket Shepparton teams that took part in the week, five made it to a grand final and three came away with a title.
On the back of a scintillating 21-run win over Bendigo in round three, Cricket Shepparton’s under-17 girls clinched victory with a 15-run triumph over Gisborne at Bendigo’s Atkins St Oval.
Opener Tamsyn Hutchins (28) continued her eye-catching country week form with a solid opening stand alongside Alyse O’Connell (21) after captain Mia Earl won the toss and opted for a bat early.
With 104 on the board to defend, Shepparton’s bowlers went to work and Hutchins, O’Connell and Eloise Walker took shares in the wickets, but it was Shepparton’s fine work in the field that stole the show.
A whopping seven run-outs kept Gisborne on the back foot for the entirety of the second innings, as it eventually fell for 89 after 40 overs.
Cricket Shepparton’s under-16 boys had a day to remember, coming away with a ruthless nine-wicket demolition of Bendigo at Huntly North Cricket Ground.
After Bendigo elected to bat first, Shepparton’s Mitchell Walters (5-23) took centre stage with the Kookaburra and collected a memorable haul.
Old Students big-hitter Oscar Lambourn (63 not out) and Sam O’Brien (43 not out) made short work of Bendigo’s total, hunting down 119 within 26 overs.
It wasn’t as easy for Shepparton’s under-14 boys, who were made to work for their 49-run win over Bendigo at Strathfieldsaye Cricket Ground.
Having won the toss, skipper Bayden Hutchins took matters into his own hands with the blade and posted a classy 29 to open the innings alongside Balraj Singh (26).
However, some tight Bendigo bowling would leave Shepparton with 128 to defend.
Early wickets were required and it’s what the boys delivered, with Oscar Buckland (2-6) extracting Bendigo’s first wicket in the fourth.
Thomas Hudgson (2-5) put his side firmly in the box seat with two successive wickets the next over after some lethal strike bowling.
Two late Flynn O’Brien (2-5) wickets and some fine fielding had Shepparton topple Bendigo for 79 after 28.5 overs.
Shepparton’s under-13A and under-15 sides suffered narrow grand final defeats.
Cricket Shepparton junior organiser Peter Holland said all players who took part had made the association proud with some impressive performances throughout the week.
“The week went really well, we had seven sides in it and five made finals, there were a couple of close games and some really great results across the week,” Holland said.
Holland said win, lose or draw, every player was better for the occasion after representative tournaments like this one.
“It gave our kids a really great opportunity to play more representative cricket and to play with and against some of the better players in the region,” Holland said.
“They adapted to it really well, it was the first time playing representative cricket for a few in the under-13s and they got better as the week went on which was great to see.
“They always get a fair bit out of it and hopefully they take some learnings from that into their club cricket for the rest of the season.”