Saturday Sundries | No tons, but plenty of runs and wickets in the lower grades

In this week’s edition, we showed some love to some outstanding individual all-round efforts as well as some unfortunate blunders housed in Cricket Shepparton’s lower grades.

News photographer Rechelle Zammit was behind the lens for the D-grade contest between Tatura and Northerners.

You Kearn do it

Pine Lodge’s Ryan Kearney may still have sore shoulders from the weekend.

In what may be the best individual showing across any of Cricket Shepparton’s grades, Kearney crafted an iron-willed 80 at the top of the order to set the platform for the Lodgers, posting 5-227 against Central Park-St Brendan’s in B-grade.

But he was far from done there.

Kearney then shouldered the brunt of the bowling, whipping through the Tigers’ order to finish with figures of 4-50 during the 61-run win.

The scorecard even had his name down for a run out if you can fathom it.

Take a bow Mr Kearney.

Waaia? More like Wow-aia

While he may not have been aware of Kearney’s exploits, Waaia all-rounder Damien Atkins gave a proverbial “hold my beer” performance versus Nagambie to match ― or maybe even better ― the Pine Lodge man.

Like Kearney, Atkins was smoking them from the off, smashing the ball to all parts of the ground before being bowled agonisingly short of a flashy ton.

He cranked 64 runs in boundaries, making 95 for the innings.

But while the dismissal in the nervous 90s would’ve left a sour taste in the mouth, Atkins provided the sweetener with the pill.

He conjured 3-29 off five overs, helping contain the Lakers 10 runs short of the mark.

Also feel free to take a bow, Mr Atkins.

Bad way to go

Karramomus’ one-wicket triumph in C-grade over Pine Lodge could be categorised as a stone cold thriller.

It went down to the very end ― the penultimate over, in fact.

However, the fashion in how the game ended was unfortunate to say the least.

Defending a target of 200, the Lodgers were in trouble until a late clump of wickets, 5-45 if you’re counting, had Karramomus sweating.

With no-one left in the shed, the Bloods required six runs from 13 balls with a new man to face and an in-touch Daniel Strudwick down the other end.

Pine Lodge was unable to keep the strike away from Strudwick and, with one four as well as a no-ball which raced away to the ropes for byes, that was that.

It gives the term “death bowling” a whole new meaning.

Miss the party

Old Students’ D-graders had a fair day out with the willow in a win over Numurkah on Saturday.

Apart from one man.

They say you don’t have to be dead to be stiff and that’s exactly how opener Daniel Cullen would’ve felt as he departed for five while the rest of his teammates made 30 or more on the way to 4-233.

Nate Earl (31), Pubudu Senevirathna (40), Ryan Boswell (42 not out), Jayden Gagliardi (35) and Joban Sandhu (54 not out) were middling the ball left and right in the follow up after Cullen holed out.

The first job of an opener is to negate the power of that brand new ball according to itsonlycricket.com and in that vein Cullen executed his role perfectly.

However, it can’t be half frustrating to miss out on all those runs.

Respect on my name

Mooroopna product Laitham Vandermeer was the target of some light jabbing last week due to an unfortunate photo which emerged.

It wasn’t any off-field controversy, but rather an Instagram shot next to fellow Western Bulldogs teammate Bailey Smith.

Vandermeer is no slouch, but next to the chiselled frame of “Bazlenka”, there is no comparison when talking rigs.

One comment even mentioned the side by side snap makes “poor Vandermeer look like he plays for Parkside Twos”.

You’re probably wondering if there’s a point to all of this nonsense and there is, with Laith’s father putting some respect back on the family name with a late innings cameo for Mooroopna in E-grade on Saturday.

Though the Cats fell to Waaia, Jeff Vandermeer slashed an unbeaten 42 at nine to save face for Mooroopna ― and the famous surname.