Minor premiers Cudgen went down by 79 runs in the LJ Hooker League Cricket first grade grand final at Reg Dalton Oval, Kingscliff last weekend but club president John King still believes it was a top season for the Kingscliff-based club.
“We won the minor premiership by 11 points,” King said, still proud of his players’ performance despite the major premiership loss to Casino on Sunday afternoon.
“We won by that much because we got to play a lot more games than the other teams because of the rain and our ground’s good drainage. But even if you play more games, you still have to win them to finish on top.
“It has been a great achievement for our team. Eight of our A grade players play representative cricket. They have played a lot of cricket, the fact that they have been able to keep their focus right through to the grand-final is a credit to them.
“In the local ranks, our club took out the minor and major premierships in the third grade and our fourth grade had their grand final washed out, but they still finished second.
“It has been a great season for the whole club. Second grade was the only one that missed out but to be honest, they are rebuilding and have a lot of good young players coming through from juniors. The future is looking good.”
Cudgen’s A-grade’s consistent performance throughout the year saw them earn a home grand final and, with a good crowd of local supporters dropping in over the two days, they started favourites to win. When they won the toss and sent Casino in on a lively Reg Dalton wicket, things looked even better.
They ripped through the Casino line-up to have them 6/38 during the first session.
However, they lost momentum when time was lost due to a problem with the ball and Casino staged a mini fight-back to finish with 139, with James Julius 3-46, Tait Burns 2-17, Michael Anderson 2-29, and Craig Wilson cleaning up the tail, taking 2-6.
Casino struck early with the ball, picking up Craig Wilson LBW for one after padding up to Casino opening bowler. Tait Burns was bowled for nine and then Jordan Wilson was considered unlucky when, on nine, he hit a ball into a close in fielder that rebounded up into the air and presented Maguire with the easiest caught and bowled. Cudgen were 3-25 bringing Jamie Wilson to the crease but he was dismissed LBW for four to have Cudgen 4-40 at stumps on day one.
Returning on Sunday morning Cudgen lost early wickets after a rain delayed start, and were all out for 58.
However, despite trailing by 81 on the first innings, the home-team never gave up, with Michael Anderson putting in a “never-say-die” performance to finish with 7-35 in the second innings (and match figures of 9-64) to have Casino all out for 130.
King said Anderson had “bowled himself into the ground” to dismiss Casino and keep Cudgen in the game. He collapsed with cramp after his bowling spell and had to bat with a runner later in the day.
With 19 overs left, Cudgen were chasing 209. Forced to swing the bat to get the much-needed runs quickly, they lost wickets at regular intervals and were eventually out for 130 – 80 short of victory.
