Jack Glover is on fire!

The Harden Hornets have held on for a thrilling three-wicket win over the Boorowa Big Bottles in their Round Four South West Slopes Cricket League (SWSCL) fixture at Boorowa Sports Ground on Saturday. The local derby pitted two former Yass Valley Cricket Association teams against each other and went down to the wire, with runs hard to come by on the troublesome Boorowa deck.

Boorowa skipper Jacob Kennedy won the toss and sent his side into bat, but they could only muster 67 runs before being bowled out in 26.2 overs. Justin Corkery top scored with 20, and Anthony Kennedy added 17, but Harden speedster Jack Glover tore through the line-up on the way to figures of 6/15 from 7.2 overs. Described by Harden skipper Danny Arabin as ‘a very quick spell’, Glover was virtually unplayable.

“He is very fast, and he bowled really well for us,” Arabin said. “He had good pace, and he had the ball coming from be- hind leg and hooping back into middle; I was keeping, and it was brilliant to watch from behind.

“He was definitely the differ- ence and the standout for the bowlers, but even our blokes who bowl an over here or there, they all picked up wick- ets, and we couldn’t ask for a better result.”

 

 

Patrick Davis was good, taking 2/6 from three overs, and Brody Steele did his job, finish- ing with 1/4 from three overs. In reply, Arabin played a captain’s knock at the top of the order, scoring 48 not out from 51 balls as Harden reached 7/69 in 19 overs. No other player around him reached double digits, and Arabin admitted it was a tense finish.

“We scraped through,” Arabin laughed. “It’s always a toss of the coin against Boorowa. It’s always competitive and good fun against them, and that was no different on Saturday.

“We’re a lot like them, and Sheansy basically runs the show, but he had a young fella captain the side, and he brings a lot of young fellas through, which is what we are doing.” Harden now sits in fourth posi- tion in Pool A of the SWSCL, and Arabin was pleased to see his young side with two wins next to their name after four rounds.

“We’re doing well, but you can definitely tell the difference when we play against A-Grade and B-Grade teams,” Arabin laughed. “We’ve got a really young side but a good group, and they’ll keep getting better and better.” In what will be a big step up on Saturday, Harden visits Temora and takes on perennial A-Grade heavyweights, the Temora Tigers, at Nixon Park. If Harden envisions playing in A-Grade, they will need to knock the Tigers off to make a statement.

 

 

“I’m out for the next two weeks, but I’m confident the boys can keep the good form going,” Arabin said. “Everyone just needs to keep chipping in, and the young fellas are improving each week, and that’s all I can ask for.”

In other Pool A Round Four matches, the Cootamundra Bulls (1) made light work of the Shamrock Leprechauns, winning by five wickets at Nixon Park. The Leprechauns were all out for 66 after 27.5 overs, and the Bulls chased down the total, reaching 5/69 in 20.1 overs.

The Temora Tigers (1) flexed their premiership credentials when taking on the Murringo Mavericks at Nixon Park, winning by 174 runs. Joe Oliver (52) led the Tigers to 9/205 in 38.3 overs before they bowled Murringo out for 31 in 5 overs. Josh Gillard starred with the ball, finishing with 5/11.

 

 

Crocs too good for Tigers 

While the Boorowa Big Bottles went down to Harden in their SWSCL Pool A match, in Pool B, the Boorowa Crocs dismantled the Temora Tigers (2) side, winning by 192 runs.

Josh Carmody’s side won the toss and elected to bat, piling on 7/266 in 4 overs. Chris Dwyer top-scored with an unbeaten 89 runs off 71 balls, Tim Suttor added 59 from 52, and James Green scored 59 from 80. In reply, the Tigers were all out for 74 in 19 overs. Nick Dwyer finished with the best figures of 3/6 from four overs, while also bowling well was Alex Bloomfield (2/21), Tim Suttor (2/29), Josh Carmody (2/14), and Jason Stuart (1/2).

The Crocs are now outright second on the Pool B standings, and they take on the top of the table Stockinbingal in their Round Five match at Boorowa Sport’s Ground on Saturday. In other Round Four matches, Bribbaree Rams scored 5/219 to win by five wickets over the Cootamundra Bulls (2), who brought up 8/215. Stockinbingal won easily, scor- ing 1/68 when chasing down Grenfell’s total of 66.

 

 

Strong results for juniors

In the under-11s SWSCL com- petition, Harden scored 131 when defeating the Young Renegades, who scored 113. For Harden, standouts were Alex Weston (18 retired not out), Theo Brady (9no), and Liam Beal (9no).

With the ball in hand, Will Hufton (1/3) and Theo Brady (1/4) were both economical and managed to snare a wicket in their two-over spells. Both Boorowa teams won, with Gold scoring 160 when defeat- ing Young Heat on 111 and Green scoring 133 when knocking off Young Strikers with 88.

On Saturday, both Boorowa teams play in Young, with Green taking on the Heat at Cullen Oval while Gold play the Renegades at Young Public School. Harden’s under-11s travel to Cootamundra to play the Hurricanes at Bradman Oval.

Unfortunately, Harden’s under- 13s ran into a red-hot Temora Warriors at Tim Doolan Oval. The Warriors won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 7/174 in 30 overs, and George Stimson did most of the damage, finish- ing on 65 not out.

For Harden, Alex McMillan was the standout with the ball, taking 3/8 from three overs. Harden then batted, scoring 8/82 in 22.3 overs.

Andreas McFarlane batted well, scoring 22 not out, and Ryan Sumich chipped in with 10, but the Warriors’ target proved too great in the end. Harden’s under-13s trek to Ariah Park on Saturday to take on the Redbacks.