Qualifying Rounds sees ECA shine on and off the field
The ECA Executive congratulates everyone involved for a wonderful carnival.
It is a great celebration of community cricket. For the players it is an opportunity to extend their cricket skills (and smarts) against their peers. They get to have many new cricket experiences - travelling to new places and forming friendships with players who are normally their opponents during the season are just a few.
For our youngest players, many get to experience the searing summer midday sun over multiple days for the first time in their cricket journey. This is a great test of character. We are so fortunate to have such an engaged parent and volunteer community and it has been on show over the duration of the carnival. Everyone's conduct on and off the field has been exemplary. We also like to thank the many host clubs (home and away) and their respective volunteers who have made their facilities available. And for our local council partners, thank you again for the work you do to ensure our juniors have great grounds to play on. The rain on the scheduled day one made turf cricket preparation challenging for the whole first week, so thank you for that extra effort. We wish all of the semi-finals teams all the best tomorrow.
Under 18 Boys: Arnold Shield
Coach: James Shadbolt
Team Manager/s: Maree Close & James Stavretis
Finished: 8th
This was a tough carnival for the squad, but from our vantage point on the sidelines, they showed plenty of character and stuck together for the whole tournament. Missed out on a win in a thriller against MWMCA in Round 3
The standout was Declan Hudson who hit the competiton-high 214 runs at an average of 42.8. Lachlan Wyver picked up 8 wickets at 17.25
Under 17 Girls: Jones Shield
Coach: Josh Irish
Team Manager/s:
Finished: 2nd
Won a home semi-final with a thriling Round 5 win against AGCC today. A lower oder effort by Reva Sharma (19) and Georgina McLeod (13) saw them post a competitive 8/135 from their 40 overs. An excellent spell by Lauren Soo 3/26 from her 8, with great support from the other bowlers, capped off a memorable day for the team. The same two sides will face off again on Thursday at Myrtle Park. We are expecting another great contest. Audrey McKinley tops the batting aggregate with 137 runs so far at 34.25, while Lauren Soo has 7 wickets at 10.86
Under 16 Boys: Beitzel Shield
Coach: Luca Wiliams-Denton
Team Manager/s: Peter Andreopoluos
Finished: 8th
Had an excellent win in round 2 at home against SECA, and pushed RDCA all the way in Round 3, but othewise it was a tough Carnival for the squad. But like the Under 18 Boys, stuck together for the entire tournament. No doubt the players will be better for the experience playing against the best of the peers in Metro Melbourne. Archie Evans picked up 7 wickets at 9.71.
Under 14 Girls: Julie Savage Shield
Coach: Indi Gentry
Team Manager/s: Bridgette George
Finished: 5th
An excellent carnival for the squad with the team being competitive in all their games. After three rounds they were undefeated (in Round 2 they played a thrilling tie against WRJCA) - but despite showing plenty of fight in the remaing 2 rounds, were defeated by DVCA and RCDA respectively. Elodie Power topped the competition aggregate runs with an outstanding 181 runsat 60.33. Hayley Brown picked up 6 wickets 7.5.
Under 14 Boys: Allen Shield
Coach: Roshan Gunitalake
Team Manager/s: Mandeep Sahni
Finished: 1st
Undefeated at the end of the qualifying rounds, this team has earned the home semi-final this Thursday where they will take on MPCA at the Wilsons Road (Turf) Ground in Doncaster. Their form has been outstanding with contributions from all the players. Big shout out to the coach - young Roshan Gunitalake (ably supported by team manager Mandeep). Muhammad Abubakar Imran has had an outstanding carnival so far - topping the Shield batting aggregate with 175 runs at 87.5 and taking 8 wickets. Lucian Bickford has the most wickets in the Shield so far with 10 at 7.2.
Under 14 Boys: Nolan Shield
Coach: Luke Ajani
Team Manager/s: Chris Dickson
Finished: 5th
A heartbreaking one wicket loss in the final round thriller against the top side WRJCA at Balwyn Park meant the boys missed the finals by the barest of margins. However, they lost NO friends by the way they went about their cricket. They had an impressive away win against MPCA, put in a valiant chase (also away) against SECA after being 2/1 to pull up just short. Skipper Sam Coldrey made 203 runs for the carnival at 67.7 while Jagan Tennakoon picked up 10 wickets at 16.9.
Under 12 Girls: Fatone Shield
Coach: Katelyn Shadbolt
Team Manager/s: Ange Allen
Finished: 7th
The girls pushed the highly-fancied WRJCA in their first game - with an honourable 19 run loss. To qualify for the finals they had to win a crucial home game against rivals BHRDCA in round 4 but they pulled up agonisingly 5 runs short in the chase. However, the girls showed great character to win away against DVCA in the final round.
Under 12 Boys: Mitchell Shield
Coach: Dhurv Redhu
Team Manager/s: Rohit Singh
Finished: 2nd
A magnificent recovery from a 1-2 start to earn a home semi-final this Thursday against DVCA at Ferndale Park (10am start). The boys had a character-building loss after almost chasing down 233 against DDCA at Narre-Warren in Round 1. Then were pipped at the post against ISEC in Round 3.
But a hard-fought home win against junior powerhouse WRJCA in Round 4 set up an excellent second week for the boys to host their semi. Om Joshi has 246 runs at 123, while Ishar Manj has 7 wicket at 10.4 to go with his 179 runs at 59.7.
Under 12 Boys: Browne Shield
Coach: Luca van der Sluys
Team Manager/s: Emily Ranasinghe, Charles Hunt
Finished: 2nd
Have been consistenly good throughout the carnival, their only loss was against SECA on day 1. Their most impressive result was a stunning away Round 4 win against WRJCA where they chased 201, eight wickets down. Have earned a home final, where they will take on RDCA at Highfield Park this Thursday at 10am.
Oliver Hunt has 120 runs (at 120) while Leonardo Bianco has 8 wickets at 5.8.