Last-ball six seals the deal in cricket hit-out

A thrilling finish occurred in last Saturday night’s cricket hit-out at Kitchener Park, as a group of Gunnedah cricketers played a game during the bye round of the Tamworth District Cricket Association (TDCA) competition.

Cricketers from first, second, third and fourth grades took part in the T20 contest, with third grade skipper Nick ‘Fish’ Herring leading the ‘Gunnedah Fish’ team while first grader Ash White captained the ‘Gunnedah Ash’ team.

With the players donning their regular yellow club uniform, the game provided a rare chance for the Gunnedah-based cricketers to play with or against someone they normally wouldn’t.

Music, a sausage sizzle and a few fireworks also added to the occasion.

Gunnedah Fish won on the final scheduled delivery when Keaton Walters struck a towering six, taking the team’s total to 116 in reply to Gunnedah Ash’s 114.

In an interview with the Gunnedah Cricket Club, Herring said his favourite part of a night like this was “it gives a chance for people who play in third (and) fourth grade to play with firsts and second graders they look up to”.

“They see them in the nets every week, they see how hard they play, they see how they are on the field, and they don’t get a chance to really play with them,” he said.

“Something like tonight gives everyone a chance to play with someone they never will, and it’s just a really nice time for everyone to enjoy themselves.”

White said an important part of the occasion was “so we can get together as a club, and have a watch of everyone else’s talent that we don’t get to see every week while we’re playing normal grades”.

White said the best bowling of the night was from youngsters James Perrett, Marnee Walters and Oscar Middlebrook, with this trio tallying 10 wickets for the victors.

After Herring’s team chose to bowl first, Keaton Walters took a caught-and-bowled from the second ball of the match to dismiss Jakob Vearing without a run on the board.

White skewed a catch to mid-off soon afterwards to make the score 2-2, before a 23-run partnership was followed by the loss of five wickets for 10 runs.

The rules weren’t strictly enforced, with Keaton Walters denied a wicket due to an erroneous no-ball call at the request of a teammate.

Lachlan Swain was allowed to continue batting after he trod on his wicket while hitting the ball over the boundary, with this ‘six’ being his only scoring stroke.

Ben Irwin struck five fours and a six while top-scoring with 36, and Darrin Cameron found the boundary three times in his 18.

Gunnedah Ash lost its tenth wicket with the total on 86 in the 15th over, but the team was allowed to bat on for 20 overs.

White was dismissed for a single run for the second time, and Vearing narrowly avoided back-to-back ducks when a hot catch was spilled.

Vearing struck the third-last and last deliveries of the innings for six, before Gunnedah Fish sank to 3-13 in the first three overs of the run chase.

Keaton Walters was the key in the run chase, as he scored most of his runs in fours and sixes.

When Marnee Walters arrived at the crease with the score 6-70 in the 12th over, the first thing her brother told her was “don’t run me out”.

Keaton reached 50 retired while Marnee scored a solid 18, including two fours.

Herring’s team needed nine runs from the final over to win, before the equation boiled down to six runs from three balls.

Lachlan Swain misfielded the fourth ball which prompted the batters to chance a second run, but the fielder produced a direct hit at the bowler’s end to run out Gunnedah Fish’s captain.

Vearing knocked back Lachlan King’s off-stump with the fifth delivery, meaning Gunnedah Fish needed five runs to win or four for a tie with one ball left.

Keaton Walters returned for the fateful delivery, and sent it flying high over the John “Dallas” Donnelly Stand.

With the TDCA back in action this Saturday, Gunnedah’s first graders have a bye while the lower grades play against Wests on Gunnedah soil.

At the time of print, the venues were Wolseley Park (second grade), Kitchener Park (third grade) and Donnelly Fields (fourth grade).

Gunnedah Fish 10-116 (Keaton Walters 56 not out; Darrin Cameron 2-6) defeated Gunnedah Ash 13-114 (Ben Irwin 36, Darrin Cameron 18; James Perrett 4-18, Oscar Middlebrook 3-22, Marnee Walters 3-21, Lachlan King 2-14) on the final ball.