In Round 7 of matches in the HCCA last weekend three of the Crows teams recorded good wins but our C2 team lost their first match of the season.

A Grade took on Woodbridge at their home ground and finished all out in the 49^th over for 264. After the early loss of key batsman Dan Elliott, Hamish Jamieson 56 and Joel Palmer 41 combined to add 115 for the 2^nd wicket. Our customary “get ourselves into trouble” again occurred as we slipped to 5/187 in the 37^th over before knocks of 36 by Jamie Knott, 22 from Mal Godfrey and 20 from Adam Hinkley enabled us to reach our best score of the year.

Woodbridge lost a wicket in the opening over and could never get on top of our bowling as Dale Punshon snared the excellent figures of 6/19 off 8 overs. Jamie Knott took 2/24 and Nick Townsend 2/40.

B1 ventured to Margate and looked to be heading for a healthy score as the first six batters all made reasonable contributions and added good partnerships however we lost wickets on 161, 164 and 170 to leave us precariously placed with 7 wickets down. Captain, Andrew Henley then took control of the game with an innings of 76 that included 13 4s and 1 6. He personally scored 26 off the 49^th over that enabled the Crows to reach a very respectable 9/276. Other contributions came from Heath Lovell 33, Levi Treptow 25, Ross Hinkley 23, Damien Pearce 22, John Ioannou 22 and Geoff Freeman 22.

Margate in reply soon slumped to 3/34 and at 6/126 an early finish loomed however someone forgot to tell Margate’s Ben Sward who smash 67 in quick time to give the home side a real chance. Sam Peacock was brought back into the attack and he dismissed Sward and another batsman as Margate were all out for 220 in the 42^nd over.

Peacock finished with 3/41 (all 3 victims bowled) and Ash Woodhead 2/33 while Shannon Woolley, Ross Hinkley, Andrew Henley and Marc Owen each took a wicket.

Our B2 played their first game of the season on our home ground against Snug. Snug got off to a good start adding 33 in the first 6 overs before losing 2 wickets on that score. Up until they lost their 4^th wicket with their score on 90 they looked as if they would make a competitive total, however Andrew Denton 3/11off 10 overs and David Bain 3/14 routed their lower order as they managed to make only 112. Chris Tomlin took 2/33 earlier in the innings.

We were soon in trouble in the run chase at 2/6 and then 3/33 before Dwain Swan 62no (10 4s and 1 6) and Marcus Newman 33no added an unbroken 83 for the 4^th wicket.

C grade were also on the road as they took on Huonville. The “Bulls” batted first and with consistent batting reach 194 when bowled out in the 44^th over. Brendan Norris continued his fine form from last week claiming 4/21 from 9.3 overs. Zac Scriber was also among the wickets with 3/39 from his 10 overs.

We then got off to the worst possible start losing 2/0 in the first over. Last week’s top scorer Manning Parkinson 63 combined with Matthew Creek 44 to add 83 for the 3^rd wicket but once that partnership was broken we could never really get on top of Huonville’s attack with only Matthew Chapman 26 batting at no.8 making any real impression on the scorecard as we were dismissed in the 44^th over for 178.

Congratulations to those who played in and won the HCCA Twenty20 Grand Final. (Please see other report.) Our first match in the Statewide competition is at Oatlands on Sunday 10^th January.

This Saturday evening (19/12) we are holding our Christmas Party/ Spit Roast. Santa is due to arrive at 6pm and parents with small children are asked to bring along, before that time, a small present with their child’s name on it.

“From The Hill”