On what was another hot day at Jaguar Oval, St Thomas lost the toss and accordingly were sent out to field and embrace the heat. After a young St Thomas side were convincingly beaten last year, College coaches Ben Rapson and Paul McCarthy both took the field with the 1st XI which proved to give the young men added confidence.

After losing two early wickets to a tight opening bowling attack, The Willows slowly got away when Martin and Dave Kelly came to the crease. Dave scored an attacking 48 before falling and this was followed by some powerful hitting from Woodland, Wilson, and Laughton to finish the innings. The Willows total of 202 from 40 overs was short of what was considered to be a par score. Praise must go to a massively improved bowling and fielding display from all of the College team.

Rapson opened the batting with the students batting (and learning) alongside him until he retired on 86. Both Josh Earl and Lachie Stove batted well at the top of the order and St Thomas were in a strong position when captain Harrison Kirk came out to bat. He finished with an impressive 47 not out. A strong fight back of spin bowling through the middle stages by Gray and Kelly wasn’t enough to stop the good performance from the St Thomas 1st XI.

[2image]

[3image]