Kookaburras captain Cameron Milne has described his side’s bowling effort as “exceptional” after they dismissed Albion for just 130 on Saturday.
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Kookaburras are 4-55 in reply in their first innings with Milne unbeaten on 20 and Bon Winsor 13no.
“The boys bowled and fielded well and with only 10 players to restrict them to 130 was an exceptional effort,” Milne said.
They had Albion 3-36 before Andy Mack (25 off 38) and skipper Brad Jenkinson (30 off 52) led a brief revival but the wickets fell consistently after that.
The secret for Kookaburras was consistency and length.
“We’ve been working on it all year. They actually hit the right lengths and we managed to hang in there when things didn’t go our way,” Milne said.
He said the pitch wasn’t the easiest to bat on with the pace a bit inconsistent.
It did liven up a bit after a shower at tea, which at one stage looked like it might have washed out the remainder of the day’s play but petered out after about five minutes.
There was still a bit in it when Kookaburras turn came to bat, but they negotiated that pretty well aided by a bit of luck.
“They dropped a couple of catches which gave us a bit of a reprieve,” Milne said.
He was one of the beneficiaries of Albion’s fumbles.
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As he did with the bat, Milne led from the front with the ball snaring 4-46. James McGowan and Vinnie Winsor also chipped in with two in what was a good allround bowling performance.
“Everyone did their job. They stayed patient instead of looking for wickets.
“That’s what two-day cricket is about,” he said.
He said probably the best part of the bowling effort was that they cleaned up the Albion tail quickly. They didn’t have that late partnership to get them out of trouble.
Albion’s batsmen were guilty of not applying themselves to the task.
“We got plenty of starts so it is a bit disappointing,” Jenkinson said.
“There were a few good balls in there. The rest of us threw our wickets away.”
Jenkinson was guilty of that. He was bowled just before tea after charging down the pitch at [Vinnie] Winsor.
“Obviously it’s still evenly poised,” he said.
“We’ve still got the big wicket of Milne. I still think we can do the job.”
He was a surprise addition to the attack and finished with 2-6. Luke Ryan (1-11) and Ash White (1-7) chipped in with the other two wickets.
In the other game Farran Lamb proved a thorn in Mornington’s side with bat and ball as Court House claimed the first day honours in their clash.
After posting 164 the competition leaders tore through the Mornington top order to be one wicket away from first innings points at stumps.
Lamb was the destroyer skittling the Mornington top four for a combined 13 runs.
Justin Carter was the shining light with the bat as they limped to 9-89.
He was unconquered on 44, Jonathan Crowe (15) the only other batsmen to make double figures. Lamb finished with 4-12 while Sam Doubleday claimed 3-32.
Earlier Jayde Campbell anchored Court House’s innings with a patient 57.
Opening the batting Lamb also made 41 while opening partner Oscar King hit 25.
They put on 33 for the first wicket, Campbell and Lamb then adding 56 to have them on target for a big total.
Callum Hayne bowled Mornington back into the contest with three wickets in two overs as Court House lost 4-9. He repeated the dose later in the innings, cleaning up the Court House tail to finish with 7-65.