2008-09 OUR 90TH YEAR
Club Officials:
President John Ipsen 2nd year
Senior Vice
President
Ron McDonald 2nd year
Junior Vice President Adam Seaward 1st year
Secretary Shannon Davies 2nd year
Treasurer Craig Pereira 3rd year
After four successful years as Club Coach (including two First Grade Premierships) Matthew Smith decided not to continue and we recruited the services of former WACA Willetton 1st grade player Paul Kalleske to fill the role. A mixed season on the field – unavailability of many senior players stretched our resources to the limit in the lower grades, but we still managed to field seven sides each match. In the end four sides [1st, 3rd, 6th and OD ‘C’s] made the four, with the 1sts and 6ths making Grand finals and becoming Premiers. Season highlights included Gary Boyes becoming the seventh player to play three hundred games and Mick Bennett became the leading “5 for” taker for the Club. A total of eighteen century partnerships were scored across the grades during the season. Nineteen hundreds were scored and twenty one “5 fors” were taken. Glenn Parise broke the Club batting record [948] and Brad Mant broke the individual club batting record [194].
Off the field we celebrated our ninetieth year in grand style with a formal Gala Dinner at the Sheraton Hotel. One hundred and eighty current and former players/supporters attended a fantastic night. Finances continued to be strong as support from sponsors remained extremely good.
1st grade PREMIERS Mark Atkinson [Captain] Completed a great season by winning the Premiership. Started the season the wiih a hiccup by losing to a depleated East Fremantle side, but didn’t drop another game after that. Five batsmen scored in exess of three hundred runs, with Todd Lavender a stand out who opened the batting and got us off to a good start most games. Others over three hundred runs were Craig Periera, Mark Atkinson {including two centuries} , Paul Kalleske and Matt Smith. Captain Mark Atkinson again led the bowling attack with 34 wickets, ably assisted by newcomer Anand Mavani (33), Will Badger (21) and another newcoming in Brett White (18).
The Premiership: Defeated Armadale in a final worthy of its 1st grade status. Spartans batted first and were in immediate trouble, losing Todd Lavender to the second ball of the day and Darren Rose soon after to be at a precarious 2/2. Steady batting by Matt Smith (39) and Craig Pereira (27) got things back on track and a good partnership between Smith and Paul Kalleske (35) followed by some good hitting at the end by Dale Meyer (35) and Mark Atkinson (39no) - and a great six by Shane Thompson ! saw us make a very competitive 6/196. Although Armadale applied themselves to the run chase and ensured the final was a closer affair than some might have thought they lost wickets at regular intervals and were eventually out for 121. Will Badger took the bowling figures with 4/42, assisted by Mark Atkinson 3/28. In all a great team effort all season and the 1st grade are well deserving Premiers for the 2008/09 season.
The team: {in batting order}: T.Lavender, D.Rose. M.Smith, C.Pereira, P.Kalleske, D.Meyer, M.Atkinson [Captain], S.Thompson, W.Badger, B.White, A.Mavani
2nd Grade Chris Geers [Captain] – Started with a blaze of glory but unfortunately faded in the second half to miss out of the finals. Played some good cricket but were not able to sustain it throughout the season. Captain Chris Geers led the batting with 392 runs {including a century}. Others over two hundred runs were Stuart Hennessey, Graeme Bond, “Mr Second Grade” Andrew Walker and Sean Wright {including his first century for the Club}. The bowling honours went to Nick Leavy with 25 wickets, assisted by Sean Wrrght and the ever reliable Andrew Wragg.
3rd Grade Minor Premiers Shannon Davies [Captain] Had a great season, finishing on top of the ladder and winning the One Day Premiership. Unfortunately couldn’t take their winning form into the finals and lost the semi final to Cockburn. Andrew Gibbs had a fantastic season with 792 runs {including two centuries} and 22 wickets. Others in the runs were John McGuire (521) {including two centuries}, with Kevin Poller, Adam Seaward and Glenn Hack all over 200 runs. Captain Shannon Davies led the bowling with 26 wickets. Ben Rushton, Kevin Poller and Andrew Gibbs all took over twenty wickets.
The team: {in batting order}: G.Hack, A.Seaward, J.McGuire, A.Gibbs, K.Poller, G.Poller, L.O’Dea, B.Rushton, J.Hewitt, R.McKinlay, S.Davies [Captain]
4th Grade {SMCA 5th Grade} Bill Greenshields/John Ipsen [Captain/s] Remained competitive throughout the season but absences in higher grades robbed this side of any chance of finals glory. Were often fighting “above their weight”, playing the higher sides from other clubs. Eventual captain John Ipsen had a good season opening the batting and scored 374 runs, with super recruit Sam Vellios getting over two hundred, along with Jeremy Gibson. Seve Murfitt and new player Chris Rajandra shared the bowling honours.
5th Grade {SMCA 6th Grade} PREMIERS Gary Boyes [Captain] Although sometimes a bit inconsistent they made the final four and went on to defeat Phoenix, who had gone through the season undefeated. Sweet revenge, as Phoenix had won the One Day Final by a narrow margin. Some great individual performances – Brad Mant broke the individual club batting record in scoring 194 and Wayne Fontana won the Read/Waterer Club Champion Medal.
Wayne Fontana had a dominant season scoring 857 runs {including three hundreds} and taking 53 wickets {including 7/53}. Brad Mant scored 672 {including two hundreds}and Peter Ferguson and Dave Abercrombie were over three hundred runs. Dave Abercrombie and Mick Bennett ably assisted Fontana with the bowling. Mick Bennett took 3 “5 fors” and became the leading “5 for” taker for the Club.
The Premiership: Phoenix won the toss and batted. Two great bowling spells by perennial finals performers in Mick Bennett 25 overs – 5/47 and Wayne Fontana 27 overs – 4/29 meant that Phoenix didn’t get into the game at any stage. A twenty eight run partnership was not enough to provide a substantial total and they were bowled out for 86. We were 1/20 over night, looking to come back Sunday and complete a victory. Drama ensued on Sunday as the pitch at Enright Res was damaged and made unplayable overnight. Quick negotiations resulted on the match continuing at Davilak Oval. We resumed on 1/20 and lost both overnight batsmen without addition to the score. Peter Ferguson and Brad Mant took the score to 53, and Brad continued to bat well in making 37. With his dismissal Tim Brent and Jim Leinasars got us over the line to beat the previously undefeated Phoenix side.
The team: {in batting order}: W.Fontana, D.Abercrombie, P.Phillips, P.Ferguson, B.Mant, D,Hodgettes, T.Brent, J.Leinasars, G.Boyes [Captain], M.Bennett, K.Boyes.
6th Grade {SMCA OD ‘A’ Grade} Blake Carter [Captain] Played a very competitive season, eventually just missing the finals. Had a great victory over nemisis Kenwick and were consistent in most games, whilst not quite matching it with the top sides. Graeme Tysoe opened the batting with distinction and made 367 runs, with Matt Scarterfield and Captain Blake Carter over three hundred runs. Beau Carter was the best performed bowler with 26 wickets, assisted by Kyle Salzmann and Blake Carter.
7th Grade {SMCA OD ‘C Grade} Damian Halden [Captain] Undefeated during the season, but unfortunately once again the finals proved their undoing, losing to Thornlie in the semi-final. Despite this loss a great season and some excellent individual performances. Glenn Parise scored 804 runs {including three hundreds} and took 37 wickets. Rob Blazevich got 433 runs and took 39 wickets. Dale Putland made 405 runs {including his first century for the Club}. Captain Damian Halden and newcomer Travis Fryers scored over three hundred runs. Paul Petkovich scored the fifth hundred in the team. The bowling was dominated by Blazevich and Parise, assisted by Paul Phillips and Darren Humble.
Centuries/5 for's: details here
Trophy winners for the season:
details here