The Camberwell Magpies’ 2020/21 Victorian Premier Cricket campaign has got off to a rocky start, going down to St Kilda in all four grades on Saturday.
In the First XI match at CitiPower Centre, the Magpies came up against a full-strength St Kilda side that included Australian representatives Marcus Harris, Nic Maddinson and Peter Handscomb. Bowling first, things started promisingly for the Magpies as we made some early inroads by removing the Saints’ big three to leave them teetering at 4/78.
From there on in though it was tough going, as St Kilda captain Adam Crosthwaite compiled an excellent ton and combined with the lower order to take the score to 6/269 at the end of the 50 overs. 17-year-old debutant Ollie Jenkins was the pick of the Magpies bowlers, picking up 2/41 off his 10 overs, including the scalps of Victorian listed players Handscomb and Paddy Rowe.
In reply, the Magpies were never in the hunt losing wickets at regular intervals to eventually be dismissed for 108. Batting at number six, Adit Pawha top scored with a well compiled 38 off 57 balls.
It was a tough day for the Magpies Second XI bowlers at home at McQueen Park, as the Saints compiled 3/302. St Kilda openers Josh Manning and Michael De Iacovo both made hundreds as the Magpies struggled to break the opening partnership until the 40th over. Left arm quickie Ben Jowett (2/54) was the pick of the bowlers with two wickets at the death.
With the bat, the Magpies had some decent contributions with Jack Di Stefano (71) leading the way at number four, while fellow young gun Liam Fitzpatrick made 35 opening the batting. Ultimately though, we couldn’t quite string together the big partnerships to chase down the big total as the Pies were eventually dismissed for 215.
In the Third XI at Harry Trott, Camberwell’s bowlers did a decent job to restrict St Kilda to 9/178 off their 45 overs, with Joe Doyle (2/31), Henry Smith (2/32) and Adrian Vidajic (2/35) all picking up a couple each. Much like the top two grades, the Pies top order failed to fire as we eventually fell 42 runs short. The top batsman were Tyler Stewart (46), who continued his impressive preseason form and last year’s Fourth XI Player of the Year in Vidajic, who made 29.
Finally in the Fourth XI, the Magpies bowlers made an impressive start to restrict St Kilda to 9/168 off their allotted overs. Opening bowler Daniel Walker was the star with 4/25, while skipper Rob Capstick and Max Burn collected two each. Camberwell in reply couldn’t find the runs, despite a nice hand from Shelvin Sathiyaseelan who top-scored with 51 as Camberwell fell 12 runs short.
The Pies will now turn their attention to Ringwood next week, where all four XIs will be looking for much improved performances and to get their respective seasons underway.
