Clayton claims best and fairest honours

The annual best and fairest count was held at the Royal Oak Hotel last week with Ross Clayton the A Grade winner. Ross polled 17 votes, 4 votes clear of Adam Drinkwell in 2nd place on 13 votes and Matthew Woods on 11 votes. Ross polled in all but four games and had three best on ground performances for the lions.

The second grade award was a tied affair between two up and coming youngsters in James Bowen and Tom Gray. Each were locked together on 8 votes. Both have represented first grade for the first time this year and it will be exciting to see how there progress in the years to come. Both have the ability to play in higher levels of cricket.

The third grade award was also a tie between Jake Chamberlain and Jake Laskey, each polling 9 votes over the course of the season. Jake Laskey polled three best on ground performances combining his skills with the bat and ball, while Jake Chamberlain, a tear-away quick chipped away polling in 6 games.

Congratulations to all our best and fairest winners.

Captain Paul Bunton with A Grade Best and Fairest Ross Clayton

Coach Adam Drinkwell giving the thumbs up to Tom Gray's 2nd Grade Best and Fairest win

Kingston and Whitely run up personal bests

A solid team batting performance against George Town at the NTCA Ground has elevated the Lions from 5^th to 3^rd on the NTCA ladder. Batting first the Lions got off to a flyer with openers Hayden Fenton and James Kingston putting on a stand of 36 in quick time with Fenton’s driving a feature. Fenton then went to the well one too many times and was caught at cover.

Kingston then took over and worked together with James Whitely to build a solid platform. The pair racked up 50 and then 100 and then 150 run partnerships in the best batting display for the year. The pair also notched personal milestones, each passing 50 and recording personal bests. The partnership was finally broken when Whitely was bowled for 69.

Kingston was closing in on a maiden hundred until his castle was unsettled on 87. The large platform allowed Jones to come out and smack some late runs finishing with 30 off 16 and the total mounted to 7/261. In reply George Town made a solid start, while slowly slipping below the run rate required.

Enter Ross Clayton who in the blink of the eye snared 6 wickets for 24 runs which included some excellent outfield catching by Jones. The result means next week’s match against South Launceston will be an important one in the context of both team’s season.

NTCA Round 3 One-day vs Westbury

Skipper Bunton won the toss and elected to bat on a good looking wicket conducive to attractive cricket. Fenton and Smith made a fast start making 30 off the first 5 overs before Smith was strangled down the leg side off the bowling of Terry for 8. Fenton added a further 20 odd with Kingston before Kingston was caught at mid off. Fenton was in nice touch, playing some cracking drives before he too was out LBW for 31. Clayton made 15 and from there the middle order fell cheaply and bad went to worse. Not one significant partnership could be established and the Lions were bowled out for and embarrassing 106.

Needing to make early inroads Bunton and Woods bowled tightly in the early going restricting Westbury to 1-2 runs per over for the first 10. Debutant James Bowen was then brought on from the Northern end to replace Bunton and immediately claimed his first NTCA wicket trapping Terry in front. This brought Anderson to the crease. He and Battle then made short work of the remaining runs polishing the total off in 26 over and a comfortable 9 wicket victory. Once again batting application was clearly an issue for the Lions and they will need to turn that around quickly with a two-day game against George Town (away) looming before Christmas. 

The Findlay Cup

The Launceston Cricket Club has a proud history in the Findlay Cup competition having won the ‘A Grade’ premiership a total of 46 times. The Findlay Cup or ‘The Monster’ as it’s affectionately known to the players was introduced in 1920, and has had 40 LCC premierships inscribed on it. Today the competition is based mainly on two-day games with a three-day grand final. Highlights have included a stretch of six premierships in a row between 1988-89 and 1993-94, which is a NTCA and State record. There were also four in a row from 1982-83 to 1985-86 and 1999-00 to 2002-03. Arguably the most famous victories of the modern era have been the successful run chase in 1997-98 when the Lions made 6/545 in reply to Mowbray’s 7/542 and the last hour heroics in the 1999-00 grand final when the Lions claimed 6 wickets in the final hour of play against Riverside.

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