Twos off to winning start
The 2nd Grade boys got the season off on the right foot with a nail-biting win against Westbury at Shaw’s Oval. In windy and cold conditions, the Lions were asked to bowl and straight away looked ominous. Ross Tulich went 3 overs without conceding a run before claiming his first scalp for the season. At the other end, Ben Fraser was also economical and after 10 overs Westbury were 1/15. Through the middle overs, Launceston continued to bowl in good areas, however an attacking 84* from Westbury batsman Groves and some rustiness in the field meant Westbury ended up with a respectable 177 from their 50 overs.
Launceston got off to a shaky start in their reply, with both openers, Job Edmunds and James Kingston failing to make double figures. At the 15 over mark, the situation was even shakier for the Lions with two more wickets falling cheaply, Jake Laskey and George Pykecroft. Brad Fryett (28*) and Anthony Rist carefully negotiated some good bowling from Westbury, however both succumbed with plenty more work to do. When Tom Gray came to crease, the Westbury boys were up and about. Launceston in serious trouble at 6/85 in the 32nd over.
What followed was an excellent match winning partnership between youngsters Gray and Jonty Manktelow. Both were cool under the pressure, hit the bad balls away and ran well between the wickets. At 6/155 in the 44th over, Launceston looked to have the game under control, however the tables turned again when 3 wickets fell in just two overs. Gray remained and with help from an equally composed Josh Frankcome managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over without a hitch. In the last over, the Lions needed 5 runs with Gray on strike.
The 1st ball Gray gracefully flicked off his pads into the square leg region for 2 runs. The next ball he hit to mid-off and snuck a quick single. 2 required off the last 3 balls. Frankcome put bat to ball and managed another quick single. Scores level – 1 required of the last two balls. With the field in, Gray drove trying to pick a gap on the offside but picked out a fielder. One of one required. The field crept in a touch closer. This time Gray went skywards with a chip drive over mid-off for two ! Nice one Tommy, not a bad effort seeing his last hit was over a year ago!