Chapman Valley-Northampton, Sportsmans to play off in T-20, 50-over games in Geraldton cricket

Chapman Valley-Northampton and Sportsmans have double duty in this weekend’s Geraldton Bendigo Bank Cricket League.

They meet in Friday night’s Young Motors T20 at Wonthella and tomorrow in a 50-over game at Nabawa. Sportsmans have had major player losses — Aaron McAuliffe, Glenn Wishart, Darcy Ingle and Jaimon Alone while Ben O’Brien has played only once.

The good news is O’Brien is expected to play again and Ingle returns home soon.

CVN are coming off their first win of the season and could easily have won two in a row.

“It was a good feeling to get the win on Saturday, especially after coming so close on Friday, it would have been nice to win the T20 as well,” CVN captain James Billing said.

“We need to keep working on our batting but I think we’ve generally bowled and fielded well.”

Jamie McMahon should play on Friday night but is unavailable for day games and it is unlikely Andrew Cripps and Theo Bennett will play at all, although Josh Carson resumes in the new year.

Towns play Bluff Point at the Rec and for Towns, batsman Jai Russell is in form while their attack is superb with 30 of a possible 30 wickets taken at under 10 runs each.

The Pointers, at their best, seem a finals side. Hopefully Aaron Thomas plays as he clearly makes them better.

The women take to the turf and 30 overs-a-side cricket again in the Young Motors League on Sunday.

Sportsmans, coming off a thrilling win over Wanderers, aim to build on that against CVN at Nabawa.

“I’d say it was our best ever win and we were without Hayley McGlynn and so Tia Hatch stepped up,” Sportsmans captain Jo Walker said.

“I was concerned when we lost wickets (chasing the target) and extras we took advantage of were handy but Wanderers have to be respected — thankfully Sarah (Prickett) has a cool head.

“Happy with our attack, Hayley (Criddle) was given the new ball and bowled brilliantly, Stacey Jerrard hardly gave up a run and the rest did their job.”

Towns play Wanderers at the Rec. Wanderers plan to atone for last week while Towns are coming off a welcome win over CVN.

B-grade: Don v Wan (Dongara): Spo v Twn (Wonthella); CVN v BP (N’pton).