Chapman Valley to pull double duty as eyes will be on Shayne Bidwell again this weekend

Chapman Valley-Northampton will play catch-up in the Geraldton Cricket League this weekend as Shayne Bidwell eyes a second milestone in as many weeks.

After becoming just the fourth man to pass 10,000 runs, along with Clint Yeates last weekend, with a blazing 96 he also took 2-25 to sit two wickets away from the 600 mark.

If he can grab them this weekend he and another great all-rounder, Michael Giles will be the only players with the 6000 runs/600 wickets double.

Bidwell is proud of his outstanding career though said he would have liked to have finished last week with a win.

“I didn’t realise I was so close to 10,000 until last season so to get there is a real bonus and a milestone I’m quite proud of,” he said.

“I was disappointed, not about the 100 (he scored 96) but if I’d stayed in, we’d have won and that was more disappointing.

“I still enjoy bowling and the ball is coming out well at the moment - it does take me a couple of extra days to recover these days but I’ll keep going while I can.”

His chance will come in Saturday’s game against the Rams, who currently sit bottom of the ladder but have played only three games so far.

It will be the first meeting between the two sides with both hoping to improve their batting after suffering fatal collapses at various points throughout this season.

In order to catch up Rams will also face Towns tonight in what will be their first T20 clash this season.

Towns lost their opening T20 last week, and with sides only playing four T20 games before the final with the top two going through they cannot afford another slip-up if they want to successfully defend their title.

The other 50-over game is at Wonthella between Towns and Sportsmans with the Sportsmans now on a three-win streak in large part to Andrew Korol’s pace bowling.

The speedster has taken nine wickets in his past three outings at an average of 6.1 and was the cause of the Wanderers stunning collapse last week.

Despite this Towns still go in as favourites having not lost a 50-over game all season and rolling teams for double-digit totals in their last two outings.

In the women’s cricket on Sunday, the 30-over matches continue with Wanderers against Towns at GBSC3 while CVN play Sportsmans at GBSC4.

Sportsmans should retain the competition lead with a win against CVN who struggle for runs, especially if Kate Clarkson or Kylie Bremner don’t fire.

They also have two of the most damaging bowlers in Jo Walker and Hayley McGlynn who sit second and third on the bowling charts.

Wanderers are favoured against Towns as they have greater depth but Towns, with Ruth Vorster having a grand season leading the scoring charts with 128 runs so far, could surprise.

B-grade: Wan v CVN (GBSC1); Spo v Don (GBSC3); BP v Twn (Muir).