Dan Welsh passes 200 wickets as stats back up Geraldton’s quality bowling but under par batting

A look at averages for Geraldton’s two country week cricket teams shows a fragility in batting but good bowling stocks. For the top side, which contested A-section for one win and four losses, but paradoxically almost made the final, only four batters averaged in excess of 25 with Jay O’Brien the standout. He made 169 runs at 42.25, followed by captain Jai Russell (92 at 30.66), Clayton Bruce-Cherry (147 at 29.40) and Nigel Routledge (129 at 25.80) With the ball, Ringo McKenna (10 wickets at 16.90) led the field, followed by Clint Yeates (seven at 15.42) and Bruce-Cherry (seven at 18.00). For the seconds, promoted to B-section when other associations withdrew or did not nominate a Second XI more than held their own (two wins/three losses), captain Aaron McAuliffe was superb. The 39-year-old made 202 runs in four innings at 67.33 including the only century made by either side, an amazing effort as he came in at 3-8, which soon after was 4-8 and went on to make 106. McAuliffe was helped by fellow veteran Dan Welsh, who helped add 68 for the ninth wicket to get Geraldton to 188, a tally South Midlands topped but it took them until the 59th of their 60 overs. Next among the batters was Mitch Marsh (70 at 35.00), Cody Slootmans (126 at 25.20) and Gus Heberle (93 at 23.25). Heberle led the bowling stats with 11 wkts at 12.90 including a haul of 6-58 in the first game, which was something of a surprise as in club cricket he’d taken three wickets at 51.00. Austin Breen (six wkts at 12.75) and Bobby Gibson (six at 21.83) were next. Individual highlights were a 200th country week wicket for Dan Welsh, the first Geraldton player to achieve this feat. He broke the record last season when he passed Mick Dunn’s 195 wickets, a record that had stood since Dunn’s last game in 1949. If the net is cast wider and includes all Mid West teams, this list is headed by Laurence Cooper (1948-1970), who took 224 scalps. He played for Northampton-Chapman Valley and then Geraldton. Next is Ray Keeffe (1958-1978) and cousin Denis Keeffe (1961-1989), who turned out for Mullewa and later for Geraldton and claimed 216 and 207 wkts respectively. Welsh is in an elite group. Other milestones included Ringo McKenna’s 50th wicket, which was also recorded by Clint Yeates and is a tidy number to go with his 2347 runs, the second most for Geraldton.