Geraldton ride luck and fight hard but fall to Bunbury as they take fourth at senior country week

The numbers don’t lie, as the saying goes, but sometimes they can be misleading. Geraldton’s A-section Country Week cricket team had a 1-4 record in the championships yet narrowly missed the final. They snuck through the group stages thanks to bonus points and faced Bunbury in the semi-final, putting in their best performance with the bat to make 8-203. Clayton Bruce-Cherry top scored with 47, putting on 82 runs for the fourth wicket with Jai Russell (41). However, they were outmatched by Bunbury, with 77 to opener Bradman May anchoring the innings and Geraldton unable to make regular breakthroughs, as Bunbury won by just three wickets. “Luck fell our way to make a semi against Bunbury when we played our best game; to lose by three wickets with nine balls left across 120 overs was hard to swallow,” captain Russell said. “But credit to Bunbury, who easily won the final and were the best team.” Geraldton’s batting was below par and as mightily as the bowlers toiled, they could not cover that. “Batting is a concern across Geraldton cricket, we made just two 50s with many starts ended by disappointing dismissals,” Russell said. “Most other sides had a quality overseas player; is this something our association looks at?” Russell noted the work of all-rounder Clayton Bruce-Cherry, paceman Ringo McKenna and the promise of young Kodi Giltrow. “CBC (Bruce-Cherry) is a real competitor, Ringo’s an absolute workhorse and the spell from Kodi in the semi should give him confidence.” “Since our last A-section win in 2018, we’ve lost (Shayne) Bidwell, (Cody) Bone, (Dan) Welsh, (Aaron) McAuliffe, (Hudson) Toomey and (Ryan) Hosking while (Clint) Yeates and I are in our late 30s.” “That’s a hard class to replace but with Jay O’Brien’s leadership, CBC’s X-factor and a good young bowlers, the foundation is there.”’ The A-side would ultimately finish fourth after a third-placed play-off loss against Esperance. Despite a 55 from Jay O’Brien lifting them to a total of 140, Esperance chased the total down in 14 overs, winning by six wickets. Geraldton’s second side, promoted to B-section after other associations pulled out, bettered expectations. “My goal was to stay in B-section and we did; a 2-3 record with a narrow loss against South Midlands was fantastic as we had seven senior Country Week first-timers,” captain Aaron McAuliffe said. “We played positive cricket but fielding was a weakness, dropping multiple catches plus misfields despite the team’s energy and unity.” Highlights were Gus Heberle’s 6-58 against Great Southern and in the game against Eastern Districts, Dan Welsh’s 200th Country Week wicket, but nothing beat McAuliffe’s gutsy 106 against South Midlands. “That was the toughest hundred I’ve made considering I went in at 3-8 but I knew if someone could hold up an end (as Welsh did), we’d make something respectable,” McAuliffe said. “Looking ahead, I see Heberle captaining the A side in the future, he’s an energetic cricket nuffy who wants knowledge from experienced cricketers. “The future looks bright in B-section next year if the best players are available for both teams.”