2023 Intercol cricket: Match report

The highly anticipated cricket Intercol of 2023 between Blackfriars (BPS) and Christian Brothers College (CBC) was played earlier this week.

On Day 1, Blackfriars captain Patrick Moore won the toss and elected to bat on a glorious morning at Park 25. The day started poorly, losing Patrick, Riley Hutt, Nathaniel Forby and Sam van der Woude early, to leave BPS 4/38. Sam was the shining light of the top order, making 32.

It was down to Year 8 Frassati Sportsman of the Year Ben Stargatt to save the innings and guide the team to a respectable total of 136. Ben played a mature innings while batting with the lower order. He was left stranded on 69 not out from 109 deliveries.

With only 136 runs on the board, BPS needed early wickets. Unfortunately, the CBC top order batted very well and managed to finish Day 1 at 2/106. For BPS, the only wicket takers were Charlie Morkunas and Nathaniel Forby.

Day 2

Hunting early wickets and trying to restrict CBC’s scoring, the BPS players were full of optimism going into Day 2. Some tight early bowling from Josh Dennis and Harrison Zeuner made life hard for the CBC batsmen but, despite all their efforts, the bowlers couldn’t break the partnership. CBC managed to pass the 136 first innings total with just two wickets down.

With CBC looking to push on and set up a declaration, it was hard for the BPS bowlers to stem the flow of runs. CBC captain Jed Walker was finally dismissed for a well made 103 and was the real difference between the CBC and BPS batting lineups.

The BPS bowlers toiled hard and kept going throughout, which was a great credit to them. With the new ball being taken, Dennis (year 8) and Zeuner (Year 10) managed to pick up a few quick wickets and force a CBC declaration at 7/265. Dennis finished with 2/29 from 11.4 overs and Zeuner 1/41 from 15 overs. Charlie Morkunas bowling leg spin was the pick of the bowlers as he finished with 1/68 from 21 overs.

Needing to bat well and try to wrestle some momentum in the game, BPS unfortunately got off to a terrible start with all the top order failing once again, leaving the score at 5/31. The lower order of Zeuner and Lucas Diorio managed to hang around but, ultimately, the damage was already done. The team limped to a disappointing 80 all out, Diorio making 25 and Zeuner 13.

CBC took the win by an innings and 49 runs.

BPS Man of the Match was Ben Stargatt for his 69 not out in the 1^st Innings.

Future looking bright

As the final score suggests, this was a comprehensive defeat for BPS, but with the team featuring a number of Year 8s, 9s and 10s, it shows that the future of Blackfriars cricket is strong. There were some periods in the game where the BPS boys were excellent but, unfortunately, they couldn’t do it for extended periods of time. That was was the difference between the two sides over the two days.

Congratulations to CBC on their Intercol victory and we look forward to competing for the trophy again next year.

– Gareth Cox, Co-curricular Adminstrator