Gundagai District Cricket beat Coolac 10/163 (40) – 4/166 (32.4) at Coolac Recreation Ground on Saturday afternoon, the first win against Coolac for Gundagai in recent memory.
Craig Ferguson of the Club said it was the biggest win of the season so far.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve recorded a win against Coolac. I reckon it has been nearly 10 seasons since we’ve recorded a win against Coolac,” he said.
“Alex Smith scored a half-century, so did Duane Shawcross from the Coolac side. Timmy Myers did very well with his bowling to restrict the Coolac side.
“Young Clayton Smith, who’s just 21 years old, has taken on the captaincy role from Caleb Lindley-Kell. Caleb is probably in his 30s, but he’s been captain of the Gundagai Cricket team for around the last 10 years. Clayton Smith has put his hand up a bit here and there, plus there’s been a change of leadership, which is always a good opportunity and experience for people to have.
“It was great to see someone like Clayton, who’s played all his junior cricket here in Gundagai and has made the transition from juniors into seniors and has been a very handy all-rounder for many years now.
“Coolac have been heavyweights for many seasons. They are always featuring in finals series, although they haven’t won for a while, but they always feature in the finals or around there.
“We have a nice young squad of cricketers who are coming through.
“We had a moment for Darren Hlywa, who passed away. He played a lot of cricket in the Canberra competition and also for Wyangle in the Tumut Association, and also for Lotts in the Gundagai comp.
“Both sides observed a minute’s silence on behalf of the family who are going through a difficult time at the moment.
“It just reiterates the family that is the cricket community. Whenever good and bad things happen in the cricketing world, it helps pull through in all the different years of competition.
“Darren played a lot of cricket in the early 2000s, and he would have competed against Coolac as well. It was a nice acknowledgement of the impact he has made on our association. He served as president for a season as well, and just to be able to let the family know that we are sharing in their sadness at this time in a small way, just to acknowledge the contribution that Darren made at different times and ways to cricket.
“It is a new era under Clayton Smith’s captaincy, with a different leader of the team. I don’t want to call it a season-defining win as it’s only one, but the Gundagai cricket team has always been competitive, but we’ve always struggled to win games and have our best cricketers available.
“If there are any senior cricketers who are looking for a game, go to our website and register through PlayHQ, and we’d love to give them a game.”
They play the Adelong Donkeys next at Stan Crowe Oval on November 22, starting at 1:00 pm.
– Jack Murray
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