Community League Division 2

5th Grade 

We welcomed Helensvale to Loxton 3 for the 1st final. We were at last close to full strength, with Andy Foe our only casuality. The support was a little disappointing considering we were flying the flag as the only senior team to make the finals, but thanks to the few who made the effort being the Foenander’s (as usual), the Schultz’s, DJ Trav & the whole McQueen family had gathered. Thanks also to Chris Schultz who was good enough to field for us. With threatening skies above the 2 skippers decided to lose the toss again & field first. They were showing plenty of intent early, going at around 5 an over until Josh Foe removed their openers & no.4, slowing the run rate, reducing them to 3/35. They then proceeded very slowly to 83 before Snitty removed 2 of their middle order in 2 balls. Fridge & Duane were also doing their thing, keeping the run rate down but the next wicket didn’t come until Dr. Quinne was introduced, taking their last wicket but should’ve had at least one more if some dickhead hadn’t dropped a sitter at 1st slip. Nate was next to ply his trade & also bowled tightly, not allowing them to get away, after 36 overs we held them to 6/146. Josh Foe was the pick of the bowlers with 3/19 off his 6 overs, Schuey 0/17, Fridge 0/22, Duane the Rock 0/23 Snitty 2/18, Dr. Quinne 1/26 & Nate 0/20. 146 was never going to be enough with our batting lineup, but we thought the same last year & came up short, so we were quietly confident but aware of what could happen. We opened with Conan & yours truly, when Conan departed 1st ball, visions of last years semi came flooding back. Luke joined me out in the middle, a little flustered, explaining he hadn’t seen Conan’s wicket so was a little rushed. We were a little scratchy at first before Luke got into his groove & the boundaries started to flow. Our next wicket fell at 45, the old bloke being adjudged LBW for 16, but that brought the finals specialist, Col to the crease, him & Luke put on a batting masterclass to bring our total to within 8 of theirs before Luke was dismissed for 88 off 89 including 12 fours & a massive six. Bizza came in & with Col, they added the few runs needed to advance us to our 3rd Grand Final in 4 years. Col was 36no off 39 & Bizza 3no, passing them with 10 overs to spare, 3 down. Thanks to the handful of others who also turned up during the day, hopefully we can get a few more next week come along & support us. Thanks to Mel again for scoring & providing a smorgasboard of snacks, the players not eating a lot due to nerves, but Trav ate most of them, they didn’t go to waste. Bring on Southport next Saturday. Cheers JH.

Day 1 

As has become customary from this bunch of elite athletes led by their fearless, Gladiatorial like leader Aidan, we arrived at Sam Loxton 1 ready to lose another toss and most likely get put in to have a bat. As Aidan and I walked to the middle, there was a moment where Aidan had a look in his eye that said “not here, not today, not on my watch” and instead he let Southport call…….and they lost the toss, which meant we won…..and we decided to bat anyway so whichever way you look at it, we potentially would have won even if we lost. Next level thinking Aidan, well done mate.

Aidan and Lucy made their way to the middle and the goal was to see off the new ball, get to 10 overs without losing any wickets with around 25 runs on the board. Taking strike to the first ball of the day, Aidan smacked SLCC’s opening bowler to the boundary for 4 which was reminiscent of Zak Crawley doing the exact same thing to Pat Cummins on the opening ball of the 2023 Ashes (worth a watch on YouTube). We were off and away! Lucy provided good support early on but was clean bowled in the 9th over for 7 from 19 balls. By this stage we had reached 37 runs and had built a solid platform to kick on.

Radin made his way to the middle as Aidan continued to find the gaps and play with complete control. Before long Aidan had made his way to 48 and the boys had taken the score past 80. Unfortunately, Aidan fell agonizingly short of a well deserved 50 but it was an incredible knock to set up our innings. Ollie came in at #4 and whilst he and Radin looked to take the game to Southport with some great stroke play, everything seemed to find the fielder and the scoring dried up. A mix up in the middle saw Radin (run out) back in the sheds for 19 from 51 and Ollie (4) was the victim of a very good caught and bowled after smacking one back at the bowler. Harry (2 from 28) struggled to find his tempo and a strong position of 1-80 had dwindled to 5-98. Callum (3* from 34) and Catey (12 from 51) did a good job of occupying the crease to take the score beyond 100 and whilst Quaid, Mac Alex, and Adam all tried to kick the score along, we just couldn’t get the runs flowing.

After a very strong start to the day, our innings finished on 9-124 which was a good 30 runs short of where we wanted to be.

Day 2 

We came back on day 2 accepting that whilst we hadn’t performed as well as we wanted with the bat, we know we are the best bowling and fielding side in the comp and the game is there to be won.

At 7:15am we hit our warmups and made as much noise as humanly possible to show Southport that this is what a winning team looks like. From a coach’s point of view the energy we showed before the game had even begun was a significant win to us.

Alex and Quaid opened the bowling and the boys did a great job of making the most of the new ball whilst the conditions were still a bit damp. Alex in particular beat the edge on several occasions and continued to hit the channel outside off to both the right and left handed bats. Whilst Southport weren’t going anywhere quickly, without many runs on the board we needed wickets and our first change bowlers Mac and Aidan made the breakthrough with Mac getting the first wicket of the day, and Aidan following up in the next over. With Southport at 2-24, their best batters and two of the comps leading run scorers were in the middle. We knew that this was where the game would be won or lost and Harry and Radin came into the attack to try and get the key wickets early. Radin came so close after we had set a trap for Mitch to be caught in the deep, but the catch unfortunately didn't stick. From 2-24 Mitch and Jettah took their partnership beyond 40 and a few shoulders started to drop as we headed into the drinks break.

After a quick drink and pep talk, we came back out and threw ball to Ollie to see if he could find a way to get the breakthrough. In his 3rd over, he floated one up which Mitch smashed into the leg side as hard as any ball has been hit this year. Aidan who after a long season is currently held together with a mix of strapping tape, knee braces and of course his gold chain, hurtled to his left, dived into the air and at full stretch and elevation took the greatest catch I have seen on a cricket field. As a group we talk a lot about moments in cricket matches and this was one of the best.

In his very next over Ollie had Jettah in two minds and took a great caught and bowled and then followed up with another wicket in his 4th over to finish with figures of 3/11 from 7 overs.

From staring down the barrel of defeat at 2-66, we had clawed our way back to have Southport 5-74. This soon became 6-76 after some great fielding by Mac and from here we had wrestled back control of the game.

Quaid came back into the attack and bowled with great accuracy continually beating the edge and hitting the front pad and was unlucky not to have a few in the wicket’s column. Harry picked up a wicket clean bowling Southport #9 batter and Mac put in his season best performance both in the field and with the ball to finish with figures of 3-10 from 7 overs. Well done Macca!

We closed out the game in the 43rd over with a close to perfect bowling and fielding performance, restricting SLCC to 10/98 . We shook hands with Southport, had a few fist bumps and high fives and then headed over to watch the mighty U12’s get the job done in a nailbiter on Loxton 3.

It was one of the best days in recent history for Runaway Bay Juniors and everyone should be incredibly proud of the efforts. Fingers crossed the weather behaves so we can do it all again in the GF. Go Bay!

Coach Lewis

Day 1

We lost the toss and were sent into bat. Our openers got off to a quick start and worked through a solid amount of overs. All the batters throughout the day did their best to bat to their plans. We finished the day. 4/102.

The boys were up for the challenge to defend a pretty good total. We did our best to bowl to our field and keep the pressure on. A couple of fantastic run outs set us up nicely. Coomera kept chipping away though and finished the day 5/103.

Great effort by Coomera to get the total especially with rain on the forecast.

Day 2

We were able to get on and play.

Our openers for the day started strong and settled well. With a bit of run pressure and some great field placement Coomera got a reasonably early wicket putting the pressure back on us.

Coomera’s line and length bowling made scoring runs tough. We stuck at it our whole innings slowly chipping away to add to our total.

We finished out innings 9/154 off 50.

As always we backed our bowling and were ready to give it a red hot crack. We built pressure through the innings with some fantastic bowling and fielding.

After drinks Coomera were chasing 26 with 60 plus balls and 4 wickets remaining. This did not dishearten the boys. They were determined to finish strong and continued to put in 100%.

As the inning’s continued, the runs slowly kept ticking over and it looked like Coomera were going to get it done. However the boys showed real heart and kept giving their all. We managed a couple of quick wickets then with 2 runs remaining we got their final wicket. This was an insane!

Stoked the boys got the win but more impressed in the resilience the boys showed to keep going. They could have packed it in but they understood working together to the end, to finish strong as a team had them in with a chance. The emotion of this definitely came out after the game, some very proud parents.

The opportunity to play in a grand final is special for the boys it is very well deserved. These opportunities don’t come up that often. I hope they all enjoy the week! Regardless of this weekends results they should all be so proud of their efforts. Bring on the weekend.

Thanks for everyone’s help along the way.

Coach Craig

2025 Trivia Night

Trivia Night 2025 Wrap-Up!

What a night! A huge thank you to everyone who came along and made our Cricket Club Trivia Night a smashing success. Here’s how it all played out:

Winners: Stumped for Answers? – Well, clearly not! Enjoy your stubby coolers, generously donated by Emily McQueen Speech Pathology Services.

Wooden Spooners: Beauty and the Beast (aka the Harkers) – Better luck next time! At least you’re off to Runaway Bay Tavern with a $50 voucher.

Best Dressed Table: Quiztopher Quiztoffersen – Style AND smarts! Enjoy your David Crisafulli basket.

Bathrobe Quick Quiz Winners: Every table had a lucky winner, thanks to Matt & Tracey from George Street Linen.

Guessing Competition: A big thank you to Andrew Schultz from Aussielec Electrical for the prize donation!

From Wooden Spooner to Friday Night Meat Tray Winner: Travis Harker, you’re on a roll! Enjoy your GJ Organic Meats prize. A huge thanks to our sponsors and everyone who came along—see you next year for another fun-filled night!

Thanks Ben Houghton

As the sun sets on Ben Houghton's Australian adventure, his chapter with the Runaway Bay Cricket Club draws to a close. With a heart full of memories, he returns to the UK, just in time to rejoin his beloved Euxton CC for the 2025 season. Ben's presence at the Bay was nothing short of transformative; his private coaching sessions nurtured the club's budding talents, while his prowess on the field made him a cornerstone of the first-grade team. He not only topped the charts as the leading run-scorer but also dazzled with his fielding, claiming the most catches and even snagging a few crucial wickets. As he departs, we send him off with our warmest wishes for the future, grateful for the time he spent with us. Thank you, Ben, for everything.

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