Cheatle's success

HIGHLANDER Lauren Cheatle captained the under 18s women's combined Southern/Illawarra zone team at the recent NSW Country Cricket Championships.

Cheatle starred with the willow, resulting in her being ranked second among all batters.

Opening the batting, Cheatle's scores were three, 44, 41 and 44, finishing with an aggregate of 132 runs and a batting average of 33.

All games were played using a Twenty20 format and Cheatle led her team to wins over Riverina and Central Northern.

In the qualifying final, Western proved too strong for the local team.

Webb heads win

ALL-ROUNDER Dean Webb played a leading role in Hill Top's win over Shellharbour City in the second round of the NSW Country Shield last weekend.

Winning the toss, the home team struggled to dominate the Hill Top attack and completed its innings losing 7/80.

Webb demonstrated consistent bowling from his 10 overs, finishing with the figures of 5/26.

He was ably supported by Steve McNaught (2/41) and Matt Doust (2/10).

In reply, Hill Top took only 25 overs to finish with 84 runs on the board for the loss of seven wickets.

Thompson shines

A SOLID all-round performance by Jim Thompson led Robertson-Burrawang to a convincing win over the Warilla Kookaburras in their NSW Country Shield clash.

Batting first at Lackey Oval, Robertson-Burrawang batted out its 50 overs, finishing at 7/257. The partnership of Thompson (27no) and Nathan Ring (29no) added 43 runs to boost the total.

Both opener Matt Cupitt (45) and Aaron de Jager(28) highlighted the batting.

The Kookaburras capitulated after 26.1 overs to finish the day with 99 runs. Thompson completed the demise of the Kookaburra batting by taking 3/6 from two overs.

He was supported by Matt Wright (2/15), Nathan Wright (2/15) and Ring (1/16) as the Kookaburras were bowled out for 99.

Sweet revenge

THE Highlands team put its first round loss well and truly behind them with a comfortable win in the under 19 Southern Zone competition game against Goulburn at Welby Oval.

Wanting to finish the competition on a winning note, Highlands made good use with the first opportunity to bat and completed its 50 overs at 8/243.

Encouraging partnerships of 45, 45 and 33 enabled the run scoring momentum to continue.

Solid performances by Tom Ewen (46) and Charlie Dummer (43) were highlights of the local team's innings.

Captain Alex Debs remained at the crease to score 31, while other useful contributions were made by Josh Heyhorn (28), Lachlan Murchie and Matt Pike (both 15), Zac Moran (11) and Rod Acton (10).

Goulburn proved very competitive in their run chase and lasted 46 six overs to fall 27 runs short.

Debs continued to lead from the front with the ball, taking 4/23 from his nine overs.

Both Moran and Acton played important supportive roles, taking 2/38 and 2/16 respectively.

Over 60s season opener

THE local Over 60s team opened its 2014-2015 season with a game against Central Coast earlier this week. The team consisted of Babbage (captain), Watling, Lunt, Peter Burgoyne, Montcalm, Stanton, Rennie, van Beek, Jensen, Hutchenson, O'Reilly and Charlton.

All players are enthusiastic about the game having participated in a number of net sessions in preparation.

Both Babbage and Watling have returned recently from the Over 60s NSW championships in Armidale.

A full report of the game will be provided next week.

* By John Morris